Keli looked around the room. Although it was a three-story building, it was not a villa.
The area of each floor was not large, and the ceiling height was not great, looking to be about 2.1 meters, meaning a tall person could reach the ceiling by extending their hand.
The furnishings were quite complete, and the renovation was already done. The first floor had an open-plan small kitchen with a sink, a living room, and a toilet. Up the narrow and tall small staircase was a corridor and two rooms. The rooms were directly above the living room, and even the two rooms did not have independent bathrooms.
The layout of the third floor was similar, except that the two small rooms were combined into a master bedroom with a toilet. To get to the rooftop, one needed to climb a ladder, and it was usually covered with a small lid, but fortunately, waterproofing was done, otherwise, it would have been terrible.
Keli noticed that some parts of the house were already covered in thick dust, indicating that it had been vacant for a long time.
Kazuma found a worn-out broom and dustpan in the house, claiming he would thoroughly clean his new home, and then go to a second-hand store with Keli to find some used furniture, and preferably buy some electronics in Akihabara.
Watching Kazuma, who was like an unbridled wild dog, jumping up and down in the house with great delight, Keli shook his head and sat down at the entrance.
However, Keli hadn't sat for long before there was a knock on the door.
"Knock, knock!"
Hearing the knocking sound, Keli frowned and looked through the peephole.
It was a few old women.
"Just a moment."
Keli replied, then ran upstairs. After confirming from the second-floor window that it wasn't some old woman tricking him into opening the door, followed by an FBI-like scenario, he touched the pistol he had brought from the village at his waist and opened the door.
Seeing Keli open the door, the old women outside first greeted him. Keli also introduced himself in return, and then the old women looked at each other, seemingly hesitant to speak.
Finally, an old woman who looked kind but was short stepped forward.
"Hello, from your introduction, you are Shimura Danzo, right? We are the neighborhood association of this area."
Kazuma seemed to have heard the commotion and came downstairs. As soon as he saw these people, he seemed to understand what was going on.
Keli also understood. A neighborhood association could basically be understood as a residents' committee. Although it was self-organized by neighbors, it also had government endorsement.
Although it was publicly promoted as mediating neighborhood disputes, this thing was only useful when it was first established. Now, its main purpose was to arrest people who littered in the neighborhood, and if nearby residents were harassed by cults, they could contact them.
Because Japan has freedom of religion, and Tsuchimikado-chan indulged cults when she was last in power, later on, a cult even successfully became a political party with a member of parliament. It was not uncommon for them to go door-to-door promoting their doctrines, asking if you wanted to meet their Heavenly Father and Savior.
Of course, Tsuchimikado-chan's actions also laid the groundwork for her own demise. 1
And the issue of littering was also troublesome. Not only did one have to pay regularly, but also sort garbage well, knowing what to throw on which day of the week, otherwise, if caught by these old women, it would result in an on-the-spot fine.
Since it costs money to dispose of large items, many people choose to give them away for free to second-hand stores when replacing furniture and appliances. The second-hand store just needs to send someone to pick them up, and they don't charge a penny.
Keli didn't really understand these things and thought these residents' committee old women were there to deliver some housewarming gifts, as Japanese people seemed to like this kind of thing in anime.
However, the reality was somewhat different from what he imagined.
The old women looked at each other, and finally, elbowed the old woman who had spoken first, and she reluctantly spoke.
"That young man, were you perhaps tricked by the real estate agent? Don't be greedy for cheap rent and large spaces here. This house of yours is a stigmatized property! If those black-hearted people didn't tell you, we can go with you to find them!"
"Stigmatized property?"
While Keli was repeatedly chewing on this term he hadn't heard in a mental hospital, Kazuma was already a bit flustered.
"What, this is a haunted house? That Kappa is truly a scoundrel!"
Keli understood what "stigmatized property" meant as soon as he heard it.
However, usually, properties that have experienced fires or similar incidents can also be included in this category, but in this context, it should mean that someone had died in this house.
Hearing Kazuma's voice, the old women nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, the previous owner of this place and we all knew each other. She was a very quiet girl, but somehow she committed suicide. After that, because she had no relatives, this house was auctioned off, and then two more people died here. Now it's completely famous, and no one dares to live here. Even the house next door, for this reason, the owner converted it into apartments for rent. Before, their family lived there. If you were tricked by the agent, it's still not too late."
Keli didn't have as strong a reaction as Kazuma. He probably thought this was no big deal, considering he had seen the Kappa deal with a Human-Faced Dog, or perhaps this was a test of their abilities.
Several possibilities flashed through Keli's mind, but he still shook his head.
Keli didn't think much of it. Anyway, if there really were supernatural events, it might be the ghosts who had to run, not them.
After a look of disgust, Kazuma also gritted his teeth.
"Thank you, but this house was given to us by a friend, and we don't have any other place to stay in Tokyo."
"Then you really are..." The old women originally wanted to say that they had made bad friends, but they held back. If an ordinary friend gave you a house, you would practically kowtow and call them your adoptive father, but this was a haunted house.
In the end, after confirming that they were prepared to stay and had no intention of moving despite the advice, the old women gave a few more instructions and then left.
After the old women left, Keli and Kazuma discussed it. They were still quite concerned about this matter, after all, they had truly witnessed the supernatural elements of this world.
Kazuma even suggested wanting to go to a shrine to pray for blessings and get some amulets.
However, Keli blocked Kazuma's strange ideas with one sentence.
"If there really are ghosts, then the spirits of New Township Mountain from over a decade ago would be enough to form an undead army, and those old things were still alive and well before we went there.
Even someone like Amin in Africa can live out the rest of his life freely, what do you have to be afraid of?"
Kazuma thought that made sense. He simply divided the tasks with Keli: Keli would buy two futons and get some furniture from a second-hand store, while he would clean the house.
Keli had no objections. He also thought it was good to have a base.
However, when Keli was shopping at a Shimokitazawa second-hand store, he ran into an acquaintance.
"Dan... Danzo-kun! Is that you?" Goto Naoki, who had just been released not long ago, his eyes lit up as he saw Keli wearing a burlap sack over his head in broad daylight.
--+--
T/N: Although I'm an inexperienced Editor, I do have a Patreon account! Although it seems like I don't have many supporters right now, my webnovel will be released in full every day, and the advanced chapters will be uploaded to Patreon.
It may not be worth it now, but who knows, it might be different in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/Greyhounds
If you want to see it, then why not?