Sousei no Onmyouji: Reborn.

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Sousei no Onmyōuji (Twin Star Exorcist), all rights belong to the goat Sukeno, not every I write is cannon and true to the original.

Aya got home and began packing his belongings into boxes, each one separated based on usefulness or type.

His clothing went into a larger box, while the rest were stored in smaller ones.

However, his exorcist equipment was what he handled with the most care—it was, after all, the most important of his belongings.

Various talisman-enchanted gears lay untouched, not because he couldn't use them, but simply because he didn't want to.

If not for the fact that the sword he wielded was his family's heirloom and because of how immensely useful it was, he wouldn't have used that either.

And in this world, things like heirlooms weren't particularly rare.

A certain exorcist on Tsuchimikado Island had inherited the spiritual powers of all her ancestors, with each descendants having the spiritual powers of all those who came before them.

In other words, this person had over 40+ spiritual guardians, far more than anyone should have—considering most exorcists had one spiritual guardian protecting them at best.

Kazamachi.

Such was the name of his ancestral weapon.

It wasn't an all-powerful blade. If anything, it was more of a ceremonial weapon, effective for purifying Kegare.

One could say the blade itself was a Purification Blade, capable of harming Kegare without needing to rely on the talisman version, which was the Banma Chōbuku: "10,000 Evils Exorcism."

Nevertheless, in some way, he could still stack the effect of the [Banish All Evil] Talisman with his blade, though it didn't really have much of an additional effect still.

After all, in the first place, using Kazamachi helped reduce his high consumption of spiritual power—since he tended to use it in reckless ways.

For example, he once thought: Why was the "Celestial Motion Reading: Foresight of Coming Calamities" worn on a mask instead of being placed directly on the eyes?

Good question, really.

After all, other enchantments were worn directly on the body.

So why was only "Foresight of Coming Calamities" bound to a mask?

For all he knew, his forte was in theorizing rather than applying—allowing him to think critically and assess situations and spells better.

And this was one such example of him doing so.

He had tried equipping a talisman onto his naked eyes.

And he got his answer.

It was dangerous.

Even with reduced output, human eyes weren't meant to endure such a strain.

When an essential part of the body is overloaded, the consequences are severe.

And so, the result of his reckless experiment?

Two blue pigments appeared near the corners of his eyes, resembling eyeshadow.

The incredibly sharp eyesight that came with it was both nauseating and painful. Thus, over time, he had put that aside.

He finally got his answers.

In the first place, not every exorcist equipped the Foresight of Calamity—it was mostly exorcists who relied on speed that did so.

Ayato aimed for versatility, as other focus wasn't particularly his strong suit.

The saying, "I do not fear a man who has mastered 1,000 techniques, but a man who has mastered one move 1,000 times," didn't apply here.

Having multiple mastered techniques under one's belt could be a major advantage—especially against higher-level Kegare.

For example, physical attacks don't work on some Kegare that can elementalize. And if the punches you're so good at throwing just phase through your enemies—Then… you're in deep trouble.

But that's not the focus here—

Since Ayato wielded a Purification Blade, his success against a Ja-rank Kegare depended solely on his versatility and how well he could maintain his expended Spell Power throughout the fight.

And considering Spell Power was shared across his blade and other enchantments, it didn't exactly make things easy, did it?

Returning to his packing, Ayato finished setting his boxes apart before getting up to make a call to the nearby association office.

Since they were the ones who ordered his transfer, they would also be the ones sponsoring his transport to Narukami.

"Now that I think about it… it's been a long time since then."

It had been about six to eight years since that incident.

"Hinatsuki Tragedy."

The Hinatsuki Dormitory was one of the few places that raised children to become exorcists.

His parents had been one of their patrons, often bringing him there to spend time with those children—children who all shared the same dream.

But then, tragedy struck.

Like-minded friends—gone, faded to dust, to mere memories.

What remained were the aspirations they once spoke of and a grim reminder of what had been lost.

According to the official statement the Association released, a Magano Gate had opened, wiping out every child—leaving only one survivor.

While that was the official story… 

Ayato couldn't come to terms with it. But the explanation held merit.

No matter how talented those "two" may have been, there was no way they could have taken down several Hannya at their age.

 "I'm still alive. I'm still standing. To think the one that useless grown-up acknowledged the least would still be alive—even after all the difficult times."

Aya grimaced as he said useless grown-up, his expression darkening.

For no reason at all, that man just loved bullying him.

Because of him, Aya had developed something akin to psychological trauma.

Especially those dead fish eyes when he'd say, "You should give up on your dreams now."

Words like that—words no adult should ever say to a kid—he spoke without a single shred of hesitation.

However, that man was powerful.

And that was what irritated Aya the most.

All he could do was pray that he wouldn't cross paths with that person anytime soon.

Standing up from the floor, he let out a small smile—reminiscing about the past, albeit a sad one.

But soon, he shook it off as his mobile device chimed.

Pulling out a flip phone—one that looked like it was straight out of the 2000s—he checked the screen.

It was a message from the association responsible for his transfer.

"Also makes me wonder… If they can send electronic messages like this, why bother with a formal letter?"

Whatever the reason was, it didn't matter anyway.

Heading toward the front door, then to the main gate, Aya caught sight of a man standing there, dressed in a formal outfit.

"Good day. Is this the Kamika household?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, I've been requested to assist with your transfer to Seika Dorm in Narukami."

"Thank you very much."

Aya nodded as the two of them went inside to load his boxes into the truck, which would be delivering them in advance.

He still had a few things to take care of at the Association Office—Things like filling out transfer papers and the like.

As mentioned earlier, manpower was tight, and should an exorcist guarding a particular area go missing in action, the Association would have to spread their forces thinner to fill the void.

One mistake exorcists could make was leaving Kegare in an area for too long.

If they did, the Kegare would start evolving.

And once they evolved—they became something entirely different.

A disaster.

Occasionally, when Kegare activity in an area was particularly dense, they could start breaching the boundary between Magano and the real world.

Which, of course, was bad news.

Hence, exorcists were required to submit rosters and weekly reports to their branch associations, allowing them to monitor the situation on the mainland.

The island, however, didn't have those problems.

They had very strong exorcists capable of handling these situations with relative ease.

"Alright then, I have received Sir Kamika's load."

"Okay."

The delivery guy said this before entering his truck and driving off.

Ayato sighed, watching the truck zoom off into the distance.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything as convenient as Storage Space.

He had tried experimenting with it over the years, and as expected—things weren't that simple.

But most importantly, he still had his necessary talismans on him, and his Purification Blade was wrapped in a kendo bag, slung over his back.

Fortunately, the blade could take on a sealed state, appearing as nothing more than an ordinary metal slate.

After all, walking around with a blade—even as an exorcist—would definitely raise a few eyebrows.

Despite the fact that exorcists didn't necessarily hide their powers or the existence of Magano, they still weren't exactly high-profile figures in society.

"Anyways. Time to head out."