Spider Silk 4
“Eun is alive!?”
“Yes, of course. Please check for yourself.”
Namgang Seol had drawn her sword the moment she saw Namgung Eun lying as stiff as a fallen log, certain her little sister was dead. The instant she heard that the girl still lived, she sprinted to her side, pressed two fingers to her wrist, and demanded in a frantic voice,
“Then why is she like this? Why can’t the child move at all?”
“It seems her body has been paralyzed by the spider’s venom.”
“Venom!? Isn’t that serious!? An antidote—isn’t there any way to neutralize it!?”
I had answered casually, but Namgang Seol’s eyes flew wide in shock. The word “venom” alone was enough to terrify ordinary people; her reaction was only natural. Seeing her startle so violently, my elder sister laid a hand on Namgang Seol’s shoulder and explained,
“No, Young Lady Namgang. She’s simply paralyzed. It should wear off in a day or two. That’s probably why the missing people always returned after a day or two as well.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. If it had been a lethal poison she would already be dead. Take the word of a Tang clanswoman. Had it been a true deadly toxin, far more than mere paralysis would have shown by now—strange symptoms would have started appearing all over her body.”
Only after the poison expert’s calm assurance did the tension ease from Namgang Seol’s face. She carefully rearranged her sister’s limp limbs, then turned her gaze back to my spider. The look she fixed on the creature that still wore her own face was ice-cold. The tip of the sword she still held in reverse grip trembled; she was clearly replaying every humiliation the beast had forced upon her.
I’d better stop her before she does something stupid.
Even though I had already claimed ownership, the shame she had suffered might still make her lash out. I started to speak, intending to reassert my claim once more.
“Young Lady, because of everything you’ve endured—”
The moment I opened my mouth, my sister’s sound transmission cut me off.
[So-ryong, leave this to me. I’ll handle it.]
I closed my mouth and gave a small nod. Sister exchanged a quick glance with me, kept her hand on Namgang Seol’s shoulder, and continued,
“You’re furious and want to kill it, I know. But if you slay it here and now, Young Lady Namgang, any chance of clearing your name will vanish forever.”
“Vanish? What do you mean?”
“This spider can mimic a person’s face and body. Who can guarantee that the disguise won’t fade the moment it dies? If you kill it and the appearance unravels, there will be no way left to prove your innocence. Think carefully. You need to take it back and show it to your clan so they can see the truth with their own eyes. You need to show it to the villagers as well so that every absurd rumor finally dies.”
“Kh…”
There was no flaw in Sister’s logic. Namgang Seol trembled with rage, yet she sheathed her sword.
That kind of reasoning? As expected of Sister! Our Sister is brilliant!
Listening to her clear-headed argument, I had to admit it was entirely possible. We had no guarantee the mimicry would remain after death. Even if it might stay, the risk that it would vanish was not something Namgang Seol could afford.
She had already proven her innocence to the clan by photographing the birthmark, yet the villagers who had seen the mole on her upper chest still whispered, and the rumors had forced her into something close to house arrest in the guest quarters. Losing the one living proof would leave her with no way to silence them.
Sister, ever precise, then drove home the point I had wanted to make myself.
“And that creature was captured by So-ryong. The spiritual medicine destined for you was obtained by So-ryong. He saved Young Lady Namgung Eun’s life and caught this spider so that your own grievance could be cleared. Surely you won’t simply swing your sword as you please? Whether this thing lives or dies is for So-ryong alone to decide.”
She had zeroed in on the exact spot that would make Namgang Seol feel indebted and pressed hard. I had left it to her, and she handled it flawlessly. Admiration welled up inside me.
I really must have a thing for smart older women.
Namgang Seol fell silent for a moment, then answered with the expression of someone who disliked the idea but saw no other choice.
“Very well. I already owe you a great debt; I cannot become an ungrateful wretch. I will follow Young Hero’s wishes. But what exactly do you intend to do with it?”
She asked what I planned to do with the spider, yet there was only one answer.
“So-ryong intends to keep it alive and take it back to the Tang Clan.”
“Take that thing to the Tang Clan!?”
Namgang Seol’s eyes went round with shock. I nodded at once.
“Yes. It’s cute, after all.”
“C-cute!?”
My casual remark made her flush scarlet. She suddenly could not meet my eyes and looked desperately toward Sister for help. Sister seized both of her shoulders, forced their gazes to meet, and shook her head with an expression that said, Please don’t misunderstand.
“So-ryong does not mean that the resemblance to Young Lady Namgang Seol is cute. He means the spider itself is cute. It’s red, the fur is soft, and it has unusual abilities, so he calls it cute… Haah…”
Well, of course. Obviously.
Sister was forced to explain the sort of thing that made one’s mouth tired just talking about it. At the inexplicable sigh that ended her speech, Namgang Seol patted her shoulder in apology.
Why? What’s wrong?
When morning came, the Namgung warriors summoned by Namgang Seol carried both the spider and Namgung Eun back to the clan compound. The moment the cart bearing the spider rolled through the gates, people gasped in horror. Warriors and household members alike stared at the still-limp creature in open dismay.
“A-a spider wearing the young lady’s face!”
“A monster—it’s definitely a monster!”
“So this fiend was the one imitating the young lady!”
Even the head of the Namgung Clan saw the spider and erupted in fury.
“How dare this thing steal my daughter’s likeness and insult her!”
Like father, like daughter—he too drew his sword and roared. Sister glanced at me once, then stepped forward and repeated to the clan head exactly what she had told Namgang Seol. After surveying the crowd, the Namgung patriarch sheathed his blade and nodded.
“If everything you say is true, then this young hero has saved both the lives and the honor of my two daughters. The Namgung Clan will never forget this debt. We shall do as the young hero wishes.”
Hah, as expected of Sister.
In my previous life there had been a saying: a man lives an easy life if he simply listens to three women—his navigation system, his mother, and his wife. For a moment it seemed everything would proceed just as smoothly.
Then came the final words of the Namgung patriarch.
“But I cannot accept that.”
His finger pointed straight at the cart—more precisely, at the pedipalps that still wore Namgang Seol’s face.
Ah. Ownership of the spider might belong to me, but the portrait rights of Namgang Seol’s face were an entirely different matter.
That was the clan head’s true concern. If the spider, still wearing his daughter’s face, were taken to the Tang Clan and somehow escaped or caused trouble, his daughter would once again be dragged through filthy rumors without even knowing it. Therefore, if I insisted on taking the creature, could it not at least wear some other face?
“If it could steal my daughter’s appearance, it should be able to take another. Can it not at least change into something else? How am I supposed to send it away looking like my own child? I never want to endure another day of people doubting my daughter.”
Even I felt uncomfortable whenever an unwanted photo of me circulated. The idea of a monster wandering around with an exact copy of one’s daughter’s face could not possibly sit well with any father. I could not ignore a request made so politely.
I completely forgot about portrait rights…
In the Namgung Clan’s training yard stood a sturdy wooden cage. Inside it the still-unconscious spider lay sprawled. To learn the conditions under which it changed faces, we needed it awake—yet it remained deeply asleep.
While I watched it idly from the shade, a stream of spectators came to gawk at the limp creature.
“A monster that truly looks like the young lady!?”
“It’s identical! No wonder people were fooled!”
“See? Didn’t I tell you the Namgung young lady would never do such a thing!”
Every onlooker was a villager. They had been allowed into the training yard because, ever since noon the day before when the spider was captured, word had been deliberately spread: the culprit behind the disappearances had been caught—come and see. The more people who saw it, the faster the rumor would travel and the sooner the ugly stories about Namgang Seol would die.
While the crowd milled about, one excited man snatched up a stone and wound up to throw it. Commander Gu Pae launched himself forward and stopped the man cold.
“What do you think you’re doing! This spider was captured by the Tang Clan. Do you dare damage Tang property!”
“Eek! S-sorry, elder!”
That made three times already. Why did these villagers love throwing rocks so much? If I had not stationed the Poisonous Creature Squad around the cage, my spider would already be injured.
“Commander Gu Pae, I think nearly everyone who wanted to look has already done so. We shouldn’t let any more people in. The spider will get hurt at this rate.”
“Shall we stop the viewing, then?”
“That would be best. I’ll go speak with the Namgung patriarch. Let’s keep the crowds away from now on.”
Having reached an agreement with the clan head that no more spectators would be admitted, I was returning when I found the training-yard entrance in mild uproar.
“Cough! Cough! C-can’t I just take a quick look?”
“I’m sorry, old man, but orders from above.”
“J-just a moment will do. Hack! Hack!”
“I told you it’s not allowed.”
An elderly man was arguing with Commander Gu Pae.
“What’s going on, Commander Gu?”
“Ah, Young Master So-ryong. I keep telling him no, but the old fellow insists on seeing the spider.”
The old man looked thoroughly ill. He had clearly dragged his ailing body a long distance just to come here, so I said,
“Just let him see it. He seems to have come a long way in poor health.”
“Shall we? Very well, Young Master. Since our young master has given permission, take a short look.”
“Hack! Thank you, elder.”
Commander Gu Pae stepped aside. The old man shuffled slowly up to the cage, stared at the spider for a long time, then turned and asked,
“Hack! What’s going to happen to it now? Are you going to kill it like everyone says?”
We had been telling the public it would be killed, but there was no need to lie to this old man. I walked over and answered in Commander Gu’s place.
“Of course not. It’s a precious creature. I intend to take it to Sichuan and raise it properly.”
The old man’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Hack! But it’s a monster—how can you…”
“A monster? It’s just an ordinary spider whose diet happens to be unusual. And what a living thing eats is decided by Heaven. This child has no choice in the matter, so it isn’t the child’s fault.”
The old man’s eyes grew rounder still. He stepped right up to the bars and crouched down.
“Old man, that’s danger—!”
Commander Gu Pae started forward, but I raised a hand to stop him. From the old man I could already sense something familiar—the thick, unmistakable scent that only fellow enthusiasts give off.
This one is definitely one of us.
As if to confirm my guess, the old man gently stroked the spider’s true head—the real spider head nestled between the legs, not the pedipalps that still wore Namgang Seol’s face—and spoke.
“Hack! The child’s name is Yo-hwa. Twenty years ago, when I had lost my entire family to plague and fallen into despair, I found her on the mountain, no bigger than a fist, and raised her. I learned that when you give her yang energy, she takes the form of whatever person the giver finds most beautiful.”
He was handing me exactly the information I had been hoping for. Still stroking the spider’s head, he looked up at me.
“But my vital energy has grown too weak to supply her any longer, and that is how this whole disaster happened. She did something unforgivable to the Namgung young lady. Young master, I beg you—please take good care of Yo-hwa.”
I had thought she was a wild specimen; she turned out to be a carefully raised captive. Captives were always hardier and more attached to people than wild ones. I nodded.
“Thank you for the… no, don’t worry, old man. I’ll raise her well.”
What I had believed was a capture had actually been a transfer of ownership. Now that the original keeper had formally handed her over, I would have to do right by her.
Yet one question still niggled at me.
How the hell do you even give yang energy?