Chapter 803 – Breath

000

The place she entered, holding on to Cleon, who did not know her circumstances, was Jinmi-dang.

I was worried about whether there would be a place to sit in a place full of people due to a festival, but when the waiter saw the two of them, he looked like he was worried and said, ‘Hmm…’.

‘If it’s just two people~’, he somehow created a seat in a corner using a small table and two temporary chairs.

Indeed, the most famous restaurant in Asteris, the level of service is different.

As Cleon thought so, she first sat down on a chair facing Noctis.

Although she followed along unexpectedly, looking at Noctis’ gloomy mood, she was vaguely aware that it would not be a story about a bright topic.

“… I was thankful during the day.”

“Huh? Ah… Well. The main role of exorcism is to protect people, so don’t worry about it. Rather, you are the one caught in the loop.”

The ghosts at that time were ones that attacked me and had a clear target of attack.

Noctis followed her around, and she got caught up in it, so in a way, she was probably the biggest victim on her side.

I experienced a carnage battle right in front of my eyes, with Cleon’s sword clashing with the hideous body parts wielded by ghosts. It was a situation that could have remained a lifelong trauma if my mental strength was not good.

Moreover, if Cleon had made a mistake and failed to stop her ghost, she would have had her body taken over by her ghost and become a demon, and would have had to spend her life suffering from an illness with no means of recovery. Maybe

Cleon thought he was lucky that it didn’t happen that way.

Even after Cleon answered like that, Noctis hesitated for a while, fiddling with her glass of water in front of her, and she seemed unable to get her words out easily.

Then, Cleon watched her for a moment and then suddenly raised her hand.

“Sorry, please take your order here.”

When a nearby employee suddenly approached Cleon with a sigh, Cleon lifted the menu, narrowed his eyes, and told the waiter about three dishes that impressed him among the dishes he had served when he came with Diora before. .

“─Are you okay with this?”

When the waiter asked back while confirming that Cleon had ordered according to the manual, Noctis looked blankly at Cleon ordering.

“Noctis. You? Do you have anything to order separately?”

“To?! I’m fine too.”

Suddenly, he answered Cleon’s question like that, looked behind the departing employee for a moment, and then turned his head towards Cleon.

“What. It’s a strange story that even though they prepared a table for us, they only drank water and left without ordering. Because I happened to be hungry too.”

“Well, that’s true too… You must have been working as a leading figure in the exorcism just a moment ago.”

As Noctis answered, he carefully brought the cup of water to his mouth and moistened his dry mouth.

＂It’s Cleon.＂

＂… That is the protagonist’s name.＂

Now that I think about it, Noctis nodded, thinking that the half-guidae had also called it that.

“So? “You brought me here to tell me what happened at the newspaper?”

“That’s… Actually, as soon as I left the newspaper office, I saw the main character, so I decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea to have him meet the president…”

＂Hmm.＂

Cleon answers like that, and Noctis is silent again for a moment and then looks back at Cleon.

“… Well, even after hearing my story, could you please not report the newspaper to the palace?”

“I don’t know anything yet, but if that’s what you want.”

After Cleon answered like that, Noctis nodded her head again, then slowly opened her mouth and started telling the story of what she had experienced in his company.

001

“… I’ve been there.”

She returned to the newspaper building downcast and worn out, wearing dusty and tattered clothes.

Most of the other reporters had gone outside to cover the commotion of the Five Elements Festival, and seeing him return alone made it clear that he would be made fun of by the boss again.

I wandered the streets as much as possible and returned just before sunset in order to greet the boss as late as possible.

In fact, the president was probably talking to someone in the president’s office, but he didn’t even come outside.

However, what bothers me more than anything else is that the main character of the exorcism left behind and came back.

As expected, it must have been a burden for a trainee reporter like himself to cover closely.

In the end, she received all the help she could get, forgot to do the interview, and couldn’t follow along until the end.

＂Haaa…＂

As she sighs, she lays her upper body down on her small desk. She stays still for a while, and then, as if it suddenly occurred to her, she changes her camera to look at what she has filmed. Take out the beads

Then, when she gently shakes and rubs her crystal ball, it emits magical light, and the screen record stored inside…

＂W-what is this!?＂

Perhaps because her crystal ball, which was in her bag, was also shocked when she rolled on the ground, her recorded visions became blurry, as if some of the scenes she had filmed were filmed by someone with severe tremors.

No matter how many times I check, it is only the few scenes filmed in the beginning that capture the appearance of the ghost and the protagonist properly.

As she got used to shooting Cleon, her shooting skills improved as she gradually began to understand the angles that would allow her subjects to be captured beautifully.

In this way, it looked like it was filmed by an amateur reporter.

… It’s still a process, so in a sense, you could say I’m dipping one foot into the amateur ranks.

Still, it was a job I was doing for a decent salary, but I was disqualified as a professional.

＂Haaaaa…＂

Noctis sighs loudly once again and slams his head into the desk so hard that it makes a loud sound.

Then, before he knew it, Zuzu flew over, approached, and lightly pecked Noctis on the head.

＂Zuzu…!＂

Noctis, feeling a little warm, raises his head and asks if he is comforting him.

She placed her own little bowl of feed in front of her and at the sight of him flapping her wings, she closed her mouth for a moment.

Gaaaaargh! For a moment she wanted to be angry at Zuzu as she raised her arms.

Noctis realized that even if she was downcast, the world would not stop spinning. He stood up and put Zuzu’s food in the bowl.

I had a hard time today in many ways, so I ate a little more food than usual.

Zuzu squeaked and flapped her wings as if she was happy to see that, but seeing Noctis like that, she felt like she could cheer up a little at his usual behavior.

At that time.

＂Then, thank you very much.＂

While saying this, I made eye contact with the woman who came out of her president’s office.

A long coat that covers the entire body, and wavy navy blue hair. A woman who appeared to like to dress up herself, including dark red lipstick applied to the corners of her mouth, walked out of the president’s office.

In her hand, she carries a bag that wealthy women would wear, and she wears sun-blocking glasses with dark lenses that cover her eyes.

When a person who looked suspicious in many ways walked out of their president’s office so casually, Noctis made eye contact with her for a moment, making her flinch.

The slightly chubby-looking boss came out after her and bowed to her. Seeing her struggling, Noctis probably thought she was an honored guest and bowed to her as well.

After giving Noctis a glance, she naturally passed by him and walked out of the newspaper office. After seeing her, the president straightened her back and sighed.

She was wiping her sweaty bald head with her handkerchief, as if she was nervous while talking to her.

“Oh, Noctis. You’re back. How about your first close reporting? Well, looking at that tattered appearance, was it as I expected?”

＂… I should say that there were many happenings in many ways…＂

Just before the interview, recalling the words of the president who said that she would definitely come back with a big hit, Noctis couldn’t help but reply with an expression that seemed to hit the nail on the head.

“Haha. Well, everyone is like that. Let’s take a look at what I took.”

＂Ugh.＂

She reacted by saying that she had heard something she didn’t want to hear, and when she carefully handed over her crystal ball to her boss, he shook it a few times and laughed loudly.

Haha! Well, I thought it was going to be like this! “I can’t use this except for the first few scenes.”

＂Well, I took the picture correctly! It happened because I fell once on the way…”

“Well, even though that crystal ball is state-of-the-art, it is so delicate that it can be said to be still in the process of development. We have to handle it more carefully.”

… Huh? Boss, aren’t you unexpectedly angry even though the photo is such a mess?

Teasing means teasing, and his style is to scold senior reporters when they make mistakes and then encourage them.

Should I say that he seems to be in a good mood or that he’s not that worried.

Articles related to the protagonists of the exorcism were, in a way, a well-established topic, so much so that they were published in newspapers every day during the Five Elements Festival.

If most of the photos to be used for one of those materials were scenes of the main character standing alone after the ghosts have been subdued, or the ghosts have disappeared, it would have been worth complaining that the photos would have less impact…

… Maybe the worst ending is that I wasn’t disappointed because I didn’t have expectations…?

＂Well… Whatever it is. Although I will have to write an article as I do every year. I will write the manuscript here.”

＂Huh?＂

When Noctis was told that the president was writing the manuscript himself, he reacted with a surprised expression, wondering if he had misheard, and the president spoke while scratching his cheek.

＂No… Since the photo turned out like this, I thought the text should at least be correct, so it wouldn’t be rude to the subscribers. “You think so too, right?”

＂Yeah… Well, but. … Wait, let alone my photography skills, I know how to write properly?”

“Well, don’t say that. For reference, how should you use it in times like this?”

Noctis was silent for a moment due to the strange behavior of the president, something he had never seen before, and then he thought of the woman who walked away a moment ago, saying ‘Hot’.

“She’s the girl from earlier, right!? Didn’t she ask for something!? I’ve never seen the boss bow down like that before! Wasn’t this newspaper’s motto to not give in to those in power!?”

Looking at Noctis, who had come up with the correct answer with the intuition of a scary reporter and a woman, the president, whose face immediately became ‘scared’, cleared his throat and answered.

“Well, well… Of course, we don’t give in to power. This time, it’s not power, it’s just capital.”

“It can’t be done anymore! And speaking of capital… How much did you receive!”

“It’s not about how much you get paid or anything like that, Noctis. That person… Is an old investor in our newspaper. Without her, your salary would not be paid properly.”

When the president said that, she looked a little shocked and closed her mouth.

I had a vague feeling that the company’s financial situation was not that good.

They operate in a fairly old building, and they can count the number of people around them reading newspapers without having to fold both hands.

Newspapers are not easily distributed in societies with a high illiteracy rate because their nature requires that people be able to read.

There are limits to explaining a situation with photos, and people who cannot read will not subscribe to a newspaper just to look at photos.

People in Asteris do not study writing very hard, except for their names, numbers, and texts that are essential to read in life.

Therefore, those who read newspapers are only a few nobles, and if they also have their own information network, newspapers are unnecessary.

However, the reason why Dongbang Newspaper somehow maintains its existence and recognition is due to the presence of investors-

This was because some villages in Asteris subscribed to newspapers, and there were meetings where people gathered together in the morning and read the contents of the newspaper.

Since it was like a volunteer activity by educated people who wanted to reduce the illiteracy rate and make people pay even a little bit of attention to what was going on in the world, it was an irregular situation to the point where people wanted to give money.

“… Then what is it? Did she say that if the woman didn’t publish her article the way she wanted, she would kick the newspaper down?”

“Well, I didn’t say it that far, but…”

Noctis looked at the boss who hesitated like that with suspicion, and then, Papa! And passed by the president and ran into the president’s office.

“Ah! Wait a minute, Noctis!”

Her boss was unable to properly restrain her due to her sudden behavior and allowed him to invade her.

On the desk of the person talking to the customer in the president’s office, there was a piece of paper with a long sentence written in neat letters.

Noctis lifts it and reads it at high speed, thinking it is not the president’s handwriting.

What was written there was like a revelation of the identity of the ‘main figure in the exorcism’.

The person who plays the main role in this year’s exorcism is an adventurer from the kingdom and a member of the dark horse family, and the story goes that he is treated as an honored guest by the Dark Dragon Company.

In fact, it was a story about a man who was at the center of a huge incident and conspiracy that occurred in the kingdom about a month ago, and was wanted for attracting demons from the kingdom and kidnapping the princess.

＂…＂

＂Well, well… She seemed to have confirmed the facts to some extent. In some ways, that story might be true. It may be a dangerous situation for Asteris that such a dangerous person is acting as the protagonist of exorcism…”

＂Wrong…＂

She said without realizing it, and grabbed her manuscript paper tightly.

“That person is not that kind of person!”

When Noctis looks back and talks to the president, the president speaks while wiping his sweat with a troubled expression.

“You’re not that kind of person… Noctis, did you become attached to the protagonist of the exorcism after hanging around for a day?”

“It’s not like that…! There’s no way a person like that would run around all day without stopping to protect people from ghosts and nobles…!”

“That may also be a disguise to avoid being suspected of being yourself in a situation where you are being chased…”

The boss tried to persuade her somehow to calm Noctis down, but Noctis was already feeling very betrayed by her boss.

As a reporter, the CEO, who has always told me to tell the truth, analyze situations from an objective perspective, and convey only the facts, is trying to publish an article that has not been fact-checked just because of the influence of an investor.

I had tears in my eyes and I wanted to cry right now.

She wrote the manuscript instead! I tore it up and put it back on the table.

“Boss, you idiot! Slaves of capitalism! Bald!”

＂Umm…＂

The president also looked troubled by Noctis’ actions, but she couldn’t be too angry because there were many things that bothered her.

However, the president’s indecisive behavior only aggravated Noctis’ nervousness even more.

In the end, she ran out of her president’s office and ran all the way to the outside of her office.

“Now, where are you going, Noctis!”

＂No matter what anyone said! I’m not going to write anything negative about the protagonist of the exorcism!!”

And ran down her stairs-

＂Phew!＂

And she bumped into someone.