Volume 2, 1: Monster of Justice

Volume 2, Chapter 1: Monster of Justice

Exorcist Society Monitoring Department.

It was a special department within the Exorcist Society that protected people from spiritual disasters. And it was also a department that exorcists feared.

After all, the department’s main duty was to monitor and supervise all exorcists in the nation, especially exorcists who belonged to the Society.

There existed exorcists who abused the unusual powers they were endowed with, involved themselves with higher-order spiritual existences or criminal organizations that harmed people, used their abilities in ethically questionable ways… The monitoring department cracked down on all cases of psychic power misuse and in some cases, dealt with such problems before the public even became aware of them.

In other words, it was a self-cleansing organization that protected both the order and image of the Exorcist Society.

Due to its role in also cleansing the Society itself, the department was considered to be a very politically important organization in the Society. As a result, the "Nine Old Families" who held tremendous influence over Japan’s exorcism industry always maintained a certain percentage of all positions in the department for those related to the family by blood.

These reasons meant that the monitoring department’s members tended to be highly skilled and gave the organization a fearsome reputation among many exorcists.

"Excuse me, Master."

Inside a room with a slightly grungy ceiling and walls and a pile of papers that looked like they were about to collapse at any moment.

Magical artifacts laid scattered around on the floor and were labeled with stickers like "Evidence" and "Confiscated Item", giving the room an ominous feeling.

A girl with a strong-minded aura and hair styled into side tails stepped into the monitoring department director’s office. She seemed to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, an age when most would still be in school for training. Despite that, the shining badge on her chest indicated that she was an official member of the monitoring department.

"Oh, you’re here. No, wait, I thought I told you to address me by ‘director’ when we’re here."

A translucent woman in the room greeted the girl in a languid voice.

"I’m sorry. I still haven’t gotten used to it yet… so, what is it that you want me to do?"

"Ah–, right, about that…"

Compared to the young girl who seemed full of energy, the eyes of the monitoring department director looked like those of a dead fish as she waved her finger. Several sheets of paper gently floated out from the pile of papers and landed into the girl’s hands.

"I need you to monitor this guy."

As soon as the girl’s eyes fell on the photos and she skimmed through the brief profile of the target for monitoring printed on the documents, her face suddenly tightened. Astonishment, confusion, and even a hint of anger crossed her face.

After observing those changes in the girl with a motionless gaze, the monitoring department director continued,

"You’ve probably heard a bit about him. He’s a member of the newbie team of students who exorcised a sixth-rank."

"…yes."

Monster A of Shinonome city. Often referred to as the woman who runs away from boobs.

A sixth rank monster that appeared roughly a week ago.

At first glance, it seemed to be a joke of a monster since it attacked random people on the street for something as silly as an aggravated complex about its breasts. However, the monster was so dangerous that it had even wiped out a professional team of veterans.

At that time, everyone wondered how many people would become victims before the Twelve Heavenly Masters arrived and grimly resolved themselves for the tragic scene that would await them… however, a team of unknown students who hadn’t even received their temporary license yet prevented such a scene from ever occurring.

The target for monitoring this time was the student who had exorcised the sixth-rank.

"Although we still have no details on his ability, there’s no doubt that it’s powerful enough to exorcise a sixth-rank in a single blow, something that even we can’t do easily. It’s obviously a problem to have someone so powerful appear out of thin air, however… that’s not the main problem."

"…I see. Does this mean that the crazy rumors are true?"

However, the girl furrowed her eyebrows unhappily when she saw that the monitoring department director who usually spoke easily was reluctant to say anything this time.

More had been said about the student’s exorcism of the sixth-rank than just the exorcism itself.

For example, his exorcism ability which defeated the sixth-rank was apparently quite a vulgar one.

The girl even heard some say that during the exorcism, Monster A of Shinonome city almost looked like it had been made to come. Come.

Since rumors by their very nature tended to become rather exaggerated, the talk about coming and whatnot should naturally be taken with a grain of salt. However, it seemed to be true that some kind of perverted ability had been used to exorcise the monster.

The monitoring department doing what it was doing right now was the best evidence for that.

"Well, it’s something like that. Therefore, your job this time is to keep an eye on that student so he doesn’t abuse his ability and ruin the Society’s reputation. I do feel like there’s something fishy about this guy, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Kuzunoha’s involved with him."

"……"

The girl’s expression became even uglier when she heard Kuzunoha, the name of the first of the "Nine Old Families".

"It’s possible that Kuzunoha has been deliberately concealing the surveillance target’s ability. After all, despite the fact that she should be quite busy as the Kuzunoha Family’s heiress, some have told me that she’s interfering with our attempts at direct monitoring. Very fishy."

"That… certainly seems suspicious. Please let me be his monitor."

The girl’s cheeks were stiff as she spoke to the monitoring department director.

Feeling a little uncomfortable about how eager the girl seemed to be, the monitoring director tried to confirm with the girl who was her subordinate and favorite disciple.

"Are you sure? You were recommended for this since the monitoring target will be less wary of you. However, being a monitor means that depending on the circumstances, disposal of the target will sometimes be necessary. Naturally, you’ll be the one carrying it out. Soya Misaki and the target also seem to be quite close with each other–"

"There’s absolutely no problem."

The girl forcefully cut off the monitoring department director as she asserted so.

She angrily crumbled up the document printed with a photo of her surveillance target–Furuya Haruhisa.

"Because I hate Kuzunoha and I hate the monitoring target!"

After spitting out those words, she quickly left the room, perhaps to get ready for her new job.

"…well, it would be good if that’s the case."

The monitoring department director sighed then mumbled to herself,

"Nevertheless, a vulgar ability that can exorcise a sixth-rank huh… although it’s not in the records, there’s no way right…"

The room returned to silence as she became alone once again and began working on her next task.

_______________________________________________________________

It was twilight. The time between day and night. On the roof of a building overlooking a crowded street.

"Aw, shoot, looks like I came to check on you a little late. The monitoring department’s already made their move."

A girl muttered those words to herself regretfully as she gazed up at the darkening sky that was beginning to give way to night.

She was dressed in a worn-out high school uniform. White legs stretched out from underneath her short skirt. A stuffed animal key chain could be seen dangling from her school-assigned bag.

The way she placed a hand on her cheek which had a small heart painted on it while pouting her lips gave her a somewhat mischievous aura.

However, she looked so cute and adorable that nobody would have cared about such a trivial thing. She pouted with puffed out cheeks despite there being no one around to see her and stretched her legs over the edge of the building’s roof, dangling them in the air.

"Well, well, I wonder what I should do? Now that the monitoring department’s involved, the ones ‘with parts’ won’t be able to move around so easily… I guess for the time being, I’ll try using a monster servant to confuse them a bit."

She peered down at the hustle and bustle far below.

"Alright, let’s see who’s the most suitable candidate for becoming a monster of the ‘justice’ everyone seems to loves so much."

She smiled like an innocent child and narrowed her eyes as if she were searching for prey. Twin orbs glowed in the night with a suspiciously inhuman light.