Wraith Molds and Bungeoppang
“So then, Derke? Once I get the hang of it, I can summon wraiths just by thinking about it, without any special commands?”
“That’s right-! Oppa really catches on fast, desuyong-!”
Down in the makeshift kitchen beneath the watchtower, preparations were in full swing. More precisely, they were getting ready to make the molds for bungeoppang. All the other ingredients were already set—batter, red bean paste, even custard cream. The only thing missing was the actual bungeoppang mold.
—Swish, swish…!
“Here we go-! Picture the shape you want and follow what Derke does, desuyong…!”
Derke gave a quick explanation of how to use the wraiths, waving her hand through the air like a conductor. She raised her index finger and traced elegant patterns in the empty space.
「Nyororong-!」
A wraith popped out and suddenly flattened, reshaping itself into something that looked remarkably like a round waffle iron. It was probably the exact mold Derke had imagined.
“So changing their shape is actually possible?”
“Of course it is-! Souls don’t have a fixed form to begin with, desuyong! Even Oppa should be able to do this much, eyap!”
“Really? Then let me give it a try……”
—Swish, swish…!
Encouraged by Derke, I moved my hand. My posture was clumsy as I waved my fingers through the air. Derke’s bold motions were hard to copy, so it was only natural that I looked awkward. Then……
「Nyorong?」
A black wraith emerged from my chest—the very same one I had added to the legion earlier. The creature, shaped like a plastic bag, stared at me blankly.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
It just looked at me with a bored expression, showing no intention of transforming into the bungeoppang mold I had pictured.
“…Derke? This isn’t working.”
“You’re not putting enough spirit into it, eyap-! Make your gestures bigger! And move with more precision while clearly picturing what you want, desuyong-!”
“Spirit?”
“Watch me closely, eyap-!”
—Step! Step-step…! Taah-☆
Derke swung her arms even wider than before, executing sharp, deliberate movements. For a moment I thought I was watching an idol choreography.
“Uh… Derke? Those moves are completely different from before.”
“Hehe-♪ There’s actually no fixed set of motions, desuyong…!”
“What?”
“What matters most is clearly and vividly imagining exactly how you want the wraith to behave, eyap-!”
“Clearly and vividly, huh……”
Taking Derke’s advice, I closed my eyes. I pictured the bungeoppang in as much detail as possible—the golden-brown pastries slowly cooking inside an orange street cart, the round fish eyes, the carelessly stamped scales, the simple, crude overall shape of the fish.
At the same time……
—Swish, thump…!
I moved my body, waving my hands with slightly exaggerated gestures, pouring every bit of desperate hope for success into the motion. It had been a long time since I’d done such large-scale movements—probably since my military service days doing group calisthenics.
「Nyorong…? 」
But the black wraith extracted from the monster only stared at me with a pitiful look. This was getting pretty embarrassing. It felt like a battle-hardened veteran suddenly becoming a magical girl.
“Puhaha-! What are you doing right now~? You look so lame-♡ That stupid pose suits you perfectly, Teacher~♡”
A very cheeky voice rang out, mocking me without mercy. The owner of that youthful tone was, of course, Eros. She giggled as she looked at me.
I had been the one who brought her to the kitchen. The plan was to make bungeoppang together and naturally complete the conditional contract with her.
‘Hah, what the hell am I even doing……?’
Contract aside, we hadn’t even started cooking yet. All because of a single mold. Once we had the mold, the rest would be quick. It didn’t have to be fish-shaped, but I wanted to properly recreate the original bungeoppang while learning how to use the wraiths.
“Haa, can you help me just this once? Or do you just not want to listen to me?”
I frowned and asked the black wraith for cooperation.
「Meh-rong」
All I got in return was mockery. It cheekily stuck out a black tongue at me. Maybe it was because I had extracted the wraith from a hostile monster? Even in death, it remained uncooperative—arrogant, even. Surely I didn’t have to worry about the wraiths’ favorability too, right? Well, I didn’t need such a willful wraith anyway.
—Shing……!
I pulled out the cleaver I had used earlier to split the monster’s head in two, fully intending to “enlighten” it physically.
「Nyo, nyororong……?!」
After being ignored for so long, I was now being disrespected by a wraith too. I might as well deal with this one quickly and ask Derke for one of her wraiths instead.
“Forget the bungeoppang mold…? If you’re not going to cooperate, fine. Just stay still. I’ll slice your soul into fish-shaped pieces.”
「Nyorurung……!!!」
The moment I radiated killing intent while gripping the cleaver, the wraith flinched and hurriedly changed shape.
—Rustle-rustle…!!!
At first I thought it was trying to hide and run away.
“Huh? What?”
Instead, it obediently flattened itself into a neat rectangular shape, looking remarkably similar to a real bungeoppang iron plate—except pitch black.
‘This is actually a pretty effective way to communicate. It read my thoughts in an instant?’
The wraith had immediately become docile the moment I drew the cleaver that had once split its former master’s head.
“Tsk, if I’d known, I would’ve threatened it with the knife from the start……”
“Waaah? Is this supposed to be fish-shaped…? Is this the mold Oppa imagined?”
“Teacher? What are you planning to do with that? Don’t tell me you’re putting seafood in there too?”
Both of them reacted with puzzled expressions at the suddenly completed bungeoppang mold. It was only natural—they had never seen anything like it before.
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll explain later. Derke? Can you make the other wraiths take this shape too?”
“Yeah! It’s not hard, desuyong-!”
“Great. Then, Eros? I just explained the recipe, so would you like to try making it with me?”
“Huh? Oh, right. We were going to make it together. Okay, sure! If it’s something simple, I can do it no problem!”
“Excellent. The other girls are waiting, so let’s get this done quickly.”
With all the ingredients and tools ready, it was time to move fast. Baking the bungeoppang would only take about ten minutes.
*
—Sizzle…!
—Pop!
—Sssss…!
The batter cooked over the firewood. Because the mold was made of wraiths, it gave off a completely different feeling from a regular iron plate. It was almost like grilling the bungeoppang directly over an open flame. Still, the heat transfer wasn’t bad at all. Thanks to the wraith mold, I could even check in real time how well the inside was cooking.
“By the way, that’s amazing. They can touch physical objects even though they’re ghosts, yet fire doesn’t hurt them at all?”
“They’re not ordinary souls, desuyong-! These are loyal wraiths who chose to serve the Death Clan even after death, eyap-!”
Derke looked at the wraiths with a proud smile as she explained. Apparently, aside from the one I had just recruited, most of them had served her clan even while alive.
“Is that so? But why even after death……?”
“There are religious reasons, but some of them are also the dead who failed to keep their pact with a dragon, desuyong.”
“What? A pact?”
“Yeah-! So they’re paying the price even after death, eyap…!”
“Ahaha…! I’ve never heard of that before……”
“Our clan also manages the souls of contractors who broke their pacts, desuyong-! So Oppa should be careful too, eyap.”
“Ah, r-right. Of course.”
Derke shot me a slightly dead-eyed glare, as if warning me not to get distracted. A chill ran down my spine at her serious tone.
—Shiver…!
I really needed to be more careful with the pacts I’d made. With so many contracts already in place, one wrong move and I might end up becoming a wraith myself.
“By the way, Teacher? The color looks nice and golden now. I think they’re pretty much done?”
Eros’s voice broke the tense atmosphere, and I finally felt like I could breathe again.
“Ahem? Ah, they cooked faster than I expected. Let’s take them out.”
Through the semi-transparent mold, I could see the perfectly golden-brown interior of the bungeoppang. The ones with dark speckles were the red-bean-filled variety, while the smooth white ones were the custard-filled.
“Derke? They’re ready now. Could you put one on each plate?”
“Okay! The black wraiths are Oppa’s subordinates, so Oppa should give the order, eyap-!”
“Got it. I’ll give it a try.”
—Shing…!
Instead of waving my hand or using a magic staff, I drew the cleaver again to command the wraiths. But before I could even swing it……
「Nyororong…!」
—Clatter!
The black wraith obediently spat the bungeoppang onto the plate by itself.
‘This is actually pretty convenient. Guess violence really is the answer for the disobedient ones.’
Just as I was shrugging and admiring my all-purpose cleaver……
—Ding!
Grade: ✮☆
Special Effect: Slight increase in favorability with nearby dragons.