Hearing Irena-san’s assessment that the monster was likely Third or Fourth Order, I started thinking about what kinds of Fourth Order monsters I’d encountered recently.

One immediately came to mind, which is the one that had turned two teachers into cubes at school late at night. I shivered in disgust thinking about it.

…Yeah, this could be a real hassle.

I furrowed my brow and took a sip of the melon soda that had just been brought to the table.

That monster had turned a classroom into a “sealed room” and barricaded itself inside.

If we were unlucky, there could be another one like that lurking in this town. As I swallowed my soda, I could only hope that the next monster I’d meet would have a less twisted personality.

Then, I asked Irena-san a question.

“Hey, Irena-san.”

“What is it?”

“Is it really true that 120 people have gone missing?”

“Yes, it’s right there in the shared information,” she said, showing me her phone.

On the screen was a PDF containing a brief summary of the case.

Wait… the exorcist community uses electronic files? My company still uses fax machines.

Amused by this little glimpse of modern technology, I continued reading the summary and paused when I reached the section listing the number of victims. Sure enough, it said 122 people. That’s a staggering number.

Just then, the screen dimmed a bit. When I tapped it, the brightness returned. Irena-san’s phone seems to have a short screen timeout.

I glanced away from the phone and turned to look behind me.

“But with that many people missing…” I muttered.

I saw regular customers chatting happily with the shop owner, as if nothing was wrong.

It was such a normal scene.

There was no sign that 100 people had gone missing in a single month.

“No one seems too panicked about it,” I remarked.

“Well, that’s to be expected. This town loses an average of 240 people each year due to population decline. So, half that number going missing might not seem all that unusual. Here, it’s normal for the population to shrink,” Irena-san explained.

“Why do so many people leave?”

“They move to the city.”

I guess that makes sense.

Having lived in Tokyo in both my past and current lives, I couldn’t quite grasp that feeling.

But now that I think about it, I haven’t seen many young people since we arrived in this town.

And honestly, I can understand why young people wouldn’t want to stay. There’s nothing here. No convenience stores, no supermarkets, and no places to hang out. Of course, they’d want to leave.

So, this town loses 240 people a year.

I have no idea how big the population here is, but if 120 people have gone missing in just one month, and no one’s really paying attention… well, I guess they’re used to people leaving.

But… wait a minute. That’s strange, isn’t it?

If the town normally loses 240 people a year, and now 120 have gone missing in just one month, something’s off.

And these people aren’t just leaving—they’re disappearing.

At this rate, the disappearance rate is several times higher than normal. Let’s see, if I divide 240 by 12…

“Do you want some pudding?” a voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Huh?”

The shop owner had brought over some pudding.

The sudden appearance of the dessert caught my attention.

It wasn’t just any pudding—it was a café-style pudding topped with whipped cream and a cherry. The kind of thing you’d only see on a kid’s meal.

I was surprised, but more than anything, I was puzzled because I hadn’t ordered any pudding.

I didn’t order this…?

While I was mentally tilting my head in confusion, the shop owner smiled playfully and explained.

“You’ll get hungry if you let the little miss eat all by herself.”

I looked over to see Nina-chan quietly eating her pancakes.

Come to think of it, Nina-chan never talks while eating. It shows her good upbringing.

I turned my gaze back to the shop owner.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course! It’s on the house,” she replied cheerfully.

“Thank you very much!” I said, gratefully accepting the pudding.

I picked up a spoon and took a bite.

It was sweet.

Sweet and delicious.

“Oh, if Nina and Itsuki-san are having dessert, I think I’ll order something too…” Irena-san said, putting her phone away and picking up the menu.

I felt like I had been thinking about something important just a moment ago, but… oh well. No point in overthinking things before the monster shows up.

For now, we just had to wait until evening.

There’s no point worrying about it before the fight. Right now, it’s better to relax and enjoy this pudding while we wait.

Irena-san ordered a parfait, and the three of us spent the time chatting to pass the wait.

We mostly talked about our summer plans—where we’d go and what we’d do.

During the conversation, I learned that Irena-san and Nina-chan would be returning to England for two weeks.

They hadn’t been able to go back for her father’s anniversary, so they were using the summer break to visit. This would be Irena-san’s last job before her vacation.

I, on the other hand, talked about the house being rebuilt and my plans to attend summer camp.

Even though I felt like there was something more important I should be talking about, I couldn’t quite remember what it was. The uncomfortable feeling lingered, but I brushed it off. Just as the clock struck 5 PM, the shop owner came over.

“Sorry, but we close at 5,” she said.

“Oh, then let’s settle the bill,” Irena-san replied.

The regular customers were also getting ready to leave.

5 PM is a bit early for a café to close, but I guess that’s how it is with small, family-run places.

As we stood up to pay, the shop owner suddenly turned to me and asked,

“Hey, boy, is this lady your mother?”

“No, she’s my friend’s mom,” I replied.

“Oh, the little miss’s mother?”

“Yeah, we’re friends,” I said, motioning toward Nina-chan.

At that moment, Nina-chan suddenly grabbed my hand tightly. Her hand was trembling violently.

“…Itsuki,” she said, her voice tense.

Before I could ask what was wrong, the shop owner spoke again.

“Do you have a mother, boy?”

“Yeah, I do.”

As one of the regulars waved goodbye and left, the setting sun, now hidden behind the mountains, cast an orange glow through the windows.

Ah, right. This town is in a mountain valley, so the sun sets earlier.

The sunlight, filtering into the dim shop, stretched our shadows long across the floor.

Longer, longer… until they turned pitch black.

“I’m glad to hear that. Tell me, boy, are you happy?” the shop owner asked, her voice strangely eerie. .net

“Yeah, I’m happy, but…”

Just as I started to think her questions were getting weird, Nina-chan shouted.

“Itsuki! Stop!”

“Huh? What is it, Nina-chan?”

“Look in front of you! Can’t you see? The person standing right there is a M-O-N-S-T-E-R!”

The moment she screamed, a purple mist shot out from Nina-chan and wrapped around me, shaking me violently. No, not just me—she wrapped Irena-san in the same mist as well.

In that instant, my mind snapped into focus.

Why didn’t I notice it earlier?

Why had I tried to ignore it?

…I knew from the start, didn’t I? The sheer abnormality of 120 people disappearing like that.

It was as if I had suddenly woken up from a dream, clarity washing over me. The shop owner muttered bitterly.

‘You didn’t read the menu, did you?’

“…I’m not very good at reading Japanese,” Nina-chan replied, sounding embarrassed, as if she’d been caught off guard by the shop owner’s words.

‘What a blunder… I rushed things…’

In the next moment, one of Irena-san’s fairies slammed into the shop owner.

Unable to withstand the force, the monster was torn away from her body.

And out from the shop owner’s form emerged a faceless monster in a black suit and hat—a featureless man.

A parasitic-type monster.

But not just any ordinary monster.

As I extended my Doushi Silveit, my mind sharpened.

It had been manipulating our thoughts somehow, guiding us to ignore the seriousness of the situation. Even though I’d noticed the large number of disappearances, I was led to think it wasn’t that big of a deal, not worth focusing on.

…How had it done that?

I wanted to know.

I wanted to figure out when exactly it had gotten to us.

‘…I gave away too much information. I was trying to lure out a stronger exorcist.’

But figuring that out could wait.

Right now, the priority was exorcising this monster.

I extended my Doushi Silveit, aiming for the monster’s neck—the spot between the hat and the suit.

‘Heh… A complete failure…!’

As the monster laughed, my Doushi Silveit transformed, slicing through its neck in a perfect circle.

The monster dissolved into a black mist and was no more.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep