Chapter 75: Cultists!
"Anyway, these guys are a pain if we deal with them, but we can't just ignore them either. That's why I had Shibuya Jun come over, to see what they're planning this time."
Kasumizuki clicked her tongue as she spoke, shaking her head.
"So what's their plan this time? Do you know yet?"
Luke quickly pressed her for an answer.
Kasumizuki lifted her miko skirt and pulled out a photo of a girl from underneath, waving it back and forth.
"They're looking for their holy maiden: a high school girl with Yin-Yang Eyes. They plan to use the nature of her eyes to open the gate to the realm of the dead!"
"What are you doing? Do you have Parkinson's?"
Luke could not see the person in the photo at all, so he spoke to Kasumizuki with a speechless expression.
"Oh. I've been watching interrogations too much lately."
Only then did Kasumizuki stop moving her hand.
Luke glanced at her.
This woman was treating that photo like a confession statement, wasn't she…?
He turned his head and looked at the little shorty in the photo. His gaze unconsciously fixed on her.
Short height, small body, yellow hair, pink tips—
Isn't that Niguredo Yuria, that little brat?!
The cultists have their eyes on her?!
"Niguredo Yuria?"
He softly read out the name, then shifted his gaze to Kasumizuki.
"Mm."
Kasumizuki, who had already investigated, naturally confirmed his answer.
"We found it in one of the cultists' bases. I'm not sure whether it's true or not, but at the very least, those guys should have considered this point…"
Heh. When Kasumizuki said those cultists were looking for a girl with Yin-Yang Eyes, his first thought had been Miko.
With her traits, he would not have been surprised no matter what kind of monsters or ghosts she attracted.
But he had not expected that the one discovered in the end would actually be that little one, Niguredo.
"So it wasn't Miko…"
"Miko's Yin-Yang Eyes awakened later in life, after all. When those cultists were setting up the project, they probably hadn't noticed her yet."
Kasumizuki said that.
Project?
"Heh."
He was a little speechless.
The wild and unrestrained profession known as cultists had somehow been turned so restrained by these modern people.
Still, no matter how useless they were, the cultists' persistence was enough to leave people speechless. They could not be burned away, could not be wiped out, and no matter how many times they failed, they always found a chance to make a comeback.
Honestly, if not for the fact that their troublemaking cycle was rather long, he would have almost suspected…
Luke narrowed his eyes sideways at Kasumizuki.
He almost suspected this miko who served a god was deliberately keeping bandits around to raise her own worth, all so she could extort more financial support.
"What's with that offensive look? Be careful, or I'll hit you with a talisman!"
Kasumizuki immediately cried out in dissatisfaction, pressing her right arm against the back of her left hand.
Ignoring her displeasure, he hurriedly continued asking.
"So what measures did you take?"
"For now, we'll catch a few cultists and try to find their leader."
Kasumizuki lowered her arm and casually described a plan that barely counted as a plan.
"How does that count as a measure?"
Luke frowned.
"And wouldn't it be better to contact the police for something like this? If they get involved earlier, you can investigate earlier too, right?"
If those cultists were allowed to keep entangling themselves in this matter, who knew how much trouble they would cause?
The exorcist system, made up of exorcists with all sorts of talents, did have its own ways of gathering information. But compared to the police, who maintained social stability, they were still lacking.
"Of course they're involved. How else do you think I got to watch those interrogations?"
Kasumizuki shook her head.
"And based on past experience, doing that should have been right…"
"But didn't I say it just now? Those guys aren't stupid beyond saving. This time, they updated and iterated on their previous methods."
Luke paused, then adjusted the cultist beneath him and sat up straight.
"Hm? I'd like to hear the details."
"Now they mainly organize themselves through scattered points. They directly outsource the tasks that need to be completed. People on one layer can only contact the layer above them."
Kasumizuki continued.
"After being wrapped in layer after layer, the people we catch are all ordinary people who only know they were paid to do a job. Even if we dig through their entire lives, we still can't uncover the truth behind it."
A scattered-point organization structure could make a group more flexible, because it could continue operating without a central command.
But…
"At the very least, shouldn't you be able to catch a few middlemen? Someone has to issue the tasks, right?"
Kasumizuki immediately shook her head.
"Artificial ghosts… They use those things as intermediaries to deliver messages. There's no face-to-face contact at all, so police involvement isn't very effective."
So the current situation was this: they clearly knew the cultists were plotting something, but they did not know what they were plotting.
"Then what do you plan to do?"
"We'll catch cultists one by one for now and wait for the rabbit to run into the stump."
Kasumizuki shrugged indifferently.
"Anyway, if their targets are Miko and the little girl in that photo, they'll come to us sooner or later."
"That said, I've already reported the matter to the god…"
Kasumizuki spoke with conviction.
"So until this incident is resolved, I don't plan to return to the Shrine!"
Luke glanced sideways at the impassioned Kasumizuki.
People really did always find all sorts of reasons for their own behavior.
"Hey, why is your gaze always so offensive?"
Kasumizuki looked at him in dissatisfaction again.
"I'm doing this for the greater good!"
"Fine, fine. By the way, can you handle this alone?"
He stood up and looked at the message Mikasa had sent, saying they had arrived home safely.
"Do you need help?"
"I'm fine. No need. I can deal with those cultists by myself."
"Are those guys really that weak?"
Luke still asked with some suspicion.
"I can only say they really aren't much."
"After all, cults used as money-making tools won't do this kind of anti-human thing. And cults that want to do anti-human things can't make money."
"So naturally, they end up weak. No matter how you put it, most cultists still exist as humans. They need to eat too."
Kasumizuki explained.
"And after several rounds of confrontation, the capable ones have already fled to South Korea. That place is their paradise. There really aren't many troublesome ones left here."
"South Korea…"
Luke nodded with some understanding.
Sometimes at home, he would also hold a maid in his arms and watch a few Korean movies.
Those were truly…
They could film every ugly thing under the sun, but they could not solve a single ugly thing.
On top of that, cults were blooming everywhere over there, and the number of believers was terrifyingly high.
"By the way, would exorcists earn more over there?"
"Hah?"
Kasumizuki looked at him blankly.
"How did you even come up with that idea? Over there, we're the ones who count as heretics, okay?"
"Makes sense."
He picked up his schoolbag.
"Then I'll head back. If anything comes up, contact me."
…
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