Crossover anime, a daily life that begins with hunting supernatural beings.

The boss has always been thinking of her.

Try to make her safer.

Yotsuya Miko could never forget how soundly she slept on the night the boss gave her the rosary.

Yotsuya Miko really couldn't imagine whether she would ever encounter a reliable boss like Sakurai again after choosing a different path.

Sakurai said she drew the worst possible lot, but for Yotsuya Miko...

She drew the best possible fortune.

She had never been so lucky.

"Really? Is that what you think?"

"Then it's up to you."

What Yotsuya Miko didn't see was the almost imperceptible curve at the corner of Sakurai's mouth.

Sakurai responded to Yotsuya Miko's answer...

I am satisfied.

The assistant he took on on a whim...

Surprisingly, it's pretty good.

43. The red thread that connects us

"Hurry up and catch up."

With a slight frown, Sakurai called out softly to Yotsuya Miko, who had come to her senses and was starting to blush as she realized what she had said.

"Oh oh oh."

She quickly responded, glanced at the dark, abandoned factory, looked at Sakurai's strong and reassuring back, and then at the two-meter distance between them. Her shyness was replaced by her survival instinct, and Yotsuya Miko couldn't help but swallow.

She ran up behind Sakurai in a few steps, grabbing his free left forearm tightly with one hand. This kind of scene is common in horror movies; if she's not careful, she'll be separated from the boss for one reason or another.

She was too timid to think about what might happen next.

Feeling his arm being grabbed, Sakurai turned around and stared at Yotsuya Miko with a blank expression.

Feeling Sakurai's gaze, Yotsuya Miko reflexively shrank back, almost burying her face in her coat.

The grip on her arm loosened by a tiny, negligible amount.

Then, gritting his teeth, he gripped even harder, the veins on the back of his hand clearly visible, showing a determination to live and die with Sakurai's left hand.

If it weren't for her inability to do it and the slightest bit of shame she still had, she would have loved to meld herself into Sakurai's body and become a mere accessory.

after all...

In this abandoned factory where truly evil things lurk in the shadows, the only one who can give her a sense of security is the boss.

She will really die if she gets separated from her group.

She really will die in front of Sakurai.

She cried her eyes out before she died.

What should I do? Should I forcibly pull my hand out?

Ultimately, I practically dragged my assistant along. Although Yotsuya Miko had already tacitly agreed, it's understandable that she's a newbie and therefore afraid of getting more and more inexperienced.

If I were to leave her alone, I would feel guilty.

Seeing Yotsuya Miko's pitiful expression, as if she was about to shed a little pearl, Sakurai, who knew he had a tiny bit of responsibility, hesitated for a moment.

Then, without hesitation, he withdrew his left hand.

"If you hold it like that, it will affect your movement if a fight breaks out."

Amidst the wide-eyed disbelief in Sakurai's gaze, who seemed to disregard her girlish feelings, Sakurai silently gave his answer.

After thinking about it, Sakurai realized that it was indeed a bit excessive and that he should at least consider his assistant's self-esteem.

We'll still need her help with the experiments in the future, and it doesn't seem right to just ignore her psychological issues.

As Mafuyu-nee once said, a girl's girlish heart is a very precious thing.

Sakurai, thinking this way, was still somewhat interested.

Well...

Is there a way to ensure my assistant's safety without hindering my movements?

With...

A glint of shrewd planning flashed in Sakurai's eyes as he silently took out a cat's cradle remnant from his shoulder bag. He had obtained it from a vengeful spirit resembling a little girl on his way here.

Since I wasn't hungry yet, I didn't eat it right away, but I didn't expect it to come in handy now.

As expected of me.

With that thought in mind, Sakurai tied one end of the cat's cradle to his left wrist and the other end into a knot, which he then tied to Yotsuya Miko's hand.

After moving around a bit, it didn't affect my movement as much as having my hands held.

He glanced at Yotsuya Miko's face again; she seemed bewildered yet also slightly satisfied.

Well, in an emergency, it's definitely more convenient to break the cat's cradle than to break your hand.

Moreover, it's relatively easier to cut the cat's cradle to ensure my movements aren't restricted. In the end, it's somewhat wasteful, but considering that my assistant might need it later.

It doesn't seem like such a loss to scrap a remnant item.

Great, that makes everyone happy.

Nodding to himself, Sakurai silently gave himself a thumbs up for having considered his assistant's girlish feelings while ensuring his own actions weren't restricted.

"We're almost there, are you ready?"

In the very end, Sakurai gave Yotsuya Miko a final reminder.

"Uh-oh."

Since things have come to this, there's nothing to be sad about anymore.

Knowing there was no turning back, Yotsuya Miko raised her left hand.

The cat's cradle tied around her wrist connected her to Sakurai.

like...

I'm definitely not as scared anymore.

That's what Jianzi was thinking.

very good...

This is the kind of assistant I've been looking for.

Sakurai himself was quite satisfied with Yotsuya Miko's reaction.

That's how it should be; at the beginning, they were complete cowards.

Now that we're facing it, even if it's from behind me...

With a few more tries, he can become a occultist who can stand on his own.

Then I can hand over some simple tasks to my assistant, but I'll need to do some basic training first.

Sakurai had faith in Yotsuya Miko.

On this point, Sakurai is more confident than Yotsuya Miko herself.

This is why, even though he could have come alone without any problem, he still insisted on getting the address from the unscrupulous merchant and dragging Yotsuya Miko over.

While he did have experimental elements in mind at the beginning, now that he had chosen Yotsuya Miko, he had to take responsibility for it.

Regardless of whether seeing the child is necessary or desired.

Since she made her choice between the Ruri Shrine and him.

He will take responsibility and teach his assistant how to use the "talent" that God has given her.

It's worth noting that many occult practitioners who make a living in this field don't possess the same eyesight as Yotsuya Miko.

If he remembered correctly, even the famous Shitamachi Shrine nearby could only vaguely see the shadows of some stronger spirits.

Even so, she was able to become a renowned and mysterious psychic.

Well...

Anyway, even though he didn't show it much, he really thinks highly of Yotsuya Miko.

Otherwise, if he were just an assistant, there's no way he would have taken Yotsuya Miko to the unscrupulous merchant's shop.

You have to understand that not everyone is qualified to be received by that guy who has lived for who knows how long.

If he hadn't directly defeated the unscrupulous merchant, he might have been treated like a commodity when they met that day.

They were even less likely to know that there was a shady businessman behind their placement at Ichinose High School.

Old, cunning, and treacherous.

That guy, despite his humble and amiable demeanor, is actually no good.

The kind of person who would kill someone at the slightest provocation.

Sakurai was well aware of this.

certainly...

This doesn't stop Sakurai from having a good relationship with that guy.

Sakurai is the only person in history who could rightfully ask for milk and tofu at a bartender's izakaya.

44. The Apocalypse Group, utterly wiped out