Faced with Keli's weapon and legal killing certificate, the old man chose to compromise.
This thing was much more useful than a police ID
He led Keli to the second floor of the small shop, sitting down amidst his wife's terrified gaze.
It wasn't mealtime, so there were no customers on the second floor of the shop.
The owner sat down nervously, his eyes constantly darting around.
"There's nothing to ask. You just need to move out quickly. Something happened on the street last night, didn't it? If you don't want anything to happen, don't go out. Move out if you can."
At this point, the owner still tried to persuade Keli with words not to delve deeper.
Keli was already getting tired of the formalities.
If he didn't feel that something was off, he would have just acted directly.
"You know about that invisible thing last night?"c
Early the next morning, Fengchuan Xiangzi, who had taken leave, returned with her father.
Everyone else had also returned.
As theoretically the only eyewitness present, she very seriously reported to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department that a supernatural event must have occurred, but she concealed the existence of Keli and the other two, only saying that the Shadow Adult naturally dissipated after she hit it with a wine bottle.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, on the other hand, stated that she was too tired and took the initiative to arrange a two-week recuperation leave for her at Tsukinomori. They also wrote a letter of thanks to the school, stating that student Fengchuan Xiangzi showed outstanding performance in the collective new hallucinogenic gas attack that occurred in the apartment, responding intelligently and reporting it promptly. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department would severely crack down on such cases and had already submitted a request for funding to the assembly to establish a special response team, hoping the assembly would approve it for the safety of the general public, and so on.
However, there were no substantial rewards.
Xiangzi, who was still unaware that this action might attract the concern of some important women, helped her father through the door.
The examination results showed that nothing had happened; Xiangzi's father had only fainted, and the other residents in the apartment who were unconscious were merely in a deep sleep and had not suffered any harm.
People who could afford to rent such an apartment had no time to rest, and some even complained that since nothing bad happened, Xiangzi had unnecessarily sent them all to the hospital, and now they had to pay, which was truly meddling.
Fortunately, Xiangzi was already able to withstand this level of verbal abuse. At most, she would shed tiny tears when she remembered someone in the middle of the night while drawing the curtains, but she would never show it in front of her father.
Upon returning, Xiangzi was just about to take advantage of the holiday to look for more work; she couldn't waste such a long time.
However, as she stepped out, she saw Keli, dressed in a different outfit, wearing a mask, and carrying a musical instrument case, leaving the building.
"Uh… Good day."
She awkwardly greeted him on the spot, using words that only young ladies or students from a church girls' academy would use.
She glanced at the guitar case on Keli's back. If she remembered correctly, inside it should be a magnificent blunderbuss and a small scythe that she couldn't forget after just one look.
Keli also nodded, glanced at his phone, and walked towards Akabane East Ichiban Street.
According to today's plan, Kirito would monitor the surveillance, Kazuma would wander around looking for why an invisible thing suddenly appeared last night, and Keli would go find the old man.
Since they had a lead on the person who hired delinquents to keep them from going out, they naturally had to investigate the situation.
Watching Keli leave, Fengchuan Xiangzi's eyes drooped in disappointment.
Actually, before she left, she had hoped: "Do you think there's a possibility that I'll meet the three people from that dark band today, and then it turns out they're government-backed professional demon fighters? Because I saw everything last night, they'll specially invite me to join them, and then the government will pay me eight million yen a month, and I'll become a special person. Afterwards, when my grandfather sees me, he'll regret saying such harsh words?"
Regrettably, that possibility did not happen. She was going to try a life insurance company today, to see if she could become a telemarketer.
Though it was called Akabane East, it was actually the street next to JR Akabane Station. Walking along it, one could see Akabane Hachiman Park and the Akabane Grand Hotel.
Walking along the way, one could feel the obvious changes in eras.
Akabane West was like an old town, while Akabane East was a bustling modern urban landscape.
Perhaps it was because Akabane West was unharmed when the Americans attacked back then.
After all, it is well known that most of Tokyo's prosperous areas and commercial centers only flourished after being destroyed and rebuilt by the Americans.
And when Keli entered the street, he felt an even greater surge of people.
Although Keli had avoided meal times and rush hour, there were still many people coming and going on Ichiban Street at this time.
Keli only realized when he arrived that this was a famous "drinking street" nearby. At a glance, it was full of tiny izakayas and bars, and there were also many Chinese restaurants on this street.
"Strawberry Mapo Tofu, Milk Tea Flavored Cheong Fun, Chocolate Sweet and Sour Pork…"
Keli stopped in front of a restaurant, looked at the blackboard hanging inside, and read out the menu in Chinese. He then looked at the Chinese text next to it, which indicated support for UnionPay and Alipay.
"Oh! Little brother, your Chinese is very standard! I specifically went to Guangzhou to study cooking with a master chef for three years, and I've also tasted the legendary cooking of the descendants of Chef God Liu Angxing. Would you like to try it? It's just that I don't know why Chinese tourists don't really like to come to my shop."
It seemed the shop owner behind the door had heard Keli's voice and called out to solicit customers.
Keli felt that if he didn't have something important to do today, he would really drag this person back to Guangzhou to make him kowtow to his master chef and apologize to Kikuka-rou.
A few more steps forward, and a signboard ahead became clearer.
Kurata Japanese Eatery.
That was today's target. According to surveillance, the old man ran a shop here.
Keli pushed open the door and walked in, casually finding a seat.
"Little brother, is this your first time? Please move seats, this spot is reserved for old Sato. He just messaged me saying he's coming. This glass of ginger ale is on me."
In Japan, many diners, especially the elderly, particularly like to frequent one shop and always sit in the same spot.
This has even led to a culture where several regular customers often meet and chat together. So, if you're traveling and suddenly encounter an old man who says you've taken his seat, it's probably not just him looking for trouble.
But unfortunately, Keli was here to cause trouble today!
So he took the soda handed to him by the owner, didn't move from his seat, and instead began to survey the shop.
An incredibly narrow row of seats, a partition that must have been added during some previous period and hadn't been removed yet, and tables that, while clearly well-maintained, couldn't help but show the passage of time.
And the yellowed walls. There was only an old man and an old woman in the shop; they were probably a married couple, and the old man was Keli's target today.
Actually, Keli had originally intended to go directly to his house to confront the old man, but it seemed the old man wasn't on that street last night. Keli wandered around the entrance for a long time without any success.
"Hmm… Uncle, you look very familiar. I've received a lot of care from you before."
Hearing Keli's abrupt words, the old man raised his eyes and scrutinized Keli, who had entered the shop and removed his mask and hat. He suddenly reacted, his eyes widening.
"You! You're the one who lives in that white house?"
He first glanced at the calendar, then his expression hardened.
"I don't know what you're talking about! Get out! Get out! We don't serve customers who come looking for trouble!"
Keli unhurriedly opened his jacket pocket and made a gesture for him to look.
"You! What are you doing?!"
Seeing the pistol lying there, the old man's expression changed several times as he spoke with a fierce but inwardly weak tone.
Then Keli pulled out a piece of paper from his chest and slapped it on the table.
"What do you mean? Even if you're the police, you don't have the right…"
The old man spoke in resistance while picking up the paper and scanning it.
"Psychiatric diagnosis certificate?!
You!… Shimizu-ko, please attend to the customer. I have something to discuss with this young man."
110
Chapter 110: Tokyoites: Thank You!
Faced with Keli's weapon and legal killing certificate, the old man chose to compromise.
This thing was much more useful than a police ID!
He led Keli to the second floor of the small shop, sitting down amidst his wife's terrified gaze.
It wasn't mealtime, so there were no customers on the second floor of the shop.
The owner sat down nervously, his eyes constantly darting around.
"There's nothing to ask. You just need to move out quickly. Something happened on the street last night, didn't it? If you don't want anything to happen, don't go out. Move out if you can."
At this point, the owner still tried to persuade Keli with words not to delve deeper.
Keli was already getting tired of the formalities.
If he didn't feel that something was off, he would have just acted directly.
"You know about that invisible thing last night?"
Faced with Keli's weapon and legal killing certificate, the old man chose to compromise.
This thing was much more useful than a police ID!
He led Keli to the second floor of the small shop, sitting down amidst his wife's terrified gaze.
It wasn't mealtime, so there were no customers on the second floor of the shop.
The owner sat down nervously, his eyes constantly darting around.
"There's nothing to ask. You just need to move out quickly. Something happened on the street last night, didn't it? If you don't want anything to happen, don't go out. Move out if you can."
At this point, the owner still tried to persuade Keli with words not to delve deeper.
Keli was already getting tired of the formalities.
If he didn't feel that something was off, he would have just acted directly.
"You know about that invisible thing last night?"c
Early the next morning, Fengchuan Xiangzi, who had taken leave, returned with her father.
Everyone else had also returned.
As theoretically the only eyewitness present, she very seriously reported to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department that a supernatural event must have occurred, but she concealed the existence of Keli and the other two, only saying that the Shadow Adult naturally dissipated after she hit it with a wine bottle.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, on the other hand, stated that she was too tired and took the initiative to arrange a two-week recuperation leave for her at Tsukinomori. They also wrote a letter of thanks to the school, stating that student Fengchuan Xiangzi showed outstanding performance in the collective new hallucinogenic gas attack that occurred in the apartment, responding intelligently and reporting it promptly. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department would severely crack down on such cases and had already submitted a request for funding to the assembly to establish a special response team, hoping the assembly would approve it for the safety of the general public, and so on.
However, there were no substantial rewards.
Xiangzi, who was still unaware that this action might attract the concern of some important women, helped her father through the door.
The examination results showed that nothing had happened; Xiangzi's father had only fainted, and the other residents in the apartment who were unconscious were merely in a deep sleep and had not suffered any harm.
People who could afford to rent such an apartment had no time to rest, and some even complained that since nothing bad happened, Xiangzi had unnecessarily sent them all to the hospital, and now they had to pay, which was truly meddling.
Fortunately, Xiangzi was already able to withstand this level of verbal abuse. At most, she would shed tiny tears when she remembered someone in the middle of the night while drawing the curtains, but she would never show it in front of her father.
Upon returning, Xiangzi was just about to take advantage of the holiday to look for more work; she couldn't waste such a long time.
However, as she stepped out, she saw Keli, dressed in a different outfit, wearing a mask, and carrying a musical instrument case, leaving the building.
"Uh… Good day."
She awkwardly greeted him on the spot, using words that only young ladies or students from a church girls' academy would use.
She glanced at the guitar case on Keli's back. If she remembered correctly, inside it should be a magnificent blunderbuss and a small scythe that she couldn't forget after just one look.
Keli also nodded, glanced at his phone, and walked towards Akabane East Ichiban Street.
According to today's plan, Kirito would monitor the surveillance, Kazuma would wander around looking for why an invisible thing suddenly appeared last night, and Keli would go find the old man.
Since they had a lead on the person who hired delinquents to keep them from going out, they naturally had to investigate the situation.
Watching Keli leave, Fengchuan Xiangzi's eyes drooped in disappointment.
Actually, before she left, she had hoped: "Do you think there's a possibility that I'll meet the three people from that dark band today, and then it turns out they're government-backed professional demon fighters? Because I saw everything last night, they'll specially invite me to join them, and then the government will pay me eight million yen a month, and I'll become a special person. Afterwards, when my grandfather sees me, he'll regret saying such harsh words?"
Regrettably, that possibility did not happen. She was going to try a life insurance company today, to see if she could become a telemarketer.
Though it was called Akabane East, it was actually the street next to JR Akabane Station. Walking along it, one could see Akabane Hachiman Park and the Akabane Grand Hotel.
Walking along the way, one could feel the obvious changes in eras.
Akabane West was like an old town, while Akabane East was a bustling modern urban landscape.
Perhaps it was because Akabane West was unharmed when the Americans attacked back then.
After all, it is well known that most of Tokyo's prosperous areas and commercial centers only flourished after being destroyed and rebuilt by the Americans.
And when Keli entered the street, he felt an even greater surge of people.
Although Keli had avoided meal times and rush hour, there were still many people coming and going on Ichiban Street at this time.
Keli only realized when he arrived that this was a famous "drinking street" nearby. At a glance, it was full of tiny izakayas and bars, and there were also many Chinese restaurants on this street.
"Strawberry Mapo Tofu, Milk Tea Flavored Cheong Fun, Chocolate Sweet and Sour Pork…"
Keli stopped in front of a restaurant, looked at the blackboard hanging inside, and read out the menu in Chinese. He then looked at the Chinese text next to it, which indicated support for UnionPay and Alipay.
"Oh! Little brother, your Chinese is very standard! I specifically went to Guangzhou to study cooking with a master chef for three years, and I've also tasted the legendary cooking of the descendants of Chef God Liu Angxing. Would you like to try it? It's just that I don't know why Chinese tourists don't really like to come to my shop."
It seemed the shop owner behind the door had heard Keli's voice and called out to solicit customers.
Keli felt that if he didn't have something important to do today, he would really drag this person back to Guangzhou to make him kowtow to his master chef and apologize to Kikuka-rou.
A few more steps forward, and a signboard ahead became clearer.
Kurata Japanese Eatery.
That was today's target. According to surveillance, the old man ran a shop here.
Keli pushed open the door and walked in, casually finding a seat.
"Little brother, is this your first time? Please move seats, this spot is reserved for old Sato. He just messaged me saying he's coming. This glass of ginger ale is on me."
In Japan, many diners, especially the elderly, particularly like to frequent one shop and always sit in the same spot.
This has even led to a culture where several regular customers often meet and chat together. So, if you're traveling and suddenly encounter an old man who says you've taken his seat, it's probably not just him looking for trouble.
But unfortunately, Keli was here to cause trouble today!
So he took the soda handed to him by the owner, didn't move from his seat, and instead began to survey the shop.
An incredibly narrow row of seats, a partition that must have been added during some previous period and hadn't been removed yet, and tables that, while clearly well-maintained, couldn't help but show the passage of time.
And the yellowed walls. There was only an old man and an old woman in the shop; they were probably a married couple, and the old man was Keli's target today.
Actually, Keli had originally intended to go directly to his house to confront the old man, but it seemed the old man wasn't on that street last night. Keli wandered around the entrance for a long time without any success.
"Hmm… Uncle, you look very familiar. I've received a lot of care from you before."
Hearing Keli's abrupt words, the old man raised his eyes and scrutinized Keli, who had entered the shop and removed his mask and hat. He suddenly reacted, his eyes widening.
"You! You're the one who lives in that white house?"
He first glanced at the calendar, then his expression hardened.
"I don't know what you're talking about! Get out! Get out! We don't serve customers who come looking for trouble!"
Keli unhurriedly opened his jacket pocket and made a gesture for him to look.
"You! What are you doing?!"
Seeing the pistol lying there, the old man's expression changed several times as he spoke with a fierce but inwardly weak tone.
Then Keli pulled out a piece of paper from his chest and slapped it on the table.
"What do you mean? Even if you're the police, you don't have the right…"
The old man spoke in resistance while picking up the paper and scanning it.
"Psychiatric diagnosis certificate?!
You!… Shimizu-ko, please attend to the customer. I have something to discuss with this young man."
Upon hearing Keli mention the invisible things, the boss's pupils constricted. He then looked at Keli again, somewhat flustered.
"You… are you with the government?"
He didn't know how he came to that conclusion.
But Keli didn't deny it; he let him guess if he wanted to.
Seeing Keli's attitude, the boss seemed to have confirmed his guess. He clenched his fist, then released it.
"Forget it, this is what we deserve. I will explain it clearly to you, but these matters truly have nothing to do with the children's generation…"
Then the boss began to tell a strange story.
There was a group of people who initially lived in a village not far from Tokyo. Their village had a custom of worshipping a ghost god, said to be a yokai that had circulated locally after World War II ended. Later, as the economy recovered, people built shrines, established miko and priests, and offered sacrifices, and the yokai's mischief disappeared.
They also believed this was a symbol of that existence's anger being extinguished.
Although this was common in Japan—just worship any demon that caused trouble and it would be over—
Everyone always felt this wasn't a good method, so in earlier years, they invited an Onmyoji to set up a formation in the back hall of the shrine, using repeating mirrors, incorrect markers, and shimenawa. It was said that this could prevent the worshipped entity from finding a way out.
Life continued as usual; the shrine wasn't particularly efficacious, and no one paid much attention to it. But then a series of strange events occurred.
Four years ago, due to years of neglect, the back hall of the shrine suffered from water erosion. Moreover, as time passed, the younger generation didn't believe in any of this, even daring to make fun of Amaterasu Omikami's anime image, let alone some minor god worshipped only in their hometown.
Then the young people organized a renovation, but the result was very unexpected.
After the renovation, the young people were all very puzzled. They all asked, "Didn't we worship a stone god statue? Why is there a Buddha statue made of gold?"
But in fact, the old villagers, ever since the Onmyoji set up the formation, had no idea what was inside, and no one went in to disturb it, nor did they know anything about a Buddha statue.
At this point in the narration, the shop owner paused.
Then he sighed and shook his head.
"If only we had realized it then."
"Just after that renovation, strange things began to constantly appear in the village. From time to time, people would have drastic changes in personality and harm others, and strange diseases appeared. Even moving away was useless. We thought maybe the formation from back then was broken, and the God was angry that we had imprisoned it, so it was taking revenge on us. Later, we even invited a spirit medium who died tragically in the village."
"Then you burned down the shrine in a fit of rage?"
Keli asked curiously. After all, if it were the neighboring country, the local government would definitely lead the charge to destroy the Four Olds when faced with such a strange incident. A more hot-tempered approach might even involve dragging out the idol for torture.
However, the boss, hearing Keli's words, looked at Keli with some surprise.
"How could that be? Then, to appease the angry God, we resumed our worship."
"And it really worked then."
As he said this, a look of remembrance flickered in the old man's eyes.
"For half a year, just half a year, every villager's family who participated in the worship became wealthy. Those who worked were promoted, those who studied got into Waseda, and those who did business quickly started up. Those who had suddenly changed personalities also became gentle, telling everyone how to make offerings to the Buddha Mother."
"Only then did we realize that it was always the golden Buddha Mother, who appeared at some unknown time, that was helping us, not our Konohanasakuya-hime."
"But greed is something that can never be satisfied. After their wish for wealth was fulfilled, everyone began to crave more."
"We chanted scriptures day and night in the shrine, making more and more demands. First, we asked for small fortunes, and our children's success in school, but after those were met, we wanted to continue dominating the market, and we wanted to be healthy and live long lives."
"Alas…"
At this point, the boss let out a long sigh.
"But it was also then, on New Year's three years ago, that we realized that the Buddha Mother's wishes all came with a price. Every one of us who offered our names and our children's names to the Buddha Mother had already been deemed Her property. When She needed our lives, we were powerless to resist. At that time, many of us contracted strange illnesses. It was a very painful disease; the hair, teeth, and nails of those afflicted would fall off little by little, but the hospital couldn't find anything. That's when we realized something."
"At that time, our village, wanting to keep this secret to getting rich, always prevented outsiders from worshipping the Buddha Mother. But only one family broke the rule, bringing their distant relatives to worship. We punished them at the time, but only their family didn't get sick that time. The Buddha Mother's meaning was clear: She wanted more, more people to join in worshipping Her, and we, those who had benefited from Her, would all be Her slaves."
"So…?"
Keli deduced, assuming the old man's words were true, and combining them with the memory fragments he saw last night, he had already pieced together a rough sequence of events and guessed the outcome.
The boss took a deep breath.
"So we made a decision that went against our ancestors. We didn't want to live day and night worshipping the Buddha Mother, nor did we want our grandchildren, from birth, to have to dedicate their entire lives to helping Her proselytize."
"After a vote at the time, we broke those mirrors, took out the Buddha Mother's statue, and brought it to Tokyo."
"We thought that the Buddha Mother was like this because She was also trapped inside that formation. Since that was the case, we would let Her move freely. The wealthy people funded the creation of a park and invited the Buddha Mother's statue there, separated by an altar, facing all of Tokyo. At that time, the Buddha Mother and the Shadow Adult would take the lives of a few of us each year. For a village, this was unbearable, but for Tokyo, two deaths wouldn't matter, right? That's what we thought at the time."
"And it really worked. Since moving to Tokyo, that illness has been cured."
"However, rumors of 'wish-killing' quickly spread: as long as you made a wish in front of the altar, you could exchange your life for your enemy's life. Alas…"