Chapter 31- Monsters and Parents

The strong afternoon sun was shining on the playground.

There were only a few children leaving school, and the rest were playing soccer or basketball.

I am standing in the middle of the ground.

It seems that I have returned to the exact same place where I was standing when I was released from that world, the ground of the mysterious space.

I can hear the after-school noise and I let out a deep, really deep breath.

Somehow, I feel like I’ve been in that strange place for a long time.

But I’ve learned a lot.

I’m now able to produce beginner-level fairy spirits, too.

I tucked Raikou-douji’s relic into my pocket and looked at the clock on the school building.

The time was 5:40 p.m.

Which was not out of place given the sky and the surroundings.

“We are back!”

The realization of this slowly became stronger and stronger.

I looked back and saw Nina-chan and the teacher standing a short distance away from me.

Nina-chan was relieved that she had returned to reality, and she looked like she wanted to say something to me.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t explained anything about Raikou-douji….

And to top it off, I haven’t been able to explain magic and monsters to the teacher either.

How shall I explain it?

Basically, I was brought up being told that monsters and magic are not something to be talked about much with normal people.

However, after all the flashy things I’ve done, I can’t say, “Actually, that was a dream” There is no way I could cut the white hat with that.

How do other people explain it?

I nod my head.

There are a good number of ordinary people in the world who are victims of monsters, but I don’t know how other exorcists explain to them.

It is the “post-processing” people who are responsible for that, not us exorcists.

And since this case was an exorcism I was involved in, not an exorcism I was asked to perform, there are no “post-processing” people. So, I have to explain it to them.

Let me explain….

I had just exorcised the monster, but just as I was about to return to them, Nina-chan collapsed in front of me.

“Nina-chan!?”

Before I could rush over to her, the teacher who was standing next to Nina-chan hurriedly supported her body. The teacher looked surprised and said as she cared for her.

“Don’t worry, Itsuki. Nina-chan just fainted.”

“She fainted? Is that okay?”

“It’s like anemia. It’s not unusual. Because there was such a strange experience.”

Thinking about it, even though she had exorcised a monster, Nina-chan still hyperventilates when she sees a monster. Her trauma is far from over.

And, until a few minutes ago, Nina-chan had been through a series of events that had placed a heavy burden on her.

If that is the case, it is no wonder she fainted.

In fact, Nina-chan was the one who did her best in the face of her trauma, wasn’t she?

The teacher stood up, holding the unconscious Nin-chan.

“I will take Nina-chan to the infirmary. Itsuki-kun, you can go home now.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s almost 6:00 p.m. and I’m sure the people at home are worried about you.”

“It’s all right. My curfew is still ahead of me.”

The teacher took Nina-chan in her arms and stood up.

“I’m going to the infirmary, too, sensei. I can’t leave Nina-chan alone.”

“Alone? She’s not alone. I’m with her. And you have to call Nina-chan’s guardian, too.”

“She has a job and she seems to be busy every day. So I’ll go with you.”

“Alright. Then, let’s go together.”

The teacher said so and turned on her heel with Nina-chan in her arms.

I exhale as I watch her back.

It’s not right.

I have been feeling a sense of discomfort that I can’t put into words since that moment when I met the teacher in that “closed world”.

That’s why I’m doing this, to resolve that feeling of discomfort.

As the three of us walked to the infirmary together, I released the guide thread silvate to the teacher.

It was like a fisherman dropping a fishing line into the sea.

If nothing is wrong, then nothing is wrong.

If that’s all there is to it, then so be it.

For ordinary people, there should be no problem with touching the guide thread silvate.

But the teacher who was walking ahead of me said.

“Whoops!”

She turned around and avoided my guide thread silvate at the same time.

But even though she evaded me, my silvate was still out.

I quickly pulled it back and reached for her.

“It’s no use. Kisaragi Itsuki!”

However, my guide thread silvate was drowned out by the black guide thread silvate extended by the teacher.

…… What the hell was that?

I gulped.

I was shocked to see a magic I’d never seen before.

The teacher spun her words in a matter-of-fact manner toward me, who was shocked by the magic I had never seen before.

“I thought I did well….. Hmm? I guess we’ll find out.”

Same voice, same face as the teacher.

But the teacher in front of me opened her mouth with a completely different language.

…… I knew it.

I involuntarily click my tongue inwardly.

The worst part is that the strange feeling I was having was right.

“When did you notice? Itsuki Kisaragi.”

I know that some monsters possess humans and avoid detection by the exorcists.

They are cunning, cowardly, and vigilantly waiting for an opportunity to get stronger.

I’ve exorcised these kind of monsters with Renji-san.

And the teacher is being possessed by such a monster right now.

“…… just noticed it, sensei. No, monster.”

“Monster. That’s a better name than “demon,” “

The monster shrugged its shoulders and asked.

“By the way, may I also ask why you noticed it, for future reference?”

“Because you’re supposed to be a teacher and there’s no way a normal person would say that they’ll take Nina-chan to the infirmary with a normal face after all that had happened.”

“I thought I was being a dependable teacher.”

“That’s not normal.”

“I see. Human beings are difficult to deal with.”

The monster laughs in the form of our teacher.

While in her hand, holding Nina-chan.

“I need you to let go of Nina-chan, please.”

“If I let her go, you will exorcise me.”

“Yes.”

“So I don’t want to.”

But I kneaded the guiding thread sylvate without waiting for the monster’s reply.

A quick shot of magic that I got from the application of “alchemy”.

Just as I was about to pull out the monster inside the teacher with it, the teacher grabbed Nina-chan by the neck, who was still unconscious.

“Don’t do it, Kisaragi Itsuki. I’m just like you, I can see…”

Then the monster laughed.

“You want to give it a try? Let’s see who can achieve their goal first, you or me.”

“True Eyes” holder!

I braced myself.

I had to brace myself.

Whether those words were true or false, I couldn’t use magic badly anymore.

No, no.

Even if I used magic, I would be blocked by that black guiding thread silvate.

The monster that possessed the teacher is a monster that knows what I don’t know about magic!

“The fact that you insisted on going to the infirmary with me and then got behind me is a sign that you’re an exorcist, even if you’re a young one. But there is no way that I would turn my back on you without being prepared.”

When the monster said that, an eyeball appeared on the teacher’s cheek.

The eyeball moved quickly and crawled all over her body.

But its pupil never takes its eyes off me.

“Well, this is a show-and-tell demonstration. I’m actually doing a little better than that.”

With that, the teacher’s eyes disappeared.

“How long have you been inside her?”

“Since the very start.”

The teacher laughed.

“I thought you’d make a good hostage if you looked Nina in the eye. I wasn’t wrong. I don’t know what you can do for me. I was a little chagrined when you brought Raikou-douji back to life in the “closed world” I created, but I’m glad I solved that one early on as well…. I wouldn’t stand a chance in a head-to-head fight with you.”

“What is your purpose?”

“Oh, three things: First, to see what you can do with my own eyes; second, to steal the tattooed monster’s magic; and third, to pick the buds of young exorcists.”

The monster counted off its fingers as it spun its words in an indifferent manner.

“I have achieved the second of these. I understand that I can’t beat you, and I’ve also managed to eat the magic of the ‘fifth rank’ monster. If I eat 25 more bodies magic power, I will be able to join the ranks of the Sixth Rank. This girl will be my food for that.”

I’m not going to let you do that.

As soon as I set up my silvate, I suddenly realized something.

So I released my posture.

Then, I made the monster turn its attention to me so that it would not notice me.

“Hey, I want to ask you a question. If you were possessing the teacher from the beginning, were you the one doing the school work?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Surely I’ve been handling the business.”

“If that’s the case, didn’t you know? Nina-chan’s house has a strict curfew.”

Instantly, a mass of magic power slams into the teacher from behind.

Boom!

With a sound like a human being hit by a car, the monster leaps out of the teacher’s body.

The figure looked like a rotten slime.

At that moment, the guiding thread silvate, which I released with a quick shot, snatched Nina-chan out of the teacher’s hands.

I had seen this on YouTube a long time ago.

I was told that there is a fishing technique in which a huge stone is smashed against a stone in the river to stun the fish.

I wonder how long she’d been there.

Irena-san came out of the school building with a bloodied face, looked at me and asked quietly.

“Is Nina all right?”

I silently showed her Nina-chan, who I had with me.

And, hoh, Irena-san let out a breath of relief, and then relative to the rotten slime that had popped out of the teacher’s body.

I think so.

She really does like Nina-chan too much.

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