Minjun cautiously looked at Yohan sitting in front of him.
A friend of his girlfriend’s friend knew someone whose friend had worked as a maid at the mansion of a famous painter.
That person had told him about an incredibly impressive exorcist.
Minjun had asked for the exorcist’s contact information and managed to get in touch with him.
But the man sitting before him had calm black hair and an ordinary appearance that hardly seemed to fit an exorcist.
And then there was the business card, with the ridiculous title Ghostbuster, which sounded like something a child would make up as a joke.
‘…Is this guy for real?’
Minjun had been anxious because Yohan had told him that he needed to explain everything that had happened so that Yohan could provide appropriate assistance.
In his desperation, Minjun had even admitted to using drugs, and now he was worried.
Seeing Minjun’s anxious gaze, I spoke in a calm voice.
“Don’t worry.
Naturally, any information I learn about a client while working is confidential.”
I threw in a little joke to lighten the mood.
“Besides, I’d be in trouble if I got mixed up with the police, too.”
After working as an exorcist a few times, I’d realized that it was important to appear like a professional who didn’t get flustered by situations like this.
Ultimately, this was a service industry, somewhat like counseling, so I needed to put my clients at ease.
And honestly, I didn’t care whether Minjun smoked drugs or did whatever else he wanted.
Drug investigations were the police’s job, not mine.
My job was—
Minjun spoke cautiously.
“Um…
You said you were a Ghostbuster…”
“You can just call me an exorcist.
The work is the same.”
—exorcism.
“Then, from an exorcist’s perspective…
I’m in a dangerous situation right now, aren’t I?”
Did he really need to ask?
It wasn’t as though he hadn’t known the risks.
He’d been told all the precautions.
He’d walked into a minefield and performed a tap dance, and now he was asking, ‘I’m totally screwed, aren’t I?’…
First, I checked something important.
“After the strange phenomena started happening at your home, did you destroy or throw away the altar?”
“…No.
I was too scared to touch it, so I left it as it was.”
“That’s a relief.
You did the right thing.”
Good.
Then this wasn’t the worst-case scenario.
Considering that he’d done absolutely everything he’d been told not to do, the fact that Minjun was still alive suggested that the claim about the benevolent Loa was probably true.
I quietly observed Minjun.
Besides, I couldn’t sense any particularly suspicious or unsettling energy coming from him.
Minjun himself hadn’t been cursed by Ezili Freda, either.
“Could you tell me a little more about what happened after that day?”
“Well, furniture started moving on its own, I felt as though someone was watching me, I had nightmares…
And various things I tried to do kept going wrong.
It felt like one bad thing after another was happening.”
I understood more or less what was going on.
This wasn’t something I should get involved in.
“Please don’t misunderstand me, but there’s nothing I can do to help you.”
“What?
Th-then, I’ll pay you as much as you want!”
I laughed inwardly at Minjun’s horrified response.
As much as I want, huh…?
That was the typical line people used when their attitude changed completely depending on whether they were coming or going.
It didn’t matter much since I wasn’t going to accept the job anyway.
It was understandable that pricing a Supernatural Phenomenon case was difficult, but regardless of whether the amount was large or small, it was best for clients to state their available budget.
That way, both parties could negotiate the price up or down before the work began.
“This isn’t about money.
This isn’t something an exorcist or a Shaman can resolve for you.”
I looked at Minjun and spoke.
“Only you, Mr.
Minjun, can resolve this problem.”
“Me?
How?”
“If an evil spirit has attached itself to you, I can help exorcise it.
But this wasn’t that kind of unreasonable situation.
It was more like a fair agreement…
No, even calling it an agreement didn’t feel quite right.
That’s it.
Patronage.
And that was precisely why I shouldn’t interfere.
I explained Minjun’s situation to him.
To use an analogy, Minjun was a streamer who engaged in simulated romantic relationships with his viewers, while Ezili Freda was one of his viewers.
Or, to put it in more sophisticated terms, she was like a Constellation from a Constellation-themed story.
It was easy to assume that offering gifts such as dresses, jewelry, and desserts was a transaction in which the goddess rewarded him with good luck.
But that wasn’t what this was.
When you gave your girlfriend a present—in this case, an offering—the goddess became happy and took care of her lover.
Wasn’t it only natural for lovers to take care of each other?
There was no contract or anything of the sort.
“Even if your relationship with Ezili Freda resembles a simulated romance, you’re still lovers.”
Therefore, interfering in their relationship was something I absolutely must not do.
“What Ezili Freda is doing right now isn’t a curse.
She’s openly cheating on you.
It’s simply her way of venting her anger at a lover who insulted her.”
The fact that Minjun was still alive was proof enough.
She was simply making it clear that she was angry.
It was just that her way of expressing that anger was different because she wasn’t human.
“And when your girlfriend is angry because you’ve cheated on her, what you should do isn’t bring some strange man over to her and have him say on your behalf…”
I shrugged.
“‘I don’t want anything to do with you anymore, so get the hell out of here, you bitch.’ That’s not how you handle things.”
“…..”
After listening to me, Minjun interlocked his fingers and remained silent.
Then, in a trembling voice, he asked,
“…Then, what am I supposed to do?”
“You said earlier that you could pay as much as necessary.
I’m not going to tell you to sell your house.
Take all the money in your bank account and buy luxury handbags, clothes, perfume, and whatever else you can.
Offer everything to Ezili Freda at her altar, and beg her forgiveness.”
“A-all of it—!?”
I spoke calmly to Minjun, whose pupils were trembling with shock.
“I don’t think you earned all that money without making any effort.
I’m sure you worked hard.
But…”
I gently admonished him.
“Isn’t the reason you’re so frightened now that, on top of your own efforts, you also had an extraordinary amount of unbelievable good luck?”
“…That’s!”
Minjun started to say something, then closed his mouth.
After a moment, he cautiously asked,
“If I do that, will things go back to how they were before?”
“No.
Of course they won’t go back to how they were.”
Ezili Freda had already seen Minjun’s human girlfriend.
Obviously, a lover who hadn’t cheated and one who had cheated weren’t the same, were they…?
I stated it bluntly.
“If she forgives you, you have two choices left.”
“First, if you want to maintain your relationship with Ezili Freda, break up with your girlfriend.”
“Second, if you want to maintain your relationship with your girlfriend, tell Ezili Freda, ‘I’m not worthy of you,’ and end your relationship with her.”
Minjun fell silent again, and I had nothing more to say.
As I stood up, Minjun came to his senses and asked,
“Ah…
What about the consultation fee…?”
“Forget it.
I haven’t done anything.
Let’s settle the consultation fee with the price of the coffee.”
I wouldn’t even make enough to cover my transportation costs for this trip.
I’d come all this way for nothing.
…Still, I’d at least provided the service I’d been paid for, even if all I’d received was the price of a cup of coffee.
I gave Minjun one final piece of advice.
“One last thing. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Absolutely do not let another exorcist or Shaman into your house.”
***
At the motel, Minjun was lying in bed with his beautiful model girlfriend.
She looked at his face and asked,
“Oppa, what are you thinking about?”
“Ah…
Well…
I met that exorcist I told you about.”
Minjun hesitated for a moment before telling her about his conversation with Yohan.
“He said I have to spend my entire fortune appeasing the ghost.”
His girlfriend looked at him in disbelief.
“What?
Isn’t that a scam?
Did he even come into your house to check whether there was a ghost?”
“…No.”
“He said all that without even looking?
I could say the same thing, then.”
She fiddled with her phone for a moment, checking her contacts, before speaking.
“Oppa, why don’t we do this instead?
Apparently, a friend of my mom’s acquaintance knows a powerful Shaman.
Let’s ask that person to take a look.”
Minjun briefly recalled his conversation with Yohan, then looked at his beautiful model girlfriend’s naked body.
…Yeah.
No matter how he looked at it, being told to offer up his entire fortune and break up with his girlfriend was too extreme.
Perhaps the exorcist was a fraud who was making up convincing-sounding nonsense to hide the fact that he was a fake.
No, he had to be a fraud.
.
.
.
Yohan’s small studio apartment.
Yohan was sitting at his desk, reading a grimoire, when—
Bzzzz—
His phone vibrated with an incoming call.
When he checked the number, he saw that it was Minjun.
“Hello, this is Kim Yohan.”
As soon as he answered, he heard Minjun’s voice.
“Aaaagh!
Aaaaaah!
H-hurry, come to my house!
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!
I…
Stop!
Please—!
Aaaaaaaaah!”
Minjun’s voice rang out amid a series of bizarre, horrifying sounds.
I had a pretty good idea of what had happened.
Sigh…
Seriously, you did every single thing I told you not to do.
You brought this on yourself.
Just die of natural causes, you idiot.
I refrained from actually saying those cruel words aloud.
There was no point insulting someone I probably wouldn’t see again anyway.
Well, I understood him.
People naturally liked stories about clever humans outsmarting less intelligent demons, keeping their souls, and obtaining gold in the process.
I liked those stories, too.
But if you failed…
You had to deal with the consequences yourself.
I quietly ended the call.
There was no second call.
As I put my phone down, Grizzly, who had been curled up nearby, approached me and rubbed his head against my hand.
“Gyaaa~.”
He was asking for a snack.
I smiled faintly and stroked Grizzly’s head.
“Want a snack?”
“Gyaa~!”
Grizzly cried out happily.