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Inyouchuu Kyou Chapter 4 Part 3

Suddenly, the surrounding scenery changed once more.

From that of the dimly lit corridor, to a drab room with no windows, about ten tatami mats in size.

Mikoto wondered if it was originally a mortuary or some other room like that. The only entrance to it was a single door in front of the two of them. The walls and the floor to the left bore the marks of large pieces of furniture being removed from there, and the dusty darkness had a faint scent of incense sticks to it.

Once Mikoto started to have a look around that room, she could see that there was a tall table right in its center. And on top of that very table……

「Huh!? Sui……!!!」

The companion that the two of them were so desperately looking for was right there, lying on her back, perfectly still.

She is wearing the same light pink nurse uniform as when she was caught and spirited away by the enemy. At first glance, she did not seem to have any major wounds on her body, and her clothes were not disheveled, but Mikoto did not have the time to spare to think about all of those things calmly and with a cool head..

「Sui! We’re here! We’ve come to save you, Sui!」

Said Mikoto while moving forward towards the bed with vigorous steps.

「Ah, you idiot! Wait! This could be……」

Surprised Rinko panicked and shouted towards Mikoto, when suddenly,

WHACK!!!

Mikoto happened to collide with something akin to the invisible wall that sprung up right in front of her face, barring her way forward and causing her to be thrown back.

「Kuh, oh give me a break already…… A barrier!? Again!? In a place like this!?」

At the current moment Mikoto seemed to be way more paranoid and angry than cautious about her surroundings.

She sprung to her feet at once and, in frustration, raised ‘Raikou’ in the air while holding it steady in her arms.

「Don’t do it. It’s not going to do you any good.」

Uncharacteristically pale, Rinko jumped at Mikoto in a fit of panic.

「That barrier is designed so that if you use all of your strength to destroy it, it is going to absorb all of that energy and return it back to the sender. So if you attack it now, you are only going to cause more harm to yourself than do good. And we don’t know if the barrier won’t cause harm to anyone who is inside of it when its structure is going to be broken.」

「Huh!?」

Mikoto, who was trying to shake off the weight and power of the swing that she was trying to do right now, stopped her movement at a point where it could have been well too late for her to stop. Even though Sui was right in front of her and she looked as if Mikoto would be able to reach her if only she would extend her arms, she was still completely out of reach.

(… No, that’s exactly why……!!)

The blood that was rushing to her head recedes and she manages to regain her composure to a certain extent, enough as to not do anything too rash..

Certainly, being aware of one’s surroundings at all times was the most basic of the basics for an Exorcist. It was only now that Mikoto was starting to see the error of her ways and she was utterly ashamed of herself for that.

But even more than that,

「…… Are you absolutely sure about this? That this barrier might actually cause harm to whoever is inside of it?」

Mikoto’s heart froze up for a moment when she realized the utter ruthlessness and cruelty of the enemy that they were facing here, for using an underhanded tactic like that.

If she hadn’t been stopped by Rinko the moment she was, the shock of seeing Sui the way she was right now would have caused Mikoto to rush forward without thinking, which would end up in Sui’s gruesome death. And if that was to happen, then Mikoto wouldn’t be able to do anything, and she would never forgive herself for doing something like that.

Seeing her partner so utterly crushed and at a loss for words, Rinko turned her head away from her and mumbled to herself: “That’s right”.

「This barrier is specifically designed to throw out an alarm and at the same time disturb the thinking capacity of whoever would dare to barge in here in order to save the hostage. A foolish big breasted girl who wields her stupid powers in such a crude and inefficient way being left at the mercy of her own emotions is an easy target, someone who would get captured without them even breaking a sweat. And if that was to happen, then all of our efforts would have been in vain. It’s a simple and at the same time very effective and disgusting method of operation.」

「I-I get it…… I get it! I really do! B-But…… but what should we do now?」

It was something that couldn’t be helped. Even if Rinko would say it over and over again that she was an incompetent person, it wouldn’t change a thing. Mikoto was going to reflect on that later in earnest, but right now the problem was how to help the captured Sui.

Rinko pointed to the door behind her with a snap, as Mikoto began to get impatient once again and looked about ready to do something stupid again.

「A stupid woman with equally stupid big boobs who not only wastes her breath on wallowing in despair but also was THIS close from triggering the enemy’s barrier without knowing what it could do, that’s just pitiful. Especially since it also managed to trigger the alarm…… However, since you are so incompetent, that’s why I am here, to compensate for that. You see, this great and beautiful genius lady, Rinko-sama, has already laid the groundwork here. I have already sealed the walls, the ceiling and the floor of this place. So the only place that the enemies might come pouring out from is through that door. So be a good big-breasted idiot and go stand watch over that door. Don’t let anything go through. Can you do that?」

「I-I get it…… I get it! Please, just…… just get Sui out of there, alright?」

Mikoto was fed up with Rinko calling her an idiot and always insulting her for having big breasts, but although there was much that she wanted to say to her right now, she knew that she had to stay calm here. After all, Rinko’s knowledge and skill in using spiritual arts was superior to Mikoto’s. It was hard for her to take her eyes off Sui and just leave her there, when she was finally able to find her, but she should just leave this to Rinko and let her do her thing.

Rinko approached the bed where Sui was placed after she crossed Mikoto, who was heading for the door with ‘Raikou’ firmly gripped in her hands. She slowly circled around the barrier as she borrowed her small chin into her teddy bear’s head. Bending over and staring at the floor, she circles the sleeping Sui one more time.

「Fufun, using different spells for the surface layer and the substratum is such a trifle strategy. But this Rinko-sama’s eyes cannot be so easily deceived. The basics are old-style Buddhism before the separation into various sects, and transforming it into Almadel with the Shinto-style left-path magic……」

A big ear stuck out from the head of the girl who was mumbling to herself in a low voice. From under her short skirt of her black goth lolita dress, many thick fluffy tails were growing out. After all, the Kokonoe clan, a famous Exorcist family, could use the power of the nine-tailed fox as their own to a certain extent.

「Fufufu…… Found you~! This seems to be the lock I was looking for……」

Rinko squatted down at Sui’s feet, who was lying on the bed, and pointed her finger at the floor.

「Quae Valba Arcana Luminis.」

With her fingertips, which began to shine pale after receiving her spiritual energy, she stroked the barrier’s surface in a delicate way.

Scarlet letters emerged one after another after her finger passed the barrier’s surface, pulsating and flickering.

In any type of lock, the key information is contained in the lock itself. The same is true for the barriers of any kind, if you interfere with the lock part in an appropriate way, the barrier itself will speak the keyword for you.

「Ooo~, won’t you look at that? It’s a Karousti transcript. I can see that out perpetrator is someone who is very old, indeed. But this here Rinko-sama can read it normally. Umm, let’s see…… Noumaku Samanda Bazaradhan Kang. Mani handma jimbala harabaritaya, woon!」

As soon as Rinko’s voice stopped chanting, she heard a faint but loud sound, like tens of thousands of needles jumping all at once on the stone pavement. The barrier that surrounded Sui shattered into fine dust and disappeared all at once.

And then,

「O-Oh……!? Oh no!!??」

「H-Huh!? W-What’s wrong!? Rinko? Rinko……!! Kyaah!?」

The screams of the two Exorcist girls echoed in the darkness of the mortuary.