"So, this is your solution?"
Alistair looked at Hikari Hyakkiya's exposed, pink cave, which seemed to be almost breathing, but felt utterly uninspired. He spoke with a blank expression.
"Eh? Yes, is there a problem?" Hikari Hyakkiya looked back at Alistair with confusion.
"You're not an Onmyōji or a Miko (shrine maiden) or something? This is your way of removing an evil aura?"
Alistair was exasperated by Hikari Hyakkiya. He was a marked prey about to be captured; he was in no mood for sex. He wasn't like those yellow-haired characters in videos who could get hard on command—that level of control over a certain organ was superhuman.
"Ah~ haha~ The thing is, I've never had a human come in here with such an intense aura before. Normally, this wouldn't be necessary. This is the strongest removal spell I know! For a tiny bit, I could use talismans, but yours is a deliberately placed mark. This is the only way..." Hikari Hyakkiya rubbed her palms together, her tone a mix of awkwardness and shyness.
"But do you honestly think I can get an erection in my current state?"
Alistair threw up his hands, indicating he was not in the mood. Anyone who could only think about fucking in this situation would earn his genuine respect; that would be the literal definition of the little head controlling the big head.
"Mmm... you're right. How about this? For now, just stay here. My office has a barrier. It can mask your aura and defend against spirits and monsters. If you hide here, Hachishaku-sama won't come for you. She won't even be able to find you. But you must stay inside this room. This place also has the blessing of a purification spell, so you won't be disturbed by hallucinations."
Hikari Hyakkiya pulled her skirt down and put her panties back on, looking somewhat disappointed, but she offered a compromise.
"Whenever you feel up to it, just come find me, and we'll fix the problem. Oh, I almost forgot, you came for a package. Let me look..."
Hikari Hyakkiya added the last line with a look of regret, letting Alistair know she was available at any time, before suddenly remembering he was there for a package. She turned to the wooden cabinet on the right and started rummaging through it.
"Found it! It's this one! Here you go."
Soon after, Hikari Hyakkiya pulled out the package and handed it to Alistair.
Alistair took the package and tore off the outer box. What appeared before him... was another box. However, this box was completely wrapped in strips of paper that had what looked like runes or characters on them. They were wrapped around every visible surface like layers of tape.
Alistair flipped it over and over, examining it. The strips of paper bearing characters had made the box several layers thicker.
"Here, scissors."
Hikari Hyakkiya seemed to sense Alistair's desire to unpack... open the package now, and thoughtfully handed him a pair of scissors.
"Thanks."
Alistair took the scissors and quickly dismantled the package with a few forceful snips. The character-bearing seals were four or five layers thick. Was there some kind of evil entity inside? Shouldn't it be the hypnosis thing?
After removing the seals, the final object presented to Alistair was a black wooden box, about fifteen centimeters long and ten centimeters wide and high. Alistair lifted the lid and was both surprised and unexpected—inside the box was a ring.
It wasn't a diamond ring or a gold ring. It was a black ring made of an unknown material, topped with a... gemstone? ...that looked like a Serpent's Eye or a vertical demonic pupil.
This is the so-called key? Seriously? It looked like a toy. If the material wasn't so mysterious, and if staring at it didn't give him a subtle sense of disorientation, Alistair might have thought it was a joke from his grandfather. However, having just gone through an abnormal event, Alistair was cautiously wary of this strange-looking object.
"Is that... a toy? Or an art piece?" Hikari Hyakkiya looked at the ring in Alistair's hand with curiosity.
"You don't sense anything wrong with it?"
Alistair looked at her in surprise. That shouldn't be right. Alistair himself felt something amiss after staring at it for a while. Shouldn't the somewhat capable Hikari Hyakkiya have noticed something?
"What could be wrong? I have a sense for items with special properties or abilities. I can distinguish between normal and strange objects." Hikari Hyakkiya looked at Alistair with a slightly disdainful expression.
"...Right, right, you're absolutely right."
Alistair used his art of deflection. He compared the size of the ring to his fingers. It seemed to fit all of them well, except his thumb. Given the assurances of the somewhat capable Hikari Hyakkiya, this thing shouldn't have any power. Could it really just be a symbolic item? Do the demi-humans just revere it or something?
Alistair slipped the ring onto his left middle finger. It fit perfectly.
"Mmm, nothing seems to be wr—Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Th-th-th-this..."
From Hikari Hyakkiya's spiritual perspective, the aura and mark left on Alistair by Hachishaku-sama were rapidly diminishing. The speed of the dissipation caused Hikari Hyakkiya to cry out in surprise.
"What's wrong?" Alistair asked, looking at the stunned Hikari Hyakkiya.
"The evil aura on you, and the mark that was placed on you... are disappearing! And they're disappearing very quickly, they might be gone in just a few minutes..." Hikari Hyakkiya told Alistair what she was seeing, her expression still filled with disbelief.
"Disappearing? So, this thing is the real deal?"
Alistair raised his hand and looked at the eye on the ring.
Huh?
Alistair rubbed his eyes with his right hand and looked back at the ring on his left middle finger. Just now, he thought he felt the eye on the ring breathing. Or perhaps feeding? Subtly, Alistair felt that the demonic eye on the ring was looking back at him.
Looks like I'll have to use my ability on this thing after midnight. Alistair thought to himself. The
Acquisition
ability refreshes at midnight every day, not based on the time of last use. So, once midnight struck, Alistair could use it on this ring to see what it truly was. For now, he'd let it "consume" the aura and mark on him before taking it off.
Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!...
Time flew by quickly. Soon, the pendulum clock on Hikari Hyakkiya's wall chimed twelve times. This marked the arrival of midnight, and more importantly, the refresh of Alistair's skill uses!