Yotsuya Miko's return was not outside of Duanmu Huai's expectations. After all, he had mentioned to Yotsuya Miko before that if she was willing to help, he could do something for her in return. Now that the invisible monster had been taken down with Yotsuya Miko's assistance, it was only natural for her to come and collect her reward.

However, the appearance of another person was somewhat strange.

"What are you doing here?"

Looking at Nemume Satori standing outside the door, waving cheerfully at him, Duanmu Huai was speechless. Today was a day off, so Nemume Satori was also wearing casual clothes, but there was still a sword hanging at her waist — walking around the streets with something like that was outright criminal behavior. However, perhaps because Nemume Satori's attitude was too natural, most people probably just thought it was some kind of model sword or something.

"Satori came to hang out with you. Sorry to intrude."

As she spoke, Nemume Satori walked right in through the door without a hint of reservation. Duanmu Huai didn't stop her, just shook his head helplessly and then looked at Yotsuya Miko, who was still standing aside, looking a bit uneasy.

"Come in."

"Ah, yes, sorry to intrude..."

Unlike the clueless Nemume Satori, Yotsuya Miko cautiously walked through the door after getting Duanmu Huai's permission. She raised her head and looked into the hall before quickly averting her gaze as if she had seen something terrifying.

As for what she saw... well, Duanmu Huai didn't bother to ask.

Due to Duanmu Huai's laziness, the first floor still retained the bar setup from its café days, and after Duanmu Huai's renovation, the café's bar had become a guest reception area. Shajuye was currently standing behind the bar preparing tea, and when she saw Yotsuya Miko come in, she nodded and greeted her.

Meanwhile, Nemume Satori was curiously peering over the bar, staring at the little panda — the little one was shivering behind Shajuye, as if terrified by being watched by a predator.

It seems that animals indeed have sharper instincts than humans.

"It's so cute, what kind of animal is that?"

At this moment, Yotsuya Miko also approached the bar and was delighted to see the little panda immediately.

"Is it a raccoon?"

"No, it's a red panda."

Duanmu Huai waved his hand, feeling relieved. After all, if Yotsuya Miko showed a terrified expression after seeing this red panda, Duanmu Huai would have to go to Chinatown and have a word with that ambiguous store owner about what kind of pet they had sold him.

"A red panda? Isn't that a baby panda? Aren't pandas supposed to be black and white?"

"This is a different species, completely different from giant pandas."

Duanmu Huai gave a brief explanation, and Yotsuya Miko didn't seem particularly concerned.

"It's so cute, can I pet it?"

"Probably not right now."

Looking at the little panda shaking and cowering in the corner away from Nemume Satori, Duanmu Huai shook his head, and Yotsuya Miko let out a sigh, lowering her shoulders in disappointment.

"I see..."

Nemume Satori didn't mind the little panda not approaching and continued to wander around, humming a song and looking for amusement. Duanmu Huai paid no attention to Nemume Satori's impudent behavior — with a SAN value of zero, she was completely insane, so why bother with a lunatic?

"So, what did you come to see me for today?"

Shajuye quietly brought over coffee, and Duanmu Huai took her place, standing behind the bar, staring at Yotsuya Miko. Perhaps it was the comforting café decor that made Yotsuya Miko feel less tense.

"By the way, if you're here to discuss something about your eyes, I'm afraid I can't be of much help. I'm better at exterminating monsters, but when it comes to theory and technique, I'm not as familiar as those mediums who leap about."

"I-I see..."

Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, Yotsuya Miko lowered her head in disappointment. It seemed she hoped Duanmu Huai could help with her eye problem, but alas, Duanmu Huai was a brawler, uninterested and unskilled in theory.

"However, based on my experience, even ruining your eyes might not work. It's a form of information reception, so if you chose to blind yourself, you might end up only seeing monsters for the rest of your life."

"Ugh..."

Here, Yotsuya Miko's expression turned quite stiff. Just imagining that scenario probably filled her with despair.

Perhaps her SAN value had already dropped several points.

"But if you want to protect yourself, then use this."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai placed a pendant on the table. Upon seeing the pendant, Yotsuya Miko's face turned pale for a moment — Duanmu Huai didn't bother asking her what she saw.

This will do.

"Is there no other way? Like with beads or something..."

"We don't believe in Buddhism here."

Strictly speaking, Duanmu Huai is even on the side of eradicating Buddhism.

"Then… thank you, teacher."

Yotsuya Miko hesitated for a moment but still reached out to take the necklace. However, she did not immediately put it around her neck; instead, she put it in her pocket. Seeing Yotsuya Miko's actions, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow.

"No need to thank me. I will need your help in the future."

"Huh?"

"You can see those things, which is very useful to me, so I hope you can help me out in the future. How about it?"

Although she doesn't have the Golden Pupil, in Duanmu Huai's view, this knock-off version isn't unusable.

"This...…"

To be honest, Yotsuya Miko really didn't want to get involved with those weird things, so her first instinct was to refuse Duanmu Huai's proposal. After all, she's just an ordinary girl; although she can see things others cannot, in other aspects, Yotsuya Miko is no different from an ordinary person. Her mind isn't as sharp as Shajuye's, nor does she have excellent hacking skills, and she's nothing like Mianmu Zuoniao with swordsmanship abilities. If a monster wanted to attack her, she had no other way than to pretend not to see it.

But... another voice inside Yotsuya Miko told her that maybe she should change her mindset.

Anyway, she can already see them, and perhaps will be like this for a long time, so she must get used to such a life. Just that all along, Yotsuya Miko has been conflicted about what to do. After all, she isn't from a Shinto Family, and she knows nothing about exorcisms; she wasn't even a fan of the supernatural before. You could say Yotsuya Miko's knowledge about these things is completely zero, so she has no idea how to deal with those strange existences.

But it's evident that Duanmu Huai is very skilled at handling these things. If she stays by his side, maybe she can gain some experience. At the very least, she might gradually distinguish which ones are easy to deal with and which ones are not.

"Will it be dangerous?"

"Of course, but I'll handle those guys, and with that pendant, you won't be attacked either."

"...…Let me think about it."

Ultimately, Yotsuya Miko did not immediately agree, and Duanmu Huai did not force her to either, just nodded. But at this moment, suddenly, a hand reached over from the side.

"Me, me, me, I want to join too!"

Everyone turned their heads and saw Mianmu Zuoniao raising her hand with a grin, staring at them intently.

"You? Why?"

"Because following the teacher, I can cut lots of interesting things, much more fun than those boring things~~~"

"......"

Well, can be understood?

"Alright then, I'll call you if I need anything in the future."

"Great!"

Hearing Duanmu Huai agree so quickly, Mianmu Zuoniao cheerfully raised her hand and excitedly exclaimed, while Shajuye widened her eyes in surprise, then reached out to tug on Duanmu Huai's sleeve.

"Brother, is this okay?"

"For now, she's not a bad choice."

Looking at Mianmu Zuoniao, who was spinning in circles with her hands raised high, Duanmu Huai sighed silently. Although this Mianmu Zuoniao has various issues, she is indeed a rare helper. On one hand, her SAN value is 0, so there's no worry of her getting scared by unspeakable things, and on the other hand, her combat ability is not weak. Though her physical strength is just at the level of an ordinary girl, her swordsmanship is indeed outstanding. More importantly, she can swing her sword at enemies without hesitation—this is very important, as no one else has this ability or awareness.

Of course, from Mianmu Zuoniao's standpoint, it's not that she has any awareness; she merely finds it amusing.

Oh well, whatever, as a Judge, Duanmu Huai sees such a helper as even better.

Although having a SAN value of 0 means Mianmu Zuoniao might go mad sporadically, it wasn't a concern for Duanmu Huai. After all, he isn't someone who plans meticulously either. For example, if pretending to be a cultist to infiltrate an event and midway Mianmu Zuoniao feels it's too boring, lifts her robe, and slashes a cultist, Duanmu Huai would simply strike down all the cultists, not caring whether the plan fails or not.

After all, charging straight ahead is simpler and more straightforward.

Another reason is that Duanmu Huai indeed needs a melee helper. As the only fighter here, Duanmu Huai has his hands full and can't split his shadow into multiple parts. So having Mianmu Zuoniao lend a hand isn't bad either. What Duanmu Huai values most, naturally, is her mental state.

The rest of the Five Swords might not be weaker than Mianmu Zuoniao, but only she can go at enemies without reservation—the others, after all, are still normal people.

Unfortunately, normal people are the least useful in this kind of situation.

After a few more days, the school returned to tranquility. Perhaps because the matter had been resolved, the previously panicked students gradually calmed down. As for the two missing students, no one mentioned them anymore, and for a moment, the school seemed to have returned to a peaceful and serene state.

And at this time, Duanmu Huai received an unexpected assignment.

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