A few more hours passed by, and it was almost evening.
Ding dong… ding dong…
The doorbell of the Fushiguro home rang.
"Geto-san? Why are you here…?"
Megumi ran out from inside to open the door. When he saw who it was, confusion filled his face. He glanced around the area.
Wait… didn't they come back to Kyoto?
"Suguru? Honestly, if you were coming you should've told us. You could've just come back with Mukuro at noon. Come in, it's hot outside."
Onshin stepped out as well. She paused when she recognized Suguru, remembering the strange question Megumi had asked her on the phone days earlier. But in the blink of an eye, her smile returned and she hurried over to welcome the guest.
(As mentioned before, Suguru and Mukuro had often visited each other, so both families had met.)
"It was a last-minute decision. These are some Tokyo specialties I thought were good. Knowing Mukuro, he probably wouldn't buy this kind of thing. Please don't mind the trouble."
Suguru lifted the elegant gift bag in his right hand and gave a polite smile as he spoke.
He then followed the two mother and son, took off his shoes, and entered the Fushiguro home, warm and comfortable compared to the summer heat outside.
"So… did you eat yet? If not, join us."
Dinner would be ready soon. Toji saw Suguru and tried to greet him by name, only to realize a second later he didn't remember it at all. He just knew this was his brother's friend.
"Good afternoon, Geto-san!"
Tsumiki appeared from the kitchen doorway, raising a hand in greeting. She was just about to see if she could help with dinner.
"This might be too much trouble… I'm only here because I had a mission nearby. It's only a few dozen kilometers from here, so I thought I'd drop by. I can just—"
Suguru nodded back at Tsumiki, then waved his hand, ready to decline out of habit.
A warm family, a peaceful evening… maybe he shouldn't disturb them. He could always head out and find the place by himself.
"It won't take that long. If it were urgent, you wouldn't have stopped here first. Just think of it as a walk after dinner."
Mukuro, who was watching TV nearby, cut him off before he could finish.
"Don't worry. We won't delay you." Onshin added. She had already tied on an apron and was fully prepared to cook.
"Then… I'll accept the invitation."
Suguru smiled, his eyes narrowing slightly as he relaxed. He took a seat beside Mukuro.
* * *
Over an hour later, when the sky had grown dim, the two finally arrived at Suguru's mission location.
It was a remote mountain village near Kyoto.
Even though it sat only a few dozen kilometers from the city, practically clinging to Kyoto's edge, the contrast was like day and night.
Seeing the shabby cluster of houses made them feel as if they had traveled back to a poor era.
Whether it was the stark difference or something else, Suguru felt a faint discomfort rising in his chest.
"Who are you people? What are you doing in our village?!"
The moment they stepped inside, several villagers spotted them and confronted them with harsh voices.
"You've had strange disappearances and unnatural deaths, right?" Suguru answered calmly. "We're here to take care of that."
Despite their unfriendly attitude, he assumed the villagers were simply strained under the influence of a curse incident. He didn't blame them.
"Eh? So that's what you're here for. Then—"
"Then we'll leave it to you. Please investigate this thoroughly!"
Just as one villager was about to say something, a round-bellied middle-aged man stepped forward and interrupted him mid-sentence.
Everyone in the village already knew that professionals would be coming to deal with the "disappearances," so they weren't surprised when the two arrived.
"Of course."
Ignoring the darkening sky, Suguru began asking for details.
Eventually, their target narrowed to a limestone cave deep in the mountains, a place the villagers called the "Divine Domain."
According to the clues, all missing women and children, as well as the unnatural deaths of men, occurred within fifty meters of that cave.
"We've prepared a place for you to rest. Would you prefer to handle it now or wait until tomorrow…"
The fat man said this politely, but his tone made it obvious they wanted the problem dealt with as soon as possible.
"Now."
Suguru heard the hint easily.
With the others pointing the way and a rough map in hand, the two started walking toward the cave. The villagers didn't follow. Afraid of attracting something unclean, they only watched from a distance.
"Village chief, should we hand over those two troublemakers too? They're the professionals, after all."
A villager asked once Mukuro and Suguru were far enough.
"No need to rush. Let them deal with the disappearances first. They're all harmful things anyway. Best to clean them up in one go."
* * *
On the other side.
"Don't you think these people act like monkeys?"
Mukuro, silent until now, finally spoke as they walked side by side.
"Mukuro, it's just a rural place. Their education and everything else probably can't keep up. Don't call them monkeys just because they acted rude at the start."
Suguru let out a helpless laugh. He was, by nature, very tolerant toward most ignorant people.
"Who knows."
Mukuro shrugged and dropped the topic.
Soon, they reached the limestone cave.
The faint threads of cursed energy leaking from inside couldn't possibly escape two special grade sorcerers.
"Grrr!"
When they stepped within several dozen meters of the cave, a roar came from within.
A two-meter-tall curse, shaped somewhat like a gorilla, charged out, only to freeze at the entrance.
As a near-grade-1 curse, it had enough intelligence to grasp that something was very wrong. A wave of fear rolled over it as it stared at the two boys
"Bad luck for you."
Suguru raised his fingers. In an instant, several curses shot out like bullets and punched bloody holes through its body.
"Grrr!"
Howling in pain, the curse turned and bolted back into the cave like a mad animal.
"Don't make more work for us."
Suguru scratched his head, treating the whole thing like a simple post-meal game of cat and mouse.
**
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