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Chapter 3
The Welfare Condition for a Contract Exorcist: One Head Pat a Day
As if nothing had happened, I elegantly straightened the hem of my dress.
Damian, his face still red, fixed his rumpled uniform while breathing heavily.
“…You really are a dangerous woman.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Basement 3. Interrogation Room No. 1.
I sat down comfortably on the iron chair.
Damian, sitting across from me, put down the folder and looked at me as if I were pathetic.
“There is only one thing I want to ask.”
He leaned his upper body forward. His blue eyes gleamed coldly.
“That black smoke you erased at the wedding hall. And the thing you tried to avoid at the Inquisition entrance. ……What on earth do you see?”
So this was the real topic.
I dropped the playfulness from my face and met his eyes seriously.
“If I tell you, will you believe me?”
“If it is reasonable.”
“There is a little boy standing behind your shoulder. A boy who looks about five years old, with red marks around his neck. He’s holding an old teddy bear.”
Damian’s eyes wavered.
He reflexively turned to the left, then stopped.
“…Enough with the jokes.”
“I’m not joking. The child is saying to you, ‘Big brother, I’m not in pain anymore. So don’t cry.’”
Snap.
The pen in Damian’s hand broke.
The color drained from his face. He turned pale, as if he had seen a ghost.
That child was not an evil spirit.
He was a guardian spirit. A very pure and clean soul protecting Damian.
It was probably his dead younger brother.
“You… investigated me?”
“We only just met today. How could I have investigated you? I’m just telling you what I see.”
Damian covered his face with a confused expression.
It was the moment the mask of the cold Inquisitor fell away.
I leaned over the table and held out my hand to him.
“Sir Lyert, let’s make a deal.”
“…A deal?”
“I can see what you people can’t. Demons, evil spirits, monsters wearing human skin. And you have the power and authority to eliminate them. Use me as your partner. Not as a hound, but as a hunter.”
Damian looked at me with disbelief.
“Can you prove your ability? That you are not simply seeing illusions.”
“Proof? Easy. Over there, in the lowest drawer of the cabinet, behind the stack of files—there’s a dark energy leaking out.”
Damian gave me a suspicious look, then slowly stood up and opened the cabinet.
Soon his hand stopped.
What he pulled out was a cursed doll covered in strange patterns drawn in red blood.
It was a medium for black magic planted inside the Inquisition itself.
“This is…!”
Damian turned back to me in shock.
I shrugged and smiled.
“See? My eyes aren’t wrong.”
“…What exactly are you? A real saintess, or a witch?”
I brought my lips close to his ear and whispered,
“Well, at the very least, to you… I’m going to be a very useful crazy woman.”
At my provocative offer, the face of the Empire’s youngest Holy Knight Commander turned red again.
“Crazy woman…”
Damian let out a dry laugh.
A curse coming from that rigid holy knight somehow sounded oddly sexy.
“Fine. Let’s make the deal. I acknowledge your ability. What are your conditions?”
“Protection for my personal safety. And independence from the Eberhardt count’s family. Oh, and naturally, you’ll have to give me money too.”
I wagged my index finger.
“There is one more welfare condition that is most important.”
“Welfare… condition?”
“Sir Lyert, I mean you.”
I leaned forward over the table.
“To me, you’re a walking high-performance air purifier… no, a sacred relic. When I’m beside you, I can’t hear those annoying ghost voices, and I can’t smell anything disgusting. Three times a day. Allow contact.”
“…What?”
“I need purification. With that overflowing holy power of yours, I need to wash away my dirty eyes and ears. Holding hands, or hugging, either one.”
Thud.
Damian almost fell backward with his chair, but barely managed to keep his balance.
“Y-You really…! What kind of shameless request is that in a place like this…!”
“Shameless? This is a matter of survival. If I want to work in my right mind without going insane and running wild, I need your purification. If you refuse, then fine. But then I might go crazy from ghost voices while working and swing an iron club at my own allies.”
Faced with my threat that was not quite a threat, Damian shut his mouth.
After agonizing for a long time, he finally let out a deep sigh and nodded.
“…Understood. However, please restrain yourself in public places. And… hugging is prohibited unless it is truly an emergency. I will allow only hand-holding.”
“Deal.”
I grinned and held out my hand.
Damian irritably took off his glove and took my hand.
A large, firm hand.
A rough palm, covered in calluses, wrapped around mine.
Ziiing—
The moment our hands touched, a clear and refreshing energy flowed from my fingertips through my entire body.
My head felt cool, as if I had taken a menthol shower.
‘Ah, this is amazing. The best.’
I held his hand tightly and did not let go, closing my eyes to savor it.
Damian twitched his fingers as if he wanted to shake my hand off, but I could feel him forcing himself to endure it because of his promise.
“Alright then. Since we’ve made our contract… shall we begin the first mission? Let’s start by cleaning this building. It was a total mess when I came in.”
