From the moment she entered here, Rin Tohsaka was expecting a lot of things, and when she heard the footsteps, combined with the atmosphere of the building, she assumed the worst.
Perhaps it's a wraith, a Dead Apostle or probably that dog who became cursed then suddenly learned how to stand on two legs, looking at her.
But she never expected that she'll meet a familiar face.
"F-Fraud exorcist? Why are you here?"
Diego frowned upon hearing that and put the flashlight down before asking, "Rin Tohsaka? That should be my question, why are you here?"
In just three days, he had met this girl three times in a row, he was even wondering if it was his bad luck.
"This is not a public place. Don't you know this is a cursed building?"
"I live nearby, of course I know!" After making sure Diego wasn't a ghost or anything, Rin immediately crossed her arms and huffed, "I was just looking for a child's pet that ran away… what about you?"
"You can tell from my outfit that I'm doing an exorcist job. I received a commission to cleanse this place so I'm here."
Without the flashlight blocking her sight, Rin saw his full appearance, he was wearing a priest outfit with a black windbreaker and instead of a rosary, its some beads wrapped around his neck.
He was also holding a wooden dagger in his right hand that looked like a toy and a flashlight with his other hand.
He actually looks silly but the priest outfit is giving her some deja vu.
"Seriously? And what's with those beads in your neck? Aren't you supposed to be a catholic priest?" She sneered.
"It's called cross exorcism."
"Hah?" What is this guy talking about?
"I'm using the power of two religions to vanquish evil, duh. Don't you get it?" Hearing that tone made Rin's eye twitch.
"And you think it works like that? You're really a fraud."
"Find me one bad review in my services and I'll admit it."
"So what if you have good reviews? You're still a fraud and offering fake services." Rin crossed her arms and threw a condescending look at him. She actually wants to see the reviews but she's not good at handling computers.
Or technology in general.
Not that she would admit it out loud of course.
"Me? Please, what makes you say that? My price is fair and affordable and my services are praised," It's now Diego's turn to look at her with disdain, "I think you're just jealous."
"Why should I be jealous?!" Rin glared.
"Maybe because of my expertise in mysticism?" Diego looked far away, as if he was saying something profound, "Or maybe you're jealous that I get paid while making people happy, it's fine really." He smirked at her.
Rin grounded her teeth after hearing that. She really wants to show this guy what magecraft actually looks like instead of muttering chants like some retard.
Also wearing that priest outfit.
As she was about to retort again, they heard a dog's wail, raising both their guards up.
"Hey, you said you were looking for a dog right?" Diego asked while looking around.
"Yeah.." Rin replied while doing the same action.
"I think that's the dog you're looking for." Rin glared at him for pointing the obvious before running towards the direction of the dog's wailing.
As she was running, she noticed Diego following her and keeping up in pace with her. This surprised her as even without the use of magecraft, she is still stronger physically than full grown adults.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked with a confused look.
Rin ignored him and continued running, making Diego shrugged.
As they were moving along the corridors, Rin heard the wail again and when she saw a door, she busted it open.
After getting inside the room, she looked around and found nothing, only a dark room with some sunlight illuminating it.
Frowning at the empty silence, Rin whispered to the fake exorcist, "Hey, you heard it from this room right?"
She waited for an answer and to her surprise, there was nothing, making her eyes widen and dart around the room.
When did he vanish?! Rin Tohsaka asked herself and tried opening the door she just went through but to her surprise, it wouldn't budge. Not like it was locked but something was blocking it from outside.
As she was about to use a spell to force it open, she heard a clicking sound making her freeze.
Turning around slowly, she saw a golden retriever staring at her with its head tilt.
Now this should be a happy moment considering she found it but Rin was sure that golden retrievers have no red eyes.
They also don't grin showing their sharp teeth and certainly not standing like a human.
….
Fuck.
—
Walking in the street, a girl wearing a plain dress was fiddling with her phone before she heard a cry of a boy.
She's Ayaka Sajyou, a native from Souya before moving to Fuyuki when she was just a child, after the Fuyuki Fire Incident.
She has a father who was part of the police and an older sister who stopped going to school and just spent time playing games and being a waste.
She's been here in this city for years and attending the Homuhara academy as a first year.
'What's wrong?' She tilted her glasses, confused.
As if the boy heard her question, the boy cried and started pointing at the building, making the girl look in the direction.
"... What's this?" The building looks normal but as someone who attended the Clocktower, an institute for teaching young magi, Ayaka can easily see through the building's strangeness.
'A wraith? Here in the city?' She was surprised by this possibility but considering the amount of supernatural that's happening in the past months, she didn't delve further and asked the boy.
"My dog and a big sister entered, please help them!" Hearing his cries was enough for Ayaka to agree.
She can't stand if people were to lose their life because of a supernatural outcome and a Magus who received proper education, she has the responsibility to take down the threats brought by the mystery of magecraft.
Even if it's a wandering spirit.
Entering the door, Ayaka removed her glasses and warmed up her magic circuits for a possible encounter.
—
After entering the door, Diego frowned hearing it slam shut. He was sure that doors even in old buildings aren't supposed to close like that.
"Rin Tohsaka, this building may be abandoned but that doesn't mean you should treat it so carelessly." He threw a comment casually but to his surprise, no one replied.
He looked around and was confused by the sudden appearance of this room. He was sure that no matter how deep the building was, it shouldn't be something that looked like it hadn't seen the light of day.
The room was dark, like pitch black, no sunlight shining upon it. For some reason, it also felt small too.
He rubbed the floor using his shoes and there was no sand or dust scattered around, making him even more confused.
Did the construction who was previously in charge of this forgot this room? It looks like someone just recently used it.
He held up his flashlight but to his surprise, it only flashed for a few seconds before dying down.
Did the battery run out?
Diego tapped the flashlight again, feeling annoyed that he was scammed by the person who sold him this defective product.
As he was tapping the flashlight, a low wail sounded, prompting him to turn his head towards the direction.
There, he saw two eyes peeking, clear brown eyes looking straight at him. This scene will most likely scare people but when he saw it, he was relieved.
It seems like he found the golden retriever before the twin tailed girl.
"Hey little guy, let's get out of this place. Your owner must be quite worried about you." Diego carefully approached the dog.
The dog titled its head, looking at him coming closer before baring its fangs, growling with saliva overflowing from its mouth.
Diego didn't see its full appearance due to the darkness hindering him.
As he came closer, the dog suddenly emitted a ghastly aura before lunging at him, intending to bite him in the neck.
When the dog was a few inches away from his face, Diego's eyes turned red before swiftly grabbing the neck of the dog, squeezing it hard.
"This is why I hate animals like you. All you have to do is be obedient, take a shit and die. What's the point of having "pets" like you if you can't even fulfill basic requirements?" He squeezed harder, making the dog lose its fierce appearance and started squealing.
'Diego' ignored it's pitiful look and smashed the flashlight to its head, making it wail more, which he ignored until he smashed the flashlight again, making the dog stop struggling.
He nodded in satisfaction before smashing the flashlight again and this time, the dog lost all its creepy aura, making Diego drop it on the floor.
He looked around the room and saw countless eyes staring at him, grinning as he saw them back away.
—
"Gandr!"
Rin shot a red orb at the walking dog which it easily dodged, much to her solemnity.
A being possessed by a spirit.
Wraiths, or evil spirits may have been harmless most of the time and sometimes, even bound to a specific place, making them even more limited but once they have a proper vessel, they could unleash a mystery on a level where Executors of the Holy Church have to deal with them.
But this is a rare case, most of the time, the spirits are not intelligent enough or low level that they are incapable of possession even those who are normal humans.
It's also an issue with compatibility, spirits can possess things that have mediums like dolls but Rin has never heard of them possessing animals.
Mostly because the said animals are limited and can avoid them with their keen senses.
Silently reinforcing her legs, she launched forward, aiming to kick at the possessed dog but to her surprise, her attack passed through.
Landing on her feet, she was surprised once again when the dog moved faster than she could see, its jaws close to her face.
*Bang!* *Crash!*
Narrowly dodging its vicious mouth, the possessed dog crashed to the wall and Rin immediately reinforced her legs to the max, aiming at the closed door.
*Bang!*
'I have to go to an open space.' Rin thought grimly. The dog was fast and agile, and to a close space, her martial arts will be heavily restricted.
She ran through the corridors with the possessed dog immediately running after her.
The corridors seemed endless, making her curse inwardly. It seems that the ghost has some control over this building.
As she was running, the floor suddenly felt soft, burying her legs and making her fall.
"Ugh…" She tried standing up again but the concrete felt like glue, gripping her thighs tightly, making her unable to stand up properly.
She reinforced her legs but the dog caught up to her, forcing her to reinforce her arms instead and block the dog's fangs.
Rin gritted her teeth as she tried to push the dog away but her inconvenient position greatly put her in a disadvantage.
A short struggle and the dog overpowered her temporarily but this moment of weakness was enough and as it was about to bite her head, it suddenly stopped.
Rin closed her eyes in fear, waiting for the dog's fangs to sink into her face but to her surprise, there was no pain.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked to see the dog staring at something far away, clearly not focused on her.
The dog growled again and jumped on her, running towards a certain direction.
"Rin Tohsaka, where are you?!" She didn't get a sigh of relief and she hurriedly tried to stand up.
She looked and saw that in one of the doors, Diego's voice can be heard calling her.
And the dog was going in that direction.
The heat of the moment made her forget that there was another person in this building, and it was a civilian too.
Looking at the dog who was running towards Diego's position, Rin rapidly shook her legs until she managed to get up from the floor but it was too late, the dog already entered.
She still hurriedly ran while gritting her teeth, hoping that she could catch up on time.
Busting the door open, she looked around, her reinforcement to the max and magic circuits running on maximum output, clearly prepared to fight right here and now but to her surprise, she saw Diego there standing while the dog was sitting down obediently, not having the weird aura or red eyes it had earlier.
Rin staggered back before closely looking at Diego who threw her a confused face.
"Rin Tohsaka, I've been calling for you since earlier. Why didn't you just shout back? This place is a restricted area and you shouldn't be running around without permission." He crossed his arms while berating her.
"By the way, I found this golden retriever laying down somewhere. This should be the dog you're looking for." Diego gestured at the dog who bit its leash and placed it on his hand.
"Thanks," Diego muttered in surprise, "Dog's really are getting smarter these days."
Looking at Diego who was fine and the golden retriever who was sitting down while wagging its tail, Rin felt dizzy.
What the heck just happened?
—
"Hello? Is there anyone here?" Ayaka called out slowly but loudly. She wasn't afraid of encountering strangeness and in fact, would be more eager in order to resolve the threat as soon as possible.
Magecraft or the popular term, magic is an existence that needs to be hidden in order to preserve its mystery, preventing it from being lost in the world and as such, magus' must try their hardest to conceal magecraft from the public eye.
As a magus, aside from solving threats, she also needs to make sure that no one finds out the existence of magecraft, whether it's the boy outside or the girl who entered here.
So if she needs to solve the problem here while maintaining her status quo, she must finish as soon as possible and leave after doing her job.
"Hello? Is there anyone here?" Ayaka frowned when she heard the eerie silence. She already knew that the building was weird but when she entered inside, it was even more creepy.
Despite her loud voice, there was no echo and even her footsteps can't be heard despite the lack of noise.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Suddenly, she heard a noise from the ceiling, making her run to the second floor. After arriving, she was surprised to see a corridor that seemed like it had no end.
Ayaka walked cautiously and as she was doing so, a large creature appeared in front of her, almost making her scream in surprise.
'A cursed spirit!'
She aimed her fingertip at the wraith, with her knowledge, she can see that this must be quite a strong one, at least for her calibre so taking it out as soon as possible is the most optimal way.
To her surprise however, the ghost did not look at her and just went forward to one of the rooms, seemingly running away from something.
She was about to go after it but to her surprise, a blur passed in front of her and then a loud shriek resounded.
The wail was so loud that Ayaka felt it was scratching her ears, making her fall to the ground, her legs weak and her hands covering her head.
The loud screech eventually stopped, making her able to barely move and take a look.
She wanted to see what the blur was but she froze when she saw a man with vivid pink hair, wearing a priest outfit and a wooden dagger in his hand, stabbing the ghost before it crumbled into ashes.
This action made her subconsciously cover her mouth in fear, wanting to not make any noise.
'That man…. What is he?!' A feeling of dread entered her body but for some reason, she couldn't take her eyes off him.
Was she frozen in fear?
Luckily, the man did not turn around and continued walking forward, albeit mechanically and she was even hearing some cracking sound like bones grinding to each other, making her feel creepy.
After he left, Ayaka clutched her chest, trying to calm down her rapid breathing.
Once she was done, she put her back against the well and thought,
"What am I even doing here?"
There was already a monster cleaning this building!
—
"Thank you so much!" The boy hugged the dog while the mother who now appeared, was holding the leash.
"Thank you, thank you!" The mom kept bowing, expressing her gratitude.
Rin Tohsaka was left speechless when she saw Diego receiving thanks with a solemn look.
Did they forget that she was the one who went in and looked for the dog? She may have not achieved it by herself but where is her gratitude?!
"It's okay, ma'am. In fact, you should thank her." Diego grabbed Rin by the shoulder, making her jump lightly.
"It was very careless of you to leave your son with a pet he can't handle. If it wasn't for her, the situation may have turned worse." He said seriously, making the mother a little bit afraid but still nodded.
The building was said to be haunted for a long time and if it wasn't for this girl, her son might have followed their dog inside.
"Thank you, miss." She bowed her head, making Rin a little bit overwhelmed by the sudden change of attitude.
"I-It's fine." Rin waved her hand, pretending that her help wasn't much.
After they were done expressing their gratitude, the mother and son did a last bow before leaving, with the dog also lowering its head.
"That's very brave of you, Diego-sama. Not only did you solve the problem of the building. You even helped those people to get their dog back. The boss will be very happy once he learns about this." It was Yuri Kimura who laughed, seemingly pleased and satisfied by the recommendation he made.
"It's fine, since there was someone who needed help. As an exorcist, why should I refuse?" Diego slightly pushed Rin aside, trying to be humble though she can tell he was feeling smug about it.
"Indeed, I didn't expect to see you again here, Diego, right?" The police officer who caught him a few days ago was feeling strange when he saw this man solving a case.
"Thank you as well, officer. Your fast response is one of the reasons why the mother didn't impulsively go inside to look for her son." Diego threw back the compliment.
The three of them shared a laugh, making Rin deadpanned from the side.
"By the way, Diego-sama, are you sure the exorcism is done?" Yuri Kimura asked the most important question slowly.
"Of course! In fact, you can also have this officer join us as further evidence about the successful exorcism." Diego grinned and gestured for the two to enter before following.
Rin Tohsaka looked at them in daze and was about to leave until she realized 'Wait, I still have questions to ask!'
Unfortunately, Diego already went inside and she didn't want to enter again. At least clear her mind of the mess first.
After some struggle, she ultimately decided to leave first. She has a lot of questions but she also has her own schedule and she already knows where the fraud's office was located.
Though it seems that label has to change.
"An Exorcist huh?"
---
A/N: First of all, I apologize for not updating for the past week. I'm in a training camp for 10 days and there was no signal there. And yes this story is not dropped.