Chapter 8: Clumsy Excuse

Alright, kid, it's time to go." Freya said as she slowly walked over to Seth who had already gotten up.

The ghost shot her a glance before turning away with a scoff.

"Who are you calling a kid? You don't look any older than me."

"And how old are you?" Freya asked.

"Seventeen." He answered confidently.

He seemed to be certain that Freya wasn't any older than seventeen.

'Well, technically you're not even up to a month old as a ghost.' Freya thought.

"Oh," Freya uttered as she tapped her lips with her finger. "I suppose you're not wrong." She grinned.

"I knew it," Seth said with a proud expression.

"Um…young miss."

The conversation between the two was suddenly interrupted by Mrs. Elson whose eyes looked tired and red from crying.

"Hm," Freya responded, turning to her.

"Are you really just seventeen?"

She seemed to have trouble believing that what Freya said was the truth.

"Hm." Freya nodded.

"Seriously?"

After confirming it a second time, she wasn't that doubtful anymore but that didn't mean it was any less shocking.

"The other sorcerers we hired all ran away after just a few minutes. We thought no one would be able to help us, but luckily, you came." She spoke with deep sincerity.

Freya, on the other hand, had an awkward smile on her face.

'Should I tell her that some of those people might have been quacks?' She thought. 'Eh, forget it.'

Mrs. Elson thanked Freya profusely and promised to help her if she ever had a problem with anything.

Freya thought it wasn't necessary since she was getting paid to do this.

With all of that done, Seth followed Freya outside.

The path of reincarnation soon opened below him emitting a bright white light.

Freya watched as his body slowly sank in before turning to Atlas who was watching everything behind her.

"Let's go." She said before she began walking toward the gate.

The two made their way out of the mansion and were now walking through the community, which had very few people walking around in it, when Freya turned to Atlas.

"So, how am I going to transfer the money to you?" She asked, pulling out her phone from her pocket.

Atlas looked confused for a second before the realisation suddenly hit him.

"Oh, are you talking about the fifty percent we talked about?"

"What do you think?" Freya smirked.

"Forget it." He shook his head before turning away from her to look ahead.

Freya's expression suddenly darkened as she shook her head.

"That won't do, I promised you so you have to take it." She shook her head.

The insistence in her voice made it sound like she was going to make sure he took it no matter what.

Atlas found himself instantly amused by her reaction.

A lot of people would be elated by his refusal to take their money, but this girl….

"I didn't do anything to help you back there, so it's not right if I take your money," Atlas explained, hoping Freya would understand.

Unfortunately, she didn't and just shook her head in refusal.

"I didn't say you were going to anything and I still promised you."

Atlas didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Was this girl serious?

"Fine, since you insist on giving me money, I'll take ten percent, ten percent, that's the only compromise I can make."

Freya thought for a while before nodding in response.

Atlas couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He gave Freya his account details afterwards, and she swiftly transferred one million Storias to him.

With that problem taken care of, the two continued their walk out of the community.

They were almost on the street when Atlas suddenly thought of something he forgot to ask.

He turned to Freya who nodded in a way of saying that she was listening.

"What's that dark aura that was surrounding this ghost and the one that attacked me the other day? I noticed Henry's cousin didn't have it around her."

"That's negative energy or resentment energy," Freya explained. "Anybody who dies with some sort of resentment or regret will have a bit of it, but the amount of resentment energy they can gather over time depends on how strong their resentment and obsession are."

"And if the source of resentment isn't taken care of, they will just keep gathering more?" Atlas asked.

"That's right." Freya nodded. "All the ghosts you've seen so far are all level one ghosts and if not for negative energy, they would be totally incapable of laying hands on any human."

"Wait, so a level one ghost usually can't do anything harmful to humans?"

"That's right."

"Then what about level two ghosts?" Atlas asked.

"Once a ghost enters level two, that means it has chosen a path where it wants to leave and roam as a ghost and to sustain itself. This type of ghost will attack and kill humans and then use their souls to build a base for spirit force."

Freya explained all of that quite nonchalantly but Atlas couldn't help but shudder.

"Don't worry, there aren't that many level two ghosts or ghosts of a higher level around here." Freya couldn't help but explain after noticing his expression.

"Not that many, that means there are still some," Atlas said, not feeling comforted at all.

"Hm. The Nightshade division isn't omnipresent after all, so one or two rogue ghosts are going to escape, and besides…"

She wanted to say that ghosts weren't the only thing the division had to deal with, but on second thought, she decided not to add more things for Atlas to worry about.

To avoid making Atlas more mortified, Freya refrained from talking about the paranormal world as they waited for their rides.

The two soon said their goodbyes and parted ways as they were heading in opposite directions.

By the time Atlas got home, the sun had already begun to set.

He dragged himself past the gate and into the house, then he headed to the fridge in the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

As he drank, his mind kept flashing back to everything Freya told him today.

Just a few days ago, he was so adamant that ghosts existed, and now he was well aware that not only did ghosts exist, but that there were also ghosts that actively sought out humans for the purpose of killing them.

He thought it was both crazy and absurd, but on second thought, there wasn't really much to be surprised about, as this wasn't far off from how various media portrayed ghosts.

He still had the bottle of water in his mouth when someone suddenly pressed the button for the doorbell at the gate.

He was so startled that he spat out a mouthful of water and now he was annoyed.

"What is it now?" He grumbled before making his way to the door surveillance screen by the side and turned it on only to see Freya standing there with two bags of groceries.

'What is she doing here now?'

Freya seemed to have noticed the light coming from the camera and quickly turned to it.

"Um ... .senior, my house has a serious leakage. Can I stay at your place for the night?"

"Leakage?"

Atlas couldn't help but roll his eyes in exasperation.

It wasn't even raining so how could she know there was a leakage?

What a clumsy excuse.