My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! - Volume 10 - Chapter SS

Unclean

Seishin City in H Prefecture was a designated health care city with a population of about five hundred thousand. Placed between two major cities, it sprang up during the construction of a travel route between them. Bordering both the ocean and mountains, it was overflowing with scenic beauty and had been a popular location for the wealthy to build their homes since the late 19th century. Due to the strong influence of Western culture on Japan during that time period, many of the mansions there were built in a Western style.

There was one such mansion built a small distance from the city. Currently uninhabited, it had gained a reputation for being haunted. Normally, people would stay away from a haunted house. Any ordinary adult wouldn’t even consider going there. But children were different. Whether it was curiosity, testing one’s courage, or dating, children would often mistake recklessness for courage and approach extraordinarily dangerous places.

“Hey, let’s not do this.”

It was evening. Four children were walking a short distance out of town. Their objective was to inspect the allegedly haunted mansion. A particularly brazen boy walked at the front of the group. A more serious boy wearing glasses was a short distance behind him. Taking up the rear were two girls, one bored and uninterested, the other nervous and fidgeting.

“Okay? We’re going to be middle school students this spring. Should we really be doing something so childish?”

“Really? My sister is in university and she always goes ghost hunting.”

“That’s for a totally different reason though, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s fine if you don’t understand. That just means you’re still a kid.”

“It’s not like there are actually ghosts there. It just feels like it.”

“But abandoned buildings are still dangerous.”

“Because of the broken glass and stuff? That’s why we have gloves.”

“That’s not what I mean. Delinquents and homeless people hang out in abandoned places like that. They’re a lot more dangerous than ghosts.”

“But we’ve already come this far...” Faced with a concrete danger, the boy in the lead hesitated. However, perhaps luckily, they hadn’t made it so far out of the city as to be outside the reach of civilization. The roads were still paved, there were still street lights, and the city was only a short walk behind them. Truth be told, though it was called a haunted house, it was really just a slightly older building.

Following a little used road, they quickly made it to their destination. In front of them was a huge, two-story mansion built in a Western style.

“It doesn’t really feel abandoned, does it?”

“Yeah...it looks old, but it’s not in bad shape. Maybe we shouldn’t go in...”

The children hesitantly approached. And then they noticed it.

There was a figure in the second floor window. They could see a faint shadow in the glass of the dark room. Something was there. And it was clearly looking down at them.

With a scream, the children ran away as fast as they could.

◇ ◇ ◇

“I feel like this house stands out too much...” Yogiri Takatou murmured as he watched the children flee.

“I was told no one came to this run-down place...” Asaka Takatou said at his side. As a staff member of the Independent Higher Order Life Form Research Institute, her primary responsibility was raising and educating Yogiri.

“But it’s only been a few days and we’ve already seen how many people?”

“Yeah...I told them it would be better to just live in town.”

When Yogiri had enrolled in school as a fifth-grade student, he had moved into an ordinary house in the city. After the incident with the Cult, staying in the city had proved difficult, so he had returned to the Institute, and now he had moved here. It had been a year and a half since the autumn of that incident. His classmates had witnessed his power. While it wasn’t especially clear that it was Yogiri who had done something, they couldn’t risk sending him to the same school like nothing had happened.

The Institute had no issue transferring him to another school right away, but the incident had clearly shown how lacking their investigative and protective operations had been. As such, they had spent some time making more in-depth preparations. Luckily, Yogiri had already finished the elementary school curriculum while studying at home. There was no need to force him back into an elementary school, so with his approval, he was sent to a middle school this time.

That spring, he had moved to Seishin City in H Prefecture to attend school. The Institute had prepared this home for him and his guardian, Asaka.

“If we lived in the city, the Institute wouldn’t be able to help much if something happened, apparently,” Asaka said.

“I’ll be at school, though, so I don’t think it makes a difference.”

“I guess so. If someone attacks the school, it’ll be a pretty big deal.”

Considering Yogiri’s past, that was hardly out of the question, but there was no way they could simply lock him up again. With Yogiri himself saying he wanted to go to school, the Institute had no choice but to expend every effort to grant that wish for him.

“By the way, why this city, of all places?” Yogiri asked.

“The old facility was no good anymore, so they moved it here.” There was another mysterious underground space located here, so they had decided to make use of it. The Institute researched many dangerous individuals besides Yogiri. In order to accommodate them without risking encounters with society at large, they locked them away in a huge underground space. Yogiri was technically one of their research subjects, so they wanted him as close to the facility as possible. Yogiri himself had no intention of running wild, and generally went along with the Institute’s requests.

“Wouldn’t it be smarter to make people think that someone is living here?”

“Yeah...I think I’ll tell my boss that.” Asaka wasn’t fond of her home being used for children to test their courage either.

◇ ◇ ◇

A week after Yogiri entered middle school, life was moving on without issue. Doing what he could to avoid getting too close to any of his classmates, he kept up amicable relationships with the people around him. He thought that was best. While it was a little sad, anyone he got too deeply involved with would likely get dragged into the chaos of his situation.

With that in mind, it may have been better for him not to go to school at all, but Asaka thought it was too dangerous to raise him without any connection to society at large. The Institute had also decided that, whether they liked it or not, it was best to instill in him the identity of a Japanese citizen. As a result, Yogiri was forced into a rather delicate situation.

“A haunted house?”

“Yeah, my friend said she went there and saw something. Wanna check it out?”

“That sounds stupid.”

After class was over, Yogiri overheard a conversation. Curious, he turned to watch. The one giving the invitation was Mari Matsushima. The one who seemed opposed was the class representative, Ichiko Mita.

“Hey,” Yogiri called out to them. Though he wasn’t supposed to get too deeply involved with others, that didn’t mean he couldn’t talk with anyone. That would have made school pointless. “That ‘haunted house’ is probably where I live.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Of course. There’s no such thing as haunted houses.”

“You live outside the city, Takatou?”

“Yeah, on the north side.” Yogiri gave them his general address. It lined up perfectly with Mari’s so-called haunted house. “So if you could, tell your friend that someone’s living there. We don’t like people always daring each other to come to our house.”

“You see?” Ichiko chided her friend. “Your dumb courage tests and occult research are causing problems for people.”

“Huh. But still, I heard there was an accident there.”

“Hey, don’t be so rude! He just said he lives there!”

“An accident? I don’t think there was anything like that.” Yogiri tilted his head. Although it was an old mansion, there were no signs of fire or other serious damage. He couldn’t think of anything that pointed to evidence of there being an accident there in the past.

“Apparently, someone died there. Some noble used to own the house, and some family trouble ended up turning bloody. It doesn’t really matter if someone lives there; there could still be ghosts.”

“Are you sure? I’ve never seen a ghost there.” It was true; he had never seen a ghost at that particular house. He had seen plenty of strange things elsewhere, though. “Also, whether they were nobles or not, if you go back far enough you could probably find stories of people dying in any house, don’t you think?”

“You’re causing problems for Takatou, so give it up,” Ichiko interjected again.

“Well, if someone’s living there, there’s no point in going—oh! If that’s your house, Takatou, does that mean your family is rich?”

“Hey! What’re you saying? That’s totally rude!”

“No clue,” Yogiri answered. “I have no idea how much money we have.”

“I always thought you were super rich. How much is your allowance?”

“Would you just leave him alone, Mari?!”

“What’s wrong? We’re friends. Asking about his allowance is normal.”

“Friends? You’ve barely ever talked to him.” Ichiko sighed. Yogiri was also a bit taken aback by suddenly being called her friend. He’d never felt that way about her.

“I don’t get an allowance. When I need something, they buy it for me.”

“What?! That’s like having unlimited money, isn’t it?! Okay, I’m definitely Takatou’s friend, then!”

“Are we friends? We haven’t talked that much.”

“We’re classmates, right? That makes us friends.”

“Oh, okay. But yeah, stay away from my house.” It might have been normal for kids to play at their friends’ houses, but he wanted to avoid that. Getting any more involved with him would cause problems for them.

“Okay...I get it. I’ll go ghost hunting somewhere else.”

“Why do you care about ghosts so much?” Yogiri couldn’t help but ask.

“I know there’s probably no such thing, but what if there is? What if there are supernatural things out there? I think it would be interesting. Don’t you think a world where we can explain everything is so boring?!”

“I think a world where we can explain everything logically would be more peaceful. And either way, there are still plenty of things science can’t explain yet.”

“There’s plenty of interesting stuff besides the occult, right?” Ichiko clearly didn’t approve of Mari’s interest in the subject.

“I’m allowed to like what I like, aren’t I?”

“Yeah. Do what you want.” As long as she didn’t come to his house, Yogiri didn’t care.

“Oh, that’s right. Have you heard of Lady Shirokubi?” Mari suddenly changed the topic.

“Nope.”

“What about you, Ichiko?”

“No, but what’s with the sudden change of subject?”

“Oh, I just thought with the two of you here, it was perfect. It’s a pretty common ghost story. Its name sounds like ‘white neck,’ right? So that’s what it looks like. Everything from its neck up is all white. And it chases you forever. Uhh, it started when someone went ghost hunting at a grave somewhere and it followed them.”

“Come on. Your story is so sudden, and you suck at telling it, so it’s not scary at all,” Ichiko said, feeling like Mari was trying to make fun of them. Yogiri also got the feeling it was just a vague, unfinished story.

“Yeah, it was scarier when I first heard it...but whatever! So! Lady Shirokubi shows up to attack anyone who hears the story! If you don’t tell it to two or more people, she shows up and kills you!”

“What is this, a chain letter?”

“Huh? You’re not scared?”

“I don’t know what’s even supposed to be scary. Did Lady Shirokubi show up for you? Judging by your story, she should have visited you already,” Yogiri asked.

“No. I was hoping she would, but not yet.”

“Then it would have been better if you didn’t tell us, right?”

“Oh.” It seemed she hadn’t been thinking about the chain of fear at all and had just thoughtlessly followed the instructions of telling people the story.

“All right, let’s put a stop to it here,” Ichiko said. “Don’t tell anyone else about this, Mari. You neither, Takatou.”

“Okay, I won’t.” Yogiri didn’t really understand the appeal of ghost stories. There was no way he’d go out of his way to spread stories like that.

◇ ◇ ◇

After parting ways with Yogiri, Ichiko and Mari continued home. The two girls were childhood friends, living in the same apartment building.

“I’m glad Takatou isn’t an idiot like the other boys. They’re all so childish, but he seems more mature.”

“Yeah, though I don’t think you’re one to talk, Mari.”

“Why?!”

“Talking about occult stuff all the time doesn’t make you look that smart, you know.”

Mari sighed. “You don’t get it, do you? Being cynical and making fun of everything makes you look more childish. You need to be more passionate about something!”

“Maybe if it was something else, but ghost stories and urban legends?” Taking a step back and looking at things objectively, an honors student like Ichiko could see the logic behind what Mari was saying, but that didn’t make Mari’s obsession with the occult look any less childish to her.

“Then forget about the courage test stuff. It’s normal enough to go play at a friend’s house, right?”

“Huh? You mean Takatou’s house?” Ichiko was caught off guard by the sudden change in topic, something that happened often with Mari.

“Yeah! It’s like a huge mansion, right?”

“Give it up. You’ll just cause problems for him.”

“What?! It probably has like a dungeon under it, don’t you think?!”

“I’m not sure why you would even want to see something like that, but if there was, I doubt he’d let you see it.”

“Really? I don’t think he’d care that much.”

“Even if Takatou doesn’t mind, his family won’t like you seeing things like that.”

“But you know what they say. If you want to get the general, start by shooting his horse!”

“What do you mean, ‘but’? Is Takatou the horse, then?”

“That’s right! If we can conquer Takatou, his parents will be easy to get to!”

“Why do you need to go that far, though?”

“Hmmm...it seems like there’s a lot to be gained from being friends with Takatou...”

“Don’t make friends just to make a profit.”

“It’s not just about that—” Mari’s voice suddenly cut off and she turned around.

“What’s wrong?”

“I felt something strange behind us. No way, is it Lady Shirokubi?!”

“Definitely not. It could be a pervert or something, though...” Ichiko had never seen someone like that herself, but she had seen a lot of news about people like that on the community bulletin board. It was best if they were careful.

“Hmm. I don’t mind if it’s a ghost, but I don’t want any perverts following us.”

“Not that I’d expect either of them to show up in broad daylight like this.” Ichiko turned around and looked just in case. As expected, there was nothing there. Mari was likely just attributing special meaning to nothing since she thought about the occult so much. She turned back to say that, but froze. On the road in front of them was a person with a ghostly pale face.

Huh?

Before she could get a good look, the person disappeared.

“What’s wrong?” Mari hadn’t seen anything. A girl like her would have made a huge uproar after seeing something like that.

“Nothing.” Ichiko decided she must have been seeing things after all of Mari’s weird stories.

◇ ◇ ◇

Although Ichiko thought it was all in her imagination, just seeing things after hearing so many weird stories from Mari, the more times she saw it, the harder it was to write the image off as a mistake. Ichiko saw the suspicious figure with the stark white face numerous times. On the other side of the train crossing. On the sidewalk opposite her. In the glass windows of the stores she walked by. It was hard to tell what the figure was since it was rather far away, but there was definitely something there.

For some reason, only Ichiko could see it. Despite walking with her to school every time, Mari didn’t seem to notice anything. If it was just something odd she was seeing, it could be left at being an unpleasant experience that she could ignore. But the figure was getting closer. As it approached, its bizarre nature was getting clearer and clearer. It didn’t have a face. The apparition took all sorts of forms, always wearing different clothes, sometimes a man and sometimes a woman. The one thing that always stayed the same was that where the face should have been, there was only a blank white space.

Ichiko didn’t believe in ghosts or the supernatural. She thought that once someone died, that was it for them. She didn’t believe in anything that violated the laws of physics. But then, what was she seeing? Realistically, she could only think it was something in her head, in which case, she should head to a hospital.

But she couldn’t ask her parents or go to a doctor. She didn’t believe it was just a hallucination. If it were, her whole grasp on reality would crumble. She had to believe she was seeing something real.

Day by day, she was getting worn down. The apparition hadn’t caused her any direct harm, but the mental stress was causing her to lose sleep and robbing her of her appetite.

“You don’t seem so good lately. Are you okay?” Mari asked. Class had ended without Ichiko realizing it. Maybe because she wasn’t sleeping well, she often lost track of time.

“It’s your fault!” Ichiko shouted, surprising even herself. She didn’t believe in the supernatural. There was no way what was happening was Mari’s fault, so there was no point in blaming her. But she was at her limit. “Please...help me...”

She was well past keeping up appearances.

◇ ◇ ◇

“What should we do...?”

Mari, Ichiko, and Yogiri were talking in a park near the school. With them were Akina Yokoyama and Ririno Araki, friends of Mari who shared her interest in the occult.

“This is so weird! I was the one who told you about Lady Shirokubi, right?! Why is this happening now?!” Akina shouted at Mari. She didn’t know what they were supposed to do if the ghost started appearing.

“It looks like once you hear from someone who actually saw it, you start seeing it yourself...” After hearing Ichiko’s story, Mari had eventually also begun to see the white-faced apparition. At first she’d been thrilled, but her delight didn’t last long. It was an ominous, uncanny feeling, watching the ghost slowly approaching her. Once it reached her side, she couldn’t imagine things would end well. Most likely she would be killed. She was almost certain of that.

So Mari had asked Akina if she knew how to deal with the ghost, at which point Akina had also started to see it. Now, they could see what looked like a woman in a white robe standing about ten meters away. Her face was smooth and featureless like an egg shell, and she did nothing but stand there.

“Umm, does that mean now that you’ve told me about it, I’m going to start seeing it? I feel like I’m being caught in the crossfire here.” Yogiri seemed taken by surprise.

“Sorry. Ichiko saw it after I told her about it, so I thought you might be involved too...”

“But I’m not. How long did it take you to start seeing the ghost after hearing about it from Mita?”

“About a day.”

“But I didn’t hear about it from anyone,” Ririno added. She had also started seeing the ghost, but Mari thought Akina had only called her here to ask for advice.

“Really?”

“Yeah. So I don’t think it has anything to do with talking about it. Maybe the curse is contagious just from being around people who saw it?”

“Sorry. I was always interested in the occult and the supernatural, so I wanted to see something, but I never thought something like this would happen...”

“What the hell are you saying?!” Ichiko shouted. “This started happening because you told me that stupid story! Take some responsibility!”

But there was nothing Mari could do. “That’s easy to say, but none of us ever thought it would actually happen!”

“Okay, okay, let’s calm down.” Ririno was relatively calm compared to the others.

“Do you know anything we can do, Ririno?”

“Yeah. In times like this, you should leave it to a professional.”

“You mean like an exorcist? I don’t know any.”

“You probably heard about him too, Mari. We have a senior who lives at a temple. According to the rumors he’s really spiritually strong and can even see ghosts. Of course, there’s no way he’d play around with us if we’re just messing with the occult. But I thought if we told him we’re actually cursed, he might give us some advice, so I called him.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. He said he’d come today—”

“What is that...”

The group turned around at the sound of a voice coming from behind them. A boy was standing there, wearing the uniform of Seishin High School. He must have been the senior Ririno had mentioned. Mari had only heard rumors about him, so she didn’t know much.

“Umm, are you Terashima?”

Ignoring Ririno’s question, the boy dropped to his knees and vomited.

“Looks like things are already going wrong...” Ichiko was disappointed.

“But that means he can tell you’re actually possessed, right?! I’m sorry, but we need your help!” Mari was desperate.

“You’ve gotta be joking. There’s no way I can handle something like this,” the boy said, lurching back to his feet.

“But we have no idea what to do!”

“There’s nothing I can do on my own! You need people and preparations!”

“So, you’ll help?!”

“Yes! If we don’t do anything, it’ll be a disaster! Luckily, you still have some time. Come back to the temple with me!”

“Uhh, but...” Mari hesitated. While it was true they were in trouble, she wasn’t sure she could trust this high school boy she had never met before.

“Don’t come, then! See if I care!”

“Okay, we’ll go! We’ll go, so help us!” They didn’t have any other choice. She decided to rely on him. Ichiko, Akina, and Ririno all agreed.

“Okay, I’ll be going home,” said Yogiri.

“Takatou?!” Mari was shocked. She had been sure Yogiri would go with them.

“If you don’t come, you’re on your own,” Terashima said, clearly having no intention of forcing him to come along.

“I haven’t seen anything, and I know some people from a temple as well. It’s a good idea to look into other ways to fix this too, right?”

“Okay; be careful.”

“Yep. I’ll probably be pretty surprised if I see the ghost, though.”

“I don’t think it’ll end with you being surprised...”

Even in this situation, Yogiri marched to the beat of his own drum.

◇ ◇ ◇

Mari and the other girls had gathered at a temple in the mountains some days later. They had been let inside the temple proper, and had been enclosed within a ring of sacred rope. Around them was an array of Buddhist altar equipment, though Mari didn’t know exactly what they were for.

“Seems like this is getting serious.”

Around them was a ring of monks chanting. In addition to the Buddhist monks, Shinto priests and even Christian ministers had gathered to prepare for Lady Shirokubi’s arrival. There were even more people outside the temple hall, making additional preparations.

Lady Shirokubi always approached slowly, disappearing once she was noticed. Every time she appeared, she got closer and closer. Yesterday, she had appeared right at Mari’s bedside, staring down at her with a blank, featureless face.

Mari had a feeling the next time she saw Lady Shirokubi would be the last. She didn’t know if it was actually the Lady Shirokubi from the ghost story. It seemed a little different from the story she was familiar with, but it was an easy name they could ascribe to the apparition. They couldn’t just call the ghost “it” all the time.

They heard a crash come from somewhere before the whole temple began to rattle. Mari could tell instinctively that something terrifying had arrived.

It was starting.

The moment Mari thought that, something flew through the paper sliding door towards them. The object plowed through the altar implements and crashed into the Buddha statue inside the temple. It was Terashima.

“U-Umm...”

It seemed he was alive, but he lay motionless on the ground.

They could hear screams from outside. The sound of something being crushed, or maybe ripped apart, echoed repeatedly. Mari had assumed that being cursed by Lady Shirokubi would end up with them getting sick or suffocating, something far more plain or quiet. But then the roof of the temple was torn away, revealing a jarringly beautiful night sky. Rather than something vague and mysterious like a curse, this was just physical destruction. The people outside were being thrown around, and the temple itself was being destroyed.

It was a massacre.

The white-faced figure was slowly approaching. Those who tried to stand in its way were crushed, twisted, ripped apart, and scattered. Nothing worked against it. The Buddhist chants, Shinto prayers, crosses, vajra, khakkhara staffs, swords, spears, and guns were all equally useless.

Mari’s composure was easily shattered. Without a clue what she could possibly do, she just clung to her friends.

The figure moved like it was walking through an empty field. What chance did the monks have of stopping it? She didn’t know at this point, but it was clear nothing else was working.

It was getting closer. It made its way into the remains of the now unrecognizable temple. If it had really wanted to, it could have killed them all in an instant. But it seemed to be determined to get close to them first. It would only kill them when it was directly beside them.

The monks positioned around them stood their ground, determined to fight until their last breath. But as if to laugh at their resolve, the apparition brandished its power, slaughtering them effortlessly.

“Someone...help...”

With no one left to protect them, Mari squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t bear to watch her certain death approaching. But no matter how long she waited, nothing happened. Not seeing what was happening, keeping her eyes closed was only making her fear grow stronger.

Finally, she timidly opened her eyes. Lady Shirokubi was nowhere to be seen. Maybe the ghost had hidden, hoping to scare them further. That was Mari’s first guess, but no matter how long she waited, the apparition never reappeared.

◇ ◇ ◇

It suddenly appeared in the corner of Asaka’s living room. It was a woman in a white robe, with a blank white face, standing a few meters away from Asaka herself.

“Looks like it starts the same distance away from you as the person you caught it from.” Despite the obviously bizarre situation, Yogiri was calm.

“It seems uninterested in spreading its curse,” said Dougen, a monk in a black robe. He had once been involved with Yogiri’s village in the past and had been called here by Yogiri to deal with the bizarre situation. Having a monk show up out of nowhere was a bit of a shock to Asaka, who wished things had been explained to her beforehand.

“Looks that way. If it really wants to spread its name around, it would make more sense to have a bit of time lag,” said a third voice. For some reason, a woman in a flashy kimono and fox ears had come along with Dougen. That was far more perplexing than the monk, but Asaka had no choice but to accept it.

“That must be why news of such a powerful apparition hasn’t gotten out yet,” Dougen commented. Lady Shirokubi killed all of those who were cursed at the same time. Since everyone related to the incident would die, information about the apparition wouldn’t spread.

“I’ve seen lots of things show up in front of Yogiri, but this is really...evil, isn’t it?” Asaka felt like the best description of the ghost was “white darkness.” The ghost’s face looked like a hole in space, revealing an empty white void. It was something that shouldn’t be perceivable by humans. The more one tried to understand it, the more confused one became. No good could come from staring at such a thing.

“Dougen, do you have a way of dealing with it?” Yogiri asked.

“I didn’t expect it to be this powerful. It will be difficult with what I have on me.” Dougen was standing on guard with a string of prayer beads in his hands.

“How about you, Miss Fox?”

“This is outside my specialty. You can’t just punch something like this, can you?”

“So that fox lady is a physical fighter, huh?” Asaka asked, pointing out something that really didn’t matter in their current situation.

“That’s right. My specialty is punching, kicking, and biting. Should I give it a try?”

“It’s fine. I’ll do something about it. That’s okay, right, Asaka?” Yogiri must have hoped Dougen and the fox would be able to handle the figure, but it was starting to look like he was the only one who could resolve it. Asaka didn’t like Yogiri using his power, but it didn’t seem like they had any other options.

“I guess it doesn’t look safe to punch it, so we don’t have a choice.”

With Asaka’s permission, Yogiri stepped closer to Lady Shirokubi. Its presence seemed to waver. It must have been taken off guard by someone approaching it without any fear or hostility. As Yogiri reached out and touched it, the apparition dissolved.

“Huh? That’s all?” Asaka was taken aback. It all seemed too easy.

“Well...anyone who tries to kill the boy dies like that. It doesn’t matter how powerful a youkai you are.”

“Oh, I guess you’re right. So, are the kids in his class going to be okay now?”

“Looks like things are pretty rough for them.”

“Really?” Yogiri seemed uneasy. They had been planning to head over to the temple themselves when Lady Shirokubi had suddenly appeared in their house.

“Your friends seem fine, but Dougen’s pals are lying all over the place. There’s an awful lot of blood.” The fox had an underling watching the temple, so she could keep an eye on what was happening there.

“Will those girls be okay? It sounds like they’ve been through a traumatic experience.” Yogiri’s brow furrowed as he recalled the incident with the Cult.

“Should we erase their memories?” the fox asked.

“You can do that?!” Asaka blurted out. She didn’t think it would be that easy.

“Of course. It’s a problem for people like me to be seen by humans, after all. When that happens, we just erase their memories of us, so it’s like it never happened.”

“‘Just’ erase them, huh?” Being able to do something that impressive so casually made Asaka wonder who this fox lady really was, but she decided it was better not to ask.

“That said, I can’t do much about all the squashed people. Can you handle that, Dougen?”

“Very well.” Dougen and the fox stepped out of the house. The temple in question was located in the mountains nearby, so it wouldn’t be a long walk.

“But seriously, what the heck was that?” Asaka asked. Ichiko Mita hadn’t broken any taboos. All she had done was hear a story from someone, which didn’t seem like it did anything in and of itself. But once one person had seen the figure, anyone who got close to her was also cursed. Asaka had no clue what the trigger for the situation had been. It all seemed nonsensical.

Then again, I guess Yogiri is even worse...

She didn’t know how powerful this ghost was, but Yogiri had erased it effortlessly. Though it was nice that things would be peaceful again, it was hard to think they could just leave things as they were. Since nothing had happened recently, Asaka had unconsciously put it out of her mind, but Yogiri’s power was terrifyingly dangerous.

Luckily, though the ghost was dangerous, erasing it hadn’t had much of an impact on the world. But if something or some group with a stronger influence on the world attacked Yogiri, what would happen if he fought back against them?

I don’t really want to think about how much damage that could cause...

All she could do was pray that no one would recklessly attack Yogiri from there on out.