Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Human Shaman (2)
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Chasing after the knights and soldiers, we had already entered the forest before I knew it.
From here on, there was no need to follow them.
"Why are you stopping?"
"Those people are heading somewhere else."
"Hm?"
It had been a while since I'd seen a soul like this.
An orc soul.
Monsters that clung to the living world.
One of them was staring right at me.
"Where are you going..."
There were four orc souls here in total.
It seemed not just the living orcs were heading somewhere—they were too.
"Could everyone stay quiet for a moment, please?"
At my request, the group fell silent.
Then the orc whose eyes had met mine glided toward me.
"Why do you look so faint, kid?"
It wasn't that its form was faint—it was exhausted.
Even souls didn't tire easily...
- ....
"Yeah, I can see it."
- ....?
The orc soul gave me a strange look for a moment, then widened its eyes round.
Its fingertip was pointed at my waist.
And its expression even looked pleased, somehow.
"You know what this is?"
Nod.
"How do you know?"
The orc gestured animatedly, explaining something.
The way it moved reminded me of Gullak, dangling off that cliff.
"Gullak?"
Nod.
The orc's hand moved through the air.
As if telling me to follow.
"Let's all go."
The deeper we went into the forest, the more ominous the atmosphere grew.
Though it was probably just me feeling it.
Cases like this did exist.
Places of fierce battlefields or where countless lives had perished in comparison.
It was a border, after all, so that made sense.
"Hey, orc."
- ....?
"Did lightning magic kill you?"
Nod.
The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air.
It had probably died just a few months ago.
The scent was still so vivid.
"I get how you feel."
- .....?
"I've been there."
I didn't know if it was dead or alive, but I'd experienced it too.
How common was it to get struck by lightning?
Though unlike that one, I'd been hit by real lightning.
"Where are you all headed now?"
The orc's hand pointed at the rattle, then gestured toward the Harp Kingdom.
Their destination seemed to be the same as ours.
"What's there?"
The orc pondered for a moment, then moved its hand.
Mimicking me shaking the rattle.
This time, I didn't understand.
How would it know about this?
I was the only one shaking a rattle like that around here.
- .....
"Gullak?"
Nod.
Gullak had been coming up at the end of every answer so far.
What the hell was he doing to get this reaction...
Sensing my mood, the orc tried to explain.
But.
"What are you saying?"
- ....
The orc pounded its chest in frustration.
It was absurd.
A monster making a human frustrated.
I scowled, and it flinched, glancing at the rattle.
"You know about getting hit with this too?"
Nod.
"How?"
I waited for the answer, then grimaced at the predictable response.
"Gullak?"
- ....
"Sigh. Forget talking. We'll find out when we get there."
Whatever came up along the way would come up, right?
Astor Closel sidled up next to me as I conversed with the orc soul.
"About those Spiritual Eyes of yours."
"Yes."
"Any way to open them?"
It was one of the most common questions from people who saw me dealing with ghosts.
'Isn't there a way for me to see them too?'
Anyone curious couldn't help but wonder.
To be honest...
"There is. There are tons of ways to awaken Spiritual Eyes."
All eyes turned to me in an instant.
Even the dwarf Drant.
"Tell us quick!"
Having Spiritual Eyes brought more downsides than upsides, so why was everyone so interested?
"First, you're born with them."
Honestly, this was the surest method.
Forcing it open the wrong way led to all sorts of side effects.
"Second, stare through a candle flame. But you have to look at the surroundings with peripheral vision."
"J-just with that?"
"It's possible, but I haven't met anyone who's succeeded yet."
Astor Closel looked disappointed right away.
"Third, die and come back to life. Or come right up to the brink of death and survive."
This time, Parmon reacted.
"I've had countless experiences like that."
"Talent's required for this one too, or it won't open."
Astor Closel looked disappointed again, but what could be done? It was the truth.
There were plenty of other methods too.
Some said praying on certain lunar dates worked, or that meditation sometimes triggered it.
But those were impossible here.
Unless all divine power vanished.
"Honestly, I don't recommend trying to awaken them."
"Why not?"
"If you force it through training, you might end up with fake eyes instead of true soul-seeing ones."
Fake eyes that only had side effects.
Awakening Spiritual Eyes meant opening a channel to spirits.
And that was the side effect I meant.
A one-way street where only the spirits communicated.
All sorts of grudges and malice flooded in, with no way to block or retaliate.
That drove people mad.
"Just give up cleanly."
"Shame. It sounds just like spiritist aptitude."
"Pretty much."
"From what you say, Spiritual Eyes are literally the eyes of the soul."
It was a bit more abstract, but that explanation was close enough.
"How do you focus them?"
My Spiritual Eyes were always open whether my physical eyes were shut or not, so no special effort needed. But there was a way to concentrate more.
"Shut your eyes and block out your five senses. It's like a new sense."
"Ho, I'll keep that in mind."
"Auuu!"
"Luna doesn't need to, so don't worry about it."
Following the soul for a while led us to a strange path.
It looked trimmed but wasn't.
Probably a trail naturally formed by orcs passing through.
The old men seemed to agree.
"Looks like more than one or two orcs crossed the border."
Parmon stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"Reports said orcs were spotted at the opposite border too."
From what the souls said, they were all heading to the Harp Kingdom.
The orcs were moving en masse.
"Won't going further cause problems?"
It wasn't intentional, but sneaking across the border could be trouble.
Plenty of grounds for it.
But the old men just snorted.
"Doesn't matter."
Even if they said that, it felt iffy.
"The ones coming to catch us would be our juniors anyway."
"Ah, I see."
"Let's keep going."
They were the ones pulling the strings on the commanders from the start...
The atmosphere grew darker the further we walked.
Suddenly, the soul pointed excitedly in one direction, jumping up and down.
A group of orcs was gathered there.
"Should we ambush them?"
"I can take them all down if needed."
"No, we need to talk..."
Parmon raised his sword.
"The best way to communicate with monsters is force."
"Let's do it peacefully. I'll handle it."
Three orcs were strolling along leisurely.
Maybe they knew Gullak.
Plus, I had questions to ask.
Flinch.
"...Huh?"
"What is it?"
There was a reason I'd stopped short.
"Why aren't these dead guys dead?"
Two out of the three should have been dead by all rights.
And not from long ago either.
"They were supposed to die by the sword..."
Suddenly, something Gullak had said long ago flashed through my mind.
Serving the souls of great ancestors, right?
I'd seen cases like that.
People saved from great peril by ancestral spirits.
Glide.
- .....
The orc soul nodded as it watched them.
"Never thought I'd see everything."
What monster looks after its descendants?
I didn't know how, but it wasn't a good thing.
A soul with no accomplishments or spiritual power as a ghost.
Far too lacking to straighten out twisted fates.
"That's why you were exhausted."
Nod.
"Won't you run out of strength like that? Aren't you hungry? Anyone making offerings for you?"
There was something called the Seven Stars Thread.
Ancestral spirits helped descendants, and descendants offered ancestral rites.
Eating the ritual food to sate their hunger.
But orcs couldn't receive ancestral offerings.
They'd have to stay exhausted like this.
The orc soul shook its head as if to say no.
Then its finger extended once more.
Toward the Harp Kingdom.
"Gullak again?"
Nod.
"What the hell is that guy doing there?"
And right then.
My eyes met one of the orcs.
"Chwi, chwiik!"
It scanned me once.
"Chwiik!"
Then the rattle once.
The orcs that had paused bolted away in panic.
"It's the human shaman!"
"Chwiik! Chris!"
"Run!"
Aluerd blankly scanned the street.
"Mr. Chris...?"
His head whipped around, checking the surroundings...
But no one was there.
"Ms. Luna...?"