Climbing the staircase littered with small garbage, Hikigaya Hachiman stepped onto the second floor.
What met his eyes was again a chaotic pile of various kinds of garbage strewn along the corridor.
Perhaps due to the dim lighting, the walls on both sides of the hallway bore numerous impact marks.
Having promised the middle-aged man to check the last room at the end, Hikigaya Hachiman decided to begin his search from the opposite end of the corridor.
He pushed open one door after another.
Some rooms hadn't been opened in a long time, and when Hachiman pushed the doors open, thick clouds of dust rushed out to greet him.
Others, in contrast, were exceptionally clean—forming a sharp contrast to the corridor full of trash.
"Is this the room he uses for rest?"
Looking at the dust-free room that looked completely different from the others, Hachiman speculated.
Still, he didn't dwell on it. After circling the room and confirming there were no signs of evil spirits, he left.
He continued to check several other rooms.
Just like before, he found nothing.
"If that's the case, only one room remains…"
With that thought, Hachiman turned his gaze toward the room at the end of the corridor—the one the middle-aged man said housed his family's ancestral tablets.
Though disturbing the dead wasn't something Hachiman desired, he pushed the door open and entered in order to exorcise the spirit.
As soon as he stepped inside, three black-and-white photos greeted him with smiling faces.
Seeing this, Hachiman felt a chill run down his spine.
Who arranges memorial tablets like that?
But it was the man's freedom to do so.
Hachiman didn't say anything.
Unlike the other dimly lit rooms, two large white candles burned in front of the three tablets.
Their light illuminated most of the room, leaving only the area behind the altar shrouded in darkness.
Silently, Hachiman drew his Demon-Slaying Blade from his space and cautiously moved deeper into the room.
From the moment he entered, his heart had begun to race inexplicably.
Maybe… the advanced evil spirit he was looking for was in this room!
Soon, Hachiman circled around the altar to its rear.
With the bluish glow from his blade, he saw that there was nothing behind the altar.
"Was I overthinking it?"
Not finding any trace of an evil spirit, Hachiman grew doubtful.
He had searched every room in the house, but hadn't found a thing.
Could it be… that the spirit wasn't in this building, but in the next one?
"How's the exorcism going?"
Just then, the middle-aged man appeared at the doorway, hands clasped behind his back, and walked toward Hachiman with a curious expression.
"Ah, sorry. I looked all over but couldn't find any sign of an evil spirit…"
Seeing the man, Hachiman looked a bit embarrassed.
After all, he'd taken the job and the money, but so far had accomplished nothing.
"It's okay. I'm just happy you came…"
The man laughed heartily, showing no sign of blame.
Hachiman was stunned by the man's words.
What did he mean by "just happy you came"? Did this guy usually have no contact with anyone?
"You know, it's been a long time since anyone's been willing to visit me."
As if not noticing Hachiman's reaction, the man continued speaking to himself.
"First it was our relatives who stopped coming by, then our colleagues and friends. Eventually, even the neighbors…"
As he said this, a bitter smile crossed his face.
He looked up at Hachiman with gratitude.
"Now, the only ones still willing to visit are you exorcists."
"What do you mean by that?"
Hachiman instinctively took a few steps back, widening the distance between them.
"I'm just stating a fact. If they hadn't been starving for so long, I might've even let you go."
The man's eyes showed regret as he looked at Hachiman.
Even though, like the others, Hachiman came pretending to be an exorcist to take his money, at least he had a good attitude—and didn't demand extra fees.
"Yes, my wife and two daughters. I mentioned them earlier, didn't I?"
As they spoke, thick black smoke began to billow from the black-and-white photos on the altar.
Then, an evil spirit with a figure resembling Komachi crawled out of one of the photos.
"Advanced evil spirit detected. Host, please be cautious!"
The system's warning echoed in Hachiman's mind again.
Advanced evil spirit?
Seeing the ghost that had emerged from the frame now clinging to the man's side, Hachiman raised his Demon-Slaying Blade, ready for battle.
"Oh? You can see her too? I underestimated you…"
The middle-aged man looked surprised to see Hachiman reacting to the ghost.
He hadn't thought anyone else in the world besides him could see the souls of the dead.
"How is it? My daughter's cute, isn't she?"
But his surprise quickly faded.
While caressing his so-called daughter's head in midair, the man questioned Hachiman excitedly.
"Maybe your daughter was cute once… but she's nothing like that now!"
With her crimson eyes glaring at him and her grotesque face, Hachiman found it impossible to associate her with "cute."
"What a disappointing answer…"
The man's smile froze.
He patted his daughter's head again—as if telling her it was okay to eat.
The evil spirit pounced at Hachiman like a beast unleashed from its cage.
Watching the ghost charge him, Hachiman took a deep breath, recalling how the samurai spirit had swung his blade.
Fully concentrated, he suddenly felt the evil spirit's movements slow down.
As it entered his strike range, he raised his blade and slashed hard at the opening she revealed!
The moment the blade cut into her, time resumed its normal flow.
From the doorway, the man saw his daughter lunge at her prey as usual—only for a flash of blue light to streak by, followed by a shrill scream as she recoiled back to his side.