Chapter 125: Aspiring to Become an Idol Group

The rain in Kyoto continued to drizzle. Pontocho at night was bustling and lively, yet Haruka Sasaki still found herself immersed in the atmosphere of what had just transpired.

"Exorcists encounter such things quite often," Qiao Qiao said, looking at her. "People who suffer, inexplicably haunted by vengeful spirits—people who only wanted to live a decent life but were destroyed by the supernatural—just because you haven't seen them doesn't mean they don't exist."

It was true. Being part of the Exorcist Association, Qiao Qiao knew this from reading the group chats every day. In this world, the supernatural far outnumbered the exorcists. What he could resolve was only a tiny fraction of the whole.

"But, can someone like me really be an exorcist?" Haruka Sasaki asked, still hesitant. She possessed the will to become one, yet she doubted she had the talent.

"While helping your mother raise your younger siblings, your grades remained quite good, didn't they?" Qiao Qiao suddenly remarked, seemingly out of the blue. "Before entering Shimogamo Shrine, you worked part-time at a supermarket on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at an izakaya on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and at a gas station for half a day on Sundays. Even with such a busy schedule and caring for your siblings, you never fell behind in your studies; in fact, you even earned a school scholarship."

"According to reports from your classmates, you chat and play with friends during breaks, you aren't reclusive, and you even served as the class representative, earning the trust of both your peers and teachers."

"Therefore, I deduce..."

"P-please, wait a moment."

Previously, Qiao Qiao knowing about her affairs could be attributed to the information provided by Maki-san, but what he was saying now seemed to touch upon things a normal person shouldn't know. "Qiao-san, aren't you being a bit too detailed?"

"Understanding the background, demands, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses of every teammate to prevent making wrong judgments at critical moments—this is the very first thing written in the KGB manual," Qiao Qiao stated with utmost seriousness.

"KGB... is that some kind of idol group?" Haruka Sasaki was lost again.

"An idol group?" Several faces flashed through Qiao Qiao's mind. Compared to current idols, those individuals' appearances were indeed quite decent. "If you put it that way, the KGB is indeed an idol group."

"Teacher, I feel like your conversation has already strayed beyond the realm of normal people," Arisu Asano chimed in from the side.

"My apologies." Qiao Qiao apologized while noting down "can be described as an idol group" in his notebook. He then looked up. "Therefore, I believe you possess an astonishing ability to manage time and study, which is why you were able to achieve excellent results in the exorcism written exam after less than a year of exposure, even surpassing Maki-san... ah, please forget that last part. I promised Maki-san I wouldn't tell anyone."

Qiao Qiao corrected himself. "Moreover, you are skilled at handling interpersonal relationships and value your companions, family, and friends. Even taking others' business to heart is quite rare."

"Rare?" Haruka Sasaki tilted her head.

"A commander on the battlefield who only knows how to coldly execute orders is nothing more than a machine that gives commands. A true leader is someone who can take into account the situation, the strength, and their comrades to make the correct judgment." Qiao Qiao looked at Haruka with a very earnest gaze. "Although Maki-san is nominally your senior, I believe you are better suited to be the leader of the squad."

"Squad? What squad?" Haruka Sasaki had been unable to keep up with Qiao Qiao's train of thought since the topic of the KGB.

"Need you ask?" Qiao Qiao countered. "The exorcist squad, of course."

Seeing the mix of confusion and anticipation in her eyes, Qiao Qiao nodded in satisfaction. That made three.

...

It was already ten o'clock at night when he returned to Shimogamo Shrine. He had intended to stop by Cat Ramen to say hello, but after checking Twitter, the owner didn't seem to be open today, so he gave up.

Back in his room, Qiao Qiao took out the broken statue he had found at the izakaya "Patasinis." It had been wrapped in a cloth and placed in an evidence bag. The statue was spherical, and despite lacking any malevolent patterns, a single glance evoked feelings of coldness, terror, and despair. Of course, the sphere was now in pieces, covered in a heavy aura of yin.

Although the differences between various yin auras were subtle, Qiao Qiao could distinguish that the aura on this statue was similar to that of the evil god sculpture disguised as a fox statue from Mr. Daisuke Miyagi of Nintendo.

"Faceless Monk?" The Faceless Monk had been stealing memories and spreading evil god statues to cause trouble at the Kamo River market. While this explanation was logical, Qiao Qiao didn't believe it was the whole truth; it was simply too coincidental. In the world of the supernatural, coincidences were rarely good things.

However, the Gion Festival and the subsequent exorcism martial arts demonstration would certainly gather a large number of exorcists. If there were someone intending to stir up trouble at such a time, wouldn't it be equivalent to declaring war on a military training ground? It seemed too foolish.

Qiao Qiao attempted to psychically probe the statue, but it had been too severely eroded by the yin aura to yield any useful clues. He decided to put it away and hand it over to the Kyoto Exorcist Association when he had time tomorrow.

With that in mind, he checked his phone for the details of tomorrow's assignment. If all went well, he would be taking Ryoko Kitagawa to perform an exorcism. That, however, was a bit tricky. If the previous three shrine maidens possessed the ability to exorcise but were afraid to do so for various reasons, Ryoko Kitagawa was barely capable of it at all.

Although she had awakened her spiritual power at sixteen and had been at it for two years, her progress had stalled. In other words, she was effectively a normal person with a tiny sliver of spiritual power—just enough to see vengeful spirits. It was precisely because of this that she had been rejected by several shrines when she applied to be a maiden, only finding success at the understaffed Shimogamo Shrine.

Well, don't let the appearances of Kotone Hashimoto, Nanase Hayami, and Haruka Sasaki fool you; they were actually promising rookie exorcists. Unlike other talents, spiritual power was not something that could be improved with short-term training. Even for Qiao Qiao, reading a copy of "Fast-Track Heaven" to gain 0.5 standard units of spiritual power took about two hours. The innate power of people like Hashimoto was a rare luxury for Ryoko Kitagawa.

There is a saying in China: The painstaking efforts of a mortal cannot compare to the passing whim of a genius. As a mortal, Qiao Qiao understood this all too well.

He was only halfway through the documents when his phone chimed.

[The streamer you follow, Arisu Asano, has started broadcasting~]