1,000,000 Karma: My Reward Is a Quiet Life-Chapter 56: A City Freed From Haunting

"Hey...You," the breathless words came from the baggy-eyed girl, who looked right at him. "You exorcised an evolved phantasmal...of that caliber...How did you–?"

Amidst the utter perplexity from the exorcist, the ethereal palace crumbled away, wall by wall, before being dismissed in its entirety. Within moments, the only remnants of the luxurious interior was nothing more than ash, fading into the air.

"Woah–"

[Tintri]

He moved with a hasty step to intercept each descent of his unconscious friends. While Astrid and Otto were practically weightless to him, the same couldn’t be said for the orc, who required some muscle to catch.

"Phew...That was close," Noah said, setting them each down with a sigh of relief.

As he sat on his knee against the cobblestone road of the now cleared-up, abandoned town, he looked up to find the pale woman looking back down at him as if trying to understand him.

"You...Just who are you, really?" Rain asked.

"Err, I told you my name," Noah answered.

The woman dressed in black nibbled on her own thumb in thought, lacking in any composure as she muttered, "You exorcised two powerful phantasmals with ease...Even managed to overcome the spirit of who was once a Saint of Blades...Not to mention exorcising an evolved phantasmal like it was nothing. Could it be..."

"—" He stayed quiet, not entirely sure where the oddball was going with it.

Rain stammered out, partially covering her mouth with her snow-white fingers, "You’re the Saint of Exorcism...?!"

"Hate to disappoint, but no," Noah rejected. "Today was my first time dealing with the supernatural."

"Seriously?! That has to be a lie, it has to! I’ve studied since I was a child, and even I...even I wouldn’t be able to exorcise a phantasmal like that!" Rain confronted with disbelief.

It didn’t seem like any answer would be sufficient for the exorcist, as much as it was tempting to say "Hey, I’m a guy from a totally different world with a power that lets me level up every skill I practice!"--Rather, he wasn’t much of a fan of sounding like an anomalous alien.

"It’s just a talent I have, for picking up on stuff like this," he tried to explain as vaguely as he could.

"You’re saying that so casually, but...Well, whatever. Your friends there won’t wake up anytime soon," Rain observed, walking closer as she stood over the laid out members of the party.

"Seriously? What do you mean?" Noah asked out of concern, staying knelt by the elven mage.

Rain crouched down, inspecting the sleeping archer who snored quietly, "It seems Y’Sila drained their spiritual energy."

"—!" Noah’s expression widened in shock.

"Relax, it’s not as bad as it sounds," Rain assured quickly with a quiet exhale. "It’s similar to mana, in that it naturally restores over time. They’ve been drained just about to empty, so it’s likely they won’t wake up for a few days..."

"Days?--"

"--In the event I wasn’t here, that is," Rain said, wearing a prideful grin. "Restoring spiritual imbalances is my specialty, after all."

"Woah, you’re a life saver," Noah said gratefully.

While the words of praise were taken, Rain’s smile was tempered, though the young man didn’t particularly understand that look.

’I think you’re the life saver here,’ the exorcist thought to herself.

It was like watching a real healer at work as he observed the specialist calmly hold her hands out above each of the unconscious adventurers. A subtle, silver light emerged from the palms of the woman, though didn’t seem to be of her own making, only guiding towards those in slumber.

In the air, the tiny particles of light floated like fireflies, gently drifting down to the twins and orc.

"Lesser spirits?" Noah watched.

Rain nodded while maintaining concentration, "All I’m doing is asking for their help."

"That’s pretty nice of them," Noah said, watching the minuscule spirits float by.

"They were once all people living their lives like us, you see? Just trying their best to make it," Rain said with a kind smile. "So, they like to help out."

Somehow it was relieving hearing that as he reached his hand out, watching the tiny remnants of those who passed drift by. The colorful, spherical spirits were warm to the touch, like directly feeling fuzziness.

"Nn..." Astrid groaned.

"Ahh..." Otto followed, slowly sitting up and rubbing his forehead. "What a headache...feels like I got smacked with a hammer."

A mighty yawn escaped the orc’s mouth as he sat up, rolling his shoulders as his rested bones cracked.

"A fine slumber, that was," Redrum casually stated while picking himself up.

Back in the town as if having woken up from a bad dream, it seemed the venture into the realm of spirits and phantasms had ended. A sigh of relief left Noah’s lips as his friends all woke up, though with varying headaches and soreness–an apparent side-effect of being spiritually drained.

While they were briefed on what happened—

"You beat a Saint?! In a duel?!" Otto asked in absolute disbelief, disregarding the personal space of Noah entirely.

If there was anybody left in the abandoned town, they would’ve surely been rudely awoken by the archer’s awe.

While he still wasn’t sure just how grand the title of a "Saint" was, by the shock everyone wore, he had an idea.

’Guess to them it’s like beating Bruce Lee in a fist fight. Or maybe more like Mike Tyson?’ He thought.

"It was a former Saint, so they weren’t blessed anymore. On top of that, a spirit that was a husk of his former self but...Still unbelievably impressive," Rain tried to rationalize though failed to understand it herself.

"To confront a Saint...I understand what kind of challenge that was," Redrum recalled, folding his arms with a look that told of bitter memories.

Astrid brushed the dust off her snow-white skirt with a smile, "Well, I’m glad we managed to pull through. Sorry you had to go and save me again, Noah–"

"Don’t say it like that, no need for that," Noah brushed off with a reassuring look. "We’re a party, aren’t we? Gotta have each other’s backs, besides...It was my idea to do this quest, so it’s my responsibility for what happened. My bad–seriously."

Primarily his apology was focused on Otto, who certainly made his distaste for the supernatural quite clear. Despite all that, the archer shrugged his shoulders and dismissed the apology entirely as if it was not needed.

"In the end, we managed, so, all is well and good," Otto said.

Astrid looked around at the now silent town, "At least the place won’t give anybody else trouble, right?"

"With the core phantasmal exorcised, the hollow sanctuary in this city is gone," Rain assured. "There will be no more attacks."

"That’s good," Noah said. "Though when we get to the World Guild, I’ll have to tell them this job was definitely above its pay grade."

While the group had a laugh about it, there was some uncertainty when it came to the exorcist that had joined them for their ghostly encounters. He could tell there was something the girl of messy, dark hair wanted to say, though was clearly reserved in doing so, as if not to bother them.

"Hey, if you want, you should join us to the World Guild," he offered.

Rain perked up as if waiting for those words, though bashfully fiddled with her fingers, "The World Guild?! I mean–I don’t know...I wouldn’t want to intrude."

"What? You wouldn’t be, right?" Noah said, looking over at his companions.

There wasn’t any sort of rejection from the others, in fact, only support in the suggestion.

"The way I see it, the more, the merrier—since she can deal with ghosts, especially," Otto mumbled the last part.

"I see where your priorities are," Noah remarked with a laugh.

Without much convincing needed, a fifth was welcomed into their merry little party. Onwards through the town, the journey continued towards the exuberant World Guild.