660,

With Onigashima’s arrival, the ritual to reincarnate the spirit officially began.

First, Onigashima looked at Cyclone and Elyse, and the baby in their arms.

The three of them—no, the whole family—looked happy, completely unlike they had that morning.

Onigashima nodded and began explaining what they needed to do.

“First, you need to…”

But he stopped before he’d even gotten two sentences out.

His sudden pause left everyone stunned, with no idea what was going on.

Only when someone called out a name did everyone realize what was happening.

“Windy!”

Cyclone saw through Onigashima’s hesitation and reminded him, displeased.

“S-sorry, but I don’t want to say that word either. I hope you understand.”

Onigashima spread his hands helplessly.

“First, you need to leave Windy alone in the room.”

“Alone?”

“That’s right. And he needs to wear this.”

Onigashima took out a bell—a bright gold one that really stood out.

More importantly, the bell kept ringing nonstop as soon as Onigashima took it out.

It seemed that even the slightest movement would make it ring.

Onigashima fastened the bell around Windy’s neck and said,

“Once Windy’s left alone in the room, he’ll turn into a child-wraith.”

After fastening the bell, Onigashima gave it a couple of shakes to check that it was secure and how loudly it rang.

“Once he turns into a child-wraith, whether he wants to take revenge on you or go out and mess with someone else, he’ll have to do one thing.”

“Move.”

Yuna spoke even faster than Onigashima.

“Moving will make the bell ring, so we can track him?”

Onigashima stared at Yuna in a daze. It took him two seconds to answer.

“That’s right.”

“And then?”

This time, Cyclone asked the question.

“And then? We catch him, and…”

Onigashima pointed at Cyclone, then seemed to consider pointing at Elyse too. After a moment of uncertainty over whom to point at, he continued.

“Anyway, one of you two has to carry Windy back with your own hands and take him to the place where he died.”

Cyclone remembered the church from that day, and the cruelty of it all.

“It’s an ancient ritual. You hold the child who’s filled with resentment tight, take him back to where it all began, and apologize to him.”

“That’s it?”

Little Dragon tilted his head and asked, unconvinced.

“That’s it. Except there’ll be… a few little problems along the way.”

The women in Cyclone’s family were already tired of Onigashima’s habit of talking in riddles.

But Cyclone pushed forward a step, setting his own frustration aside.

“How little is ‘a few’?”

“Well… child-wraiths are monsters. Because they have a mutually beneficial relationship with other monsters, those monsters won’t hurt them. Instead, they use their illusions to hunt prey.”

Elyse glanced at Windy, then looked back at Onigashima.

“But spirit reincarnation isn’t a one-to-one conversion. It’s a one-to-one-to-one conversion.”

No one understood what Onigashima meant by ‘one-to-one-to-one.’

“What I mean is, he won’t turn directly from a monster into a spirit. First, he’ll become a ghost, and then he’ll be reincarnated as a spirit.”

Onigashima took out a potion.

“Here’s the problem: once he becomes a ghost, that mutually beneficial relationship no longer applies. There’s a kind of monster that loves eating ghosts—especially young ones.”

“So the problem is that those monsters might hunt Windy while he’s still a ghost, before he becomes a spirit?”

“Exactly!”

At Yuna’s correct answer, Onigashima opened the potion and drank it all in one go.

Onigashima’s eyes turned green, and faint veins appeared on his face.

“Child-wraiths are good at hiding. The bell alone can only tell us which direction he’s in, but with this, I can find him for you.”

Yuna stepped forward.

“Sorry, but only someone like me, whose constitution has been altered over a long time, can use this.”

Onigashima had read her mind. Yuna merely clicked her tongue.

“Don’t worry, you’ll have a job too~”

Onigashima chuckled.

“Once I find Windy, I’ll turn him back into a ghost. Then, if any monsters show up…”

The women in Cyclone’s family all stepped forward together.

“Looks like everyone understands~ Then let’s get started!”