The entire villa was a large spiritual field, and the number of Bound Spirits inside was not very large, but the key was that an evil spirit was disguised as one of the Bound Spirits.

Ren led the Miyano sisters into the interior of the villa, mainly entering the main house.

"Clap!"

With a casual snap of his fingers, invisible river water began slowly seeping up from the floor.

The atmosphere inside the entire main house grew a little gloomy, and the surrounding space seemed to be covered with a layer of dark green.

"This is the state of the spiritual field."

The invisible river water on the floor began to spread throughout the whole villa.

Not only the first floor, but even the second and third floors, the river water quickly rose.

"And then…"

Ren's gaze swept across the room, and a ripple appeared in the invisible river water. The spreading current carried eight Bound Spirits and one distinctly different soul to his feet.

"These are the Bound Spirits wandering in this villa, and an evil spirit disguised as one of the Bound Spirits."

The eight Bound Spirits were dyed black by the river water, instantly turning into black particles and vanishing completely.

Only one child's Bound Spirit remained.

The translucent Bound Spirit maintained its appearance from before death, seemingly no different from the other Bound Spirits.

A translucent soul body, empty eyes, showing no aggression at all.

"Clap!"

With a snap of Ren's fingers, the river water binding the Bound Spirit trembled slightly, and a crack appeared in the spirit's shell. The crack quickly spread outward.

Like the sound of an eggshell cracking, the Bound Spirit's appearance began to change.

A ball of flame ignited on the surface of the ghostly blue soul body, and intense malice gradually emanated outwards as the flames dyed the shell.

Beneath the child's façade were eyes full of malice. The eyes were empty, but within them crimson flames burned.

"!?"

Seeing the true form of the Bound Spirit, Shiho and Akemi both flinched.

"This is the hidden evil spirit."

Akemi, as a Secrets Suppliant, could sense even more clearly how intense the malice in this spirit was.

"His eyes were gouged out before he died, so his resentment is especially strong."

"Being able to live in such a villa, his family must have been quite well-off before he died. But judging from the evil spirit's act of disguise, he must have been hiding from the person who killed him before he died, which is why he acted this way after death."

"And because he was a child, he believed the person who killed him did it to take his family's property, so he cursed everyone who acquired this villa."

From the state of the evil spirit, Ren could make a rough analysis of the spirit's life before death.

It had to be said, gouging out a child's eyes before killing them — whoever did that did it for pure cruelty. The motive was unknown.

Ren had no intention of probing the matter further.

Being pitiful in life and being an evil spirit now were completely different matters.

Ren felt sympathy for the child who had suffered such a tragedy in life, but he had no sympathy for the evil spirit entrenched here.

For such a soul, the greatest compassion was utter destruction.

Ren waved his hand, and the river water crushed the child evil spirit just like it had the other Bound Spirits.

Seeing both the evil spirit and the Bound Spirits dealt with, the Miyano sisters finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is that what a malevolent spirit looks like?"

It was the first time both sisters had seen a malevolent spirit.

"Hmm, that's because souls that have been brutally murdered can become either earthbound spirits or malevolent spirits. However, the conditions are harsh; unless the killed person harbored intense resentment, such a transformation rarely occurs."

Ren explained, then snapped his fingers, and the river water that had seeped into the floor instantly receded back into the ground and disappeared.

"That should take care of it."

"After the earthbound spirit and the malevolent spirit disappear, the spiritual field of this villa will dissipate, but it will take some time."

Ren suddenly remembered something and added, "The situation here is different from my place; the spiritual field here cannot be maintained."

"Also, it would actually be better if your crops were not soaked in the spiritual field. Crops still prefer more sunlight."

Shiho naturally understood that.

Unless they were crops that required shade, they couldn't grow well in a dark environment; most crops are not shade-loving, so keeping the spiritual field active in this villa was unrealistic.

"Of course I understand that."

"Besides, when I advance to Sequence 8, I'll be a Doctor. I can't treat people in such a deathly heavy place either."

After saying she understood, Shiho couldn't help but complain.

"So, why doesn't god just buy the house?"

"Why should I buy it when I can rent it?"

Ren answered perfectly reasonably.

"The rent is ten thousand yen a month, and utilities are free. If I bought it, it wouldn't be that price."

Saving where possible had become a habit after living frugally for the past decade or so.

Having been used to a poor life, he didn't have the habit of overspending just because he had some money. Besides, having money didn't mean he had to buy everything; maintaining his old lifestyle was the most sensible choice.

"Actually, as it stands, there's no difference between renting and me buying it. I'm probably the only one who'd live in a room where a murder occurred; no one else would compete with me for such a house."

"So, I generally avoid unnecessary expenses."

Looking at Ren's somewhat stingy appearance, Shiho could only smile helplessly.

Still, it wasn't entirely a bad thing; he was just overly frugal.

"Since the matter here is resolved, let's pack up and head home."

Ren still planned to go home for dinner; it wasn't appropriate to stay and eat here right now.

"Yes."

The Miyano sisters had no intention of staying either.

Knowing this villa had been a spiritual field, they naturally didn't want to eat here, nor had they prepared to.

Today they had only moved in the necessary items.

They still had to go home for dinner.

"Lord god, are you free on Wednesday?"

Akemi suddenly asked.

"Wednesday… I'm free. Is something up?"

"Yes, it's like this. Haven't I been in touch with Yoko recently? She recently got some concert tickets, and I was thinking if god is free, would you like to come with us?"

"A concert?"

Ren hadn't expected Yoko to have tickets for Akemi. Since he had no plans on Wednesday, he nodded.

"In that case, Wednesday it is."

(To be continued.)