Kinzo’s POV
   Ding Dong!

   Kinzo was woken up abruptly by the sound of the doorbell. He crawls out of his bed and looks at his phone. It’s 6 o’clock in the morning.

   “Who even wakes up this early in the morning?” he grumbles.

   While still grumbling, he wears his glasses and goes to answer the door.

   “Good morning, master.”

   Kinzo was so shocked at seeing the person who’s standing beyond the door that he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes before looking again. There’s no mistake. It’s Amano Rei, in the flesh. Most unbelievably, she’s in her maid uniform.

   “Rei-chan? What are you doing here?” he asks while still couldn’t believe his eyes.

   Rei shows him the usual dazzling smile and curtsies at him.

   “Why, I’m here to be your personal maid, of course. May I come in?”

   “Um, sure.”

   Rather hesitantly, he lets her in. Heaven knows how she found out about his address, but there are bigger problems right now.

   For one thing, the Rei that he had been admiring for ages is actually inside his room. Also, his room is kind of messy right now.

   “Wait here. I’m going to clean up this place right now.” he tells her.

   He was stopped at once.

   “What are you saying, master? Did I not say that I’m your personal maid? As such, you should leave the cleaning to me.”

   “But-”

   “No buts. Please sit back and relax while I take care of this.” she tells him firmly.

   “Well…all right.”

   Since she insisted that much, Kinzo has no choice but to sit down on his bed as told while observing her.

   He was expecting her to be clumsy, since she sometimes act that way when he was visiting her at her shop. However, she’s surprisingly good at this. In fact, she’s very good. She doesn’t even bat an eyelid while she’s picking up his dirty underwear. While she’s being busy, he tries his best to figure out what exactly is going on.

   Did the serum inside that syringe work? Is that why Rei declared that she’s his maid now? No, that’s impossible. He doesn’t feel any different than before. If so, there’s only one other possibility. This is a prank.

   That’s it. There’s probably a hidden camera attached to Rei right now. The moment he does something embarrassing, the entire Japan or even the whole world will know about it, and he’ll be the laughing stock of everyone for days or even weeks. Alternatively, they’re all prepared to blackmail him. He should be really careful just in case it’s the latter.

   “I’m finished, master.”

   Kinzo snaps back to reality. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice she was done.

   “...Wait, where are we? Have we been teleported to a different place while I wasn’t paying attention?”

   She tilts her head in confusion.

   “What a strange thing to say, master. This is still your room.”

   “It is? But, it’s so clean.”

   Kinzo can’t even remember when’s the last time his room looks this clean. Everywhere he sees, the place is sparkling and free from dust.

   “Well, thanks a lot Rei-chan. You did a very good job.” he says his gratitude.

   Rei curtsies at him.

   “Your kind words are wasted on me. Is there anything which would require my attention?”

   “Even if you ask me that, I can’t think of any in such short notice…”

   It was at this moment when his stomach starts growling.

   “Would you like me to cook something for you?” Rei asks.

   “Um, sure. If it’s not too much trouble for you.”

   “Nothing is too much trouble if it’s for you, my master.”

   “Well, all right then. I have lots of food inside the fridge, so just use them as you see fit.”

   Rei took one look at them, brought out some, and starts preparing his breakfast.

   “While you’re doing it, cook something for yourself too.” he tells her as she’s doing the preparation.

   “That is absolutely unthinkable, master. A maid is not supposed to dine together with her master.” she declines politely.

   “Come on, just humor me. If you insist on being stubborn, just think of it as master’s order.”

   “...Very well. Since you insist.”

   But man, she’s being really professional. Kinzo really wonders how much is she getting paid for this, or if she’s being paid at all. Speaking of which-

   “Don’t you have to work later? Or go to college or something?” he asks her curiously.

   “Today is an off day for both my work and college. Hence, I could take care of you without any worry.” she replies.

   What a great coincidence.

   Eventually, she’s done cooking. It’s nothing special, just some grilled mackerels, miso soup and rice. Even so, Kinzo couldn’t believe his eyes. Unlike the barely proper meals he always cooked for himself, this is legit decent meal. And the best part is, they were cooked by a pretty girl.

   “Let us dig in while they’re still hot.” Rei tells him.

   “Yeah, let’s eat.”

   ““Ittadakimasu.”” the two of them chant at the same time.

   The food tasted heavenly. Kinzo couldn’t tell whether it’s because Rei is a really great cook, or it’s just because he finds everything delicious since he’s having a meal with her, of all people. Wow. Just wow. Kinzo has never been gladder to buy tableware for two person.

   “How is the food, master?”

   “It’s very delicious.” Kinzo compliments sincerely.

   He really wanted to say that she’ll make a fine bride one day, but stopped at the last second as it’ll be too creepy coming from him.

   “I’m glad to hear it.”

   Once they’re done eating, Rei did the dishes while Kinzo wiped those washed ones dry.

   “Really master, you should have let me do all the hard work. A maid who requires assistance from her master of all people is nothing but a failure.” she tells him with a disapproved tone as she’s washing the last dirty bowl.

   “Don’t say that and just let me help you.”

   He looks at the time. It’s almost time for him to work.

   “I have to head out soon. You should go back to, um, wherever that you’re staying.”

   She tilts her head in confusion like she doesn’t understand a thing he just said.

   “Isn’t it natural for a maid to stay by her master’s side?” she asks.

   “No no no. For a real maid, maybe. You have your own life right? What would your parents say if they found out that you’re crashing at a random guy’s place?”

   “But, master is no “random guy”.” she protests.

   “That’s not the point.”

“In any case, I am currently living all by myself at the college’s dormitory. As such, there is no issue with me moving in.”

   Kinzo barely managed to stop himself from pulling out his hair. Does she wants to prank him this badly? He wants to argue some more, but he’ll really be late if this keeps on.

   “We’ll continue with this talk once I came back from work.” he tells her.

   She curtsies gracefully at him.

   “I shall await patiently for your return, master.”

   He can’t bring himself to fully trust her, which is why he ended up locking every single drawers and computer files which contain important things. Once he’s done with that, he gets changed into his work uniform inside the bathroom and head outside.

Jin’s POV
   “The CEO from Minase Corporation has done it again! It has been their eleventh absorption this week alone!”

   Click!

   “Hundreds have lost their jobs after the company they work for has been absorbed by the Minase Corporation-”

   Click!

   Wow, someone’s really aggressive these few days. He’s so busy his deed has been covered by news networks everywhere. It doesn’t have anything to do with Jin, but he’s really tired of seeing his father’s face almost every single time he’s watching the news.

   “-people aren’t happy with the mass firing of employees. I’m here at the scene of the protest.” a news reporter is saying to the camera.

   The camera switches to a large group of people protesting right in front of his father’s company. A lot of them are holding signs. One says “Stop being so greedy!”, while another has the words “Give us back our jobs!” written on it.

   Well, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. You take away people’s job, and they get mad. There’s nothing complicated here. Eventually, the camera switches to show a pair of familiar faces: his mother and his younger sister Shino. The two of them are being screamed and shouted at by a small group of people whom Jin assumes got their job taken away after Minase Corporation absorbed their companies. The heading at the bottom of the screen reads “The rest of the Minase family being harassed while the breadwinner is busy conquering Japan”. In more ways than one, Jin is really glad that he’s being excluded from being part of the family.

   “I hope you choke on all the money you got on our expense!” a woman is seen screaming at them.

   “Go rot in hell along with that money-blinded CEO!” another man yells.

   A few seconds later, rotten fruits and eggs shells start flying. Jin’s mother and younger sister could only cower in fear and run away as quickly as possible while being pelted. It sure warms Jin’s heart when he sees this. He’s especially satisfied that the usually smug and arrogant younger sister of his is looking freaked out and fearing for her life for once. If only their father could join them here and be another target. Jin would pay good money to watch, and even better money to join in. Ah well, one shouldn’t be too greedy.

   The next news caught Jin’s attention. The heading reads “Senior executives of Minase Corporation found not guilty of bribery, money laundering and other heinous crimes”. The camera shows a few middle-aged men that Jin doesn’t recognize is seen coming out of a court while being surrounded by cameramen and news reporters. Each and every one of those senior executives have unapologetic expressions that implies that they’re going to do whatever they did again. If anything, Jin could tell that now that the cat’s out of the bag, they’re going to be even more bold and direct about it.

   Jin suddenly realizes that he has seen two of them before. The first one was supposed to be in jail for framing others for the crimes he himself committed. The second one, on the other hand, was brought to court numerous times for physically abusing his employees, but was always found innocent. Both these men used to work for fierce rivals of Minase Corporation and had openly criticized Jin’s father of his straight laced ways of doing things during interviews. Supposedly, no one in their right mind would want them as their employees.

   Jin would rather die than admitting this out loud, but there’s one thing that he admires his father of: being an honest human being. His father always goes straight to the point, and he hates backstabbers above all. The old Minase Takeji would never hire the two disgusting snakes who’re horrible people through and through.

   And then it hits Jin all at once: Tengu’s threat of harming his family, his disappearance in the past few days, and lastly his father’s sudden change of attitude. He picks up his phone to call Ayumi.

   “Good evening, Minase-kun.”

   “Good evening, Ichihara. I need to ask you a question. How does an evil spirit becomes stronger?”

   “Well, there are multiple methods. The easiest one is to absorb life force from the living.”

   “Can they absorb fear and malice too?”

   “They most certainly can. In fact, it’s more effective than only absorbing life force.”

   “I thought so.”

   “You thought so? Have you figured something out?”

   “Sure did. Tengu is possessing my father.”

   “Um, are you sure about that?”

   “Just hear me out.”

   He explains his theory to her.

   “That, does sound plausible.” she says once he’s done. “Will you be paying him a visit?”

   “Yup. Hopefully, he’s alone so that the damage can be minimized.”

   “Why are you talking as if you’re going there with the very intention of fighting him?”

   “That’s because I am.”

   “What if you’re wrong?”

   “Relax. I’m not going to kill him.”

   “...I take it that you don’t get along well with your father?”

   “Nope.”

   She let’s out a sigh and gives up. She probably figured it out that she shouldn’t bother since she can’t stop him anyway.

   “Do you know where he is right now?” she asks instead.

   “No, but I’m going to find out. I’ll message you the address of the place once I did.”

   “Understood. You’ll probably not listen to me, but I’ll say this anyway. Please don’t go overboard.”

   “Got it.”

   Jin disconnects the call and brings out a crystal ball from the Vault. He then casts Search on it to search for his father. Two seconds later, the crystal ball shows an image of him.

   He’s sitting behind a large office table while wearing his office uniforms. So he’s still working even though it’s way past office hours. Jin zooms out and checks the location. Yup, it’s the headquarter of Minase Corporation. Jin then brings out his phone and informs Ichihara of his father’s whereabouts. Once that’s done, he leaves his apartment after telling Nyri that he’s heading out. As per usual, he finds an empty alley and gears up before flying to his father’s company.

   Jin didn’t bother to enter from the door like a normal person. He went straight to the floor his father’s at. And there he is. Minase Takeji, in the flesh. Jin activates the Eye of Truth to scan him. Yup, he’s being possessed, alright.

   His father, or should he say Tengu, notices Jin just as he’s inches away from the window which goes all the way to the ground. At the next second, Jin clashes through it with his left fist ready for a punch. Before Tengu could react, Jin’s fist has already reached his father’s right jaws. The impact sent him flying. Jin charges in and tries to punch his father’s left rib. His father coughed out blood. Next, another punch to the jaws, a kick to the stomach, and an uppercut. All of them found their marks. Naturally, his father’s body is badly injured from all those attacks. In fact, he heard the sounds of bones breaking. Good. Jin hope they hurt. A lot.

   Now that his stress from all those years has been relieved, Jin finally decides to get Tengu out of his host’s body. He touches his father and mutter a quick incantation to activate Grand Ascension, which is a Level 7 Spell that could exorcise an entire city worth of undead. It’s not really a Spell meant for a single target, but Jin can’t afford to take a risk since it’s Tengu he’s talking about. The Spell was activated successfully, and Tengu was forcefully removed from his host’s body. It’s supposed to send him straight to Hell, but getting him out is the best that the Spell could do.

   Tengu looks a bit different than the last time Jin saw him. Prior to this, the former emperor is garbed in a monk’s clothing since that’s what he was wearing before he bit off his own tongue and died. Now, though, he’s a white sokutai, which is a robe only worn by the aristocrats and the emperor during ancient times. The robe is tainted heavily by blood that had been on it so long it has turned black. If Jin didn’t manage to get a close look, he would have mistaken the robe for being black in the first place. Everything else about the vengeful spirit is the same though. His hair and nails are as long as ever, and the tip of his tongue is still missing.

   Tengu opens up his mouth and screams something at Jin.

   “How many times do I have to say this? I can’t understand a thing you’re saying. You really need to get a translator.” he tells the ghost.

   Tengu reaches out to Jin’s father with his right hand. Jin immediately punches the hand away.

   “Not him.” Jin says firmly.

   Tengu flies upwards with a speed akin to a fighter jet. Jin lets him go without raising a fuss since he’s busy preparing Mirror World. He activates it once it’s done, and Jin’s father disappears immediately.

   Jin slowly heads outside the office, again from the window and takes his time on finding Tengu. Since the two of them are the only ones inside this world, he can afford to take it easy. OR so he thought. Tengu comes charging straight at him not one minute right after he ran away. He probably figured out that Jin did something since the place has become completely quiet.

   “Here’s the thing. You and I are stuck in this world, and only one of us could get out.” Jin explains to Tengu.

   Tengu spews out some incomprehensible nonsense that Jin failed to understand.

   “Do you understand me? You and I are stuck in this world, and only one of us could get out. That means you have to kill me if you want to leave.” Jin repeats, this time much slower as if he’s explaining things to an idiot.

   That made Tengu really angry. He shrieked like a possessed banshee and charges forward Jin, his ten nails eagerly seeking blood.