Regrouping
After returning to the seodang, the four of them were granted a week of rest, side by side.
The three students received special leave. Dohyeon got paid vacation.
Granted, it wasn't simply a matter of taking it easy — the time was also meant for them to cooperate diligently with the ongoing investigation. Still, getting paid to rest put him in a fine mood.
He'd told the investigators whatever he could dredge up from memory, scribbled down a few pages of sworn statements, and they hadn't come around since. Of course, he'd embellished things considerably, since he had no idea where the people trying to resurrect the Outer God that Jeon Woo-chi mentioned might be lurking. If even a graduate student instructor had been pulled into it, there was no telling how far the rot spread.
"Honestly, a man died, and all they want to talk about is the ruins."
Dohyeon muttered the words as he poured coffee into a teacup. On the desk, a doll no bigger than a finger swung its little legs in response — a tiny figure in a blue Taoist robe, a fox mask perched atop its head. It looked for all the world like the Jeon Woo-chi he'd met in the ruins, shrunk down to miniature.
"It was exactly the same back in Joseon, so what of it?"
The doll spoke with perfect composure, and while that alone was enough to startle anyone, Dohyeon simply watched it move in silence. The first time he'd heard a voice drift out of a folding fan, he'd nearly jumped out of his skin. As it turned out, Jeon Woo-chi had embedded her soul into the fan, hoping to pass her legacy down to later generations. She drew on his spiritual power to function, it was true, but she seemed able to cast spells on her own as well. Putting her signature clone technique to use, she now got around in doll form.
"Death was common, but new ruins turning up? That was rare. These are the ruins of the greatest Taoist of past and future alike, you know."
Watching the doll clear its throat as it spoke made Dohyeon want to reach out and pet it. Would she get angry?
Jeon Woo-chi trotted across the tabletop, then stopped beside the book Dohyeon had open and pointed at it.
"Anyway — this time, make the thing drawn here."
It was the café recipe book Dohyeon had been studying with plans of opening his own café someday. What Jeon Woo-chi pointed at was a cold drink piled high with whipped cream and chocolate.
"We're out of ingredients."
"Then go get some."
"Why should I?"
"Tsk. A teacher is as a parent, child. How dare you plead a moment's hardship?"
"And why, exactly, are you my teacher?"
"Hah! If I declared I was taking disciples, they'd come flocking from all eight provinces of Joseon like a swarm of clouds! Do you even hear yourself, boy?"
She'd been insisting for a while now that since he'd inherited her legacy, he was effectively her successor — hence, master and disciple. He supposed she could force the matter if she wanted, but she'd only become more of a nuisance than she already was, so he hesitated.
"This isn't the Joseon era anymore."
"My worth transcends the ages."
"A finger-sized doll whining for a whipped cream drink looks decidedly less valuable to me."
"Y-you...!"
At her wits' end, Jeon Woo-chi went to stomping on the table with both feet. She really was exactly the kind of person who'd lived her whole life exactly as she pleased. This was probably the first time she'd ever met such utter helplessness.
"Fine, fine. I'll go shopping, so behave yourself."
"Yes!"
When Dohyeon sighed and rose from his seat, Jeon Woo-chi's whole face brightened. The way she bobbed her head, terrified he might change his mind, was almost cute.
"I'll be right back, so stay put. Actually — want to come along instead?"
"Worry not. I am not a child."
Jeon Woo-chi waved a dismissive hand. Dohyeon eyed her doubtfully for a moment, then left the storage room.
The door clicked shut, and the sound of his footsteps faded into the distance.
Jeon Woo-chi stood tall atop the table and surveyed her surroundings.
"Hmmm."
While Dohyeon was around, she hadn't been allowed to move freely. But now, no one was watching.
She darted straight for the open book and began drooling over the drinks she'd been too proud to study properly earlier, examining each one in turn.
"Now that is a drink worth anticipating. How does anything manage to look that delicious? Even that iced tea he made me earlier was remarkable — imagine how this must taste."
That was when it happened.
Knock, knock.
The sound of knuckles on the door froze Jeon Woo-chi solid.
"Master? Are you in there?"
She swept the room in a flash. There was nowhere on the tabletop to hide — and she couldn't stray far from the fan, either.
"He's not here yet, huh?"
"He did say to wait here."
Seo Yu-ri's puzzlement was followed by Kwon Na-yeong's voice. The doorknob turned.
Jeon Woo-chi hastily dropped dead on the table. To the naked eye, she was indistinguishable from an ordinary doll.
"That's strange — he told us to come here. Where did he go?"
"We just have to wait, that's all."
Seo Yu-ri, Kwon Na-yeong, and Kurahashi Shion filed in one after another. The three of them stood together awkwardly — and then spotted the small doll on the table.
"Huh?"
Seo Yu-ri leaned in close.
"What's this?"
It was far too intricate to pass for an ordinary doll — delicate enough that you could believe it was a tiny person. Seo Yu-ri's eyes lit up.
"It's SO cute!"
Jeon Woo-chi blew a silent raspberry. Cute, she says. Hardly the thing to say to the great Taoist who had shaken all eight provinces of Joseon.
Yu-ri picked the doll up and nuzzled it against her cheek.
"I had no idea Master had such crafty hands too!"
Jeon Woo-chi's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly. Her heart longed to blast the girl to atoms with Taoist arts, but with Dohyeon gone, that wasn't an option — and she didn't even know whether she was allowed to reveal herself to them yet, so she couldn't exactly shout put me down, either. She could hardly inconvenience her one and only disciple.
While Yu-ri bounced in place cooing over how adorable it was, Na-yeong and Shion drifted closer to look as well. Neither let much show on her face, but the slight twitch of their fingertips betrayed how badly they wanted a turn.
Jeon Woo-chi was silently reciting patience mantras to herself when the door opened and Dohyeon returned, both arms laden with ingredients.
"You're here already."
"Master, please, just speak casually with us!"
Na-yeong and Shion nodded along beside her, so apparently this had been agreed upon in advance. Students of the seodang, willingly letting a mere laborer boss them around.
That was how badly they wanted it, he supposed.
"Mm. If you insist."
Dohyeon looked over the three of them gathered around the table — and then noticed the doll dangling from Seo Yu-ri's hand. His eyes met Jeon Woo-chi's.
She wasn't moving, but one look at her dead, lifeless gaze told him roughly how things stood. He turned his head away, unable to hold back the laughter.
"What's so funny?"
Yu-ri asked, puzzled. Dohyeon took a moment to savor the sight of Jeon Woo-chi, red-faced with fury, before answering.
"Lady Jeon Woo-chi. These students are my disciples — we've sworn an oath together. It's all right if you're seen."
The instant the words left his mouth, a gust swept through the room. Seo Yu-ri's hand was shoved aside, and Jeon Woo-chi descended slowly to the table.
"Indeed."
There was a distinct crackle of static in her voice — clearly, she was furious. Well, they were fated companions now, bound together. It was only right she make a good impression.
"Master."
"...Master?"
Jeon Woo-chi's expression melted in an instant, and Dohyeon could see the corners of her mouth quivering. Was it really such a delight? Well — after death, this would be the only trace she'd left in the world. Naturally she'd be touched to hear someone out there call her Master.
Glancing over, he saw Na-yeong and Shion wearing expressions of plain surprise, while Seo Yu-ri had gone ghost-white.
"I-I only thought she was a doll! I never dreamed she was the Grandmaster!"
Grandmaster? Where did the girl keep picking up words like these? Though, he supposed, someone conducting what amounted to private tutoring in the middle of the seodang had no room to complain.
"Grandmaster, is it."
Jeon Woo-chi murmured the words softly. The fury that had been blazing across her face moments ago had vanished without a trace; perhaps to hide the way her mouth kept tugging upward, she even cleared her throat.
"Ahem. So this is why one takes disciples, hmm..."
Her eyes gazed into empty air as if recalling the distant past.
"Yes. See that you mind your deportment from now on."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Hands clasped behind her back, Jeon Woo-chi nodded gravely. There wasn't an ounce of dignity in the sight of a finger-sized body pacing the tabletop, but she herself seemed thoroughly satisfied.
Dohyeon watched the whole display with an expression of pure incredulity.
"Everyone answered the investigators' questions all right?"
"Of course."
They all nodded.
"Just like Master told us — we said we lost consciousness inside the ruins and woke up outside."
None of the three had said a word about the Outer God's seal or the Netherworld. Dohyeon had also covered for the capture of the Mountain Lord, explaining it away as Shion's shikigami going berserk and barely managing to subdue it. It would do no good whatsoever for word to spread that he'd cast 5th-tier Taoist magic. He was in no position to cast it again anytime soon — and with no telling how deeply the faction seeking to revive the Outer God had burrowed into the seodang itself, not even the smallest detail could be leaked carelessly.
"Good work. From here on, keep it all secret as long as you can."
"We already swore the oath, though."
As Yu-ri spoke, a blue glow shimmered in the air around them. They'd hastily added a new oath before returning to the seodang — nearly identical to the one Dohyeon had first made with Yu-ri, except that it bound them to cooperate until the faction allied with the Outer God was destroyed.
"Right. Those Netherworld folk are insidious bastards. The moment they suspect even a whisper has leaked, they'll kill everyone to seal their lips shut."
"Are they still operating under the name 'Netherworld'?"
"Certainly not. As far as I know, my fight with them all but annihilated them — they closed their doors."
"Then is the faction still active now made up of the Netherworld's remnants?"
Jeon Woo-chi pondered for a long moment, then shook her head.
"No, I don't think so. I all but finished the Netherworld off — but their head survived in the end. And while the aura of the token that one carried did belong to the Netherworld, the mark was different."
Did she mean the token that Kim Ju-hyeok, the graduate student instructor, had been carrying? From what Dohyeon had seen, it bore a black sun.
"What was that token for, exactly?"
"It's a token that unravels and erases a spell itself. Knowing those bastards, they made it because they wanted the ruins for themselves."
"Erases the spell itself?"
That was absurd. If a faction capable of crafting such a thing was still in motion, they couldn't stay hidden forever. It was entirely possible they would come looking for Jeon Woo-chi's legacy again.
So in the end, if I want to survive, I have to get stronger.
Dohyeon let out a quiet sigh and looked over the three of them gathered at the table. Getting stronger alone wasn't enough. To stand against a faction whose very identity was unknown, he needed to grow the ranks of allies he could trust first. Whether by fortune or by design, there were three students right in front of him, each unable to show her true abilities because of some personal problem. Their bond was, for now, a forced one forged by oath — but solve those problems, build real trust, and they would become formidable assets.
"Then let's start today."
"Start... what?"
Dohyeon spread three scrolls across the tabletop.
"Fixing your problems, of course."