Chapter 31

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“Shouma, it’s your break, take some rest!”

“Ok-ay”

For Takai, the leader of the part-time group’s order, Shouma went to take a break. It was after 14:00 at the moment, when the peak of the lunch-time rush was over.

“Your prepared meals are ready. You can go and play, but be sure to come back in an hour.”

“I understand!”

Shouma wasn’t sure if Takai knew that his friends were here, but the man was quite considerate of him regardless.

For a moment, he thought about joining Yamato and the others but they seemed to be enjoying themselves, so he abandoned the idea.

Also, it wasn’t that he wanted to lash his already shagged body by going into the sea.

(Come to think of it, where did Tendou-san go?)

The place where he had been sitting became empty before he knew it.

Shouma ate the sandwich that had been set out to him in a hurry then ran out of the beach hut to look out for his employer.

—

He found Tendou near a rocky beach, which was constantly stormed by the raging waves. He was peering over the rocks, while scooping up water to study its color. The man seemed to be looking for something.

“Tendou-san!”

“Ah, Shouma. What’s the matter? Taking a break?”

Tendou looked up at Shouma’s call.

“Yes. What are you doing here Tendou-san?”

“I’m a bit curious about these drowning mishaps, you know the ones which the manager talked about earlier. I’ve been doing some research.”

“The drowning accidents?”

He must have been talking about the series of accidents that Yoshino mentioned earlier, where people were being washed away by the sea one after another.

“Are you suggesting that it might be the work of a kaii?”

“Yes, it’s still just a possibility, though.”

He wasn’t sure if he found anything, but Tendou extended his arm into the tide pool. Then, he picked up ’something’.

“As I said before, a lot of kaii live near the waterside. Because water and kaii have a similar nature.”

“What do you mean by they are similar in nature?”

“The way the water changes its shape from time to time, how it is drifting away, constantly wandering. How it is always close by and could even attack the people is exactly like the kaii. These are the reasons these creatures are attracted to the waterside. It’s not like the way when one dislikes something similar to oneself, but the contrary. It’s more like when like-minded individuals gather in the same place.”

Tendou continued, gracefully jumping from rock to rock.

“Shouma, have you ever felt inexplicably frightened when you went to the bathroom after watching a horror movie, or while you washed your head in the bathtub? That is probably what happens when you get a whiff of the kaii’s presence.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Well, most of the time those are only harmless kaii with no power. When you think about it, people’s sixth sense is not something to look down on. It’s possible to feel such a weak and small presence…by the way, are you wearing your protection charm?”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

Shouma pulled out the charm that he had hanging around his neck, under his T-shirt. Tendou looked at it and nodded in satisfaction.

“When you go near the waterside, you must wear it no matter what. Food that looks as delicious as you, Shouma, needs to seem poisonous in a place like this.”

“Some food you say…”

Shouma felt as if he had been made aware of his position once again. He knew it, but it seems the reason Tendou hired him was truly nothing more than to occasionally lure the kaii out.

“I’ve always wondered, do I really look so good from the kaii’s point of view?”

“You look good but perhaps I should say you are more of a comforting presence. For the kaii, the person who can see them is a partner who makes their existence known to the world. That’s why they instinctively try to attack or scare you, Shouma.”

“But, aren’t you hated by the kaii, Tendou-san?”

Even though they were both people who could have the sight, the kaii never wanted to get near his employer. Unless they already met him once before like it happened with Subaru or the Tofu Boy, it was almost like a no-go for first-timers.

The office was the same as when he first entered there, but when they walked around together, the little kaii’s Shouma could usually see, immediately hid themselves as they stepped out from the building. It was as if Tendou emitted some kind of odor the kaii didn’t want to smell.

“They don’t like me or rather, they are afraid of me. I’m an expert, you know. I guess they know that I am a person who knows how to harm them. The relatively strong ones come to me regardless.”

“By the way, the kaii didn’t come near Fuyuka-chan either, did they?”

Shouma remembered the first time he met her.

When Shouma was in trouble, surrounded by all those small kaii’s, the girl took the form of a cat and helped him out. He gave her a piece of fried chicken as a thank you, but to be honest, he didn’t think that was enough as a gratitude. Fuyuka also helped him during the Mikoshi Nyuudou’s attack, so he might as well thank her properly at some stage.

“Nekomata is quite a strong kaii. A weak kaii is no match for the stronger one, you know. That’s why they don’t come near her.”

“Hee”

Shouma indeed became all the wiser as the days went by whilst he worked in this unusual, kaii-hunting part-time job.

If one would ask him whether this kind of knowledge will be useful in the future, he would have to shake his head, but there was no such thing as unnecessary knowledge in this world in his opinion.

“So, did you find out anything about the drowning accidents?”

Shouma came back to what they were originally talking about.

Tendou then showed something to Shouma he had picked up earlier.

“What do you think it is?”

“Eh, hair?”

What was there was something like the hair of an animal. A few short, stiff fibres in a small bundle.

“Yes, it’s animal hair. I think it might be an ox.”

“An ox? What’s that got to do with the kaii?”

“I was just hoping that there really is no connection…”

“What do you mean by that?”

As they were talking, a screaming voice came from behind them.

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