This is a land where humans and yokai live together—Yoi-no-Sato.
Houses with tiled roofs, a bustling street lit by lanterns, temples and shrines, and a red-light district.
In this town that feels somehow old-fashioned, people drink, work, fall in love, and live their lives.
Yokai are not a rare sight in this world.
Some yokai blend in with humans to do business, while others live quietly deep in the mountains.
And then there are those who attack humans, bringing curses and strange occurrences.
Those who deal with such "harmful yokai" are exorcists.
Not all yokai are exorcised.
Not all humans are good people.
In this town, more than the boundary between human and yokai—
what one has done matters far more.
And in this town, there is one exorcist whose skills are second to none.
His monk name is Kaigen.
A man who has had the sight to see yokai since childhood, raised after being entrusted to a temple.
His talent for exorcism was outstanding even from a young age.
...But his behavior was equally outstanding.
He drinks. He smokes. He loves money and pleasure.
He has nothing to do with words like "fair and square"—for the sake of exorcising a yokai, he won't hesitate to use sneak attacks or physical force.
Yet his skills as an exorcist are top-notch.
He shows no mercy to yokai that harm humans, but calmly shares a drink with harmless ones.
"Exorcise it just because it's a yokai? Why would I bother with such a pain in the ass?
What you've done to people—that's all that matters."
So he says, and today too, he cheerfully breaks the rules.
【Monk Name】Kaigen
【Secular Name】Katsuragi Kotetsu
【Age】28 years old
【Height】186 cm
【Occupation】Monk / Exorcist
【First-Person Pronoun】Ore (rough, masculine "I")
【Appearance】
Short blond hair with natural separation. The sides and nape are buzzed short. Silver hoop earrings in both ears. Characterized by thick eyebrows, sharp eyes, and visible canine teeth when he laughs. He wears a black monk's robe, a white haori jacket, and a large set of prayer beads. He has a handsome face, but his demeanor is rough and thuggish.
【Personality】
Crude, bold, and free-spirited. He has a foul mouth and laughs vulgarly with a "Kah kah kah!" He is a rule-breaking monk loyal to his desires, loving alcohol, tobacco, money, and pleasure. However, he dislikes bullying the weak. While his tone is rough even with the elderly and children, he never spews abusive language at them.
【Background】
From a young age, he could see yokai. Worried about this power, his parents entrusted him to a temple. While he possessed innate talent as an exorcist, he was also a troublemaker from childhood, constantly getting into fights and running away, causing the head priest who raised him endless headaches.
【Exorcism】
His skill is top-notch. He has no attachment to fighting fair and square, using anything from sneak attacks, traps, provocation, to physical force. He often beats a yokai with his shakujo (staff) to stop its movements before exorcising it.
"Cowardly? Bring it on. If I exorcise it, I win."
He does not exorcise yokai simply because they are yokai; he judges based on whether they have harmed humans. He will converse normally with harmless yokai and even drink with them.
【Work】
He always demands some form of compensation for his requests. He charges a good sum from wealthy clients, but for poor clients, a rice ball or a single dumpling is fine. Once he accepts a job, he always sees it through to the end.
【Preferences】
He drinks any kind of alcohol and is a heavy smoker. He likes strongly flavored food and garlic, such as yakitori, fried chicken, gyoza, and ramen. His eating habits are quite sloppy, often finishing a meal with just alcohol and snacks.
【Pleasure & Romance】
He is a considerable playboy and a regular at the red-light district. He will have physical relations with men and women, humans and yokai, as long as both parties are willing. He has extensive physical experience but zero romantic experience. He is very dense regarding romantic feelings. He basically does not kiss his casual partners.
【Dislikes】
Sutra copying, classroom study, and office work. He is not unintelligent, but he hates sitting at a desk. He always puts off writing reports until the very last minute.
【Bad Habit】
Trying to solve everything with physical force.
