Kawashima Toya rubbed his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Over ten Shiki already? No wonder Kiyoura Setsuna was so adamant about me leaving. If this continues to spread, cleaning up the mess will be a massive headache.
"Saionji-san, as long as you don't give a Shiki permission to enter, they can't set foot inside your house," Toya explained calmly.
"The invitation is the key. As long as you refuse them, you're safe."
"Since you're secure for now, I'm heading back."
"Wait, Kawashima-sensei!" Saionji Sekai called out, a flustered blush creeping onto her face.
"Can't you stay for just one night? I'm worried they'll come back."
"They won't. Rest easy." Toya gave a dismissive wave and walked out the door without a second thought.
Sekai watched his retreating back, stomping her foot in frustration.
"There were just a dozen of them outside! Ugh... Fine, I'll just hide until morning. I hope his information is right, or I'm finished."
.....
Faculty Dormitory
Toya returned to his room to rest.
He wasn't planning on hunting Shiki tonight; his priority was to talk to Kiyoura Setsuna the following morning. She clearly held the missing pieces of the puzzle. If she refused to talk, he wasn't above using more forceful methods.
Ten of them... Toya mused as he lay on his futon.
The Shiki didn't multiply quickly—it took about seven days for a victim to turn, and even then, there was a fifty percent failure rate where the body simply stayed dead.
However, once their numbers reached a certain threshold, the situation would spiral out of control.
.....
Athletic Field
The next morning, Toya donned his white lab coat and headed toward Class 1-3.
"Everyone, gather at the athletic field for laps," Toya announced, scanning the room. His gaze paused on a specific blond-haired student.
That's Sawanaga Taisuke. Has he been fed on?
Sawanaga looked terrible. He was deathly pale and appeared as if he hadn't slept in days.
Toya knew better; this wasn't just exhaustion. It was the physical aftermath of losing a significant amount of blood.
Rough estimate... at least three different Shiki fed on him last night.
Toya suppressed the urge to laugh at the boy's sheer misfortune. To be targeted by multiple monsters in a single night was a special kind of bad luck.
Once the class reached the field and began their run, Toya kept a close eye on Sawanaga.
The boy was visibly struggling, his footsteps heavy and uncoordinated. He had to stop and catch his breath every few meters just to keep from collapsing.
I hope you're lucky enough to survive the week, Toya thought, shifting his gaze to the rest of the class.
The other students seemed fine, showing no signs of the lethargy plaguing Sawanaga.
This suggested that the Shiki outbreak was still contained within a relatively small area. It was manageable.
Once the routine laps were over, Toya signaled for Kiyoura Setsuna to join him in the shade.
"This aura..."
Toya's eyes narrowed as the petite girl approached.
There's a scent of decay, but it lacks the frigid chill of a standard Shiki.
"Kiyoura-san, were you bitten?"
Setsuna stiffened, her usually stoic expression flickering with a rare trace of emotion.
"Kawashima-sensei... how did you know?"
"Tell me about your current state first," Toya said, his tone turning professional.
"Are you recently infected, or has the transformation already taken hold?"
He found it hard to believe he hadn't sensed this from her the previous day.
"Sensei, I'm not a Shiki. I'm a failed transformation," Setsuna said tonelessly.
"I don't fear the sunlight like the others do."
Toya shook his head slightly. "Not necessarily. The biology of a Shiki is unpredictable."
He recalled the lore of the "Werewolf"—the Jinrou. This state was actually the ultimate evolution of the Shiki virus.
Jinrou possessed physical strength and senses several times greater than a human's, had no fear of the sun, and could survive on normal food.
However, without consuming blood, a Jinrou could not tap into their full power and would actually become even weaker than a normal human. Most importantly, they didn't suffer from the "invitation" restriction.
Toya stared at Setsuna.
"Tell me about the Shiki who infected you."
To her shock, Toya pressed his hand lightly against the concrete ground. With a dull thud, the reinforced pavement buckled and cracked under his palm, leaving a deep indentation.
"I'm running out of patience," Toya said calmly.
"If you won't talk, I'll have to assume you're siding with them. And if that's the case, I'll have to put you down."
Setsuna remained silent for a long moment, staring at the shattered concrete.
"If it's you, Sensei... maybe you can actually stop it. I was infected by my mother."
.....
"A month ago, my mother's health started to fail. Eventually, she passed away."
"In the days before she died, a man named Sawagoe Tomaru visited her frequently. She died on the seventh day. I didn't want to believe she was gone... until that night, when her mummified body began to recover. She started breathing again."
"As soon as she woke up, she fed on me."
"I see," Toya nodded. "Thank you for the lead. I'll look into this Sawagoe Tomaru."
"Your mother is part of this now. If I find her, I will have to kill her."
Setsuna's expression was pained, but after a long silence, she spoke.
"Kawashima-sensei... please, just make it quick for her."
"She's sleeping at our house right now. She only wakes up after dark. Please... don't let her hurt anyone else."
"I will," Toya said softly. "I'll send her back tonight."
"As for Sawagoe Tomaru, I'll have to track him down."
Toya rubbed his chin in thought. Finding anyone else would be easy, but Sawagoe Tomaru was an enigma.
In this world's interconnected web, he was a legendary figure of infamy, known mostly for his complicated and far-reaching family tree.
I'll just spend some points to track him.
Toya opened the system interface and spent 100 Origin Points to purchase a Misfortune Charm.
[System Notice: You have purchased: Misfortune Charm.]
[Cost: 100 Origin Points.]
Toya looked at the glowing charm in his hand with satisfaction. By writing Sawagoe Tomaru's name on it, the charm would seek him out, leading Toya directly to his location.
The school day passed quickly, and Toya returned to the infirmary to idle away the remaining hours. As the sky began to turn to a deep amber, he stood up.
"It's time," Toya muttered as the final bell echoed through the halls of Sakano Academy.
This was the optimal window for a hunt. The sun hadn't fully set, meaning the Shiki were still in their death-like slumber.
He needed to use this time to eliminate as many targets as possible before they woke up.