Ever since the incident on Monday, I've been diligently working and also practicing magic every night. By Saturday, I intended to do some cleaning in the morning, but Ruri had already taken care of it, leaving only the task of welcoming Kirigaya-san. After lunch, I put on a suit and waited for Kirigaya-san's arrival. When the doorbell rang, I opened the door to find Kirigaya-san, dressed in a suit, standing there. "Hello, come on in." "Pardon the intrusion." I let Kirigaya-san into the house and led him to the living room. "Could I start by offering incense?" "Of course, please go ahead." I escorted Kirigaya-san to my room, adjacent to the living room. Upon entering, Kirigaya-san lit the incense and prayed briefly. "Thank you for this." "Oh no... I am sorry for the late notice." We then left the room and went back to the living room. We took our seats in front of the kotatsu. "Make yourself comfortable." Ruri brought over tea and set it down for me and Kirigaya. "Thanks." "Ruri, you can go back to your room now." "Yeees." Ruri returned to the room mimiking a child's voice. We decided on this yesterday. "Oh? You have a cat?" Mr. Kirigaya noticed Miriam scratching the cardboard box in the corner of the room. "Yes. She's taken a liking to that spot." It's not a lie. Miriam really does like that cardboard. "I see. She seems to have a good life." "I had a shabby apartment before. We owe this all to grandpa. Anyway, now about our talk from before? I tried looking up this Timer Association, but I found nothing." It was Ruri who did the research, though. "I see... Did your grandfather tell you anything?" "No, he hasn't mentioned anything." "I see... Yamada, do you believe in demons?"

So we actually are going to talk about demons... "To say i believe in them would be..." "I thought so. But there are demons. The man in the bathroom the other day was possessed by a demon." Ah, so it wasn't that the man himself was the demon. "That sounds a bit like 'The Exorcist', doesn't it?" I've seen stuff like that on TV. "Yes, indeed. That's absolutely true. In fact, I am an exorcist. And, what we call the Timer Association is a gathering of such individuals. Well, we're not exactly exorcists, but rather demon exterminators..." Demon exterminators... Timer Association... Huh? "Ah, um..." "It's fine, you don't have to finish. Everyone has that kind of reaction at first. I did too. As you might have gathered, 'Timer' refers to demon extermination (TL: the kanji for this can be read as Taima=Timer). If you have any complaints or grievances, please direct them to the grave of the late founding president of this association." So there have been a lot of complaints already eh? And it seems Kiryugaya-san also hasn't quite accepted it himselve. "I see..." "You don't seem very surprised, huh?" There is one more thing that we decided in advance. Not to hide my magical power. Because they most likely already have a hunch. "That man before had abnormal strength. And I have experienced something similar myself." "Please, go on." "Actually, recently, I awakened a strange power... Please don't laugh, okay?" "I won't laugh. I deeply understand how you feel." This person must have felt the same way as I do now when talking about this stuff. It's kind of embarrassing, like outing yourselve as a chuunibyou... If this was during my teenage years, it would be one thing, but in my 30s... that's a bit different... "I felt something inside my body, and focusing on it, my abilities were enhanced." "I see, I see. So, using that, you repelled the unusually powerfull man, right?" "Yes." "Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. You have a special power to defeat demons on your own." Sounds like a sales pitch... If I were a high school student, I would be over the moon, but here I am, a 35-year-old assistant manager. "Thank you very much." "Oh? Aren't you happy?"

"We are both older guys, aren't we?" "Yeah that's true, isn't it..." Things got a bit gloomy. "So if i understand you right, basically the Timer Association is a gathering of demon exterminators who are defeating demons?" "That's right. And the reason I visited today is not only to offer incense, but also to recruit you, Yamada-san. You could call it headhunting." H-Headhunting...! The idea of headhunting sounds way more appealing than special powers to a salaryman like me! "B-but... someone like me..." *sparkle glance* "Well, those with abilities should work in a place suitable for them. To be honest, your current job could be done by anyone. However, this job is something only you can do." I knew it! "Um, actually, how many people are working there?" "The Timer Association has branches all over Japan, but there are not even 1000 people in total." 1000 people... It may seem like a lot, but in a country with a population exceeding 100 million, that's not much. "I see... By the way, um, could it be that my grandfather was also?" "Yes, he was a member. He was an exceptionally excellent exorcist. I learned a lot from him." Sounds like the grand mage-san alright. "As I thought..." "How about it? Would you like to make use of that power, Yamada-san?" "Hmm... Yes, that does sounds kinda good..." *sparkle glance* "Well then, let me explain the specific details of the job." "I'm all ears." *standing attention* "Firstly, we are a national institution." Oh, that makes sense. Well, they did mention having connections to the police, so that figures. "Are you civil servants?" "Not exactly, but you can think of it that way. Our job is to exterminate demons. Generally you get an eyewitness report and then move into action." Well, it's not like you can usually tell where demons are. I do have a very capable cat at home though. "Got it." "And regarding the salary..." Now we're talking!