The Evil Spirit's Sudden Demise
The vain rich wanted more luxury goods, and excellent adventurers wanted better equipment. Humans naturally desire things that match their status. So it wasn't particularly strange that I, stuck at the very bottom of the status pyramid, wanted a handcart. I used to feel happy all day just from finding one usable pot. An almost brand-new handcart was basically a dream car to me.
"Ugh···"
Staring at the ground, I pulled the handcart with all my strength. Dragging it was hard, but it was a good kind of hard. One step. Then another. I was struggling forward when someone stepped in front of me and forced me to stop.
"Winter, hello?"
It was Chae Juyeon, the master of the Holy Guild. The Guild Master stood right beside her. My tail wagged at the sight of their familiar faces.
"Hello."
"Yeah. What were you up to, Winter?"
Chae Juyeon asked while glancing between me and the people behind me. The ones riding in the handcart looked puzzled.
"It's a new handcart, so I was testing a few things."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. What brings you here, Master?"
At my question, Chae Juyeon gave an awkward smile. It felt like there was something she didn't want to say out loud.
"Um··· A dungeon break happened recently."
A dungeon break. The phenomenon where monsters inside a dungeon spill out into the outside world.
"Isn't that really dangerous?"
"Yeah. That's why the guild members are tracking them down. Evil spirit-type monsters are our Holy Guild's specialty."
Evil spirits? Did ghosts exist in this world too? My eyes widened at the new information.
"Are they dangerous?"
"Yeah. They read people's traumas and show them as nightmares."
"Gasp···"
So they used mental attacks. For the people of this world, who possessed sturdy bodies, that might actually be even more dangerous. Unlike their tough physiques, their mental strength was no different from the people in the world I came from.
"Of course, there's no need to worry too much."
"Why not?"
"We've set up a barrier. They can't escape, and the moment they use magic, nearby guild members will notice and rush straight over."
"Ah···"
I had thought I wouldn't be able to collect scrap because of the evil spirit. It didn't seem like there was any reason to be terrified after all.
"Then, is it okay if I still pick up scrap?"
"Um··· It's fine, but···"
Chae Juyeon shifted her gaze to Kang Jinho beside her. After exchanging looks with her, he gave a careful nod.
"Just in case, we'll go with you."
"Together···? That feels like too much of a bother···"
"We have to patrol anyway. Might as well do it together."
"Ah··· Okay."
If it was just patrolling together, that was fine. I nodded and looked back.
"Want to come pick up scrap with us?"
"Sorry, unnie already promised to go to a dungeon today."
"I see."
A little disappointing. It would have been nice if we could all go together. Well, there were other people around. Today I'd just collect scrap with the masters and the kids.
**
Recently, one behavior had become a trend in the Yeomyeong Guild area's community. People would leave empty bottles in spots that were easy to pick up. It was illegal dumping, yet no one stopped them. Not the police, not the citizens, not even the Yeomyeong Guild staff. All of it was done to help the guild's beastkin children.
"Levinas picked up a bottle!"
"Me too."
"I got one too."
The children hugged the bottles to their chests and beamed. Citizens nearby cheered inwardly at the sight of their wagging tails.
'Winter picked up my bottle!'
It was a lifelong achievement. They should brag about it online. Someone rapidly tapped their smartphone screen. Of course, they didn't take any photos of the children, only posted text.
"Wanga, aren't we going to get rich at this rate?"
"Yeah. There's been a weird amount of empty bottles lately."
Dozens of bottles were already piled up in the handcart. It was enough to make a living just from bottles without even collecting scrap. Good thing the children could earn money. While the citizens felt relieved, Kang Jinho appeared holding a small glass bottle. It was a tiny tonic bottle, smaller than a canned drink.
"Can we sell this?"
"No, they don't buy ones this small."
"Hmm···"
Kang Jinho frowned as he stared at the glass bottle. It was the same material, so why wouldn't they buy it? He wanted to toss it behind him but kept holding it. He couldn't just throw trash away carelessly. As a guild master, he had to set a good example for the children and citizens.
'I've never picked up bottles before···'
Had helping ever felt this useless? While Kang Jinho stood there in shock for the first time in his life, Chae Juyeon approached with her hand outstretched. Her palm was filled with broken glass shards.
"Winter!"
"Yes?"
"Look, I picked up lots of bottle pieces!"
"U-um···"
I was grateful she'd collected them, but they didn't buy broken ones like that. I made a troubled face, and Kang Jinho spoke up in my place.
"Chae Juyeon."
"Yes?"
"Even so, broken bottles are a bit much, don't you think?"
"Ah, they don't buy them···?"
Chae Juyeon looked genuinely confused. She had never once picked something up and sold it in her entire life. Born into the upper class, she didn't even know how to sell empty bottles.
"W-well···"
I hesitated and glanced at Chae Juyeon's expression. Citizens nearby who were watching let out inward sighs.
'Oh dear.'
'Winter's having a rough time.'
They had lived at the very top their whole lives, after all. The idea of picking up trash to sell must have been completely foreign. Still, there was something oddly charming about seeing the two masters they had always looked up to acting so clueless. They had lowered themselves for the children's sake after living proudly for so long.
'The guild really takes good care of the kids.'
The citizens felt relieved watching the two masters mingling with the children. The masters themselves didn't realize their reputation was rising in real time.
"Th-then, should I teach you how to pick up scrap···?"
"Yeah."
"I'd like to ask too."
"Okay···"
I scratched my cheek in embarrassment. Teaching not just any guild masters, but the top-ranked ones, how to collect scrap? The situation felt strange, but I decided not to overthink it. Being with the masters was fun, after all. Maybe the masters felt the same···
**
It happened while we were all out collecting scrap together.
-Sob···
From somewhere came the sound of a woman crying. It was a very faint sound that only reached my ears. Had she been attacked? I wanted to report it, but our master was nowhere in sight, probably off collecting scrap. Chae Juyeon was adjusting something that looked like a barrier. The two children had fallen asleep in the handcart, tired from picking up scrap. I guess I'd have to check it out alone.
'This way.'
A deserted alley. Next to a lonely utility pole, a woman sat sobbing. So much trash was piled around the pole that I couldn't see her clearly.
"Excuse me···"
What could have happened to make her cry so sadly? As I approached, I had to stop in my tracks. A translucent gray body. She didn't look like a normal person. The word "evil spirit" that Chae Juyeon had mentioned earlier flashed through my mind. Was that the evil spirit?
The moment I took a step back, it slowly raised its head.
"······!"
Eyes without whites, completely black. It looked exactly like a ghost from a horror movie. What the hell was that? My ears and tail bristled. I tried to turn and run, but dark red mana rising from its body bound me in place. Its mana slowly seeped into my head. It was supposed to read traumas and show nightmares—was this it? I twisted my body to resist, but I couldn't move an inch.
"Ugh···"
My head spun and nausea rose. Was this some kind of side effect? The moment I grimaced, I heard footsteps running toward me.
"Winter!"
Chae Juyeon's voice. She must have sensed the evil spirit's mana and come to help. Relieved, I focused on the evil spirit in front of me—only for it to start acting strangely.
"Kyahhh!"
The evil spirit grabbed its own head and let out a scream of agony. Its piercing cry sounded like a woman suffering something terrible. What was that? Some kind of attack pattern? While I stared in confusion—
Whoosh—!
The evil spirit's body began disintegrating into light. It looked like watching a ghost being exorcised.
"Huh···?"
My mind cleared as if nothing had happened. Where the evil spirit had been, only a single red bead remained. I knew it was the evil spirit's magic stone.
'What the···'
It read my memories and then suddenly died? I tilted my head at the bewildering situation and picked up the red magic stone. An ominous aura radiated from it.
"Winter···?"
At Chae Juyeon's voice, I turned around. She had stopped in her tracks, her pupils trembling violently.
"The evil spirit died by itself."
I held the magic stone out to her. But for some reason, she just stared down at it with a stiff expression.