Ibaraki Dōji ultimately left, and Ren Kuroda had no intention of trying to stop him.
From the brief exchange they'd just had, Ren already understood one thing very clearly—the opponent's strength was terrifying. Terrifying to the point that even if Ren went all out and revealed every card he had, he still couldn't say with certainty that he would win.
More importantly, there was no deep, irreconcilable conflict between them. And if the two of them truly fought without restraint, the sheer scale of the battle would inevitably draw the attention of every exorcist force in the entire Tokyo District.
As for the words Ibaraki Dōji left behind, Ren didn't take them to heart at all.
From Ibaraki's perspective, perhaps he had shown mercy and spared Ren.
But from Ren's point of view, while the oni king was undeniably powerful, if Ren unleashed everything he had, the gap between them might not be as large as Ibaraki imagined.
Still, Ibaraki's remarks did leave Ren deep in thought.
From those words, it was easy to confirm what Ren had already suspected—That being was indeed a member of the oni clan.
Which raised a new question.
Among oni with that level of strength, there were only a handful of possibilities.
Was it Shuten Dōji?Ibaraki Dōji?Or perhaps Hoshiguma Dōji?
Meanwhile, after leaving, Ibaraki Dōji was also pondering Ren's identity.
A mere half-oni, yet capable of awakening the power of high-ranking oni.
That meant that one of Ren's parents—whether father or mother—must have been an exceptionally powerful oni, at the very least someone on Ibaraki's own level.
Unfortunately, Ren hadn't used his other oni racial awe, "Drunken Rampage," in front of Ibaraki.
Otherwise, Ibaraki would likely have pieced together Ren's origins with frightening accuracy.
With the SS-class Oni King gone, Yūsaburō and the others soon arrived at the scene.
When they saw the corpse of the Wheel Monk lying on the ground, their expressions froze in shock.
Judging from the damage left behind, it was obvious that Ren had gone through an intense battle. But the fact that he had managed to kill the Wheel Monk alone, and in such a short amount of time, left Yūsaburō's group utterly stunned.
In truth, most of the so-called "battle traces" they saw were actually the result of Ren's clash with Ibaraki Dōji.
As for the Wheel Monk—
It had essentially been killed in an instant.
Ren didn't bother correcting their misunderstanding. In fact, he felt that letting things remain this way was for the best.
After all, if someone with only C+–level spiritual power were known to have instantly killed a C+–class Wheel Monk, that would be far more shocking than reassuring.
Once the subjugation was complete, the Wheel Monk's corpse was handled, packed up, and carried away by Yūsaburō.
For a C-class serum warrior, that amount of weight was nothing.
When they arrived at the company that had long partnered with Yūsaburō's team, the staff responsible for purchasing yokai materials clearly knew them well and greeted them enthusiastically the moment they met.
"I can't believe you actually took down a C-class Wheel Monk," the staff member said, eyes wide. "That thing wiped out quite a few teams. Who would've thought it'd end up falling to you guys?"
The compliments came pouring out—but unlike usual, Yūsaburō and the others turned bright red from embarrassment.
Strictly speaking, after encountering the Wheel Monk, aside from Genjiro stepping in once, Yūsaburō and Jingū Rin'a had barely even touched it.
Though it was called a team operation, the kill had been almost entirely Ren's doing.
"Enough with the flattery," Yūsaburō said hastily. "Just get to work already. Tell us—how much can we get if we sell the Wheel Monk as a complete package?"
The purchasing staff, having no idea how he'd offended them, could only awkwardly begin evaluating the materials.
After a series of tests with specialized equipment—combined with confirmation from professional exorcists—the conclusion was reached.
The Wheel Monk they had slain was not a standard C-class yokai.
It was a C+–class, already approaching B–rank.
The moment those words were spoken, Yūsaburō and the others went completely blank.
Then, as if on cue, they all turned to look at Ren.
When Ren nodded calmly in confirmation, their faces lit up with unrestrained joy, and they immediately launched into fierce bargaining with the company.
Half an hour later, after intense back-and-forth negotiations, the company finally agreed to purchase the Wheel Monk—blood included—for 100 million yen.
A normal C-class yokai would never fetch such a price.
But this was a C+–class.
That meant its blood could be refined into C+–grade yokai serum.
On top of that, the Wheel Monk's abilities were exceptionally strong. If those abilities could be inherited through serum, even an ordinary person could become significantly more powerful—driving the price even higher than usual.
After leaving the biotech company, the group headed straight to a hotel to celebrate—and then moved on to dividing the money.
Fully aware that they hadn't contributed much to the actual fight, Yūsaburō and Jingū Rin'a adamantly refused to take their shares, insisting that the subjugation had been almost entirely Ren's achievement.
Even Genjiro, if not for the fact that he needed money urgently to treat his severe injuries, would have given up his portion as well.
"There's no need for that," Ren said, waving it off. "We already agreed beforehand how the loot—ah, I mean, how the spoils—would be divided, didn't we?"
"And even if I did most of the fighting, without the intel you provided, we wouldn't have found the Wheel Monk in the first place."
"So let's stick to the original plan. One hundred million yen, split into five shares. Twenty million yen each. Sound good?"
Ren genuinely meant it.
At the time, they hadn't known Ren's true strength. They had still gone out with him, fully prepared to risk their lives. Ren had no intention of shamelessly pocketing all the reward.
After repeated persuasion, Yūsaburō and Jingū Rin'a finally accepted their shares.
Thinking back, it almost felt ridiculous.
They had initially thought it outrageous that Yūki Musubi—a so-called "vase"—would demand an equal share of the spoils.
Yet in the end, she had contributed more than either of them.
After all, it was she who had risked her life to lure the Wheel Monk out.
Those twenty million yen were more than deserved.
"Thank you so much, Kazuma-san," Yūki Musubi said, her eyes brimming with emotion as she approached Ren again after bidding farewell to the others, bowing deeply over and over.
"If it weren't for you… I don't know how long it would've taken me to earn this much money on my own."
From their conversation afterward, Ren finally learned why the girl had abandoned her studies to take on such a dangerous job.
When the world fell into chaos, Yūki Musubi's parents were killed by yokai.
But she still had an older sister.
And that sister was exceptionally talented.
When the Exorcist High Schools were first established, her sister had been among the very first students selected—and had even gone on to enroll at the highest exorcist academy, Onmyō Academy.
Because of her brilliant sister, even after losing their parents, the two of them lived fairly comfortably.
But the work of subjugating yokai had always been dangerous.
No one could avoid disaster forever.
During one mission, her sister's team was nearly wiped out. Her sister herself was gravely injured—so badly that even the doctors admitted the chances of recovery were slim.
The only remaining hope was a desperate gamble.
If her sister could undergo modification using yokai serum, strengthening her fragile body, there might still be a chance for survival.
Yokai serum could dramatically enhance the human body, granting a physique comparable to a yokai's. With such a body, regenerative ability and vitality would increase enormously.
But according to her sister's doctor, given the severity of the injuries, ordinary E-rank or D-rank serum would be useless.
To truly rebuild her body, the serum would need to be at least C-rank.
Worse still, the hospital stated they could only stabilize her sister's condition for one more month at most.
That was why Yūki Musubi—still just a middle school student—was desperately trying to make money.
After hearing her story, Ren silently handed her his twenty million yen.
In truth, he'd planned to do so from the start.
Earning a hundred million yen from a single C+–class yokai—despite the inflation of this chaotic era—was absurdly easier than making money before the world collapsed.
To Ren's surprise, Yūki Musubi didn't refuse.
Instead, she accepted it and insisted it was a loan—one she would definitely repay in the future.
And she meant it.
For her, pride and restraint meant nothing compared to her sister's life.
Before deciding to hunt yokai, she had even considered selling her own body.
But she knew—if her sister ever found out, she would blame herself for the rest of her life.
And in this era of chaos, beauty was one of the cheapest commodities of all.
Even if she sold herself, it wouldn't come close to the cost of yokai serum.
"C-rank yokai serum…" Ren muttered. "From what I know, that kind of serum does exist on the market—but it's extremely rare, right?"
"And even with forty million yen… is that really enough to buy one?"
If there was anything more precious than gold in today's world, it was yokai serum.
After all, it could completely transform a person's fate.
That was why it had long been in a state of demand without supply.
And while E-rank serum might circulate occasionally, C-rank serum was usually monopolized by major conglomerates.