Chapter 146: If He Weren't My Teacher, I'd Punch Him!
Thanks to the dark circles beneath Kasumizuki's eyes, Luke genuinely worried she might suddenly fall asleep and get herself killed by one of the dangerous objects.
So he stayed behind to assist her.
"Why does this thing keep targeting me?"
Luke stared speechlessly at the endless strands of black hair wrapped around his neck.
"Wasn't it supposed to prefer killing women? Why is it so obsessed with me?"
He was not particularly worried about suffocating.
The real problem was the overwhelming smell of blood clinging to the hair.
If that scent followed him home, his two sharp-nosed maids would immediately notice.
Honestly, perfume was never a problem.
But the slightest smell of blood would make Mikasa and Annie interrogate him endlessly, then practically strip him down to check whether he was injured.
"You definitely did something terrible to her…"
Beside him, Kuchisake-onna used her scissors to cut away the hair winding around his neck while glancing toward the evil spirit holding an umbrella.
Its long hair concealed most of its body.
Its skin was an unnatural blue-purple, almost as though it had been soaked in some strange dye.
The creature was so thin that "skin and bones" barely described it.
Bony fingers held the umbrella handle, while an ominous aura poured from its entire body.
Beneath the canopy, dense black hair concealed pure malice—
A desire to tear Luke into pieces.
Nothing about it resembled a normal human.
Ah.
Of course.
It was not human anymore.
Luke hurriedly denied Kuchisake-onna's accusation.
"Baseless slander is unacceptable. I never used violence against her. I'm completely innocent."
Kuchisake-onna cut through another wave of attacking hair.
She immediately remembered the day she had finally defeated a group of middle-school students and was preparing to enjoy a celebratory cigarette—
Only for this exorcist to nearly punch her body in half.
"Pfft!"
Kuchisake-onna could not suppress a scoff.
"I genuinely never attacked this one."
Heaven and earth could testify that Luke was telling the truth this time.
"I don't believe you."
"Seriously. Haven't you seen how its ability works?"
Luke began explaining.
"The longer someone holds that umbrella, the longer their hair grows."
"That hair acts as a medium connecting the realm of the dead with reality."
"When it becomes long enough for the umbrella spirit to entangle with the holder, the spirit wraps that person in their own hair until they suffocate."
"To outsiders, it simply looks like someone strangling themselves with their own hair and attempting suicide."
"So this evil spirit particularly favors people with long hair."
"So?" Kuchisake-onna asked, confused.
"The umbrella is completely safe as long as it remains closed."
Kasumizuki supplied the rest of the story.
"So he rented it to several wealthy bald businessmen and made a fortune."
She rose from the sofa and stretched.
"Mm. He really didn't attack it."
"This one's finished."
As soon as Kasumizuki said that, the black hair wrapped around Luke's neck scattered and vanished into the air.
It was as though the floor covered in black strands had merely been an illusion.
"Can we take a break, lady?"
Beside Kasumizuki, the branch leader responsible for helping evil spirits find "new employment" looked as exhausted as a dead donkey.
"Fine. Let's rest for a while."
Kasumizuki rubbed the dark circles beneath her eyes.
"Why hasn't my food arrived yet?"
Ding-dong.
"Ah! That must be my delivery."
Kasumizuki eagerly opened the villa door.
Standing outside were the two young delivery girls—
Yotsuya Miko and Niguredo Yuria.
"Here! Your food!"
Yuria shoved the pizza box directly into Kasumizuki's hands.
'Who knew buying this woman food would mean getting off early and walking all this way?'
Yuria wiped away her sweat, exhausted.
Beside her, Miko carried several large cups of iced coffee.
"Oh, thanks, thanks."
Kasumizuki stuffed some money into their hands and immediately returned to the sofa to eat.
"Sensei~"
Miko removed her tan-strapped sandals, slipped into the house slippers, and slowly approached Luke.
"What are you two doing here?"
Luke asked curiously.
However, seeing Miko's bright yet faintly resentful gaze, he quickly understood.
She kept shifting on her feet as though unable to contain herself, even her toes moving restlessly inside the slippers.
"Sorry. I haven't visited you these past few days."
Luke changed the subject and placed a hand on Miko's head, gently rubbing her hair.
"Mm~"
The unhappiness Miko had accumulated since their last date vanished almost instantly.
She peacefully narrowed her eyes beneath his hand and released a comfortable sound.
Luke did not understand the principle behind it.
But after testing it on both maids, he had confirmed that head pats were remarkably effective at removing negative emotions.
"Uh…"
Yuria stared strangely at them.
The whole scene felt inexplicable.
"Niguredo, want one too?"
"No!"
Yuria immediately shook her head like a rattle drum.
"No need to be shy. Consider it a reward for diligently searching for haunted locations these past few days."
Ignoring her protests, Luke pressed a hand onto her head and began rubbing it as well.
"Who wants that kind of reward?! Mm~"
After thoroughly messing up Yuria's hair, Luke left the two dazed girls behind and approached Kasumizuki, who was eating pizza and drinking coffee.
"Hey. Why did you drag those two into this?"
Luke lowered his voice.
Modifying exorcism tools was not necessarily a massive affair, but it was hardly trivial either.
If something went wrong, there was no telling what kind of disaster it might cause.
"They've already stepped into this world."
Kasumizuki glanced at him.
"You can't keep them under your protection forever. Eventually, they need to become independent."
She offered him the pizza box.
"Want a slice?"
"Sure."
Luke picked up a slice covered in white and dark toppings.
"I understand that, but there's nothing they can really help with here today, right?"
He took a bite.
"Eh? Why does this taste like chocolate?"
"It's marshmallow chocolate pizza…"
Kasumizuki continued, "Also, who said I wanted them involved in this?"
She tossed a stack of files onto the table.
"Here. I specifically organized these recent supernatural incident reports while you were refusing to leave."
Luke picked up the files and began reading.
They documented several serious incidents caused by evil spirits.
Times, locations, and detailed descriptions of what happened were all included.
After quickly scanning them, Luke closed the folder.
"You want me to take those two along, deal with these evil spirit incidents, and collect any exorcism tools we find along the way?"
"More or less."
Kasumizuki nodded.
"I originally planned to organize everything properly and give it to you later."
"But since you're free today, you can take part of the list now."
She added casually, "There's a bonus for each case, so don't worry. I'm not making you work for free."
Luke considered it.
He glanced toward Miko and Yuria, who was currently fixing the hair he had ruined.
"Fine. That works."
After finally straightening her hair, Yuria raised her round face and muttered,
"If he weren't my teacher, I'd punch him."
"Come on, don't be angry, Yuria-chan."
Miko smiled and comforted her.
However, she quietly turned her gaze away.
'Mm…'
'Having my head patted actually feels really nice.'
…
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