The gohei wands waved, and the gentle sound of kagura bells accompanied the surge of spiritual power. The shrine maidens chanted purification spells, sweeping away the evil thoughts forcibly implanted into these ordinary people one by one, purifying all the affected passersby.

They would never know they had just been on the verge of losing control due to desires triggered by dark arts. Under the purification of the shrine maidens, these ordinary people would at least be left without any lasting trauma.

Qi Xing watched from the side and immediately understood: "These shrine maidens are acting as assistants for you, the [Guardian of the North] who cannot use ordinary magic."

Rin nodded: "Yes. But they are all civil servants of the state."

As Elaine had mentioned before, not all local exorcists, prayer masters, and spellcasters refused to relinquish their power. Some chose to obediently swear allegiance to Jingo Rin and the Japanese central government behind her, becoming government-salaried civil servants—essentially dogs for the central government.

These shrine maidens were clearly those who had obediently accepted the central government's positions.

But before this, who were they exactly?

"What heavy evil energy…" one of the shrine maidens whispered, barely daring to look at the grotesque Peacock Celestial Maiden slumped on the ground.

"Do not touch her yet," Rin commanded calmly. "That is an exorcist from the Kito Family, just transformed into this state by dark arts."

Once these words were spoken, three of the six shrine maidens froze; the leader frowned, seemingly realizing something. The remaining two were instantly terrified, their faces contorting in horror as if recalling some unbearable memory, and they instinctively hid behind Rin.

Two adults hiding behind a high school girl was a somewhat comical sight. However, Qi Xing immediately understood that this actually indicated the respective identities of the six of them.

The three shrine maidens who felt nothing were likely ordinary spiritual civil servants recruited from the public, without any prominent family background. The one leading the team, who was slightly older and clearly more knowledgeable, likely came from another family and had chosen to obediently "come ashore" to swear allegiance to Jingo Rin and the central government. That was why she guessed something when she heard "Kito Family."

As for the last two terrified shrine maidens… they likely came directly from exorcist families similar to the Kito Family—families with dark histories that refused to give up their status as local power brokers or pledge loyalty to the central government. They had managed to escape their original families with great difficulty.

This could be considered a microcosm of the current distribution of superhuman forces in the Tohoku region of Japan.

Jingo Rin, only seventeen years old, had already become an "ecological hegemon" capable of influencing the supernatural environment across seventy thousand square kilometers, forcing local superhumans to choose between one of three paths: submission, resistance, or departure.

Rin stood there, as if the center of gravity of the surrounding world revolved around her. The way she existed made even Qi Xing feel a sense of realization.

On the other side, the Peacock Celestial Maiden Reima noticed the complex gazes of the shrine maidens and couldn't help but cower, curling herself completely into the pit.

"Kito Reima," Rin walked over and asked coldly, "Explain the course of the entire incident."

Although she already knew he was a victim, Rin could not have a pleasant expression for someone who had gone berserk and attacked innocent passersby.

In truth, as a victim now transformed into a grotesque Celestial Maiden, Reima could not provide much intelligence, and could only stutter through an account of what he had encountered.

Having to lay out all his motivations in front of Jingo Rin was likely the true insult for him.

Moreover, when Rin heard that Reima had intentionally not reported to the relevant authorities but instead acted on his own, simply because he wanted to gain her recognition, although she remained expressionless on the surface, her dyed blonde hair began to smoke, and a smoldering rage had already begun to fade the hair dye.

Seeing that her superior was in a bad state, the older shrine maiden in charge of Rin's team quickly took over the conversation: "Kito-kun, if you truly cared about the lives of those people, you should not have concealed the information. When you saw the victims in the hospital basement, you should have retreated immediately and called the [Guardian of the North]."

"Now, considering your transformed state and the relevant laws concerning exorcists, you may face a period of incarceration."

If making him explain his motivations earlier was an insult, then these words from the civil servant shrine maiden were certainly an even greater insult.

However, in the current state of the demonized Celestial Maiden Reima, who could lose control the moment he lost Qi Xing's command, would it not be irresponsible to the public not to lock him up?

His ancestral career: a failure. Attempting to prove himself: also a failure. Wanting to climb to higher places, yet now he would have to eat prison food.

When his family learned of his situation, when other exorcist families found out about his story, what a great shame that would be!

Reima hung his head, his face turning pale and then ashen. Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

The surrounding civil servant shrine maidens were still eyeing him with complex, pitying gazes. These gazes were more painful to him than contempt.

He had originally wanted to win. He had wanted to prove his worth. He had wanted to make everyone look at him with new eyes, and wanted to make Jingo Rin have to acknowledge him. But in the end, what had he become? A complete and utter joke.

"Heh… hehe…" His shoulders trembled slightly, the corners of his mouth lifted, his laughter filled with despair.

Yet, even if he wanted to go mad, he couldn't, because if he went mad, he would continue to run amok, and because Qi Xing had ordered him to [stay clear-headed].

Things that should have shattered were suppressed by absolute power; forced not to go mad when he should have, this psychological pain was likely unimaginable.

"That's right, she is correct." A voice suddenly echoed in his ear.

"A lion's eyes cannot see a mouse."

"You cannot become the hero in her eyes."

The voice was low and seductive, like a whisper in the night, or perhaps some forbidden call. "If so, then fall. Fall into an evil monster."

"Perhaps then you will be able to… enter her sight as prey…"

These words made his heart jump violently, and his breathing hitched.

The voice seemed to come from the depths of his soul, as if responding to his obsessions, responding to all his anger, unwillingness, jealousy, and humiliation, churning those negative emotions into a lump, turning them into scalding black mud that filled his already broken heart.

It felt as if all the thoughts that had ever flashed through the corners of his mind… were now magnified tens of thousands of times.

Just at the moment when his spirit was on the verge of collapse but could not collapse, just at the moment when some terrifying desire in the depths of his heart was about to awaken—

"Enough." Rin suddenly spoke, stopping the shrine maiden who still wanted to continue questioning.

The heat that had been rising from her dissipated. Instead, she stared at Kito Reima with an icy gaze, then slowly said: "I will ask you one last question—to you, which is more important: the lives of the public or my recognition?"

These words actually made Reima freeze for a moment. It even caused the darkness in his heart, which was about to erupt but was being suppressed by Qi Xing, to pause momentarily.

"Of course I care about the lives of the public! Every exorcist who guards a territory has such resolve!"

Although he said this, the things Reima had done were clearly unconvincing, and even he knew it. The more he spoke, the more desperate he felt.

"I—it's not like everyone can be as righteous, noble, and kind as you, always being right, and putting the safety of the public first in everything!"

Just wanting to prove himself, just wanting achievements, just wanting to be an ordinary good person—was there anything wrong with that? Kito Reima was not some saint!

However, contrary to his expectations, Rin frowned and asked him: "Who told you I am kind and always right?"

Huh? Huh?! Reima was finally a bit dazed: "Then why, in order to protect civilians, did you hold back and get beaten to the point of almost losing by us…"

"Because I like to." Rin answered calmly, her gaze peaceful, as if stating a fact that could not be more natural.

This clean and crisp sentence made the surrounding shrine maidens show embarrassed expressions, surprised Qi Xing, and left Reima completely dazed.

Then Qi Xing couldn't help but retort: "You like holding back to protect civilians and almost losing?"

"Of course not!" Rin said, frowning. "Of course I prefer to just go and beat up the bad guys directly. But I also don't want to become someone who lets the public die just to defeat the bad guys."

"I don't want to become the kind of person I hate. That is all."

"Why are you looking at me like that? Why are you acting as if I am the bad guy? Is it not okay to save people because I like to?"

Seeing Reima staring at her blankly, and seeing even Qi Xing staring at her in a daze, Rin finally couldn't help it either, saying irritably: "I was not born a savior meant to save people! I just hate it when people bully others, and I just want to beat the hell out of those [disgusting evils], is that not allowed?"

Therefore, "Kito Reima." She turned her head and said to the still-dazed feminized victim, "I have no interest in watching your hero drama."

"But you do not need my recognition, and you certainly do not need to perform for anyone."

Her voice was very light, yet it felt like a blade sliding across a joint, cold enough to cut through dead knots. "Just help the people you can help right now."

"The Northeast is not suitable for you. When everything settles, and you are no longer dangerous, I will issue you an exorcist status."

Rin said calmly, her sky-blue eyes as peaceful as the sky, without pity, without anger, and even without disgust. "There are still many places in Hokkaido, and the Onmyoryo is understaffed, and I cannot run that far—you wouldn't think Hokkaido is too rural and refuse to go, would you?"

Reima opened his mouth, but could not say a word. He had never imagined that he would hear such words under these circumstances.

Jingo Rin—the person he had always viewed as a target, yet had always loathed, felt unwilling to accept, and envied—had actually said to him in such an incredibly calm tone: "You do not need my recognition, nor do you need to perform for anyone."

She was even considering the future for him. Even though she had no reason to do so at all.

If it were someone else, if it were his family, if it were those exorcist families, they would have likely treated him as a complete failure, or even a stain, eager to erase him from the family history.

But Jingo Rin, from beginning to end, did not care about his [failure] at all. She did not even care about his identity, or what he had done. She only cared about what he could do in the future.

Staring blankly at Rin, the huge shadow that had been pressing on the bottom of Reima's heart, those jealousies and unwillingness that had tormented him. Even that seductive voice had fallen silent at some point. The darkness in his heart did not stir again.

"Ugh…" His throat felt blocked, unable to even make a sound, yet tears gushed out uncontrollably. Even though he wanted to hold back the tears, the harder he tried to hold them back, the more they flowed uncontrollably.

He could not remember the last time he had cried like this. Tears flowed from his filthy body, falling drop by drop onto the broken road, mixing with the dust, yet they were more lucid and cleaner than at any time in the past.

083: Cutting to the Chase

There is probably no need to go into too much detail about the subsequent official handling procedures. The traces at the scene were quickly covered up by the official exorcist team as a [gas explosion]—this is one of the most common modes of public opinion cover-up in the supernatural society. Cleanup vehicles, repair crews, traffic control, and even [third-party investigation companies] arrived at the first opportunity. Because they had already rehearsed the relevant contingency plans countless times.

As for those unconscious citizens, after purification, they did not remember why they had collapsed after regaining consciousness, leaving only fragments as vague as dreams. The entire street was [normalized] in less than two hours. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

The relevant departments also immediately launched an investigation into the Shimizu Sacred Heart Hospital that Reima had confessed about—but in the basement, they only found traces of residual cables, bolts, and contact slots. All the equipment was gone, and not even the bloodstains from when Reima was beaten by the Vajra remained.

Within three or four hours, moving at least dozens of tons of equipment without anyone knowing, and without any relevant vehicle records—this transport was likely not accomplished by physical means at all. This was not an escape, but a well-prepared [evacuation].

If Kito Reima had not been hot-headed at the time, had not jumped down from the ventilation duct attempting to play the hero, but instead had honestly crawled out to call and report it, perhaps the official exorcists would have had a chance to save the victims in those water tanks.

If Reima had actually crawled out of the ventilation duct to call and report it at the time, first of all, he certainly would not have been captured by the white-robed shrine maiden Ise and feminized, and perhaps he could have even directly requested an official exorcist position from Rin.

As for now… sigh, hindsight is meaningless.

Fortunately, Reima did provide an important clue that was highly likely to influence the direction of the investigation.

"Among the thirty water tanks I saw, at least a dozen were girls I knew or had heard of… from other exorcist families." He mumbled, adding in a low voice, with great nervousness, "There is even one among them who is likely from a branch family of our Kito Family."

This remark made Rin silent for quite a while. But even more unsettling was that with so many shrine maidens having collectively [disappeared], how was it that Rin, this [Guardian of the North], had not received any intelligence at all beforehand?