Chapter 11 Chapter 11 World Fusion (Part 3)
Kadowaki Sakataro attentively led the young man through the publishing house's lobby and upstairs, quietly explaining the situation: "Mr. Deba, the fourth floor up is our publishing house's dedicated warehouse. It's where we keep all the paper and other materials we consume in large quantities, as well as any remaining books from previous printings. And yet, accidents keep happening here... Alas, it's causing panic among the staff, and no one can concentrate on their work."
Deba Shizuka nodded slightly and politely asked, "What was the accident? Could you elaborate on it? When President Kaneda of your company commissioned me, he wasn't very clear, and I'd appreciate a detailed explanation."
"It's nothing, actually," Kadowaki Sakataro wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. "At first, a member of the company cut his hand while trying to get something. Because there were so many things piled up in the warehouse and the light was dim, he thought he had accidentally bumped into a sharp edge, so he put a Band-Aid on it and didn't pay much attention to it. But then more and more people reported being injured, and I sent people up to check, but they didn't find any sharp objects that could hurt anyone. In the end, everyone thought it might be because the edges of the paper they were using were too sharp, and they asked the purchasing person to change the supplier."
"Nothing has changed since the source was changed, right?"
Deba Jingji's tone was firm, and it was obvious that if the matter ended here, he would not receive the commission.
"Yes, yes," Kadowaki stammered. "After we changed suppliers, everyone thought everything was fine. But a few days later, Komuro from the company went upstairs to get some books from the warehouse as prizes for an event. He didn't come down for a long time, and when someone went to look for him, they found him lying on the ground, seriously injured. The ground was covered in blood. It was a horrifying scene... I asked someone to call the police, but after they investigated, they said they didn't find the murder weapon at the scene, and according to the surveillance footage, no one else had gone upstairs at the time. The final conclusion of the investigation was that Komuro was under too much work pressure and committed suicide upstairs. But Mr. Deba, I know that's not the case!"
At this point, Kadowaki became agitated. "Competition among our employees is fierce, but Komuro's performance is among the best in the company, and he's a cheerful and outgoing person. He certainly wouldn't do something like this! Coupled with the series of strange things that happened before, I felt something was amiss, so I reported this to President Kaneda."
Deba Shizuka pondered for a moment and asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Komuro, what did the person involved say?"
"Due to severe injuries and excessive blood loss, Komuro is still unconscious in the hospital. We have no idea what happened at the time."
While they were talking, the two had already reached the fourth floor. Kadowaki took out the key and tremblingly opened the warehouse door. Ever since Komuro was injured, the warehouse has been blocked for the past two days and no one is allowed to enter to prevent further accidents.
Fine dust was swept out from the dark room with the air flow. Jingsi Dechang felt the strange breath and narrowed his eyes slightly.
If things go wrong, this trip might be in vain.
Kadowaki turned on the light and led Shizuka in tremblingly. He explained to him the place where Komuro had been injured and fallen, as well as the place where other people had said he had been injured. He tried to provide as much information as possible so that they could leave this dangerous place as soon as possible.
However, Dechang Jingsi did not play by the rules at all. He pointed directly at a wall in the warehouse and asked, "What is the room over there used for?"
"That's..." Kadowaki was startled, then looked at what he was pointing at and explained, "Next door is the pending items storage room, used to store readers' letters. Mr. Deba, you should know that publishing houses often receive letters from readers. Since many authors' names and addresses are kept confidential, readers often send them to us. The publishing house will first screen them, select the dangerous letters, and place them in this compartment for centralized processing later."
"Danger? What kind of danger?"
Deba Jingji's gaze was completely fixed on the wall. In the field of vision that ordinary people could not see, a completely evil aura emanated from the other side of the wall.
"Some radical readers can't accept certain plots, or can't accept the death of their favorite characters, so they send razor blades or nails to publishers and authors to express their protest and indignation."
"I see," Deba Shizuka nodded and turned to leave the room. "I know what the problem is. Mr. Kadowaki, please open the door to the next cubicle."
"Is it, is it the problem next door?" Kadowaki wiped the sweat off his forehead, followed the floor to the door of the small compartment, took out the key tremblingly, and inserted it into the keyhole.
"careful!"
Before he could turn the key, the bloated body was suddenly lifted open.
A talisman shot towards the place where he was originally standing and quickly turned into ashes. Suddenly, he heard a shrill scream. Menwaki looked at the unimaginable creature, sitting on the ground in amazement.
Dechang Jingji stood in front of him, holding the assembled bow, pulling the string and aiming at the target.
"It's not a monster after all. It seems I can't subdue it for my own use. What a pity."
In the direction his arrow was pointing, a huge envelope with four or five eyes and seven or eight mouths stood up like a human. Its waving hands were full of blades, nails, knives and other sharp objects. Its appearance was extremely terrifying. Several mouths opened and closed, each saying something different: "Give it back to me, give it back to me... Give me back my Takada-kun." "Why don't you let Touya and Nana be together..." "This ending is an insult to everyone who loves this story. The author should die!"...
It seems to be a collection of readers' resentment. It can resist low-level spells and is slightly stronger than weak monsters, Deba Shizuka thought as he observed.
The creature called Curse Spirit suddenly appeared in this world in recent days.
However, Shizue Deba discovered that except for himself, oh, and Natori, Natsume and the big monster, no one else thought there was anything wrong with the appearance of this evil spirit born from the curse, as if it had always been like this.
He learned from those politicians that these evil spirits were called "cursed spirits," and like monsters, they had existed on the island nation since ancient times. Like their monster exorcists, a group called sorcerers had always made it their mission to eliminate cursed spirits.
After clarifying some of the situations, he wanted to capture some cursed spirits for research. Unfortunately, this kind of evil spirit was different from monsters and could not be subdued as a Shikigami. He also had not yet mastered a safe way to confine them, so he had to give up for the time being.
Dechang Jingji released the bowstring, and the arrow carrying the talisman streaked forward, pinning the cursed spirit to the ground. No matter how it screamed and struggled, it could not break free. He silently chanted a spell to strengthen it, and the cursed spirit's struggle gradually weakened, finally dissolving into nothingness.
"Is it over?" Kadowaki asked stutteringly.
"Yes, please explain to President Kaneda that I have completed his commission."
Deba Shizuka pulled out the arrow nailed to the ground and looked thoughtful. The talisman on it had been severely damaged. It seemed that the cursed spirit was more difficult to deal with than imagined, and the consumption was much greater than that of dealing with monsters of the same level.
Kadowaki was so frightened that he was completely exhausted and could only stand up by holding on to the wall. He said in disbelief, "Will there be no more accidents?"
"It should be fine," Deba Shizuka silently put away the assembled bow and arrow, and suggested with a smile, "If Editor Kadowaki is worried, you can suggest that President Kaneda seek confirmation from professionals. If I remember correctly, it seems to be called the Jujutsu Association..."
Before he could finish his words, someone popped his head out from the stairs and waved, "Editor-in-Chief, someone's looking for us downstairs. They say they're from the special police department and are here to inquire about Komuro's case."
Shizuka Deba, unconcerned by the interruption, chuckled and said, "Looks like they've already come to our door. That's right, incredible cases filed with the police will likely be handled through special channels."
"This..." Kadowaki didn't know how to respond, so he could only yell at the subordinate who delivered the message, "Then what are you still standing there for? Hurry and invite the person up."
"But," the member stammered, "even though he showed his ID, he looks like a high school student."
"Why do you care if they're high school students? Just invite them up here!" Frightened, Kadowaki couldn't control his emotions and simply drove his subordinate away. It wasn't that he didn't want to go down himself, but he was so frightened that his legs were still weak and he couldn't move a step.
While waiting there, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with emotion, "I never thought that the plot in Mr. Daidoji's novel would actually happen in reality."
Deba Shizuka asked doubtfully, "A novel?"
"Yes, Mr. Deba, don't you know?" Speaking of his profession, Kadowaki regained some of his usual eloquence and said excitedly, "It's Mr. Daidoji Kaoru, the up-and-coming fantasy novelist our agency has been promoting in recent years. His works often feature transcendental themes like supernatural beings, curses, vengeful spirits, and monsters, and they're incredibly popular right now."
"Oh, I see."
Upon hearing this, Shizuka Deba immediately lost interest. Themes related to gods, ghosts, and monsters have always been very popular in the island country, but in the eyes of a professional like him, he would find that the settings in them are full of errors and omissions, and there is no value in reading them at all.
"Mr. Daidoji's novels are really different! If Mr. Deba doesn't mind, please bring a few copies back later. The publishing house still has the latest sample books, which have not been released on the market yet!" Kadowaki recommended actively. He also wanted to get closer to Deba Shizuka so that if any accidents occurred in the future, it would be convenient for him to ask someone for help.
"Then I'd rather obey than be disrespectful." Dechang Jingsi said with a smile, and no one could see the indifference in his heart.
While the two were talking, a handsome young man with messy hair came up from the stairs.
He felt the cursed aura on the fourth floor gradually dissipate and muttered, "What? It's resolved."
Megumi Fushiguro raised his head and glanced at the only two people present, his gaze finally landing on Shizuka Ba, who was clearly not a member of the publishing house. "I have nothing to do here... I don't know the sorcerer. Since you completed the mission, please report to the association yourself later."
"Please wait a moment," Deba Shizuka stopped Fushiguro Megumi who was about to leave. "I'm sorry, I'm not a sorcerer."
"Huh? Ordinary people?" Fushiguro Megumi paused and turned around. "You can see, no, destroy that kind of thing." He paused and changed his tone. "Then please come with me. Since you have this ability, you must register with..."
"I'm sorry, I think you might have misunderstood me," Deba Shizuka shook his head slightly. "Please allow me to reintroduce myself. I'm Deba Shizuka, the demon hunter."
Deba Jingsi looked at him, a faint smile on his lips: "Now, can you please take me to find someone I can talk to?"
The author has something to say:
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By default, supernatural powers such as supernatural powers and spiritual power can cause damage to cursed spirits, but the effect of cursed power is more targeted.
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