Chapter 158 – Sadako: My Boss, Who's Always Coveting Me, Is a Pervert!
"But I don't know how to do anything."
First of all, she hadn't provoked anyone!
Why should a free ghost like her be forced to stay behind and work?
Secondly, Sadako realized that apart from cursing people to death, she really didn't know how to do anything else.
So, working here didn't seem like a very good option for her.
More than that, it was unwillingness in her heart—because in Sadako's eyes, he was nothing but a devil.
"If you don't want to work, then recommend a girlfriend to take your place. Do that, and I'll let you go."
"What?"
Sadako's eyes widened. Did he really expect her to find a girlfriend to take her debt?
But… who could she even bring?
"Miss Sadako, as a female ghost, don't tell me you don't even have ghost friends? No wonder—ghosts who live in wells don't have friends," Renji said with a mocking smile.
He was looking down on her!
What did he mean by saying ghosts who live in wells don't have friends?
"Seems you have no ghost girlfriends to repay the debt. Fine, then sign this with your handprint. You'll work here until you've compensated me for the mental damage of scaring me. When you've repaid enough, I'll let you go. How about that?"
As he spoke, Renji placed a contract in front of Sadako. "Come on, flash a peace sign."
He even pulled a camera out of his pocket. Miko's eyelid twitched—couldn't he stop pulling things out of there?
Seeing that familiar labor contract, Miko couldn't help feeling a trace of pity for Sadako. But then she remembered she had signed the very same contract herself. That pity turned into a reluctant sympathy for her own situation.
Did she really have the leisure to sympathize with others now?
She glanced at Sadako, who had unconsciously raised her hand in a peace sign.
Click.
Renji smiled in satisfaction at the photo. His pictures were only getting better.
"Eh? Why did I do that?"
Sadako suddenly realized and quickly pulled her hand back.
Wait a minute!
She hadn't agreed to work yet. Everything was decided by Renji alone. How had he already determined everything for her?
"I don't want to work. Please, just let me go, alright?"
Sadako had died with resentment. She was pushed into a well and died inside it. Her soul had lingered ever since, filled with hatred and vengeance.
She thought coming here would be the same as always.
"You won't work, you won't recommend another ghost. Do you think things are that easy?"
"Then… how long do I have to work?"
Sadako thought carefully. If it wasn't too long, she could stay. After all, she was a ghost with a very long life. Sooner or later, she could just outlast Renji.
"Given your attitude earlier, I was going to make it one month. But now, I've decided you'll work ten years."
"Ten years?!"
Sadako almost thought she had misheard. From one month to ten years—wasn't that a little too much?
"Can't it be less?"
Ten years! How many ten years could a female ghost have?
"Then seven years. Just right for the seven-year itch." Renji saw her grateful, pleading expression and ruthlessly crushed her hope: "Not satisfied? Then ten years."
"Fine, seven years."
Sadako muttered. Seven years it would be. At worst, she could slack her way through it.
After signing her name, she felt something was wrong but couldn't explain what.
"Good. Now I'll put an employee mark on you, to prevent you from running away."
Renji imprinted the Flying Thunder God mark on her. The contract itself held no real binding force. If Sadako escaped, he really might not be able to find her.
He wasn't about to lose an employee he had tricked into coming.
The mark of corruption!
In Miko's eyes, the Flying Thunder God mark was the first step of Sadako's downfall.
When would she herself suffer the same fate?
She felt uneasy, like a flower battered in the storm with no way to resist.
As his secretary, did that mean she would always be stuck in this office?
If he suddenly had some bizarre fetish and wanted her to marry him…
Her future was nothing but darkness. She could already see the end of her life.
"Why are you shaking?"
Renji happily picked up the contract, turned to give it to Miko for safekeeping, and saw her trembling.
Hadn't he just said nothing?
"Boss, remember what you said before. You can't touch me if you're going to touch her!"
Miko's voice carried a trace of pleading. She recalled Renji saying earlier that he wasn't interested in her.
Maybe she could relax just a little.
"Eh? Wait, I'm just here to work. I don't provide those kinds of services!!"
Sadako had thought she was simply working. One day, when Renji found out she was useless, maybe he'd end the contract early.
She already had six plans in mind for how to slack off.
But… touch her?
In life she had protected that. Was she to lose it even in death?
This world was too terrifying!
Mama, she wanted to go back to the well.
"Sadako, don't believe everything she says. She's just a senior employee afraid you'll steal her position."
"Really?"
Sadako blinked at Renji, then thought angrily to herself—how frightening workplace competition was, attacking her like this!
"How naïve. This ghost is so naïve. What was I afraid of before?"
Miko realized if she had known Sadako's intelligence was this low, she wouldn't have been so afraid.
But now it didn't matter what she said. Sadako would just think everything was workplace rivalry!
"Alright, to welcome our new employee, tonight Miko will treat us to dinner!"
"What? Why should I pay when the company hires someone new?"
Miko's face immediately fell. She had been hopeful at first—free food was free food. But now?
She wasn't one to think too far ahead. Ever since she had gained her spirit sight, she had lived with the thought: live one day at a time.
"Because you're the senior employee. Shouldn't you be happy to have someone working with you?"
"But you're the boss. Shouldn't you be the happy one?"
Oh? Rebellious phase, is it?
She used to be timid and silent. Now she was showing some defiance.
"Fine then. As the boss, I'll treat you both. Stay here, I'll order delivery."
Renji took out his phone and ordered three meals. Times were tough.
Though he had gotten some jewels earlier, he hadn't sold them yet. And the money Gin gave him was already spent on weapons.
At first, he'd relied on money from his otherworld self in the One Piece world. Later he gave that up—after all, he had to rely on himself. Power was one thing, but if he couldn't even make money, that really was pathetic.
So he had been trying to earn on his own. But the office was new and unknown, taking on a bit of everything, so outsiders saw it as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.
Incense and two boxed meals.
Miko accepted the meal, while Sadako received the incense. Both stared at Renji in disbelief. "We're eating this?"
"What? The company isn't doing well. Be glad you weren't laid off!"
With no clients, he wanted a good meal too. Did he have to go out and act again?
There were no artworks to steal lately. Gin still hadn't come back since their last clash, probably sulking. Renji wasn't going to chase him down either.
With income so limited, maybe he really should take on more detective work.
In anime, there seemed endless chances to make money. But in reality? No one ever came.
His only visitors were broke students and a ghost from a well.
Noticing his gaze, both Miko and Sadako felt offended. They cursed silently—he must be mocking them again!
"But I don't eat incense…"
Where did he even get the idea that she needed to eat incense?
"So what do you eat then?"
As soon as Renji asked, Sadako's gaze shifted onto Miko. That look made the girl, who had just been quietly eating her boxed meal, instinctively scoot closer to Renji.
So she didn't eat incense—she ate people, huh?
Miko suddenly felt that one day, this old employee would end up being eaten.
"Souls?"
"Mhm. Souls can make me stronger."
Sadako didn't really need to eat anything. But with a living human right in front of her, that soul pulled at her like bait on a hook.
Still, since Miko was an employee of the office like her, eating her didn't seem right. But if Renji allowed it… then maybe it wouldn't be impossible.
"Hey, you're not seriously going to agree, are you?"
The strange atmosphere was suffocating. Miko felt if she didn't speak up, she might actually be eaten.
"No. I was just thinking of one thing. Sadako, from now on, without my permission, you're not allowed to eat souls at will."
Renji realized he found Sadako "cute" only because he held the Soul-Summoning Banner and other ways to restrain her. To him, she was harmless.
But to others, it was different. After all, Sadako was a ghost, a soul who had died unjustly. Deep down, the urge to harm remained.
That would only bring him trouble. He wasn't banning her from eating entirely—just from killing without reason.
"Why am I suddenly dragged into this…"
Sadako had been thinking she was only a spectator, but when she became part of the topic, she felt uncomfortable.
Yet under Renji's sharp gaze, she dropped her petty thoughts.
"Alright. I'm not forbidding you to eat forever. I just don't want you turning into a monster who eats just for the sake of eating. If we meet bad ones, you can swallow them."
In Miko's worldview, many evil ghosts already existed. Since Sadako could gain strength by devouring souls, he could let her consume those evil spirits.
"Fine… okay."
Both sides were satisfied. Miko no longer had to fear for her own safety, while Sadako could still grow stronger.
"Ahem, actually, I have something here that might also contain a soul. Want to try it?"
"What?" Sadako froze, then immediately shook her head furiously. "No, no!!"
Damn it!
Her boss was always coveting her.
How could that kind of thing possibly have a soul!
"How will you know if you don't try?"
Renji teased. So this little ghost did have some sense after all. He had thought she wouldn't even notice.
Looks like he underestimated her.
"Perverted boss!"
Miko cursed in her heart.
Just as Renji was about to say more, the chime of a text message interrupted him. His fun cut short, he pulled out his phone with mild annoyance, glanced at the message, and calmly replied with a question mark.
[Meet?]
[?]
On the other end, Gin frowned deeply, on the verge of exploding. He was irritated.
He had already decided never to cooperate with that trickster again.
But after searching for so long, he couldn't find anyone else suitable.
There simply weren't many in the organization with strong abilities.
The thought drained him. Even those with skill refused to obey.
He couldn't help but think back to the man who had once toyed with him. That man's ability could get results.
"Big brother, did he refuse?"
Vodka leaned in to look, but under Gin's sharp glare, he quickly pulled his head back. Best not to get involved.
"Shut up."
Gin typed for a long time on his screen but didn't know what to send.
Finally, he closed it, turned to Vermouth, and asked, "So? Did you find out anything about that guy?"
He hated being this passive. Yet right now, he didn't even know who he was dealing with.
This kind of cooperation felt dangerous. Just like last time, when he transferred the money but Renji never gave him the jewel.
True, the Tear of the Queen had been worth far more than the task's reward, and Renji handing it over made him look like a fool. But it still lacked honesty. Continuing this kind of deal made him feel no better than an idiot.
Still, the man's ability was undeniable. If he could uncover his background, Gin would even consider recruiting him. The organization was short on people lately.
Vermouth shook her head, lighting a slim cigarette. "It's like he just appeared out of nowhere. No information at all."
She had investigated several phantom thieves in the black market. For others, there was always at least some scattered intel. But that man? Nothing.
"Could he be a plant they sent in?"
Gin lowered his head, lost in thought. He had already uncovered too many moles in the organization, enough to make him hesitant to bring in anyone new.
But with so few who could still work, they had no choice but to recruit.
"Who knows? As long as he gets the job done, isn't that enough?"
Vermouth blew out a smoke ring, reclining back and tossing her hair over the chair.
"That's true. If he's a traitor, I'll kill him myself. All the more reason to bring him in."
Gin considered it and agreed. Even if betrayal came, he would deal with it personally.
"Big brother, Sherry's been acting strange."
Since Akemi's death, Sherry had adopted a hopeless attitude, no longer caring about any of the organization's research.
"Humph, just keep her locked up."
A cold smile flickered across Gin's face. That woman wanted to leave the organization? Then she had to die. And worse, she still had a relationship with that man.
"Got it, big brother. I'll tell the guards to keep her shut in."
Unlike Akemi, Sherry's value to the organization was immense.
"Vermouth, I'll arrange a meeting with that man. You test him."
Gin had almost been too proud to reach out to Renji.
Contacting him was already pushing his limits. When Renji responded with nothing but a question mark, Gin nearly lost it.
"Tch, just a thief. Is this really necessary?"
To her, a phantom thief was nothing but a showman who used tricks to steal. She thought Gin was overestimating him.
And would someone like that even join their kind of organization?
"We need his talents. Don't forget, we still need to get that jewel."
"Not just the jewel, is it?"
Vermouth's tone was faint. This wasn't only about that. Recently, they had discovered many other things.
It seemed even "that person" had new intentions.
(End of Chapter)
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