The Disgrace Of An Exorcist Family (3)

When Mei entered the dojo, the air was filled with a cloying, stale odor like rotting fruit.

(──This is awful.)

Lying in heaps across the floor were weak Aberrations that resembled small animals or plants. They had been confined here to serve as practice targets for the young exorcists.

The sight of them, abused with techniques and brute force, was so horrific that Mei instinctively wanted to look away. No matter how many times she saw it, she could never grow accustomed to such cruelty. An ordinary person would have averted their eyes and fled.

(──Why?)

Feeling almost as though she herself were the one being abused, Mei summoned her courage and approached them. The stench of decay rising from the splattered bodily fluids brought involuntary tears to her eyes.

Without hesitation, Mei scooped up a gray ball of fur whose body had been nearly half torn away and placed it on her lap. Feeling the faint beat of its heart, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m sorry.”

Gently stroking its fur as though to soothe it, Mei focused her power into her palms.

A faint glow appeared, soft and delicate like fireflies drifting through the height of summer.

“It won’t hurt anymore in just a moment.”

Bathed in the light, the furball gave a small shiver before suddenly beginning to bounce around with such lively energy that its condition moments earlier seemed like a lie.

“Ah, thank goodness. It doesn’t hurt anymore, does it?”

She could tell that it was trying to communicate something to her, but because creatures like this possessed no language, they could not truly understand one another.

“I’ll heal all of you right away too.”

Speaking softly to them, Mei moved among the fallen Aberrations. Some had lost limbs. Others had been beaten so badly they could barely breathe. Yet once Mei used her power, they recovered within minutes and happily rubbed themselves against her knees and palms.

“Hehe… that tickles.”

Her expression softened as Mei gently stroked them.

The power Mei had been born with was far too heretical for an exorcist: the power of “Healing.” And worse, it could heal only Aberrations.

Because she had been born on Rakshasa Day, the power she should have possessed had apparently been reversed.

For a clan devoted to fighting and destroying Aberrations, healing them instead was unthinkable. If word ever spread outside the family, West Suo’s reputation would be ruined.

That was why her parents had confined Mei to the estate.

Her younger brother Io had always sat between their parents and received all their affection, while Mei had forever been relegated to the lowest seat, forced to live in the shadows.

Even Io, who had adored her when they were little, had eventually begun looking down on Mei just like everyone else. He hated spending time with her, and whenever she tried to speak to him, he glared at her with open hostility.

The exorcists under the family who knew the truth mockingly called her “Rakshasa,” after the day on which she had been born.

It was not as though she had never resisted. She had desperately worked to see if there was anything else she could do.

But the only power Mei could use was the ability to heal Aberrations.

Ironically, Mei’s power was astonishingly strong. Even an Aberration that several exorcists had spent hours reducing to the brink of annihilation could be restored by her in an instant.

That particular Aberration had needed to be delivered alive to the main household, so her father had ordered Mei to heal it just a little.

Having never properly used her power before, Mei had not known how to regulate it and ended up healing the Aberration far too much. Once restored, it escaped in the blink of an eye.

Her father and the other exorcists had initially stood dumbfounded by an act that could only be called miraculous, but the moment they recovered from their shock, they flew into a rage and blamed Mei. She still remembered the terror she had felt then. Afterward, she had sworn never to use this power again.

Once she finished treating them all, Mei quietly stood and looked around at the now-healthy Aberrations. Then she gently picked up the furball she had healed first. It had been here for several months and was a weak Aberration with no power capable of harming humans. At most, it could slip through a crowd and startle a passerby.

“Today it’s your turn. I’m sorry. You’ve suffered for such a long time.”

The little furball squirmed petulantly in Mei’s hands.

“I’ll let the others escape another time too. Just wait, okay?”

With that, Mei pushed the furball into her pocket.

Strangely enough, the creature, which had been about the size of an adult’s fist, shrank inside her pocket until it was no larger than a single slip of paper.

The other Aberrations did not make a fuss. They simply stared at Mei for a moment before huddling together in a corner of the dojo.

They were probably trying to rest their bodies as much as possible before the exorcists returned to resume training.

Turning her eyes away from the pitiful sight and painfully aware of her own helplessness, Mei fled from the dojo at a run.

Once she reached the back garden without anyone noticing her, Mei took the furball out of her pocket.

“Go on. Run away, and make sure they never catch you again.”

After being placed on the ground, the furball affectionately pressed itself against Mei’s hand as though reluctant to leave, then immediately darted into the bushes.

For a while, she could hear branches and leaves rustling, but before long even that sound disappeared.

Only after seeing it safely off did Mei finally relax her shoulders.

(──It’s truly horrible. Those little ones haven’t done anything wrong.)

There was supposed to be a rule forbidding exorcists from harming weak Aberrations that posed no threat to humans.

And yet West Suo deliberately captured such weak Aberrations and tormented them as training targets. Spells were placed over the entrances to the dojo so they could not escape, leaving them trapped there indefinitely.

When Mei first learned the truth, she had been so shocked by the brutality that she fell ill in bed for several days. For the first time in her life, she defied her parents, insisting that what they were doing was far too cruel and had to stop.

But her parents ignored her.

Worse, they became furious that Mei was siding with Aberrations and subjected her to a severe beating.

‘That’s right. If you feel so sorry for them, then heal them with that power of yours. They’ll last longer that way too. Two birds with one stone.’

Faced with the heartless logic that injured creatures were useless even as prey, Mei had been unable to utter a single word.

From then on, treating the Aberrations captured and used for training was added to Mei’s duties.

Knowing full well that they would only be tortured again, yet having no choice but to heal them, made Mei painfully aware of how powerless and pathetic she was. That was why she secretly released one every so often, just as she had today. She lied to her parents and the other exorcists, claiming that those creatures had died before she could heal them.

Not once had Mei’s actions been discovered. They probably never would be. None of them even bothered keeping track of how many Aberrations they had captured.

This furball, too, had never even warranted extermination in the first place. It was simply a fragile little life that had been imprisoned here on an exorcist’s whim.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

Unable to hold back any longer, Mei’s voice trembled with tears.

How could anyone do such horrible things to gentle Aberrations that had done nothing wrong? They were struck with techniques, kicked, and trampled underfoot. They would have had every reason to hate Mei simply because she was human too, and yet the Aberrations adored her for using her healing power and innocently came close to her.

(──Aberrations are far kinder.)

Perhaps it was wrong for someone born into a clan of exorcists to think such a thing.

Many people came to the West Suo household seeking help after suffering at the hands of Aberrations. In addition to orders from the main household, the family also accepted private requests of that kind.

Mei knew perfectly well how terrifying malicious Aberrations could be. But she also knew for certain that not all of them were like that. Small Aberrations were simply born into the world and lived their lives.

(──How many years has it been since then?)

Staring out across the deserted back garden, Mei traced her memories back into the past.