Book 6: Chapter 4: Part 1

Heres another chapter today sponsored by Patreon, enjoy~Part 1

I was able to get permission for Kaori and the others who were still asleep to rest at the shrine, so I took advantage of the hospitality and carried everyone to bed.

So? What was that all about earlier?

After putting everyone to bed, I was interrogated by the shrine maiden like that.

Um I dont even know what that thing was either

Youre lying. You must have something to do with it, right? Otherwise, it wouldnt explain your power to defeat the monster earlier.

Even if you say so

When asked if that has anything to do with me, it seems that the monster is an evil beast that is a corruption of the evil from the other world, so I cant say that it has nothing to do with me. However, I have no idea why such a being appeared on this Earth.

For a moment, I thought that the door to the other world in my house might be the reason why it came out of there. Still, it would have to break through the mysterious barrier covering Sage-sans house in the other world. More importantly, Night and Ouma-san would have noticed it though Ouma-san would likely have left it alone.

With that in mind, the shrine maiden, who once again wore a serious expression, opened her mouth.

I dont know exactly what, but there is a presence of evil in you, too. So, I will exorcise it.

Eh?

The sudden offer made me shout in a distracted voice.

Do you mind? I dont know if youre aware of it or not, but I can feel the same evil presence in you as in that monster. So if I dont exorcise it right now, youll be in trouble again.

Eh, no, thats

Hey, is this woman trying to make me disappear? said Kuro.

The shrine maidens words made Kuro, who was inside me, panicked. Certainly, the evil beast was extinguished with that talisman, and it may be effective for Kuro as well.

Um, Its not like Im.

Its okay! For now, take off your clothes for the exorcism.

Why?

I opened my eyes to the shrine maidens sudden request. Eh, taking off my clothes?

I was confused, but the shrine maiden frowned unhappily.

Can I? In order to exorcise that evil presence, we need to borrow power from the holy air that floats around the world. So, the more skin you expose, the easier it is for the holy spirit to enter. Thats why Im telling you to take off your clothes because theyre in the way. seaʀᴄh thё novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Eeeeeehhh?

Yuuya! You should never take off your clothes! said Kuro in a hurry.

No, Im not taking my clothes off!

Why not? I said, take them off!

The shrine maiden finally took a hard line and tried to pull my clothes off! I know shes trying to be nice, but I dont want Kuro to be exorcised, and I dont want to take off my clothes either.

Im stronger than her, but if I resist with all my might, I might injure the shrine maiden, and more importantly, my clothes will tear.

W-what should I do with this?

Oh, geez! Stop your useless resistance!

N-nooooo! Help meeeee!

Yuuya-san, what is going on here?

Huh!

When we were startled by the unexpected voice, Kaori was glaring at us with fierce eyes.

Yuuya-san who is that woman over there? And why is it that Yuuya-san is undressed?

Kaori was about to say that much, but she seemed to recognize my current appearance once again, and her face gradually turned red.

Ka-Kaori! Its a misunderstanding; its a misunderstanding!

T-thats right! Its not like Im doing anything wrong!

The shrine maiden and I rushed to clear up Kaoris misunderstanding. Then Kaori, who managed to regain her calm after resolving the misunderstanding, looked around again.

By the way where are we? We were supposed to have come to test our courage

In response to Kaoris reaction, I couldnt help but look at the shrine maiden, who also had a puzzled expression on her face. No way, does she have no memory of meeting that evil beast?

Then after Kaori, Kaede, Rin, and the others woke up, and everyone was confirmed to be safe. However, none of them seemed to remember anything about the evil beast.

Seeing the reaction of Kaori and the others, the shrine maiden quietly approached me.

It seems that everyone doesnt remember anything about that.

Y-youre right.

Phew I would really like to ask them some questions, but they dont seem to know much about that monster either, so theres no need to tell the rest about it. Im worried about what it might do to their body later, but Ive never seen anything like it before, and theres nothing I can do about it. Well, Ive been attacked in the same way, and theres nothing physically wrong with me, so I think everything will be fine

Certainly, considering the fact that everyone suddenly fainted, it would be better to think of some kind of effect.

For the time being, I checked the condition of everyone with the [Identification] skill, but I didnt see anything strange.

Its okay. Anyway, if you learn anything from this, dont try to test your courage again; just leave quietly.

Thats all the shrine maiden said as she turned to leave.

W-wait, please!

What?

When I hastily stopped her, she looked at me with a slightly unhappy expression. But, undaunted by such a gaze, I opened my mouth.

Um, Im sorry about this And thank you for letting Kaori and the others rest here.

I dont mind, thats about right. But next time, you should be a little more careful.

Yes well be careful.

As we were about to leave, the shrine maiden unexpectedly called out to us.

You!

Huh? I-is it me?

Yes.

The shrine maiden looked at me closely and asked quietly.

Whats your name?

Eh? Oh, Im Yuuya Tenjou.

Fumu Tenjou, right?

As the shrine maiden muttered that to confirm, I couldnt help but ask her.

Um, and you are?

Mai Kagurazaka.

Shrine maiden-san, or Kagurazaka-san said and turned her back on us once again.

And then

I have a feeling Ill be seeing you again at some point.

Huh?

Well then.

That was all Kagurazaka-san said, and this time she left. After that, we went back to the cottage quietly and went to bed immediately.

The next day, we made it back to our hometown safely.

Well, the beach was fun!

Y-yeah. It was fun to play with everyone.

Though we were a bit confused when we were suddenly asked to help Sawada-senseis family!

Thats true. I was more surprised about meeting Sawada-sensei at the beach.

She was boing boing.

Yu-Yukine-chan?

Rin murmurs with a wry smile as she recalls her memories of the beach.

Even so the fun time flies by so fast.

Thats right I had a lot of fun playing with you guys too! Thank you very much!

That should be our line, you know!

Yeah. Thanks to Houjou-san, we were able to play with all our might like this.

R-really? If you say so, its worth inviting everyone!

But now that the beach is over, the summer vacation will continue for a while. Can we go out again somewhere?

When I suddenly suggested this, Kaedes eyes lit up.

Thats good, lets play, lets play! Ive already finished my summer homework, after all!

Thats because I took care of it for you.

Thank you very much for the help, hehe

So, whats next, a summer festival?

Oh, a festival! That sounds great.

Yeah, yeah, yeah! Then lets have a festival next time!

So, after promising to go to a summer festival, we parted ways this time.

Then I went straight home too

Im home!

Woof!

Youre back, welcome home.

Buhi buhi!

Mmm? You finally returned. Now, prepare the food. Im starving.

Night and the others greeted me.

In the past, it would have been hard to imagine. Playing with friends and having someone welcome you home like this.

While enjoying such happiness, I prepared food for Night and the others. But as I prepared the food for them, I kept thinking about something.

What is that monster the evil beast? Ive heard that its an incarnation of evil

Whats more, how can it cross into this world?

I asked Ouma-san about something that had been bothering me.

Um, Ooma-san

What is it? Im hungry now. Go ahead and make me some food! I want to eat curry!

Y-yes.

I was going to ask him about the evil beast that had crossed into this world, but as I was busy preparing the meal, I missed the chance to ask him.