Leaving Kuoh Town, Morpheus returned to Tokyo that same day.
As soon as he arrived, a prayer reached his ears.
"Lord Morpheus, this is the money I earned today. Please accept it."
Morpheus recognized the voice—it belonged to none other than his recent devotee, the diligent worker Nanami Aoyama.
In the next moment, several stacks of 10,000-yen bills appeared in his hand.
About 300,000 yen.
No small sum.
Converted to another currency, it was roughly 2,000 dollars.
Their deal was a fifty-fifty split, so if Nanami gave him 300,000 yen, she must still have 300,000 yen herself.
And it had only been a few days since she became his devotee.
She'd earned this much already.
Impressive progress.
Morpheus had thought it would take her a few more days to get the ball rolling.
It seemed he'd underestimated Nanami Aoyama. As expected of the "part-time warrior," Her work ethic was not to be trifled with.
But then, a thought struck him.
Had Nanami really split the earnings evenly?
What if, with her personality, she'd given him eighty percent of her income?
It didn't seem impossible.
Morpheus's eyes glinted. He decided to check on her. Turning to Medea and Paracelsus, he said, "You two head back to the Umbrella branch. I'll join you later."
Medea and Paracelsus nodded and parted ways with him.
Morpheus went to find Nanami Aoyama.
As her divine patron, locating her was effortless.
Soon enough, he found her in a massage parlor.
Huh?
Morpheus paused, surprised. He hadn't expected Nanami to quit her convenience store job and start working at a massage parlor.
For a moment, he didn't know how to react.
Working for someone else—how much could that earn?
To make real money, you had to be your own boss.
Nanami, Nanami, don't you get that?
Morpheus chuckled wryly and pushed open the door to the parlor, only to find it nearly empty.
Just one person inside.
Nanami Aoyama.
"Lord Morpheus?"
She froze, not expecting him to show up.
Morpheus glanced around the parlor. His first impression was simplicity—stark simplicity.
This place couldn't compare to high-end massage parlors.
If he had to describe it, one was professional, and this was… makeshift.
With only Nanami here, Morpheus had a hunch.
"Nanami, don't tell me you opened this place?"
Nanami gave a shy smile. "I'm afraid I've made a fool of myself, Lord Morpheus."
Her words confirmed it—this was her shop.
Morpheus was surprised. Though the place was modest, this was Tokyo. It wasn't Ginza or Shinjuku, but the foot traffic here was decent.
How had Nanami managed to open a shop?
Was she secretly loaded?
In the original story, Nanami worked tirelessly to fund her voice acting dreams, hardly seeming wealthy.
It looked like the plot had shifted again.
Morpheus pulled up a chair and sat, asking Nanami how she'd started this massage parlor.
Eager to share, Nanami recounted her entrepreneurial journey.
After becoming Morpheus's devotee and gaining supernatural powers, she decided to follow his guidance to earn money.
She quit all her part-time jobs and set out to open a massage parlor.
But when she checked her savings from years of work, she realized it wasn't nearly enough to start a business.
So, how could she raise the funds?
After some thought, Nanami decided to take out a loan.
With her supernatural abilities, she was confident her parlor would thrive.
As long as she could open the shop, she'd make money.
Even a loan could be paid off.
So, she went to a bank to apply for one.
But as an ordinary high school girl with no property or collateral, she had no chance of securing a bank loan.
Just when her plan seemed doomed, a bank employee offered her a way out.
He'd experienced Nanami's massage and found it extraordinary.
He was convinced she'd succeed.
But as a mere employee, not the bank president, he couldn't bend the rules.
Nanami was, frankly, penniless and didn't meet the bank's loan criteria.
Still, he believed in her remarkable talent and brainstormed solutions.
He suggested a private loan.
In other words, a high-interest loan.
Truthfully, Nanami was wary of such loans.
Though just a high schooler, she knew they were a dangerous pitfall.
Once you fell in, climbing out was no easy feat.
So, she refused.
But the employee offered another path.
He recommended a job: haunted house tester.
In Tokyo's Mihama Town, murders were frequent.
When someone died in a house, its value plummeted.
Even renting it out became nearly impossible.
Thus, the job of haunted house tester was born.
A tester would sleep in the house for a few days, and the real estate agency would then market it to the next tenant, claiming the previous occupant was a vibrant high school girl.
They'd conveniently omit the part about the tenant before that dying there.
This way, the house could be rented at a normal price.
Nanami's eyes lit up at the suggestion.
As Morpheus's devotee, with supernatural powers, she feared no evil spirits—why would she fear a haunted house?
This job was perfect for her.
She immediately declared she'd take on the most haunted house available.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (removespace)