The old master tilted his head as he doubted his own words.
His decades of experience and innate intuition were both telling him that he was wrong.
“…Your agent that was hit, hallucinated and went berserk, but she immediately calmed down. The people that came into contact with the affected exoskeleton also only fell sick, is that correct?”
The old guest didn’t understand why the old master reconfirmed that, but he nodded nonetheless, then the old master made a difficult face and asked him to pass the package, to which the old guest complied despite his hesitations.
The old man carefully undid the cloth and ‘peeked’ through the opening he made.
His gaze was inquisitive, but the suspicion on his face gradually grew deeper.
It was then that the sound of something vibrating resounded from the clothes of the old guest.
Neither reacted, but the old master gave him permission to answer the call.
“You can go, I need to ‘look’ into this for awhile.”
“…Excuse me────What is it?”
The old guest took out a small terminal from his bosom and held it close to his ear.
He kept the terminal in its sound-mode so as to not get in the way of the old master’s spiritual examination, but his expression immediately stiffened when he heard what had happened.
“────Understood. I’m going back now. Until I return no one is to make a move, is that clear!?”
The old guest said firmly before putting away the terminal in his bosom and immediately standing up.
“Did something happen?”
The old man asked as he continued his spiritual examination of the object.
The old guest had intended to leave quietly, but it was related to the object, so he explained the situation briefly.
“I’ve just received word that the owner of that divine ki has personally apprehended one of my subordinates.”
“…Hah?”
That brief response resulted in the old master becoming dumbfounded, but it lasted only for a moment before he broke into laughter.
“Kusakabe-dono?” The old guest, Ortis, asked.
“You’re in a lot of trouble, aren’t you, Ortis? But didn’t that existence say that he’ll ensure your subordinate’s safety as long as you don’t attack?” The old master, Kusakabe, said.
Ortis was shocked. Had the old master eavesdropped on them?
Seeing his eyes opened wide, Kusakabe laughed and wrapped the object.
“I was surprised at first because it was so sudden, but now that I’ve taken a closer look, this is a rather peculiar divine ki. Sinister yet without impurities, and yet it is not pure, nor is it so accepting. Without a doubt, it is an evil ki. But the malice within it has been suppressed to the limits. This oddity and contradiction reeks of human.”
Ka ka ka, the old master laughed with a relieved face completely different from before.
Ortis was suspicious of the old master’s strange appraisal and expression, but he remained standing and waited for his next words.
“If someone like this has appeared, then that can only mean that ‘something’ world-shattering has happened or was about to happen.”
“…”
“Bullseye, I see. In that case, the only reason you and your people must be alive is because you weren’t directly involved.”
“…You can tell that much just by looking at that object?”
“Who knows? Let’s just say that it’s my intuition. The element is evil, but the disposition is sweet, gentle, and excessively considerate.”
Though Ortis was once again reminded how terrifying this clan’s intuition could be, he felt the old master’s description of ‘that existence’ to be a little off.
Regardless, once the old master has gotten a ‘whiff’ of something, he won’t be far off the mark.
This was a kind of profiling based off the quality of the aura that only a particular family could accomplish.
As someone well aware of the old master’s accuracy, he accepted the old master’s words despite his doubts.
“This existence must be some kind of saint, no, a virtuous fiend. This is the color of an honorable guardian. Someone with little desire regarding himself, an evil god that defends those wishing for the stability of the world, ku ka ka ka.”
Old Kusakabe broke out into a boisterous laugh, seemingly enjoying his own depictions of the virtuous fiend.
But that led to Ortis making an unpleasant face.
“…So you say, but we were attacked.”
“To call this an attack when it has been suppressed to this extent is simply ridiculous. Had this god actually intended to harm you, your subordinate would have become an invalid, and everyone that approached would have been cursed forever.”
This was an existence that could easily do that much, the old master implied.
When the old master said those words solemnly, the needless emotions on Ortis’s face vanished.
“Please allow me to excuse myself here today, Kusakabe-dono. I will be sure to apologize properly for this unannounced visit.”
Ortis seemed flustered as he hastily left the room, but before he could leave, the old master spoke.
“I don’t mind. You’ve brought a surprisingly good souvenir─────But you should know, that some things ought to be left alone.”
“…Thank you for your counsel, Kusakabe-dono.”
The old master warned him, but the old guest took it as advice and left.
The old master quietly saw him off, and when he had gone from view, he shook his head and made an astonished face as he sighed.
“What a difficult man. I doubt he can stop now given his age, however.”
Aging truly is a deplorable thing, the old master said. A remark befit his age.
He clapped his hands in a prayer to cleanse the residue of the darkness, but a portion persisted in the guest room.
He would have no choice but to leave their cleansing to time. The old master wryly smiled.
“I might look like this, but I am actually a formidable exorcist, so this is quite the shock. Still, I’m surprised that something as genuine as this could be found in this world. Here I’d thought that gods were just tools that humans imagined and created.”
As the old master made remarks that would antagonize anyone religious or of the same school, he told himself with a face full of surprise, “Looks like I can’t die just yet, ku ka ka ka,” and broke into laughter.
While one of the old men laughed and the other was stressed, the
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