Awakened, Ren went once again through the chants in his head. He couldn’t remember them initially, despite repeating them a lot on the previous day, practically until he fell asleep, mentally exhausted. But after a moment, the correct words returned to him, and from that point onward, everything went smoothly.

Then he went to eat breakfast.

"We should go to the temple again," Satoru pointed out as they began eating. "I don’t have much Gin left since I got you that sword, but it should be enough for some talisman seals," he added before putting a handful of coins on the table, among the bowls with food.

They were silver, and each had a diamond-shaped hole inside. Curious about them, Ren grabbed one to have a closer look. There were four symbols on one side and none on the other, making it quite difficult to replicate the coins, not to mention the difficulty coming from a rare metal. Although he didn’t really have a clue how rare silver was in this world, his idea about it came from his past life.

"You can take them all," the old man encouraged him.

"Thank you… I’ll definitely pay you back for this," Ren said, picking up the remaining nine coins.

Satoru raised his hand. "There is no need. We have everything we need, and this money was only spare," he said, glancing at his wife, who even smiled back at him.

"I still want to pay you back. This is the least I could do for your generosity," he insisted.

"For now, focus on becoming a candidate. Then we can talk about paying anything back," the old man cut him off.

"Speaking of that… Do you have any ideas where I could find a ghost or a spirit?" Ren asked, changing the subject.

"No," Satoru said, but then his eyes switched to Ayako.

"Don’t look at me. I’m not interested in those things," she responded to his gaze.

"Maybe you could ask at the temple?" The old man proposed. "They could know. After all, they are sometimes called to the ghosts or spirits causing trouble. But those are usually weak spirits, and you should aim to get one as strong as you can force into your Jujin."

Ren nodded, having already a different idea. He then increased his pace of eating to finish as soon as he could, only to leave for his room. Tsukiko was already there, sitting on top of his futon, patiently waiting.

'Tell me,' he thought, confident that she already knew what he had in mind.

'I don’t know what you are talking about,' she responded.

There was something maybe in the tone of voice in his head, or maybe the way she said it, but he knew she was only fooling around.

'Fine,' he gave in, despite it. 'Tell me where I can find the best ghost or spirit for my sword.'

‘That would be helping.’

‘Oh please… If I had been born here, I would probably have a decent idea of where to look, but I wasn’t, so… And helping is such a big word, especially in this case. It’s only information. It’s not that I’m asking you to help me get that thing into my Jujin,’ he complained.

She sighed. ‘Fine, but that is the last time I’m doing something like that. After this, you are on your own, no matter what. So… Are you looking for the ghost or spirit that would fit you, or the strongest one, meaning literally the strongest one?’

‘Wouldn’t that be the same thing?’ He grinned at her.

‘Maybe… You are going to the temple, so you might ask one of the shinshoku about the Hearteater. That’s all I’m going to say.’

With that, she turned around to walk briefly in a circle before deciding to lie down. She closed her eyes, showing clearly that she was not interested in continuing the conversation.

‘Thank you,’ Ren thought regardless.

He didn’t bother her anymore, instead, he left the room, heading straight out. The old man was already on the porch, sitting on the stairs and smoking the pipe. He looked over his shoulder, hearing some noise, and as soon as his eyes rested on his adopted son, Satoru asked, "You remember the way, or should I go with you?"

"To the temple? No, not really, but I can ask around. I need to learn more about the district anyway," he pointed out.

"Good. Try not to get lost completely. We will be waiting with lunch."

"Thank you," Ren smiled as he passed by him.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The exploration of the district took him a bit of time. He didn’t really want to roam around much, but finding the temple proved to be slightly more challenging than anticipated. The members of the Noroi clan weren't really too keen on going out of their way to point him to his destination. A few times he got some vague clues about where to go and ended up lost, but eventually, he figured it out and arrived at the temple.

Just like on the previous day, he rang the bell before taking off his shoes and climbing up the stairs to wait in front of the entrance. It slid open a few moments later, and the familiar face of the teenage shinshoku showed up.

"Yes?" She asked simply.

"I came to buy some talisman seals, and also to get some information," he informed.

"Wait here," she told him before sliding the door closed and leaving.

After quite a bit of waiting, the familiar saiin showed up, opening the entrance once again.

"Please come in," she encouraged him with a faint smile. A slight change in her behavior from what he experienced on the previous day. "Follow me," she added.

Like before, she led him into a special room, where they sat down.

"How many are you looking to purchase?" she immediately cut to the chase.

"This many," he said, pulling all the coins from his pocket and placing them in front of her.

There was a flash in her eyes as she ran them across the money, counting. "Five, very good," she said, and pulled out five pieces of paper, with weird symbols painted with black ink on them, from underneath the table, placing them on top. Then she collected the coins.

"I was also looking for a bit of information," Ren reminded her as he picked up the goods he bought - one by one.

Her demeanor changed instantaneously. She once again became cold. "What do you want to know?"

'She likes money… Maybe that's something I should keep in mind,' a grin crept on his face before he responded. "I was looking to find something about Hearteater."

Her already-covered eyebrows wandered higher up her forehead, showing how surprised she was by that question. "Don't you know the legend? I thought anybody knew it. Didn't your parents scare you with this story when you were young?"

He sighed in response. "I was injured, and I lost a lot of my memories, so sometimes I'm asking stupid questions… Please bear with it."

She rolled her eyes. "Hearteater was the nickname given to a warrior who lived a very long time ago. He thought that eating the hearts of other people made him stronger, so he killed plenty. Eventually, he was stopped by twelve warriors who fought him at the same time. He killed half of them before he was slain. He haunts an old graveyard outside of the city. He was actually the reason why people stopped going there. Are you thinking about catching him? I would advise against that. Many tried before you, and most of them died in the process. It's better to look elsewhere."

"Just out of curiosity… If I were to catch him in my Jujin…"

"If you somehow succeeded, you would probably create one of the most powerful Makens in history," she interrupted him before he could finish. "But, as I said, many tried, and most of them paid with their lives for this attempt. He is the strongest and most murderous ghost. That's why he is still there. It's better to leave him alone."

"Yeah… You are probably right," Ren smiled. "Thank you for everything."

"Let me show you the way out," she said, standing up, only to guide him to the exit.

He went slowly down the stairs to put his shoes on, then looked at the five paper talismans in his hands. 'She said three are usually enough… But I think others would try with more, and if they failed… Or maybe they failed to use them against him at all? Maybe I should ask Tsukiko? Would she even answer me after everything she said?'

Different thoughts ran through his mind as he began walking home. He couldn't just let go of the idea of catching that ghost, but the worry that this could end badly also lingered, lurking in the darker parts of his head.

Already knowing his way, the journey back home didn't take much time, but as he arrived, Satoru and Ayako were already waiting for him in the dining room. The stern glare the woman gave him told him that he was supposed to return earlier.

"S-sorry that I kept you waiting," he chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "You shouldn't have waited for me… I got a bit lost."

"Just sit down and eat," she responded with a dry voice before she grabbed her chopsticks.

Satoru only slightly smiled at him, but then also dug in. For a moment, Ren considered speaking with him about the Hearteater, but then he remembered how the old man reacted to the whole idea with the mountain ape, so in the end, he didn't say a thing.

After lunch, Ren returned to his room. Tsukiko was still sleeping on his futon, but as he approached, one of her eyes opened.

'No,' she answered even without him asking the question.

'I don't want you to help me with anything. I'm just curious what happened,' he immediately argued, then sat right in front of her glaring straight at her cat form.

She sighed loudly in his mind.

'Many things happened. This is a ghost that is hundreds of years old. He is very resentful, and he doesn't play any games. You approach him, he attacks you. Not many were ready for that, and those who prepared were surprised by his power. He was a swordmaster. You have to be on par, to even keep him at bay for the chant to work. Going there will be nothing like that blue-haired mountain ape.'

'Then why you even suggested this?'

'You asked for the strongest ghost. He is the strongest.'

'Is there really no way I can beat him?'

'I told you, I'm not helping.'

'So there is…'

She laughed in response. 'You are not going to fool me, I'm not telling you anything.'

He seemingly gave up as he lay on the floor next to her, staring at the ceiling for several minutes.

'But hypothetically…,' he resumed after a moment.

'No.'

'You are not helping me. I'm only wondering. Wondering what would happen if I were to go there, and managed to run around enough to chant the words enough times. What would happen then?' He peeked at her with the corner of his eye. Her tail was already swinging in the air.

'Doesn't matter how strong the ghost is. If you chant enough times, they will go weak for a brief period of time, but what makes you think you can even do that? Not to mention the fact that the ghost can always run away.'

'So it's possible…'

'You don't even know how many times you have to chant it,' she pointed out.

'You could always tell me,' he observed.

'Not happening,' she cut him off immediately, then went silent.

Ren sighed heavily. He kept staring at the ceiling as if he could find answers up there. The ghost was still on his mind, but he refrained from asking any more questions, doubting that he would provide any answers anyway.