The next morning, I was feeling a bit groggy. Waking up every two hours to recast a spell while my loved ones are sleeping, hah… this must be how new parents feel after staying up all night with the baby. Well, the girls looked refreshed, so it was time for us to head out. I used my heat vision, but it wasn’t as good under the hot sun as it was at night. I guess that was why ghost groups always did all their investigations at night. That or they liked walking around a spooky place in the dark.

“Lydia, do you see any ghosts?” I asked her, although Miki looked pouty considering I could just have easily asked her.

“No, Master, they seem to be avoiding this block since we last fought them,” Lydia explained.

I nodded. “Good. I know we want to completely clear out this block, but before we go to that extent, I’d like to try to hit up the general goods store.”

The two girls nodded. I had already mentioned it to them once, but that didn’t really matter. They were both following me at this point and doing whatever I asked. I had complicated feelings when it came to slavery, but I had to admit that it was nice to be in charge.

We headed down the street. The place was just as silent and eerie as the first time Lydia and I walked down these streets. However, the mood was completely different now.

“See one!” Miki cried out, throwing a Spirit Fire.

It flew into an alley, and there was a shriek as a ghost died. While ghosts couldn’t be seen, they could attack your spirit, and they were not harmed by normal weapons, these advantages were swept away by their ease of death. If you could get a direct strike on a ghost, they almost always perished quickly. At least, that was for the ghosts out here. As we approached the mansion on the other side of the town, I suspected the difficulty would increase. That was another reason we were starting over here and letting Miki’s abilities level up.

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“No fair!” Lydia spoke tearfully, “Quick, use fusion!”

She was holding out her sword excitedly. Since Miki was getting kills, Lydia also wanted to show her usefulness. Of course, that usefulness only came if she could fuse with Miki’s spirit flame. Lydia by herself had no means of attacking the ghosts. It likely depressed her a little. Well, ghosts aren’t even a usual monster in this world. Perhaps a lone ghost, but they were usually weak and not much of a threat. A lone priest could expel or destroy one with ease. A hotbed of ghosts like this town was exceptionally rare in this world, or so I heard. There was a reason the town was overwhelmed and abandoned in a single night.

“Found it.” I pointed at the general store. “Once we get supplies, we’ll be able to hold out almost indefinitely.”

That wasn’t completely true. I didn’t expect most of the food to be edible at all. All the ingredients in here would be over a decade old. I wasn’t keen on eating anything that has been sitting in the dust for that long. I actually had a few thoughts on getting food, but that would have to wait until after we had reclaimed a block or two. I wanted a good foothold in the city before we started worrying about long term stuff.

I cast a magic circle, and then we went about sanctifying the entrances and windows with the rosary powder. Only after the general store was sealed tight did we finally start looking around. The shop in front was small, with a big storage area which had a lock. I couldn’t break the lock easily. Perhaps if I got a tool from the blacksmith. This was really starting to feel like an RPG now. One quest creates another quest.

The general store looked in far worse shape than the alchemist’s shop. I theorized that the sage helped keep the ghosts from wrecking the place. Most other locations would look like this one. That meant there wasn’t a single surface that hadn’t been disturbed by the ghosts at some point over the last decade. The floor was covered with stuff. The furniture was all overturned or stacked in weird ways.

We got to work taking inventory and seeing what we gained by coming here.