Uesugi Tetsu drew his gaze back from the window. At some point, a light drizzle had begun to fall outside.
By common sense, no one should have been able to appear outside a third-floor window. Nor should he have been able to see what was outside while keeping watch on the hallway.
But there were always people in this world who refused to play by the rules.
For example, the Wet Oni floating outside the window, its entire body dripping wet, its curves especially prominent.
Or Uesugi Tetsu, who had drawn Hundred-Eyed Demon's Single Eyeball.
[Hundred-Eyed Demon's Single Eyeball]
[Quality: Fine]
[Use One: Equip it onto a Demon Incarnation]
[Use Two: Use it directly, occupying one equipment slot. If there are not enough equipment slots when used, it will continuously consume the user's Spiritual Power.]
[Current Equipment Slots: 1/1]
Hundred-Eyed Demon's enormous eyeball was incredibly useful.
Not only did it grant excellent eyesight, it could also move freely and rotate its field of vision within a radius of roughly fifty meters centered on him.
The eyeball's concealment effect was also quite impressive. The fact that the Wet Oni still had not noticed she was being watched was proof enough.
The drawback, however, was that a second image with a different perspective would suddenly appear before his eyes.
As a result, Uesugi Tetsu could use it only while standing still. The moment he started moving, he felt inexplicably nauseated, as if he were suffering from motion sickness in a 3D game.
As for Use One, there was no way to test it for now.
"Is this Wet Oni an Onmyoji's Shikigami?"
Hearing footsteps clearly approaching him through the corridor, Uesugi Tetsu could not help but put on an expression of fear.
Before he could reason any further, the footsteps stopped outside the door.
Uesugi Tetsu also took a suitably deep breath and tightened his grip on the spiked wooden club under the Wet Oni's silent gaze.
Then, the instant the door was pushed open, he roared and unleashed the Tortoise Club Technique!
"Get out of my way!"
Under Uesugi Tetsu's "terrified" gaze, a rough, broad hand caught the wooden club with ease. Right behind it came a burly body that seemed almost capable of bursting through its police uniform.
Yet atop that physique, which could have belonged to a bodybuilding champion, was a sunny young man's face that looked completely out of place.
"A ghost! A ghost!"
"Frightened," Uesugi Tetsu dropped onto the floor.
But then, as if remembering something, he put on a show of bravado and shouted, "I won't let you pass!"
The bodybuilding youth sighed helplessly. With practiced ease, he took an ID card from inside his suit jacket and held it up before Uesugi Tetsu's eyes.
--[Special Police: Hasegawa Ken].
"A police officer?"
Uesugi Tetsu lowered his spread arms and said blankly.
Hasegawa nodded at him, flashed a toothy smile, and said, "Leave the rest to me." Then he asked:
"Sister Nanjō, where's the other one?"
Before Uesugi Tetsu could answer, a cold voice came from the radio on Hasegawa's chest:
"He's lying behind that boy in front of you. Also, remember to use my title while we're working."
Uesugi Tetsu's pupils contracted.
There was no doubt about it. This "Sister Nanjō" was the master of the powerful Wet Oni outside the window!
Hasegawa said, "Got it, got it, Younger Subordinate Lord."
With that, he patted Uesugi Tetsu on the shoulder. "If you've still got the strength, carry your friend on your back and leave with me."
"Officer, I still have a few more friends..."
"Don't worry. Someone else will take care of them."
The moment he finished speaking, the Wet Oni drifted silently into the room through the window, sending a chill down Uesugi Tetsu's back.
Shikigami counted as people too. Nothing wrong with that.
As an ordinary person, Uesugi Tetsu remained silent for quite some time under the combined gazes of Hasegawa and the Wet Oni. Only then did he rally himself, pat his cheeks, and "laboriously" hoist the unconscious Ririko onto his back.
His first impression after carrying Ririko was that she was awfully bony.
She was not particularly heavy. Uesugi Tetsu merely suspected that he had somehow gotten the front and back mixed up.
Before long, the group reached the outskirts of the abandoned campus.
A minibus sat there with its hazard lights flashing, parked in accordance with traffic regulations.
Uesugi Tetsu asked hesitantly, "Officer... don't you think this is a little strange?"
"What part is strange?"
"It has been raining the whole time, but we haven't gotten wet..."
Hasegawa said, "This rain was made by Miss Hiyori Bō. They say it brings good luck."
"Hiyori Bō?"
Before Uesugi Tetsu could finish voicing his confusion, a palm-sized Teru Teru Bozu in a pale blue dress slowly flew toward him, then lightly landed on top of his head and sprawled there.
At once, he felt a gentle warmth rise from within his body.
Hasegawa looked astonished. "Miss Hiyori Bō is usually very timid. She normally hides whenever she sees a stranger."
"That means he has the potential to become an Onmyoji."
It was the woman's voice from the radio!
Uesugi Tetsu instinctively raised his gaze.
What entered his view was an adult woman with an expressionless face and her arms crossed over her chest.
Her neat, sharp short hair, meticulous attire, and employee ID hanging from her chest all made it clear that she was an office worker who had spent many years on the front lines of the workplace.
It was just that the curves of her front armor were a little too eye-catching. Her black tie had been maliciously bent, and even the white shirt beneath had been stretched taut. The second button strained as if it were constantly crying out in agony.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Nanjō Emi."
She did not extend a hand out of courtesy. She merely said, "You're safe now."
A tremendous sense of security washed over them.
Even Uesugi Tetsu relaxed all over and lost his strength, nearly dropping Ririko.
After standing there in a daze for two seconds, Uesugi Tetsu finally gave his name.
Nanjō Emi nodded. "Get in the car."
The minibus had been modified. It had few seats inside, but an unusually spacious interior.
Other than the driver's and front passenger's seats, there was only a row of connected seats in the back. After laying Ririko flat inside the vehicle, Uesugi Tetsu climbed in.
He stared at the skirt barely covering the girl's body, then glanced at the rearview mirror that offered an unobstructed view of the back seats. He also looked at the Wet Oni sitting by the trunk and the Teru Teru Bozu atop his head.
After thinking for a long while, he still chose to take off his jacket and cover her with it.
She had grown up. He should at least leave her some privacy.
"Uesugi, your mental fortitude is truly impressive." Nanjō Emi, sitting in the front passenger seat, praised him after seeing this. She took out a laptop. "Would you mind telling us what happened?"
The minibus continued slowly through the night for some time.
After clicking "Save," Nanjō Emi closed the document. She took a deep breath, making the employee ID hanging from her chest rise and fall. "I understand what happened now. We'll take your statement later. Get some sleep, and forget everything that happened today."
"I assure you, everything is fine now."
Hearing Nanjō Emi's assurance, Uesugi Tetsu stared at Ririko, who had somehow turned completely upside down, with her head and feet reversed by a hundred and eighty degrees, using his thigh as a pillow.
"What about that Ouija Board?" Uesugi Tetsu asked. "There was something very wrong with it."
"It was probably deliberately circulated by the Friendship Club..."
Nanjō Emi instantly realized that she had said the wrong thing. She shook her head. "What happens from here on has nothing to do with you anymore, Uesugi."
"How could it have nothing to do with me?"
The one who said this was not Uesugi Tetsu, but Tokugawa Ririko, who had opened her eyes at some point.
Ririko held her hand in an empty grip before her chest, as if the pendant that had hung around her neck were still there. "Whether it was Kumamoto, Aofuji, or Takahashi, they were all my friends..."
"It is too dangerous."
For the first time, Nanjō Emi interrupted someone. She stared expressionlessly at Ririko. "Ordinary people should not come into contact with these things."
"But we should at least have the right to know." Ririko's face remained expressionless, but her tone was dejected. "At the very least, I don't want to say nothing when their parents ask me why."
"I'm sorry."
Nanjō Emi's voice remained utterly emotionless, like a robot capable only of giving formulaic replies.
A great deal of repeated experience had taught her that simply apologizing and saying nothing was the best choice in situations like this. What she had just done had already been a serious professional blunder.
Ririko's fists clenched.
"My employee number is 2-009-xxx."
Nanjō Emi lowered her head slightly and skillfully handed over a photocopy of her employee ID.
"If you have any complaints or suggestions, you may file a complaint against me tonight at the Special Affairs Division of the police station after giving your statement. Our staff will provide you with a response within three working days."
Seeing that the atmosphere was about to turn ugly, Uesugi Tetsu had an idea. He poked the palm Ririko was holding in the air. "Tokugawa, what have you been holding in your right hand this whole time?"
"Oh, this is a kendo pendant. It isn't useful for anything..."
Before Ririko could finish speaking, she realized that her hand was actually empty.
The pendant was gone.
The girl opened and closed her mouth, and the dam holding back the word "kendo" in her heart came crashing down.
Her little face visibly flushed red. Then she curled up, trembling all over as she hugged Uesugi Tetsu tightly around the waist and cried out:
"I thought that terrifying Brahma was going to eat me! Waaaah!!!"
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