Chapter 124: The Chiba Branch!
The Chiba branch of the cult.
Several weeks had passed since the Tokyo cult was destroyed, so they assumed the incident was over.
Then, without warning, those vile, despicable, evil exorcists found them during lunch today.
Unsurprisingly, the social rejects they had recruited were effortlessly defeated by the exorcists in moments.
The branch leader—or rather, the new headquarters leader—pressed his palms together.
"Let us pray to God… Amen."
The personnel director watched his cult leader make the sign of the cross, hesitated, then hurriedly reminded him.
"…Cult Leader, haven't we chosen the wrong person?"
The cult leader raised his head in the middle of his prayer.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
The personnel director quickly explained.
"We're cultists. If gods really exist, we're going to hell after we die."
"So praying to God doesn't seem like the right approach."
The cult leader fell silent.
That was a surprisingly reasonable argument.
It was like a vampire who feared sunlight. No matter how rebellious a vampire might be, none would shout, "Praise the sun!" before dying.
"You have a point. Then choose any god and pray."
"Which god do you believe in?"
"Me? I'm an atheist."
The cult leader was deeply shaken.
"…Then why did you join a cult?"
"For the same reason as you. To gather material."
"The only difference is that I write novels."
As a manga artist, the cult leader fell silent.
"Then does that mean… our defeat was inevitable?"
The personnel director, who had already accepted his role as a villain, considered it and nodded heavily.
"Yep!"
...
Luke followed Kasumizuki into the cult base destined for defeat, with two confused girls walking behind them.
He had expected a fight and planned to let Miko and Yuria gain more experience using their exorcism tools.
Instead, the cultists demonstrated Three Hundred Ways to Fake an Injury.
The people gathered near the entrance—whether they had joined the cult or merely come to collect benefits—performed every imaginable form of insurance fraud.
Luke had not even touched them.
They spun through the air three hundred and sixty degrees, performed a Thomas flare, cried out dramatically, and collapsed onto the floor, unable to continue.
Anyone watching might have mistaken Luke for a magician capable of injuring people from ten meters away instead of an exorcist.
"Are these people really cultists?"
Yuria poked her twin-tailed head out from beside Luke's waist and asked suspiciously.
Even Miko, who was secretly holding his hand, looked at him in confusion.
These cultists were practically indistinguishable from a circus troupe.
"Technically… yes."
Luke repeated what Kasumizuki had previously explained.
"Normal people join cults to exploit opportunities and obtain money. Abnormal people are naturally weak."
"Therefore, weak cultists are perfectly consistent with the laws of nature."
They entered the factory housing the cult's base.
Two men were lying on machinery they had converted into beds. One looked like a high school student, while the other was an adult.
One held a manga, while the other held a novel.
Had these two completely disregarded their own survival?
"Come on. Get up."
Kasumizuki called to them speechlessly.
The two slowly climbed to their feet.
"We have some questions."
Kasumizuki easily distinguished their roles and directly addressed the cult leader.
She then took out the manga that had connected the recent incidents, Horror Manga Special: Scream.
"Did you create this manga?"
"Of course!"
The cult leader stepped forward.
"I've already collected material for the next one. It'll be called Bone-Chilling Terror! Want to see it?"
"Later. First, answer some questions."
"Okay."
Luke quickly asked, "Did you discover the Kuchisake-onna in the first story, or did you create her?"
"You'd better not lie."
Kasumizuki added coldly.
The possibility of someone possessing the power to create spirit bodies was precisely why Kasumizuki had so "tirelessly" investigated this branch.
The cult leader answered without hiding anything.
"I… created her."
Luke and Kasumizuki exchanged glances.
How these cultists were punished was not their responsibility.
Since the group's previous actions had caused almost no deaths or serious damage, they were unlikely to receive any fatal punishment.
However, if the cult leader could create intelligent spirits…
"How did you do it?"
Kasumizuki turned toward him.
"If you explain everything in detail, I may consider reducing your punishment."
The cult leader snorted.
"Do you think someone who joined a cult like this would care about punishment?"
"Heh. I can let you experience it first."
Kasumizuki replied coldly.
"I may not be able to make death seem preferable, but I can certainly make you suffer unbearably."
As someone inheriting a long-established miko tradition, Kasumizuki naturally knew rituals capable of cursing people and inflicting pain.
"…Explaining it won't help. It's my personal ability."
"When people fear a horror story, I can gather that fear and inject it into an irrational evil spirit."
"That reshapes the spirit into the form and personality of the creature from the story."
Luke added, "And because people are paying attention to it, the evil spirit can cross the boundary of the realm of the dead and enter reality."
"Yes."
The cult leader nodded.
"But there's still a flaw. Spirits created that way can't be perceived by ordinary people."
"So afterward, I injected those forces directly into exorcism tools. That allowed ordinary people to see them."
"I got the idea from the ghost taxi driver."
Kasumizuki rubbed her forehead.
"Other than Kuchisake-onna, did you create any other evil spirits?"
"No!"
The cult leader hurriedly shook his head.
"The fear generated by the other stories wasn't strong enough. It couldn't produce intelligence at all."
Kasumizuki nodded, having roughly decided how this man should be handled.
When she stopped asking questions, Luke quickly lifted the manga.
"I have another question. Is the dream ritual in the final story real?"
The cult leader answered without hesitation.
"Of course not."
"No ritual involving the soul could ever be that simple."
"It was merely something imagined by high school students. I heard it at school and adapted it."
Luke glanced at Miko.
She had once followed that ritual and successfully summoned him into her dream.
"Then what if someone really dreams about the person in the photograph?"
"…Maybe they were thinking about them during the day?"
Seeing Luke's gaze, Miko hurriedly lowered her head.
"Sensei, um… I want to go outside for some air."
"Sure. Just make certain you don't casually die again."
"Mm."
Yuria's twin-tailed head moved between them in confusion.
"Then I'll keep an eye on Miko."
Yuria followed Miko out of the factory.
Luke turned back and continued questioning the cult leader.
"Do you know any ritual where taking someone's photograph increases their affection toward you?"
"Hm? Are you talking about School Days?"
"School Days?"
"An anime."
"Is it horror?"
The cult leader thought for a moment, then nodded.
"…More or less."
Luke nodded lightly.
"Then I'll watch it when I get home."
...
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