"Finally, I can get a good night's sleep—" Yotsuya Miko returned to her room and comfortably lay down on her bed, a look of bliss on her face.
"Hmm—no, that's not right! There are still many evil spirits in the house; I must get rid of them all."
"I'll check the Grimoire to see if there's any magic that keeps evil spirits away, preferably a barrier or something similar—"
Yotsuya Miko quickly got up from her bed, reopened her room, and headed towards the living room.
"The Grimoire contains magic for creating exorcism talismans."
Fortunately, the crafting process wasn't troublesome; it only required salt.
It turned out that exorcism salt had to be enchanted with a spell; no wonder the previous salt was useless and half of it was eaten by an evil spirit. She had tried all the exorcism methods she knew before, but none of them worked, and she was even terrified when she slept.
Walking into the living room, Yotsuya Miko froze.
Her father's spirit was sitting on the sofa, reading a newspaper, while a massive evil spirit was circling the house, occupying half of the space.
Her intuition told her that this evil spirit was incredibly strong; magic alone definitely wouldn't get rid of it. Even with a Divine Blessing, it couldn't be removed in one go; she would have to use Divine Blessing many times consecutively.
Yotsuya Miko was no longer afraid. She ignored the giant evil spirit's head, which was approaching her, and expressionlessly walked towards the kitchen.
If I use this exorcism magic, will it drive Dad out too?
She hesitated. She could feel that her father was protecting this home, even though evil spirits always appeared in the house.
I'll give it a try. If there's a problem, I'll stop.
Yotsuya Kyousuke, who was watching a horror movie, frowned at his sister, whose demeanor had suddenly changed. He whispered, "Why does Sis suddenly feel a bit fierce? Like those senior girls at school who like tattoos?"
Could it be! Yotsuya Kyousuke's eyes widened.
Did Sis join one of those delinquent clubs, coming home so late?
Images of his sister and a group of tattooed delinquent upperclassmen and women sneaking into alleys at night involuntarily flashed through Yotsuya Kyousuke's mind.
No, no, Sis is not right!
If Sis comes home this late again, something must have happened. I must find out; I absolutely cannot let Sis fall into depravity.
Then, Yotsuya Kyousuke saw his sister walk out of the kitchen with a bag of salt and several bowls, and a question popped into his head.
"Sis, what are you doing with salt and bowls?"
"Nothing," Yotsuya Miko shook her head. Some things couldn't be let known to Mom and Kyousuke, otherwise, realizing evil spirits existed would be very dangerous.
Yotsuya Kyousuke watched in confusion as his sister went to a corner, poured salt into a bowl, then clasped her hands together, muttered something, and stirred the salt-filled bowl with her finger.
In a place Yotsuya Kyousuke couldn't see, Yotsuya Miko's fingertips emitted a faint glow.
After finishing one, Yotsuya Miko went to another corner to continue.
"What is she doing? Casting a spell?" Yotsuya Kyousuke looked utterly bewildered.
Sis never used to do such strange things.
Suddenly, something clicked, and he had an epiphany.
So that's it, Sis must have joined the school's ghost club, and coming home so late means she's doing club activities, like exploring abandoned buildings?
His school also had such clubs, and he had joined one, after all, he loved ghost stories.
"Miko? Are you using salt to exorcise evil spirits?" Yotsuya's mother walked out, looking confusedly at her daughter, who was squatting in a corner muttering something.
"Mom, this is an exorcism method I learned at school. I just want to try it. Please don't remove it, Mom," Yotsuya Miko pleaded.
"Exorcism? Although it's a bit wasteful of salt, Miko, your mom agrees," Yotsuya's mother said gently. Ever since her husband passed away, Miko had always been very sensible. Although she didn't know why Miko was doing this, it was okay to let Miko be willful occasionally.
"Thank you, Mom," Miko said.
"Indeed," Yotsuya Kyousuke said with his arms crossed, an expression of understanding on his face. "Hmph, Sis said she didn't like stories about monsters and ghosts, but she joined a club herself. Sis is really two-faced."
"Go to bed early, Miko, Kyousuke."
"Got it, Mom," Yotsuya Kyousuke said.
"Miko, if you get a boyfriend, you must bring him home," Yotsuya's mother said again, fearing her daughter might be deceived by a delinquent.
"Got it, Mom," Yotsuya Miko sighed inwardly. I don't have a boyfriend, unless Upper God counts as one.
By ancient standards, a shrine maiden was a deity's concubine, right?
If that's the case, I'm practically married to Upper God.
Yotsuya Miko's cheeks flushed slightly, but with her strong composure, it only lasted for a moment.
"Does Miko already have a boyfriend?" Yotsuya's father said, looking at Miko kindly, "How fast time flies. Before I knew it, Miko has grown up."
"Grrr—grrr—." A grinding sound came from the mouth of the evil spirit entrenched in the living room.
"I wasn't praising you; you can't harass Miko," Yotsuya's father pushed away the giant evil spirit's head.
"
Yotsuya Miko pursed her lips, holding the salt-filled bowl, and walked up the stairs.
On the second day of being able to see evil spirits, she saw her deceased father at home. Because she was afraid of that large evil spirit, she pretended not to see him.
If she could drive the evil spirits out of the house, she would be brave enough to say that she could see them.
"I'll try it now." Yotsuya Miko placed the salt-filled bowl at the corner of the stairs, stirred her finger in the salt, and muttered something.
"Exorcism Barrier, unfold."
Buzz buzz~
Only she could hear the sound coming from the salt-filled bowls throughout the room; some bowls even trembled slightly.
"Hmm? Is this the bowl Miko just placed?" Yotsuya's father looked surprised at the intensely glowing bowl.
"Roar, roar, roar, roar…"
The massive evil spirit entrenched in the living room roared as it was illuminated by the light, extending its coffee-table-sized claw to swat at the glowing bowl.
But before it could touch the bowl, a repulsive force continuously pushed it out of the house.
The massive body of the giant evil spirit continuously squeezed through the windows and doors, its body greatly distorted.
In Yotsuya Kyousuke's eyes, the windows and doors suddenly blew open.
"Talking? Is there a typhoon today? I remember closing the door just now." Yotsuya Kyousuke quickly closed the door, but the wind was so strong that it was hard for him to close it: "How can the wind be this strong!"
Yotsuya Miko secretly peeked from the corner of the stairs.
The giant evil spirit was continuously being squeezed out, and all the evil spirits hidden in the house were also pushed out. There were many evil spirits, at least a dozen of them.
So many evil spirits were hidden in the house, after all. Yotsuya Miko felt a lingering fear, looking at her father's spirit. He was fine and hadn't been squeezed out, only his expression was very surprised.
The Exorcism Barrier only expels evil things; her father's spirit was not an evil spirit, so he would not be driven away.
She was also very curious; she had never seen another spirit like her father's.
After the exorcism, the doors and windows were shut with a snap by Yotsuya Kyousuke.
"Finally got the door closed," Yotsuya Kyousuke panted.
"Miko, can you—see?" Yotsuya's father looked in surprise at his daughter, who was hiding in the corner of the stairs, peeking.
He noticed his daughter's gaze was on him, and then there was everything that had just happened, which greatly astonished him.
Yotsuya Miko nodded, her lips moving: "Dad."