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Whummm.
The spear sliced through the air with a sharp hum.
A shaft of radiant light—blessed with divine power—pierced clean through the forehead of a wandering spirit. With a faint hiss, the creature dissolved into black ash and scattered on the wind.
"Phew... that makes thirty-three today, right?"
Miko Yotsuya wiped the sweat off her forehead, her cheeks flushed red as she panted lightly.
"Thirty-four," corrected Mai Sakurajima, taking a sip of an energy drink. "But compared to yesterday, it feels harder today since the spirits are all scattered around. Makes it more tiring."
She normally wouldn't touch canned caffeine like this, but between dehydration and fatigue, she'd been forced to change her habits. Still, her endurance was nothing like it used to be. Not long ago, running even a kilometer would've been a joke; now, she had nearly ten under her belt in just half a day.
"What a pain..." Mai sighed. "Sure, there are lots of spirits, but most of them gather where people are. If we wanna practice properly, we have to go hunt them somewhere less crowded."
Outside of hospitals, the city's office towers were the worst hotspots. Packed with wage slaves grinding through endless overtime, the buildings practically overflowed with restless dead. Japan's yearly numbers for overwork deaths and suicides were among the highest in the world, and the spirits of those poor souls stuck around in droves.
But in broad daylight? No way they could just storm into downtown swinging holy spears.
Normal people couldn't see the spirits, sure—but they could see them. If someone filmed the girls jabbing glowing lances into thin air, moving at impossible speeds, the next morning's headlines would write themselves.
"Honestly, the one working the hardest is Lord Rosen," Miko said softly, looking at the man seated a short distance away. "He's the one dragging us all over the place."
"Yeah... we're supposed to be his familiars, but instead we're making him babysit us. It feels wrong."
"If you feel guilty, then just think of a way to repay him," Mai replied simply.
"Repay him? But... how? I have no idea what Lord Rosen even likes."
Miko's puzzled face made Mai remember their first meeting, when Rosen had given her a very particular smile after seeing her in that black-stockings bunny girl outfit.
That memory made a shiver run down her spine. Her legs shifted awkwardly, toes curling against the grass. And yet... strange as it was, she didn't actually feel disgusted by the thought. If anything, there was a faint, dangerous spark of anticipation in her chest.
Mai quickly shoved that thought away. That's not me. That's not what I really think.
"Right, I've got it!" Miko suddenly said, brightening. "Lord Rosen always lives alone, right? Meals must be such a hassle. I could just make him lunchboxes every morning and bring them to him!"
Because her mom was always busy with work, Miko had picked up plenty of self-sufficiency skills. She wasn't a master chef, but she could whip up solid homemade meals without breaking a sweat.
"That could work," Mai admitted. "But if you start bringing him bentos every day, people might, y'know, misunderstand your relationship."
"M-Misunderstand? Then let them!" Miko blurted, cheeks pink. "I really admire Lord Rosen anyway!"
Truthfully, though, a tiny part of her didn't mind the idea of being misunderstood at all.
Rosen, sitting not too far away, heard every word of their exchange. He chose not to comment, only rising to his feet.
"Regular spirits aren't really a threat to you anymore," he said. "It's time for your next level of training."
He led them to a park.
It was the weekend, so the place was dotted with parents watching their kids laugh and play. The sound of children's voices filled the air with warmth—but the girls quickly noticed the truth.
Among the crowds were plenty of spirits, loitering silently. Some had even disguised themselves, blending in disturbingly well.
One spirit wore a clown costume, grinning too wide. Another took the shape of a little child, wandering between families, asking over and over in a flat, mechanical tone: "Can you see me?"
If anyone answered, the illusion would drop in an instant—the harmless facade replaced by a screaming specter dragging its victim to the grave.
Rosen remembered: in the original story, Miko Yotsuya had once been completely fooled by this very kind of spirit. If not for her contract with the false mountain god, which had dispatched a fox spirit to protect her, she would have died then and there.
"Lord Rosen... why did you bring us here?" Miko asked carefully, avoiding the spirits' eyes for now.
Even though they had already noticed her, she no longer panicked. With her growing strength, she could meet their gaze without giving herself away.
"This is your next lesson," Rosen explained. "Learning how to exorcise spirits in a crowd without drawing attention. Real life doesn't give you the luxury of empty streets. You'll need to act in situations like this, where everyone's watching."
"..."
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