Chapter 8: 13 Points of Strength!
Miura Yumiko took a deep breath.
Mentally, she found it hard to accept letting a male classmate into her bedroom, but in the end, she could only let out a helpless sigh.
"Fine. B-but let me say this first, you're not allowed to just look around randomly!"
"Don't worry, about your concerns... Please trust my professional ethics. I'm a new-era exorcist with a 100% positive review rate."
Luke showed Miura Yumiko a picture of his client reviews.
The page full of positive comments stunned Miura Yumiko.
Miura-san (mother) covered her mouth, chuckling 'hehe'.
Miura Yumiko was also somewhat amazed.
"You actually printed all these out?"
Luke put the picture back in his bag, explaining the reason: "After all, I'm too young. Some people mistakenly believe older exorcists are more capable, so I always need some external proof to dispel doubts and make my work easier."
"Fine." Miura Yumiko stood in front of her room, took a few deep breaths, mustered her courage, and pushed the door open.
Then, she clenched her fists tightly and stared fixedly at Luke, like a little kitten whose territory had been invaded.
"Let me see."
Without waiting for Miura Yumiko to ramble further, he quickly took his position and surveyed the entire bedroom through the small gap in his fist.
The room was pink-themed.
A large white dog plushie sat on the bed, cozy decorative pictures hung on the walls, and a soft carpet covered the entire floor.
Beside a delicate little table stood a uniquely shaped lamp.
The whole space radiated youth and dreams.
He hadn't expected that Miura Yumiko, who meticulously styled herself to look mature, would have a room so overflowing with girlishness.
A room full of life, yet without the abnormalities he was looking for.
Luke lowered his fist.
He hadn't detected any evil spirits through his special observation method.
Not only were there no evil spirits, but there were no related traces either.
Since that was the case, Luke waved his hand in the air twice, seemingly out of nowhere.
Under the cover of this distracting movement, a talisman appeared in his hand, which he stuck onto the lintel above Miura Yumiko's bedroom door.
"Please take me to see the other rooms."
The next few rooms were the same; he didn't see any ghosts.
He could only stick talismans on the lintels of each bedroom door.
These were his cheapest talismans, very simple to make, but their function was irreplaceable.
They were designed to detect evil spirits; if one appeared nearby, the talisman would activate and spontaneously combust.
He walked through the entire house again but still found nothing out of the ordinary.
Luke thought for a moment, then took out his phone to review his conversation with Miura-san (mother).
He couldn't be entirely sure if the strange situations Miura Yumiko encountered in this seemingly ordinary house were just their imagination or if an evil spirit truly existed.
Therefore, he could only choose the safest approach for now.
"Miura Yumiko, when do you usually notice the abnormalities?" Luke carefully asked Miura Yumiko for details.
Miura Yumiko thought for a moment, then answered, "I usually feel an unusual atmosphere before falling asleep at night or when I wake up in the middle of the night. The room seems to have a sense of oppression. Sometimes I even hear strange sounds, like someone whispering."
Based on his experience, it didn't quite seem like the work of an evil spirit.
Because if an evil spirit wanted to affect reality, it would usually leave traces.
A room filled with human presence would have some of that presence erased by the spirit's abnormality.
But right now, he hadn't seen any traces of an evil spirit in any room.
So, his judgment leaned more towards it being Miura Yumiko's imagination.
And if it really was Miura Yumiko's imagination, he wondered if he should tactfully suggest Miura Yumiko get her head checked by a psychiatrist?
But saying that would probably get him beaten up easily.
He glanced at the wary Miura Yumiko.
So, after careful consideration, he took out a few more talismans from his bag.
"I didn't find any abnormal traces in the rooms... but I can't be certain it's all Miura Yumiko's illusion either. That's why I placed these talismans on the lintels of each room. If an evil spirit causes trouble, the talismans will burn. You should stick these few talismans around as well."
His explanation was already very detailed.
"Okay, thank you," Miura-san (mother) accepted his talismans.
Luke put away the items in his hand.
"Since Miura-san (mother) is my classmates's mom, I'll give you a discount this time. Only 5000 yen will be fine."
Miura-san (mother) didn't speak, but Miura Yumiko said resentfully, "You didn't even really do anything, right? And you're charging 5000 yen?!"
"Miura Yumiko, my appearance fee is quite expensive. This price is already the absolute lowest I can go." Luke scratched his head.
"But you... Ouch!"
"Yumiko—!" Miura-san (mother) lightly tapped Miura Yumiko on the head, who let out a cute yelp.
"Sorry, Yumiko was a bit rude. Please take this." Miura-san (mother) handed him a large bill.
"It's fine."
Luke indicated it didn't matter, happily accepting the banknote and watching his mission progress become 5000/500000.
After changing his shoes, he didn't forget to add a reminder: "Remember to check the number of talismans every day. If any have burned, please contact me by phone immediately."
"Okay, take care."
"Goodbye."
...
After things wrapped up at the Miura residence, he went to two other houses to perform exorcisms. One of them actually did have an evil spirit lurking, which he took care of easily.
His busy day finally came to an end, and he could rest peacefully.
Luke walked along the usual path home.
As he approached the small park closest to his house, just as usual, he unsurprisingly saw Mikasa waiting for him there every day, along with Annie sitting on a swing nearby, so bored she was about to fall asleep.
This situation had been going on for a long time.
The two of them waited here for him almost religiously, rain or shine.
Just like always, he handed his backpack to Mikasa and made the same old request to both Mikasa and Annie: "I've told you guys you don't need to wait for me. Just eat at home."
Hearing his voice, Annie lowered the hands cupping her face and walked over, wearing her standard expressionless face.
"Give it up. She won't listen to you about this."
"You're already tired from work. We should help share some of the burden," Mikasa also said nonchalantly.
Luke shrugged his shoulders and stretched lazily.
"Fine, fine. Let's go, let's head back. Today was really exhausting. Those three houses were farther than the last. Rushing around made my legs feel like jelly. Even walking is a pain now... Huh?"
Luke hadn't even finished speaking when the world suddenly spun sickeningly before his eyes.
When his vision settled, he found himself being held in Mikasa's arms, princess-carry style.
Annie calmly caught the backpack Mikasa tossed over.
After hearing the boy say that, she had already guessed this would be the result.
Luke said speechlessly, "Mikasa, put me down!"
Annie walked ahead calmly.
Mikasa, however, showed no reaction and simply carried him towards home, letting him struggle all he wanted.
His 13 points of Strength were like an ant before Mikasa; all his struggles seemed ridiculous.
Besides, he estimated that even if his Strength reached 20 points in the future, Mikasa would still treat him like a fragile vase.
...
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