Destined to Be Raised as a Breeding Sow
The moment Silla and I crossed the threshold of the gate, right after the old woman had taken one look at me and spoken my late grandfather’s name, I felt an invisible, unidentifiable energy coil around us.
“Ugh—this is… the same sensation you get when you step into a dungeon…!”
“Yes. That peculiar feeling when you set foot beyond a distorted space. So that’s why no one could ever find where she lived. I’d heard Park Jeom-rye Hunter uses Daoist arts as well…!”
“Daoist arts?”
Silla nodded and continued.
“You’ve heard of the shrinking-earth technique, right? The one where you fold the ground and cross vast distances in a single step. This is the exact opposite. She’s forcibly stretched the land and the space itself.”
“It’s seriously so much wider than what we saw from outside…?!”
Beyond the wall we could still see the alley where Silla and I had been arguing only moments ago, yet inside, a courtyard the size of a decent school athletic field spread out before our eyes.
“Hurry up and follow. How is it that your feet are just as slow now as they were back then? What, planning to spend the night here while you’re at it?”
“Coming right away!”
And somehow the old woman was already on the far side of the courtyard, waving us over.
So this was what people meant when they said they felt possessed by a ghost.
I was still standing there with my mouth hanging open in astonishment when Silla pinched my side again and asked,
“More importantly—how exactly do you know that woman?”
“I told you. She seems like an acquaintance of my grandfather’s. An acquaintance of his, not of mine. All I really know is that she’s the one who chose my name. And even that’s only a guess.”
“Your name?”
“Yeah. When I was born, Grandfather went to a skilled shaman friend of his and asked her to name me. That’s what I heard.”
He’d also been told by that same shaman friend that I would fill our childless Goo household with a ridiculous number of grandchildren and bring an absurd amount of good fortune. That person was almost certainly her as well.
“Still, the world really is small. Running into Grandfather’s old acquaintance in a place like this? Even thinking about it again… What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You… is that why you refused to help me? Because you already knew exactly where she was. You deliberately played dumb so you could watch me desperately search for Park Jeom-rye Hunter with that filthy expression of yours—Kyaaah?!”
“I only just found out, damn it! Always so suspicious, you Kkanf.”
“D-don’t yank on my chest…!!”
We hurried after the old woman across the athletic-field-sized courtyard, and soon a large hanok identical to the one we’d seen beyond the wall came into view.
So an S-class could actually do something like this?
I couldn’t help another wave of admiration for the woman who had created this space. She was already seated on the wooden veranda waiting for us, clicking her tongue as she addressed me.
“I waited so long I thought I’d be heading to the next world. You damn old coot.”
“H-hello?”
She still thought I was my grandfather.
I released Silla’s chest, stepped forward, and bowed. The old woman’s face twisted as if she’d never seen such a strange creature.
“What’s this? Acting all polite like that doesn’t suit you one bit… Did someone put a curse on you? Huh? Wait a second… Looking closer, you ain’t Chuk-yong.”
“Chuk-yong is my grandfather’s name. I’m…”
“Ahh! The grandson! Chuk-yong’s grandson! So… what name did I give you again? Sa-yong? Hang on, that was the one I gave when he said he’d had a son, wasn’t it? Right?”
“Yes, that’s my father’s name. I’m Seung-yong, Grandmother.”
She’d named my father too?
The connection to our family ran deeper than I’d expected. I nodded as I answered, and the old woman clapped her hands.
“Ah, that’s right, that’s right! Seung-yong, Seung-yong! Of course! Can’t be that old coot Chuk-yong. That geezer’s been dead for years already… Sorry about that. You look so much like him the old hag here got mixed up.”
“I know I resemble Grandfather, but is it really that strong?”
“You calling that a question? You’re basically Chuk-yong come back from the dead. What’s with you Goo men? Faces, builds—every last one of you is stamped out of the same mold like fish cakes.”
“Our family’s a bit peculiar, I guess.”
I played along and chuckled. Apparently my laughter was funny too, because she suddenly burst into loud, open-mouthed guffaws.
“That way of laughing! Even that’s exactly the same as that old coot! Aigoo, this is rich. So what brings you here? No, wait—Seung-yong, you’ve got no business of your own. It’s the long-eared girl next to you who’s got business with me, ain’t it?”
“You can tell even that? Ah, this is my s—kack!”
Before I could even get the first syllable of “sex slave” out, Silla’s elbow slammed into my ribs.
Sharp, heavy pain drove straight into my side. I clutched my ribs and groaned. Silla didn’t miss the opening; she quickly stepped in front of the old woman, bowed deeply, and practically shouted her greeting.
“I-it’s an honor to meet you, Park Jeom-rye Hunter! I-I am Kim Bok-sun, eldest daughter of the World Tree Kim clan! It is truly a privilege to meet the renowned Park Jeom-rye Hunter!”
Coming from the Silla I knew, the sight was enough to leave anyone’s jaw hanging.
The old woman nodded at the greeting.
“Mm-hmm, right, right. So you’re Seung-yong’s little wife. Talent runs in the family, just like that old coot’s grandson. Managing to take a long-eared girl—famous for being a handful—as your bride.”
“B-b-b-b-bride?! N-no, I’m not—I’m not this human’s—I mean Seung-yong’s—bride…!”
“Not? No way. Seung-yong here takes after his grandpa so much the women around him never stop coming. And you, missy, are already tangled up with him for good. You’re fated to bear him forty-three sons and thirty-seven daughters.”
“What?!”
Even the sheer vitality matches his grandfather’s.
As she said it she reached out and patted my head. Silla’s face and ears exploded into a vivid scarlet; she stood there dazed, murmuring,
“E-eighty half-elves…? T-that can’t be… To go beyond being a human’s plaything and be raised as a breeding sow…♡”
What am I supposed to do with this masochistic elf?
Hearing from the greatest shaman in Korea that she was fated to become my breeding sow, Silla freely twisted the old woman’s words and panted with excitement.
I clicked my tongue at the dazed, ecstatic look she was giving me. The old woman clicked hers right along with me and asked,
“Tsk tsk, some taste you’ve got. So, what exactly did that girl come here for? Seung-yong, you tell me.”
“Huh?”
“Hurry up. Time is money to this old hag, you know? Keep dawdling and I’ll start charging.”
“Ah, well… our Bok-sun here got tangled up with a reaper recently.”
“What was that?”
Lying to a shaman’s face felt risky, but not lying would get me caught by Silla for sure.
I had no choice. I averted my eyes a little as I spoke. The old woman tilted her head.
“A reaper? That can’t be right. Just looking at this girl’s ears, she’s not short-lived at all—she’s got a long-life fate.”
“What?!”
Just as expected, she began examining Silla’s face this way and that with a doubtful expression. Silla, who had been drooling and lost in weird fantasies, snapped her eyes wide open and all but lunged forward.
“I-is that true?!”
“Long-lived, I said. Same as Seung-yong here. While other long-ears die at five hundred, this one alone’s set to live to seven hundred. That’s why so many kids.”
“H-huh? That can’t be right…”
“What’s ‘can’t be right’ about it? You doubting these eyes of mine now… Hmm? Hmm.”
This is bad. How am I supposed to keep doing dirty things with Silla after this… no, before that, how do I even survive with my body intact?
My head was already starting to ache when the old woman suddenly narrowed her eyes at Silla.
“Ah, wait. I was wrong. Looking closer, I can clearly see a reaper. At this rate you’ll be holding its hand and heading to the northern hills tomorrow.”
“What?! Just now you said I had a long life…!”
Silla’s eyes went round at the sudden flip-flop.
“I’m old, so my eyes ain’t what they used to be! You saw me call Seung-yong his grandpa a minute ago, didn’t you?! Looking again, this girl’s face is the kind reapers really like. Couldn’t see it before, but now it’s plain as day.”
“That…?! Th-then how can I escape that reaper?!”
“That, huh… Want to know?”
“Yes! P-please!”
Silla was already on her knees, nodding so hard her chest bounced. The old woman rose, went into the inner room off the veranda, and came back with a brush and a sheet of paper.
Then she began writing a talisman.
“If you want to know, take care of one little headache of mine. Then I’ll tell you.”
“Huh? Just now you weren’t asking for a fee…”
“Didn’t I just tell Seung-yong? Time is money to me. The free consultation period ended a long while ago. So, you saying you won’t help? I was gonna cut you some slack ‘cause you’re Seung-yong’s little wife, but keep this up and I’ll just kick you out.”
“N-no! P-please! Entrust us with anything! Whatever it is, Seung-yong and I will handle it completely, so pleaseee?!”
“All right already, quit your sniveling!”
She peeled the wailing Silla off her, held the finished talisman, and began murmuring what sounded like an incantation.
Amazingly, the paper in her hand lifted into the air and began orbiting Silla and me like a little satellite.
“Lately some Small Imps have settled in the basement, and every night the racket’s enough to make my ears ring. Clear those things out and I’ll tell you how to get free of the reaper. Just follow the talisman down.”
“R-really?!”
Small Imp—the word the elders used for goblins.
At the request to head underground and deal with the goblins, Silla shot to her feet and seized my hand.
“L-let’s go right now! Right now, Seung-yong! Hurry!”
“Hey, wait a—?!”
She yanked me along, insisting we follow the talisman at once. I looked back at the old woman in complete bewilderment, and suddenly her voice sounded inside my head.
Be careful. I owe that old coot more than I can repay, so this time I’m helping for free. Next time, though, I’m collecting. And once everything’s finished, you run until the soles of your feet are on fire.
“What?!”
What was that supposed to mean?
I wanted to ask, but Silla’s eyes had already rolled back with urgency. Before I could get a word out, I was dragged away.