Nuhodi's Spear (2)

With Hiarid as go-between, I delivered a few warnings to Nuhodi, the spirit dwelling in the spear, along with the news that Hwayeon would be the one to use her.

"If you want to see the world, someone wielding your spear beats standing there in a daze by yourself. Right?"

"And if we're doing this anyway, better that it's someone with real skill."

Wung-wooong!

"I'll say this up front. If I catch you cursing someone, or trying to control them by force, I'll seal you on the spot and bury you deep underground. And by deep, I mean a distance longer than the sky is from the earth. Or I'll just smash you outright."

I spread a Wall of Space across my palm to drive the threat home, and a trembling resonance spilled from the spear shaft.

"I'm allowing this because I've seen your past, and I'm choosing to trust the character you had then. Don't disappoint me."

I beckoned to Hwayeon, who stood some distance off, then lifted the spear as I spoke.

"You'll see once you spend time with her, but Hwayeon is one of the top fighters in the country. So get along."

Hwayeon took Nuhodi's spear from me. At the feel of the shaft trembling she tightened both hands around it, studied it with a solemn face, then let a faint smile touch her lips and stroked the wood. It was the clear, bright smile of a child who had just been handed a toy.

So the spear had a name of its own.

Anyway, I told her once more never to use the red light that bewitches people. I had warned her again; I trusted she had grasped well enough how serious the matter was. Nuhodi hated confined, dark, lonely places. She would not want to be jammed down into the mantle, so she would not break the rule lightly. At least not that.

I had swung the whip of a threat. Now it was time for the carrot. I explained that if she did well from here on, she could see the world alongside Hwayeon, and even enter the Phase World to hunt Aberrants or join raids. She brightened at once and swore she would lend Hwayeon her strength.

As it turned out, the city where Nuhodi had lived was struck by Aberrants at all hours, and she harbored a fierce hatred for them. She herself had belonged to an organization built to hunt Aberrants — an army, really. A chiliarch of that army, she said. Perhaps because of that, she seemed even more pleased to hear that Hwayeon held a position in Grand Blue leading a great many people.

Thinking about it, Hwayeon and Nuhodi were alike in a number of ways. Personality. Atmosphere. Even the work they did.

Nuhodi's spear was a cross-spear, but from tip to end it ran a full three meters. At that length it was closer to a pike than a spear, though in form it resembled a classical Chinese spear more than a pike. Even so, Hwayeon ran through the fundamentals of spear technique as if she had handled one all her life.

"You've used a spear before? You're handling it well."

"When I learned weapon arts with combat against people in mind, I did take up a spear. I even had one made in the same form as Ispect beforehand, and practiced with it."

"I see. Three meters — isn't that a bit long?"

"The serpent spear Zhang Fei wields in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the zhangbashemao, is nearly six meters long. Set beside that weapon, this length is about right for a spear meant to face Aberrants."

Six meters... how do you even swing that? Even as she answered me, Hwayeon flourished Ispect in a brilliant arc, testing its spring and its strength, and a faint smile had crept into her expression. She liked it more than I had expected.

Nuhodi had also told us about Ispect's performance. Every useless minor effect had been stripped away. It was a weapon that concentrated on only three things.

A weapon that poured its performance into specific functions was better than one plastered with this and that. Every option seemed to suit Hwayeon. She swung with all her strength and still looked satisfied that the spear remained perfectly intact, and from then on, whenever she found a spare moment, she swung it again, drilling hard to adapt to Ispect.

The closer the year's end drew, the busier everyone became with their own affairs. Yeongeun's leaving time kept slipping later under year-end parties and gatherings that were really just work by another name, and my sister and Hwayeon rushed about to see Grand Blue's first year-end through properly. I was busy myself, searching out likely places for the blue-skinned demons and gathering information.

With Franc spending less time glued to my side while she disciplined Miho, Darky circled me instead. Hiarid commuted to the research institute, and Sophia, together with Suhan, was learning this and that from the old butler at Yeongeun's house, so the hours when all of us gathered at home grew fewer.

Today, same as yesterday, I was sorting the bundles of material the intelligence strategy team had gathered in my office when Miho — rounded out fat in a white full-body children's puffer — shot in from the east like a bolt, landed on the rooftop helipad connected to my office, and pounded on the door.

Hm? Hadn't that kid gone out with Hwayeon for spear training?

I opened the door, and Miho, in a snow-white children's parka, came running in a fluster, threw her arms around my leg, looked up, and shouted.

"Master, Master! Hwayeonie's in big trouble!!"

"What are you talking about? Hwayeon's in trouble?"

When we started building the mansion at the Shinchon-dong training ground, I had also put up a large gymnasium on the southern grounds — the scale of a full sports complex — so our family alone could use it as a training hall without minding anyone else's eyes. It was a sizable building, but I had hired a number of earth-attribute ability users, so it was finished in under a month. Hwayeon had been doing her personal training there ever since. She needed a means of talking with Nuhodi, and Hiarid was busy at the research institute providing samples of intent, so I had sent the idle Miho along in her place.

"Ah, uhh~ so, like, it's~"

I scooped up the flustered, stammering Miho, pressed Darky — dozing, or just slowly sloshing across the desk — into her arms, and unfolded a Space Leap straight for the training ground.

What could have happened, to make this kid fly over in such a panic? I had told Miho to watch Hwayeon train and report at once if anything strange occurred, but Nuhodi had shown such a wise, clean attitude that I had trusted her.

I burst into the gymnasium of some thirty-five thousand square feet set up on the southern grounds of Shinchon-dong, and there at the center stood Hwayeon, hair tied up, Ispect planted upright, perfectly still.

From the entrance I watched white steam rising off her body in a jet-black training suit, set Miho down, and walked slowly toward her. My steps crossed the glossy floor, soles squeaking against it, the sound ringing through the gym. At that sound Hwayeon turned to me... and the irises that had been like black pearls were stained red.

That red, vivid as blood, was the exact color of the eyes I had seen in Nuhodi's memories. So this was the big trouble Miho had meant.

My face hardened.

Hwayeon's pretty eyes curved into gentle arcs, and she opened her mouth in a soft smile she had never once shown me.

"What do you think you're doing?"

At a low voice nothing like Hwayeon's, and at words that were not even addressed to me, I put force into my glare — and a soft, pleasant voice flowed out through Hwayeon's mouth once more.

What do I do? Is it all right to take Ispect from her now? If I grab Hwayeon and blanket her in a concentrated Mana Sieve, will she be all right?

I was running through a few ways to separate Hwayeon and Nuhodi, thinking I ought to knock Ispect from her hands first, when she closed her eyes and opened them again — and the red irises returned to their original black.

"Seoha. I'm all righ— ah."

In that instant I appeared behind her, snatched Ispect as if ripping it away, and Space Leaped again, well clear.

Hwayeon, startled at having the spear torn from her hands in a flash, came running toward me — but stronger than that was the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠feeling of betrayed trust. I bit down on my molars and began to put force into Ispect as if to snap it.

Ignoring my warning and taking over Hwayeon's body. I was a fool to have trusted her.

Perhaps she felt how serious I was. A shallow, frightened vibration — wooong, woo-woong — traveled from the shaft into my hand. As Ispect bent further and further in my grip, Hwayeon, who had come running in a rush, threw her arms around my arm and shouted for me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to stop.

"Seoha! Wait, just a moment! It isn't like that!"

"No."

"Nuhodi did nothing wrong. I asked her to do it. Please!"

I stared at Hwayeon as she clutched my hand and cried out with a desperate face, then forced down the anger rising in me and opened my mouth.

"...Explain what happened. Every last bit of it."

Seeing my face set like a mask, Hwayeon — as if she had not expected me to get this angry — began to explain slowly, looking troubled.

"It was not long ago that I came to hear her voice. Nuhodi's. I was training as usual, feeling that something was lacking, when her voice sounded inside my head."

When I sighed at the part ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠about hearing Nuhodi's voice, she lowered her brows and apologized.

"I am sorry. I should have told you beforehand, but I was so absorbed in learning the spear arts from her that I failed to let you know."

Seeing Ispect tremble faintly in my hand, Hwayeon watched my expression with a tense face and carefully went on.

"Once we could speak... I talked with her a great deal. What her life had been like, what goals she had held, what kind of life she had lived, what she had taken as the standard of that life. Through that I came to know her better, and my spear arts advanced as well. Had she not instructed me, it would have been an achievement I could not have reached."

In less than a month — call it attachment, or something like a close friendship — she was so anxious I might smash Ispect that I was too dumbfounded to speak. I had once seen it in a documentary: when a con artist sets out to swindle someone, the first thing they do is induce carelessness, and the very first step of that is building common ground. They form rapport to create intimacy, close the distance, then dismantle your guard.

What angered me most was what would happen if something went wrong with Hwayeon. People dominated by weapons — berserker arms, demon swords, demon spears — take no small wounds to mind and soul. Just like the victims of the Soul Reaper's coffin. If that happened, it would be my fault for letting her use the spear. How was I supposed to face Yeongeun?

Furious, I gripped Ispect and drove it hard into the gym floor.

KRAANG!

"If you wanted to talk, you could have done it through Miho, and if it got complicated you could have called Hiarid. Why do you think I sent Miho with you? Don't you know the basics of a con — that building common ground comes first, to make you drop your guard? Handing your body over so carelessly. Am I the only one worried about the aftermath?"

"No, that is all right. I have already checked several times, and there was nothing wrong."

"...Several times? You've already swapped bodies how many times?"

I glared at her, angry, and she flinched, looked as if she had slipped, and avoided my eyes.

Wouldn't it be better to lay Nuhodi's soul to rest and just use the spear? When I put strength into the hand gripping Ispect, a warm energy flowed into my palm, and the voice that had come from Hwayeon's mouth earlier rang through my head.

What was this — a comfortable voice whose warmth seemed to wrap around my mind? A mental attack? It was the opposite of Morgan le Fay's voice, which I had heard before — neurotic, and overflowing with killing intent. This one was gentle and clear. Even so, I did not lower my guard as I asked.

"If you could talk like this, why didn't you say so from the start?"

Hwayeon realized I was speaking with Nuhodi, stepped one pace back from me, and stood quietly.

"That gray, mist-like evil spirit I called a Vindictive Ghost? You took a shock because I erased it by force, without a proper exorcism?"

"So that's why you couldn't speak to me directly all this time, and showed what you meant by trembling."

Right. When I had first found Nuhodi — found Ispect — I had peeked into her memories and then, as an experiment, injected TP. And Ispect had rattled so hard the shaft nearly snapped.

"So now that you've stabilized, you talked to Hwayeon like this and moved her body too?"

"If something like this was happening, you should have talked it over with the family."

I turned a displeased look on Hwayeon for acting with no guard up at all, and she flinched and avoided my eyes. Truly, genuinely put out, I stared hard at her, and she, not knowing what to do, finally ducked her head low.

Nuhodi kept begging forgiveness. Hwayeon kept apologizing in a mumble, saying she was sorry. Nuhodi steadily insisted she had borne no malice, that it had happened only because she accepted Hwayeon's request in order to help. Hearing that, I decided to let it pass this time.

What brought me to that decision was that Nuhodi's nature felt like a noble seeker's — someone who had long pursued the Way. Ever since I had gained mental manipulation atop Spatial Perception, I had strangely been able to sense a person's mind and disposition as if I could reach out and touch them. After testing it this way and that, what I sensed matched reality about ninety percent of the time. When I examined Nuhodi's mind and nature closely with that, she felt like a cleric who had sought the Way for a very long time, and some of my anger subsided. I could not be sure it was true, but the claim that she had done it to save Hwayeon, who had nearly fallen into an inner demon, went a long way toward cooling the rest.

"...This is the last time."

I growled it at Ispect, and the shaft trembled faintly as Nuhodi's intent flowed into my head.

"I'll accept the apology."

When I had known nothing, I had thrown casual speech at her without a thought. Now that I had actually confirmed it, she had the air of a priestess — a saintess — in the plain sense of the words, and I could not bring myself to speak as carelessly as before.

A small laugh from Nuhodi, as if in relief, and through it Hwayeon's hesitating voice pushed into my ear.

"Ah. S-Seoha. I will apologize as well... an apology... mm. I-I apologize. I failed to consider that you would worry."

"Yeah. If something like this happens again, tell the family first and talk it through. Do you know how shocked I was when Miho came flying in?"

"Mm. I am sorry."

Embarrassed, she clasped her hands behind her back and fidgeted the toe of her shoe. I stroked her head once and, to change the mood, moved us elsewhere before asking Nuhodi.

"But why couldn't you pass on, Nuhodi, and why were you bound to Ispect? If you were a priestess of a city like Dalbu, I wouldn't have thought you'd welcome having your soul tied to an object like this."

Curious about the answer, Hwayeon quietly set a hand on Ispect. A voice that seemed to be wearing a bitter smile flowed into my head.

"So they made you an earthbound spirit. A vicious thing to do."

At Nuhodi's story Hwayeon knit her brows and muttered it, but Nuhodi answered in a calm voice that it could not have been otherwise.

"An atrocious crime — you? In the memories, all I saw was you saying something to a man in a black robe, and refusing sex. That was your memory I saw, wasn't it, Nuhodi?"

At a voice that sounded like a saintess growing shy, a signal suddenly fired off to my little buddy.

Why now, out of nowhere. Involuntary muscle or not, this is not the situation for that...

"Over there~!"

Fwoop! Fwoo-oop!

Watching Miho chase the fleeing Darky with a bright giggle, I shook off the lewd little ghost, lowered my gaze to Ispect again, and spoke.

"The way I see it, you were tortured like that just for crossing a man with a black robe thrown over him. Your only crime was prophesying that a tidal wave would come. Anyone with his head on straight wouldn't have called that a crime. It's ridiculous."

"Wow. Real sons of bitches."

The more she spoke, the more the image rose of Nuhodi treated as a sex slave and tortured, and I no longer wanted to hear it.

"So what do you want to do now, Nuhodi?"

"For someone who says that, you seemed awfully curious about the outside world."

At the story she told while chuckling, I let out a snort of laughter myself. I could see all over again what a worthless man the one in the black robe had been. To shove a woman like this — his own woman, no less — down into the pit that way. If he had still been alive, I would have torn his cock off. A shame.

The mood had eased, but I still thought a warning was in order, so I gave her one last time.

Mm... did I not need to add that last part? The humming from the spear somehow sounded like laughter. When I took my hand off Ispect, Hwayeon shot me a glare, face flushed. So I glared right back, sharp as a spark, and Hwayeon — knowing full well she was in the wrong — lowered those fine brows of hers.