The evil of ignorance

The three of them arrived outside a house at the foot of the mountain. It had no proper windows, only barred ventilation openings in its side wall.

"My lords, um... the village chief was injured by the imprisoned monster a few days ago... so he couldn't come to welcome you... but the monster really is in this house..." the middle-aged man explained, bowing slightly with a deeply servile air.

"No matter. You need only accompany us inside." Sakurada Niji slipped into character, imitating the aloof exorcist he imagined.

"Ah... my lord... um... perhaps I should stay outside... I wouldn't want to interfere with your exorcism..." The middle-aged man's expression changed dramatically, panic spreading across his face. He clearly did not want to follow the two "exorcists" inside to watch.

"If you don't want to go in, then don't. Go gather everyone in the village. We have something urgent to tell you." Suguru Geto gave the man his instructions with a calm expression.

"My lord... that's..." The middle-aged man hesitated, seemingly unsure whether he could get everyone to come.

"You've been having frequent shoulder pain lately, haven't you?" Suguru Geto said with certainty.

Before the middle-aged man could answer, Suguru Geto gave a slight wave of his hand, releasing cursed energy to exorcise the weak cursed spirit on the man's shoulder.

"What?! My lord!... I'll go right away!"

The moment Suguru Geto exorcised the cursed spirit on his shoulder, the middle-aged man felt the weight lift from it. Shock crossed his face first, then turned to reverence as he realized what had happened. He bowed to Suguru Geto and hurried straight back to the village to notify the villagers.

"Where did you learn all that...?" Sakurada Niji looked stunned. Suguru Geto's acting was frighteningly good. Just now, he had looked exactly like a charlatan.

"That's simply human nature. Besides, that man was ignorant. A little display was all it took to turn him into a believer," Suguru Geto explained, though Sakurada Niji did not understand.

"...When did you start studying human nature...?" Sakurada Niji was puzzled.

"Honestly... weren't you the one who reminded me?" Suguru Geto sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead. His two closest friends were always like this: one never bothered to learn common sense, and the other kept forgetting his own words.

"Haha..." Sakurada Niji patted the back of his head and gave a dry laugh.

He remembered now: their conversation when they introduced themselves on the first day of school. But he had never expected his words to affect Suguru Geto so deeply that he would start studying human nature...

"Are you ready for this, Geto?" Sakurada Niji asked, resting a hand on the door.

"Yeah." Suguru Geto took several deep breaths, mentally preparing himself.

With a creak, Sakurada Niji pushed open the old wooden door. A strange smell drifted out through the opening. The room was so dark that they could not make out anything inside with their naked eyes.

As the door opened, sounds came from within, seemingly the scraping of chains against one another.

Suguru Geto walked straight inside and headed toward the back. Sakurada Niji said nothing, following slowly behind him.

At the back of the room stood a wooden cage, with two girls around five or six years old imprisoned inside. One had black hair, the other brown. Each had a shackle around one ankle, with the other end of the chain fastened to a wooden post of the cage.

"Don't be scared. We're here to save you. Sorry... we're a little late..." Suguru Geto forced down his anger and gently reassured the two girls in the cage.

"Don't be afraid... we're just like you. We can see those monsters." Sakurada Niji crouched before the cage, kneeling on one knee to meet the girls' eyes as he quietly explained.

"Really...? Can we really trust you...?" The little brown-haired girl gathered her courage and approached the edge of the cage, asking the two men with a glimmer of hope.

"People who lie to children go to hell." Sakurada Niji swore to the two little girls, then stood and stepped forward, using Cursed Technique Reversal to destroy the lock on the cage.

"Niji, I'm stepping outside for a moment." Hearing footsteps gathering outside the room, Suguru Geto spoke to Sakurada Niji and turned to leave.

"Geto, I trust you," Sakurada Niji said without turning around, his back to Suguru Geto.

Suguru Geto paused, then walked out of the room with a faint smile.

"All right, I'm coming in to take those chains off your ankles. Don't be scared," Sakurada Niji told the two girls softly.

"Okay, I trust you..." The little brown-haired girl seemed to believe Sakurada Niji. She smiled at him and willingly held out her shackled foot as he entered the cage.

"Mimiko... don't be scared..." Instead of looking at her own ankle, the little brown-haired girl reassured the black-haired girl named Mimiko, who was huddled in the corner.

"So her name is Mimiko. What a lovely name. And may I know your name, brave little girl?" Sakurada Niji gently cradled the blonde girl's ankle, slowly cutting through the shackle with [Thread] as he spoke to the brown-haired girl, trying to ease her nerves.

"My name is Nanako Hasaba..." The brown-haired girl, Nanako, stared blankly at Sakurada Niji. She felt strength returning to her body, and the injuries from her beatings seemed to have stopped hurting.

"All done." Afraid of accidentally hurting her, Sakurada Niji cut slowly, taking nearly a minute to slice through both sides of the shackle.

"Thank you..." Nanako got up and bowed to Sakurada Niji, then went over to Mimiko, who was still frightened in the corner.

"Mimiko, don't be scared. He really is a good person..." Nanako hugged Mimiko and gently comforted her.

"Okay... waah... I understand..." Mimiko burst into tears in Nanako's arms.

"Make sure you don't move," Sakurada Niji instructed softly as he lifted Mimiko's ankle.

Now that he had the hang of it, Sakurada Niji finished cutting in less than half a minute. Finally freed from their restraints, the two little girls clung to each other and sobbed.

Sakurada Niji did not disturb them. He simply left the cage in silence.