Kays Translations

Chapter 10: The Aftermath of the Winner

As I ascended the stairs of the Kamirazuki family's residence, my mother rushed over, looking worried.

"Itsuki, are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine. Nothing happened."

"That's a relief..."

I smiled and assured my mother, who let out a sigh of relief.

"You shouldn't overwork yourself too much," 

"Mm..."

After being scolded, I replied quietly, acknowledging her concern.

While I understood her worries, I had no intention of pushing myself too hard. I just wanted to move forward.

Besides, the job wasn't that different from what I usually did.

To be honest, both my mother's excessive worry and my feeling of being overly anxious were unnecessary.

But I wouldn't say anything to discourage her concern because she cared about me.

While I was lost in my thoughts, Akane-san arrived from inside the building.

"Hey, Itsuki. How was your first job?"

"It wasn't that difficult, to be honest."

"I see. You had plenty of energy left. That's what I heard," 

She said, glancing at the man in black behind me.

I turned around to see the older brother in black bowing his head.

I had been with him the whole time, so he hadn't had a chance to talk to Akane-san. 

I was a little surprised, but then I remembered that during the previous "Shichi-Go-San" ceremony, Akane-san somehow knew that I had purified the monsters. She probably had some kind of magic that allowed her to know.

Honestly, Akane-san was a rather eerie presence.

The head of the "Kamiarizuki" family, responsible for gathering the exorcists together.

In the world of exorcists where male superiority remains strong, she, despite being a woman, reigns at the top with her strength.

She uses magic that regular exorcists don't, such as the purification talismans and measuring the total amount of magic power. She also knows when and how monsters have been exorcised, making her truly an enigmatic person.

"Kaede, I'll transfer the reward to Soichirou's account, is that alright?"

"I have an account for Itsuki's school fees, so please transfer it there."

"School fees? Well, do as you like."

In the midst of their conversation, my mother casually mentioned "school fees," which surprised me.

What kind of school fees could they be? Perhaps for university?

"Now then, Itsuki. What do you think? Would you like to take on the next 'job'?"

"Yes, if it's an easy one."

"Haha. You're being honest. That's good."

Saying that, Akane laughed heartily.

As she laughed, Hina-chan came running over to me.

"Niichaa!"

"Ah, Hina! Wait a second!!"

Hina rushed over to me with Nina-chan chasing after her.

While Aya-chan does a good job skillfully controlling Hina, Nina-chan seemed to be swayed around by her. Perhaps it was just my imagination.

Ignoring the struggling Nina-chan, Hina happily told me, 

"Guess what! Nina-nee-chan did something amazing!"

"Amazing? What did she do?"

"She hid something in the ground!"

"In the ground?"

I didn't quite understand what Hina meant, so I asked, and she turned to Nina-chan with a smile.

Suddenly called out, Nina-chan pouted a little and said, 

"It's not that big of a deal. I just used 'Shadow Sending'."

"Oh, I see. It's the first time Hina's seen it, right?"

'Shadow Sending' is a restraining magic that makes a fairy possess the opponent and swallow them into their own shadow. The duration of the restraint depends on the difference in power... or rather, the difference in magic power.

For weak monsters, they would be swallowed and unable to come out until an exorcist releases the magic. It's a powerful magic.

Regarding the "Shadow Sending," when the magic is used, the opponent's shadow sinks into a bottomless swamp. If you see it for the first time, it definitely looks like an impressive magic. It's flashy and eye-catching.

In contrast, I had seen 'Shadow Sending' being used by Nina-chan and Irena-san.

I wasn't too surprised.

But just to humor her, I gently patted Hina's head.

Nina-chan, who was curious, asked. 

"It was your first time doing it alone, right? Were you nervous?"

"Yes. I was really nervous. But when I tried it, it was surprisingly easy."

I answered Nina-chan's question, and Hina quickly jumped onto my back for a piggyback ride.

"If it's a second rank pawn, it's easy for Itsuki, right?"

"Maybe. But I think it would be easy for you too, Nina-chan."

That's certainly my honest opinion.

That's because Nina-chan is an excellent exorcist, except for when she hyperventilates in front of monsters.

At this point, she is already summoning and commanding multiple fairies such as Pixies and Leprechauns, and she can also summon other offensive fairies.

If she prepares before fighting a monster, I think she won't lose to any ordinary monster.

The reason why Nina-chan can perform such feats is simply because she is a "Fourth Rank" magician, which means she possesses a large amount of magic power. If you think about it this way, it's only natural that magicians who are unaware of how to increase their total magic power would consider talent to be everything in this world.

"Oh, that's right."

I remembered something while thinking about it, and I had to ask Akane-san about it.

I turned to face Akane-san while carrying Hina on my back.

"Akane-san, do you know about 'Actors'?"

"Actors?"

Akane-san frowned as if she had never heard of it before.

"Today, the monster I exorcised mentioned that the increase in monsters in Japan is due to the Actors."

"Fumu... 'Monsters' that call themselves 'Actors.'"

While pondering this, Akane-san put her hand in the pocket of her shrine priestess outfit and took out her smartphone.

She then started searching for something.

She really doesn't seem like a typical shrine priestess.

"No, nothing comes up. 'Actors,' you said. Do you know anything about it?"

However, as she said that, she looked at the older brother in black standing there. He who had been behind me the whole time quietly shook his head.

"Um, I don't know either."

"I see. I'll have Tsukishima look into it then."

"I understand. I'll contact him."

"Umu."

Tsukishima is a branch of the "Kamirazuki" family. They are responsible for gathering information about monsters.

Unfortunately, it seems that the information is not digitized, so it takes some time to investigate something. I think it would be better if they just digitized the data... but I guess they have their reasons for not doing so.

"However, is it true that 'Monsters' are creating other 'Monsters'..."

Akane-san said that and looked at Nina-chan for a moment before raising her head.

"We should also investigate this matter. Leave it to us."

As I let out a sigh of relief, I wondered why Akane-san was looking at Nina-chan... and I thought about it.

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