Chapter 800 – Sparrows Chirp, Ghosts─

000

Noctis’ misunderstanding could only be resolved after Zwei worked hard to explain the situation.

She manipulated her crystal ball while exhaling the sound of ‘Cheet’ and deleted the scene that could be misunderstood as Cleon’s sexual harassment(?).

“I thought I could definitely make it into a scoop…”

＂You can’t make a scoop into a lie, not the truth…”

When Cleon says that to the complaining Noctis, she sighs and says, “Haa.”

＂The main character says the same thing as the boss.＂

“Fortunately, the boss seems to have a sound journalistic spirit.”

In response to Cleon’s answer, Noctis crossed his arms and nodded at her, then suddenly stopped and looked up at Cleon.

＂Huh…? That means I’m not a sane reporter…?”

“Okay then, let’s go find the next ghost!”

Cleon, who had only honestly said what she thought, was about to leave before she realized her intentions behind her words, but swoosh! And her wrist was grabbed.

“Please wait a moment! I’m still a trainee, but I’m definitely a full-time journalist at a newspaper!”

When she raises her voice and speaks as if she is angry, Zwei, who has been listening quietly, points out.

“Strictly speaking, I am not an official reporter…?”

“Wow, I’m getting paid too! Anyway! It’s an honor… For the protagonist to leave like this with misunderstandings about me…”

＂Defamation?＂

“That’s right, it’s defamation!”

Seeing Noctis confidently shouting out what he wanted to say with Cleon’s help, Cleon and Zwei made eye contact and then just shrugged their heads.

“It can’t be helped. I don’t want to be falsely accused like this, so I can only show you what an excellent and honest reporter I am!”

＂There’s no need to do that… Wouldn’t it be enough to just make an article and report the facts as they are?＂

“I think it’s an action to restore damaged pride…”

As if she could hear Cleon and Zwei whispering to each other, she rummaged through the inside of her bag and pulled out something that looked like an iron stick.

It has a slanted hole along the way and when she puts it in her mouth – beep profit! The sound echoed high in the sky.

＂Ugh…＂

The sound was so loud that both Cleon and Zwei frowned for a moment and had to cover their ears.

Then after a while-

A fluttering sound was heard, and a sparrow came down from the sky and sat on the hat that Noctis was wearing on his head.

＂Wow! Cute…!”

When Zwei showed a girlish reaction upon seeing that, Noctis frowned and spoke.

＂It’s rude to say you’re cute! This guy is Zuzu! This is my journalist partner! He’s the guy I keep at the newspaper, and if there’s a scoop, he guides me through it. It was thanks to this guy that we were able to immediately find the protagonist of the exorcism!”

“Well… It seems like a smart bird.”

As Cleon looks at her as she says this, Zuzu makes eye contact with her and then tilts her head towards her.

It was as if she was asking to be petted.

When Cleon stroked the sparrow’s head as if it were possessed by something, Noctis raised his voice by saying ‘Ah!’.

＂Zuzu! He’s begging anyone to pet him again! The protagonist too! You can’t be tempted by this guy!”

“Huh? Ah… I’m sorry. “

For some reason, Cleon suddenly came to his senses at Noctis’ angry words and took his hand away, but as he came to his senses even more, he became calm.

“No, wait. … This is not the time to be like this, we should be patrolling Asteris and looking for ghosts. … I’m sorry, can I go now?”

“I see. If a ghost is appearing this early, today may be a very busy day. We also need to go looking for ghosts in a wider radius.”

When Zwei responds to Cleon’s words, thinking that he should get back to work, Noctis clicks his tongue and clicks his finger.

“If that’s the case, don’t worry. Zuzu and I will assist the protagonist!”

＂… If you are a reporter, you should report from behind the scenes like a reporter…＂

“Opportunities for scoops are not something you wait for, you create them! Go zuzu! “Come visit the ghost!”

As if she couldn’t hear Cleon’s words, she grabbed Zuzu who was sitting on her head and threw it high into the sky.

Zuzu’s cries echoed high in the sky, but Noctis seemed to be watching how far he would fly as he placed his hands horizontally over his eyes.

＂A partner!?＂

“Are you okay. Rather, they don’t have enough speed when flying, so I help them fly faster.”

Noctis was talking as if there was no problem, but Cleon couldn’t help but be shocked to see him throwing the sparrow like he was throwing a stone.

‘Rather, shouldn’t this guy be written about as the main culprit of animal abuse?’

Just as I was thinking about that, I saw Zuzu, who had flown so far away that she disappeared from her sight, come back towards me, and I felt a little relieved.

Then Zuzu sits on Noctis’s hat again, and she flaps her wings like she’s angry and pecks at her hat.

“Great! It looks like Zuzu found her ghost not too far away, so I’ll guide you.”

“No, no matter how I look at it, it looks like you’re angry at your actions…”

“No way. Follow along, and you’ll find out!”

Saying that, Noctis grabbed Cleon’s wrist and ran out, dragging Cleon with him.

＂Well, then please take care of the rest!＂

When Cleon said that to Zwei, who was looking at her from behind, she also looked worried, but she soon bowed her back and let Cleon go.

So, Cleon runs through the streets of Asteris with Noctis under Zuzu’s guidance(?).

Passing through a place with many people, we soon arrived at a place with few people once again-

It is near the mansion of the Oberti family, a fallen family I visited in the past.

＂Look!＂

And when he heard Noctis raise his voice, Cleon looked straight ahead and muttered as if he was a little surprised.

Truly, there was a ghost there.

Also, a fairly large guy kept hitting his head against the barrier while trying to climb over the wall of the Oberti family.

Appearing to be about 4 meters tall, it looked like a dried, twisted tree in the shape of a human being, and there was only an empty hole in the area where the face should be, giving it an eerie feeling.

＂Seeing that it is behaving like that, it seems to be a unique entity!＂

Noctis doesn’t seem to feel anything after seeing her ghost, so she calmly raises her voice, but Cleon speaks to her while drawing her sword.

“I’m not sure about that. First, exorcism! Stand back!”

＂Razor!＂

Noctis is shocked by Cleon’s words and hides behind him.

Still, when it comes to safety, I thought it would be easier to protect my own body as Cleon, so I slowly approached the ghost with a horizontal slash.

As Noctis said, it was clear that it was a somewhat unusual entity.

Because I was feeling the magical power of the earth, a type of natural magical power, at the same time as the magical power of wealth emitted by the ghost.

Huuu… A breathing sound rang out from Cleon’s mouth to concentrate his mind and relax his body.

And in the next moment, a diagonal slash swings at lightning-like speed.

Because of the height difference, if Cleon swings his sword on the ground, it ends up cutting off the guy’s leg, but that alone was enough to upset the guy’s body balance.

Thud! While making a sound, the ghost with one leg missing finally looks back at Cleon.

When the part corresponding to the knee touches the ground, it screams as if it feels pain—and then suddenly, it starts muttering.

＂I… The car…＂

＂!＂

When she thinks her man has spoken, Cleon reacts violently with one of her own arms.

Obviously – she called. Another ‘ghost’ inside Cleon.

＂No way-＂

As Cleon thought that, she was dazed for a moment and felt her arms not moving.

＂NaaaaaCHAAA＂

─The arm of a huge ghost was swung.

As its body was so huge, its arms were as thick as a street tree. It was clear that if it was caught from the front without any response, the area where it was hit would be shattered.

The moment when Cleon tried to protect her body by somehow wrapping magic around her still motionless arm.

[I don’t know what it is, but I’ll cut it down!!]

At that time, a voice bursts out from the sword Cleon is holding, and the sword moves instead, as if controlling its master’s motionless arm.

She felt that she had become a little calmer by wearing the magatama, but the sword contained such a strong will that even the magatama turned red.

The moment he thought that red veins had covered Cleon’s arm through her handle, Cleon’s arm moved on its own and succeeded in splitting the arm of the huge tree that was swung towards him.

The cutting power was so high that it gave me goosebumps.

It doesn’t stop there. To slash, just stand there and swing your arm – even if you don’t take the blade directly due to the wind pressure created by the sword.

The giant ghost was cut down again and again, cut into small pieces, and turned into firewood lying on the street.

Meanwhile – the ghost continued to scream.

When the ghost finally completely disappears with a thumping sound, the heavy feeling that bound the body disappears.

Cleon slowly lowered his arm, returned the sword to its original position, and looked down at the arm that had not moved.

‘I just called that ghost… Clearly.

Isn’t it over yet? The story related to this guy.

If Cleon thinks so and feels that the seal created by the Anti-Ghosts has weakened a bit-

＂Oh! I don’t know what it is, but it’s amazing that you can exorcise a ghost without even moving! A good scene was captured!”

And Noctis, who had been watching the fight from behind, approached.

“You know, Noctis. “Did you just… Hear what that ghost said?”

“Yes? “The ghost just kept screaming, right?”

When she tilts her head as if she doesn’t know what Cleon is saying, is it only she who heard it – or is the meaning of her words not conveyed to her?

Either way, Cleon, who thought he couldn’t get an answer from Noctis, had no choice but to nod his head.

Then, Noctis looks at Cleon and speaks.

“But guess what! My partner and I’s research skills! With this, I can help you, right?”

Looking at Noctis, who was talking with his hands on his hips as if he was showing off, Cleon smiled slightly and nodded as if he couldn’t help it.

＂Yes… Of course, it would be convenient if there were eyes in the sky that could look for them, even if they were not included. ＂

Hehe…! With this, I can legally work closely with the protagonist and report on it~!”

As Noctis said this, he held Zuzu above his head once again.

“Then shall we look for the next ghost right away?”

＂Beep!＂

Zuzu was struggling in her hand as if telling her to stop throwing, but Noctis seemed to be unaware of Zuzu’s feelings, so he threw the sparrow high into the sky again.

＂…＂

While the skit between Noctis and Zuzu was taking place, Cleon looked back at the Oberti family mansion once again.

The barrier was still maintained, but the magical power that could be felt from within that shook people’s hearts was still alive and well.

Maybe the ghost appeared because it was drawn to it.

“Is there a need to contact the temple and have them prepare something around here…”

While he was mumbling like that, Zuzu, who had been thrown high in the sky, came back and pecked Noctis’ forehead with his beak.

“Ouch! It hurts! Zzz! Stop!”

＂… That’s how it will be. Zuzu, guide me to where the other ghosts are.”

After Cleon said that, the creature stopped pecking at Noctis, climbed up on Zuzu’s head, and started guiding her by pulling on her hat once again.

Noctis runs away and Cleon chases after him.

And the gaze watching behind Cleon.

＂… Tch. I thought the magic power here was useful… But maybe that wasn’t enough.”

A girl with blonde pigtails was watching Cleon while hiding in the shadows.

“… Well, okay. First, the spirit has been recovered. It could be recycled.”

As she said that, she raised the corners of her mouth sinisterly while looking at the sparkling magic mass inside the transparent cylinder she was holding in her hand.

“I will create so many ghosts in this city that you won’t be able to deal with them all, Cleon…!”

She ignited her fighting spirit by saying something that a third-rate villain would say.