The Sword Deity in Tokyo

It was afternoon when Daisuke Kojima's father, Masamune Kojima arrived.

Masamune Kojima looked very dispirited. He was almost 50 years old, but with a head full of white hair, he looked about 60 or 70 years old instead. There was exhaustion in his eyes where his expression had simply gone numb, and upon hearing that his son had gone missing, his body faltered. In an instant, his eyes darkened, but the fact that the word used was 'missing' still gave him a sliver of hope, however slim that hope was. 

After all, he had already been missing for two days. If he was safe, he would definitely have called to let him know everything was okay, or he would have returned to Kobayashi Village.

Yet even now, there was no news at all…

Kimura Kazuki sat on a chair in the treehouse, eavesdropping on the conversation between Masamune Kojima and Makoto Honda. He found out that Daisuke Kojima had lost his mother at a young age and that he had been single-handedly raised by Masamune Kojima. However, during high school, Daisuke Kojima had started to work to support himself so by the time he went to university, Daisuke Kojima's earnings from his part-time jobs could pay for more than half of his tuition fees.

Even this visit to Kobayashi Village was self-funded. Who would have thought that he would receive a phone call from the police after his son had been to the Kobayashi Village for only a few days?

Officer Makoto Honda comforted Masamune Kojima as he asked him more about Daisuke Kojima. He wanted to know whether Daisuke Kojima had provoked anyone, or whether Masamune Kojima had offended someone. 

However, Masamune Kojima was a fisherman and was usually out at sea, so he hardly took care of Daisuke Kojima on a daily basis. Moreover, there was pressure on Masamune Kojima as the breadwinner of the family to earn money. Hence, both father and son rarely communicated with each other. Moreover, Daisuke Kojima had stayed on campus after he left for university and with Masamune Kojima constantly out at sea, contact between them grew even lesser.

As for whether his son had provoked anyone, Masamune Kojima immediately shook his head.

He knew his son very well. When he was younger, he had grown to be reclusive after getting bullied, and he did not really go out to play with people his age, preferring to immerse himself in his own world. To Masamune Kojima, it was impossible for his son, with such a character, to provoke any sort of enemy.

After hearing that, Makoto Honda sighed faintly. It now seemed like Daisuke Kojima had most probably met with an accident. He could only comfort Masamune Kojima, promising to conduct a search-and-rescue as soon as possible. 

Kimura Kazuki did not hear any useful information, but he was not disappointed. Everything would have to wait until he personally investigated it at night.

Night came quickly, but Kobayashi Village did not quiet down at night, instead, it became livelier. Thus, Kimura Kazuki simply waited for a few hours till midnight. 

Once darkness cloaked Kobayashi Village, the whole Kobayashi Village fell into silence, with the occasional burst of laughter from the treehouses. There was also a 24-hour mart that was still shining with light.

At midnight, Kimura Kazuki quietly crept down the treehouse and saw the few shadows following behind him. He felt a slight headache as he asked quietly, "Why are all of you following me?"

"Of course, we're here to go see the monster with Kimura-kun."

"Yes, I have never even seen an actual monster in all of my life."

"Going up the mountain to slay demons, a test to see if my sword is still as sharp as ever!"

That last sentence was uttered by Ikioi Ito and upon hearing him say that, everybody looked at him with contempt, especially Tomoya Saito who outed him with disgust. "How come you didn't want to come with us last night when I invited you to go with us?"

"Hehe!" Ikioi Ito did not care to give an explanation.

Everyone else could not be bothered to acknowledge him, and Kimura Kazuki was speechless looking at the six people following him. "It's too big of a target for so many people to go up the mountain together. Don't forget that the police are still paying close attention to this incident. If we were to be seen by the police, then how are we supposed to explain?"

There were seven people in total, including himself. Seven people going up the mountain would be discovered very easily by other people.

He did not care if the police saw him and questioned him. All it would take was one phone call to Ryo Otake to help absolve him, but that might not be the case for the rest of them.

"Don't worry. If we really are caught by the police, I'll just call my dad and have him give an explanation."

"Me too. Our Ito family might be involved in the entertainment industry, and not so much of the politics, but my dad still knows a lot of people. If we really bump into the police, we'll just say we were curious and wanted to explore the mountain."

"Same goes for me."

Yayoi Momoi stood at the side, smiling silently. After all, she was female and was not paid much attention in the family. Moreover, the members of the Momoi family were all practitioners and did not have any connections in business and politics. However, with Mizuki Sugawara, Tomoya Saito, and Ikioi Ito around, she felt that even if they were discovered, it would not do much harm. A little explanation would suffice.

Katsuki Sugawara did not say anything as well since she was definitely going anyway. She was very interested in the so-called monster. Tomoya Saito had also invited her and Yayoi to go up the mountain together the previous night, but because she was with Yayoi at the time, she had rejected his invitation.

Yet, according to Tomoya Saito, he was sure he had seen a beautiful maiden. 

A beautiful maiden on Kanayama? This was already unusual in itself, moreover, Tomoya Saito was almost attracted by her. If it had not been for his family heirloom protecting him, Tomoya Saito might have gone missing as well.

Now that they were with Kimura Kazuki, the person with the strongest combat power, they were naturally curious. Moreover, since there were so many of them, even if they did come across the monster, with a whole group of people besieging it, they might just defeat the monster straight away. 

Kimura Kazuki was rendered speechless so he remained silent, but in the end, he did not refuse.

If they insist on coming along, so be it… The most important thing was that these people in front of him had never seen a monster before and were probably half doubtful of its existence. Even Tomoya Saito was doubtful because the thing that he had encountered the day before was a beautiful maiden, not a monster. To Tomoya Saito, it could have very well just been a wraith or specter.

Although Tomoya Saito had come into contact with the Deity Rising Palace, he had never seen a monster before. He had been an escort for an Onmyoji and had tackled wraiths such as residual souls, but as for monsters, he had merely heard of them without actually seeing them.

It was the same for Mizuki Sugawara and Ikioi Ito, and even more so for Katsuki and Yayoi, whose strength was even weaker. Only Harunaka had experienced the incident in Sakagami Village, hence, she had a clear conclusion of whether there were monsters in this world. Even if she did not actually see the monsters in Sakagami Village, Sakanoue no Tamuramaro who became a shikigami and Otome Sakagami who became a Majin had left a deep impression on her. 

If these things existed, then the so-called monsters, would they not exist as well?

Under the cover of night, Kimura Kazuki and the others arrived at the foot of Kanayama within minutes.

Before entering the mountain, they saw a sign erected in front. The wooden sign was worn-out from the wear and tear of natural weather and was sticking out from the dirt at an angle. The words on the sign were blurry, but with closer inspection, it could still be read clearly.

"Warning! There is a beast, do not go up the mountain!"