Other 50 percent

Aiden's eyes widened. Speechless, he could only stare at her before he thought of something else.

Maybe she knows something about the disappearance of my parents?

"And no, I don't know what happened to them. At least I wasn't notified of a ghost nearby when they went missing. I even inquired in the Bureau but they had no good conjecture as to why they disappeared. We could only guess it might be a delayed effect of one of the ghosts we faced in the years we spent hunting them.

"Sorry about your loss again, but I'll address the issue at hand. This is the second thing I should tell you about, keep thinking of these creatures as ghosts, not specters. The one in your house doesn't seem to be too dangerous so we'll be going to face it.

"We were told this at the Bureau when we were undergoing important instructions of what to do when facing ghosts. It's that whoever who goes against ghosts is to think of them as ghosts and not specters. I know, it's confusing when the same Bureau also sends messages to consider them as Specters. But that's for the common public.

"Brenden isn't one of the people who faces off against ghosts. People like them who only have access to such information because of their position are told to think of them as specters and are given incomplete information."

Aiden listened to everything with a blank look on his face. A few seconds after she finished speaking, he replied, "So… I am to keep thinking of them as ghosts. Why is it so though? What would that change? And why are the common populace given incomplete information? What is the whole information anyway?"

"I don't know this either. It's what the Bureau told us to do, and the same thing I'll pass on to you. You can ask the Bureau yourself about why they do so but I doubt they'll give you the answer."

Hellen then went through the information in her head and addressed the issues one by one.

If you come across a specter, don't panic. Literally. First inform the office of highest power in your area. Specters have conditions to fulfill before they can use their powers. Information is important, try to look for cues. Go through everything the specter has done, or is trying to do. There is almost a fifty percent chance it is trying to fulfill the conditions. Escaping is possible once you figure out the conditions and avoid activating them. Don't try to fight them.

Specters don't die.

"First, like I said, it's ghosts, not specters. Second, there is a fifty percent chance it is trying to fulfill the conditions. True. But the other fifty percent? The information didn't tell you that, did it?"

I didn't even think in that direction.

"Nope."

"The remaining fifty percent of chance is it might be trying to avoid the drawbacks, side effects, or after effects of the skill. Whatever you wanna call it."

"Side effects?"

"Yup. There are conditions it has to fulfill in order to use its power, or you can call it ability. There are also side effects which it goes through after or while using its ability, and some ghosts also go through side effects while fulfilling the conditions. You say you haven't seen the ghost with your own eyes yet right?"

After processing what he learnt along with the information he had on the ghost, he replied, "Yes. Do you mean it's most likely deliberately hiding to deal with the side effects of its ability?"

"You are quick to catch on. It could indeed be the case, because typical ghosts show immense aggression towards all species. They use their abilities in tandem with their physical attack on the target. Cases like this where they hide from the target are mostly when their ability demands it or they're dealing with side effects, you don't need to know the rest of the cases right now. 

"As for what situation the ghost in your house falls under, we'll soon know when we confront it. We don't even know if it's in your house, but yours is the only one under the influence of that ghost which I can search through since I have your permission. There is no such thing happening in my house, I'll even ask a few of my acquaintances later just to be sure."

"Do you mean there is also a chance hiding is one of the conditions it is fulfilling along with trying to help me in order to activate its abilities? So doesn't that mean —"

A voice familiar to Aiden intervened from the side. It was Elias who had barged into the house.

"Madam Hellen, I have news to convey to you, and also ask for your help if possible. Can I —"

"So what I was telling was, doesn't that mean —"

"Oye, we are t—"

Aiden had a visible look of annoyance as he turned his head to face Elias and snapped, "I am sorry, did the middle of my sentence interrupt the beginning of yours?"

Hellen chuckled at the smart taunt, looking at the two of them with eyebrows raised as she thought,

Would be interesting to tackle problems with them.

Hellen coughed slightly to remind the two young men that she existed, else they might start fighting in her house. Elias must have poked Aiden really bad for him to react like this. She remembered Aiden was a person who almost never initiated any kind of conflict.

"Let me talk first." Aiden declared.

"There are human lives at stake."

"Then why attend university lectures?"

"It wasn't urgent then, it's becoming urgent now. One more murder has taken place. We need to solve this quickly."

"I don't care, my life is at stake too. Shut up now."

"You—"

Hellen intervened again, not willing to see them escalate the matter. "Stop it you guys. Aiden, speak up. Elias, there is plenty of time to solve the murders, we don't know about anything yet. Would you, telling me the information a few minutes early, be going to magically help with anything?"

Elias stepped back with a frustrated look on his face. 

Why do they not understand? I am not that petty about wanting to speak first. It's simply that if madam Hellen listens to the entirety of what is happening to Aiden, and if he also discloses what I did to him, she will be more likely to deal with the specter in his house straightaway. 

If I had managed to convince her first, madam Hellen might have managed to gather some clues from the numerous murders which have already taken place and then confront the ghost which would've been much safer. Foolish people.