Chapter 22: As If Understanding Something

Kawasaki Saki looked at the boy in front of her, who suddenly drew a tachi sword shimmering with a faint blue light out of thin air. For some reason, she suddenly felt at ease. It was as if, as long as he was there, everything could be settled... Shaking her head, Kawasaki Saki kicked that illusion out of her mind. The familiar texture of the Demon-Slaying Sword came from his hand. Hikigaya Hachiman nodded at Kawasaki Saki, then followed the map's directions and walked toward the bathroom outside the living room. According to the system's scan results from just now, there was a low-level evil spirit lurking there. Pushing open the bathroom door, taking advantage of the lingering sunlight, Hikigaya Hachiman clearly saw an evil spirit that looked like an octopus quietly resting at the top of the bathroom. When Hikigaya Hachiman pushed the door open and came in, the evil spirit immediately lowered its head curiously. After all, this was a residence, and although it had been here for many days, this evil spirit had never seen a human other than Kawasaki Saki's family before. However, while the evil spirit was scrutinizing the stranger who had invaded its territory, it suddenly caught sight of the blue-glowing Demon-Slaying Sword in his hand. Like an animal frightened, the octopus-like evil spirit suddenly curled its body into a ball. Then it quickly expanded and lunged at Hikigaya Hachiman! Hikigaya Hachiman was not at all shaken by this deception from the evil spirit. The sunlight had not yet disappeared, so a low-level evil spirit couldn't cause him any harm! Sure enough, as Hikigaya Hachiman observed carefully, he saw that after the octopus-like evil spirit inflated and lunged at him, a small ball of black substance darted toward the ventilation shaft. Without any hesitation, Hikigaya Hachiman directly threw the Demon-Slaying Sword in his hand. The aim was good! Although it was the first time throwing a weapon, the Demon-Slaying Sword perfectly nailed the evil spirit to the wall. But looking at how the blade was completely embedded in the wall, Hikigaya Hachiman twitched his eyelid. Would Kawasaki Saki ask him for compensation? After all, he was at least voluntarily helping to exorcise spirits... "Ding! Successfully exorcised a low-level evil spirit, gained 50 spirit coins!" Just as Hikigaya Hachiman was worrying, the cold voice of the system suddenly sounded in his mind. Looking up at the wall, sure enough, the black shadow that had been struggling nailed to the wall had now turned into a wisp of black gas, gradually dissipating into the air. "Pretty easy." Unexpectedly, Hikigaya Hachiman felt a bit elated in his heart as he realized he had exorcised this octopus-like low-level evil spirit with just one strike. Using the wall to kick off with his legs, he pulled the Demon-Slaying Sword out of the wall and walked out of the bathroom. Outside the door, Kawasaki Saki was looking at him with a face full of astonishment. "Done?" Seeing Hikigaya Hachiman looking calm and unbothered, Kawasaki Saki asked suspiciously. Earlier, she had only heard some slight noises from outside, then nothing at all from the bathroom. "Done!" "But that speed is a bit too fast, right?" Kawasaki Saki naturally wanted to believe Hikigaya Hachiman. After all, the scene she saw yesterday afternoon was not fake. It was just that Hikigaya Hachiman's speed in dealing with the evil spirit was so fast that she felt unreal. "Do you want me to make it harder?" Hearing Kawasaki Saki's words, Hikigaya Hachiman was somewhat amused and annoyed. He was now an advanced exorcist; naturally, dealing with low-level evil spirits like these minions was a one-hit job. If there had been an evil spirit worth taking seriously in Kawasaki Saki's house, she probably would have been dead long ago, and there would have been no chance to ask him for help. "That's true..." Kawasaki Saki nodded in agreement. After dealing with the evil spirit in the bathroom, the first floor was completely safe. Looking at the remaining four evil spirits on the map, Hikigaya Hachiman wanted to rush upstairs with the Demon-Slaying Sword and, taking advantage of the fact that evil spirits couldn't attack under sunlight, exorcise them all! "Wait!" However, just as Hikigaya Hachiman was about to act, Kawasaki Saki suddenly reached out and blocked his way. "What's wrong?" Hikigaya Hachiman looked at Kawasaki Saki confused and asked. Could it be that there was some family privacy on the second floor, and he wasn't allowed up? "Are you just going to go up like that?" Kawasaki Saki pointed at the Demon-Slaying Sword in Hikigaya Hachiman's hand and questioned. Her younger sister and brother were both upstairs. If Hikigaya Hachiman rushed up with the sword like that, it would definitely scare them. "Uh, I forgot about that..." Embarrassed, Hikigaya Hachiman scratched his head, sheathed the Demon-Slaying Sword, then lifted his foot to head upstairs again. But Kawasaki Saki blocked him again. "If you don't have a weapon, how are you planning to deal with those ghosts? With your fists?" Kawasaki Saki looked expressionlessly at Hikigaya Hachiman, suspecting whether this guy had been swapped with the ghost from the bathroom. How did his intelligence suddenly go offline? "Then what do you suggest?" Hikigaya Hachiman instantly deflated, shoulders slumping as he looked at Kawasaki Saki and asked. "Of course, call them down first, then you go up!" Kawasaki Saki looked at the fool in front of her with disbelief, then went upstairs. In a short while, she came back down with Kawasaki Keika and another unfamiliar little boy. "All right, you can go up now..." After settling her younger brother and sister in the living room, Kawasaki Saki came out and allowed Hikigaya Hachiman to go upstairs. But before Hikigaya Hachiman had even taken a few steps up the stairs, she suddenly called out to him. "What now?" Hikigaya Hachiman's face showed a trace of helplessness. By the time Kawasaki Saki said this, he could have already gone upstairs and cleared those evil spirits. "Be careful yourself..." After staring at Hikigaya Hachiman for a while, Kawasaki Saki suddenly warned. Then she went into the living room, closed the wooden door quietly, and waited for news from Hikigaya Hachiman. "What an insincere guy..." Hearing Kawasaki Saki's concern, Hikigaya Hachiman smiled and shook his head. The Demon-Slaying Sword appeared in his hand again, and he slowly moved upstairs. In the eyes of ordinary people, the second floor of Kawasaki Saki's house was just a regular home, except for slightly poor lighting. However, in Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes, it looked very different. He saw four evil spirits roaming freely in the rooms on the second floor. Like the octopus evil spirit before, when they saw Hikigaya Hachiman go upstairs, they cast curious looks at him, but after seeing the weapon in his hand, they began to run away frantically. "Really an easy job..." Watching the evil spirits flying around the room in disorder, Hikigaya Hachiman couldn't help but sigh. Before acquiring the system, if he could see evil spirits, he probably would have been as scared as Kawasaki Saki. But now, holding the Demon-Slaying Sword, seeing the evil spirits that once acted so arrogantly fleeing in front of him felt completely natural. Is this what having strength looks like? Thinking this, Hikigaya Hachiman casually slashed at an evil spirit that accidentally came close to him. The evil spirit immediately howled in pain and dissolved into a wisp of black smoke, disappearing from this world. Hearing the system's voice in his mind, Hikigaya Hachiman looked up at the three remaining evil spirits in front of him, as if he understood something.