"name?"

"…Oda Sakunosuke."

The red-haired man had a calm expression, and didn't seem to have any great curiosity about why he was here. Instead, the group of children surrounding him, after seeing his figure, chirped around him like birds, calling him "idiot" and "great", and making tiny sobs that sounded like crying.

Jiuyuan looked at the scene in front of him, which could probably be called "touching farewell".

(Is this... considered a good deed?)

"I'm Huangquanchuan." Jiuyuan smiled and showed kindness: "Huangquanchuan Jiuyuan, you can call me Jiuyuan or Jiuyuan-kun."

"Hello." The red-haired man nodded calmly, his eyes still on the children.

But his upbringing made him ensure that he looked at the other person when he spoke, so he looked at Jiuyuan again.

Oda Sakunosuke slowly asked, "...Is this the world after death?"

"Why do you think so?" Jiuyuan was very interested in his conclusion.

"Because..." Oda Sakunosuke tilted his head slightly, as if to confirm whether his memory was wrong, and finally said: "I remember that I was dead."

Jiuyuan nodded: "Indeed."

Before Oda Sakunosuke could continue to ask questions, he said directly: "However, this is not the afterlife. Your current state, to put it simply, is probably... wandering souls, right? There are many souls lingering in the human world, and people's obsessions are not so easy to resolve. In addition, the number of employees in Hell is limited, and they may not be able to rush to send you to the underworld in the first time."

"So that's it. That means I am indeed dead."

After confirming this, Oda Sakunosuke stopped asking questions.

One of the children walked up to Oda Sakunosuke, tugged at his shirt, and said, "The older sister in the skirt next to you brought us here... because she wanted to help you get treated."

Odasaku looked at the person she was talking about.

He had been sitting in the corner, but now that I looked closely, I realized that his height was incredibly exaggerated.

He had no habit of commenting on other people's appearance, so he just nodded and said, "...Thank you."

(Cure? Do you mean give me that strange candy?)

He didn't beat around the bush and asked, "What should I do?"

Hachishaku-sama stood up from his seat, leaned forward and hugged Kuen's neck from behind, and said to Oda Sakunosuke: "...You are such a lovely guy, no wonder these children like you so much."

"Tell me a little about your business," Jiuyuan said. "My friend and I have opened a small shop together, but we are still in the early stages of the business and are short of staff. I originally wanted to help you in the hope that you could come to work in my shop, but before that, I also need to get to know a little about your business."

In order to make himself look more convincing, the boy continued, "After all, I have to be responsible for my companions, and I can't just recruit people casually."

"I understand." Oda Sakunosuke felt that it was easy to understand.

What the other party said was reasonable, and I really did receive help, and there was no falsehood in it.

He briefly talked about his life experience, work ability, and the origins of his children.

At first, Jiu Yuan just kept smiling out of politeness, but the more he listened, the more he felt something was wrong...

This person must be quite skilled. Moreover, his special abilities are very suitable for protection work or tasks that require high dexterity.

And, he! Can! Cook!

Regardless of the cooking skills, Jiuyuan felt that the person was suitable as long as he or she was not blind to the kitchen. Especially after hearing that Jiuyuan needed someone to do kitchen work, the children also expressed that they could help.

"Although I'm not very experienced, my body won't get hurt anyway, so I just need to try a few more times, right?"

“We want to help too!”

"Please, let us do something this time!"

Faced with such positive children, Jiuyuan would certainly not refuse.

On the other hand, although Oda Sakunosuke said a lot of things, he also concealed some things.

Jiuyuan looked at him with a smile: "Don't you want to cause trouble for your friends?"

He nodded. "Although I am gone, their lives continue. So I cannot reveal any information about them. Sorry."

"No need to apologize, I'd rather say that I'm even more satisfied with you." Jiuyuan really liked this humane side of him.

The shining points that humans possess are the best beacons for the soul.

Jiuyuan really hopes that there are more people like this around him, so that his life will not be so boring.

Recently, he often wondered whether it was because his life over the past decade or so was too boring that he had encountered such an exciting experience now. It must be said that in observing people, he did find a lot of unprecedented fun.

After asking Oda Sakunosuke, he learned the children's names: four boys and one girl, all of them young.

She looks about the same age as Hanako...so, it's best for the child to be the one interacting with her.

Otherwise, if they only rely on Oda Sakunosuke, the world will become closed.

"Next... I will arrange accommodation for you." Jiuyuan said, "and introduce my companions to you."

"This is eight feet." He pointed at the man in the white dress next to him.

The other party performed an elegant skirt-lifting ceremony and said: "I love children the most. If you encounter any problems that you cannot solve, you can come to me~"

In order to avoid misunderstanding, Jiuyuan said in advance: "He is a man."

Children: “?!?”

Oda Sakunosuke: “……?”

The height difference made the children somewhat afraid of him. Realizing this, Hachishaku retreated sadly.

Kuen liked to see their reactions like this, and continued to introduce them with a smile: "And over there... Hanako-kun is also my partner. Or rather, he is the acting store manager or something like that. You will work with him in the store in the future."

"...I really don't like being called that by you." The black-haired boy came out from the corner of the room, and his appearance aroused the children's curiosity.

Because he looks about the same age as me.

Oda Sakunosuke said nothing. He was completely unaware of the child's presence.

(The Hachishaku I just introduced... didn't look like a human either, and the name of this child now... probably doesn't look like a human either.)

He had a natural sensitivity in such matters, so Oda Sakunosuke's gaze once again fell on Hisaen, who had a calm expression.

Jiuyuan winked playfully——

"As you think, they are not human... But I am a real human."

Hanako immediately exposed the situation: "He is the most vulnerable person in the whole room. However, it is this guy who always wants to do something big, so we have to worry about him..."

"Kuen-kun is really a very willful child..." When mentioning his own highlight area, Hachisha looked at Kuen with that infatuated and doting expression, "But, it is because he is too willful that people can't let go, right?"

Oda Sakunosuke actually seemed to have some experience and nodded: "Indeed."

"If you keep saying that to me, I will really lose my temper with you. Compared to you monsters, I am indeed not that strong, but no matter what, I am not made of glass. I am not so fragile that I will break at the slightest touch..." Kuen sighed, "Okay, Mr. Oda, follow Hanako to the new residence. There is also a human child living there... I hope you don't scare him."

"I understand," Oda Sakunosuke said. "I will take care of the children."

However, that night, the children who had moved into the new home and were reunited with Oda Sakunosuke were so excited that they started playing games at the desk on the first floor and took books out of the bookcase to read.

So Nakajima Atsushi, who got up in the middle of the night to drink water, was successfully frightened after seeing the books and cards floating in the air.

Nakajima Atsushi curled up in the quilt and shivered: "…Is this a haunted house?! This must be a haunted house!!"

…

…

Not knowing about Nakajima Atsushi's miserable night, Kuen took a nap.

He has taken a long vacation from school, and he won't show up at school until he settles down.

He asked Hanako to ask Nakajima Atsushi to run an errand to buy ingredients for making cookies - of course they couldn't use precious reputation ingredients right from the start, after all, everyone was a novice, and if they made a mistake it would all be a loss, so they first bought some ordinary cookie ingredients for the children to practice with Oda Sakunosuke.

However, when Hanako got home, she saw Nakajima Atsushi with two big dark circles under his eyes.

Hanako: "...Did you not sleep well last night?"

He knows that some people are particular about their beds, but Nakajima Atsushi wouldn’t be the same, right?

The young man shook his head helplessly. He couldn't say that the house was haunted, could he?

After all, Hanako is a youkai! It would probably be useless to tell him about this, right?

It seemed that he could only adapt himself slowly, so the boy patted his cheeks, trying to cheer himself up.

"Well, may I ask what my job is today?" On his first day at work, Nakajima Atsushi still hoped that he could leave a good impression.

Hanako handed over the list of materials that Kuen had copied from the Internet and said, "Go run some errands and buy these things."

"Butter, low-gluten flour, fine sugar..." Nakajima Atsushi took a quick look and asked in confusion, "...are you going to make food with this?"

...But he remembered that Hanako's shop didn't sell food, right?

"Yes." Hanako said, "If we're lucky, we might be able to eat delicious cookies today."

Nakajima Atsushi didn't understand why, but he did as he was told. After he came back with bags of materials, Hanako pulled him into the store.

What the boy didn't know was that when he was holding the pile of things, there were several children around him, looking at the materials in his hands eager to try. The children already knew that what they were going to make were cookies, and they whispered to each other:

“Is this what cookies are made of?”

“I love eating cookies!”

"It would be great if I could succeed at once..."

Nakajima Atsushi thought that he and Hanako were the only ones in the room, but he didn't know that there were actually six other people.

The door of the room was reopened, and in front of me was a warm bedroom, which looked more like a dormitory in terms of its specifications.

Nakajima Atsushi put down the things as Hanako instructed, and then asked in a low voice: "...Where is this? It doesn't look like a kitchen..."

"It's my friend's house." Hanako said vaguely, "I'm just running errands for him, don't take it seriously."

"Ah, Hanako-kun? You're here early today."

Kuen came over with a surprised look on his face, and when he saw Hanako and the boy beside him, he said, "Are you here to help too?"

Nakajima Atsushi: “…Help?”

Jiuyuan looked at the pile of ingredients in his hand and said, "Make cookies."

Nakajima Atsushi: “???” Are you really going to do it?

"Since we are here, let's go together."

Jiuyuan had borrowed the kitchen from the technical college this morning, and now that they were here, they could start working right away.

"Hmm... I hope there are enough materials."

Nakajima Atsushi, on the other hand, glanced at Hanako and then at Kuen: "...The three of us probably can't use up all these materials, right?"

"What are you talking about...?" Jiuyuan looked at him in confusion, "Who said there were only three people?"

Nakajima Atsushi: “…Huh?”

Jiuyuan clapped his hands like a kindergarten teacher and shouted to the empty room, "Everyone, you can't bake without materialization. Come on, come and get to know your colleagues."

So Nakajima Atsushi looked at the empty room in front of him, and suddenly one, two, three, four, five, six figures appeared.

Atsushi Nakajima: "?!!!!!!??"

The red-haired man spoke first: "I am Oda Sakunosuke, please give me your advice. You look a little sleep-deprived, did the children disturb you last night?"

"So...what happened last night was..."

Nakajima Atsushi spoke hesitantly.

His gaze lingered on the group of children for a long time, and he found it more and more incredible.

"…Ah, sorry." Oda Sakunosuke apologized, "The children were too excited yesterday."

It took Nakajima Atsushi a long time to accept this fact.

(Haha… well… if you think about it carefully, there are already monsters, so it’s not surprising that there are ghosts, ha, haha…)

He tried hard to convince himself.

Finally, with everyone's efforts, they actually made quite a few decent cookies, which were packaged with prepared colored paper mats and divided into more than 20 to 30 small bags.

Kuen took some and prepared to give them to the people at the college, then said to Hanako, "If you have any customers today, you can give them out. They are just ordinary cookies for practice anyway."

He was very satisfied with today's progress. At this rate, he could officially start making monster cookies tomorrow.

After Oda Sakunosuke and the others left, Hanako said to Nakajima Atsushi, "Now it's time for us to work today."

"Huh?" Nakajima Atsushi recalled the scene when he summoned Hanako. He asked uncertainly, "... Is someone calling you?"

"Um."

Hanako closed her eyes and felt the location.

It turned out to be... the Armed Detective Agency.