Everything progressed according to plan. Ren made sure to behave as if the day was no different from any other. He gave his best during training, then followed Satoru back home, with a quick visit to the bathhouse on the way. He ate lunch and, under the pretext of going for a walk, left the house.
As he walked down the street, by chance, he noticed that Ayako was actually following him. She was not very good at it, but he also didn't expect such a move from her, despite her showing signs of interest in what his walks really meant. ‘This old man… He made her do it,’ he thought, before changing his route.
He had a decent grasp of the Noroi clan's district, so losing his tail was not that hard. When he was sure that Ayako was no longer following him, Ren changed his path, heading straight to the temple.
On the empty plaza surrounding the grandiose building, he spotted Hiroshi. The doctor stuck out like a sore thumb in his strange clothing, and many members of the Noroi clan were clearly keeping an eye on him as they went about their business.
"Finally," Hiroshi said as soon as he noticed Ren.
"I'm sorry for being late. I had to lose Satoru's wife… He made her follow me."
The doctor nodded, showing his understanding. "That's good. It's better if they don't know what we are up to. But we lost enough time; let's go."
With those words, he headed toward the archway, then rang the bell, took off his shoes, and climbed the stairs. Ren followed him, a bit surprised that the whole process was known to a man who wasn't part of the Noroi clan.
Moments later, the door slid open, revealing the familiar face of the teenage miko.
"Yes?" she asked, her gaze locked on the doctor.
She didn't appear surprised by a visitor from outside the clan at all.
"We are looking to speak with Reiko," Ren answered.
"Saiin Reiko? I'm unsure if she is available, but let me check. Please wait," she replied, closing the door.
"Reiko?" Hiroshi asked as he turned his attention to Ren. "Is that the one who seems to like silver, which you mentioned yesterday?"
"Yes. That's her."
"Good, because we might need something extra to persuade a saiin to help us, and extra coin is something I can do," he informed.
"Are you rich or something?"
"I'm well off," the doctor confirmed. "I had an amazing teacher who later made me a part of many very profitable research projects... But that's maybe a topic for a conversation on some other day. Let's focus on what we came here for."
Ren nodded, immediately going silent. Then they waited for quite a moment before the door slid open once again. This time a different, but still familiar, face showed. It was Noroi Reiko with her amazing body.
"I was informed you wish to speak with me," she said a bit surprised, but as she spoke, her eyes shifted to Ren, and the whole expression changed, transforming into a clear understanding of the situation. "What do you want from me?" She asked the younger man instead.
"We have an offer for you. Can we come in?" The doctor asked instead.
"Yes," she agreed, stepping to the side and making space for them.
They entered, and then she led them to the same room Ren visited before, where they sat on the pillows.
"I might have an idea what your offer might be," he said immediately, as her eyes once again rested on Ren.
"That's even better," Hiroshi stated. "This youngster might be a fool in many ways, but I'm not, and I do understand the danger. We have a way to deal with that ghost, but we will require your help."
"A way to deal with the Hearteater?" She snorted, as a mocking smile twisted her lips. "That will be entertaining."
"I will pay you well if you agree to help," the doctor informed.
This was enough to change her demeanor in the blink of an eye, but she didn't say a word.
"Let's assume that this youngster might be able, for a while, to keep the ghost busy. How much time would you need to trap him, bind him, or weaken him?" Hiroshi continued.
Stolen story; please report.
"That's assuming he will show up. With three people around, he might not be willing to. The ghosts are cunning, especially the ancient evil ones," she pointed out. "But if he would show up, and if this young man could really match him, I would need around several minutes to prepare a spell."
"He will show up, even if it's the three of us," Hiroshi stated with a tone of certainty in his voice. "He won't sense any danger before it's too late, so he will show."
That earned him an eyebrow raise from the saiin, but since her bangs covered her eyebrows, nobody really noticed, and she didn't voice her curiosity. This created a brief but awkward pause.
"So… How much?" She broke the silence she created.
"Hundred," he gave a short response.
"That's not enough," she shook her head.
"Hundred and fifty," the doctor countered.
"Two hundred and fifty," she said.
"That's a lot of money," Hiroshi pointed out.
"Yes," she acknowledged," but you are asking for something incredibly hard. Many would say impossible. That kind of a job requires good payment. An upfront payment as well."
"How can we be sure you won't deceive us, take the money, and vanish?" Ren butted in.
"I'm a shinshoku. If we take the coin to capture, exorcise, or chase away a ghost or a spirit, we have to at least try," she explained, glancing at the doctor.
Her behavior suggested to Ren that this was common knowledge, and he once again felt like a fool.
"But you could try half-heartedly and then run away," he protested.
"I will run away," she assured him. "The moment something goes wrong, I will run away, but until that happens, I will give it my best."
"We can trust her," Hiroshi seemed certain she was telling the truth. "Two hundred and fifty. You will get the money as we meet at the cemetery."
"No," she shook her head. "How could I run away with that much coin? You want me to stick and try with you until the end, even if things get out of hand. If you want my help, you will bring the coin here, to the temple."
The doctor sighed heavily, earning a glance from Ren. Then he smiled. "You saw through me with ease," he acknowledged. "Very well. I will bring the money in here. How much time will you need to prepare?"
"Seven days of preparation, for good luck," she responded.
That earned her an additional chuckle from the doctor. "So you are going as far as to even use a lucky day for the preparation period? Good. I will bring the money to you tomorrow, and then, in seven days, we will come to visit you here."
"If you bring the coin, I will help you," she assured, briefly shifting her eyes to Ren once again.
Hiroshi clearly felt that the conversation was concluded, as he stood up. The shinshoku got back on her feet as well, with Ren getting up as the last one. She then escorted them outside.
"If you change your mind about this… Please let me know," the doctor said after a long moment of silence, which allowed them to get outside and even start putting on their shoes.
"I won't change my mind," Ren assured.
It prompted a heavy sigh from Hiroshi’s mouth before he began walking away.
"Come to me when you are ready to go to the cemetery," the doctor called as he got further away.
Ren was unsure if he should follow, as the doctor's demeanor didn't suggest he was waiting for that. In the end, he chose a different path as he headed home because the way picked by the creator of his body was unfamiliar to him.
He went straight home. Upon his return, he did his best to pretend as if nothing was going on.
The next days were focused on this facade and the sword training as he wished to get as good as he possibly could in this very limited amount of time. He even got praised by Satoru for the effort he began to put in.
One by one, the days passed. Tsukiko seemed to be nowhere around. She wouldn’t show even if he thought about her, which made him a bit worried before he realized how foolish he was. She was a goddess, and getting worried about such a supreme being seemed dumb the more he thought about it.
Just like in the case of the ape, the closer he became to the appointed date, the more nervous he became, having to put in extra effort to fool the old man and his wife. The fact that he stopped going on those walks kind of worked in his favor. It seemed to lull their vigilance. There were no more strange questions or looks.
The agreed-upon date eventually came, and the day started as usual, but during the training, Ren was slacking off by a lot, which eventually made Satoru put an early end to their session. They left for the bathhouse and then returned to have a meal.
"I’m going for a walk," he announced as soon as he finished.
This prompted an exchange of gazes between the old man and his wife. Ren noticed, but before they were able to say something, or react in any way, he left the house, bolting away as soon as he was on the street. He was scared they might try to follow him, and he didn’t have the time to lose them before heading to Hiroshi.
This tactic proved to be a success, as a few streets later, he didn’t notice any tail. He slowed down, just walking from that point on, but his pace was fast. After all, there was plenty of distance to cover.
Hiroshi awaited him in his strange house, so the two departed as soon as the doctor emerged, prompted by Ren knocking on his door. He had a small casket which he carried under his arm.
"We need to move. We don’t have much time if we want to make it to the cemetery before night," Hiroshi stated, closing the door and locking it.
"I tried my best to get here as fast as possible. Is that…"
"Yes, that’s the pill. Now let’s go," the doctor cut the conversation short.
Without wasting more time, they began their walk back to the district of the Noroi clan, eventually ending up in the temple. They did the whole ritual upon approaching it, and soon the door slid open, revealing the familiar face of the teenage miko.
"She is waiting for you. She will come out in a moment," the girl said, without even bothering to greet them. Then she closed the door.
The two waited on the stairs in silence, but the Saiin didn’t show up, even after a long while. It caused Ren to get irritated, but his feelings vanished when he suddenly heard a voice.
"What are you waiting for? Let’s go," Reiko said, standing a few steps behind, right next to the archway with the bell.
She was holding a large basket on one of her arms, but that was not the only change to her appearance. She had a large black hat on her head, and her whole kimono seemed to be covered with paper seals. There were at least several dozen of them. Each had strange symbols painted with red ink. A slight difference from the ones bought by Ren before, as for those the shinshoku used black ink.
Both men didn’t reply; instead, they rushed down to put on their shoes. As soon as they appeared ready to walk, she left, forcing them to chase after her.