After repeating Akagi's words and seeing the Oni's disdainful look toward the instructors, Ren Kuroda wasn't the least bit surprised by Akagi's behavior.
Among yokai, the Oni race is notoriously power-worshipping. Akagi, being a lower-ranking Oni, naturally had this kind of personality. But expecting physically weaker Onmyoji to simply bow to them in terms of "power"? That was asking far too much.
It's important to understand, too, that submission in this context wasn't just about defeating them—it required overwhelming force to make them willingly follow.
"I'll speak to Headmistress Kurahashi later," Yamato Kuka said. "First-year practical training isn't really suitable for you anymore. With you around, the other students can't possibly meet the training standards. Honestly, with your strength and experience, you don't even need this level of practical training."
She had originally thought of applying to let Ren take the second-year practical training. But the more she considered it, the more she realized—even that might not challenge him.
First-year practical training wasn't only about teaching students to face yokai—it also emphasized teamwork. With cooperation, an entire class could have easily handled four Red Oni, especially with someone like Ren, who already defied every expectation in their class.
Unfortunately, most first-year students were seeing yokai for the first time. And this particular yokai—a ferocious Red Oni—was enough to terrify them before the battle even began.
Second-year practical training, on the other hand, focused on individual combat and adaptability. Yamato Kuka had initially thought to enroll Ren in that. But then she remembered: Ren was the one who had single-handedly resolved the Rat Demon crisis, defeating most of the rats and slaying the Rat Demon King, all while escorting Hinano and the other children to safety.
Even the second-year practical training would feel like a mere game to him.
Just as Yamato Kuka was pondering how to handle Ren's extraordinary capabilities—and while the surrounding students looked on with envy as Ren gained four new shikigami—both Ren and Yamato Kuka's communicators suddenly buzzed.
A red-text message appeared simultaneously for both of them.
Because Kujo Hinano was currently studying at the Onmyo Academy, the message had been sent by Kamishiro Isshin. The text was highlighted, signaling that the case was both dangerous and extremely urgent. According to Isshin, he and Hakuba were tied up with other cases, so this mission would fall to Ren and Yamato Kuka.
Later, in Chiba, Japan, Ren walked down the street casually in a t-shirt and jeans, while Yamato Kuka followed, unchanged in her shrine maiden attire, her long hair tied neatly in a ponytail.
"According to the information we've received, this incident occurred in a restaurant," Yamato Kuka explained. "So far, only the restaurant owners have been found dead. Their daughter, who was with them, is unharmed, which is… strange."
She continued, "Besides this, our countermeasures team has received multiple reports from nearby restaurants over the past few days. Food has been stolen—prepared meals disappearing without a trace. The locks are mostly untouched, yet the food vanishes completely."
Ren raised an eyebrow.
"A yokai that only steals food? There can't be many gluttonous yokai," he mused. "That narrows the suspects quite a bit."
Yamato Kuka nodded. "Initially, our intelligence team thought the culprit might be Nurarihyon, the legendary slippery ghost. But that theory was quickly dismissed. Nurarihyon tends to sneak into households, not restaurants. And the circumstances of the restaurant owners' deaths don't match the legends at all."
At the mention of "Nurarihyon," Ren's expression grew serious.
Though considered relatively low-threat in yokai lore, Nurarihyon wasn't weak. In some regions, he even carried the unofficial title of "General-in-Chief" among yokai. While not as infamous as yokai kings like Tamamo-no-Mae, Shuten-dōji, or Ōtengu, Nurarihyon maintained a carefully cultivated "good guy" image in the yokai world.
Even yokai sought him out to resolve disputes, reflecting his prestige and influence.
"If it really were Nurarihyon… even the two of us together might not be enough," Ren said quietly.
Despite his confidence—his current B+ rank demonic power, when fully unleashed, could rival A+ rank demons, and combined with his awakened spiritual power and some still-clumsy Onmyojutsu, his combat output could approach S-rank—Nurarihyon was an entirely different class.
Nurarihyon was on par with demons like Tamamo-no-Mae and Shuten-dōji, among the top-tier yokai. Consider Tamamo-no-Mae's Sesshō-seki form: even a single fragment is an S-rank item. How strong, then, must Nurarihyon himself be? At least SS-rank, probably more.
Even using all his trump cards, Ren would be at a severe disadvantage in a direct confrontation.
So when Yamato Kuka confirmed that this wasn't Nurarihyon, Ren couldn't help but feel a surge of relief.
He loved testing himself against strong opponents—but he didn't want to throw himself into a battle he couldn't survive.