Chapter 37 – The End of Childhood

After it was all over, I exhaled deeply as I stood in front of the collapsed house.

“…… what am I going to do with this?”

The mansion where I had spent the last five years of my life was in a state of semi-destruction because the monster had fallen through the roof and into my house. The barriers that my father had put up are already out of action. It’s no longer possible to have a Christmas party. I can’t even live in the first place.

“Anyway, let me go meet my mom.”

They should have gone to call my father and Renji-san, but how far did they go?

I know they can reach them anywhere with a phone, but the problem is Aya-chan and Hina. They sent those two away to a safe place, so they could be very far away.

“Should I look for them…?”

As for detection magic, I was shown and taught how to do it by my father.

So I can use it without any problem.

“I don’t remember if there was a map…..”

The detection magic was used by my father to search for monsters of the fifth rank in the forest. The way it works is like a human-powered Google Map, in which magic is injected and the spirit mark is moved over the map as if it were the object to be searched for.

But of course, in order to do that, I need a map.

But of course, in this day and age of smart phones, I don’t have a map at home, let alone a large map like a map of Japan, that focuses on only a few cities, towns, and villages. We have a map because my father uses it, but it is in his work bag, not at home.

And the bag is with my father.

…… Hmmm. If so, should I wait for him to come home?

I let out a deep breath, and a rush of exhaustion washes over me.

I thought about sitting down right there, but there are no barriers in this house now, so if I sat down, it would be too late to deal with any other monsters that might come along. I thought that would be a bad idea, so I stood there in a daze…. The sun was setting and the moonlight was shining into the garden.

At that moment, something glowed faintly in the hole in the shaved garden when I swallowed the monster with “Hazy Moon”.

“….Hmm?”

I wondered what it was, and when I headed there, what I found on the ground was a yellow treasure ball.

It was only about the size of a marble, but it was shimmering in the moonlight as if it were luminous.

I was afraid to touch it with my bare hands, so I stretched out my “Silvate” and brought it close to me. Of course, I didn’t want to touch it, but to look at it up close.

I thought to myself, “what is this?”

The moment I thought that and brought my face close to it, that’s when it happened.

“Itsuki!”

I heard my mother’s voice from behind the collapsed house.

“Ah, Mom!”

That saved me the trouble of having to go looking for her.

As I was thinking about it, my mom came running up to me and hugged me tightly.

“I’m so happy! Thank goodness! You’re alive…!”

“Yeah, I won’t die.”

“I’m glad you’re okay…”

She let out a small cry, and with so much emotion in her voice, I hugged my mother tightly. I tried to let go, but she wouldn’t let go.

“Mom. It hurts.”

But she didn’t let go of me.

“I was worried about you.”

“…… yeah.”

“You said you were going to run away, but the magic sound wouldn’t go away from the house.”

“…..Yeah.”

“When I couldn’t hear the sound anymore, I thought maybe you had died.”

“….I’m sorry.”

I couldn’t say anything, but I still managed to squeeze out a few words.

Other than that, I couldn’t find anything else to say to my mother.

“Uh-huh. I’m glad you’re okay…..”

She let out a deep breath and finally let go of my hand.

“Hey, Mom. Where’s Hina? Where’s Aya-chan?”

“Momoka is with them and she’s taking them to a safe place.”

“I see. That’s good.”

“Hey, Itsuki, can I ask you something?”

My mother took her hand away from mine, but she kept her eyes fixed on me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where did Raikou-douji go? Did he run away somewhere?”

Oh, come to think of it, I still haven’t told her what happened to monster, have I?

“No, he didn’t run away. I exorcised him.”

“What?”

My mother, who was looking at me with a blank expression on her face asked me.

“Itsuki… Raikou-douji….”

“Yes, that’s right. I exorcised it. And you know, this is what fell after the exorcism of the monster… Mother, do you know what this is?”

“Legal legacy treasure.”

Legal……?

Illegal? No, no.

What Kanji is that written with?

“Ho, did you really exorcise it? You did? You exorcised Raikou-douji….?”

“Yes, that’s right. But…”

My mother, whose complexion changed the moment she saw the yellow treasure ball, continued with an expression of both bewilderment and astonishment.

“This is… Itsuki, It’s called a treasure.”

“What is it?”

“The “monster” usually turns into a black mist when it dies, right? But when monsters of the sixth rank and above die, they leave behind crystals of magic power. That is called a treasure.”

Wow, I didn’t know there was such a thing.

I wonder if I’ll drop a crystal too when I die.

I’ll never verify that.

“This must be the treasure of Raikou-douji. You’ll have to ask your dad to take a look… But if this fell out, then you really did exorcise it. You did.”

When my mother said that much, from the back of the house, sizzling! and the sound of tire rubber and asphalt rubbing against each other could be heard. Just as I was thinking, “Oh, my father is here,” I heard the sound of a car crashing into the back of the house.

Eh, are you okay?

“Itsuki! Are you safe! Are you still alive!”

What I heard was my father’s voice, which was well-comprehended.

Then he leapt from the other side of the house and came to the garden.

“Itsuki! Kaede!”

When he landed on the ground, he wrapped “body-strengthening” “guiding thread silvate” around his leg and jumped here.

“Where’s Raikou-douji? Has anything been done?”

I pointed at the monster’s treasure, a little amused by my panicked father.

“No, it’s all right. I exorcised it.”

“What…?”

My father’s eyes changed.

“Let me see that for little while……”

My father took the treasure in his hand, which I had left hanging by the “guiding thread silvate”. He then muttered in stunned astonishment.

“There’s no doubt about it. It is the magic power of Raikou-douji.”

Is it something he can tell just by touching it?

“I see. Itsuki is the one who….”

I couldn’t describe the look on my father’s face when he said that. Shock, pity, conviction. A look that doesn’t match any words. Or perhaps it was all of them.

“Hey, Dad. Is this going to do me any good if I keep it?”

“Yes, of course. Through this, your magic power and Raikou-douji’s magic power will ‘resonate’…..I’ll give you a simple explanation. The magic that the monster used can be used.”

“Eh!?”

I can use that lightning magic!

“However, you have to keep it on you all the time…. We’ll think about that later.”

My father then lifted me up and hugged me as I stood there.

“You did good.”

Unlike my mother, my father said nothing else.

That was enough for me. I thought I was getting more than enough love.

So, feeling embarrassed, I decided to change the subject a little.

“Hey, Papa, mom, let’s go pick up Hina.”

I started.

“Mhm? Where is Hina?”

“She’s at another place with Momoka-san.”

“I see. Let’s go pick her up.”

My father dropped me and the three of us headed to pick up Hina.

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