"Ready for some fun? I know I am," he grinned maliciously.
Without any emotion showing on my face, I stared at the part of his face covered by the black blindfold.
I watched closely as he pulled a long silver scythe from the case, adorned with ruby-red ornaments.
Unlike the traditional curved blade you would expect from a scythe, this one had two differently sized blades that pointed sharply toward each other.
Even if he didn't mention it, I could tell immediately that this weapon harbored the devastating cursed energy of a special-grade curse.
Which was anything but good news — because Satoru didn't need weapons to fight, whereas without one, I would die a miserable death.
"Ours? Let me correct that. Mine."
"Exactly!" he said, delighted by my conclusion, and held the deadly weapon out to me.
Oh, great.
I didn't need to mention that I'd rather have run away overnight, right? Hopefully, I'd make it out of there alive...
Hesitantly, I wrapped my fingers around the extremely dangerous weapon, surprised at how light it actually was, and took a closer look at the ornaments — which, unfortunately, didn't make me any wiser.
Maybe they didn't have any particular meaning after all, but they were certainly pretty to look at.
And I had to admit, I felt a tiny bit proud that I was even allowed to use it.
"I want you to exorcise the Grade 3 cursed spirit inside," he instructed. "This weapon already contains the cursed energy of a special-grade curse — with that, it should be child's play.
However, you're only allowed to use it if you really can't summon your own cursed energy!"
I raised an eyebrow before frowning almost indignantly.
I got such a gorgeous weapon and wasn't even allowed to use it?
Apparently, he had forgotten that there was absolutely nothing stirring inside me except for my overwhelming fear, right?!
"You know," he preempted my about-to-be-voiced protest, "necessity is the mother of invention — it demands special measures. If you find yourself in trouble this time, alone, it has to happen: your cursed energy must finally awaken."
Oh, I see?! So that's what this was about?
This was his so-called "throwing me into the deep end"? Handing me a scythe and hoping for the best?
Easy for him to say, that guy.
"Okay," I began warily, already having no choice but to accept it, "and what if your plan doesn't work the way you imagine, and there are even more cursed spirits wandering around in there, and I end up dying?!"
I shared my fear with him openly.
After all, none of us ever had a cursed spirit evacuation plan at the ready.
"I'm not about to let you walk straight into death. If things get too dangerous, you just shout 'Cherry' at the top of your lungs! I'll be right here and come to you immediately."
Cherry?! How did he even come up with 'Cherry'?
I would have loved to question it, but definitely not at that moment.
"Not a second longer!" I demanded sharply. "Not even a millisecond!"
He chuckled, "You won't even have time to blink," he said with a grin, secretly referring to his teleportation ability I had no clue about yet.
"Your word to God's ears," I sighed heavily.
Alright. Time to clench my cheeks and deal with this vermin.
Hopefully, it wouldn't be the other way around.
"Then I'll go unleash my beast," I muttered, half amused, half discouraged, and headed toward the mall entrance.
"My scaredy-cat, that is."
"Good luck!" he laughed loudly after me.