"SIA?" Wakana frowns at her new ID badge. It seems that Nishimura Sama already prepared badges before they accepted the position. The new one is not any different than the old one; however, she's a special agent. From rookie to the special agent, this is a promotion, right? She will celebrate with her sisters after Sayuri comes back.
"Supernatural Investigation agency," Nishimura Soichiro tells her with a twinkle in his eyes. He finally has two more people.
Minami Sei looks around. This dingy basement that houses the decades-old cold cases is actually the headquarters of the supernatural investigation agency. The name is so ridiculous that he has the urge to smack the head of the person who suggested it. He is half-wondering if there are cameras hidden in this room and they are in a live show. "So... Care to explain what this agency is about?"
Nishimura Soichiro stands up and goes to the whiteboard. He cracks his knuckles. He has to give a crash course on the hidden world to these newbies. "Take a seat, Minami. This is going to take long."
Sei takes the chair which Nishimura Soichiro always sleeps upon. He drags it to Wakana who gives him a neutral glance before turning her gaze back to the whiteboard. Is she being professional? Something doesn't feel right to him. He sits beside her and leans back. He crosses his arms and looks at Nishimura Soichiro with his usual expressionless face.
"This is our ordinary world." Nishimura Soichiro draws a circle on the board. "This is the known world that we can see with our bare eyes. It's the regular world in which supernatural creatures are myths and legends. Each culture has its own stories about these creatures. Most people from the modern world do not believe in these stories. They might like reading or hearing such stories, but most people won't believe you if you tell them that you saw a ghost in your apartment or a demon stole your cupcake."
Wakana sighs. This is her story. Even the man sitting next to her doesn't believe her.
"Rather than being upset about the people who do not believe you, you should be cautious of the people who believe you." Nishimura Soichiro looks at Wakana. "You can't tell what's going on their minds. Some of them might take advantage of you."
He's talking about Morita Aiko. She lets out another sigh. She shouldn't have trusted that witch. She nearly got r@ped and died. That demon rubbed his thing between her thighs. She wants to visit a hot spring and clean herself thoroughly. This feeling of self-disgust is not vanishing from her mind.
"Our common world has another world hidden in the plain view." Nishimura Soichiro draws an elliptical curve covers the one-third area in the circle. He fills the part of the elliptical curve inside the circle with diagonal lines.
"This is the hidden world of the supernatural creatures. These supernatural creatures live among humans while keeping their real forms hidden from humans. If you are thinking about why we haven't kicked them out of our world, the reason is that there's nothing we can do about it. Our planet earth belongs to them as much as it belongs to us. They are a part of the balance."
He pauses for a moment and looks back at Minami Sei. He adds with a quiet voice, "Some of these creatures aren't good or bad. Some of them have simple needs and they only want to live a peaceful life. There are others who like making disorder in the common world. Good and evil exist in the common world. It's pretty much same for the supernatural world. The real problem is that we are often unable to understand their world and the problems that they cause in our world."
He takes a break and taps the area of the elliptical curve outside the circle. "This hidden world has many gates that lead to other realms. There are numerous realms, but our main focus will be the dark realms and the Fae realms. The demonic creatures and fae folks have a keen interest in the known world. They are the most active ones."
"Fae?" Minami Sei frowns. "Fairies? Pixies? Are you talking about fairytales?"
Wakana has never come across a fairy. "Aren't fairies supposed to be good like the angels?"
"This is one of the huge mistakes that humans did. They wrote fairytales that portrayed the Fae folks like the beautiful creatures who grant wishes. Don't think that fae folks are your average god fairies who will bless you with a glass slipper to date a prince." Nishimura chuckles. "They are more dangerous than the demonic creatures because humans often let down their guards when they come across them. Nearly all human children read fairytales when they are young. More often than not, human females and children are lured away by these Fae folks to their realms."
Sei leans forward. This sounds interesting, but it doesn't mean that he believes it yet. After all, seeing is believing.
"What do they do with the humans after they abduct them?" Wakana asks him.
"They like to keep humans as their slaves," Nishimura Soichiro replies. "Once they are taken away from this world, it's close to impossible to bring them back."
Wakana purses her lips. The Fae folks seem dangerous. Hopefully, she will never meet one.
"The demonic creatures." Nishimura sighs, "You have come across one, Wakana. They are often seeking power or the soul of humans. There are probably billions of demonic creatures from different realms. They have one thing common. They are the spawns of the darkness."
Nishimura stops talking and looks at them. When no one asks a question, he continues the explanation, "Recently, there's been a rise in crimes under the influence of the supernatural creatures. The supernatural crime rate is rising because more people are losing faith in heavenly gods. As a result, they are also losing protections against the otherworldly creatures. Mentally weak humans are easily influenced by demons and spirits. The Supernatural Investigation Agency is the experimental collaboration between the Council and the top twelve countries. You are the first-ever recruits. You can guess why they chose our country for the experiment."
Sei and Wakana raise brows at the same time. Nishimura Soichiro points at the piles of papers. "We have the most unsolved supernatural crime cases."
Wakana furrows her brows. "All the cold cases are supernatural ones?"
"No." Nishimura shakes his head. "It's also our job to separate the ones that involve supernatural creatures and those that do not involve them."
Sei wonders if he should quit now. This sounds like a scam. He narrows his eyes and inquires, "What is the Council?"
Nishimura Soichiro blinks once. Did he forget to tell them about the main actor in this play?
"The Council is the autonomous law enforcement authority that manages the hidden world in our world. It keeps the common world safe from the hidden world and the hidden world safe from the common world. The Council is the reason why there's still peace and balance between the hidden world and the known world."
"There's something like that in this world." Wakana gapes at Nishimura Soichiro. She has been connected to the supernatural world for a long time and she had no idea about the Council at all.
Nishimura puts his hands in his pockets and leans on the board. His voice is grave and commanding. "There's a certain risk in this job. Humans like you and me are helpless against the supernatural creatures. Guns are useless against them. You can't tell your family or friends about this job. You must follow the laws of the council or you will end up in their prisons. Even the president of our country won't be able to solve you."