There were a total of four Priests, and their leader, a tall priest with a haughty expression, sneered as he looked Aubrey up and down.

"Ho~ What do we have here... A freshly graduated Paranormal Expert?! Hahaha!" The priest's laughter echoed through the square, drawing the attention of the townsfolk.

Aubrey's cheeks flushed with anger, but she kept her composure. "I'm here to help," she said evenly. "The mayor requested my assistance."

The priest waved a dismissive hand. "We don't need the help of an amateur. This is a job for experienced priests, not some novice playing at ghost hunting."

Vale actually found this amusing but he still stepped forward since Aubrey was already fuming in anger. She might start a fight, and that might cause more trouble in her work if she wants to stay as a Paranormal Expert.

"Aubrey is more than capable," Vale said calmly. His voice also carried an undeniable authority so the Priests had to look carefully at the man...

"We are here to assist, not to compete." Vale said.

However, after assisting Vale and seeing him quite young, the Priests believed that Vale was, at most, a young noble. That wasn't enough to scare them away.

The priest scoffed. "Assist? You'd only get in the way. Leave this to the professionals. I am Werhan a Second Class Exorcist! We will handle the matter here."

Aubrey's eyes narrowed. "If you think you can solve this on your own, be my guest. But if you fail, we'll be here to clean up your mess." She could only suggest this as these Priests seemed too stubborn.

Thanks to Vale's words, she was able to calm down and thought of a way to deal with this matter.

The priest's eyes flashed with irritation, but he nodded curtly after seeing Aubrey's appearance carefully. She was certainly looking pleasant to his eyes.

"Very well. You might as well learn how to deal with these matters... That way, you can consider quitting, and I can consider giving you a different job..."

The Mayor, sensing the tension was somehow controlled, quickly intervened. He was afraid that he wouldn't get another chance to quell their anger.

Anyway, he didn't know that requesting both help would cause such a problem. He simply wanted to resolve this matter faster.

"Let's not argue. The town needs all the help it can get. I'll show you the places where the presence of ghosts or paranormal activity has been felt."

He then led them through the streets of Eldergrove, pointing out various locations.

The old Church, where strange noises and shadows had been reported. The abandoned mill, where objects moved on their own. The town square, where people had vanished without a trace.

'Vanishing people, huh...' Aubrey and the Priests frowned

As they walked, the priests or exorcists muttered among themselves, casting disdainful glances at Aubrey and Vale.

But Aubrey remained focused, her mind racing with possibilities. After all, the various clues truly pointed to the existence of the Demonic Spirits. This was certainly not a good thing...

After they saw the various places where the Paranormal Activities were soon, they soon visited the only Church of the town that worships the Fortune Goddess.

At the Church, the priests set up their ritual, chanting incantations and sprinkling holy water. Aubrey and Vale watched from a distance, their expressions unreadable.

Hours passed, and the priests' efforts yielded no results. At most, it made the Church a bit more holier and felt more warm.

'That ritual was to summon all the evil spirits in the town to that circle and trap them... However, no evil spirits were coming...' Aubrey said to Vale through Telepathy.

She was still a Dark Ritualist, after all. The Arcane Circle they used was familiar to her.

Nonetheless, the Mayor had no idea what they did or tried to.

"Is it done, Reverent?" The Mayor asked.

"Mhmm... We'll see its effects tomorrow." Werhan said as they looked around and even visited the places they checked once again.

Unfortunately, the oppressive energy in the Church remained, and the ghostly apparitions continued to haunt the townsfolk the next day.

However, the Exorcists didn't give up as they proceeded to put Talismans and used various Exorcism Spells all over the town, making them truly exhausted.

Well, they didn't have a huge amount of Arcane Energy within them after all.

"For sure! We will be able to remove the Evil Spirits with all of these! Just ready the payment, Mayor!" Exorcist Werhan said as he felt confident after not feeling any signs of evil or malevolence within the town anyway.

Of course, the townsfolk also felt the warmth brought by various Holy Arts that were used and felt happy about it. After all, most of them believed in the power of the Fortune Goddess.

Unfortunately, the same issue occurred the next day! The Paranormal Activity was still continuing!

The Exorcists were already frustrated, and they could feel that Aubrey and her companion were probably laughing at them right now! He even felt that they were the ones making the Paranormal Activity at this point!

However, it was so difficult to prove since he was also keeping an eye on them!

Soon, the Mayor started looking at him... The Mayor was obviously frustrated since there was no sight of progress...

"W-we probably need a stronger exorcist... We will call for a First-Class Exorcist, Mayor!" Werhan explained.

However, the Mayor couldn't wait for that anymore since it would probably take three or more weeks to get a response from the main Church... After all, sending a First-Class Exorcist on a mission to the countryside would require plenty of documents to prove that it needs such presence, and they also need to provide money! Hiring them wasn't free!

Because of that, the Mayor told the Exorcists to ask for the assistance of the Exorcists

instead...

"Fine... Let's see how they resolve this..." Werhan said as he decided to visit the inn where the Paranormal Expert and her assistant were staying.

Soon, Werhan approached Aubrey, his arrogance replaced by frustration.

"It seems... we may need your assistance after all."