"This is…"
Arthur's spiritual sense swept across a kilometer radius, and two particularly unusual presences caught his attention.
Judging by their traits, they were human.
One of them had powerful spiritual energy—strong life force, at least compared to ordinary humans.
The other also possessed strong life energy, but hers felt… concealed. Not blatantly exposed like the first.
And near the two, Arthur sensed the presence of an evil spirit.
"Interesting."
Since his curiosity was piqued, Arthur immediately shifted direction.
Time to take a look.
Maybe this was connected to that yet-unconfirmed yōkai world.
The targets were nearly nine hundred meters away and still moving.
About fifteen minutes later—
He found them.
Two girls, looking about fifteen or sixteen, unmistakably high school students.
One had short orange hair, with her bangs swept to the side and pinned with a red hairclip.
Fair-skinned and strikingly pretty.
But compared to her face, her figure was even more eye-catching.
The way her uniform stretched over her chest formed curves like proud twin peaks—ample and generous.
Beside her was a girl with long black hair down to her waist, its tips fading into violet.
Delicate features, proper and refined.
And eyes like molten amber—golden and beautiful.
Undoubtedly a stunning beauty.
Her chest was comparatively modest, but small could be cute too.
She had faint dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn't been sleeping well.
The moment Arthur saw their appearances and traits, he instantly knew who they were.
The long-haired girl was Miko Yotsuya—protagonist of the Mieruko-chan world.
One day, she suddenly gained the ability of "spiritual sight," letting her see and hear entities from the hidden world.
Unfortunately, almost all of those entities were grotesque evil spirits.
To survive, she had to pretend not to see them, suppressing her fear and staying calm at all costs.
The orange-haired girl was her best friend, Hana Yurikawa.
She possessed a special constitution.
Not only was her life force far stronger than ordinary humans, but she could also replenish it simply by eating.
Which often made her a target for evil spirits.
Whenever her life energy was unnaturally drained, she would feel hungry—turning into a bottomless foodie.
But if too much was consumed, it could become life-threatening.
Right now, she had indeed been targeted.
A hideous evil spirit was trailing behind her, slowly siphoning away her life force.
Miko glanced at it out of the corner of her eye, her pupils trembling—
And then forced herself to look away.
She could only pretend not to see it.
Her best friend was being preyed upon, yet she was utterly powerless.
Alongside her helplessness came the instinctive terror.
The spirits were just too terrifying. How could she not be afraid?
But she also didn't want to die.
God, why do you make me see such horrible things? Someone, please, save me…
Miko screamed silently in her heart.
The constant horrors lately had pushed her near the breaking point.
Meanwhile, Hana was completely oblivious to her own danger.
Feeling a little hungry, she pulled a chocolate bar from her bag and offered it to Miko.
"Miko, want one?"
She held it out in front of her.
"No, thank you."
Miko, still feigning calm, shook her head lightly.
"Alright then."
Smiling, Hana happily started eating.
As she munched, her weakening life force suddenly flared back up, like adding firewood to a flame.
So much so that the evil spirit shuddered in discomfort.
It had to retreat some distance, waiting for her life force to stabilize before resuming its feeding.
It opened its toothless maw, streams of black mist swirling inside like a vortex, slowly drawing Hana's life away.
"…Guess it's my cue."
Watching the scene, Arthur smiled faintly and walked toward them.
Soon, the three crossed paths.
"Hello."
Arthur stopped and greeted them.
"Uh—hi!"
His sudden approach startled both Miko and Hana.
Whoa, he's so handsome!
Hana was struck dumb for a moment, inwardly dazzled by him.
She couldn't help but ask aloud:
"Um, do you… need something from us?"
Miko stayed quiet, scrutinizing Arthur with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
Her attention naturally focused on him—after all, her experience told her that as long as she didn't let spirits notice she could see them, they wouldn't hurt her.
So the best way was to shift her focus and act like she saw nothing else.
The two girls looked at Arthur—yet neither felt repelled by his sudden approach.
How could they, when he looked like that?
Arthur smiled and said:
"My name's Arthur. You could say I'm a paranormal enthusiast. I was hoping to interview you two—if that's okay?"
When you were out in the world, your identity was whatever you claimed it to be.
"Paranormal enthusiast… interview us?"
Both Miko and Hana blinked in surprise.
Hana tilted her head, slightly stunned.
She hadn't expected someone so ridiculously handsome to be into spooky ghost stories. That was… unusual.
Her brows furrowed ever so slightly.
In truth, she disliked talking about ghosts.
The reason was simple—she was scared.
Meanwhile, Miko's pupils contracted the words "paranormal stories." Her fists clenched unconsciously.
It was a reflexive reaction.
Hana noticed and looked at her.
"Miko, is that okay?"
Clearly, she was asking if the interview was fine.
"Miko?"
She saw her friend distracted, so she called again.
"Ah…"
Miko snapped back to herself.
Seeing Hana's puzzled gaze, she quickly shook her head.
"No, no problem."
She then turned back toward Arthur—
Only to see him looking straight at her, with a smile that seemed… meaningful.
Their eyes met, and his star-like blue irises felt as though they could pierce her façade and peer into her very soul.
"??!!"
Miko's heart jolted violently.
A sudden panic, as if her secret had just been laid bare.
The feeling struck her out of nowhere.
With Miko's agreement, Hana turned back to Arthur and, suppressing her dislike of the topic, said:
"Okay, go ahead then."
"Oh, wait."
Something occurred to her, and she asked curiously:
"You said you're interviewing us, but… where's your equipment?"
On TV or online, interviewers always had cameras or at least a phone.
But Arthur had nothing on him.
He smiled at her. "I'm not that professional. Just a casual, verbal interview."
"Oh, I see."
Hana nodded in realization.
Glancing at Miko again, Arthur asked with a light smile:
"First question—are you afraid of ghosts?"
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