The Exorcism Tale of Hachiman

Before this, Kawasaki Saki had absolutely no knowledge of the exorcism world!

Chapter 36 The Cheerful Employer

"You mean there's a problem with this commission?"

Kawasaki Saki wasn't stupid; upon hearing Hachiman Hikigaya's words, she immediately understood what he meant.

"That's not entirely true..."

Looking at the house in front of him, Hachiman Hikigaya shook his head.

The system was merely warning him that there was a high-level evil spirit in the house in front of him; this did not mean that this commission was a trap set by the evil spirit.

After all, ordinary humans cannot see evil spirits, let alone understand their strength.

Perhaps that unlucky guy mistakenly thought that the evil spirit in his house was only a low-level one, when in fact it was a high-level one.

However, in the latter case, the client's chances of survival are slim...

"That concludes your task for today. You can go back now."

Looking at the house in front of him, Hachiman Hikigaya made up his mind to go in alone.

After all, the last time he and Yotsuya Miko were pulled into a high-level dungeon by that bird-headed, human-bodied high-level evil spirit.

This time, we will probably encounter the same situation.

For Kawasaki Saki's safety, it would be better for her to go home as soon as possible, since she had already completed most of her mission.

"Then be careful yourself..."

Saki Kawasaki did not reject Hachiman Hikigaya's proposal.

She knew very well that staying behind as an ordinary person would not only be of no help, but might even become a burden to Hachiman Hikigaya.

Therefore, after a brief exchange of information with the client, Saki Kawasaki hurriedly left.

After watching Kawasaki Saki's figure disappear from his sight, Hachiman Hikigaya turned his head back to look at the house in front of him.

"Well then, let me see which situation it is..."

With that, Hachiman Hikigaya arrived at the gate and pressed the doorbell.

After the doorbell rang, accompanied by footsteps approaching from afar, the doorknob in front of Hachiman Hikigaya was turned, and then a middle-aged man with a stubble-covered face appeared through the crack in the door.

"you are?"

The middle-aged man looked at Hachiman Hikigaya, who was wearing a mask, with a look of confusion in his eyes.

"We accepted your request online to perform an exorcism!"

Using the voice-changing function of the tactical suit, Hachiman Hikigaya switched to a mature middle-aged voice to answer.

"Oh, please come in..."

Upon hearing the origin of Hachiman Hikigaya, a hint of excitement flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes.

He then opened the door wide and warmly invited Hachiman Hikigaya inside.

Upon entering the house, Hachiman Hikigaya was immediately greeted by a mountain of garbage, along with an indescribable stench emanating from the countless piles of trash.

"The house is a bit messy, please excuse the mess..."

Seeing Hachiman Hikigaya covering his nose, the middle-aged man scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yes, it's nothing."

The corner of Hikigaya Hachiman's mouth twitched.

This is more than just a little messy, it's practically a garbage dump!

However, since he had already accepted the middle-aged man's deposit, Hachiman Hikigaya had no choice but to deal with the evil spirit as soon as possible and leave the house filled with garbage and strange smells.

Thinking of this, Hachiman Hikigaya turned to look at the middle-aged man and asked, "Where do you see that evil spirit most often?"

"An evil spirit? Ah, you mean the ghostly figure I saw?"

Upon hearing Hachiman Hikigaya's explanation, the middle-aged man was taken aback at first, then a look of sudden realization appeared on his face.

"So that thing is called an evil spirit. Wow, so ghosts really do exist in this world..."

"You didn't believe in ghosts before?"

This time, it was Hachiman Hikigaya who was stunned.

If the middle-aged man didn't believe it before, why did he post a request for help online and even pay 100,000 yen as a deposit...?

"I was just bored."

The middle-aged man shrugged and spoke in a relaxed tone.

"Ever since my whole family died in a car accident, I haven't known how to spend that huge sum of compensation money..."

"Is that so?"

Although the man's tone was calm, Hachiman Hikigaya could still detect a deep sadness in it.

"Well, it's all in the past anyway. The most important thing is to look forward, isn't it?"

Perhaps sensing the overly somber atmosphere, the middle-aged man took the initiative to cheer himself up and try to ease the tension.

"That's true, but if you choose the wrong path, not only will you not be able to get out, but you'll also sink deeper and deeper..."

After saying that, Hachiman Hikigaya didn't even look at the middle-aged man's reaction, stepped over the pile of garbage in front of him, and walked into the house.

Because the middle-aged man did not provide any specific information about the evil spirit's activities, Hachiman Hikigaya immediately wanted the system to scan the house to find the evil spirit's hiding place.

To his surprise, the system told him that it could not scan this location!

This is the first time I've encountered a problem like this.

Hachiman Hikigaya, who had been somewhat relaxed, instantly tensed up.

Back when we were in the advanced dungeon—Soubu High School—the system didn't indicate that that space wasn't being scanned!

However, now that he's already inside, Hachiman Hikigaya can't just slink away like that.

Even if he wanted to, the powerful evil spirits hiding in the room would probably never let him, this delicious treat, leave.

"So, does that mean it's either me or it dies today?"

Thinking of this, Hachiman Hikigaya gave a wry smile.

What's going on!

I just wanted to take on some exorcism jobs to earn some spirit coins and extra money. How did my first job turn into such a powerful evil spirit?

Is his luck really that bad?

As is customary, Hachiman Hikigaya first inspected the kitchen and bathroom on the first floor.

To his disappointment, however, he did not find any trace of evil spirits in the bathroom, a place that most evil spirits love.

As for the living room?

The place was now filled with mountains of garbage, which also emitted a foul stench of rotting meat.

Hachiman Hikigaya will absolutely not leave until the very end!

After searching the first floor, Hachiman Hikigaya returned to the corridor.

"So, did you find the evil spirit?"

The middle-aged man sat in the garbage-strewn corridor and watched as Hachiman Hikigaya walked out, casting a curious glance at him.

"......"

Looking at the calm expression on the face of the middle-aged man who still didn't understand his situation, Hachiman Hikigaya felt a mix of emotions.

"I didn't find anything on the first floor, so I'm going to check the second floor..."

"Go ahead, please feel free. Now that I've invited you, you're welcome to come and go anywhere in the house. However, the room at the end of the second-floor corridor is where I keep my family's memorial tablets; if possible, please go in last..."

"It's natural!"

The middle-aged man was surprisingly easy to talk to, and out of gratitude, Hachiman Hikigaya readily agreed to his request.

Since all the rooms need to be searched anyway, investigating the room where the memorial tablets are kept as a last resort isn't out of the question...

Chapter 37 Thank you for coming to me.

Go up the stairs to the second floor, which are filled with small pieces of trash.

What greeted Hachiman Hikigaya's eyes was also all sorts of garbage haphazardly piled up in the corridor.

Seemingly due to the dim lighting, there were many impact marks on the walls on both sides of the corridor.

Because he had promised the middle-aged man that he would go to the last room, Hachiman Hikigaya decided to start his search from the other side of the corridor.

He pushed open the doors of each room.

Some of the rooms hadn't been opened in a long time, and when Hachiman Hikigaya pushed open the door, a thick layer of dust rushed towards him.

Some rooms, however, were spotlessly clean, creating a stark contrast with the piles of trash in the hallway.

Is this his room?

Looking at the room in front of him, which was completely different from the other rooms in the house and was spotless, Hachiman Hikigaya guessed.

However, Hachiman Hikigaya didn't pay too much attention to such things. After making sure there were no traces of evil spirits in the room, he went straight out.

Hachiman Hikigaya then inspected several more rooms.

As before, no findings were made.

"In that case, there's only one room left..."

Thinking about it, Hachiman Hikigaya turned his gaze to the door at the end of the corridor, where, according to the middle-aged man, his family's memorial tablets were placed.

Although disturbing the peace of the deceased was not Hachiman Hikigaya's intention, he still pushed open the door and went inside in order to eliminate the evil spirit.

Upon entering the room, three black-and-white photographs were smiling at the door.

Hachiman Hikigaya felt a chill run down his spine at the sight.