The team preparing to hunt the yokai Wanyūdō was one Ren Kuroda had been observing for quite some time as well.
As one of the strongest teams in the plaza, they were naturally nothing like Yūki Yako, who'd been ignored by everyone. People constantly came up to strike conversations with them, hoping to join—but the young man serving as captain had yet to find anyone who truly fit their needs.
The team consisted of three people: two men and one woman.
The strongest among them was the captain himself—a young man who was a C-rank serum warrior.
The second member was a middle-aged man with a distinctly lecherous appearance. He was also a serum warrior, though only D-rank. However, he was one of the "lucky ones" among serum warriors, having inherited part of the power of a D-rank yokai, the Lantern Wraith, after injection.
The final member was a young woman—not a serum warrior—but a recent graduate of an exorcist high school. In other words, she was a legitimate exorcist with spiritual power, roughly around D+ rank.
Wanyūdō was a C-rank yokai. With just these three, successfully exorcising it would be extremely difficult—which was why they were here looking for teammates.
Moreover, the teammate they needed couldn't just be strong. At the very least, they had to excel in speed. Otherwise, even if the group fought themselves to exhaustion, Wanyūdō could still escape in the end.
In fact, one of their previous members had already been injured after being rammed by the fleeing Wanyūdō—and was now unable to participate in this operation at all.
"If you don't mind… how about letting us give it a try?"
The captain had already been preparing to call off the operation for the day. Having gone through many battles, he understood all too well that facing non-human monsters without sufficient preparation was nothing short of suicide.
But just as they were about to leave, they heard a voice from behind and turned around—only to see a young man and a girl walking toward them.
As the captain looked at Ren Kuroda and Yūki Yako, Ren was also quietly sizing up the three-person team. The closer he got, the more he felt that the scar-covered young man's face seemed… strangely familiar.
At a glance, Gōda Yūzaburō could tell that the young man's true strength was hard to judge—but the girl beside him was clearly still a student. Judging from her nervous, uneasy demeanor, she was an absolute beginner.
Of course she was nervous. Yūki Yako had thought Ren was just taking her to a crowded area—but she hadn't expected him to drag her straight toward one of the strongest teams in the entire plaza.
This group was well known in the surrounding area. How could they possibly be interested in people like them?
"Oh? You want to join our team?" Yūzaburō asked calmly."Do you even know what rank Wanyūdō is?No—before that, tell me what you're good at, and roughly how strong you are. If I let you join my team, then I'm responsible for your safety. I won't let anyone die for nothing."
Because of past experiences, Yūzaburō didn't dismiss Ren and Yūki Yako simply because they were young.
If it were any other strong team here, they probably wouldn't have even bothered to speak to these two skinny kids.
But Yūzaburō was different—because he had once witnessed what people called true prodigies.
"Wanyūdō is a C-rank yokai, right? And you're looking for someone with high mobility," Ren said evenly."I happen to be fairly confident in my speed.As for her—she's my little sister. Just an ordinary middle school girl. She's too clingy, so she insisted on following me along.We want to join your team—and my sister and I want two shares of the reward."
The moment those words left Ren's mouth, Yūzaburō hadn't even reacted yet—but his two teammates were already furious.
The lecherous middle-aged man and the young woman both thought Ren was deliberately mocking them.
He'd openly admitted the girl was just an ordinary middle schooler. Bringing her along as dead weight was bad enough—but demanding a share of the loot on top of that? They wouldn't even dare dream of such a thing.
"To say something like that," Yūzaburō said slowly, "means you believe you have the strength to back it up.So tell me—how strong are you? And what exactly are you good at?If you really meet our requirements, then your conditions… aren't impossible to accept."
"Captain! You're actually considering something this ridiculous?" the lecherous man exclaimed."No matter how you look at it, these two brats are just messing with us!"
Yūzaburō raised a hand, stopping him mid-sentence, signaling him to say no more.
"Well," Ren said casually, "you could say I'm an exorcist with spiritual power. As for physical ability—I probably won't lose to an average serum warrior.As for overall strength… roughly this level, I guess. Dealing with Wanyūdō shouldn't be too much of a problem."
As he spoke, Ren released the presence he'd been deliberately suppressing.
A solid, unmistakable wave of spiritual power spread out before the three of them.
Thanks to leveling up extensively in another world, Ren's normal yokai power had already reached S- rank. Even the spiritual power he deliberately restrained still hovered around A-rank.
Naturally, he didn't release everything. An A-rank presence in a place like this would cause a commotion.
The only exorcist in the trio activated her spiritual sight—and her expression instantly froze in shock.
In her vision, Ren's spiritual power clearly registered at C+ rank, even stronger than their captain's.
"He really is an exorcist," she said slowly. "And his spiritual power is C+.If what he says is true—and he's also a serum warrior—then…"
"Then even if he fought Wanyūdō alone, he'd probably win," Yūzaburō finished, staring intently at Ren.
"I still don't think we should let them join," the lecherous man muttered stubbornly."If he's really that strong, why does he even need us? And asking for two shares is way too much. We only need one more decent serum warrior to take Wanyūdō down."
After all, there would be five people total. Two shares meant Ren would be taking nearly half the spoils.
"It's simple," Ren replied calmly."I have the ability to defeat Wanyūdō—but I don't know its whereabouts. I need your intel.We're just trading what we each lack. As for my sister, you don't need to worry. I'll be responsible for her safety myself."
Ren didn't take offense at the man's nitpicking. If anything, the fact that he cared about distribution showed he wasn't reckless.
Meanwhile, Yūki Yako—standing beside Ren—had been completely dazed ever since he started talking.
She had no idea when she'd suddenly become his "little sister." And the strength Ren displayed was far beyond anything she'd imagined.
She'd thought he was just like her—someone rejected by everyone else, so she'd approached him hoping they could stick together.
Turns out he wasn't a newbie at all.
He was a genuine monster of a powerhouse.
A C+-rank exorcist with serum-enhanced physical strength—someone like that could form a team just by calling out once. Why would he agree to team up with her?
"…Alright," Yūzaburō said after a long pause."I'll let you and your sister join the team—and I'll agree to give you two shares.But on one condition: you're personally responsible for your sister's safety.And if you don't demonstrate results in battle, you'll only receive one share in the end."
After some hesitation, Yūzaburō finally accepted Ren's terms.
Looking at the boy before him, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was seeing the shadow of someone else—someone it was impossible to mistake.
In his memory, that figure had once slaughtered swarms of rat yokai, becoming a hero of the entire Tokyo area. Wielding a divine weapon, ranked 25th on the Exorcist Registry, that person couldn't possibly be here.
After the team was officially formed, everyone introduced themselves.
Ren gave the name Yūki Kazuma, which immediately made Yūki Yako's face turn bright red.
She understood why he'd pretended to be her brother. If they had no relationship, Yūzaburō's group would never have let an ordinary girl join and take a share of the rewards.
Embarrassed as she was, gratitude filled her heart.
When Yūzaburō introduced himself as Gōda Yūzaburō, combined with that familiar face, Ren finally remembered who he was.
The lecherous man was named Ma Genji, and the female exorcist was Jingū Suzuna.
"So… are you really siblings?" Suzuna asked curiously."Your hair colors are completely different. And Kazuma-kun, how do you have such strong spiritual power at your age? Are you from an exorcist family?"
Suzuna was clearly the sociable type. Her earlier cool demeanor vanished the moment introductions were done, and she began chatting enthusiastically.
"The hair color difference is probably because of serum," Ren replied casually."As for my spiritual power—it's not because we're from an exorcist family.It's because I'm what people call a genius."
It was blatant self-praise—but no one present argued.
Given his age and the level of power he displayed, it was hard to deny that he truly was exceptional.