──We are now changing places to the world after death, the underworld.
"Reimei-sama. I have more to tell you."
"More?"
Reimei had finished dealing with the demons in the underworld that had escaped from the seal and did not want any more trouble, but one of her subordinates wonderfully ignored her wishes and continued.
"The soul of the false god has indeed disappeared, but it doesn't change the fact that his soul has moved on until it came to this place."
"W-what? So what about it? Tell me without any pretense!"
"It seems that not only the boundary between this world and the underworld, but also the boundaries between the various parallel worlds that the soul of the false god touched before reaching this place, and even the boundaries of the time axis, have disappeared."
"───"
Reimei almost fainted.
Originally, this world and the underworld were considered two in one.
But if what Ikkaku said is true, this incident is no longer something that can be dealt with in one world. Because it means that the underworld in which they are now living has become connected to countless other worlds.
Moreover, if even the boundaries of the time axis had disappeared, the worlds could collide, and one of them could swallow the other and merge.
"I-if, as I suspect, the boundary with the other underworlds is also…?"
"It's gone. Rather, the soul that caused trouble this time is a soul that originally existed in another world, and it just arrived at this underworld while destroying the boundary between worlds."
"───"
It was beyond the realm of what Reimei alone could solve.
"In other words, my underworld was hit by a stray bullet that flew in from another world… what a mess…"
If it had happened in the underworld under her control, she would be willing to take responsibility and deal with it, but this time, since it was the victim of a false god's soul that came from a completely different world, Reimei could only hold her head in her hands.
Then, Ikkaku added another blow to Reimei's mind.
"And one more thing."
"One more thing?"
"──Meiko's seal is also gone."
"….."
Reimei looked up to the heavens at the words she did not want to hear the most at this moment.
"…So seal her again…?"
"It is not impossible, but like the restoration of the boundary between this world and the next, it will take time. Fortunately, Meiko herself seems to be still quiet…"
Besides the restoration of the boundary, the resealing of Meiko.
"I don't know what to do anymore…"
When Reimei was in tears, wondering where to start, Ikkaku made a suggestion.
"Reimei-sama. I have one suggestion for you."
"What is it…?"
"You may already know this, but this matter cannot be solved by Reimei-sama or us alone. So, I'd like to bring in some collaborators."
"Collaborators…? I'm telling you, you can't get people from the heavenly realms. You think that with the divine authority of those who live in the heavenly realms, the boundaries between the various worlds can be quickly restored, don't you? I certainly think it is a good idea, but since divine authority was necessary to defeat the false god, there is a high possibility that the boundaries of the worlds annihilated by the false god cannot be restored quickly even with the available divine authority. Above all, the heavenly world is too far away from this underworld. The longer it takes now, the more damage will spread, won't it?"
"Yes, I am well aware of that. I am not talking about the observers in the heavenly realm. Besides, I am asking this person to seal up Meiko."
"What?"
Reimei's eyes widened at the unexpected words.
"The truth is, I had tried to find out how the soul of the false god drifted to this underworld before it was annihilated. As a result, I found out that it was sent to the underworld of another world by the hand of a single person."
"What? You mean that this person defeated the false god──"
"As you may have guessed, this person seems to be able to use divine authority."
"Hmm… But he is from a different world, isn't he?"
"No. He is from the Earth, the counterpart of our underworld."
"What? There is someone with that kind of power on Earth?"
Although there are not many, there are a few people with special powers on Earth as well.
However, Reimei could not hide her surprise at the fact that a person with such a powerful power, like divine authority, existed on Earth.
"In the first place, why is that earthling related to a different world, is that person a false god or a godlike being?"
"It seems that the human's home has a mysterious door that crosses over the world…"
"T-that person even possesses such a thing?"
"Yes. And this person also seems to be capable of… dealing with spiritual power."
"In addition to divine authority, that person also possesses spiritual power?"
The information that was being added one after another left Reimei baffled.
But if Ikkaku's words were true, it would not be a bad thing for Reimei.
"In addition, we are not at fault in this matter, and it is all due to what happened in the other world. So I thought it would be possible to request cooperation with that underworld, which is the counterpart of that different world. If we do so, I think it would help to seal Meiko."
Reimei pondered over Ikkaku's words.
"…If it is a human, it's far easier to bring that person to the underworld than it is to bring someone from the heavenly realm. And even though we don't know how far the divine authority will go in restoring the world's boundaries, we can't say that it will be totally ineffective. And if that person also has spiritual power, then even more so… If that is the case, we may be able to have Meiko resealed while the boundaries of our world are being restored. Above all, if the help of the underworld of another world is also added…"
Having reached a certain point in her thinking, Reimei looked over at the oni.
"I give you a royal command! Bring me a human who can use that divine authority right now!"
"Yes!"
"Ikkaku, contact the underworld of the world where this incident originated and get them to cooperate with us at all costs! Is that clear?"
"Understood."
───Thus, unbeknownst to Yuuya, he was about to be involved in yet another trouble.
＊＊＊
It was the day after it was decided that I was to practice sorcery with Kuuya-san.
After finishing school without incident, I called out to the people I went to that alleyway with after school yesterday.
"It was so unusual for you to invite me out, Yuuya-kun! What's the matter?"
"…Maybe you got hooked on the occult after yesterday's experience?"
"Eehh!? W-well, are you talking about going on another exploration?"
"T-that's not it! I mean… you all remember that encounter with the monster, don't you…?"
I asked, and they all looked at each other and nodded.
"Well, how can you forget something so shocking…?"
"Y-yeah. I'm not sure if anyone would believe me if I told them, but…"
"As expected, it's impossible that they don't exist when you can see them so clearly."
"Haha… I don't think I'll ever forget it, you know."
As expected, the encounter with the monster seemed to be a shock to everyone, and they all had indescribable expressions on their faces.
"That's the thing, after all, we've encountered such an eerie presence; I think we should exorcise it…"
"E-exorcism? Could it be that we've been cursed?"
"…I'm interested."
"Yukine-chan?"
I didn't mean to scare her more than necessary, but Kaede was frightened by my words. On the contrary, Yukine's eyes are shining… What can I say? She has a very unobtrusive personality.
However, there was a good reason why I made this suggestion.
That was yesterday, after I heard about the demons from Kuuya-san.
＊＊＊
"You should exorcise the residue of the demon."
"Eh?"
Kuuya-san suddenly told me that.
I was surprised at the sudden words, but Kuuya-san continued with a serious expression on his face.
"I told you earlier, demons are already dead. Yuuya may be able to withstand the residues of demons because of your spiritual power, but even so, you are not currently able to use your spiritual power to its fullest extent. That means that there is no telling where it will have an adverse effect on your body. Above all, I'm sure that… other children have also come into contact with the demon."
"They didn't touch it directly, but…"
"It doesn't matter if they touched it or not. Just being in close proximity to that demon is enough of an influence. Anyway, the children there do not have spiritual power. If that is the case, they will continue to accumulate the demon's residue in their bodies."
"You want me to have them exorcised…"
"Yes, that's right. If it were true, I would be the one to exorcise it… but as you can see, I'm dead. In other words, you can say that I wear the stain of death as much as the demons do. Therefore, I cannot exorcise them."
"Eh? So, does that mean it's really dangerous for me to be talking to Kuuya-san like this…?"
"No? The demon spreads the stain of death to its surroundings, but for me it is no big deal to keep that stain inside my own body. Therefore, Yuuya and the others will not be affected."
After saying all that, Kuuya-san gathered his spiritual power in his eyes and stared up at the sky.
"Hmm… I wonder how much information about the spiritual power and the impurities is left in this world… but it seems that there are people who have the power to purify the impurities. If you go there…"
"Uh…?"
"…Good, I've found it. Is that okay? You will be exorcised at the place I am about to tell you. It's──"
＊＊＊
And so, I was reminded by Kuuya-san to go for an exorcism.
Certainly, I felt a somewhat sinister presence from that monster… that demon, and regardless of whether it was just me who had an effect, it would be bad to have a bad influence on everyone else.
"Hmm… well, it's surely weird to keep going like this."
"I agree! I think I should go for an exorcism too!"
"You are too scared, Kaede."
"Are you not scared, Rin-chan?"
"Well, I think it's creepy, but I don't know if it's that bad."
"Eeehhh? W-what about Kaori?"
"I'm not that bothered by it either…"
"Unbelievable!"
Well, as for Kaori, she knows about the existence of the other world, so there's a good chance that when she sees that monster, she's just as likely to recognize it as a monster from the other world.
While Kaede was surprised at the lack of rejection from everyone, Merl opened her mouth with a serious expression on her face.
"Kaede-san. I do understand."
"Me-Merl-san…!"
"Such an unscientific existence… can't possibly be believed…! It's impossible… it's impossible…!"
"Me-Merl-san…?"
"I think Merl's way of being scared is scarier than yours."
As she smiled bitterly at that, Rin turned her gaze toward me.
"So, I understand the exorcism, but where are we going?"
"Let's see, do you remember the shrine where we tried to test our courage during the summer vacation?"
"Eh? If I'm not mistaken, that's the place where a girl named Mai Kagurazaka was, right?"
"Hey, hey, are we going to get exorcised at the place where we tested our courage?"
"…But if you think about it, that place is a shrine, right?"
"If it's Mai's place, you can be certain!"
When Lexia-san, who knows Kagurazaka-san well, said so, Kaede and the others, who did not know the situation, tilted their heads.
"Huh? Lexia-san, do you know Kagurazaka-san?"
"Of course! Mai is on the other side of the world──Mmgh!"
"Ah! Ignore what this girl says. We just happen to know each other by chance."
"I-is that so?"
Luna hurriedly held Lexia-san's mouth, and Lexia-san, who finally got out of that restraint, was angry at Luna.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"What do you mean what am I doing to you, you idiot! We are from another world is a secret, you know?"
"Oh, that's right."
"You… well, fine. Anyway, don't say or do anything that might raise suspicion. Do you understand?"
"It can't be helped."
Lexia-san, who was whispering with Luna, nodded her head reluctantly, perhaps convinced.
"A-anyway! I've heard that they have a great reputation for exorcisms there."
"I see. Well, I'm a little nervous about spending the rest of my life like this, so I thought, why not?"
"T-that's right! Now that it's decided, let's go right away!"
We decided to go to Kagurazaka-san's shrine, so we made our plans together and headed once again to Kagurazaka-san's shrine on the next day off.