Shen You is an antique from the previous century, the last sword spirit in the world, and a senior at the Administration Bureau who keeps everyone in line.
But as a senior, Shen You only ever looks for a chance to take time off.
This time, before he could tell the director that he'd caught a fox demon and deserved some overtime pay, the director cut his vacation short.
I should have known better than to answer the phone.
With things as they were, Shen You made an important decision: "I want more money."
The director: "...Fine."
The target was a hundred-year-old ghost. Ghosts were souls left behind by people's unresolved obsessions. But if an obsession couldn't be untangled, it was better to send them on their way with a single stroke of the sword.
When Shen You arrived, he soon found himself at a loss for words. The "vengeful ghost" wore robes as white as snow, and his face was exceptionally otherworldly, if you ignored the bloody holes where his eyes should have been.
Shen You could hardly believe that this man was the "mission no one could solve."
When Shen You fell silent for a long while, the ghost asked, "What did you say?"
Shen You: "Nothing. You've lingered here for a long time without entering the cycle of reincarnation because you have an unresolved obsession. Let me resolve it for you, and then you can be reborn."
"What is your obsession?"
The ghost: "I want... to see him one more time."
Shen You's heart skipped a beat. "What's his name?"
"I remember... His name was Shen Gumian."
At some point, the people at the bureau began looking at Shen You strangely.
Then one day, he finally heard the rumor that had been spreading like wildfire through the bureau.
"I heard Senior Shen has an ex-wife who left him with a child."
"His ex-wife died a long time ago. He didn't even get to see her one last time."
"Senior Shen not only got divorced, he also has to raise the child on his own. What a tragic life."
"Yeah, tragic."
Shen You: Huh? When did I get divorced and end up raising a kid? Why didn't anyone tell me, the person this is supposedly about?
Theme: Don't believe or spread rumors.
