To Seoul (2)
“I’ll get it!”
I managed to stop Terra just before she inserted the dirt card into the vending machine.
[Oh? When did you get here?]
Aqua’s eyes went wide, as if she hadn’t noticed me approaching at all. Terra, on the other hand, showed no surprise—she must have sensed me coming through our contract bond.
[Sisit!]
Mandu stretched out her short front legs toward the snack she wanted.
“Alright, alright. Tell me what everyone wants.”
[Get me some cola!]
[I want those coffee-flavored crackers.]
[Sisit! Sisit!]
I bought all the snacks and drinks the spirits pointed out, plus a bunch more that my friends would like. It piled up into a mountain, so I had to use the plastic bags provided next to the vending machine.
“Alright, shall we head back now?”
Just as I turned toward the front car again, Aqua looked up at me with a pleading expression.
“What’s up? Want something else?”
Aqua let out a giggle and raised her arms.
[My legs hurt!]
She must have gotten tired walking from the premium seats all the way back here to the tail car. Or maybe it was just her being spoiled—but it didn’t matter either way.
“Want me to carry you, then?”
[Carry me!]
I crouched down and scooped Aqua into my arms.
[Hee hee hee!]
Aqua rubbed her face against my chest. Smiling, I reached out to Terra too.
“Here you go, Terra.”
[Mm.]
Terra hadn’t begged for it, but her face showed she’d been hoping for it. She quickly nestled into my free arm.
[Sisit!]
Mandu flapped her wings and settled on my shoulder.
Now I had spirits in both arms and Mandu on my shoulder. It might look like my arms—and even turning my head—were sealed off, but at some point, this position had started feeling perfectly natural to me.
Because we can feel each other through our skin.
I stroked Aqua and Terra once each with my chin. Tilting my head, I rubbed my cheek against Mandu too.
[Hee hee hee!]
[Hee hee.]
[Sisit!]
They all narrowed their eyes happily at my affection, warming my chest right down to my heart.
Aqua snorted proudly and pointed ahead.
[Let’s go now!]
I started to stride forward confidently—
Vrrr—
The partition door slid open, and someone stepped into the tail car. There were three of them, but at first, my eyes went only to the two on either side. Blue and red hair, black sunglasses, suffocatingly stuffy suits. They screamed intense bodyguards.
“Oh, hello.”
But when the man standing behind the two bodyguards stammered a greeting, my eyes widened.
It was a face I knew. No—a face any spirit user would know.
“……Kazami Akira.”
[Mm……!]
Aqua’s startled voice spoke for my feelings.
* * *
Kazami Akira.
The spirit user who had contracted with Japan’s guardian deity, the Wind Spirit King himself—called the god of wind.
The Wind Spirit King had such a strong personality that the contractor himself didn’t get much attention, but in interviews, he’d seemed no different from other wind spirit users. Playful and unserious, but cherishing his spirit more than anyone.
To Korean spirit users, he was known as “Japan’s Jeong Ri-on.”
But the Kazami Akira in front of me was off somehow.
“Y-you’re Kang Hyunwoo, right?”
Kazami Akira opened his mouth in awkward Korean. It wasn’t just the language that felt off—his voice sounded like there was something wrong with it.
And it wasn’t just his speech. His hunched posture, the way his eyes kept furtively scanning the surroundings like he was anxious, the sudden gray streaks in his hair, his half-dead gaze. The warm look of a spirit user who gazed lovingly and proudly at his spirit was gone.
They said he went mad after losing the Wind Spirit King.
Kazami Akira truly looked like a madman.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Kazami Akira. I’m Kang Hyunwoo.”
As I spoke to him, I carefully lowered Aqua and Terra from my arms to the floor. With my palms, I gently nudged them back behind me.
Kazami Akira’s eyes were fixed exactly on my hands—on my spirits. It sent chills down my spine.
Only then did he seem to realize I was looking at him. He forced an awkward smile.
“N-no need to be on guard.”
I pulled the spirits back another step, then asked,
“Mr. Kazami Akira. Why did you come to Korea?”
“T-to meet you.”
“No. That’s not what I’m asking.”
I straightened up.
“I’m asking why you came secretly.”
S-rank awakeners were treated like nuclear weapons. Living, walking nukes. If one from another country caused trouble abroad, it became a diplomatic incident immediately.
Even calling Sia here without prior consultation during the Niagara fight got Union Guild a warning from the government.
When an S-rank visited another country, both nations went on high alert. Government agents tailed them for surveillance, and someone capable of subduing them if needed came along as a “guide.”
In our country, that’d be Jeong Ri-on.
Jeong Ri-on had actually accompanied Kazami Akira the last time he visited Korea with the Wind Spirit King.
So if Kazami Akira’s visit to Korea had been official, Jeong Ri-on would have known. And if Jeong Ri-on knew, he would have told me.
“Why did you come to Korea in secret?”
Kazami Akira’s mouth tightened a little.
“Why did you sneak in?”
His mouth began to twitch like it was spasming.
“Why are you looking for me?”
Pompeii. The artifact. The demons. Kazami Akira.
Hypotheses built up and crumbled in my head over and over. One conclusion emerged.
I have to protect my spirits.
I took half a step forward. Kazami Akira’s mouth spasmed wildly.
But in the next moment, a gentle, benevolent smile—like beholding Buddha—spread across it.
Which only made it infinitely more ominous.
And his following request was something I couldn’t comprehend.
“Could you open a door to the Spirit Realm for me?”
“……A door to the Spirit Realm?”
“You have Aqua and Terra, don’t you? It should be easy for you.”
Any spirit could open a door to the Spirit Realm. But one big enough for companions or contractors to pass through? Only supreme-grade spirits and above. Only Spirit Kings and their heirs.
“What do you want in the Spirit Realm?”
“It’s the Wind Spirit King’s homeland. I just want to see it once.”
A lie.
If that was all, why give Pompeii an artifact that kills baby salamanders?
I’d hoped that book was a misunderstanding.
It wasn’t. I realized that now.
Kazami Akira knew what that artifact was—and he’d given it to Pompeii of his own will.
[Mm……!]
[Be careful.]
[Siiiit……!]
I realized it because the spirits were wary of Kazami Akira.
Spirits don’t distrust people easily. Especially not spirit users.
Unless the human reeks of evil.
Kazami Akira has fallen.
After losing the Wind Spirit King and attempting suicide countless times, driving himself mad, the spirit user had ultimately joined hands with the demons.
I didn’t know why he wanted into the Spirit Realm. Or if it aligned with the demons’ goals.
But one thing was certain.
“I’m sorry.”
We had to protect the Spirit Realm.
“I can’t do that.”
At my words, Kazami Akira’s smile shattered.
“Why……!”
His voice changed.
“Why won’t you help me!”
His face twisted. A expression forged from pure rage, like it might rip apart.
“We’re both spirit users! You know what happened to me! So why won’t you help!”
His sudden emotional outburst made me instinctively crouch in preparation for a fight.
“You’re just a bit luckier than me! Someday you’ll end up like me……!”
“That’s enough.”
“Calm down, sir.”
The bodyguards on either side restrained him.
“……!”
Kazami Akira shut his mouth, but he still glared at me with that horrific expression.
Screeech—
Right on cue, the train pulled into the station.
“We’ll escort you back to Japan.”
One bodyguard led Kazami Akira off onto the platform. Probably a teleporter.
Should I grab him? Or get more info here? As I debated—
I caught the hair color of Kazami Akira and the bodyguard stepping off: blue.
“……”
I looked at the remaining bodyguard. Red hair, skin with a faint golden sheen.
“……”
Clang—
The doors closed, and the train started moving.
“Well, that’s how it is.”
The golden-skinned bodyguard spoke casually, as if Kazami Akira’s departure didn’t faze him.
“Don’t tell anyone you met Kazami Akira. If you do……”
“Are you a demon?”
I cut him off.
“……Ho ho.”
The golden-skinned one didn’t deny it.
Demons.
Those who could open gates at will, appearing wherever and whenever they wanted.
A near-human subspecies siding with monsters, hostile to awakeners.
Humanity’s greatest obstacle, even as gate incidents near resolution.
That was a demon.
Distinguishing demons from humans wasn’t easy. They were called human subspecies for a reason—the differences were just hair and eye color.
Red hair, golden skin.
Of course, that alone wasn’t proof. Plenty dyed their hair or tanned for fashion.
But I had confirmation that Kazami Akira was working with demons.
I watched him with certainty.
“Kukuku…… Smart kid. This’ll go quick.”
He removed his sunglasses. The moment our red eyes met, overwhelming malice crashed over me.
Malice so thick even I—a non-spirit—could feel it on my skin.
The greatest proof he was a demon.
[Mm!]
Aqua stepped forward, baring her teeth.
[A bad human after all!]
She spread her arms wide, as if to protect me.
[Be careful.]
Terra stepped up too, puffing up her hair to look bigger.
[Shaaat!]
Mandu flared her wings wide, threatening the foe before us.
I asked the demon, who glanced dismissively at the spirits.
“What did you do to Kazami Akira?”
“Do?”
“What did you do to make him cooperate with you?”
“Well…… We didn’t do anything. And it’s none of your business.”
The demon cracked his neck menacingly.
“Keep today’s events to yourself, spirit user. Unless you want to lose those precious spirits.”
His words blanked my mind as I pondered how to extract info.
“……What?”
“Know how many spirit users I’ve killed so far?”
“……”
“Don’t bother. A academy brat like you isn’t even worth the effort.”
The wailing spirits from the Spirit Realm’s “graveyard” flashed in my mind.
One of their killers stood before me.
“Count yourself lucky you didn’t meet me in a gate.”
The demon brushed past me.
“Don’t end up like Akira.”
Something snapped in my head.
“Stop.”
“……Stop?”
I turned slowly. The demon stared back, incredulous.
“Spirit user, don’t get cocky……”
“You made two mistakes.”
My voice was ice cold.
“First. Threats invoking family only work on those too weak to kill you—or those who can’t protect their family afterward.”
The emotions in my chest burned hotter than ever.
“And second.”
I looked down at my spirits. Their eyes—dead serious—glared at the demon.
-I was born to protect everyone alongside you!
Aqua’s voice tickled my ear. Her lovely face, cherishing spirits above all.
-Live proudly, without shame in your choices.
Mom and Dad’s words rang clear. Their gentle smiles and the sound of ocean waves.
“We are the guardians of the Spirit Realm.”
We were Spirit Kings, heirs, family, spirit users.
A proud name we’d never yield.
The duty it carried was sacred and noble.
I lifted my head and stared him down.
Before me stood the enemy of countless spirits and spirit users.
“You won’t leave this land of Korea alive.”
[Mm!]
[Of course!]
[Sisiit!]
A three-pronged spear summoned from the Spirit Realm appeared in my hand.
Spirit King's Battle
📍 Objective: Avenge the grudge of the spirits.
🎁 Reward:Spirit Realm's Blessing