What Era Is It, Still Writing Traditional Diaries

Yotsuya Miko also felt it was acceptable.

After all, being able to say goodbye to those dirty things for two days a week and not having to maintain such a tense state of mind was enough for her to catch her breath.

Besides, who knew, if she continued to increase the Diary's permissions in the future, she might one day find a way to permanently shut off her Spirit Vision?

But at that moment, Little Bocchi, who had been timidly afraid to speak beside her, seemed to have thought of something.

She hesitated for a long time, and seeing that everyone seemed to think this was the best solution, she nervously rubbed her hands together, as if wanting to express her opinion but not daring to speak up.

This anxious look was immediately noticed by Little Umaru next to her.

"What's wrong, Little Bocchi? Are you feeling unwell?"

She asked with concern.

Shinomiya Kaguya glanced at Little Bocchi, then turned to Yotsuya Miko, her eyes questioning.

Yotsuya Miko knew she was asking if she had seen anything around Little Bocchi, and quickly shook her head, "No, everyone around is quite clean."

Meanwhile, Little Bocchi, being stared at by a group of people, felt her heart pounding almost to its limit.

But she glanced at Yotsuya Miko beside her and, suppressing her nervousness, spoke her thoughts in a voice barely audible.

"Ah... um, if those things can't see the Diary, then maybe taking out the Diary when encountering them would have an effect..."

This was a new way of using the Diary she had discovered after starting high school.

Being socially anxious, she didn't dare interact with anyone in her new school and new class.

Whenever someone approached her to strike up a conversation, she would take out the Diary and start flipping through it.

By utilizing the fact that others couldn't see the Diary and would rationalize the actions of the Diary holder when they were holding it, she was always able to smoothly get by.

Although this method was still just avoidance and couldn't solve her social anxiety at all, it was indeed very effective.

That's why she immediately thought that perhaps this method could also be used to deal with those vengeful spirits.

It had to be said, Little Bocchi's perspective was indeed very novel.

The girls present only had to think for a moment to realize that this method of using magic to defeat magic seemed highly feasible.

After all, since obtaining the Diary, they had all had experiences of taking out the Diary in public to test it to some extent.

As long as they weren't doing anything particularly eye-catching while holding the Diary, it would absolutely not attract anyone's attention.

The only question was whether those vengeful spirits and demons could see the Diary.

To be honest, they all naturally trusted the magical Diary in their hands, which likely came from a higher-dimensional being, a little more.

Yotsuya Miko even had a rare desire to proactively approach those vengeful spirits and demons to test whether Little Bocchi's guess was correct.

Little Umaru happily patted Little Bocchi's shoulder, "Well done, Little Bocchi! I didn't expect your mind to work so fast!"

The other girls also praised Little Bocchi one after another.

Little Bocchi, who had rarely been praised since childhood, felt as if she were about to fly, and a lewd smile involuntarily appeared on her face.

Chapter 61: The Truth Behind Beika Town's High Crime Rate?

However, Yotsuya Miko did not try it right away.

After all, they were all going to eat together later, and if she accidentally attracted another demon to herself, then everyone would probably have no appetite.

Therefore, Yotsuya Miko finally expressed her sincere gratitude to Little Bocchi and everyone else. She even expressed her gratitude to the mysterious person who had delivered the Diary to her.

Today, she learned what she had missed due to a misunderstanding that had lasted half a month, realized her identity as the protagonist of a horror manga, joined the Diary Enthusiasts Club chat group, met a group of friends with whom she could share her hardships, and even found a potential solution to her troubles.

"Although I have no special abilities other than being able to see those things, if you ever need help in the future, I will definitely do my best!"

Little Bocchi didn't say much, fidgeting, but the other girls were already considering whether to invite Yotsuya Miko to their homes someday to check if there were any unclean things in their houses.

Although the saying goes that it's better not to see than to see, now that they knew ghosts and monsters really existed in this world, they felt uneasy if they didn't check.

Meanwhile, Kasumigaoka Utaha started complaining about the mysterious person again.

After all, it was precisely because the mysterious person's first diary entry was so misleading that Yotsuya Miko, who could see strange things, only dared to open the Diary for the second time today.

"When I first read the Diary and saw what that bastard, the mysterious person, wrote, I was really fooled by him and spent a long time debating whether to respond."

"From that moment on, I already felt that the mysterious person who wrote the Diary must have a very malicious personality. He basically does one good deed and then messes with our minds."

The "us" that Kasumigaoka Utaha mentioned currently only included herself and Shinomiya Kaguya; the other Diary holders seemed not to have experienced the mysterious person's wrath much yet.

She was juggling novels, manga, and anime, and was basically dragged out and criticized every few days.

Shinomiya Kaguya, with her desire to become a photographer and her "Little Kaguya" state today, was not to be outdone.

If anything, Hoshino Ai could also be counted, but Hoshino Ai's personality made her feel no pressure at all. She even treated the mysterious person as a fan because of a single sentence: "I've seen your videos."

As for others, like Yotsuya Miko and Katsura Kotonoha, they were given well-intentioned reminders without much malice.

As for Little Bocchi...

Thinking of this, Kasumigaoka Utaha felt a little jealous.

That kind of doting affection, like an old father, was almost overflowing!

Mysterious person, do you like this little socially anxious girl that much?

Why can't you just do that for me?

After a round of internal complaints, Kasumigaoka Utaha, whose chest ached with anger, felt her resentment towards You Know Who rise another level.

Although the day had seen its share of twists and turns, it had ultimately concluded on a relatively satisfactory note.

The only regret was that they still hadn't discovered where You Know Who had been spying on them from.

That evening, after everyone enjoyed a lavish dinner at Kaguya's residence and took a group photo, the Diary Enthusiasts Club's first offline gathering officially ended.

Of course, there was still another segment afterward, though it wasn't suitable for a large group.

This segment involved inquiring about the hidden world from the Shitamachi Godmother they had met that afternoon.

When the Shinomiya Family's bodyguards found the Shitamachi Godmother disheartenedly packing her bags to return to her hometown, they brought her back to the Shinomiya residence with Shinomiya Kaguya's approval. She was currently waiting in the side room for Shinomiya Kaguya's summons.

After a quiet discussion among everyone, Yotsuya Miko, who possessed the highest-level Spirit Vision, naturally stayed behind. This would also allow them to verify the truthfulness of the Shitamachi Godmother's words.

Incidentally, concerned that the socially anxious Little Bocchi might encounter any trouble, Shinomiya Kaguya specifically instructed Hayasaka Ai to personally escort Little Bocchi home.

As everyone else departed, Shinomiya Kaguya glanced at the somewhat uneasy Yotsuya Miko, reassuring her slightly before having someone bring in the Shitamachi Godmother.

Upon seeing Shinomiya Kaguya and Yotsuya Miko, the Shitamachi Godmother immediately surrendered, stating she would reveal everything she knew.

Her judgment wasn't wrong; Shinomiya Kaguya was indeed a big spender, and a rare super-spender in her life, the kind who could easily crush her.

After all, who would have thought that a daughter of the renowned Shinomiya Family would come to this secluded shopping street on a weekend!

There was no use for her usual smooth talk with someone of this caliber. Moreover, with Yotsuya Miko, who likely possessed Spirit Vision, by her side, even if she wanted to deceive them, she probably couldn't. It was better to be honest with them.

Perhaps by doing so, she might even gain some benefits.

As for the rules of the hidden world?

Yotsuya Miko, possessing Spirit Vision, had already stepped into this world. As for Shinomiya Kaguya... she could feel a much stronger life energy emanating from Shinomiya Kaguya than from an ordinary person. It was likely that with a little guidance, Shinomiya Kaguya could smoothly become a proper exorcist.

Besides, a zaibatsu of Shinomiya's level must have heard something about these matters. Otherwise, this young lady wouldn't have so confidently brought her to her home.

Therefore, the Shitamachi Godmother quickly made her decision and began explaining the truth of this world to the two girls.

Regarding ghosts and spiritual perception, what the Shitamachi Godmother said was no different from what You Know Who had mentioned in the diary.

Those with spiritual perception could see, hear, and feel the existence of ghosts. The stronger one's spiritual perception, the more they could see.

For example, the evil spirit that appeared beside Yotsuya Miko that afternoon; Yotsuya Miko could clearly see its appearance, hear its voice, and feel the stench emanating from it.

The Shitamachi Godmother, on the other hand, could only vaguely see a mass of black shadow and feel nothing else.

Of course, the Shitamachi Godmother's explanation for this was that she was old, and her spiritual power had greatly declined, now only at less than thirty percent of its peak.

However, after seeing Shinomiya Kaguya's gaze, which seemed to pierce through one's very soul, she could only tell the truth.

Even at her full strength, she could barely be considered a second-rate exorcist.

Both her master who introduced her to the path and a disciple she later took on had much better aptitude than her.

At this point, the Shitamachi Godmother shook her head with some helplessness, "Originally, with my strength, even with the decline in my spiritual power, it would still have been sufficient in the past."

"But for some reason, starting about ten years ago, this world began to change."

"High-level vengeful spirits that I wouldn't encounter in several years have been emerging one after another in recent years. Especially around Beika Town, it's almost become a gathering place for high-level vengeful spirits. Even if ordinary people can't directly interact with them, those high-level vengeful spirits still have some psychological impact on people, causing the crime rate there to increase over the past decade."

"What's more, those people at Sorcery Headquarters are using the excuse that the situation with those vengeful spirits is stable and they don't actively attack people, so they have no intention of dealing with the trouble. If this continues, in a few more years, Beika Town might even breed a Special Grade vengeful spirit."

Chapter Sixty-Two: So I wasn't brought here to entertain everyone?

The Shitamachi Godmother's words revealed something significant.

"Beika Town? I remember that mysterious person who writes the diary mentioned in the diary not to go near Beika Town if we didn't have to. So it's actually a gathering place for vengeful spirits?" Yotsuya Miko whispered to Shinomiya Kaguya beside her with a sigh.

She had just read the diary that afternoon, so the contents were still fresh in her memory.

You Know Who's explanation was that it was the place where the protagonist of a detective manga, which had been serialized for decades, lived, which was why various bizarre murder cases frequently occurred.

She hadn't expected that the influence of those vengeful spirits was also involved!

Yotsuya Miko immediately patted her chest. According to the Shitamachi Godmother, it was almost a gathering place for vengeful spirits. The thought alone was terrifying.

It was fortunate she hadn't gone there these past few days.

Shinomiya Kaguya, on the other hand, was more concerned about something else.

What was that Sorcery Headquarters?

The Shitamachi Godmother also quickly explained to the two girls.

Most of them, these exorcists, were self-taught, without any proper lineage or inheritance, and had few methods for dispelling evil. Besides brute-forcing with spiritual power, the rest was just trial and error.

Sorcerers, on the other hand, were exorcists with long lineages and mastery over various sorceries who referred to themselves as such.

However, when mentioning this, the Shitamachi Godmother paused and added, "But if we're being precise, the power used by Sorcerers is indeed somewhat different from the spiritual power possessed by us exorcists, so they call their power 'cursed energy' and look down on us exorcists."

Sorcery Headquarters was an official organization formed by the major families among the Sorcerers, serving as one of the institutions responsible for managing and monitoring abnormal events throughout Japan. Due to the significant increase in vengeful spirits over the past decade, this institution had also experienced considerable growth.

Of course, currently, there were fewer than a thousand people in all of Japan who could be called exorcists, let alone elites like Sorcerers.

Even if Sorcery Headquarters wanted to expand on a large scale, they had to consider the issue of manpower.

As for the Shitamachi Godmother, although she, a second-rate exorcist, had lived quite comfortably, she lost her former ambition due to an accident over ten years ago. Later, due to the decline of her spiritual power, she could only stay put in her small shop in the shopping district.

Most of the time she would trick people, and occasionally she'd show kindness and help those who truly needed it. In short, she avoided getting involved in troublesome matters.

Regarding matters of the Sorcery Headquarters, she mostly learned about them from people she knew in the past.

"I originally thought that the magical artifacts I made during my peak, even if they couldn't expel the current evil spirits, could at least drive them away and protect you from their influence for a short time," the Shitamachi Godmother sighed as she looked at Yotsuya Miko.

"But times have changed too quickly. If this continues, the chaotic era from a thousand years ago, where humans and spirits danced together, might return. It's best for an old fossil like me who can't keep up with the times to return home and farm as soon as possible."

As the Shitamachi Godmother revealed everything she knew and her speculations, Shinomiya Kaguya had already taken out her diary and begun recording.

The legends of monsters passed down through human history were not entirely false.

It was just that the closer it got to modern times, the more the monsters faded away.

In the Shitamachi Godmother's era, a second-rate exorcist could thrive.