(Ito Rui's POV)
'What kind of joke is this? Is this guy mentally ill?' I thought while sighing. Seeing this, Diego's sensei fake coughed and looked at me with complete seriousness.
"So Jozu helped you according to what you said. But why?" asked Diego's sensei.
"I don't know. Can't he help me?" I replied.
"The Jozu I knew wouldn't. So Esha, is he telling the truth about Jozu?" said Diego's sensei while looking at the ceiling.
As soon as he said that, the ceiling started to shake a bit and a girl came through it breaking the ceiling into smithereens.
"Yes Kaizen-sama, whatever he said is true according to the Clock of Kitsunagi," she said while taking out a golden clock and showing it to Diego-san's sensei.
"Hmm, ok. Diego, take Rui with you and show him his room," he said while waving his head.
"What room? I want to just go ho~~~," before I could finish my sentence, I was dragged out of the room by Diego san.
"Kid you are coming with me," he said while taking me out of the shrine. I wanted to escape but I knew even if I tried I wouldn't be able to.
"Diego-san why can't I go home? What are you guys going to do to me?" I asked while trying to free myself.
He didn't reply to me. Rather he took me to the playground nearby and sat on a swing. Taking out a cigarette, he lit it up and said to me, "So kid, you can't go home."
"What do you mean by I can't go home? What's the problem with me going to where I belong," I questioned him.
"You don't belong there. At least not anymore. You are one of us now. The responsibility on your shoulder is too much now," he said while making a serious face.
'What the fuck is he talking about? I don't understand a shit he is saying. What responsibility? Is it because I killed that monster?' I thought with a blank face.
Calming myself down I asked Diego san, "Could you please tell me what responsibility you are talking about? and why do I belong here?"
"The monster you killed before is called yokai. There are many kinds of yokais in this world. They have existed ever since humans have existed. The negative energy given off by humans seeps through this world and goes to another dimension where yokais are born from it.
"In simple words, yokais are beings born from the negative feelings of human beings."
"If they have existed for so long, why can't normal humans see them," I asked interfering Diego san's explanation.
"That's a good question kid, it is because yokais can't be seen by humans normally. The dimension in which they are born is called the Nether realm. They travel from the Nether realm to the human world and terrorise people."
"Most of the natural disasters are caused by yokais. Even though they can't be seen with the naked eye, their attacks can be felt. This is why the animals start to cause havoc when a yokai is nearby."
"They can sense them, unlike humans."
'Interesting,' I thought while listening to Diego san's explanation. "So, who are you guys then?" I asked.
"In ancient times, some people were able to sense and see these yokais. After many attempts, they managed to kill a yokai and made a weapon from its dead body."
"Unlike normal weapons, this weapon made from the dead body of a yokai was capable of hurting and killing Yokais. So they made even more such weapons and named them Armaments."
"The people who wielded these Armaments were called Exorcists. All the exorcists gathered together and formed Raijin High centuries ago. It was an organisation formed to kill yokais while hiding themselves from normal humans."
'This didn't make sense. Why would people with power decide to hide from normal society? Every human is greedy. Why would they miss a chance to rule over humanity?' I thought deeply after hearing to what Diego san said.
Nothing is free in this world. Why would they protect humans without getting anything in return?
To clarify my confusion, I asked him again, "Why didn't these exorcists reveal themselves to humanity? Why didn't they use their powers to rule over the world?"
"It's quite simple. It's because of the greedy nature of humans. If they revealed themselves to humanity, then the greedy nature of humans would emit more negative energy, making yokais stronger, which they didn't want."
"Another factor was Ki. Every exorcist has a pure energy inside them called Ki. Ki and negative energy are like Yin and Yang. If one increases the other increases as well."
"Then wouldn't revealing themselves be better? If they had reveal themselves then the negative energy would increase leading to an increase in Ki." I questioned again
"No, even though the Ki would increase in that case. It will be distributed among the entire population whereas the negative energy would be distributed only among a few Yokais."
"It will be the same as fighting a tank with a million ants. We'll lose without any question," he said while sighing.
It all made sense now. I didn't know there was something like the Nether realm or the yokais. This world is really fucked up.
"So how am I one of you guys now?" I asked while sitting on the bench nearby.
"Yes because you bonded with the sword which you used to kill that yokai. That sword is called Kusanagi. It's a sword which gives you wind-related sword powers."
"I am pretty sure, you would have received information on how to wield it as soon as you bonded with it."
"Yes, as soon as I put my blood on its blade enormous information entered my mind out of nowhere," I said remembering how it felt.
"Those are the techniques stored in Kusanagi by the previous wielders of Kusanagi. Each one of those techniques took years to master," Diego san replied.
All of this felt like a fantasy novel to me. Monsters, people fighting them, hidden organisations, everything was screaming to me that it's a dream.
But after what I experienced, I knew very well that this wasn't a dream. But this still doesn't answer the question about why I can't go back.
"But why can't I go back?" I questioned him again. This guy was telling me about everything except the one thing I wanted to know.
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Hey guys, I am participating in a competition. I will be very grateful if you guys help me win it by donating me your power stones and gifts.
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[Edited by OtakuSumit]