Chapter 323: No. 15 Higashi Town, Nerima Ward
Gideon stared at his nearly empty wallet, his eyes filled with nothing but despair.
"Almost thirty thousand yen for a taxi ride... How is this any different from robbery?"
At that moment, only one thought occupied his mind—to march over to the driver's seat and deliver the standard Los Angeles greeting package.
It wasn't as if he couldn't afford it.
The Vatican would reimburse the expense, and Gideon himself was hardly short on money anymore.
But people were strange creatures.
You could casually order an expensive meal without hesitation, then spend ten minutes debating whether a three-dollar delivery fee was really necessary.
Before he could decide whether vengeance was worth pursuing, the driver leaned his head out of the window first and waved enthusiastically.
"Have a wonderful trip!"
The words had barely left his mouth when the tires screeched against the pavement.
The taxi shot down the road and disappeared into the distance.
Gideon: ...
After a long silence, he reluctantly gave up the idea.
Beside him, John seemed completely unconcerned about the matter and was busy surveying the surroundings.
Gideon pulled out a document.
It contained the latest intelligence provided by the local church after the handover.
According to the report, the murder site had recently become enveloped by a dense concentration of evil energy.
However, the phenomenon behaved strangely.
Whenever clergy attempted to investigate, the energy vanished instantly.
Even when investigators entered the residence itself, they found no abnormalities whatsoever.
Yet shortly after they departed, the sinister presence would reappear as though nothing had happened.
Under such circumstances, the local church had become increasingly reluctant to commit personnel to the area.
As a result, further investigation into the disappearances of previous exorcists had effectively stalled.
"Looks like there's some kind of intelligence behind it."
Gideon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe it's deliberately hiding."
"Gideon, I think that's the street we're looking for."
John pointed toward an intersection ahead.
Following his gaze, Gideon immediately spotted a street sign bearing the words Higashi Town.
The problem was that it marked a fork in the road.
Both paths belonged to the same district.
"We split up, find the house, then regroup," John suggested.
"No. Absolutely not."
Gideon shook his head vigorously before launching into an explanation of why separating in horror-movie scenarios was an exceptionally bad idea.
John pondered for a moment.
"Hmm... that actually makes a lot of sense."
Thus, the two decided to explore the right-hand alley first.
Before leaving, Gideon placed a small cross at the entrance of each fork.
Just in case something unexpected happened.
Not long after they disappeared into the alleyway, voices drifted from the other path.
"Miss Miura, this episode is definitely going to break viewership records! Public interest in paranormal investigations is higher than ever right now!"
"You're exaggerating, Kawada-kun."
A woman laughed softly.
"If the program becomes a hit, it'll be thanks to Miss Harase. Her ghost performances are incredibly popular with audiences."
"Of course! In the entire horror industry, nobody portrays spirits better than Miss Harase. Don't you agree?"
The woman they referred to as Harase was strikingly beautiful.
"Ah... that's only because everyone works hard together."
She forced a smile.
Yet a hint of worry lingered in her eyes.
Not long ago, American media had publicly revealed the existence of supernatural evil in the world.
The announcement had caused a global sensation.
Harase Kyoko was already a well-known actress specializing in horror films.
As a result, she had quickly been recruited for a new documentary-style program focused on investigating paranormal phenomena.
And today's destination was:
No. 15 Higashi Town, Nerima Ward—
the very house where the infamous murder had occurred all those years ago.
But throughout the entire afternoon of filming, Harase Kyoko had been plagued by an intense sense of unease.
It felt as though a heavy, gloomy emotion hung over her heart.
The house itself had also given her a strange impression—mysterious, dangerous, and deeply unsettling.
Even now, after leaving the property behind, that feeling had not faded in the slightest.
Suddenly, Harase Kyoko stopped walking.
Turning around, she approached a utility pole standing beside the fork in the road.
A small patch of weeds grew at its base. At first glance, there was nothing remarkable about it.
Yet she crouched down and reached into the grass.
A moment later, she pulled out a silver cross.
"Miss Harase, is something wrong?" one of her companions asked curiously.
"N-No, nothing."
Harase Kyoko slipped the cross into her pocket and smiled before hurrying to catch up with the others.
A strange impulse had suddenly urged her to check beneath the utility pole.
She had never expected to find something like this.
Frowning slightly, she wondered why a cross had been left in such a place.
What she didn't know was—
the instant she picked it up, an invisible wave of power rippled outward.
The strands of jet-black hair that had been silently trailing the group recoiled the moment they touched that force, retreating back into the shadows.
---
Ten minutes later.
Gideon and John returned to the intersection.
"Then House No. 15 should be down this side."
Gideon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Suddenly, his brows rose.
He sensed a trace of Holy Power fluctuation.
At the same time, one of the crosses he had placed earlier had disappeared.
"Did some evil spirit walk right into it?"
He immediately searched the area, but found nothing unusual.
Still, the target location from their mission report was right in front of them.
There was no way he believed this was mere coincidence.
"Maybe it's testing our strength…"
"Either way, we'd better be more careful from now on."
After a moment, he replaced the missing cross and even added an extra one as backup.
If the evil presence here weren't so unnervingly sensitive to supernatural power, Gideon would have set up a dozen isolation barriers the moment he arrived.
Only then would he feel even remotely safe.
With their preparations complete, the two entered the other street.
Though they were in Tokyo, the residential district still retained its detached-house layout.
Exposed utility poles crowded the narrow roads, making Gideon feel as if he had stepped straight into a manga.
Not long afterward, they stopped in front of a house.
The address plate beside the entrance read:
Higashi Town 15.
But someone had arrived before them.
"Wait, Simon! I need to touch up my lipstick again. The lighting is terrible now—I refuse to look like a corpse on camera!"
Gideon followed the voice.
A young woman dressed rather revealingly stood near the gate.
Ultra-short denim shorts and a fitted white athletic tank top showcased her attractive figure without reservation.
Beside her stood a man carrying a camera.
He wore a black long-sleeved shirt and green cargo pants, with a sturdy, muscular build.
His right arm gripped the heavy camera resting on his shoulder with practiced ease.
Combined with his steadily retreating hairline, he radiated undeniable professional experience.
After hearing the woman's request, Simon didn't respond verbally.
He simply raised a thumbs-up.
"Miss Mia, please stop shouting. You're disrupting my ability to sense spirits!"
Another voice suddenly called out from nearby.
The speaker was dressed in a black suit.
His hair was meticulously slicked back, likely maintained with an expensive pomade.
Various ornaments hung from his body—crosses, necklaces made from bones, bracelets woven from herbs and flowers—making it difficult to determine exactly what tradition he belonged to.
Before Mia interrupted him, he had been standing with his eyes closed, gently swaying his head as though conducting some kind of ritual.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Nakamura," Mia said as she hurried over, her expression pleading.
"I only wanted the footage to look better."
Nakamura Tsuna had been visibly irritated.
But the moment his eyes drifted downward and caught sight of the deep curve of her cleavage, most of his annoyance evaporated.
Taking a discreet breath of the perfume surrounding her, he finally replied with a deliberately impatient expression.
"Just don't let it happen again."
Mia immediately brightened.
"Of course. I'll follow all your instructions."
The words sent a pleasant shiver through Nakamura's body.
A few rather inappropriate fantasies began forming in his mind.
But before they could develop any further, Mia's voice interrupted him again.
"Huh... Who are they?"
She stared toward the entrance of the street.
Cameraman Simon instantly swung the camera in that direction.
Nakamura turned as well.
Two men dressed in black clergy robes were walking toward them.
"A pair of priests?" he muttered in surprise.
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