20 I Admire Your Iron Gut, Headmaster Takai

Tuesday morning was the same as usual. 

After he finished the morning service, it was almost time for him to go to school. The incident that happened in Kondo Private Junior High School yesterday might be something of great importance to the students. It might even become the hit subject of their conversations that would last for a long time, or join the ranks of other weird tales as a new school ghost story, but for Baishi Shū, it was just one of his normal ghost-busting tasks. 

That being said, the million-yen remuneration provided by Kondo Private Junior High School was not ordinary at all. 

The incident that happened in Kondo Private Junior High School was one of a kind, so Baishi Shū was not going to increase the price of his services. There was one thing he was very certain of—he was in Tokyo City, and the last thing Tokyo City lacked was shrines and ancient temples. 

These shrines and ancient temples divided almost all the land in Tokyo. Tokyo had a total of 23 special wards, each of which had its own designated shrine and temple. 

There was an unwritten rule among the shrine and temple in different locations. If a paranormal event had become a criminal case and casualties were involved, once the local police department took over it, it had to be referred to the corresponding shrine or temple in that ward. Even in normal cases whereby no one was harmed, those who encountered strange phenomena would seek help from a local well-known shrine or temple. Only those who could not afford the exorcism services of a shrine or temple would go for some unpopular monks with lower charges like Baishi Shū to help them get rid of the evil spirit. 

This group of people could only come up with that sum of money. If Baishi Shū were to raise his price, he would lose all his customers. 

'It seems that regardless of the world or society, only monopolists will get the larger share of the pie while the rest of us can only nibble on the crumbs…' Baishi Shū sighed and shook his head. 

He remembered a manga-adapted drama with the title "From 5h to 9h: The Monk who Fell in Love with Me" that had been released in Japan last year. 

The male protagonist, Hoshikawa Takane, was also a monk who was proficient in everything. He was also a bossy president who would inherit his family's temple in the future. He owned a private jet while his handsomeness rivaled Baishi Shū's. 

However, he was nothing like Baishi Shū, a penniless monk who needed to work extra hard to earn money in order to build a room of his own. The only upper hand Baishi Shū had over him was his spiritual power. 

To reach Hoshikawa Takane's level, he still had a long way to go. 

"Abbot, don't forget to call the construction team," Baishi Shū reminded again before heading out. He had already handed money to the old abbot when he returned yesterday. 

The old abbot had put on his earphones to listen to his music in the comfort of his own little world with his eyes closed. He knocked on the wooden fish, creating a rhythmic pattern similar to a modern song. 

When he heard Baishi Shū's words, without turning his head, he said, "Don't worry. I don't have Alzheimer's yet."

"I'm heading out now."

"Take care."

...

Riding on his trusted steed, Hakuryu, Baishi Shū arrived at his school very soon. The first person he bumped into the moment he jumped down from his bike was someone he had never expected. 

'Why would she come to school so early today?'

When she saw Baishi Shū, Marie Takai quickly went forward and gave Baishi Shū a deep bow. "Thank you very much, Baishi-san!" 

Baishi Shū accepted her bow with good grace. Then, he asked, ""How's your sister, Takai-san? Has she become better?"

It was not hard for him to guess why Marie Takai would be so grateful to him. Other than helping her father to secure his job by getting rid of the Hare-no-yurei that had wreaked havoc in the girls' dormitory, the only thing that he had done to her family was gifting her sister—the only survivor of the pen fairy incident—his jade Buddha amulet. That would be the reason she was at school so early today.

"Yes! Baishi-san, your jade Buddha amulet is so amazing! When I returned home yesterday, I gave the amulet to my sister. Then, can you guess what happened? When we were having dinner, she came out of her room by herself! Not only that, but her body condition has also improved vastly!" Marie Takai said with exhilaration. 

Despite her deep trust towards Baishi Shū, she never expected that a small jade Buddha amulet would contain so much power in it! She also could not forget how her parents cried tears of joy yesterday night. 

For three years, even though they were under the same roof, they had never been together. Mayuko refused to talk to her family except for her little sister, and she refused to come out of her room. Right now though, everything started to change. With their family finally reconciled, they could finally sit down at the table and have dinner together. 

After this incident, their family deeply believed that Baishi Shū was a holy monk with great spiritual power.

"I'm really happy for you." Baishi Shū smiled and nodded. He was truly thrilled about being able to rescue a girl from the pits of depression. Having said that, he did not expect the jade Buddha amulet to have such a great effect after being consecrated. 

Perhaps, Mayuko Takai had received a lot of psychological counseling throughout the three years, so the regret and guilt in her heart had reduced greatly. The jade Buddha amulet just acted as a lead-in. It soothed her mind and calmed her soul, releasing her from the state of closing oneself up. 

This was Baishi Shū's speculation. The truth would only be revealed after he met Mayuko Takai personally. 

He could foresee that their meet-up would be at a time not long from now. Marie Takai had said that her sister had become a little shy around strangers and needed some time to recover before she could return to her usual cheerful self. 

The Takais intended to wait for a few days more. After Mayuko Takai's condition became better, they would bring her to pay Baishi Shū a visit at the weekend. Mayuko Takai herself had said that she was eager to meet her savior as well. She said she wanted to personally thank the "holy monk" who had saved her from the endless hell of sorrow and grief. 

"This is all thanks to you, Baishi-san!" Marie Takai thanked Baishi Shū truthfully. After that, she shilly-shallied for a while before spilling her thoughts, "Baishi-san, I know this might sound a little rude, but do you have another jade Buddha amulet? Can you give me one? Oh, I will pay you in exchange!" 

Marie Takai's thought was simple. Baishi Shū wore a jade Buddha amulet almost every day. Besides having spiritual power, it held a special meaning to her as well. Unfortunately, she had given the previous one to her sister, and there was no way she could get it back. 

Besides, her sister had been treating the jade Buddha amulet like her precious treasure after she recovered. As such, Marie Takai could only try her best to get another one from Baishi Shū. 

"The amulet is a special instrument. It has a special meaning and can't be bought…" Baishi Shū shook his head. 

"I'll give you 200,000 yen! This is all I have! Please, Baishi-san, I just want a jade Buddha amulet. I've been feeling quite messed up as well lately…" 

"Alright then, you can get this kind of consecrated jade Buddha amulet from a temple." Baishi Shū smiled. 

Since she was such a devoted follower of Buddha, he found it hard to reject her. "Takai-san, if you sincerely want an amulet, you can come over to Reimei Temple on the weekend. I'll give you one."

"That's the deal!" 

Marie Takai nodded heavily and hurrayed inwardly. 

Baishi Shū cleared his throat, as he felt a little bad for back-paddling so soon. 

Consecrating an object such as a jade Buddha statue was within the regime of a temple. Generally, people would only look for a grand priest or a well-known monk to inject spiritual power into an object so that they could bring it home to provide blessings to their family. Baishi Shū was merely a novitiate. He was still inexperienced, so he reckoned that he should not get dizzy from his success. 

"Oh yeah, even though I've gotten rid of the evil spirit in the girls' dormitory, how is the school authority going to tell the students it's safe to stay again?" Baishi Shū switched the subject and asked what was on his mind the whole time. 

This was one of the disadvantages of not being famous. Very few people would believe him even if he assured them that the evil spirit had been eliminated, but the same case would be very different if the monk came from a well-known temple. Even if the monk was not really competent, people would still put a lot of trust in them and respect them. 

Upon hearing his question, Marie Takai laughed. "Don't worry, Baishi-san. My dad now has full confidence in your ability after your amulet helped my sister. Here is his plan. He's decided to stay in the girls' dormitory for the next few days and live-stream at midnight. If everything goes well, then the rumor will collapse by itself."

Baishi Shū did not know how to reply. 

'This… Well, Headmaster Takai, you are a real man.'