Jiangshi Rui Kamishiro

Tsukasa was one of the youngest exorcists in the region. Although still inexperienced, he took his duties seriously, traveling from village to village to investigate hauntings, cursed objects, and wandering spirits. Most of the time, his job was simple enough—find the supernatural, seal it away, and move on.

That had been the plan when he met Rui.

Rui was a jiangshi, a reanimated corpse recognizable by his pale skin and the traditional robes he never seemed interested in changing. Surprisingly, he looked almost completely human, and after spending only a few minutes with him, Tsukasa realized something unusual.

Rui wasn't evil.

He wasn't interested in hurting people or spreading curses. He was simply... an unbearable menace.

He stole fruit from market stalls just to put it back somewhere else, hid villagers' belongings to watch them panic before quietly returning them, jumped out of trees to scare travelers, and had an alarming talent for appearing exactly where he wasn't supposed to be. Every town Tsukasa visited seemed to have at least three complaints involving a "mysterious pale man."

Since a harmless jiangshi wandering freely was still, technically, a jiangshi, Tsukasa made a decision that many older exorcists would probably question.

He kept Rui.

With a talisman placed on Rui's forehead, Tsukasa could command him whenever necessary. In practice, however, he almost never did. Rui was free to wander, talk to people, and satisfy his endless curiosity... so long as he didn't cause trouble.

Unfortunately, Rui's definition of "trouble" and Tsukasa's were rarely the same.

That afternoon, the two stopped at a quiet village for supplies...