Family of Exorcists (part 1)

1.6 - Family of Exorcists

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As soon as I mentioned 'old man', Uncle Deve looked so hurt.

"Well, I'm not 'That' old, but…"

"This is Nico, a guy from my school."

I introduced Nico to the old man, and immediately Uncle Deve looked so bright.

"Oh!! I heard that you just entered high school. And you immediately got yourself a boyfriend, that's crazy!"

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Ahaha! Little Ellie is always so shy, even when she's not little anymore!"

While Uncle Deve is laughing his ass out, I let out a long breath and turned to Nico with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry, but this guy has always been so sad ever since his wife died."

"Why suddenly so grim!?"

Nico freaked out from the grim joke, but the old man laughed even harder.

"She has always been like that! Anyway, what brings you here?"

Uncle Deve asked, and I turned back to Nico. The guy understood my gaze and quickly took out his phone, and he opened the website page where he found the artifact. He showed the screen to Uncle Deve, and the old man stared blankly at the screen for a while.

"Ah… a protection artifact."

"I was hoping maybe you can help us get our hands on one. Maybe two, since there's both of us."

"Oh, I see! I think I might have a stack lying around in a box, somewhere…

Just kidding! As if I'm going to give you those so easily."

As soon as Uncle Deve said that, I turned to Nico for a second. After confirming my thoughts, I turned back to the old man and began debating.

"We needed them. We'll pay however much--"

"It's not about the money and you know it, Ellie. Tell me directly, what exactly are you planning to do with them? Hmm?"

Hah… How do I explain this to him…

"We are going to be visiting a rather haunted place. And if possible, we'd like to have some protection--"

"You think measly artifacts are going to protect you? In the first place, why did you even think of the idea? Visiting such a place, why?"

Uncle Deve is… being very protective, right now. And I understand, because going to a haunted place is only like asking to be attacked by a demon. And as an exorcist, no one knows better than him about the dangers of the demons.

"That's…"

I stumbled on my words, and that made Uncle Deve understand something. He turned his stern gaze towards Nico, and with a cold tone, he spoke.

"Is this your idea, boy?"

Uncle Deve guessed correctly, and Nico can only nod slowly at him. Uncle Deve let out a long breath as he slapped the top of his head, and he turned his gaze back to me.

"What is my wife saying?"

Hearing him asking that, I felt very pained as I turned to my right. Right next to Uncle Deve is a single lonesome invisible spirit that is clinging to Uncle Deve's shoulders, and she was staring at me quite annoyed.

Uncle Deve's late wife, Aunt Linda. She died twelve years ago after giving birth to Jay. And after dying, she became a spirit and continued to stay by her family as if she was haunting them.

As soon as I turned my gaze at her, she only shook her head very quickly.

"She… didn't like it."

"Just as I thought. After all, why even think of the idea?

Getting possessed is the last thing you ever want. Going to a haunted place might seem fun for young people like you two, but it's the same as going to the habitat of lions. You might survive for a couple minutes, but the lions will gnaw you to pieces very quickly. And a haunted place? It's even worse because at least you can run from the lion since you can see them.

I understand that you can see, Ellie. But, you think just because you can see them, it means you can outrun them? Or dodge them? No, they can move much-much faster than you can run. So, don't even think about it, and stop thinking of getting yourselves killed. Seriously."

Uncle Deve went on a long rant about the dangers of a haunted place, and I understand where he is coming from. But, what he didn't know was what our intentions were.

"It's not like that. We didn't go there to sight see or for a bravery test. We're going there to cleanse the place."

"Huh!? With what!?"

"With holy water!"

This time, Nico chimed in and happily showed everyone the bottle of holy water that he brought. Seeing the bottled up holy water on a random minimarket mineral bottle, Uncle Deve can only open his eyes wide.

"How did you even… Forget it. Even with holy water, it will still be very dangerous. It was indeed the right method of cleansing and killing the demons, but there are still chances of the demons attacking you first."

"We know. That's why we're looking for the artifacts."

I said after his explanation, and Uncle Deve can only shake his head while facepalming. I let him think for a while, but then an invisible hand suddenly appeared in front of me.

I turned my eyes towards Aunt Linda who is now next to me, and it looks like she wants to say something to me.

"Aunt Linda said… It should be fine if Nico and I go there with the intention of exorcism."

I repeated what Aunt Linda said, and she gave me a thumbs up. Hearing this, Uncle Deve can only shake his head even harder.

"Uncle Deve. We're not going there for sightseeing. We're genuinely hunting down demons."

"Y-Yeah, I understand that much. But, I just don't understand why. You just entered high school, Ellie. Shouldn't studying be your first priority?"

T-That's true…

I turned apologetically to Nico, and this time Nico could only stay silent. He, too, knows that what we are doing is basically out of what we should be doing as students, which is to enjoy our school life. But, for some reason, we went out and hunted down demons after school.

Clearly, what we are doing is not right. We only did it because we wanted to help out. Nico might be doing it because it was a hobby, but I fought yesterday with the genuine intention of stopping the demons from harming people.

From yesterday's construction site, the worker spirit could only warn the living about the dangers, but he couldn't do anything about the danger itself. Nico and I did the right thing yesterday, that is by getting rid of the possibility of having more workers killed. Thanks to that, the worker can be at ease knowing that no more people will get killed like him.

Who knows how many more places are like the construction site. Especially places that are just waiting for prey to come. We want to get rid of those places.

"It's because we wanted to help out."

Nico suddenly spoke out, and everyone turned their eyes to him.

"Getting killed by a demon is the last thing that anyone wants. Killed in an accident, sure. But killed by someone who is already dead? Nobody will accept dying like that. Even after death, they will still be uneasy. It's the worst possible way to go.

We just want to… minimize that possibility, I guess."

Hearing Nico's perfect explanation, Uncle Deve shook his head again.

"While, I agree with that--"

"Just give us the artifacts, Uncle Deve! At the very least, we won't get hurt while doing so."

I suddenly cut him from speaking. I did it to make it clear to him that we are not changing our minds, and we genuinely wanted to do it. And Uncle Deve is not stupid, so he understood it immediately.

He stood up from his chair and began heading to his room, which is right by the TV. I turned to Aunt Linda that is now taking the chair where Uncle Deve previously sat, and she began asking questions to me about my school life.

"What? Uh, no. Just a friend.

Well… I wouldn't say things have been going smoothly…

There was an incident this week. Someone got their wallet stolen by a naughty spirit, but… I got it back.

Yeah! And then they confronted me about it!"

I was chatting with Aunt Linda so carelessly that I didn't realize the other person in the room.

"W-Who are you talking with?"

I quickly turned to Nico and realized that the guy was very frightened. I totally forgot he was there behind me when I was talking with Aunt Linda.

"A-Ah… Right. Aunt Linda is Uncle Deve's wife. She died twelve years ago when giving birth to the boy you saw earlier."

"S-She's here? Right now??"

"She's been here ever since. She never left."

"O-Oh… That's sweet, I guess."

I chuckled hearing that, but Aunt Linda is already laughing. Aunt Linda then mentioned that Nico is a nice boy, and I nodded in agreement.

He is a nice boy. Too nice, even.

Beforelong, Uncle Deve returned with a box in his hand. Aunt Linda moved out of the way when Uncle Deve sat down, and he opened the box right in front of me so that Nico could see as well.

"These are all the artifacts I have. I'll lend them to you, but not without a deal."

I turned to Uncle Deve, and with a wide green, he explained his wishes.

"You see, I am getting old, all right. Jay is gonna go to junior high school soon, and someone has to pay for the tuition. I can't do that by becoming an exorcist, and my body is not strong enough to fend off demons anymore. Even with Linda's help, it's just not possible.

But, in the future, people might still come to me for some help in exorcism. So, whenever a request comes, can I ask you to do it?"

Hearing his explanation, I opened my eyes wide.

"A-Are you asking me to be a fully fledged exorcist?"

"No, of course not! You're just a trainee! You'll be dealing with the easy jobs, because I will still do the difficult ones! You shouldn't take the thrill away from this old man."

Ah… he just wants the thrill, after all.

"Fine, fine. Just call me whenever. Just make sure to not ruin my school schedule, okay?"

"I'll make sure the schedules are student-friendly! And don't worry about the pay. I'll make sure to make it as expensive as possible when it's for you! Now, the artifacts. What you're looking for are defensive artifacts, right? You can try wearing these."

Uncle Deve began taking out some of the artifacts from the box, and both Nico and I watched as he placed them on the table. Some of them came in the shape of rings, necklaces, there's even piercings that you use by stabbing them through some parts of your body.

"These are the defensive artifacts. Feel free to choose one for each of you."

Only one.…?

I tried figuring out which one I wanted, but in the end, I just couldn't tell the difference. Aside from how they looked, I couldn't really differentiate them.

"How exactly are they going to protect us?"

Nico suddenly asked on my left, and Uncle Deve quickly explained.

"Each artifact has a genie inserted within them. The genies were taught to always protect the masters, so whenever a demon tried harming you, the genie would put a stop to the attacks launched at you. It won't always stop every attack, but it can at least minimize the damages caused by it."

Oh… I get it.

"The genies… can you see them, Elizabeth?"

Nico asked while picking up a ring, but I shook my head.

"Not genies. I can't see them."

"That's because genies are a different type of beings entirely. They are not like spirits, who were originally human. Genies are an entirely different species."

Uncle Deve explained to Nico, and he nodded while staring at the ring. I picked up a necklace and studied it, but I really can't sense the existence of the genie inside it.

"All you have to do is wear it, and you'll be protected from the harms coming from a demon. Now, remember. Strictly from demons. It won't block attacks coming from humans or other things. It also won't be able to protect from extremely deadly attacks coming from a powerful demon, so be warned."

Uncle Deve explained, but Nico is already turning his attention away.

"What can the other artifacts do?"

He asked while peeping inside the box, and there are more artifacts in the box that Uncle Deve didn't take out. These are probably artifacts that have different attributes compared to the defensive artifacts, so Nico's curiosity was understandable.

"There are some offensive artifacts, like the ones that hurt the demons. There are also artifacts that curse, like if you touch them, you can be haunted for the rest of your life."

"What!?"

Nico became very surprised by that last one. Uncle Deve laughed seeing his reaction, and I too chuckled a little. After all, being haunted for your entire life is not that bad. Ask Uncle Deve and Aunt Linda.

Beforelong, Nico and I wore the artifacts. We really couldn't feel anything from these artifacts, so we can only find out later during a real combat.

Let's just hope that these artifacts can truly protect us from danger, later on.