Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

  After the monorail returned to the city, Seiji and the two ladies hailed a taxi and headed for the special hospital that Natsuya had previously registered him at.

  Mayuzumi received a checkup upon arriving at the hospital. While he was waiting, Seiji received a phone call from Mai

  Mai told him about the result of her investigation at Shouhei Hirai's residence: absolutely nothing!

  "At the very least, based on that residence of his, he seems just like a normal person, but I'm not certain whether or not he has other places he lives in. Right now, the part that I'm most concerned with is his niece, Reo Tachibana, who's currently living together with him. I tried to find this elementary school girl, but I failed. It's highly probable that she was taken away by a Spiritual Ability user!"

  Seiji frowned upon hearing this. He recalled the lost little girl that he met during the school festival.

  This little girl was taken away by another Spiritual Ability user and was missing… was she currently a hostage?

  Was the unknown Spiritual Ability user behind Hirai holding her hostage to force him to accept a curse being placed upon him?

  This sounded like a reasonable inference.

  "In that case, it's highly likely then that Shouhei Hirai was cursed by someone, or forced to accept a curse due to a hostage?"

  "Yes," Mai agreed, "that can be inferred from the current situation."

  There was a moment of silence between them.

  "I'll continue investigating, and I'll try to find this girl. Be on guard at your end as well."

  "I will. Senpai, you be careful as well."

  Mai hung up the call.

  Although it wasn't one hundred percent certain yet, it was likely that Hirai was a victim here, and that the Spiritual Ability user who took young Reo was the true perpetrator!

  'This isn't over yet,' Seiji thought to himself.

  It didn't take long for the checkup to be completed. The examination confirmed that the source of Mayuzumi's nightmares was indeed hidden deep within her soul!

  It was just as Seiji had expected. The doctor confessed that she was unable to cure this and told them that she could only prescribe some better-than-average Spiritual Medicine.

  Seiji contacted Natsuya yet again.

  "I'm willing to help you with any of your requests, Haruta-kun. But that doesn't mean this will be curable, since this is a different situation from the previous one."

  "I understand… I'm truly sorry for bothering you yet again, President."

  The scion chuckled lightly upon hearing this. "No need to say that, Haruta-kun. You're the person who saved mine and my retainers' lives, and more than once at that. I'm sincerely happy to be able to pay you back… or I should say that I hope you'll rely on me even more."

  "…What does that mean?" Seji asked after a pause.

  "What do you feel it means?" Natsuya countered in a gentle voice.

  Seiji was rendered speechless. 'Am I being flirted with?'

  He could imagine the scene of the beautiful scion smiling gently and softly… and it definitely moved his heart.

  'Stop! This isn't the time to be getting distracted.'

  "Er… um… so… where should we meet you at?" He forced himself to ignore what just happened.

  "We can just meet at my residence."

  "Alright, thank you."

  "No problem…" Natsuya paused for a moment before continuing in a playful voice: "Although I want to say that, don't you think just thanking me lacks sincerity?"

  "Then what should I do?"

  "After helping you out this time, could you do one thing for me?"

  "What is it?"

  "It's nothing big or difficult. It's something that only you can do," Natsuya told him in a gentle voice.

  'This tone, these words… you're going to make my imagination go wild!' Seiji felt as if there was an itch in his heart.

  "Is that alright?" Natsuya asked.

  "Yes… of course." He agreed to do it.

  After the call ended, Seiji gave Mayuzumi and Saki an explanation.

  "I can't promise that you'll be cured, but it's worth a shot… the last time that I worked together with that person, we managed to cure another girl who had a curse cast upon her soul. Perhaps this can be resolved in the same way."

  "How much is the fee to hire that person?"

  "Er… she's helping me out of friendship. Please don't mention money in front of her, as she's a rich scion of a powerful family."

  'The type who has enough money to bury any ordinary person.'

  Mayuzumi and Saki were both astonished.

  "A rich scion… Is it really okay to have such a person helping us for free?" Mayuzumi asked.

  "I already finished discussing it with her, and she said she'd be more than happy to help out."

  "It must be all for Harano-kun's sake." Mayuzumi looked up at Seiji's face. "Truly… I'm so thankful to you…"

  "Don't say that, Sensei. I'm the one who's willing to help out here of my own volition." Seiji smiled. "I'm one of Sensei's biggest fans!"

  Mayuzumi and Saki both looked at him deeply.

  Then, the three of them left the hospital together and took another taxi to Natsuya Yoruhana's residence.

  They met the student council president after reaching her residence.

  Mayuzumi and Saki were both astonished to see that Natsuya's beauty was far above the average person's.

  Seiji introduced everyone to each other.

  "I'm very pleased to meet you, Peach-sensei. I've also watched the anime Honey Candy Girl before; it's truly a great story!" Natsuya told her sincerely.

  Mayuzumi smiled faintly. "Thank you… I'm delighted to receive your recognition."

  When she heard Haruta-kun say that Natsuya was a rich scion, Mayuzumi became quite nervous. But after learning that Natsuya was a fan of her work, Mayuzumi suddenly felt closer to her.

  This girl's full name was Natsuya Yoruhana… she seemed like a nice match for Haruta-kun.

  'Both her name and her appearance seem to shine so brilliantly…' Mayuzumi exclaimed inwardly.

  "Let's sit down first and have some tea. Resting and relaxing will be helpful for what we're going to do later," Natsuya told them.

  And so, the three of them sat down.

  Natsuya poured tea for them, and each person began sipping from their teacups.

  There was a momentary silence.

  "Although I heard it from Harano-kun already, I still wish to hear it one more time from the person in question. The ritual from ten years ago—I wish to hear the entire process of what happened during the Story of One Hundred Demons game," the president told them in a serious tone.

  Mayuzumi and Saki exchanged glances before looking towards Seiji.

  "Go ahead and tell her about it." Seiji let them know it was okay.

  "Alright," Saki said, nodding. She then began recounting the story: "It happened when Mayuzumi and I were first-year students in high school—"

  "Wait a moment," Natsuya interrupted. "Although Yoshizawa-san also has a firsthand account, I'd like to hear Peach-sensei… Amami-san's version."

  "…Why's that?" Saki asked.

  "It'll be helpful for treatment afterwards." Natsuya looked towards Mayuzumi. "Even if it's a bit difficult or unpleasant, please do your best to remember what happened at that time. It'll help stimulate the 'curse' left behind and make it become more active, which will mean that it'll be easier to detect."

  Saki revealed a stubborn, unwilling expression. "This will cause Mayuzumi too much pain!" she protested. "We can't do that!"

  "Saki…" Mayuzum murmured.

  "Mayuzumi finally managed to forget about that frightening experience after such a long time! We can't possibly make her remember it again!"

  "Saki… I'll be fine!" The manga author's voice was louder this time.

  "Mayuzumi…"

  "It's fine. I'll be able to talk about what happened at that time." Mayuzumi smiled softly at Saki. "After that… incident happened, I indeed spent a long period of time desperately trying to forget about it… and I believed that I had succeeded.

  "However, in reality, I hadn't.

  "I was merely running away from the truth. The fear I felt at that time, the scary presence that I witnessed, and that icy feeling… has always been inside my heart.

  "Without truly removing it at the roots, I'll never be able to break free from my fear. And now is a chance to remove the root of the cause.

  "I want to get rid of it, which is why I'll face it directly!

  "You're by my side, Saki, and so is Harano-kun, and Yoruhana-san will help me as well… I-I can do this!"

  Mayuzumi showed a resolute expression. This was the same expression of resolution that Seiji saw the first time that he met her.

  This was why he wanted to help her so much.

  Because… she was a manga author who had such a touching expression.