Tokyo: I am the Lord of All Demons!

Kikuko Yamamura's words were somewhat dejected:

"Your Excellency, I don't know if you are aware of this, but humans have established Shinto Halls specifically to target ghosts and spirits; they have also developed methods for consecration. I feel that we ghosts and spirits will soon face our natural enemy..."

Makoto Araki actually knew about these things a long time ago; he was somewhat instrumental in the creation of an organization like the Shinto Agency.

Therefore, Makoto Araki remained completely unmoved, and casually replied, "Oh, I see."

Kikuko Yamamura was quite anxious. She urged, "My Lord God, do you need me to storm the Shinto Hall? They have two divine messengers inside now, I should be able to handle them."

Makoto Araki shook his head and said, "No need, Kikuko, you don't need to worry about these things right now. I have my own solutions."

“Okay…” Kikuko Yamamura’s expression was clearly somewhat disappointed. She asked again, “So what should I do now?”

Araki Makoto said helplessly, "You don't need to do anything. Just do your own thing until I give you any orders."

Kikuko Yamamura now doesn't have much strategic significance. Having already completed her revenge, she doesn't harbor much resentment and is unlikely to be used to intimidate people.

"Well."

Kikuko Yamamura nodded, then lowered her head, no longer looking at her goddess, and withdrew from the conversation.

Before leaving the vicinity of the Shinto Hall, Kikuko Yamamura glanced around one last time, but of course, she didn't get any more information. In the end, she could only leave reluctantly and disappear into the darkness.

Chapter 93 Test Report

Since its establishment, the Shinto Hall has never been idle. The Shinto messengers are responsible for developing new consecrated ritual artifacts, while the police officers who reside there are responsible for maintaining order in the city and conducting external propaganda.

Recently, the Shinto Office has been issuing frequent notices about countermeasures against ghosts, urging people not to go out at night unless absolutely necessary, to avoid encountering ghosts.

The Shinto Office is even analyzing who benefits from ghostly intimidation and murder.

Of course, these people have no chance of finding out anything about Makoto Araki. Even if they did find out one day, all that awaits them is death.

That said, Makoto Araki personally witnessed Hanako slacking off.

the next day.

Early in the morning.

After handing over her duties at the shrine and feeding the cats, Shimizu Suzune returned to the Shinto Hall to begin her workday.

It's really hard to get a job at the Shinto Office. Ever since the Prime Minister's Office announced that there are ghosts in the world, many so-called "urban legends" have appeared in various places, but after sending police officers to investigate, they found that they were all fake.

In other words, there are only a few confirmed urban legends so far, and those urban legends have all resulted in casualties and are well-known to everyone.

The urban legends that are currently known to exist and have been registered with the Shinto Agency are: The Haunted House, The Departure of the Flying Demon in the Subway, The Man-Eating Kisaragi Station, Sachiko Shinozaki of Tenjin School, The Slit-Mouthed Woman in Front of the Prime Minister's Residence, and Hanako in the Toilet.

For the first few, relevant evidence has been obtained, but some procedural difficulties still exist.

The main problem is that ghosts are not human and cannot be prosecuted. Human laws of adjudication do not currently apply to them, which leads to cases ultimately being left unresolved.

The only possible "judgment" is that the Shinto Hall organizes a team to exterminate the demons.

Therefore, the cases of the two urban legends, "The Haunted House" and "The Vanishing Demon in the Subway," have basically reached the stage of being closed.

Although the Slit-Mouthed Woman has suffered heavy damage, she has not been completely eliminated yet, so the investigation and battle are still ongoing.

After returning to her post, Shimizu Suzune suddenly discovered that the peach wood sword in her office had been moved and was nowhere to be found.

She quickly got up and walked towards Fujita Mino's second divine messenger's office. As soon as she entered, she asked, "Fujita-chan, have you seen the peach wood sword in my office?"

Sitting in her office, Fujita Mino took a bite of bread, looked up, and said casually, "As for the peach wood sword... I've finished testing it. These are the test reports that Morita-san helped me write."

As she spoke, she placed a stack of documents on her desk. Shimizu Suzune frowned, approached the desk, and picked up the stack of documents.

Before she had read more than a few pages, Shimizu Suzune looked up and asked in a questioning tone, "You guys went to test the peach wood sword without permission last night?"

Upon hearing this, Fujita Mino looked displeased and said, "What do you mean by 'without permission'? We're not your subordinates."

Shimizu Suzune stared at Fujita Mino's face for several seconds, but didn't respond to her words. Instead, she patiently looked at the report in her hand.

This six-page report is based on the oral account of Fujita Mino and was written by Morita Jun.

The article is full of flowery language, but most of it is nonsense. All of it points to one fact: the peach wood sword was not consecrated long enough, which is why it was not powerful enough.

How could Shimizu Suzune not know whether the peach wood swords had been properly consecrated? She had only decided to mass-produce four peach wood swords in one night to speed up the process.

The biggest problem now is that Fujita Mino returns to Tenjin Academy, then fights the guard ghost, and attracts Shinozaki Sachiko.

Shimizu Rin glanced at Fujita Mino again, but the latter didn't meet her gaze and instead stared at her laptop.

"Fujita-san, did you go back to Tenjin Academy last night?" Shimizu Suzune asked seriously.

As a result, Fujita Mino remained stubborn and simply snorted, saying, "It's my freedom to go wherever I want."

Shimizu Suzune lowered her voice and said, "I'm not here to condemn you. I'm not that rigid. I was thinking, since you can freely enter and leave the Heavenly God Academy, why don't you help me retrieve the lost gold foil coin?"

"I forgot." Fujita Mino brushed her off with just one sentence.

However, feeling that this answer was a bit too perfunctory, he added, "If I go back someday, I might help you bring out the gold foil coin."

Fujita Mino's tone was still full of disdain, which was a clear provocation.

But Shimizu Suzune didn't care. She looked at Fujita Mino's face with pleading eyes and said, "Please, the gold foil gohei is very important to me."

When the two discussed this point, Fujita Mino was already getting impatient, so she waved her hand and said, "I know."

Since she was already in this state, Shimizu Suzune felt embarrassed to continue bothering her, so she said, "Then, I'll take this report."

"Oh, go ahead," Fujita Mino replied casually, her expression quite perfunctory.

It seems this girl is angry, but she's just a young girl, and she won't stay angry for long. After all, they're colleagues, and she'll calm down soon, Shimizu Suzune thought to herself.

Since she was no longer likable, the only option was to temporarily disappear from her sight. Shimizu Suzune then left the Second Divine Envoy's office.

After Shimizu Rin left, Fujita Mino began to think. She had expected a big argument, but it didn't happen.

Fujita Mino pursed her lips and muttered to herself, "I didn't expect Shimizu-san to be so gentle... On the contrary, I seem a bit willful."

"That makes sense. We'll all be working here from now on. If we end up arguing and getting all red in the face, how are we supposed to get along?"

In this situation, Fujita Mino even wished she could immediately go over and apologize to Shimizu Suzune.

However, she also had some reservations.

Shimizu-san didn't care about this matter at all. If she were to apologize, it would only make her seem petty.

……

……

First Divine Envoy's Office.

Shimizu Suzune's current task is to find clues related to Hanako in the vast ocean of information, and then work with the police officers in Shinto Hall to solve the case and prevent a tragedy.

She held the mouse and browsed various urban legend websites, especially the most famous 2ch website, hoping to get more information about Hanako.

However, the information online is very chaotic. Many students from various schools claim to have seen Hanako in the toilet, but when you click on the posts, they are all oral accounts without any evidence.

Just then, Shimizu Suzune's computer suddenly received an email from Kishimoto Shingo, the head of the Shinto Agency.

Title:

[A report on the whereabouts, locations, times of appearance, and battles of the urban legend "Hanako-san of the Toilet."]

Chapter 94 Operation Plan

Shimizu Rinne opened the email, which contained only one attachment. Opening the attachment revealed a DOCX document.

The document specifically lists the combat capabilities of "Hanako-san of the Toilet," as well as the time and location of her appearance.

In terms of combat power, the article uses a variety of words to vividly describe Hanako in the toilet, but in short, Hanako is extremely terrifying.

The article mentions that most of the people who saw Hanako were eventually killed by her; some had their necks broken, some were strangled, and some were hung in the toilet.

Therefore, these horrific descriptions are mostly from outsiders who accidentally "heard" wails and screams, or who personally witnessed the corpses at the "scene," with few firsthand accounts.

As for the time, it mostly happens late at night, starting from 9 pm and continuing until the early hours of the morning.

As for the locations, they are no different from those described on urban legend websites; almost all of them take place in the girls' restrooms at the school.

Shimizu Suzune already knew all this information; she just lacked someone to help organize it.

So, what was Inspector Shingo Kishimoto's purpose in sending this email? Did he know that I wanted to organize this information?

At the end of the document, there is information on how to fight Hanako, the most important of which is that police officers can be disguised as female students who need to use the restroom and ambush Hanako in various restrooms.

Shimizu Suzune frowned, feeling that something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Boom, boom."

There was a knock on the door.

"Please come in." Shimizu Rinne responded subconsciously before looking up and discovering that the visitor was none other than Kishimoto Shingo.

Shingo Kishimoto walked up to Suzune Shimizu and said as he walked, "You've already read the email, haven't you?"

"I saw it, so what?" Shimizu Suzune frowned, wondering what Kishimoto Shingo meant.

Shingo Kishimoto lit a cigarette and said, "The hottest case these past two days—Hanako in the Toilet—according to our statistics, all the victims are teenage girls, and the total number of victims has reached thirty-five."

"...So what?" Shimizu Suzune still didn't quite understand what Kishimoto Shingo meant.

Is thirty-five people a lot?

Not much.

Because of the previous subway incident, the number of victims killed by the flying demon has exceeded one hundred.

The police estimate that the number of victims in the recent "Kisaragi Station" case has reached thousands.

Therefore, the thirty-odd victims are actually not even considered in previous urban legends.

The police are taking this so seriously, presumably because the victims are all teenage girls, which makes them even more eager to solve the case.

Shingo Kishimoto sighed and explained, "We've received too many emergency calls. We have to respond, and the sooner the better."

"...Us?" Shimizu Rinne was still somewhat puzzled. How could you mortals solve this case? If it requires the help of divine messengers, then it's naturally not up to you to decide. You're here just to discuss things.

You should know that in the Shinto Hall, we, the divine messengers, are not in a superior-subordinate relationship with your police inspectors, so of course you have no right to order us around.

Shimizu Rinne wouldn't directly voice these thoughts; she was simply dissatisfied with Kishimoto Shingo's notification-like tone.

As a seasoned police inspector, Kishimoto Shingo immediately sensed Shimizu Suzune's inner thoughts and said tactfully, "I hope your divine messengers can assist in the case."