Chapter 132 – 128 Carton Village
When I returned to the mansion, dinner was ready just in time.
This time, I was going to take Issilite to my seat, too.
= How a maid sits with her master in front of her guests. =
“There is no need to act as a maid to anyone other than me.”
= It’s because she’s the master’s maid. And it’s pitiful to leave her eating emergency food alone. =
In the case of yesterday’s banquet, she attended it herself, but she said that it was not okay to sit on a sick bed with her master at a normal meal like now.
“…….”
She could have taken her by force, but her Hwanin respected Isilite’s decision.
At the dinner he attended alone, Hwanin was able to see Kantwi’s wives for the first time.
= We ask for your understanding. I’m very shy, so when customers come, I don’t come down from the 3rd floor.
The twin sisters, with their eyes slanted vertically like lambs, now in their late teens, must have been quite shy as Kantwie said, bowing to the guests as soon as they finished dinner and going up to the third floor of the main building.
The third floor is only for Kantwi’s family.
The dinner, which had begun when the sun slowly went westward, ended when the sun set slightly, and Luarda applied for sparring with Isilite in order to digest it.
She had a premonition that if she applied for sparring with Hwanin, this time she would not be able to last even a minute.
= How about promoting friendship? Sharing weapons with yourself?=
She said that she was promoting goodwill, but she seemed to want to check the skills of Isilite, who had been educated by her Hwanin.
=Please give me a number.=
Isilite accepted with a face that she couldn’t be rejected.
Furbuck!
Hehe!=
After her first clash, Isilite, who continued to fight in a defensive attitude for 5 minutes, caught her eye for a moment and hit the gap in the whirlwind kick with her shoulder tackle, breaking her stance, then hitting it down and raising it diagonally. Following the strike, he slashed Luarda neatly with 3 consecutive blows.
It was a possible attack because it was a blunt greatsword for sparring.
“Good job. Where did you hit?”
When asked if her right shoulder was okay, Isilite turned her arm around as if nothing had happened.
= Maybe because she was hit a lot by the owner, her toughness has greatly improved. Now this is nothing. Rather, the kick of emergency food was more difficult and heavy. =
= Big…… Ugh And, indeed. I understand what Gong Hwanin said. If this happens, you can’t even compete with emergency food!=
Grabbing her waist and grunting, Luarda had a sparring with emergency rations, and fought fiercely with emergency rations for over 10 minutes.
Isilite, who was watching her Hwanin from the side, made a complex expression that she couldn’t speak at some point, then she carefully opened her mouth.
= Over there…… Master. I mean emergency food……. Am I right?=
“Okay. You’re stealing Mr. Luarda’s technology.”
Emergency Food, who first encountered Luarda, was amazed at Luarda, who resembled her in many ways, although she had two more legs than herself.
And since the sparring began, she has always shown great interest in Luarda’s attack method…….
= Kuphehe!=
Quet! Ekkw!
Eventually, he started mimicking some of Luarda’s kicks.
Jumping kicks, back kicks, leaping kicks, jumping down kicks, and even whirlwind kicks.
It is a movement that has been converted to fit Kue’s physique in its own way, but the posture is also angular, to the point that even Luarda, who has been practicing kicking for decades, does not dare to confront and avoids herself.
Of course, Luarda wouldn’t have been pushed that far if the attack was just a kick.
In between kicks with two legs as hard as a log, the folded part of the wings is used like an elbow to strike and hit in a surprise attack, and even unfolds a momentary evasion maneuver with short flaps of wings.
On top of that, if you get too close, the beak peck will pour out one after another, as if it will distort the iron plate…….
Ferb Bug-
=Kuhhh!!?=
Luarda, who was hit in the blink of an eye by two slashes and one wing slap, screamed and bounced away.
Isilite furrowed her eyebrows, as if her own image was superimposed on that look.
= Master. Emergency food is really weird. I don’t think he’s Kue.=
Isilite, who intuitively noticed that she was becoming stronger than she was, laughed at Ishilite’s jealousy-like complaint.
It’s definitely weird looking at it. Even if a guy who hasn’t grown up yet is in sparring, she’s fighting on an equal footing with 3rd and 4th grade professionals.
“Are you the king of Que or something similar?”
It would be plausible to say that the attack on the blue flame tiger was not the madness of a fearless sparrow, but the fighting spirit and ambition of the king’s lineage.
=If it’s emergency food, it’s not the king, it’s the queen. Ugh…….=
The moment Isilite made up her mind that if she didn’t lose to emergency food, she would have to train hard.
Paba Park!
=Nope.=
Luarda, who received three consecutive lightning-like beak pecks on her head, fell flat and the match returned to the victory of emergency food.
Deep in the night.
= Master. I’m ready.=
“Okay. Keep your emergency food at home.”
Que.
Wearing a white hooded robe and quietly leaving the annex with Isilite, Hwanin began to walk around the village and collect the souls he had seen during the day.
The number was only nine, a very small number to say that it was a village with thousands or tens of thousands of people.
It was common for each of them to wish to say a few words to their family or lover.
“Please keep the fact that I found the village a secret.”
= No but……. Please allow us to create a place to welcome the Spirit Master. We are too shameless to send it like this.=
“All I want is stillness and serenity where the soul can find rest. Please.”
=Spirit master…… If you say so…….=
Hwanin, who connected the nine souls with the bereaved family and collected the light drops left by the soul as he attained Buddhahood, even obtained a promise from the bereaved family that he would strictly abide by the secret.
It wasn’t as poorly soundproofed as in the slums of Wayford’s back alleys, and it wasn’t that the Buddhist ceremony was conducted noisily.
I wandered along deserted roads, so I didn’t even notice people. It won’t be noisy with the visit of the spirit master.
After that, Hwanin, who took off his robe in a corner of the village where people couldn’t reach, met eyes with a white spirit who approached nearby.
A lump of white light like dandelion flower seeds. Tok, when you touch it, it sways as if it tickles and slowly runs away.
Looking at Hwanin beckoning to the air, Isilite asked, putting his robe and her own in her subspace pocket.
= Master? Is there something there?=
“Little Spirit.”
= Ah……. It seems that spirits are really everywhere.=
“For convenience, we call it a spirit, but we don’t know if it really is a spirit.”
As she came out to the road and spoke, Isilithe followed, reflecting her curiosity.
=But you said you can borrow power just like the spirits. So, is it really a spirit?=
“Well. You’ll find out when you meet Fleur, the Elementalist.”
It is said that among Fleurs, there are those who are born with the ability to see spirits and to borrow power from such spirits.
I didn’t know about Elkata because he couldn’t handle the spirits, but he said that during the Farhist Great Festival, he also looks for Fleurs a lot, so maybe he can meet Fleurs, the elemental spirits.
‘Or should I ask the administrator to find Fleur, the elementalist?’
=Wow~.=
As they approached the riverside, Hwanin and Isilite caught sight of dozens of green fireflies flying around, creating a dreamy atmosphere.
There were not a few people on the riverside.
Like Isilite, there are people who exclaim as they watch the group dance of fireflies, and there are also men and women who are making affection in a dark and secluded place.
‘Are they travelers? This dance of fireflies might be one of the few tourist products in Carton Village.’
It is a peaceful sight.
Isilite, who was walking along the river next to Hwanin, pricked her ears to the conversation of a passer-by.
= Did you hear the story? When a man and a woman hold her hand and sit on her bench, she says that if a firefly flies and sits on her hand, that person will be happy for a hundred years.
= Ah. That’s why there are no empty seats on the bench.=
= Ha~. I wish I had a man to hold hands with, not hoping for a hundred years…….=
=Have you ever looked at Farghist?=
= I don’t like it. You know Yancy? He said he was aiming for a man at the big festival last year, but he only gave a hole to himself.
=There is no risk-free return in the world. You have to try at least to have a chance to get a man.=
= Still…… If you get sick, money…….=
= You have to take that into account……. … In the temple of Raedo…… Cure…….=
The conversation of the women, who were gradually moving away, had not reached Isilite’s ears.
‘For a hundred years……. One hundred years…….’
It’s such a sweet story, but the possibility of achieving it is less than 1%, so Issilite let out such sweetness with her small sigh.
That firefly has to sit on your hand? Before that, how do you hold the master’s hand?
You have to sit on a bench, but it’s impossible to go there. Not many empty benches.
Then, Hwanin stood tall. There was a bench right next to it, and a couple who seemed to be lovers got up and moved to another place.
Uh? No way? A thought sprouted in Isilite’s heart. And when Hwanin started to approach the bench, the buds began to bloom.
No way? Are you going to sit down? Really?
As she approached her bench, Isilite’s heart began to race, and when her Hwanin sat on the real bench, her heart pounded and she was scolded.
Isilite also quietly sits next to Hwanin. Just in time, a few fireflies come this way and are shaking.
After a while, a firefly shouts, ‘Hurry up and join hands! Then I’ll sit on it!’ It flies around her hand.
Little by little, Isilite’s hand approaches Hwanin’s hand, which is resting on her bench.
Then, when there were only a few centimeters between her hands, Isilite gulped down her saliva and glanced at the expression of the Hwanin before performing her act.
=…….=
Holding her breath, she quickly bit her hand.
Hwanin’s eyebrows were slightly frowned as he was glaring at her river. If she had held her hand without noticing, she would have received a cold stare that would have ripped out her heart.
She muttered inwardly, “Thank you,” Isilite asked cautiously in her small voice.
= Master. Is there something in the river?=
“… There is a soul invisible during the day. Standing in the middle of the river, waist-deep submerged.”
= Master……. Is that…….=
“Quiet.”
Hwan-in, who made Isilite shut her mouth, carefully examined her soul and responded to her soul’s emotions.
Leather clothes torn here and there.
Hair tangled in a mess as if it had been ruined.
A lifeless expression and a gloomy blue-black spiritual body.
And feeling nothing.
‘Did they get slaughtered and buried at the bottom of the river?’
Hwanin looked around her. An estimated 50 or more people wander around the river or sit on benches. Among them, there is also a village patrol.
A secret burial in Suwon, a town with such heavy traffic, is that possible?
‘It could have been buried secretly on a rainy or stormy night.’
First, I sent my thoughts to the spirit standing in the middle of the river. Come here.
Then, as if her neck was twisting, her head turned and a dark, gooey aura began to emanate from the soul’s body.
Then, as if teleporting, the female soul appeared in front of Hwanin.
「Khi-hee-!!」
Her hair stretched out in all directions, and instead of her eyes, nose and mouth, her face was like a hole in hell, and her ears burst into tears.
If he was an ordinary person, he would have had a heart attack or been scared and rolled backwards, but Hwanin exerted force with a calm face.
‘Back off.’
「Kaaaaagh-!!」
At the command imbued with compulsive force, the female soul, who has become like a demon, is pushed back about 30 meters, waving her arms that have turned into an old tree.
= What, what is it? Why do I suddenly get chills…… ?=
=…… Hey. Didn’t you hear something strange just now?=
=What do you mean?=
= I heard a woman screaming, didn’t you hear it? =
The peaceful surroundings suddenly become noisy.
Isilite intuited that something was wrong with the suddenly changed atmosphere and looked back at her Hwanin. Seeing that Hwanin was expressionless, she immediately took out Hwanin’s soul stick from her subspace pocket.
=Master, here.=
Hwanin, who took her soul stick, stared at the woman’s soul struggling as if it were floating in the air.
「Khihii profit-!!」
The screaming female spirit was the very evil spirit that appears in horror movies.
Long, pointy fingers, limbs wrinkly like an old tree, eyes that have become empty black holes, and a mouth torn like a crocodile.
A head that loses its human form.
If it was an exorcist movie, he would have tried to exorcise right away, and if it was a normal horror movie, the cast would have screamed and ran away.
= Hey there. Look over there what is that?=
= Uh…….=
Moreover, as if such malice also affected reality, the people along the river began to see black energy emanating from one point in the river.
The green fireflies disappeared all at once, and the surroundings became slightly darker.
Whiiing – It is not the cool night breeze, but the black wind that stirs people’s anxiety and passes by wrapping around people’s bodies.
People who are not immune to the mysterious phenomenon began to hold their chests and withdraw hesitantly, while those who had an aura or were familiar with these phenomena looked around in all directions and showed signs of wariness.
The atmosphere quickly became unsettled, but Hwanin didn’t care and gave a calm command to the female soul who was turning into a demon with a calm face.
‘I am not the enemy who killed you. Calm down.’
“Kiuuuuu…….」
At that moment, as if nothing could be said, the woman’s soul, which had been frenzied with a black haze, began to calm down like a lie.
The hair that used to stretch out in all directions like a bongdumanbal falls down as if under the influence of gravity, and the grotesquely distorted and disfigured face regains its human form.
‘Calm down. I do you no harm.’
“Cut in… Whoa…….”
‘I am not your enemy. Calm down.’
“…… Ugh… Whoa……. Ugh…….”
As Hwanin’s command was repeated, the woman’s soul regained her human form from that of an evil spirit. The voice also changes to human sobs, not ears.
After a while, Hwanin quietly said to the female soul, who had completely regained her human form.
‘It’s okay. No one here will do you any harm.’
The gloomy surroundings regained their original night scenery, and the cold wind that made the bones recede.
The fireflies also emit green light again and fly around the river.
=…… What the hell.=
=What just happened?=
= It seemed like a precursor to the appearance of evil spirits…….=
Some people had no idea what had just happened, while others quickly realized what had happened.
But the disappearance of the man and woman who occupied one of her benches went unnoticed by those present.
