Chapter 325: A True Professional
John's voice immediately drew everyone's attention.
Nakamura Tsuna narrowed his eyes and carefully inspected the section of floor the priest was touching.
"Strange... I can't sense any spirit activity at all. How did he find something?"
Unlike most fraudulent mediums who relied on cheap tricks and empty theatrics, Nakamura genuinely possessed a special ability.
Ever since he was old enough to remember things, he had been able to see things other people couldn't.
Blinking dolls at amusement parks.
Shadows beneath the surface of pools.
Though he could only perceive vague masses of blurry energy, he had developed an intense curiosity toward them.
These "strange things" had filled his entire childhood.
Back then, Nakamura never considered them abnormal.
He had even treated them as companions.
Only after coming into contact with local monks and churches did he learn that the world contained things called spirits.
At the time, Nakamura had recently lost his job and felt completely directionless about the future.
So he immediately decided to throw himself into this new profession.
He volunteered at temples, enthusiastically participated in rituals, and constantly tried to demonstrate his unique abilities.
But gradually, Nakamura realized something.
Those monks couldn't see spirits at all.
They simply used "exorcisms" as excuses to charge higher fees.
The discovery infuriated him.
Why were amateurs allowed to make money doing this?!
Determined to prove himself, he secretly contacted one of the temple's former clients and promised to show them a "real spirit."
He had expected to receive a new commission.
Instead, when he attempted to communicate with the spirit, nothing responded.
As expected—
he was thrown out.
The temple even fired him afterward for "fraud."
"Hmph. Those bald thieves actually accused me of deception..."
Still unwilling to give up, Nakamura tried working independently.
Unfortunately, in Sakura District, most paranormal stories were mixed with urban legends and folklore.
And whenever people genuinely needed help, they preferred temples that at least looked professional.
As a result, Nakamura's business never took off.
Eventually, he could only survive by working at a convenience store.
That was—
until recently.
One day, Nakamura came across a public announcement from the Knights Order regarding supernatural phenomena.
At that moment, he realized his chance had finally arrived.
That very afternoon, he handed in his resignation.
Using the last of his savings, he bought himself an outfit that at least looked convincing.
Over the following days, he binge-watched paranormal documentaries and horror films from around the world, studying every possible explanation for the appearance of evil spirits.
He refused to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Eventually, he contacted a woman named Mia online.
She was a video content creator planning a paranormal exploration special.
The two hit it off immediately.
And thus, this haunted-house investigation was born.
What Nakamura hadn't expected—
was that the Church would send people here as well.
He wasn't worried about the young priest.
But the man with the chains was different.
The certainty in John's voice planted a seed of doubt in his heart.
Could his ability to sense spirits really be stronger than mine...?
---
Back in the present.
Tiny beads of sweat formed on Nakamura's forehead.
He glanced at Mia, already thinking about what excuse he could invent later.
Tpriestn priest moved again.
John gently set down his chains before lowering his head toward the floor.
"Mwah."
The sound of someone kissing the ground echoed through the room.
Nakamura: ???
Gideon: ???
Mia: ???
All three simultaneously froze.
Only Simon's camera reacted instantly, already zooming in for a close-up shot.
Gideon covered his face.
"What... are you doing?"
He had genuinely believed John had discovered the evil spirit hidden in the house.
"Establishing emotional resonance with the evil spirit."
John wiped saliva from the wooden floor.
"Every spirit possesses unique emotions. Only by understanding their suffering, feeling their pain, can we truly save these lost souls!"
Then, with astonishing tenderness, he added:
"Gideon, just wait. As the most affectionate member of the Corps, I'll definitely make it open its heart to me!"
The moment he finished speaking, John puckered his lips and lowered his head toward the floor again.
The room fell into deathly silence.
Gideon had completely petrified.
If someone gave him the chance to erase a memory right now, he would instantly delete the last thirty seconds.
It was true that soul-type Holy Arts required forming a connection with evil spirits.
But—
what the hell was "the most affectionate member of the Corps" supposed to mean?!
This was sexual harassment disguised as emotional therapy!
And how could he assume every evil spirit was female?!
What if the ghost turned out to be a child?!
Was the Church trying to spread its bad reputation into the afterlife too?!
The fact that the Vatican allowed such a title to exist without punishment was gross negligence!
And worst of all—
there were civilians watching.
This was basically the supernatural equivalent of public indecency.
At that moment, Gideon sensed two strange gazes on him.
Turning around, he saw Nakamura and Mia staring at him with expressions of profound concern.
"Hey... I only met this guy recently," Gideon immediately explained.
But the two of them silently took another step backward.
Gideon instantly understood the meaning in their eyes.
Those were the exact looks people reserved for dangerous perverts.
"Wait. This is definitely a misunderstanding."
He raised a hand desperately.
"Miss Mia, let's just go upstairs," Nakamura said calmly.
"We should finish filming and leave as soon as possible."
Mia hugged herself tightly and nodded from the side.
The two quickly gathered their equipment and headed upstairs, leaving Gideon frozen in place.
Well—
The camera was shoved directly into his face.
"Simon!" Mia's voice called from upstairs.
The cameraman immediately followed them.
But even while climbing the stairs, he kept the camera pointed at Gideon the entire time.
Only after Simon completely disappeared around the corner did the lens finally vanish.
Gideon's mouth twitched.
Originally, he had been fairly confident he could persuade them to abandon the red high heels.
But after John's performance, those two would never believe another word he said.
At best, they probably thought Gideon himself was planning some kind of creepy fetish ritual.
"Looks like I'll need another approach..."
He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
According to his original plan, the moment the evil spirit appeared, he would immediately strike.
With his current mastery of Holy Arts and sacred relics, he could deploy a sealing formation almost instantly.
That way, the spirit wouldn't detect Holy Power in advance and flee, while the three idiots would remain safe.
But now that the red shoes had appeared, the old plan was no longer reliable.
Given the absurdly powerful "laws" of horror films, the probability of things going wrong was now infinitely close to one hundred percent.
Gideon had no intention of getting caught unprepared.
So what else could he do...?
He slowly observed the surroundings.
Then suddenly, his eyes lit up.
Compared to North American horror films, the ghosts of Sakura District were far more terrifying.
Most evil spirits in American settings relied primarily on psychological attacks, influencing humans mentally and using them as mediums to affect reality.
Even those capable of direct violence usually required specific conditions—like Mary Shaw.
But Sakura District ghosts were completely different.
They shared one horrifying characteristic:
they killed constantly.
It didn't matter whether you had harmed anyone.
When your turn came—
you died.
Thinking daytime protected people from supernatural events?
Forget it.
Not only could ghosts appear during the day—
they could isolate you from everyone around you without warning.
And the classic horror rule of "hiding under the blanket keeps you safe"?
A complete joke.
These ghosts wouldn't just crawl into your blanket—
they'd use it to strangle you to death.
Absolutely no ghost ethics whatsoever.
"Even if they're the primary targets... I can't ignore the rest of the house."
With that thought, Gideon glanced toward the entrance hallway and immediately headed for the front door.
Meanwhile, John had already finished kissing the floor near the entrance.
He gulped several mouthfuls of water before turning his gaze toward the light switch on the living-room wall.
"What a sacred place..."
"This switch witnessed the exhaustion of the homeowners returning night after night."
He pressed his face against the wall and lovingly stroked the switch using his iron chains.
Not far away, Gideon stared at him with the exact expression one used for idiots.
After a brutal internal struggle, he finally decided to focus on more important matters.
---
Second floor of the haunted house.
"Mr. Nakamura, thank goodness you're here!"
"If I'd run into those two weirdos alone, I might actually have been tricked!"
Mia clung to Nakamura's sleeve with lingering fear.
Feeling the softness pressing against his arm, Nakamura's lips curled upward involuntarily.
"Hmph. Supernatural topics are trending now, so naturally shallow opportunists will appear, hoping to gain fame and money through bizarre behavior."
He adjusted his collar proudly.
"But communicating with spirits isn't something just anyone can do. It requires years of training and research."
Mia nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Mr. Nakamura... what should we do next?"
She nervously glanced around.
At least downstairs there had still been traces of evening light.
But the second floor was almost completely dark.
The windows were tightly sealed.
Dust coated the furniture.
The walls were stained and peeling.
An indescribable oppressive atmosphere filled the entire level.
Instinctively, Mia wanted to leave.
"Please put on the red high heels," Nakamura instructed.
"And then use this to prick your finger."
He handed her a small cloth pouch containing a silver needle and a bottle of alcohol.
"C-Cut my finger?"
Mia subconsciously clenched her hands.
"Do I really have to do that?"
Nakamura Tsuna leaned closer, his expression grave.
"Of course."
"In the histories of certain countries, red shoes symbolize joy and celebration. But..."
His tone suddenly shifted, turning dark and eerie.
"If the owner of those red shoes were to suffer a terrible tragedy on the very day of celebration—dying a violent, untimely death... then an incredibly powerful resentment would be born."
Mia swallowed nervously.
"And since red shoes are usually worn by women, while their color resembles blood..." Nakamura straightened again and looked at her meaningfully.
"Miss Mia fulfills those conditions perfectly."
"So as long as you smear your blood onto the shoes, the spirits will definitely notice you."
"M-Mr. Nakamura..." Mia hesitated, a trace of regret surfacing in her eyes. "Once the spirits appear... they won't attack us, right?"
Nakamura smiled calmly.
"Don't worry. These spirits have no consciousness—only instinctive desires. As long as they're fed properly, nothing will happen."
As he spoke, he pulled out another wrapped package.
A thick metallic smell of blood immediately spread through the room, making Mia wrinkle her nose.
"I prepared everything in advance. After all, I can't let your money go to waste."
Nearby, Simon immediately turned the camera toward the package again.
Mia was still hesitant, but the moment the lens pointed at her, she instinctively forced a bright smile onto her face.
"Hey everyone! We're back again! And this time, I'm about to perform a truly terrifying ritual..."
In the end, she decided to go through with it.
A moment later—
"Hiss..."
Mia frowned as she squeezed several drops of blood from her fingertip onto the red heels before hurriedly disinfecting the wound.
"This is part of the ritual too, everyone, so don't copy me~"
Even now, she still remembered to act pitiful for the camera.
None of the three noticed—
that in the dark corner near the ceiling, strands of black hair had quietly begun to emerge.
They writhed like living creatures, slowly stretching downward toward the humans below.
"Eww~ What's this?"
Mia suddenly wandered into one of the nearby rooms.
The other two followed after her, unintentionally avoiding the creeping black hair by mere inches.
Inside the bedroom, a large dark-red stain marked the floorboards, as though it had been there for many years.
"Perhaps this was left behind by one of the victims during the murder case," Nakamura guessed.
And for once—
he was almost entirely correct.
Mia's eyes lit up instantly.
Without hesitation, she sat directly atop the stain.
"These look like handprints! Which means... maybe the victim was sitting here exactly like I am now."
She pressed both hands onto the dark marks.
At the same time, the cut on her finger touched the ancient bloodstain.
The instant they made contact—
a faint bubbling sound echoed through the room.
But the noise was far too soft.
Neither Mia nor Nakamura heard it.
Simon, however, sensed something.
He immediately rotated the camera, slowly panning across the room.
As a professional cameraman, Simon understood one important truth:
certain "moments" might never repeat themselves.
So he carefully swept the lens through the darkness inch by inch.
Unfortunately, all he captured was the same decaying furniture and oppressive shadows.
He frowned slightly.
Was that just my imagination...?
After a moment, Simon shook his head and turned the camera back toward the other two.
And at the exact instant the lens moved away—
a black human head silently slid out from beneath the bed.
Simon never noticed.
---
First floor of the haunted house.
Crack... crack...
Gideon tore the entire wooden front door off its hinges.
"This house only has one exit. Even if an evil force tries trapping us inside, it won't be able to manipulate the lock mechanism anymore."
Just as he was about to throw the door outside, he noticed the raised entrance platform near the genkan.
"There's roughly a three-centimeter height difference here. Not enough to trip normally... but in an emergency..."
After a brief pause, Gideon placed the dismantled door flat across the entrance step.
To make absolutely sure it couldn't be restored into position, he deliberately snapped off part of the frame.
That way, even if supernatural forces somehow sealed the doorway again, there would still be a visible gap left open.
After finishing that task, Gideon headed toward the bathroom.
Turning sideways, he removed the old mirror hanging on the wall.
Since he already knew the house was haunted, there was no way he'd leave behind an object perfectly suited for evil spirits to hide inside.
He didn't cover it with cloth.
Nor did he smash it.
Anyone familiar with horror movie rules knew both of those were terrible ideas.
Instead, Gideon chose a third option.
He carried the mirror all the way to the alley entrance, dug through a nearby trash bin, and hastily created a disgusting sludge-like mixture which he smeared across the surface.
Only then did he toss the mirror into a concealed drainage ditch nearby.
That way, even if someone found it later, the filth covering the surface would probably discourage them from touching it.
And if someone still picked it up afterward—
well, Gideon could only silently wish them good luck.
Aside from these essential precautions, he also implemented several additional anti–Sakura District ghost measures.
For example—
he flipped every wooden bed upside down, ensuring there was no such thing as "under the bed."
Want to hide inside a wardrobe?
Heh.
He removed all the closet doors.
As for drains, blankets, and doors between rooms—
all of them were thrown into trash bins at the end of the street.
And not even together.
He deliberately discarded them in different directions.
Occasionally, passing pedestrians stopped to stare.
"Huh...? Is someone robbing this place?"
"No way. Ever since that incident, nobody's lived here. I think... someone just moved in."
"They're crazy enough to live here?!"
"Anyone tearing apart a house at dusk in this neighborhood obviously isn't sane."
"Hey, let's go. I don't want to run into that kind of lunatic..."
Meanwhile, Gideon returned to the haunted house once more.
Looking at the complete disaster zone he had created, a satisfied smile finally appeared on his face.
Then—
"AHHHHH—!"
A woman's scream suddenly rang out from upstairs.
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