Because he took a longer route.

When Hikigaya Hachiman returned home, Komachi was already on the sofa playing with her phone.

Hearing a noise from the entrance, Komachi only glanced up briefly, and after seeing it was Hikigaya Hachiman, she lowered her head again and focused back on her phone.

“I’m going out tonight.”

Looking at Komachi who was pretending to ignore him, a trace of helplessness flashed across Hikigaya Hachiman’s face, then he proceeded to explain his plan for going out that night.

“Another new request?”

Hikigaya Hachiman’s words successfully made Komachi lift her head.

“Yeah…”

Although it wasn’t the one from Kawasaki Saki, the help request from Isshiki Iroha was also considered a service request for the Service Club.

Therefore, Hikigaya Hachiman gently nodded.

“So, is it dangerous?”

After getting confirmation from Hikigaya Hachiman, Komachi put her phone away and showed a worried expression on her face.

“It should be okay, right?”

Thinking about the system’s estimate that the evil spirit was at least at the Captain rank, Hikigaya Hachiman answered somewhat uncertainly.

“Should be?”

Hearing this, Komachi raised her eyebrows and showed a displeased expression.

She stood up from the sofa and, at a height almost equal to Hikigaya Hachiman, stared at him for a moment before speaking helplessly: “Onii-chan, rushing into a fight without knowing the enemy’s true strength can lead to big trouble.”

“I understand that, of course.”

Hikigaya Hachiman nodded, showing agreement with Komachi’s words.

It was because he didn’t understand the target’s background that he had suffered a big loss when he rashly showed up last time.

“So you should find out the enemy’s strength before deciding whether to go or not…”

“Sorry, I’m afraid that’s not possible this time….”

A look of apology and determination appeared on Hikigaya Hachiman’s face.

Apart from not being able to stand watching Isshiki Iroha die in front of him, a big part of the reason was that evil spirits that could appear in dreams were extremely rare.

Since this one could enter Isshiki Iroha’s dream and try to replace her, it could just as well enter the dreams of Komachi, Yotsuya Miko, Yukinoshita, or anyone he knew.

Hikigaya Hachiman didn’t want to wake up one day and suddenly find that someone familiar had been replaced by an evil spirit.

For that reason, that evil spirit had to be killed tonight!

“Well, since you’ve already decided, then be careful yourself…”

Seeing the determined expression on Hikigaya Hachiman’s face, Komachi opened her mouth but could only remind him to be careful.

Then, she put on slippers and walked to the kitchen to start preparing dinner for the two of them.

Listening to the sounds of utensils in the kitchen, Hikigaya Hachiman sat on the sofa and took out the novel manuscript given to him by Zaimokuza.

Although he had already read a partial version of the manuscript that morning,

he thought that since Zaimokuza’s unpredictable mind might add some content spontaneously, he carefully started reading from the beginning again.

In less than a short while, Hikigaya Hachiman felt the veins on his forehead bulge and his headache become unbearable.

“This version is even worse than the previous one!”

Putting down the manuscript in his hand, Hikigaya Hachiman lay on the sofa and covered his forehead with his hand, letting out a heavy sigh.

He had originally thought the morning manuscript was the limit of Zaimokuza’s creation, but he never expected to have underestimated his buddy’s level.

“Though the idea is quite interesting…”

Aside from the many obscure words that frequently appeared and various language errors, the world Zaimokuza conceived was quite imaginative and eye-opening.

Unfortunately, this sole merit was completely overshadowed by numerous flaws, leaving no desire to continue reading!

But still, since he had promised his buddy, Hikigaya Hachiman could only grit his teeth and continue reading.

When Komachi finished making dinner and placed it on the dining table to call Hikigaya Hachiman to eat,

she was startled to see his eyes bloodshot and his face showing an expression of severe endurance.

“Onii-chan, are you okay?!”

Rushing anxiously to Hikigaya Hachiman’s side, Komachi put her hand on his forehead and began checking him as she asked.

“Ah, I’m fine, I’m just reading a novel…”

Hearing Komachi’s voice, Hikigaya Hachiman finally came out of his reading state.

After lying on the sofa for a while, coming back to his senses, he rubbed his throbbing temples and reassured Komachi not to worry too much.

“You didn’t look like you were okay just now…”

Komachi pouted, clearly not believing Hikigaya Hachiman’s words.

Thanks to Hikigaya Hachiman’s influence as a homebody, she had also dabbled in light novels.

Usually on weekends, besides watching TV with Hikigaya Hachiman at home, she would go to a bookstore to buy a light novel and read on the sofa.

During that time, she had read plenty of great works and trashy ones alike, but she had never encountered a novel that scared her as much as Hikigaya Hachiman looked just now…

“This is true…”

Shaking the manuscript in his hand, Hikigaya Hachiman insisted on his innocence.

Also, to prevent Komachi from being curious and flipping through the manuscript while he was out later, he specifically warned her to absolutely, absolutely not look at it.

“Alright, alright, I won’t look…”

Sticking out her tongue at Hikigaya Hachiman, Komachi hummed and then pulled his hand, dragging him to the dining table.

“The dinner’s going cold, hurry up and eat!”

.

.

.

After the siblings finished dinner, Hikigaya Hachiman once again took on the task of washing the dishes.

Then he went to the sofa to help Komachi with her humanities homework.

However, to Hikigaya Hachiman’s surprise, Komachi didn’t sit at the sofa working on her homework today, but was instead lying on the sofa chatting with her friends.

“There was no homework assigned by the teacher today.”

Seeing Hikigaya Hachiman walk over, Komachi looked up from her phone screen, explained the reason to him, and then turned her gaze back to her phone.

“In that case, I’ll head back to my room first…”

Though not helping Komachi with her homework made him feel a little odd, like something was missing from his life, Hikigaya Hachiman did not show it on his face.

He slightly nodded in understanding and went upstairs carrying Zaimokuza’s manuscript and his backpack.

Back in his room, Hikigaya Hachiman placed the manuscript he had finished reading on the bed, and neatly stacked the unread ones on the desk.

But he did not choose to continue reading; instead, he sat in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.

After all, he was about to go to Isshiki Iroha’s house for exorcism, so it was better to pause the mentally draining activity of reading Zaimokuza’s novel for the time being.

Time quickly reached 10 PM.

Hearing the vibration of his phone receiving a message, Hikigaya Hachiman suddenly opened his eyes.

It’s time to meet that special evil spirit!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep