Chapter 36: The Cheerful Employer

"You're saying there's something wrong with this request?" Kawasaki Saki wasn't stupid. As soon as she heard what Hikigaya Hachiman said, she immediately understood what he was getting at. "I wouldn't say that exactly..." Staring at the house in front of him, Hikigaya Hachiman shook his head. The system had only alerted him that a high-level evil spirit was present inside the house. That didn't necessarily mean the whole request was a trap set by the spirit. After all, ordinary humans can't see evil spirits—let alone understand how strong or weak they are. Maybe the poor guy just mistook a high-level evil spirit in his house for a low-level one. That wasn't impossible. But if it were the latter case, then the client might already be in grave danger... "Your task for today ends here. Head back for now." Looking at the house, Hikigaya Hachiman decided to go in alone. After all, the last time he and Yotsuya Miko had encountered a high-level spirit with a bird head and human body, they'd gotten dragged into a high-level dungeon. He feared the same thing might happen again this time. For Kawasaki Saki's safety, it was best that she went home. She had pretty much completed her part of the mission anyway. "Then be careful..." Kawasaki Saki didn't argue with Hikigaya Hachiman's suggestion. She knew very well that, as an ordinary person, she wouldn't be of any help and might even become a burden to him. So, after quickly going over the client's information, she hurriedly left. Once Kawasaki Saki's figure had vanished from view, Hikigaya Hachiman turned his gaze back to the house. "Well then, let's find out what the real situation is..." Saying that, he walked up to the door and pressed the doorbell. After the bell rang, he heard footsteps approaching from a distance. Then, the doorknob turned, and a middle-aged man with stubble all over his face appeared in the crack of the door. "You are?" The middle-aged man looked at Hikigaya Hachiman, who was wearing a mask, with a confused expression. "I accepted your online request to exorcise a spirit." Using the voice modulation feature of his tactical suit, Hikigaya replied with the mature voice of a middle-aged man. "Oh! Please, come in..." Hearing where Hikigaya came from, the man's eyes lit up with excitement. He immediately opened the door wide and warmly invited Hikigaya inside. As soon as Hikigaya stepped into the house, a mountain of garbage came into view, accompanied by a foul, indescribable stench from the piles of trash. "Sorry about the mess..." Seeing Hikigaya cover his nose, the man scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Mm, it's fine." Hikigaya twitched the corner of his mouth. Calling this "a bit messy" was an understatement—this was a garbage dump, plain and simple. But since he had already accepted the deposit, Hikigaya had no choice but to finish the job quickly and get out of this foul-smelling place. With that thought, Hikigaya turned to the man and asked, "Where do you most frequently see the spirit?" "Spirit? Oh, you mean that shadow I kept seeing?" The man was stunned for a moment, then his expression cleared with understanding. "So that thing is called a spirit, huh? Wow, I guess ghosts really do exist in this world..." "You didn't believe in ghosts before?" This time, Hikigaya was the one surprised. If he hadn't believed in ghosts, why had he posted a request online and even paid a 100,000-yen deposit? "I was just bored." The man shrugged and spoke in a relaxed tone. "After my entire family died in a car accident, I didn't know what to do with all that compensation money..." "I see." Although the man spoke calmly, Hikigaya could clearly hear the deep sorrow behind his words. "Well, it's all in the past now. The most important thing is to look ahead, right?" Perhaps feeling the mood had become too heavy, the man tried to lift the atmosphere with some forced cheer. "That's true, but if you pick the wrong path, you'll just get more and more stuck instead of moving forward..." After saying that, Hikigaya didn't wait for a response. He stepped over a pile of garbage and began exploring deeper into the house. Since the man hadn't given him any detailed information about the spirit's activity, Hikigaya decided to have the system scan the house for the spirit's location. But to his surprise, the system told him it couldn't scan the area! This was the first time he'd encountered such a problem. His previously relaxed demeanor instantly vanished, replaced by tense vigilance. Back in the high-level dungeon—Sobu High School—the system hadn't reported any scan issues. But now that he was already inside, there was no way he could just turn around and leave. Even if he wanted to, the high-level spirit hiding somewhere in the house would never let such a tasty treat get away. "So it's either me or it today, huh?" Hikigaya smiled bitterly at the thought. What kind of crap was this? He just wanted to take on some exorcism requests, earn some spirit coins and side income. How did his very first job land him face-to-face with such a powerful spirit? Was his luck really that terrible? Following his usual routine, Hikigaya first checked the kitchen and bathroom on the first floor. To his disappointment, he didn't find any traces of the spirit in the bathroom—usually a favorite haunt for evil spirits. As for the living room? It was already buried under a mountain of trash, and on top of that, the garbage reeked of rotting meat. Unless absolutely necessary, Hikigaya wasn't going in there. After searching the first floor, he returned to the hallway. "Well? Did you find the spirit?" The man was still sitting in the trash-filled corridor. Seeing Hikigaya return, he looked at him with curiosity. "..." Looking at the man's calm expression, clearly unaware of his dire situation, Hikigaya felt a complicated mix of emotions. "There were no signs on the first floor. I'm going to check upstairs..." "Go ahead, feel free. Since I hired you, you're welcome to go anywhere in the house. Just... if possible, leave the room at the end of the second-floor hallway for last—that's where my family's memorial tablets are." "Of course." Surprisingly, the man was easy to talk to. Out of gratitude, Hikigaya agreed immediately. He had to check every room anyway, so leaving the memorial room for last wasn't a problem.