NOVEL WEB Book 3: Chapter 2: (1)
The turmoil of exorcising my problematic property
「Ugh… I’m so sleepy… Ugh… This is a pain in the ass…」
I shuffled like a zombie towards the family restaurant where I worked.
The reason for my zombification was that I had gone for three days with almost no sleep, instead spending my time clicking my mouse to hunt monsters.
Ria and Deet and Miri had all gone back to their world. Ria had to go and earn money through dungeon adventures for the sake of the orphanage; Deet had gone to gather information about the Dungeon Master, and Miri, being the leader of the Thieves’ Guild, had work to do.
I wanted to go and visit them, but trips to the other world went hand-in-hand with danger.
I planned to get to Level 20 for safety’s sake and then to go and surprise them all with a visit.
Because of this, I had been frantically clicking to level up, and I had become totally absorbed in it.
「Enami got in my way, so I could not level up automatically, which was a pain. But I have manually made it to Level 16 at last!」
I took a piece of paper out of my pocket. I had made notes on it in the dungeon.
[Name] Suzuki Tooru
[Race] Human
[Age] 21
[Occupation] Unemployed
[Level] 16/∞
[Stamina] 51/51
[Magic] 67/67
[Attack] 132
[Defence] 47
[Strength] 28
[Wisdom] 44
[Agility] 29
[Skills] No Growth Limit Person Appraisal Lvl 4/10 Equipment Appraisal Lvl 1/10 Club Fighting 2/10
Hee hee hee. This is not bad at all! I bet that the others will all be surprised.
Fighting with a club is a bit uncool, but it is probably because I have only been using my ice axe.
Come to think of it, when I measured my [Strength] with a hand dynamometer, that reading of 28 had quadrupled…… So what on Earth would it be now?
Crap, I have completely lost my ability to think. When I get home, I will sleep for three – no, two – hours and then go monster-hunting.
–– –– Ding ding!
It was the electric doorbell that sounded whenever someone came into the family restaurant where I worked.
For security reasons, it also chimed when one of us came in from the back yard.
「Oh, morning, Suzuki!」
「Good morning, Boss.」
「You have got dark circles under your eyes. I have never seen such terrible bags under someone’s eyes before. Are you all right?」
「Yeah, I am fine, I am fine.」
Emphasising how fine I was made me more enthusiastic.
「Well then, I will give it my all today!」
The manager and Kuno looked at me and started talking in low voices about a haunting. What are they on about?
I could not be bothered to think, so I let it be.
I went into the changing rooms, and before I knew it I was wearing my kitchen uniform.
「Huh? Well, never mind. I will work flat out today cooking dishes.」
The moment that I stepped into the kitchen, orders started to come fluttering in one after the other.
At first, my lack of sleep gave me a strange kind of enthusiasm, and I was able to do my job. However, I soon started to burn through my fuel.
My body felt heavy. I wanted to sleep.
No, I must not, I must not. I have to be diligent about this. There is no way that I can fall asleep in the kitchen.
But my eyelids were terribly heavy.
My vision…… is going dark……
………………
…………
……
「Bye, Boss.」
「Good work today.」
H-huh? I realised that I was in the rest area in the back yard, wearing the clothes I’d come to the family restaurant in.
The boss, who didn’t seem to be able to tell which of us were employees and which of us were part-timers, and Kuno – a strong-willed woman in her thirties – were exchanging pleasantries.
Is Kuno leaving already?
I thought we were supposed to finish work at the same time today.
「You did a good job too, Suzuki.」
「Huh? Wh-what?」
「What – what’s up? Is something wrong? You’re so weird, Suzuki. Are you free at all today?」
Looking at the clock in the rest area, I realised that it was four o’clock in the afternoon.
What?! It’s time for me to go home!
My shift had already finished.
「In the kitchen, Suzuki, you were, like, snapping your head back and forth as if your body was pulling it. Your work was perfect, though」Kuno explained.
I didn’t remember a thing about the work I’d done.
Oh! Maybe…?
「Shizuku?」
The moment I called her name, the clothes that I was wearing trembled slightly.
I get it. Basically, I’d gone to work wearing Shizuku.
I’d fallen asleep in the kitchen, and Shizuku had moved my body for me.
「You’re adorable, Shizuku!」I complimented her.
But Shizuku jiggled uncomfortably. I could understand her emotions now from the way that she trembled.
But why is Shizuku embarrassed that I’m praising her?
「Boss, Suzuki’s started talking to himself.」
「He must be possessed after all.」
「Yeah. He’s got dark circles under his eyes, he was moving weirdly in the kitchen, and he keeps saying stuff like ‘you’re adorable, Shizuku’…」
Crap! My boss and Kuno were looking at me with concern.
Apparently they were suspicious of me talking to myself and of how I’d been moving during my shift.
So that’s why Shizuku was trembling uncomfortably?
「Suzuki!」
Kuno called my name suddenly.
「If you’re free, shall we head home together?」
This is a complete misunderstanding.
「U-um, it’s okay. I’m fine. Ha ha ha…」
「You’re not fine. Let’s go.」
Kuno grabbed my arm.
「See you, Boss!」
「See you. I’m relying on you to sort Suzuki out!」
She said goodbye to our manager and led me out through the restaurant’s back yard exit.
「Hold on a sec, where are we going?」
She was dragging me in the general direction of my apartment, but we were making a slight detour.
「The temple.」
「The temple?」
When I heard that, I didn’t understand what she meant, but after a while I realised what was going on.
She and the manager seemed to be under the impression that I was suffering from a spiritual disorder caused by living in a stigmatised property. I’m happy that they’re going to such trouble for me, but it’s all a big misunderstanding.
「It’s all right. There aren’t any ghosts or anything.」
There are goblins and slimes and lady knights and elf sorceresses, though.
「Just follow me. We’ll get them to do a purification ritual, or maybe a full-scale exorcism if needs be.」
「Whaaat?」
A purification ritual? A ‘full-scale exorcism, if needs be’?
A magnificent temple appeared in front of us. I didn’t usually pay it much attention, but I knew there was one in the neighbourhood.
Nonono.I don’t mind if they just think I’m weird, but an actual exorcism……
「Does it cost loads of money?」
Religion and spending money have always gone hand in hand.
「It’s okay, Ayame will do it for free.」
「Ayame? Oh……」
The Ayame that Kuno’s talking about must be Tateishi Ayame, the high-schooler who works at our part-time job.
Although she was a high-schooler, she was very calm, and didn’t act all cute. But she was a beautiful girl. You might say she was a snow queen.
She seemed pretty cold to me. Not recently, though. And more importantly…
「Hang on a minute. How come Tateishi can perform exorcisms? She’s a high school student.」
「Ayame was born in the temple.」
「Oh, r-really? I didn’t know that. She was born in the temple, and her name’s Tateishi…… You’re not telling me she’s T, the temple kid?!」
「She’s amazing at sensing the supernatural.」
R-really? Well, if she really can sense the supernatural, then she’ll figure out straight away that this is all just a misunderstanding.
Kuno went into the temple precinct.
There was a sizeable forest behind the main hall of the temple.
「Oh!」
Tateishi was looking at us intently.
Her clothes are so white! But they’re wet… Behind her, I could see something that looked like a well.
「Wh-white clothing…… And, on top of that, bathing in cold water at this time of year……」
It’s gonna be a full-scale one. A full-scale exorcism. Kuno approached her.
「See? I told you about it on the phone during my break. Aren’t those bags under his eyes just awful?」
No. These are just the eyebags you get from lack of sleep when you stay up for three nights in a row.
If you can sense the supernatural, you’ll understand that, right?
Tateishi said gravely, 「Mr Suzuki, you cannot go on like this.」
I doubted that she really had any feeling for the supernatural.
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