## Chapter 172 – (3)
“Sister, the ghoul story’s signal has disappeared.”
“Pardon?”
At the man’s words, she turned to look at him, Hwan.
Hwan was looking back at her with an unruffled expression.
It had already been three months since they started working together.
After realizing her talent as an exorcist, she had given up her path as a nun and become an exorcist, but Hwan still treated her as a sister.
She had told him that it was too much of an honorific for her, but Hwan consistently called her “Sister.”
She was a little grateful for that.
But the words that came out of Hwan’s mouth were too absurd.
“You’re saying the ghoul story’s signal disappeared?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“…Not just moving, but eliminated?”
“Yes, we haven’t confirmed any movement. Elimination is more likely.”
Hwan was talking while looking at his phone.
A screen was displayed on the phone.
It was an application created by the Ghoul Story Management Headquarters, accessible only to exorcists.
Although it was hard to understand, the app could accurately pinpoint the location of every ghoul story.
Without even a slight margin of error.
Because of this, some exorcists suspected that the app itself was a kind of ghoul story.
Since he was speaking based on the app, she thought the information wouldn’t be wrong, but it was a little hard to believe.
“Elimination…”
Ghouls were not usually something to be eliminated.
More like something to lure, isolate, or leave alone.
The Ghoul Story Management Headquarters would isolate a ghoul story to eliminate it, then create a strategy after dozens of experiments.
But to eliminate a ghoul story within tens of minutes of sending a disaster alert…
It was a hard story to believe as an exorcist.
“Did another exorcist get there first?”
“Hmm… No, we’re the only ones on the fire station side.”
The question deepened even further.
“Um, Sister, perhaps…”
“Yes?”
“Could it have been handled by a civilian or an unregistered exorcist?”
“Hmm… That would be difficult.”
It was quite difficult for a civilian to deal with a ghoul story.
Moreover, even an exorcist would find it nearly impossible to eliminate a ghoul story without the help of various tools and colleagues.
The very reason she, who had given up being a nun to walk the path of an exorcist, still wore this nun’s habit was because of that.
If she wasn’t protected from the ghouls’ attacks by the blessings engraved on the habit, it would be difficult to even face them.
And these items were usually so precious that even unofficial exorcists, not affiliated with the government, would have a hard time even seeing them once.
All they could get were cheap salt or mass-produced holy water.
There was no way they could eliminate a ghoul story with that.
“I’m a little uneasy.”
“Umm… Still, the ghoul story disappeared, so…”
“Haa… Ghoul story problems aren’t that simple.”
Hwan spoke as if telling her to think positively, but she couldn’t think that way at all.
She wanted to brush it off, thinking that everything would be fine, but she couldn’t take it lightly if the opponent was a ghoul story.
Perhaps it was a ghoul story that could move great distances in an instant.
Or maybe, the first ghoul story that couldn’t be detected by the app.
That story was more credible than the story of elimination.
“…Let’s go rescue the people quickly.”
If that was the case, rescuing the people as quickly as possible was the priority.
She increased her pace.
In the first place, the fire station wasn’t far from where they were.
After walking quickly for about five minutes, the fire station came into view, along with a sign that read “Shelter.”
The app said there were no ghoul stories, but the eerie energy unique to ghoul stories made both her and Hwan naturally lower their posture and quiet their voices.
They arrived in front of the fire station, but the ghoul story was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s really gone…”
Still, she didn’t let her guard down.
“…Ah!”
“…Just now…?”
“Yes, I heard it from inside the fire station.”
The inside of the fire station was a little noisy.
She and the man exchanged glances.
“…Something must have happened.”
Usually, when something like this happened, most people would fall into a state of depression and fear, losing their ability to speak.
Especially if there was a ghoul story nearby.
But the inside of the fire station was so lively, with people arguing in loud voices, that it was clearly not a normal situation.
She asked Hwan to watch the surroundings for a moment and approached the shutter, putting her ear to it.
The shutter was thin, so she could hear the voices beyond it clearly.
“What are you doing! Open the door quickly?!”
As soon as she put her ear to the shutter, she heard a loud shout that made her ears hurt for a moment.
Suppressing the urge to take her ear away, she continued to eavesdrop.
“Wait, are you sure the ghoul story has been dealt with?”
“He just got hit once by that guy’s fist and collapsed…”
“Let’s let them in when they show us their exorcist license!”
“Still, he’s the one who saved us, let’s let him in first…”
“If we stay outside for too long in this weather, we’ll really die!”
“…Really?”
Everyone trapped inside was saying the same thing.
That a man had eliminated the ghoul story.
No one doubted or questioned that statement.
Even though opinions seemed divided on whether it was right to let the man who had eliminated the ghoul story back into the shelter, everyone spoke as if they had seen the scene of him defeating the ghoul story.
“S, Sister, this way.”
Just then, Hwan, who had decided to look around, urgently called her.
His eyes were as big as a rabbit’s, as if he had seen something amazing.
She took her face away from the shutter and followed the man behind her to the back of the fire station—
“Hng…!”
She was so surprised that she almost screamed.
There, a man was lying on the ground, transformed into a mummy.
He looked as if all his life force had been sucked out.
There was even a hole in his chest.
She couldn’t help but frown at the gruesome sight.
“Who on earth is this person…”
“This isn’t a person. Sister, it’s a ghoul story.”
“Pardon?”
“Look at the hole in the chest.”
She didn’t want to, but she looked at the corpse again as the man said.
Only then did she understand why the man had judged this corpse to be a ghoul story.
Even though there was a hole in his chest, there was no trace of blood anywhere.
Around the hole in his chest, she could only see torn clothes, and no red blood.
Moreover, the inside of the body she glimpsed was filled like clay.
“And over there—”
Hwan pointed somewhere past the corpse.
Following his finger, she saw a man.
It was a huge man.
A sturdy man who looked close to 190 cm tall was holding ice in both hands and roughly rubbing his face with it as if he were washing it.
Since today’s weather was scorching hot, the sight might seem natural at first glance.
But a huge man washing his face with ice near a ghoul story that had dried up like a mummy was really…
It gave her a bizarre feeling that this was the real ghoul story.
Thud.
As she watched him, she slowly approached and made a sound with her footsteps.
“…”
“…”
She made eye contact with the huge man.
They stared into each other’s eyes without a word.
The energy she felt was unusual.
She felt something strong, different from the eerie energy of a ghoul story.
“…Who are you?”
“Huh? Ah.”
At her question, the man dropped the ice on the ground, hesitated for a moment, and then opened his mouth.
“A rookie exorcist.”
“…Do you have a license?”
“…No.”
“Then you’re not even a rookie.”
“…”
The man chuckled as if he had nothing to say, then nodded.
This man seemed to be an unofficial exorcist.
An unofficial exorcist who defeats ghoul stories alone.
He was truly a valuable talent.
“Then you are… a sister?”
At those words, she looked down at herself.
It was an appearance that couldn’t be helped even if she received such a misunderstanding.
“We are exorcists dispatched from the Ghoul Story Management Headquarters.”
At the man’s question, Hwan confidently answered and took out his exorcist license.
Accordingly, she also briefly took out her license and showed it.
“Oh! You’ve finally come!”
Then the man smiled brightly.
With a tone as if he was very happy.
Was this man waiting for them?
For a moment, her gaze turned to the fallen ghoul story.
It wasn’t said to be a strong ghoul story, but she wondered why the man who had defeated the ghoul story was so eagerly waiting for them.
Could there be another ghoul story that was so strong that they needed their help?
The man strode to the door and knocked on it.
“I’ll show you my exorcist license!”
With those words, he gestured to them.
And he pointed to the CCTV, urging them to show their licenses.
Hwan reluctantly stepped forward and showed his license to the CCTV.
Then the door opened coolly and a firefighter appeared.
“I’m sorry. Was it hot? The citizens are very anxious.”
“It’s okay.”
The huge man was chatting amicably with the firefighter as if they were friends, and entered the cool interior.
As the man entered, cheers erupted from some of the citizens.
“…”
“…”
She and Hwan stood blankly in front of the door.
They were being ignored.
This was the first time she had been treated with so little interest while working as an exorcist.
“…Shall we go inside where it’s cooler?”
“…Yes, let’s do that. We also need to explain the rescue plan…”
With a slightly disappointed feeling, she stepped inside the fire station.
