I shook off those bastard AST members and finally made it back to my lodging. They really chased me all the way to the end.
Grrrgle.
“Ah, I’m hungry.”
Lately, my food expenses had started to pile up. Well, I didn’t actually need to eat to survive, but eating was one of the few pleasures I still enjoyed.
“Hup! Maybe I'll just grab something simple at a convenience store.”
I had already stripped off my armor and shoved it into my inventory after ditching the AST.
“I only have this one set of clothes, though.”
Between the 10,000 yen I’d started with and the money I’d shaken out of punks while wandering around, I was almost out of cash. All I had left to wear was a single tracksuit.
“Who knows. Maybe some other punk will show up for me to shake down.”
Just as I was muttering this and heading toward a nearby convenience store, I felt someone following me.
What? Am I being tailed? Out of nowhere?
I considered the possibility that they were simply heading in the same direction, but every time I changed course, they mirrored my movements. To flush them out, I stepped into a quiet alley and called out, “You there. I know you’re following me, so come out.”
“Haha, well, you caught me.”
A man stepped out from the shadows. He was a handsome fellow with long blond hair.
“By the way, I didn’t expect the [Knight] to look this cool.”
“...Who are you?”
[Knight]. Judging by what the AST had been shouting, that was my identification name as a spirit. The fact that this man knew that title meant he was connected to them.
“No need to be so wary. Could we talk for a bit at a nearby cafe?”
“Well, you don’t seem like you’re trying to kill me, so I’ll hear you out.”
We headed to a nearby cafe and sat down to talk.
“I am an officer belonging to [Ratatoskr]. My name is Kyohei Kannazuki, vice commander of the [Fraxinus].”
“So why were you tailing me?”
“To make you an offer.”
“What kind of offer?”
Kannazuki’s proposal was simple: he wanted to know if I would join [Ratatoskr] and work for them. I hadn’t actually watched the anime, so I didn’t know the exact details of their operations, but I recalled a friend mentioning that they were friendly toward spirits.
Since the AST and everyone else seemed convinced I was a spirit, I saw no reason to refuse. More than anything, I was desperately short on cash.
“Haa... first of all, you said you’re the vice commander?”
“That’s right.”
“Then can I talk to the commander? I’d like to negotiate my salary with someone higher up.”
“That means—!”
“Yeah. I accept the offer.”
As soon as I agreed, Mr. Kannazuki immediately called someone and told me to follow him.
“Please stay still for a moment.”
With those words, light erupted from my body. When it faded, I had vanished from the spot where I had been standing.
***
“Commander. I’ve brought the [Knight].”
The place Mr. Kannazuki led me to featured a giant monitor and an array of equipment that looked like something straight out of a science fiction movie.
“Oh, you’re here? Welcome to the [Fraxinus], [Knight].”
I turned toward the voice and saw a red-haired child. I didn't remember clearly, but I knew that brat was a spirit too.
“What? Why are you staring like that?”
“Well, it’s just weird seeing someone who looks like a middle schooler calling themselves 'commander.'”
“I’m not a kid!”
Now, I didn’t say it that harshly, but the reaction was immediate.
“Anyway, you said you wanted to negotiate your salary?”
“Yeah. Let me hear your terms first.”
The commander’s only condition for me was simple: cooperate with [Ratatoskr].
That was it.
“Is that really all?”
“We don’t want to exploit you. Simply cooperating with us is enough.”
I nodded and presented my own conditions:
First, provide a place to stay.
Second, create a legal ID for me.
Third, acknowledge that I am not a spirit.
“What’s the last one?”
The commander seemed most puzzled by the final point, so I answered, “Well, because I’m not a spirit.”
“No, but we’re detecting spirit waves coming from your body. How could you not be a spirit?”
“Spirit waves? What are those?”
My question seemed to leave the commander at a loss, and she began to explain patiently.
“Spirit waves are a type of wave composed of spiritual power emitted by spirits. By detecting them, we can sense a spirit’s manifestation and the spacequakes that occur during the process.”
“Spirit waves? But I’m just a perfectly ordinary civilian.”
The commander sighed in frustration and brought up a graph on the giant monitor.
“Look over there. That’s the spirit wave detected when you manifested last time. Very. Precisely. It was detected the moment you appeared.”
I couldn’t wrap my head around what the commander was saying. Seriously, if I’m not a spirit, why are spirit waves being detected?
“···.”
“You still look like you don’t get it.”
“Of course I don’t. I’m really not a spirit.”
“But look at this. The proof is right here, isn’t it?”
I had nothing to say. With the evidence staring me in the face, what could I possibly argue?
Spirit waves... spirit waves... wait, could it be?
“Why are you making that face? It looks like you just realized something.”
The difference between me and other people was the fact that my body contained souls. If my guess was right, then the souls within me must have been emitting the same kind of energy as spirit waves.
“Haa, let me say one thing first: I’m not a spirit. I’m just dead ash with the fire gone out.”
“Dead ash? What is that supposed to mean?”
To answer the commander’s question, I pulled a sword from my inventory and casually sliced off my own arm.
“Hey! What the hell are you—?!”
The commander shrieked, but before she could finish, my severed arm bled for a brief moment before turning into ash. The ash then swirled and gathered back together, perfectly restoring the arm. She fell silent.
“Well, as you just saw, I’m not a spirit, but ‘dead ash.’ The spirit waves were probably detected because of the souls I possess.”
“Souls?”
“You don’t need to worry about that part. Now, what about my conditions?”
“Haa... I’ll just assume your angel has that kind of ability. Still, you seem adamant about not being called a spirit, so I won’t call you one. And we can easily handle the rest of your requests. Welcome to [Ratatoskr].”
Ah, she didn’t understand at all. No, I’m telling you, I’m not a spirit.
I swallowed the thought and took the hand the commander offered. When the hell was this misunderstanding going to end?
“For now, we can’t arrange a place for you to stay immediately. Until we can, we’ll pay you an extra salary stipend. Also, have you thought of a name for your ID?”
I thought for a moment. A name? A name, huh... Japanese would be best, right?
“Higakieta Hai.”
“That’s a strange name. All right, we’ll register it. Is it okay if we handle the rest of the details?”
“Sure.”
And that was how my name was decided: “Higakieta Hai.” If translated directly, it means “dead ash.”
“Then you may head back for now. Ah, a bank account... you probably don’t have one.”
The commander let out a long sigh and gave some instructions to one of the crew members.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Shortly after, the crew member handed me an ID card, a bankbook in my name, and a debit card.
“Wow, that’s some impressive tech.”
“Basic stuff. Your salary will be deposited into that account, so keep it safe.”
With that, I was teleported back to an alley near my lodging. What convenient technology.
“Wow. I think I should make this my lifelong career.”
After checking the salary already deposited in my bankbook, I decided right then and there to make [Ratatoskr] my lifelong employer.
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