Translator: Kurehas.h.i.+ Aiko

Chapter 1: Undercover Exorcist Sisters

This school was located amidst the mountains near the sea. White stone pillars were tangled with ivy, the brackets supporting the gable and rafters were polished by wind and snow, with gargoyles engraved on them, which had a creepy darkness luring in their eyes, as well as smell of salt in the air.

(I have heard that this place was supposed to be protected by a curse, so maybe this isn"t a lie after all.)

The one standing silently in the middle of a courtyard is s.h.i.+ratori Mikoto, she muttered those words deep in her chest and frowned her eyebrows. She had long, crimson-red hair tied in a ponytail, which swayed a little bit from side to side.

Her short, pure-white pleated skirt sways in the breeze carrying the sound of waves, and her knee-socks were s.h.i.+ning in the dark pure-white, empathizing the beauty of her legs, on which they tightly fitted. On top of her blazer"s chest was a big collar, with a red ribbon shaking on it.

It was only fitting for a beautiful girl walking to school in the middle of the night to have a samurai sword in it"s red sheath in her left hand. From the looks alone you could say she is a normal girl, but the truth is that girl was in fact an Exorcist.

Over a week ago, there came this mail to the [Black Cat Extermination Brigade Branch Office], requesting their aid at exterminating the demons in this school for rich ladies. And since there wasn"t any ghosts or scary things involved, it was a perfect work for Mikoto and her twin sister Takeru. Since coming here undercover as transfer students, they have been exterminating demons.

Nevertheless -

(Geez, I wonder where they are all coming from?)

Leaking out from rose petal-like lips, a small exhausted sigh could be heard.

After one week, even though they have been killing demons every night, their numbers were not reduced at all. No, maybe their number really had decreased, but Mikoto and Takeru didn"t have time to think about that.

Night after night, only small flies appeared in front of the two, their mother - or rather their core - kept itself hidden, making them as a whole unable to finish it. So, even if they managed to wipe out a huge amounts of demons, the next night even more would emerge. They could only kill them again and again. I wonder how many times we would need to repeat that same pattern?

"Mikoto, stop daydreaming -!"

"I, I"m not - !"

Hearing the voice of her younger sister in her ear, the red-haired girl raised her head. School buildings were surrounding the square courtyard and were mostly silent, but you couldn"t quite shake off the feeling of something"s presence. It looks like Takeru managed to successfully create a diversion, leading the demons here either by using small charms, or by leading them here herself.

"Tonight"s group is a little large. About thirteen right now."

Takeru"s calm voice pierced my ears. Guiding Voice -- magic connecting consciousness and awareness. And since our minds were connected to each other, it was rather hard to control your tone of voice. Hearing that calm voice really served to calm you down.

(That"s our Takeru for you. You can always depend on her.)

When you are alone against so many opponents letting your guard down even for a single moment was not permitted, but that super-smart sister of hers was as calm as usual. Like that, even if left alone in a dark courtyard, Mikoto did not feel any anxiety at all.

"All right, just come at me! I"m waiting right here. Leave the cleaning to me."

"Roger that!"

The fabric of the uniform was swaying up and down on her chest as Mikoto took a few deep breaths, tightly gripping the sword in her left hand and raising it before her eyes. Exorcising sword [Raikou] -- Mikoto"s very own anti-demonic weapon, created by the finest Exorcist-blacksmith out there, you could say that it was Mikoto"s alter-ego of sort.

Fuu-…… Ha……

Supporting her lower body together with a deep breath, she s.h.i.+fted the sheath to her left hip. She put her right hand on the sword"s handle, squeezed it lightly, and then drew it a little to see if the blade is drawing smoothly.

Pale-blue [Aura] began to s.h.i.+ne around concentrating girl. That [Aura] pushed away the magic-filled darkness, leaving the area around Mikoto as light as if bathed in moonlight.

……Shake, shake, tremble, tremble, tremble----!

Suddenly, window gla.s.s facing the courtyard started to vibrate, and the ground started to tremble.

Dark, dense magic energy begins to whirl and swirl, gathering in the middle of the courtyard, just in front of Mikoto who stood ready in Iai-do stance.

Acc.u.mulated energy slowly becomes a black fog, getting bigger in front of Mikoto with every moment--.

Pariin!

With a sound of breaking gla.s.s, a girl with short hair jumped out of the fog. Breaking down the barrier that was erected by the demons from the inside, the world around them began to go back to normal. Takeru nimbly jumped down on the lawn,

"Wind Killing Flowers!"

She issued a Word of Power while silently landing behind Mikoto, throwing some charms.

Shubaba!

Several strips of paper flew off with the wind and disappeared into the black fog. In that instant,

-- Guchuchu, buchunyurunyuru!

An unpleasant, sticky noise could be heard. The charms have become blades and chopped the bodies of demons into pieces.

"Here they come!"

As Takeru"s voice has signaled, from within the fog, eerie things began to crawl out with the speed of a whirlwind. These creatures were entirely made out of entangled tentacles, resembling disgusting snakes, of plant roots. Their disgusting bodies were all covered in fishy, s.h.i.+ning mucus, and the tip of their tentacles were opened like petals of a flower, which were covered in scales.

They were so complexly intertwined with each other that you couldn"t tell their exact numbers. From the wounds made by Takeru"s charms a purple liquid seeped out, and they all rushed with huge tremors towards the two girls staying on their guard in the middle of the courtyard.

Their size was like that on a small elephant. There should be no way for the two girls in white uniforms to stop them now -- But.

"……s.h.i.+ne as bright as the sun."

Mikoto muttered a short spell, drawing a complex symbol on the sword"s handle. She gathered magical force in her right hand on the handle, and bit the tips of her shoes into the ground --

"Light, s.h.i.+ne!!"

Shupann!

Bursting from its sheath, the white blade flashes. The energy of Raiko"s [Aura] exploded vividly, creating a dazzling light explosion.

"Gyaaaaahhhhhh!?"

The tentacles were stopped halfway towards the girls, and then they evaporated in an instant. The rest of the horrifyingly tangled demons got charred in the blast, disappearing without leaving even a single trace. They could not withstand the power of sacred light that filled the courtyard.

"……Phew."

Mikoto maintained her guard for a while, eventually returning her sword to its sheath with a familiar, almost mechanical movement. With a short clank, whole [Raikou] began to glow with white light and shrink, turning into a small stuffed-toy of a black cat, suspended on Mikoto"s wrist.

This stuffed cat was in fact a talisman created by the [Black Cat Extermination Brigade] manager -- Yoru. It was created of Mikoto"s soul [Lightning], and it could only be activated and used by Mikoto"s [ki]. So it usually just stayed in another dimension, sealed inside that stuffed animal.

"Good work. As splendid as always."

"It was thanks to you, Takeru. Combining our skills together, one swing is more than enough. When I"m teamed up together with Yamato, I can"t be this relaxed."

Mikoto looked back at her sister and giggled a little, imagining their male colleague who had to stay outside of this school. She imagined that he must have been sneezing right about this time. Or, he could be sound asleep, snoring--.

"Save the thanks for later. We didn"t manage to find the boss today as well. Say, Mikoto, aren"t they becoming fiercer?"

Quickly straightening up her gla.s.ses, Takeru frowned anxiously while looking at her sister. Although she was dressed in boy"s white blazer, her moves and facial expressions were supple and full of a woman"s elegance, even tightening the necktie of her s.h.i.+rt.

"I"m fine with that…… is what I would like to say, but I"m a little bit tired today, honestly."

Mikoto, who wore a sailor uniform with a cute blazer and big ribbon, dropped her shoulders and showed a bitter smile in an exaggerated manner, changing from dynamic speech to somewhat boorish. Her good-looking face also changed it"s expression, looking somewhat displeased.

Even now, she had this cat-like [Hmm] expression in front of her calm sister. Extending her hand towards the night sky, her blazer rode up as well, showing a glimpse of ample b.r.e.a.s.t.s. If it was an ordinary sailor uniform, her cute belly b.u.t.ton could have been shown.

"Haa…… We will have to prepare ourselves during the day. But……"

She kept on talking to herself, but she also gave Mikoto a look of apology. Just like a stray puppy full of mischief -- seeing such a face on her twin sibling, Takeru had no choice but to smile bitterly.

"I know. Since Mikoto is no good at this whole investigation stuff, I"m going to do it. In return, I"ll just leave the demon"s extermination to you."

"Really!? Thank, you, Takeru! You won"t regret it!"

Mikoto patted her sisters shoulder happily, deciding to call it a day for now, and heading back towards the dormitory.