Chapter 026. So It Wasn't Just a Rumor After All
“Kyaa! Just how much money is all this?”
It was eight in the evening, and darkness had already settled over the city.
After catching the scent of money, Mikael wore an almost blissful expression.
Money with a clear purpose was sweet no matter what era you lived in.
Sia, on the other hand, looked completely exhausted after spending the entire day with him. Her once-smooth hair was now messy, and her bright eyes had become hollow.
It feels like needles are stabbing the soles of my feet… My eyelids are so heavy too….
They had spent the entire day beating down demons.
There had been demons that drugged people and manipulated them into offering up their souls, as well as demons that kidnapped humans and worked them like slaves.
They had already raided four different places.
And surprisingly, none of the four had anything to do with demon worshippers.
“Hey. Where are we going next?”
Sia's pupils trembled.
This still isn't enough for him?
That money-crazed priest was going beyond being a priest and was about to become a ghost.
No.
He was already the very definition of a money ghost.
“Huff… huff… L-Let's stop. We've already earned more than three times our target…. With this much money, you'll have plenty left even after paying my sister!”
Sia tried to mediate between ragged breaths.
However—
“What are you talking about? We need to squeeze out as much as possible and slap that crazy bitch across the face with money!”
There was no stopping Mikael, whose heart was burning with vengeance.
“W-Why… Why are you going this far?”
Realizing things couldn't continue like this, Sia even started stuttering as she confronted him.
“I know my sister likes money too!”
Mikael blinked, wondering if he'd heard her correctly.
Calling that simply ‘liking money’ is being way too generous….
Considering the Huisong he'd seen at the animal hospital, Sia was seriously understating things.
“She seems to be having a hard time lately, too. It's like she's being chased by something.”
She's not being chased by money. She's the one chasing money.
Mikael wanted to correct every single thing Sia said, but he silently listened instead.
“I'll talk to her properly! So let's stop here for today!”
Sia snorted proudly, convinced she'd made an excellent argument.
Tap.
After hearing her proposal, Mikael placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Listen carefully. When you're dealing with materialistic bastards who try to solve everything with money, it's only polite to repay them with money.”
With a solemn and serious expression, Mikael gave her what sounded like life advice.
Of course, calling it advice was generous.
He was really just explaining his own objective.
“So I'm not stopping until I slap her with money. Besides, we're saving people from demons! Right?”
He didn't mean a word of it.
Still, the moment he mentioned saving people, Sia was slightly tempted.
Tap. Tap.
Mikael didn't miss that tiny change in her expression.
He patted her shoulder encouragingly before taking the lead.
“What are you doing? Let's go! You've got people to save too, don't you?”
He was being so shamelessly obvious that even the tiny bit of motivation Sia had felt instantly disappeared.
Even knowing his argument was ridiculous, listening to Mikael's philosophy made Sia feel like her soul was leaving her body.
“How did I end up getting tangled up with a psycho bastard like him…?”
His status was the problem.
Mikael was both a guest and contractor of the Exorcism Association, while she was merely a priest.
While mourning her miserable situation, Sia tried to drag her heavy body forward.
Then an idea suddenly flashed through her mind.
“Ah! Have you found somewhere to stay?”
Despite her exhaustion, she asked about Mikael's lodging in the brightest voice she could manage.
“……”
Mikael didn't answer.
Apparently, he still hadn't found anywhere.
Already knowing that, Sia smiled triumphantly.
“You haven't! Then I'll find you a nearby hotel—”
“Wait.”
Mikael grabbed Sia's wrist just as she naturally pulled out her phone to search for accommodation.
He looked directly into her eyes.
Then he gave her a gentle smile.
“I'll be fine tonight. You have to earn money while you have the chance, or you'll regret it later. You can only work this comfortably while I'm around. Yep. I'm doing all this for your sake.”
“…What?”
Click.
He even thoughtfully turned off Sia's phone for her.
Nice try, but you've still got a long way to go, rookie.
Having achieved complete victory in their battle of logic, Mikael sneered and grabbed Sia by the collar, dragging her along.
“N-No! No! I don't want to! I said I want to rest now!!!”
Sia had completely given up on dignity and started whining like a child.
Then—
Saaaaaah!
A sinister energy sharp enough to prick their skin suddenly spread through the area nearby.
“Huh? Demonic energy?!”
“What gloomy bastard is causing trouble this late at night?”
They had been arguing only moments ago.
But the instant a common enemy appeared, they immediately united.
“Hey, let's chase it!”
“Yes!”
Sia and Mikael picked up the bats they had been using and chased after the demonic energy.
“This way!”
Some time had passed since Mikael's overload, and his abilities were gradually beginning to return.
He still couldn't properly control White Flame or aura, but his senses had recovered to some extent.
Mikael took the lead toward an alley where the demonic energy could be felt more clearly.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
Under a streetlight that flickered as though it could go out at any moment, a man was being strangled by the throat.
It wasn't late enough for the shops to have closed yet.
However, every store in the area had its lights turned off.
“Ghk… Ghhhk….”
The suspicious man holding him by the throat stood strangely tilted, as though all his weight leaned toward his left side.
“Hun… hungry….”
A pale white energy was pulled from the victim's body.
It rippled through the air before being absorbed into the strange man.
In moments, the victim became thin and dried out like a mummy.
“Ghk…!”
The mummified man died on the spot.
Having apparently achieved his purpose, the strange man released him.
Thud!
Then a small girl emerged from the alley beside them.
She held a round mirror toward the dead man.
The mirror was as long as her arm, nearly half the size of a person's torso, with a wooden frame surrounding its edge.
The man was already dead in reality.
But inside the mirror, he was still struggling desperately as demons chewed away at him.
“Thank you for giving our fathers their daily bread once again today. Amen.”
The girl's eyes were unfocused, like the dead eyes of a rotten fish.
“More… Give me more. I need more. I'm still hungry.”
Apparently, the energy stolen from the man hadn't been enough.
The strange man turned toward the girl standing beside him.
“Yes, Fathers. Let's go to the next one.”
After finishing her prayer, the girl started walking somewhere else, as though she had already chosen their next destination.
“Now this is interesting.”
“Oh… my God.”
Sia and Mikael had followed the demonic energy and arrived just in time to witness their meal.
At some point, Mikael had already crouched beside the shriveled corpse and begun examining it.
“These guys seem like the real deal. They're different from those rootless bastards we've been dealing with.”
Looking at the corpse that had become little more than a doll, Mikael became certain.
This wasn't simply the victim's life energy or some physical element being absorbed.
His soul itself had been eaten.
