I have an unlimited number of shikigami

After all, most boys would feel insecure in front of a noble and beautiful girl like Asuka, so she could understand why her senior didn't dare to follow her.

“Fujiwara and I will go check out the bread factory first,” Seiji Ikeda asked from the side. “What about you, Koike? Do you want to come with us?”

"I'm waiting for Asuka here."

"Oh, see you tomorrow then."

Bye-bye~

Koike Riho waved goodbye and watched the two leave.

Time passed slowly; the setting sun lazily sank below the horizon; a flock of crows returning to their nests flew over the top of the office building; and the aroma of stir-fried garlic wafted from the Chinese restaurant across the street.

A girl with long orange hair appeared in front of Zenkokuji Temple bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, even more beautiful than the fiery clouds on the horizon.

"Hey, Asuka, why are you so late..." Koike Riho ran over excitedly and grabbed the orange-haired girl's arm. "If you had come a little earlier, you could have seen Fujiwara-senpai from Class 2-F."

"Fujiwara Izaya?"

"Yes, just as rumored, Fujiwara-senpai is a fair-skinned, elegant, and handsome young man. Especially his eyes, which are clear and bright, with a talent that shines in the depths of his pupils that others do not have."

Kasahara Asuka glanced at her classmates.

At this moment, the short-haired girl gently clenched her fists and placed them in front of her chest, looking exactly like a fangirl who had just met her idol.

"Where did he go?" Kasahara Asuka asked calmly.

"I went to that bread factory up ahead with Ikeda-kun. I heard there was a spider demon murder case, and the old monk asked Ikeda-kun to go and take a look."

"Oh, you can go shopping by yourself tonight. I have to go now."

Kasahara Asuka waved her hand and rushed towards the bread factory with hurried steps, her long orange hair swaying slightly with the swirling air.

"Eh?"

By the time Koike Riho realized what was happening, she had already disappeared from sight.

Are we going to find Fujiwara-senpai?

The young shrine maiden at Akasaka Shrine was a little confused and couldn't help but wonder to herself, "They've already used the speed-traveling spell, is it really necessary to be in such a hurry?"

※※※※※

“Eh, Fujiwara…”

"what's up?"

Have you met Asuka from Class 1-B?

I saw her at lunchtime in the cafeteria, but I didn't know her name at the time.

"I've heard she's very pretty, is that true?"

"She is indeed a rare beauty, ranking in the top four among the women I have ever seen."

"Quick," Ikeda Seiji turned around, looking excitedly at Fujiwara Izaya, "Shall we turn back? What's the point of exorcising spirits? Is exorcising spirits more important than shopping with a pretty girl?"

Fujiwara Izaya looked at him expressionlessly.

If the little monk uttered another word, he would take action and escort him to the bread factory like a prisoner.

"I was just saying..." Ikeda Seiji chuckled awkwardly, touching his short hair.

After walking a few steps, he couldn't help but speak again: "Hey, Asuka is a shrine maiden at Tokyo Daijingu Shrine. I just wanted to get to know her and exchange exorcism tips. You see, this is such a good opportunity, why don't we..."

Fujiwara Izaya silently rolled up his sleeves.

"...Okay, I'll shut up!" Ikeda Seiji wisely quieted down.

Understand!

The little monk understands!

The little priest didn't want any of that bullshit romance; he just wanted to make money.

The two walked through the commercial street, past a large hospital with its windows lit up, through a densely packed area of ​​cheap residential housing, and finally stopped in front of a bread factory surrounded by wire mesh.

The workers hadn't started work yet, and the factory lights were off; the dark building looked rather oppressive.

Seiji Ikeda greeted the security guard at the entrance and had him lead the two of them to the building where the murder had occurred.

"This morning, after the workers left for the day, the cleaning staff found the remains of a woman in the reception room on the third floor. The body was just skin and bones; all the flesh and blood had been sucked away..."

After briefly explaining the situation, Seiji Ikeda pointed to a window on the third floor: "Look, that's the room. Take a look."

Fujiwara Izaya looked up.

His five senses were exceptional; even in the dark, he could clearly see the half-open window.

Between the rusty window frames, spiderwebs hung in several places. A small rubber tree stood in a pot, its leaves long since withered and brown. A small black spider could be seen clinging tightly to its web, patiently waiting for its prey to fall into its trap.

Chapter 8. And then he was gone.

Tonight is a night of a long moon.

A crescent moon, long and thin, hung in the dark sky. Fujiwara Izaya looked up and thought it looked like a white cat's paw stepping on a piece of black cloth.

"Fujiwara, you must send that damned spider to the underworld!" Ikeda Seiji stared out the window, his indignant expression illuminated by the moonlight. "The dead factory worker was a single mother. She had an eight-year-old daughter. You have no idea how heartbreaking it was when I came to the scene this morning and saw the little girl's eyes when she was stopped outside from seeing the body..."

Fujiwara Izaya imagined the little girl's desperate eyes and sighed softly: "Where is that girl now?"

"The old monk decided to take him back to the temple to stay for the time being, and see if we could find a suitable family to adopt him."

"Keep that million for her, and remember to help her find a good family to marry into."

There are many unfortunate people in this world.

Fujiwara Rin wasn't crazy enough to want to save everyone, but since he happened to run into them, he wouldn't hesitate to offer a small token of his appreciation.

Seiji Ikeda glanced at him, then clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha."

The next second, he added, "But I'll still give you the money, after all, my family doesn't lack this million yen."

"it is good."

Fujiwara Izaya is not pretentious.

"It's so pleasant to be with Fujiwara." Ikeda Seiji excitedly patted his shoulder.

“It’s getting late,” Fujiwara Izaya said, glancing up at the dark stairwell. “Let’s go inside.”

"Uh, I need to pee urgently, Fujiwara-kun, please wait a few minutes!"

Seiji Ikeda turned around and ran towards the main gate at a very fast speed.

And then he never came back.

Fujiwara Izaya had long since figured out the monk's habits, so the moment the monk turned around, he had already walked into the stairwell on his own.

As a demon, he was happy that no one was watching when he exorcised spirits, otherwise it would be a bit troublesome if he accidentally revealed that he was also a demon.

Under the dim moonlight, Fujiwara Izaya went up to the third floor of the factory and pushed open the door to the reception room.

A nauseating, vomit-inducing odor wafted towards him, and he covered his nose, stopped, and looked inside.

The room is about four and a half tatami mats in size, and some parts are uneven. Judging from the layout, it has been renovated, with part of the factory building converted into a reception room.

In the middle is a tatami mat with a low table on it, along with an ashtray, a small stove, and a set of exquisite ceramic teacups.

Fujiwara Izaya looked around the room and stepped inside.

There were still traces of dried blood on the floor and walls, and the air reeked of blood. In addition, there was a foul, fishy smell, like the saliva of some kind of poisonous lizard.

Fujiwara Izaya's past exorcism experiences told him that these were traces left behind by yokai after they had harmed living beings.

Whether it's a monster, a ghost, or even a human, once you kill, you'll be haunted by the resentment of the dead, and that stench is a side effect of that resentment.

The more you kill, the stronger the smell becomes, and the harder it is to eliminate.

However, if the person or ghost being killed is already filled with resentment, the scent will dissipate quickly.

The underlying principle is unclear.

Perhaps it was because the old woman Amaterasu encouraged all living beings to kill less, and that if you encountered a bad guy, it wouldn't matter if you just killed him.

Fujiwara Izaya had exorcised many monsters, but none of them had this smell on them.

The mountain god from Nagano Prefecture is a virtuous and clean-living yokai who never commits indiscriminate killing.

Carefully observing his surroundings, Fujiwara Izaya slowly moved closer to the low table in the middle.

Above the low table, several thin threads fell vertically from the ceiling. He tugged at the threads with his hand; they were small yet strong, and as he pulled, a springy force suddenly returned to his fingertips.

It's spider silk, but it's not from an ordinary spider; it's definitely left behind by a monster.

Following the spider web, Fujiwara Izaya looked up at the ceiling. On the wall directly above the low table, there were several scratch marks from fingernails.

He looked down at the floor again, where there were some fine white putty powders scattered on the floor near the low table.

The murderer quietly peeked out from the ceiling, wrapped the female worker in front of the low table with spider silk, pulled her up to the ceiling, sucked her blood and flesh, and then quietly retreated back into the hole.

That's the modus operandi a spider demon would use.

Fujiwara Izaya grabbed an indoor broom and poked it into the ceiling, intending to use the sound to find out where the passage was.

Suddenly, I heard a faint sound of footsteps, not two legs, but eight legs moving at once.

They were hiding outside!

Fujiwara Izaya rushed out the door in an instant and looked towards one end of the corridor. A black figure was also looking over from that end. It was a bald spider demon with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a spider.

As he appeared, the demonic energy within the factory suddenly intensified, and a dangerous aura rippled through the air—black ripples.

Fujiwara Izaya couldn't help but frown.

His demonic power is bright yellow, weaker demons are earthy yellow, and stronger demons are golden yellow.

The black demonic power only indicates that this spider demon has killed too many living beings, and its demonic power has been eroded by resentment, turning from yellow to black.

"Tsk, what a bad omen, it's a man..."

The bald spider spat.

He had heard from his subordinates that there were many female workers in this factory, and tonight was his first time coming to scout it out. He planned to bring a few young and beautiful women back to complete the tasks assigned by the organization. But he ran into a man right away, which really annoyed Spider.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" the bald spider shouted.