CH 127

Return 3

In a dimly lit alleyway, I look at a foreigner with a gun standing in front of me.

He was about the same age as me, maybe in his early thirties.

His hair is lightly pigmented blonde, and he is wearing a black suit and coat while twirling his gun and smoking a cigarette.

It was too foreign, or rather, it was clearly a violation of the Firearms Act.

However, a mere handgun can’t harm me in the slightest, so I decided to step forward and approach him carelessly.

There’s no guarantee that it’s a real gun yet, but judging by the smoke coming out of the muzzle, I’d better check it out.

If it was a real gun, I would have to call the police to arrest him.

Then, as I got a little closer, the man pointed his gun at me as if he wanted to target me.

I wonder if this guy was a psycho.

“What’s this, Japanese, you want something from me?　　Oh, don’t come any closer. I can smell something bad coming from you. I’ll shoot you if you get any closer.”

No, no, no!

You’re the one who’s bad here.

I was tempted to say something like that to this foreign-looking guy, but it wouldn’t solve anything, so I ignored his advice and moved even closer.

There is a little bit of fear of having a muzzle pointed at me, but to be honest, it’s not as much pressure as the fangs of a wyvern or the breath of a Demon King.

My spirit is also tough.

“Can’t you stop this? Well, now that situation turned like this. Please don’t resent me. I don’t have a grudge against you. But I will not refrain against bad guys.”

The man who seems to have judged me as an enemy pulls the trigger and starts firing at me.

As I possess two composite occupations, my physical and kinetic abilities allowed me to grasp the trajectory of the pistol’s bullet as it approached.

But as I shifted my body slightly to avoid the first bullet, I heard a “bash!” behind me, I could hear the sound of something evaporating.

No, this sound is strange.

Why would I hear the sound of evaporation from a bullet that was probably made of lead?

I was wondering, and when I turned back, I saw that the attack had hit a floating spirit that I had left there as an insignificant specter, and it was disappearing as a particle of blue light.

What does this mean?

Ordinary bullets would not be able to damage a floating spirit that would be made up of magical power.

However, this man’s attacks were actually damaging, causing it to disappear with a single blow.

In other words, it must be a method of attack that includes magical power, whether it’s demonic power, spiritual power, or whatever.

That is to say.

At the very least, the weapon that this man was wielding suggests that he was on the side of the onmyouji and their allies, the spiritual wielder.

Oh, I see what the mean.

That’s because spiritual wielder are the government’s trump card against the monsters of the earth that they keep hidden from the general public.

No wonder he don’t get caught for violating the Firearms Act.

However, even if I understand that, whether I can have a peaceful discussion with this man who may have recognized me as an enemy is different story.

“Impossible….. Japanese, that bullet exceeds speed of sound.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not normal. And to be honest, I don’t know who you are, but you seem to be basically a government-linked spiritual wielder. I’m more of that side too. There seems to be a mutual misunderstanding going on here, so why don’t we discuss it?”

I don’t know if it will be accepted or not, but I propose a discussion anyway.

If it doesn’t work, then that’s that.

I guess I’ll have to turn him in to the Togami family as a dangerous person.

It’s a shame that I rely on the Togami family for everything when I’m in trouble, but I can’t help it because they are the strongest and biggest organization that I have behind me.

“…… Hmm, wait a minute.”

But my fears seemed to be unfounded, and the man who had been briefed put down his weapon, lit another cigarette and folded his arms as he began to think about something.

I had no idea what he was thinking, but the misunderstanding seemed to be starting to clear up.

Then, after a few breaths, the man came to a conclusion.

“…… No, I’m sorry about this. I guess I was a little distracted by the situation as well. I apologize for the attack earlier, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. But you only need to know one thing. If it was against a civilian, not against me, I think that self-defense would be too much.”

In the first place, a civilian would not think of ignoring the warning and launching an attack against this gun-wielding man like that drunk office worker.

It’s only a spiritual wielder with confidence in his skills or a suicidal person that would approach.

I’m not sure how much killing power the previous attack has on the human body, but the fact that it was a magical attack may have kept the power of the check from killing you in one hit.

“It’s a good thing you said that. I’m sure you’ll be able to understand if you’re a psychic in this country. …… You’re in a bit of trouble right now because of the influence of Fox and the others, aren’t you? I’ve been called in to help with this, but the enemy is much stronger than I expected. I’m going to be suspicious of anyone who looks suspicious because of the request.”

What’s Fox? Is it something related to the Nine Tails?

If so, I’m a little concerned about the seriousness of the matter.

It would be nice if the incidence of youkai was only increasing, but the way he said it, it might not be just that.

For the time being, I will give my name, including self-introduction.

“I’ve been busy dealing with the Nine Tails myself. I’m Saito Saito, a kind of stray psychic hired by the onmyouji clan.”

I’m not actually hired, but I get requests on a regular basis, so I guess it’s similar.

“The Onmyouji clan, that sacrificial priestess family? It’s a pretty good place to get hired, it’s a family of psychics that can call themselves the very best in the country.”

…… Huh?

What is sacrifice?

I call myself hired, but I don’t understand the details about the Togami family.

But that word caught my interest.

“….”

“Oops, sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself sooner. My name is Harry Taylor. If you’re a freelance mercenary, you’ve probably heard of me, I’m a British exorcist. I’m currently working with Mikado Saionji to help defeat the Nine Tails in this country.”

Harry Taylor, the black-clad exorcist, grinned at me while I pondered.