“No, this isn’t a simple job. Your queen agreed to pay thirty thousand, and I’ve already pushed that price down to the absolute minimum. I’m even covering the cost of the materials out of my own pocket. And in the end, I still have to tell you that exorcising demons is sometimes easier than killing ghouls. The monster you’re facing might very well be a ghoul.” Juxi remained expressionless and refused to lower the price.

Besides, he had a point. If it really were that simple, those people before them would have taken the job already. Why would it have been left for Juxi?

Ghouls had indeed been running rampant in the Western Yi lands recently, and many people had lost their lives in the ghoul calamity.

Ordinary weapons—even blades—couldn’t do the slightest harm to these ghouls. The blood moon hung high in the sky. It was a sign of destruction!

And that was already the better outcome. Some people had even turned into ghouls themselves, eventually joining this blood-soaked feast!

“Let me introduce myself again. I’m Ye Juxi. You can just call me Juxi.” Juxi spoke with a fairly friendly smile.

“How laughable. Don’t put on that friendly face for me, you sly hunter!” The girl didn’t fall for Juxi’s act in the slightest, but out of courtesy, she still gave her own name.

“Yu Nai. Remember it. That’s the only name I’m telling you!”

Three days later…

Thanks to the speed of their ride, which was dozens of times faster than a horse, their three-day journey had already brought them close to Mount Ula. However, many areas still hadn’t been opened for passage, and large checkpoints had been set up everywhere along the way. They were, without a doubt, the greatest obstacle their journey had faced so far.

“Do you really think they were bitten to death by mutant creatures just because they were afraid of that king?”

“…You’re right. But now, please swallow all those words and keep them to yourself!”

The girl seemed extremely sensitive whenever Juxi brought up King Harilan. But night had already fallen, and with that cloud looming overhead as if it were about to burst into tears, continuing on would be a bad idea.

For some reason, they hadn’t seen a single sizeable town on the way here. They hadn’t even seen a trace of human life.

With nothing else to talk about, Juxi nodded thoughtfully and said, “Deal. Then we won’t talk about the king. Let’s talk about careers instead. That’s my sincere recommendation.”

Only now could he clearly see the girl called Yu Nai. She was slender, with a handsome face—far too handsome, in fact.

Yu Nai looked to be not yet thirty, Juxi thought.

He sat on a chair made of rocks, stretching both feet toward the stove. Yuanhui, already somewhat exhausted, lay beside it. A pink parrot sat on the chest next to him. It was dressed in splendid clothes and wore an arrogant expression, like some noble aristocrat.

“I…”

“Awooooo—!”

Just as the girl was about to introduce herself, a shriek rang out through the mountains, plunging everyone into a brief silence.

Even hunters might not be familiar with that sound, because it wasn’t the cry of any animal.

Then Yuanhui, who had been sleeping without waking, finally spoke. “That’s a human scream—”

“Is it human?”

Juxi lowered his head as he spoke, scattering some silver powder around the cave.

Only after he scattered it did those horrifying screams gradually calm down.

The silver powder looked rather strange. Yu Nai, an exorcist, had never seen anything like it before, so she couldn’t resist asking, “What kind of powder is that? It looks so weird…”

“Heh heh, it’s corpse-driving powder. The main ingredient is powdered ash from cremated bones… That’s about all there is to it.”

“…What?! That’s so filthy!!!”

As she spoke, Yu Nai pulled a golden-thread handkerchief from her pocket and vigorously wiped herself down. Juxi, ever observant, noticed it all—but said nothing.

Yu Nai felt a little awkward too, but Juxi’s suddenly darkening hair gave her something else to talk about.

“How did you make your hair so black? Was it caused by magic? From the looks of it, you’re not that old either. All right, all right, I’m only joking. Don’t say anything.”

“…That wasn’t funny at all. My hair has always been black, okay?”

There was something strange about what Juxi said, and it left everyone completely baffled.

Come to think of it, Juxi had been completely calm this whole time. Was that really okay?

“Hehe, but…” Yu Nai said shyly, “I’m guessing you must have a lot of experience, right?”

“Hey, hey, hey! What the hell are you saying, you fucking bitch?!” Yuanhui said, his face flushed crimson.

“Let’s hear it.”

Juxi was getting sleepy, so he lowered his head a little further.

“Uh… You must know that, according to the exorcists’ code, we can’t reveal the details of our work.”

“Quite a useful rule, Miss Exorcist. Pretty damn ridiculous… Uh, I mean, without going into the details, have you ever encountered a mutant creature before?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Then what were its specific traits? You must have fought one head-on, right?”

“Mm. Yes.”

Yu Nai hesitated for a moment, then turned around and shook awake Yuanhui, who had been about to go to sleep.

“You’re… Wu Yuanhui, right? The greatest escort guard in the Capital. What do you think?”