Chapter 14: Meeting 2

“Kisaragi Itsuki.”

The moment the blonde haired priestess of the Kamiarizuki family said that, I knew the air was tense.

The air that had been loose until now instantly froze. …… If I were to describe it as the feeling of an elementary school student making a fuss in the classroom because the teacher wasn’t there, and then a very scary teacher walks in, would you get the idea?

At least that’s what it felt like to have all the eyes of the scary men with faces that you can’t let out of the room as a normal person.

I should be praised for not starting to cry.

“Oh? What’s the matter? Aren’t you going to say hello?”

“Oh, uh….”

I was so nervous that I blew off the greeting my parents had taught me.

No, that’s right.

I was thinking that I might get a little attention, you know?　

It’s easy to forget because I’m not aware of it, but objectively speaking, I’m a “seventh rank,” which is born only once every few hundred years, and I have “true eyes” that can see other people’s guiding thread silvate.

I thought something like that would get a little attention when I introduced myself.

But I didn’t hear about being stared at by people who could kill you with just a quick glance.　

“I’m Kisaragi Itsuki. Pleased to meet you.”

I was so scared by the stares of the adults that I just said my name and bowed my head.

At that moment, a man opened his mouth to me.

“Is it true that you have exorcised a monster of the third rank?”

“Ah, eh, umm……”

I’ve only met monsters twice, and the only time I’ve exorcised it was on the highway today.

That’s why I don’t know what a third rank monster is.

“That’s the one you just exorcised earlier.”

“Umm… you mean the one that was on the highway?”

“Yes.”

The blonde priestess nodded, and I turned to look at the burly man.

“Yes, that’s my only exorcism.”

I said timidly.

I mean, how did this blonde priestess know about it?

Did she ask the driver?

Even though exorcists have a sense of values stuck in the Showa period, they probably have at least a smart phone. So it is not surprising that she heard that I had exorcised a monster.

I took a deep breath and put the blonde priestess out of my mind.

Then I asked the man in front of me.

“Um, can I ask you one question?”

“…… what?”

“Is the ‘third rank’ used not only for exorcists but also for monsters?”

“Aren’t you too old not to know the rank of monsters? No, I beg your pardon. The rank of a monster is determined by whether or not it can be exorcised by an exorcist of the same rank. In other words, a monster of the third rank can only be exorcised by an exorcist of the third rank or higher.”

“Thank you very much….”

I think I heard that even the third rank is treated as a genuis….

Was the monster that destroyed the walls of the highway really that strong?

No, if you think about it, it was running alongside a car that was going nearly 100 km/h after breaking through a soundproof wall. You might think it was that strong.

……Eh, so how strong are the monsters above the “fourth rank”?

I felt like I was seeing a glimpse of the high rate of death among exorcists, and I felt very bad about it.

I need to get stronger fast….

The man who had been asking me about it had shifted his question from me to my father as I was making up my mind in secret.

“Soichiro-dono, did he really exorcise the monster?”

“Yes, he exorcised it, and it was a third rank. Not only that, he also protected ordinary people from the pieces of the soundproof wall that had been broken by the monster. And he’s only five years old.”

“….It’s hard to believe.”

No, you don’t have to believe . My father is an idiot.

I managed to swallow the words that were threatening to come to my throat. That’s great.

Don’t get me wrong here, I love my father.

I like and respect him.

But he’s too much of a parental idiot to make up stories or exaggerate things.

It’s one thing if he’s being a parental idiot when I was two or three years old, but when I’m five years old, it’s embarrassing, and I usually wish he would stop.

However, I haven’t been able to tell my father about it because I have never had a chance to tell him.

While I was embarrassed by my father’s parental idiot talk, another man approached me.

“Itsuki-kun. Can’t you try to do some magic for me?”

“Eh? Here?”

“I’d really like to see it with my own eyes.”

“But which one should I use ……?”

I asked, looking around the room.

Unfortunately, there’s not a single thing in this room that could be the target of magic.

If that were the case, I would have to use magic on the walls and pillars of this building, and it would inevitably destroy the building. No, that would be a bad idea.

“Itsuki. You can use this.”

When I was in trouble, the blonde priestess next to me offered me a straw doll.

The moment I was about to take it, the priestess extended the Silvate to the doll.

And the doll with the Sylvate wrapped around it became huge!

“Wow!”

Such a magic exists!

One can do anything!

As I was admiring the magic I was seeing for the first time, the blonde priestess cheered me on.

“Itsuki, show them your power to the fullest. It doesn’t matter how strong the magic is.”

“Yes!”

I stretched out three strands of Silvate toward the straw doll, which was now as big as a person.

The threads entwine with the doll and lift it up into the air.

The easiest magic is to use the threads as blades and cut the doll into pieces.

But that would be a little too flashy.

Besides, this is a chance to use magic.

It’s not a bad idea to try out the magic I’ve been holding back.

I have the magic of turning threads into flames, which my father showed me when I was three years old, and the magic of sending magic into the air, which I invented on my own. Combining these two, I weave the thread.

–Blow it up.

Oooooooooooo!!!!

A moment later, the explosion that occurred shatters the straw doll into tiny pieces and creates a shockwave!

But there’s no way this building will be destroyed.

Because I believe in the men seated here.

“Itsuki! Look out!”

As I was closest to the explosion, my father intervened to shield me, and I magically created a “wall” to defend myself. He protected me from the shockwave and the blast.

“Where did you learn that magic now, Itsuki?” 

“I saw papa using it.”

“…… mmmm. I don’t remember teaching you.”

“Yes. I just saw it…”

When the flames of the explosion subsided, the exorcists who had deployed the “wall” began to murmur.

“He really did magic at five years old.”

“The speed of the attribute change is also perfect.”

“Is that a compound attribute now? No way…..”

“The amount of magic power of the ‘seventh rank’. The future is frightening.”

The moment the commotion began to get out of hand – the sound of applause.

A moment later, everyone fell silent and looked at the person who had clapped their hands.

As expected, it was the blonde-haired priestess who clapped her hands.

“How do you like it? It would not be a bad idea to touch the young talent. Hmm?”

She looked at the silent men with amusement, and finally looked at me.

“Do you still have the ‘Breaking the monster Tag’?”

“Yes! I still have it.”

It was given to me when I was three years old at the shichi-go-san ceremony.

I never let go of it, not even for a moment, because I don’t want to die.

“Umu…Good answer. Don’t ever let it go.”

Nodding her head in satisfaction, she turned on her heel with a sly smile on her face.

“You may have a lot to ask and know about Itsuki, but he is not the only guest tonight. It would be somewhat impolite to ignore them.”

With these words, the priestess moved away from me and stopped in front of a girl.

“Rin, You too are a genius, a ‘fourth rank’. Say hello to the others.”

“Yes!”

The one who stood up after saying that was Rin of Satsuki family.

She was the girl who was carried on her father’s shoulders during the shichi-go-san event.

It had been two years since I saw her.

I was thinking that she must have forgotten about me, but unlike me, she greeted properly.

“I’m Rin of the Satsuki family. My rank is “4th rank”. Pleased to meet you!”

She’s a girl who speaks clearly, as if she is used to attracting attention in front of people like this.

Well, I guess people who become a cheerful person are determined from childhood.

As I was deeply feeling this, Rin-chan looked at me.

Then she greeted me cheerfully, looking only at me.

“My dad told me to be your betrothed! Nice to meet you, Itsuki!”

……?

I involuntarily tilted my head inwardly, not knowing what the girl in front of me had said, and Aya stood up without waiting for the blond priestess to introduce her.

“Nice to meet you, Rin-chan. My name is Aya Shimotsuki.”

She spoke politely; she sounded like a different person from the Aya of a year ago.

But children are like bamboo shoots. They grow up before you see them.

I was a little moved by Aya’s growth, and she leaned forward.

“You are wrong, Rin-chan. It’s me who’s going to be Itsuki-kun’s betrothed!”

What do you mean by betrothed?

Oh, a bride-to-be? I know what it is.

A marriage partner your parents choose for you when you’re still young.

……Marriage partner?

I almost jumped out of my skin as I slowly understood the meaning of the word.

……What are these kids talking about!

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