Chapter 9: The Magical Girl Refuses the Darkness

The good news is that when Leo went to check on the victim, Uehara woke up on his own.

The bad news is that the excessively intense love (?) from the Nure-onna obviously left a huge shadow on him.

Like someone who has just been rescued from drowning, his face was pale, and he trembled nonstop.

The bunch of wandering spirits that were originally hidden on him were now nowhere to be seen, as if scared away.

Clearly, it was not a good time for more interaction, but the information given by the Nure-onna's spirit in the end could not be ignored.

Hoshikawa Aoi did not want the abnormalities on her to be exposed, so she chose to hide away with the shrine maiden.

Leo merely said he happened to arrive in time, defeated the monster, and diplomatically conveyed the Nure-onna's final warning, then he inquired about things related to his uncle from Uehara.

Regrettably, Uehara did not know much about this uncle. According to him, his parents died in a car accident when he was in junior high, and his father's brother took him in.

"My uncle seems to be a businessman, but I'm not very clear about what kind of business he runs, just that he should be quite wealthy," Uehara regained some composure, "I don't see him much normally, but he indeed provided me with a place to live and ample living expenses."

He looked at Leo with a bitter smile: "To be honest, if it weren't for Leo, I definitely wouldn't believe he could do anything bad."

"In fact, we can't determine what role your uncle plays, even if the Nure-onna's last words are true, it could mean to be careful of your uncle, he might be in danger."

"I hope so." Uehara looked forward somewhat blankly, then snapped back to reality after a while, "I'll go home by myself first, I can't always trouble Leo."

Leo obviously couldn't always act as his personal bodyguard, only hoping he wouldn't be captured by a monster like some high monk on the way.

After sending Uehara off, the hiding duo popped out from somewhere.

The shrine maiden said there was work to do at the shrine in the evening and left first. Hoshikawa happened to share the route home with Leo, so they went to the bus station together.

She rested her hand on her chin, striking the pose of a famous detective: "I think Uehara's uncle is very suspicious."

"Wow, if it weren't for Hoshikawa's reminder, this clue would have been missed!"

"…Leo, is it just my feeling, or have you been teasing me ever since we became friends?"

"Maybe it's because Hoshikawa creates too many teasing opportunities."

When did we become friends? Is this the social power of a magical girl? The scene fell into silence for a moment.

Due to the intermittent rain brought by the Nure-onna, the wind, still carrying a hint of moisture, blew through the cherry trees beside the bus station, causing several petals to fall lightly on the puddles on the ground.

The buses at this station are really slow.

Although the two formed a temporary alliance, they were essentially classmates who had only known each other for a few days, so it was natural to run out of topics suddenly.

Leo knew she was a magical girl, but beyond that, he knew almost nothing about Hoshikawa Aoi, her hobbies, her past, the reason she stepped into the extraordinary, these were not areas a classmate should intrude upon lightly.

Similarly, Hoshikawa felt the same about him.

Perhaps to break the awkward silence, the magical girl took a deep breath, and just as Leo thought she was about to say something—

She took out her phone and started playing a mobile game.

That was too real.

Leo suddenly laughed.

"Do you like playing games, Hoshikawa?"

"Eh? I guess I do, I play both console and arcade games."

"That already makes you quite a hardcore gamer."

He pondered for a moment, then asked the question: "Hoshikawa, why do you insist on investigating this so-called mastermind?"

"Hmm?" She tilted her head, seemingly not understanding the implication of the question.

"You said you don't have enough evidence to prove your conjecture, right? So continuing to investigate will only face danger, and there won't be any benefits, right?"

"Leo, your question is really strange. You yourself have gotten involved."

That's because I indeed can gain benefits from it.

Hoshikawa Aoi took a few steps forward, turned around, and said: "Leo, guess how I became a magical girl?"

"The way you ask makes it sound like there's a grand story behind it."

To be honest, in the duration of this conversation, Leo had already gone from imagining a contract signed with a mysterious beast at the scene of a car accident to a middle-aged office worker picking up his transformation device from the past for his daughter.

"I feel like you're thinking about something very rude!"

She glared at Leo somewhat huffily and continued: "Actually, it's not grand at all. I was born into an ordinary, but happy family, grew up as an ordinary person, and in middle school, the Countermeasures Bureau approached me saying I had magical potential and invited me to become a magical girl. That's it."

"So," she put her hands behind her back, looking at Leo, "I think I'm very lucky compared to many people, like Uehara for example. I wanted the power to protect my everyday life, my loved ones, and this city."

"Because the so-called magical girl is all about love and hope!"

Leo couldn't help but express his admiration: "Oh, that's quite a cool statement."

After maintaining that pose for a while, Hoshikawa suddenly squatted down, holding her head: "Ahh, it's all Leo's fault, making me say such embarrassing things!"

"I really thought it was cool, I didn't mean to tease."

"That comment was unnecessary!"

The bus Hoshikawa was waiting for arrived.

The active magical girl stood up, turned her head before boarding.

"Also, Leo, you got involved in this matter because of me."

"So, I'll protect you too. If you encounter any danger, remember to call me for help, hehe."

She boarded the bus with a triumphant look.

The serious Hoshikawa Aoi and the usually silly Hoshikawa Aoi, it's hard to say which one is the real her.

Leo took out his phone, switched to selfie mode.

Finally, he could see what effect overcoming the Nure-onna had on the [Exorcist] mark on his head.

[Exorcist (Completion 10%)]

He focused on the completion percentage.

[Powers of Repelling Evil: Suppression, Strengthening, Attachment, Shaping]

[Purifying Vision]

[Kurikara Demon Subduing Mantra]

Upon seeing the latest line of content, the myriad of knowledge fragments that had sunk into his mind after defeating the Nure-onna suddenly surfaced, like a string of pearls that had been broken and were now strung back together into a complete string, as if he had always remembered these contents but had forgotten them in the depths of his subconscious, now retrieving the forgotten content.