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Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? (Light Novel) - Volume 3, Chapter 5: The labor union's rebellion
Volume 3, Chapter 5: The labor union's rebellion
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Part 1
Tuesday, August 12th
As Koutarou pulled open the door, it let out a loud screech.
And the smell of dust in the mansion assaulted them.
“Alright then haniwas, are you sure this is it?”
“There's no mistaking it Ho! We're detecting a whole swarm of ghosts Ho!”
“And we can smell Sanae-chan's spiritual energy Ho! She's nearby Ho!”
Koutarou and the others had arrived at a western-styled mansion at the corner of the villa area.
The western-styled mansion stood out from all the other villas.
The outer walls were starting to collapse, the windows were broken, there were cracks in the walls and the exterior was covered in weeds.
Its design alone made it stand out, but the ruined state it was in only served to make the surrounding area look worse.
Since the sun had set and it was starting to get dark, it looked like something right out of a horror movie.
“Aside from the ghosts, I can kind of see signs that there are people inside.”
Shizuka peeked in through the open door and looked around.
“You can? I can't feel anything like that.”
Koutarou looked around as well but couldn't see any signs.
“Then look over there, Satomi-kun. Fresh footprints.”
“Ah, you're right...”
Footprints could be seen in the hallway filled with dust.
Koutarou didn't understand what she meant by signs but he could see that the footprints were fresh.
Old footprints would have dust over them, dimming the outline.
“An abandoned mansion that the residents won't go near to, swarms of ghosts, signs of Sanae and signs of people entering recently... There's no mistaking it, this is it.”
Going through all of the information, Kiriha made her statement.
And Koutarou agreed with her.
“The problem is if the perverts inside have noticed us or not. And if there are any traps lying in wait.”
“You're worrying too much, Ruth. If there are any traps we'll just blow them away.”
While grinning, Theia passed Koutarou and Shizuka and entered the mansion.
She didn't care about any traps as she boldly walked forward.
“That's dangerous, Tulip, we don't know what they could do.”
“That goes both ways. Besides, being defensive doesn't suit me. Suppressing and advancing is my motto.”
“Still, you're being too reckless.”
“If that's what you think then cover my back. That's the duty of a vassal.”
“Fine, I got it.”
Normally, Koutarou would yell back at her, but this time he obeyed her.
“Fufu, it seems you've finally realized your position as a vassal.”
“I'll let it slide this time, and this time only.”
As Theia looked back happily, Koutarou looked for something he could use as a weapon inside of the paper bag filled with religious tools.
Koutarou chose a stick with a tag on it that read 'Limited edition, Sacred tree branch – Cypress Stick'.
“Yet another weapon fit for a barbarian...”
“At least I don't use a space battleship every time.”
The black holes were already above Theia's shoulders and large-scale firearms peeked through.
All of the weapons were built into the space battleship, Blue Knight.
“I hope it doesn't turn into a fight...”
With the situation being the way it is, Ruth was armed, just like Theia.
She wasn't using firearms, but a large sword and shield.
Since she was from a house of knights, she was pretty good with those.
That said, swords and shields had been improved by the latest developments in science and their power was no less than Theia's weapons.
“Karama, Korama, stop the synchronous mode and prepare to fight.”
“Understood Ho!”
“Starting to charge the spiritual energy weapons Ho!”
Kiriha ordered her haniwas to prepare for combat.
She herself wasn't armed, but thanks to the combat capabilities of her haniwas she didn't have to be.
That said, she looked too defenseless so Koutarou showed her the paper bag.
“Kiriha-san, please use one of these.”
“Thank you, Koutarou. Then I'll take this.”
Kiriha smiled and pulled out a Tamagushi[1].
Together with her clothes, as she held it in her hand she gave off the impression of being a shrine maiden.
But strangely enough, it didn't feel like cosplay like in Yurika's case.
It was probably because of her composed atmosphere.
“Once you've finished preparing, follow me! The battle is about to start!”
“Tulip, we might not get into a fight.”
“You're too naive pleb! Those perverts are going to be annihilated.”
“...Hmm. Well, alright.”
Koutarou and the others followed Theia deeper into the mansion.
Although they would always do things their own ways, this time they were all gathered under one objective.
When they first met, that probably wouldn't have happened, but now they didn't think anything of it.
The weapons above Theia's shoulders fired in succession.
She had summoned large-caliber rapid firing guns from the Blue Knight and countless bullets headed towards their targets.
The targets were the armors and stuffed things inside of the residence.
They were pulverized by the hail of bullets.
“Hmph, far too easy. I was expecting more from moving armor and stuffing.”
“Don't be unreasonable, Tulip. Your weapons are just too strong!”
Theia hadn't shot them to relieve her of her boredom or anything like that.
As Koutarou and the others were exploring the mansion, they had suddenly come to life and attacked.
But before they could even approach, they had been pulverized by Theia's overwhelming firepower.
“Ah geez... what were you going to do if there were people inside...”
After seeing the destroyed decorative knight armors and stuffed bears, Koutarou couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of what would have happened if a person was inside.
“If that had happened, it would have been an unfortunate accident.”
However, Theia didn't show any signs of reflecting on her actions, leaving Koutarou amazed.
“Come on now!”
“There's no need to get so excited, pleb. Were you that happy to see my splendor?”
“Not even close!”
“It's alright, Satomi-sama. I'm on the lookout for any signs of life.”
“Eh, really?”
Koutarou stopped moving after hearing Ruth's words.
“My firearms are controlled by the data Ruth is sending out from the front in order to not attack living people.”
“You're kidding!?”
“As if I would kid about this! … Just what do you take me for!?”
“That's because you're trying to kill me from time to time!”
“By the way Kiriha, where is Sanae? Since they're attacking wouldn't it mean we're close?”
Theia changed the topics as the argument fell into Koutarou's favor.
“And she's not even listening...”
“Satomi-sama.”
Ruth whispered to Koutarou as he was getting fed up with Theia.
“Please trust her highness today. Although it would be hard to understand, but she is worried about Sanae-sama.”
“...Okay.”
Because it was none other than Ruth's request, Koutarou backed down.
He at least understood how Theia felt, she wouldn't have helped otherwise.
“Karama, Korama, how about it?”
“Ho-, She's probably underground Ho-! I can sense a large cave below Ho-!”
“There are stairs leading down just up ahead Ho-!”
“Underground huh... A fitting place for a small time villain to be lurking.”
“Ouch, that hits close to home.”
Kiriha smiled wryly to Theia's words.
Since she herself had come from underground, Theia's words applied to Kiriha as well.
“I-It's just a figure of speech! I had no intention of insulting your home!”
Kukuku, Tulip is panicking...
Seeing Theia desperately make excuses, cheered Koutarou up a little.
Part 2
The ghost hunters were watching over Koutarou and the four girls.
In fact, only the above ground part of the mansion was ruined, the basement had been cleaned up and maintained.
Using the ruined mansion exterior as a camouflage they had made the basement into their base.
All the sides of the underground base were at the very least 25 meters long.
And with five meters to the ceiling, the base was very spacious.
The reason why the basement was so large was because it was originally a play room.
A billiard table, a roulette board and the likes were still left in the room.
The ghost hunters’ luggage had also been left in the same place.
There were the tools they needed for their works and things they needed to survive such as beds.
Amongst the luggage was a monitor showing footage captured by a hidden camera inside the mansion.
In total, there were three monitors.
And by switching feeds, they could survey the deserted mansion.
Koutarou and the others were currently being shown on the monitors as they destroyed the interior while they advanced further in.
“Aniki, this is bad! It seems the intruders are aware of the entrance to our underground base!”
“What!?”
One of the ghost hunters watching their progress on the monitor screamed.
And the second ghost hunter who was relaxing on the sofa hurries to his side.
“What happened to the guys defending the mansion!?”
“Well, they were obliterated by the smallest girl! Armor or stuffings won't be able to stop that!”
Evil spirits had been possessing the moving armors and stuffings one at a time.
It was similar to Sanae's poltergeist attack, they would move and attack with the armors, just like how Sanae would throw encyclopedias at Koutarou.
However, the weaponized armors and stuffing would get torn asunder by Theia.
In the end, the lower class ghosts couldn't do anything else.
“Oh yeah, unlike us, they're good at physical attacks...”
“This is bad, at this rate they'll be here any moment! What should we do, Aniki!?”
“Calm down, Hachi!”
The elder brother hit Hachi on the head as he was running around and panicking.
“Then, Then what do we do?”
Hachi stopped moving and stared at his elder brother.
“There's no need to fight them on their own terms. That's why we've been preparing for this kind of scenario. Amongst the evil spirits, there were those that could mess with people directly, right? We'll have them mobilize as well and send these intruders packing.”
“Ah, do you mean the ones with a higher salary?”
“Why do you think we hired them?”
“As expected, Aniki! I didn't notice at all!”
“And then there's the weapons we made yesterday, right? Prepare those as well.”
“I got it! I'll get right too it!”
Hachi ran towards the next room right away.
The next room was the hangout for the hired evil spirits.
But one more was looking at the monitor.
“Koutarou... you came to save me...”
It was Sanae that the ghost hunters had captured.
She was still trapped inside of the transparent container.
The hunters had brought Sanae along with the container down to their base, and were waiting for their trade partner to arrive.
She had been placed in a corner inside of the room, and from her position she was able to peek at the monitor.
Helpless, Sanae had been staring at the screen for quite a while now.
“Koutarou... It's really Koutarou...”
When Koutarou appeared on the monitor, Sanae's heart almost stopped.
Although being a ghost and not having a heart, that's just how surprised she was.
At the same time she felt a strong sense of relief.
Having constantly been on edge, that sense of relief made Sanae go weak at the knees.
“S-Stupid me! I've decided not to get along with Koutarou! What am I getting relieved for!?”
Sanae shook her head in an attempt to erase the sense of relief she was feeling, but it wouldn't disappear that easily.
Sanae had decided to treat Koutarou as an enemy both in name and in reality.
And her resolution was only strengthened as her frustration over being captured by the ghost hunters was mixed in.
However, her resolution began to collapse as soon as she saw Koutarou.
She was hoping that maybe, just maybe...
Even though she knew that by hoping and expecting she would only get hurt even more.
“What's the meaning of this, Koutarou!? If you consider me an enemy than just leave me be! What did you come here for!?”
Sanae was very perplexed, and because of that she couldn't take her eyes of Koutarou appearing on the screen.
Part 3
“This is it, the basement!”
Koutarou kicked open the door to the basement.
Using the momentum from running down the stairs to kick the door, it flew open and smashed into the wall.
With the door open, Koutarou and the others rushed into the basement.
“There she is! It's Sanae!”
The moment they entered the basement, Koutarou located Sanae.
She was in the corner the furthest away from them, still trapped inside of the cylindrical container.
“Sanae! Are you okay!?”
Koutarou shouted out to her, and Sanae roared back at him.
“Why'd you come!? I never asked you to come save me! I know you only think of me as some troublemaker!”
“Now is not the time for this!”
Koutarou was amazed at Sanae who was ignoring the situation.
But he was also relieved to hear her energetic voice.
Koutarou and the others still thought of the ghost hunters as perverts so they were worried they might have done something horrible too her.
“Sorry for getting in the way of your moving reunion, intruders.”
However, Koutarou and Sanae's discussion was interrupted.
The ghost hunters placed themselves between Koutarou and Sanae.
“This ghost is ours! So go home before you get hurt!”
“That's right, just go home! It's time for kids to go to bed!”
They pumped up their chests and boldly faced Koutarou and the others.
“Impudent small time villains! If you're going to say that much, I hope you're prepared for the consequences!”
“Give us back Sanae-chan, you perverts!!”
Theia and Shizuka glared at the two.
However the two of them were still grinning and showed their confidence.
“Small time villains? Perverts? Just who are you talking about? Wouldn't that be yourselves?”
“That's right! We haven't done anything wrong!”
Those words enraged Koutarou and he yelled back at them.
“What!? You dare say that after kidnapping Sanae!?”
“Just what have we done wrong!?”
Sanae had almost been groped several times and on top of that been kidnapped.
Despite that, they accused Koutarou and the others of being the villains.
And this didn't just anger Koutarou but Ruth as well.
But the hunters continued to make fun of Koutarou and the others.
“In the end we're obeying the law. There's no law against capturing ghosts, right?”
“And this is our base! We bought it! But you just came in on your own!”
“On top of that, is that ghost asking for your help? She's not is she? You guys just came here despite anyone asking for you. That's trespassing!”
“Help us! Police!”
“Fufufu, in this case we're on the side of the law! In fact, we're allies of justice!”
“Ugh.”
There is no law against capturing a ghost.
On top of that, Sanae herself isn't asking for help.
And on top of that there's the trespassing.
They were backed by solid arguments.
And Koutarou and Ruth were unable to argue back.
Neither could Theia nor Shizuka.
And as if to provoke Koutarou and the others, the hunters grinned and laughed.
“I see, in that case your only mistake was making us your enemies.”
The only one who reacted differently was Kiriha.
“What!? What's that supposed to mean!?”
“Let me tell you.”
Kiriha's normal smile vanished and a deep wrinkle formed on her forehead.
Her eyes narrowed and she pierced the hunters with her sharp glance.
And with a freezingly cold voice she spat out her words.
“We are invaders. We've never obeyed the law from the very beginning. Villains? That suits us just fine! We do as we please. As if we'd give a damn about your circumstances! We'll be taking back Sanae, oh allies of justice!”
Kiriha was angry; it was almost as if she was burning with rage.
Her sharp glance looked like it would char her enemies.
“...Kiriha-san...”
It had already been four months since she had come to room 106.
But this was the first time Koutarou had ever seen her truly angry.
“Sanae-chan is our friend Ho!”
“Even if she might not like it, we'll take her home Ho!”
The haniwas stepped out in front of Koutarou.
Unlike their hard to tell, normal, plain expressions, the expression they were showing now was one of anger.
“That's right. I had forgotten. I never cared for this planet’s laws to begin with!”
Theia regained her ambitions, readied her weapons and showed a smile that reminded one of a carnivorous animal hunting down its prey.
“And you'll regret talking big to me! My name is Theiamillis Gre Forthorthe! Don't you dare forget it, even in death!”
Four months ago, that hostile intent had been directed at Koutarou.
“Your highness, I'm going!”
“Yeah!”
And four months ago, Ruth who had stopped Theia, armed herself and stepped forward to protect Theia.
“Touching my tenant was the last of your luck! A landlord and tenant are like family! Regardless of if you're a human or a ghost!”
Four months ago, Shizuka had forbidden Koutarou and the others from fighting.
And now she was about to fight herself.
She clenched her fists and took a stance, and stomped her foot to get a good feeling for the floor in the basement.�
“Sanae!”
Lastly was Koutarou.
“W-What!? It's not like I asked for your help!”
“I understand! I won't forcibly take you back home!”
“Eh!?”
“In return, after I've knocked these guys I want to talk with you! Just listen to that at the very least! After that you can do whatever you want!”
“...”
Sanae didn't answer.
She didn't answer but she moved her head a little.
That was enough for Koutarou.
“Alright, then let's get this started!!”
Koutarou was usually pretty quick to get into a fight and as long as he had made up his mind, he didn't really care if he was in the wrong.
He readied his branch in the same way he would do as when he played baseball.
I see, it's just as senpai said...
Using his branch as a bat, Koutarou started thinking.
He was unusually pumped up.
He wouldn't feel like this just because he was facing an enemy.
“How good for you, you get to go on a trip.”
“What!? What do you mean!?”
“Today I'm at my best! I'll send you flying to the moon!”
Koutarou felt like Babe Ruth after having struck a home run with all the bases loaded.
The one to start the fight was, as expected, Theia who had a short fuse.
“Victory goes to those who move first! Blue Knight, use short distance anti-personnel missiles! Don't hit Sanae―”
“Wahaha, have you forgotten where you are!?”
But just before Theia launched her missiles, a hole opened up below her feet.
It was a pitfall the hunters had prepared beforehand.
Theia was unable to avoid the sudden trap and fell into the hole.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
“Idiot, did you think we were completely unprepared!?”
“Idiot, Idiot.”
“Q-Quit messing around!”
“Your highness!”
“Tulip, are you okay!?”
Ruth hurriedly turned back towards Theia, and Koutarou who stood next to Theia peeked into the hole from the side.
Kiriha and Shizuka were still facing the enemies but their attack timing was slightly delayed.
“Alright men, get them!”
“I'm kinda getting hungry.”
“We are getting paid for this right...?”
“It's a common trap to promise something to get free labor.”
“You're getting hungry because you keep thinking like that. Our obsessions are leaking out.”
“Quit your talking and go!”
“Alright.”
The hunters didn't miss their chance and attacked.
Their attack was the same crowd of evil spirits that had captured Sanae.
But this time their numbers were doubled.
Evil spirits of various sizes flooded out from the other room and headed toward Koutarou and the others.
“They're here! Hurry up and get out of there, Tulip!”
“Your highness, your hand!”
“S-Sorry!”
Theia grabbed Koutarou's and Ruth's hands and they pulled her out of the pitfall.
But as they were doing this, the three of them were defenseless.
Not missing their chance, the evil spirits lunged towards Koutarou, Ruth and Theia.
“Alright you guys, I'll attack them! Lend me your power!”
“That guys getting full of him just because he can attack humans directly.”
“I heard his salary is pretty high too, he must be pretty conceited.”
“Shush, he'll hear you.”
Koutarou and Ruth had their backs turned to the evil spirits and Theia was hanging off them.
They were pretty much inviting themselves to be attacked.
“Your highness, please hurry!”
“I'm going as fast as I can.”
“Waaaah, we're done for!!”
Koutarou and the others had noticed the evil spirits attacking but they couldn't just drop Theia back into the pitfall.
If they did she would be a sitting duck for the evil spirits.
And because of that the three of them were now in a major pinch.
“Don't forget about us!”
“Leave it to us, Satomi-kun!”
Kiriha and Shizuka appeared and saved Koutarou, Theia and Ruth from their crisis.
Kiriha used her haniwas to defend while Shizuka beat down the evil spirits, one at a time.
The two of them were proficient at fighting ghosts so they weren't being pushed back, but because of the ghosts’ large numbers it was a back and forth struggle.
Had the room been smaller, Shizuka would have been able to take down the evil spirits more efficiently.
But because of the large room and high ceiling the flying ghosts had the advantage against Shizuka who was unarmed.
“Tulip, now's our chance!”
“Yeah!”
As Kiriha and Shizuka were buying time, Theia pulled herself out of the pitfall.
“Ah!?”
At that time, Ruth noticed the ghost hunters as she surveyed her surroundings.
“Got you!!”
“Take this!!”
With Koutarou and the others being distracted by the evil spirits, they had snuck up and thrown a small ball each.
“Your highness! Satomi-sama!”
If Ruth hadn't noticed, the three of them would've been hit.
“Woah!?”
“What!?”
But since Ruth pushed the two of them away, she was the only one hit.
The balls hit her on the head and shoulder, creating a small sound.
“Ruth-san!?”
“Are you okay, Ruth!?”
Koutarou and Theia's faces paled as they noticed Ruth getting hit.
“....Huh?”
But Ruth herself simply tilted her head.
The balls hadn't hurt her.
She was rather puzzled since she was certain they were dangerous.
“I-It looks like I'm fine.”
“Thank god!”
“Really!? But why? I thought it was an attack!”
“What did they do!?”
After confirming that Ruth was alright, Koutarou and Theia let out a sigh of relief and felt confused.
“Too bad, we only hit one.”
“But one is more than enough! Wahahaah!”
“Wahahahahaha!”
The ghost hunters boasted triumphantly, seeing that confused them even more.
However, that reason for that soon became obvious.
“Eh, w-what!? Satomi-sama, look out!”
“Eh?”
Hearing Ruth's warning, Koutarou moved, and shortly thereafter a large sword swung down where he had been standing.
The solid metal blade easily crushed the concrete floor, and the blade buried into the floor.
If that had hit Koutarou it would have been, needless to say, really bad.
“Ah!? I'd die if that hits me!”
The attack took Koutarou by surprise, but as he looked at his attacker his jaw dropped.
“Please run away, your highness, Satomi-sama!”
“Ruth-san!? Why!?”
“Have you gone insane, Ruth!?”
The person that had attacked Koutarou was none other than Ruth.
Even now she was preparing for another attack as she pulled her blade out of the floor and bravely took a stance.
However, unlike her brave appearance she looked like she was about to cry.
“M-My body is moving on its own! I don't want to attack you!”
“On its own!?”
“C-Could it be because of those weird balls!?”
The only idea that popped into Koutarou's head was the balls that had been thrown at them.
“That's correct!”
“Well done on noticing, young man! An evil spirit has been packed into each of these balls! And if they hit someone they possess them and can do whatever they want!”
“Damnit, you do horrible things in the most boring ways.”
Ruth had been possessed by evil spirits after getting hit by the balls and was forced to fight Koutarou and Theia against her will.
“Moreover you hit Ruth! Why didn't you aim for Tulip, you idiots!”
“You're getting angry over the wrong thing, pleb!”
“But I can't just punch Ruth-san!”
“What!? So you're fine with punching me!?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey!!”
“Now now, if you don't run that girl will cut you in half!”
As Koutarou and Theia were arguing, Ruth swung her large sword in order to tear them apart.
“Kyaaaaaa! The blade’s energy coating switch flipped on!”
A thin green light emitted from the blade.
The sword had been designed so that her blade's destructive power would increase when the energy coating was active.
“That's bad! Pleb, become my shield!”
“I obviously refuse! As if I could block that by becoming your shield!”
“Well they say that the citizens are the country's shield!”
“They don't mean it in that way!”
“Ruuuun!!”
Ruth swung her sword down while crying.
Koutarou and Theia dodged the attack just in time, thanks to Ruth desperately trying to shift the swords path.
However, the light around the blade skimmed Koutarou's stick.
And just from that the upper half of the stick was blown clean off.
After destroying Koutarou's stick, Ruth's sword buried into the floor once more.
And the blade buried even deeper than it had before.
The destructive power of the energy coated blade was incomparable to just a little while ago.
“The power is amazing.”
Koutarou broke into cold sweat as he threw away his stick that had been broken in half.
“R-Ruth isn't showing any mercy...”
Theia hurriedly stood back up after having thrown herself away from the attack.
“Are you sure she's not holding a grudge because you're always being so unreasonable!?”
“Of course she's not!”
“More importantly, can't we do something, Tulip!? At this rate we're going to get killed!”
Koutarou and Theia had no option but to run.
They couldn't just attack Ruth.
So in order to evade Ruth's sword they ran circles around the pitfall.
“I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!!”
And Ruth began chasing after them around the hole.
She had been crying for a while now while chasing after the two.
It may have looked like a comedy sketch to outsiders, but for the people involved it was dead serious.
“I might be able to knock her out with non-lethal weapons but the armors and stuffed things would attack her if she's unconscious! She's safer now than she would be then!”
“T-Then what about the weapon!? She's getting it from your battleship, right?”
“If I turn off Blue Knight's transfer function she won't be able to use her weapon but in that case I'll lose mine as well! In reality, we'll be helpless!”
“Do it right away! It's better than not doing anything at all!”
“I got it!”
In the end, Theia listened to Koutarou, she also wanted to do something about the current situation.
“Blue Knight, activate the emergency shutdown for the weapon transfer system!”
“As you wish, my princess.”
As the bracelet responded to command, Theia's and Ruth's weapons were erased.
That did nothing for Theia who was prepared for it, but Ruth lost her balance after her large sword and shield suddenly vanished.
“I'll leave the enemies to you, pleb! I'm going to catch Ruth!”
Theia turned around and rushed towards Ruth.
“Understood!”
Koutarou obeyed Theia's command and ran towards the hunters.
“Aniki, he's coming this way! This is bad!”
“Calm down, it's just one! We won't lose, two on one!”
A fierce fight started: Theia vs Ruth and Koutarou vs the hunters.
As Koutarou and Theia began their fist fights with their opponents, an odd commotion was happening over where Shizuka and Kiriha were fighting the crowd of evil spirits.
Part 4
“What's with this girl!? She can hit us bare-handed!?”
“And what's with those haniwa!? We can't move a bit because of the yellow light they're making!”
“Nobody told us the enemies are this strong!”
“Yeah! If we're going to fight someone this strong I want a higher salary!”
“Quit complaining and fight you guys!”
“I'm sure you're fine, you already have such a high salary.”
“What!? Why don't you say that one more time!?”
The evil spirits were quarreling.
Because of Shizuka's and Kiriha's overwhelming strength the majority of them had begun hesitating.
The low paid evil spirits had no reason to bet their lives(?) on this fight.
“What's that...?”
“It seems like the middle management is arguing with the regular employees...”
Shizuka and Kiriha were dumbfounded by the evil spirits suddenly stopping their attacks and starting to argue.
They had the chance to attack during this scene, but the situation was just far too ridiculous and neither of them had the urge to do so.
“The enemies only seem powerful but you're not doing it seriously!”
“Are you stupid!? You could tell just by looking, they're ridiculously strong! Those girls won't get any weaker just because of your crappy psychiatry!”
“Yeah, you're just the hunters’ dog! You've been bought by a high salary!”
“What!? Don't just ignore your own negligence! Just how much do you think I've covered for you!?”
“Get lost! We won't get anywhere by talking to you! We'll negotiate with the hunters directly!”
“Yeah! Our struggle will continue until we get a 50% raise!”
“Leave that negotiation to me. I used to be an employee of a labor union.”
“Seriously!? That's really encouraging!”
“But I got fired after some illegal transactions. And my life went down from there...”
“Seriously!? That's really encouraging in a certain meaning!”
“H-Hey you guys, stop! You're going to turn on your employer!?”
“That kind of old method of thinking won't work on us. We'll use whatever we can, that's our method.”
“...Now that I think about it, I don't have any obligations to those hunters either.”
“Why don't you aim for a raise as well?”
“I guess I will... Nothing will come from a pointless fight.”
Just like that the evil spirits gathered under the goal of getting a raise, and they approached the hunters who were still fighting with Koutarou.
“Sorry kid, just wait until we finish talking.”
“Wah!?”
The evil spirits pushed Koutarou aside and faced the hunters.
Losing his balance, he rolled all the way over to Theia and Ruth who were tangling.
“What now?”
“W-Who knows...”
Koutarou shook his head.
“How is it going for you two?”
“It's just as you can see.”
Theia had succeeded in restraining Ruth.
Theia easily surpassed Ruth when it came to fitness, and once the fight became that of close combat she had no fear of losing.
“I'm truly sorry, your highness.”
Ruth apologized to Theia while still trying to escape her restraints.
“It's fine. Besides, it's not your fault.”
“So the only problems over there...”
With Theia and Ruth's problem temporarily solved, Koutarou looked back towards the evil spirits.
“We firmly object against these unjust working conditions!”
“Raise our salary!”
“Raise it!”
“They want improved working conditions!? It seems they've learned some unnecessary things! We gathered too many evil spirits!”
“Aniki! The evil spirits are making scary faces!”
The evil spirits began voicing their protests.
The ghost hunters were puzzled by suddenly being surrounded by their supposed allies.
“Satomi-kun!”
“Koutarou!”
Shizuka and Kiriha came over to Koutarou and the others, and reported what they just heard.
“Landlord-san, what's going on over there?”
“They're fighting amongst themselves.”
“Really?”
“It seems that way. They were saying something about how the risk was too large for the reward.”
“It looks like the labor union finally stood up to improve the working environment.”
“The labor union!?”
As Koutarou was filled them in on the situation, the evil spirits the negotiations was about to reach its climax.
“You're probably thinking you can employ cheap labor just because we're in a recession, don't you!? That won't fly!”
“Wait, that's not our intention at all!”
“Then why didn't you tell us our enemies were that strong!? We don't get paid enough to fight opponents that strong!”
“T-That's... they just happened to be strong!”
The evil spirits held the favor in the negotiations. Without the help of the evil spirits, the ghost hunters wouldn't stand a chance against Koutarou and the others, so they never had much to stand on to begin with.
“And we already know! You can sell that girl for 300 million yen!”
“How about you give some of that to us!?”
“Yeah! I'm hungry!”
“I understand where you're coming from! But I can't give you any money right away! If we don't beat those guys over there and sell the girl, we can't raise your salary!”
“That's far too irresponsible! Quit messing around! Do you really think that's acceptable for an employer!?”
“Just please wait! Once we sell that girl we'll give you your money!”
“Who would listen to that kind of deal!? Will you give us our share now or not!?”
“T-That's...”
It wasn't a question of giving or not giving, the ghost hunters had already used all of the money.
So they couldn't give the evil spirits the answer they wanted.
“... Gentlemen. I've been thinking.”
At that time, an evil spirit stopped her heated up colleagues.
It was a long haired female evil spirit wearing a hostess dress.
“What is it now!? This is important!”
“I know that. That's why I stopped you. Are you fine with being blinded by the promise of money?”
“Promise of money!?”
“That's right.”
She pointed at Sanae with the feather fan she was holding.
“Think about which would be better, wait for that girl to be sold off and get paid or eating her right now?”
“....Uhm...”
The evil spirits focused their glances on Sanae.
“M-Me!?”
Sanae pointed at herself in surprise.
“Just look at that stupidly dense spiritual energy and that stability. It's like she could materialize at any moment. I'd rather eat that girl than get paid.”
“T-That's certainly...”
“You know, you're pretty smart!”
“Yeah, I agree with her!”
“I'm onboard with that idea too!”
“H-Hey, you guys, what are you doing!?”
“You can't eat her!”
The hunters began panicking as the evil spirits stared at Sanae with desire in their eyes.
Sanae shuddered as she was exposed to their intense stare.
She understood they were seriously planning on eating her.
“This is turning out really bad!”
Koutarou noticed the change in situation and shoved his hand into the paper bag to find a useable weapon.
They're planning on eating Sanae!? As if I'd let that happen!
Just like the hunters, Koutarou started panicking.
“Wait you guys! Don't touch her! If you do you're not getting paid!”
“We don't care about that anymore! We want to eat that and power up!”
The female evil spirit's body began swelling up.
The reason for that was because of her fellow evil spirits combining with her.
And after absorbing all of the other evil spirits, the giant female spirit sneered as she looked down on the hunters.
“Stop! That treasure is worth 300 million yen!”
“300 million yen? That's pocket money compared to that girl's spiritual energy!”
“Stop! If you touch her we'll exterminate you!”
“Yeah! We'll exterminate you!”
“Hahaha, just try it you amateur ghost hunters! Without our power you couldn't even fight, and you think you can beat us!?”
The evil spirits had combined under their desire for eating Sanae and now had considerable power.
Because of that, a single swing from that giant arm was enough to send the hunters flying.
“Agh... A-Aniki....”
“U-ugh... t-to think it would come to this... we relied too much on evil spirits...”
The ghost hunters had been blinded by their desires and didn't look at the reality.
They had finally noticed the reason for their failure but it was already too late.
They were thrown into the basement wall and lost consciousness.
“Next up is you, little kitten.”
“N-No, don't come any closer!”
The evil spirit's next target was Sanae.
Frightened, Sanae starts crawling back, but her back quickly reached the container wall.
Unable to retreat any further, she began shaking her head.
“There's no need to be scared. Become one with me. It's not like you have anywhere to go either, right? With me you won't feel lonely anymore.”
“No place to go―”
Those words entered Sanae through the hole in her heart.
No matter how long she waited for her parents they weren't showing up.
And even Koutarou who she was about to trust was her enemy.
If I go with these people I won't feel lonely anymore...?
Sanae was lonely being all alone.
And she was scared that she would be left alone again.
So this temptation shook Sanae.
“That's right. Open your mind and accept me. If you do that you'll no longer have anything to fear.”
The evil spirit kept luring Sanae in with a gentle voice.
The only way to absorb other ghosts was to exploit the hole in their hearts.
If she would resist, her powers would defend her and a lot of spiritual energy would go to waste.
“My mind―”
The evil spirit giant hand surrounded the container in order to absorb Sanae.
And the container easily cracked, and as the evil spirit gradually increased their power the cracks grew larger.
The evil spirit didn't crush the container right away because she was worried Sanae might put her guard up and they would lose their chance to absorb her.
However that slight delay greatly changed Sanae's fate.
“Sanaeeeeee!!”
The moment Sanae heard that voice she came back to life, she recovered from having given up.
“Koutarou!?”
The voice she had heard was Koutarou's.
Koutarou had pulled out a short sword from the paper bag and was running towards the evil spirits and Sanae.
“Tsk, you're going to get in my way, kid!?”
As Koutarou appeared, the hole in Sanae's heart began closing.
Because of that they were unable to efficiently absorb her.
This angered the evil spirit, and she bared her teeth, threatening Koutarou.
And seeing that scared Sanae even further, and she completely rejected the evil spirit.
“Kyaaaaaa!! Nooooooo!!”
Sanae no longer wanted to be absorbed by the evil spirit, instead she began screaming.
“Just wait Sanae, I'm coming to save you right now!”
Koutarou charged at the evil spirits with his short sword.
And hearing Sanae's screams pumped him up even further and he gripped the sword even harder.
“What can you do with a single sword!?”
“We'll see! The effect is short but it's supposedly very dangerous for you!”
Koutarou was holding an anti-demon sword.
'30 second holy sword – some-calibur' despite the fact that it was a mass produced product with a short life-span it held enough power to rival an actual anti-demon sword.
It was a revolutionary product.
“Damn, it's an exorcist's sword!?”
Sensing the danger from the short sword, the evil spirit let go of the container Sanae was in and attacked Koutarou.
“Woah.”
“Quit moving around!”
But no matter how many times the evil spirit swung its arms, she was unable to hit Koutarou.
Koutarou quickly moved around dodged the giant arms.
“Combining seems to have made you even slower!”
“Quit your yappering!”
As Koutarou said, having become larger, the evil spirit's movements grew duller.
And she seemed to be unused at using her newly combined body.
Although she was able to take out the hunters with a surprise attack, those attacks wouldn't work on Koutarou.
“This is my victory, giant!”
“S-Stop it, anything but that sword!!”
“Take this!!”
After dodging the evil spirits attacks yet another time, Koutarou lowered his posture and thrust his entire body towards her.�
“Kyaaaaaaa!?”
“Did it work!?”
Without any real resistance, the short sword pierced through the evil spirits body.
The evil spirit's face warped and let out a scream of agony.
“Aaaaaaaah... eh, huh?”
But that was just for a moment, and the evil spirit's expression changed into confusion.
On top of that, she felt no pain.
“What is this? This doesn't hurt at all, kid, what's going on?”
The confused evil spirit forgot to fight and asked Koutarou.
“What!?”
Seeing that Koutarou also forgot to fight and looked down on his short sword.
“Hm?”
And he noticed a message on a label hanging off the handle of the sword.
'Returned due to malfunctions'.
“It's defective!? What a joke!”
“That's my line! I thought I was going to die!”
“No, you're already dead.”
“Shut up kid!... Eh!?”
The evil spirit was the first to regain her senses.
She swung their giant arm towards Koutarou who had stopped moving.
“Woah!?”
He desperately tried to dodge but he couldn't fully avoid the attack.
Koutarou managed to avoid a direct hit from the arm, but not the fan she was holding.
Suffering a direct hit from the fan, Koutarou fell down onto the floor.
“Koutarou!”
“Satomi-kun!”
“Karama, Korama, focus your efforts around Koutarou!”
“Understood Ho-!”
“Koutarou, we're on our way Ho-!”
Shizuka and Kiriha came running up to Koutarou.
And to protect the three, the haniwas stood up against the evil spirits.
“Satomi-kun, are you okay!?”
“O-ouch.”
Koutarou barely managed to avoid losing consciousness.
Seeing Shizuka and Kiriha worried, he attempted to stand up.
But the two of them quickly held him down.
“Don't force yourself Koutarou, just stay down!”
“But...”
Koutarou still tried to get up but the two just pushed him down on the floor and shook their heads.
“Just leave this to us!”
“Yeah! Me and Kurano-san will beat that ghost!”
“I understand.”
Hearing that, Koutarou relaxed his body.
He knew both of them were stronger than him.
They would be able to fend off the evil spirits.
And since he was certain of that, he listened to them.
“Was it really alright to say that I wonder?”
The evil spirit laughed at Koutarou and the others.
“Don't think I'm as weak as before.”
“What!?”
Koutarou, Shizuka and Kiriha stared at the evil spirit.
“Koutarou, Koutarou!!”
What they saw was Sanae sinking into the evil spirit's body.
As Shizuka and Kiriha were occupied with Koutarou the evil spirit had broken Sanae's container.
“S-Sanae!!”
“Sanae-chan!!”
“Aaaah, Stooop! S-Save―”
Before long, Sanae had fully sunk into the evil spirit's body.
“Ahahahaha! I can feel it! I can feel it!! This ridiculously strong power is flowing into me!! Just how much power did this girl have!? I shouldn't have wasted my time trying to convince her and just done this from the start!”
Sanae was resisting but even then the power the evil spirit absorbed from her was enormous, and the evil spirit grew even more powerful.
The translucent evil spirit gradually became more opaque, almost as if their body turned solid.
Her body grew even larger, almost enough for her to bump her head into the five meter tall ceiling.
“Aaaaaaah, Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!”
And as the evil spirit got bigger and stronger, Sanae's screams of agony got louder and echoed throughout the basement.
“Stop! Just stop doing this!!”
“More! Give me more power! You'll become a part of me and we'll live together forever!”
But unlike the evil spirit, Sanae's body became more translucent.
Her body was normally opaque enough to look real but now it was wavering.
Anyone who saw her now would identify her as a ghost.
“This is bad! At that rate Sanae won't last!”
“Let's go, Kurano-san! We need to save Sanae-chan!”
“Yeah!”
Sensing that Sanae was in danger, Kiriha and Shizuka headed towards the evil spirit.
Looking at their backs, Koutarou desperately tried to stand up.
I don't have time to be lying down. I need to... do something... or Sanae will...
However, his damaged body wouldn't listen to him.
Just getting on his knees was dizzying enough to make him feel like he was going to faint.
“Noooooooooo! Koutarou, Koutarou!!”
“Sa,nae!!”
However, Sanae's screams seemingly gave Koutarou superhuman strength.
“Aaaaaaahhhh!!”
Pumping himself up with a scream, Koutarou stood up.
He didn't care if his body was in pain or his sight was cloudy.
And he shook his head repeatedly to clear up his mind.
“Good job on getting up, is what I'd like to say but...”
Looking at Koutarou, the evil spirits put on an evil looking grin.
It was similar to what Sanae and Theia would do but Koutarou felt it was fundamentally different to theirs.�
“You were a bit too slow.”
The evil spirit threw something towards Koutarou.
“Landlord-san!? Kiriha-san!?”
It was Shizuka and Kiriha who had been hurt and lost their consciousness.
In the short time it had taken for Koutarou to stand up the evil spirit had defeated them.
The power the evil spirit had absorbed from Sanae was that large.
“So what are you going to do on your own, kid? You don't even have a weapon.”
Shizuka and Kiriha were unconscious, the haniwas weren't moving, Theia still had her hands full with Ruth and he had just dropped the bag with weapons somewhere.
All Koutarou had left were the charms he normally had on him.
“Nothing much. I'll do the same as before. I'll knock you out!”
Koutarou placed a charm in each hand and took a stance with his staggering body.
“You think you can beat me in that state!? Wahahaha, you're very funny, kid!”
“Run away, pleb! You're going to get killed!”
“Satomi-sama, you can't!”
Theia and Ruth shouted out, but their voices didn't reach Koutarou.
“It's my principle to finish a fight I've started.”
Just wait Sanae, I'll get you out of there...
Regardless of his disadvantage or his staggering body, a fire was burning in Koutarou's eyes.
Despite driven into a corner with two strikes, Koutarou was still just like Babe Ruth today.
“I see, then die! In honor of your courage you'll get to be the first victim of my newfound powers!”
The evil spirit let out a hysterical laughter and rushed towards Koutarou.
She was planning on tearing his head clean off.
“I-I'll absolutely knock you out...”
Koutarou strongly grasped the charms and swung his fist.
He knew that even doing that, he wouldn't be able to reach the evil spirit, but he couldn't stop.
“No, don't die, Koutarou! Koutarouuuu!”
That was because even now, Sanae was crying.
She had been crying ever since she had a fight with Koutarou.
That's why even though he knew, he couldn't stop.
Even if it was impossible to win, he couldn't turn his back on Sanae.
At this point, Sanae was more important than the evil spirit.
“Ahyahyahyah, Gyahahaha. Dieeeeee!!”
The evil spirit approached Koutarou.
She thrust out both of her arms, trying to capture Koutarou's neck.
Koutarou was unable dodge that attack with his dull movement.
Had she just been a second faster Koutarou probably would have lost his head.
“Guaaah!? W-What is...!?”
But the evil spirit's arms didn't reach him.
Part 5
When Yurika reached the western-styled mansion, several minutes had passed before Koutarou and the others had entered the basement.
She had desperately escaped from the cosplay society and used tracing magic to chase after Koutarou and the others.
“W-What should I do....”
However, she was frozen in place.
The eerie sight of the mansion at night frightened her.
It was in ruins, and she knew there were lots of ghosts inside.
And she could hear screams coming from people inside.
The cowardly Yurika didn't have the courage to enter the mansion.
“M-Maybe I should go home... Satomi-san said I shouldn't force myself too...”
After standing in front of mansion for a while, Yurika eventually turned her back to the entrance.
“Let's do that! Nothing good will come from forcing myself!”
As she told herself that she headed towards the gate leading outside.
She would rather go home, tuck herself into her futon and go to sleep.
“...But...”
However, she stopped moving as she reached the gate.
She couldn't bring herself to step outside.
“....”
She silently turned her head back and looked at the frightening mansion.
Yurika desperately wanted to escape.
But something inside of her asked if that was really okay.
“Would it really be alright for me to go back on my own...?”
Yurika remembered what Harumi had told her during the sports festival.
Even if nobody else is looking, you still are. If you give up now, you'll lose to yourself in the future too. And if I lose to myself, senpai would get sad.
“I really feel like going back now would be a bad idea...”
Having prepared herself, Yurika turned around.
While holding a large cane, she took several deep breaths to calm down.
“And I feel like somebody is asking for help...”
At that moment, Sanae was shouting for help.
But Yurika couldn't hear that from the outside.
Even though she couldn't hear it, she could somehow feel it.
“That's right!”
Immediately after she had prepared herself, Yurika came up with a brilliant idea.
“I'm scared facing ghosts, so what if I use large scale magic from here!?”
She was scared of entering the mansion, but she couldn't just abandon them.
In that case, she could use magic from the outside.
It was a compromise between Yurika's cowardly nature and her duties as a magical girl.
“Here we go! Angel Halo!”
Having decided what to do, she swung her cane up and down.
“Bind Undead – Modifier – Huge Area Effect – End – Casting Time Four Times!”
The spell Yurika was using would bind ghosts.
Since Sanae was with them, she couldn't use any more dangerous spells.
In order to keep down the magic consumption and increase the area of effect, she increased the time it would take for the spell to activate.
Because of that, it didn't take effect right away and instead activated several tens of seconds later.
A purple light came out from her cane, and dyed the night sky.
The light extended throughout the mansion.
Because of the time it took for the spell to activate, the purple light covered the entire mansion.
“Alright! The plan worked! Yurika Fight!”
Yurika cheered as she looked at the light enveloping the mansion.
Having unusually helped out, sadly, there was nobody around that would compliment her.
“Ah, there she is! President, I found her! Yurika's secretly cosplaying in this kind of place!”
“...Yurika, even though you said you hated it so much, you must be really pumped up about going to Comiha...”
“Eh...?”
The only ones there were her natural enemies, the cosplay society members.
As the light spread through the basement it was purple.
But as the light got brighter, it changed to pure white.
If Yurika had been here, she might have said it's the same thing as during the sports festival.
However, she was not and nobody there understood the meaning behind the light.
“Guaaaaaaaaaaaaah! What's with this light!”
Although the light covered everybody equally, the only one who began writhing in pain was the evil spirit.
The spell Yurika had used was only supposed to bind the dead.
But when the light changed from purple to white, it began burning the evil spirit's body.
“What's going on...”
Koutarou looked in surprise as the evil spirit began writhing in pain.
“It's going away! My power is leaving me! Ahhhhh, why!?”
As the evil spirit was burned by the white light it began shrinking and at the same time, the opaque body starts becoming more and more translucent once more.
Koutarou didn't understand what was going on, but he did understand that the evil spirit was weakening.
“Pleb, what's with those hands!?”
“Hands?”
Koutarou first noticed as Theia pointed it out.
His hands had begun glowing.
They were glowing with the same light that was filling the room.
“The charms are glowing...?”
As Koutarou opened his hands the glow got brighter.
The charms glowing in his hand were 'Family Safety' and 'Be gone evil spirits'.
Theia who was looking on noticed how to use that light.
“Don't you get it, pleb!? Those are weapons!
“It won't matter if you throw of them or punch with them! Just use them like you do against Sanae!”
“R-Right!”
If the light filling the room could harm the evil spirit, the chance that these charms could do the same was high.
Even if they didn't, with the evil spirit this weakened, normal charms could still affect her.
Realizing that, Koutarou once again grasped the charms.
“Here I come! Let me repay you for everything you've done!”
“Guaaah! D-Don't come any closer! Don't touch me!!”
The evil spirit had already shrunk to half of the size it had been.
Because of the light she was unable to move anything but her mouth.
And as the evil spirit turned translucent Sanae could once again be seen inside.
“Sanae! Can you hear me, Sanae!?”
“...K-Kouta...rou...?”
Koutarou rushed towards the evil spirit while shouting to Sanae.
And she responded with a weakened voice.
“Just wait, Sanae! This time I'll get you out of there!”
“Koutarou!”
Oddly enough, Sanae wasn't suffering any ill effects from the white light.
Instead, as the evil spirit got weaker, she regained her vigor.
But even then, it didn't change the fact that she had been weakened.
All she could do was call out to Koutarou from inside the evil spirit.
“Don't come any closer! Please stop! I was wrong!!”
Seeing Koutarou's glowing fist the evil spirit began begging for her life.
The arrogance she had was nowhere to be seen.
“I don't want to get hurt! Please forgive me! Can't you just let me go?!”
“Did you do that when Sanae begged you!? Did you let her go!?”
But Koutarou didn't care for her begging.
After hurting Sanae, the evil spirit was now begging to be spared.
Her selfishness only made Koutarou even angrier.
“I'll give her back! So please forgive me!”
“No, I definitely won't forgive you! You hurt Sanae and everyone else! You can regret that on the other side!”
As if responding to Koutarou's anger, the charms in his hands glowed even brighter, so much that just looking at them directly would hurt.
“This is for everyone!!”
As Koutarou roared, his left fist hit the evil spirit right in the face.
At the same time, the glow in his left fist disappeared.
The power that had gathered there had been used up.
Receiving a merciless blow, the evil spirit is thrown back.
And having received a hit to the face, she was unable to scream.
After getting punched the evil spirit shrank instantly, and was now roughly the same size as Koutarou.
“And this is―”
Koutarou's right hand began moving.
He was standing like a pitcher; he was planning on finish the evil spirit by throwing the second charm.
“Hiiiiiiiiiii! Stop! Please forgive me! I can't pass on while holding a grudge!”
“―for making Sanae cry!!”
Koutarou's trained right arm roars.
The pitch he had repeatedly trained up rapidly approached the evil spirit.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
As the charm touched the evil spirit, the evil spirit's body began gradually disappearing from where the charm had touched it.
It passed through the fan the evil spirit was using to defend herself, into the hand holding the fan, going through the hand into the arm.
And as the charm touched the evil spirit's body it popped like a balloon.
Unable to withstand the light, the evil spirit finally passed on.
“Kyan!”
With the evil spirit dispersing, Sanae fell down onto the floor.
Though free, Sanae had been weakened and was unable to move as she lied on her back.
“Owowowow... Ah, that's!!”
And with Sanae in that state, another danger approached her.
The charm that had erased the evil spirit was falling down towards her.
Despite erasing the evil spirit, the charm hadn't lost its glow.
And through the light she could see the blue bag with golden embroidery that Koutarou would throw at her.
“I-I can't!!”
Normally, getting hit by the charm would only slightly burn her.
But Sanae was now weakened and the light that erased the evil spirit was still glowing.
She closed her eyes tightly as she realized that she would be forced to pass on as well.
She was too scared to watch her own body disappear.
However, things did not come to pass as Sanae had imagined.
The charm bounced off her chest and landed on her face.
“Huh...?”
Noticing that she wasn't passing on, Sanae slowly opened her right eye.
And right in front of her eyes was the white glowing charm.
“Hiiii!?”
She opened both of her eyes and held her breath.
However the white light didn't harm her, neither did the charm explode like it normally did.
“W-Why...? Doesn't this light make ghosts pass on?”
Instead, she felt that the parts of her touching the charm had something warm entering her and healed her weakened body little by little.
“And why isn't it exploding...?”
After recovering, Sanae got up and the charm on her face began rolling down.
Sanae caught the falling charm with both of her hands.
“It's disappearing...”
Almost as if sensing that Sanae had been healed, the white light vanished, leaving behind the charm.
Why...
The light that forced the evil spirit to pass on healed her and the charm that would explode on contact with her was now resting in her hands.
The situation confused Sanae.
Looking for an answer she turned the charm around and read the embroidered words on the front.
Family...Safety...?
Embroidered on the charm were the words Family Safety.
“Are you okay, Sanae?”
And before the meaning of the words sunk in, somebody called her name.
Hearing that voice, Sanae quickly looked towards the direction it came from.
“Koutarou!”
“What, you're unexpectedly energetic.”
The voice belonged to Koutarou.
Koutarou dragged his injured body towards Sanae.
But after he noticed that Sanae was fine he stopped and smiled.
“Koutarou, you...”
You got beaten up so badly, and fought so desperately...
Koutarou's state and the words on the charm sunk deep into Sanae.
“For my... sake... even though I'm your enemy... for my, sake...”
Tears began flowing out from Sanae's eyes.
But she herself wasn't aware that she was crying.
Sanae pushed the charm towards her chest and just gazed at Koutarou.
I got it. I understand... just what you think of me Koutarou...
The charm that didn't hurt Sanae.
Koutarou's beaten up appearance.
His actions conveyed his intentions more eloquently than words ever could.
“W-What's wrong, Sanae!? Does it hurt!? Or did the evil spirit do something!?”
Surprised by Sanae suddenly starting to cry, Koutarou approached her.
He had completely forgotten the pain he was in.
“I-It's... nothing... Besides, you're the one who did something to me...”
Sanae finally realized she was crying.
But she didn't think of stopping her tears nor did she try to wipe them away.
Instead she just let the emotions overflowing inside of her flow out.
“That's right...”
“And?”
“What?”
“You said you wanted to talk with me about something...”
“Oh yeah, right.”
Having moved up to Sanae, Koutarou stopped to think.
Uhm, what did I want to talk about now again?
But Koutarou couldn't think of what he wanted to say.
Too many things had happened and his brain was overheating.
“Sorry, I completely forgot with all that's happened. I'll remember once I've calmed down, so let's go home for now, Sanae.”
“You really are an idiot...”
You even said you wouldn't forcibly take me home... What do you mean by let's go home for now...
Sanae complained on the inside.
“I have no excuses.”
“But I'll forgive you.”
But Sanae wasn't in as bad a mood as she sounded.
“You did come to save me after all.”
“Sorry.”
“And Koutarou...”
Sanae strongly clasped her hands. Inside of them was the charm.
“Thank... you...”
Sanae smiled.
Her eyes were red and tears were still flowing, but she showed the energetic smile she had lost.
Part 6
There were two shadows trying to escape as Koutarou and Sanae made up.
“Oh, it looks like it ended well.”
“If it ended like that it would leave a bad taste in my mouth. With this we can escape and put our minds at rest.”
It was the culprits behind all of this commotion, the two ghost hunters.
They were trying to escape while Koutarou and the others weren't paying attention.
Fortunately, they managed to get out of the basement while everybody was focused on Koutarou and Sanae.
“We did it!”
“Let's hurry up and run away!”
However as the two of them were cheering, somebody stood in their way.
“...And where are you planning on going?”
It was Kiriha and her haniwas.
While everybody was focused on Koutarou and Sanae, she didn't overlook the hunters moving.
“Damnit!”
“T-They already found us!”
“P-Please, just overlook us!”
“We only want you to overlook us!”
The hunters threw away their pride and prostrated in front of Kiriha.
“Calm down. It's not like I want to harm you.”
“Eh?”
“Really!?”
“Well, feelings wise I want to hurt you, so if you try to run I won't show any mercy.”
“We won't run, lady!”
“We won't run!”
The two sat down as Kiriha glared at them.
They didn't care that the floor was covered in dust.
“So, what could we help you with, lady?”
“You said you were planning on selling Sanae, yes?”
“That's right, beautiful lady. That ghost is extremely rare, so she would fetch a high price.”
“Yeah! We were planning on selling her for 300 million!”
Having completely accepted their defeat, the hunters explained the situation to Kiriha.
To them, pride didn't outweigh their lives.
“In that case I will buy Sanae with my 300 million.”
“Eeeeeeh!?”
“Seriously!?”
The hunters were amazed by the unexpected offer.
“By 300 million you mean, 300 million!?”
The hunters couldn't believe it.
They questioned Kiriha's sanity when she offered them 300 million yen in this situation where it wouldn't be strange for them to get killed.
“Of course.”
But Kiriha calmly nodded her head.
Looking at Kiriha, the elder brother's expression changed.
“...It seems you have your reasons, lady.”
“Yes. Of course I don't want you coming back, but there's something else I want.”
“And that's?”
“Information. I want you to give me all the information you have about Sanae. That's the condition for this deal.”
“...You're quite frightening one, lady...”
She didn't choose her means when it came to her targets, she would even work with her enemies and pay them without question.
She said she was an invader, but...
The hunters’ cold sweat didn't stop.
They only just realized how dangerous the person they had faced was.
The only thing dangerous about her wasn't the weapons she was using.
“...I understand. We will do exactly as you say, lady.”
“We will.”
Making this woman an enemy would be bad.
It didn't take long for the hunters to come to that realization.
Translator's Notes and References
1. ↑ An offering made from a tree branch, decorated with strips of paper used in Shinto ceremonies
