Chapter 15: Reluctant Cooperation
Chapter 15: Reluctant Cooperation
"…?"
She ended her words there and I tilted my head.
"Hm? And then?"
"Like I said, I’m going to gather information and find a way to break the demon eyes’ curse."
"No, no, no, wait a minute,"
I slowly tried to confirm with Soya.
"The Twelve Heavenly Masters have already tried to exorcise you, right? They’re the highest-ranked in the Exorcist Society. They have access to all the information that the Society controls."
"Right."
"Even those Twelve Heavenly Masters couldn’t get rid of your curse. Since that’s the case, what meaning is there in rising ranks to gather information?"
I tried to talk some sense into her. Soya then replied,
"They couldn’t cure my curse because they’re idiots. If I can get my hands on the information, I might just be able to cure it!"
She stated so assuredly.
Oh, I get it. This fellow is an idiot. 𝒇𝗿𝙚ℯ𝑤ℯ𝑏𝒏𝑜ѵe𝙡.c𝐨m
Otherwise, there was no way a student from class B would have come up with such an idea.
As I was stunned, Soya continued even more passionately,
"And even if it’s impossible to gather information, as long as I move up the ladder, I’ll have more opportunities to interact with influential people overseas who belong to major superpowers. Since I wasn’t allowed to get my demon eyes examined by a foreign exorcist for some reason… I’ve been wondering, why don’t I just make the appointment myself?"
She was speaking a pipe dream. There was little hope of getting that far in the world, even if there was, there was no guarantee that doing so would break her curse.
"You’re rather desperate, aren’t you."
Not being able to turn her curse on and off certainly made it more tragic and inconvenient than my curse, but… if it were me, I didn’t know if it would be enough to make me that desperate. After all, it was a curse that even the best people in the industry couldn’t break, and it wasn’t something that was life-threatening.
"Why are you so desperate?"
I’d already forgotten how many times I asked her "why".
But I suppose it couldn’t be helped.
Because the girl in front of me was much more mysterious and inexplicable than any ghost or monster.
"…w, well."
In response to my question, Soya was unusually hesitant.
Her earlier vivaciousness which called the Twelve Heavenly Masters idiots was gone as her eyes swam and her face blushed.
"Well, it’s b, because…"
Soya gripped the edges of her uniform tightly, and said in a muffled voice,
"It’s… hard to fall in love when I have these eyes."
"…huh?"
The answer was so unexpected that I couldn’t help making a dumb sound.
"…!"
At that moment, perhaps thinking that she was being made fun of, Soya turned as red as when she when saw my climax exorcism.
"What’s that reaction! Think about it for a moment! You know what I mean right!? That information appears for everyone I meet! My impression of all boys now is just, ‘Oh, what a disgusting guy!’. I’ve never even developed a crush on anyone, let alone fall in love with someone… I also hate not being able to meet people face to face over the computer… but i, in any case! In any case!"
Soya went on with her one-sided rant and tightened her grip on my collar which she had seized.
"Even if it really is an irreversible curse, I won’t be convinced of it until I find out myself! Besides, while I’m running around Japan trying to achieve success… maybe I’ll meet someone who can love me despite these eyes… t, that’s why, for now! I will do whatever it takes until I either give up or am convinced to stop! You got a problem with that!?"
Haa, haa.
Soya declared so while raggedly breathing near my face.
"That’s why I’ll never give up on you, Furuya-kun."
Her face was bright red from embarrassment and her heart-marked eyes were moist with tears that seemed ready to spill out at any moment.
"Ugh."
I didn’t feel persuaded.
This was an idiot who continued to race as fast as she could to break a curse that even the Twelve Heavenly Masters couldn’t break.
Moreover, she had a hold on my weakness and wasn’t afraid of being treated as a pervert exorcist if it was for the sake of her goal.
And most troublesome of all.
I knew what it felt like to live under a curse that you couldn’t control.
"…haah"
I let out a big sigh.
"All right, all right. I surrender."
I raised my hands and moved Soya’s face away from my own.
"If I accompany you on your recklessness, maybe we’ll find a way to break my curse too. I’ll team up with you."
"Really!?"
Soya’s face lit up, but I warned her, "But there are some conditions."
"Conditions?"
"Yes. First of all, don’t tell anyone about my ability."
"That’s fine, but… how many conditions do you have?"
"Just shut up and listen. Second, when we use my ability to exorcise a spirit, we have to make sure the people around us don’t figure out its perverted nature."
Partly because I was embarrassed, and partly because it was a matter of propriety… After all, I might get apprehended for public indecency or using illegal spirit powers… we lived in a society that was very strict on molesters and their kind.
Soya muttered, "Hmm, this might be difficult," but didn’t seem to have any complaints. Even this fellow probably wouldn’t want to embarrass herself if it were possible.
"If you violate any of these conditions, the team will be disbanded immediately. If you’re okay with that…"
"That’s fine! Yes!"
Soya eagerly accepted the conditions and cheered like an idiot.
Did she really understand?
While letting out another sigh,
"However, I don’t think we’re going to be able to achieve much since we only have me, who can’t use a single technique properly other than my two-handed ability, and you, a B class student."
I said this to remind her that I wasn’t going to accept any jobs that were too reckless.
However, Soya apparently had other plans.
"What are you talking about? Isn’t that what a team is for? To let use fully make use of a strong ability like yours while using the team to make up for any other shortcomings?"
She smiled as she said so smartly.
"Well then, since we need at least three people to form a team, let’s go find another person who doesn’t have a team yet!"
"Yes, yes."
Thus.
Soya and I who had both been possessed by a stupid curse, both began our stupid work as exorcists. Even if one of them did so rather reluctantly.f𝚛e𝗲𝔀e𝚋𝑛o𝘃𝒆𝗹.c𝗼𝒎