The Evil Spirit's Demise
The evil spirit that had been peeking into my memories died on its own. I wondered why, but nothing came to mind. Maybe a mental barrier had formed because of the dimension travel and reincarnation? Or perhaps the evil spirit's mental strength was simply too weak. 'I don't know what it was, but I'm glad.'
It had been an evil spirit trying to harm people. I was relieved I could send it on before it hurt any innocents. For some reason, I felt a little proud.
I picked up the red mana stone radiating an ominous aura and walked over to Master Chae Juyeon. Even then, she wore a bewildered expression.
"The ghost dropped this."
"Uh, yeah. That's Winter's..."
Chae Juyeon trailed off and pressed her lips shut. She hesitated, clearly debating something, then accepted the red mana stone.
"...This is something Winter caught, so I'll return it after the exorcism."
"Exorcism?"
"Yeah. The evil spirit's mana stone has a curse-like effect on it."
"Ah..."
Of course. Every mana stone required its own processing method. I knew that thanks to what I'd learned in the guild's underground mana stone warehouse.
"I'll just perform the exorcism and make sure to give it back to Winter."
"Yes. Thank you."
"It's nothing."
Chae Juyeon tucked the mana stone into her robe and placed her hand on my cheek. She tugged at my cheeks and moved my limbs up and down, as if checking my condition.
"You didn't get hurt anywhere?"
"No. The ghost died on its own."
"Right. I've never seen anything like that before."
Chae Juyeon glanced at me while examining the mana stone. She didn't bother hiding her confusion. It was only natural—she had every reason to find it strange that the evil spirit had died by itself. Honestly, I, the one directly involved, was the most bewildered of all.
"Why do you think the evil spirit died?"
"Hmm..."
Chae Juyeon only gave me an awkward smile in response. It felt like she knew something but was deliberately keeping it to herself. What on earth could it be?
As I looked up at her, Master approached us from afar, pulling a cart.
"Anyone hurt?"
His tone suggested he already knew what had happened. Chae Juyeon held out her palm toward him.
"We're fine."
"That's a relief."
Inside the cart Master had brought, Saebyeok and Levinas were fast asleep. I clung to the side and watched the sleeping children. My tail wagged happily just from the sight.
'The kids are so cute.'
I used to be like that once. I reached out and gently stroked their heads while listening to the two Masters talk.
"Master?"
Chae Juyeon walked over to Kang Jinho, still holding the mana stone. His brow twitched as he looked down at it.
"That's..."
"Can we talk privately for a moment?"
"...Sure."
Both Masters turned their gazes toward me. My ears and tail perked up before I could even react.
"Winter, shall we head back now?"
"Yes. Let's go home."
We had gathered plenty of scrap metal and even obtained a mana stone by catching an evil spirit. There was no need to keep wandering around.
**
In the Yeomyeong Guild conference room, the two Masters sat facing each other with a single red mana stone between them.
"Master, in all my time as an adventurer, I've never seen anything like this."
Tap, tap—Chae Juyeon touched the red mana stone. Both Masters frowned at the toxic energy seeping from it.
"What did you see?"
"...The evil spirit vanished just from reading Winter's memories."
"I see."
Chae Juyeon's eyebrows shot up at Kang Jinho's calm reply. It was as if he already knew the child's past had been horrific.
"Is it already resolved?"
"No. Not yet."
"...Then you know something?"
"I know a little, but not the details."
I had seen the bullying video, but even that was only a tiny fraction of the suffering the child had endured. Only Winter herself knew how miserable her past truly was.
"You can't just brush it off with 'I don't know.'"
If past pain isn't dealt with, it festers. And this was a past so terrible that even an evil spirit had given up reading it. The aftermath would be enormous. As Chae Juyeon, who had grown fond of Winter, she couldn't help but worry.
"What can we do? We can't exactly ask the person involved."
There was no need to dig up the child's trauma. That was Kang Jinho's stance.
"It's fine. We have this."
"The mana stone?"
"Yes."
Chae Juyeon picked up the mana stone. Even after the evil spirit had been exorcised, it still radiated an ominous aura.
"What can you do with it?"
"The evil spirit disappeared while reading Winter's past, remember? Thanks to that, the memories are still inside."
"I've never heard of such a thing."
"Yes. This is the first time I've seen it too."
It was only possible because the evil spirit had died on its own. An extremely rare case, almost impossible to replicate.
"So... shall we use this to find out what the child's past was like?"
"Yes. We need to know what happened if we're going to help."
A child whose past was so horrifying that an evil spirit had vanished. The bright smile she always wore hid deep sadness. To Chae Juyeon, Winter felt like a time bomb that could go off at any moment—of course, one that would only destroy itself. That kind child would never hurt anyone else.
"The problem is that Winter's past will be exposed."
"We'll take an oath for that."
"Yes."
It was an oath that carried no real penalty if broken—only the weight of an adventurer's honor. Of course, both Masters trusted that neither would ever misuse Winter's past for personal gain.
"Then..."
Kang Jinho stroked his chin and exchanged glances with Chae Juyeon. The real question was who they could entrust with peeking into the child's memories.
'It has to be someone with strong mental fortitude...'
What were they supposed to do about the kids, whose mental strength was so weak? Kang Jinho remained lost in thought for a long time.
**
Back home, I drew pictures with the children. After thinking about what to draw, I decided on zombies. It was a picture of someone getting their arm bitten by a zombie.
'Why do I always think of zombies?'
Did I have some kind of connection to them? As I turned the paper this way and that, Levinas, sitting across from me, tapped the table.
"King! King!"
Levinas's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Why?"
"Did you really see a ghost earlier?!"
"Yeah. I really did."
I raised my hands like a ghost and made a spooky sound. Levinas's eyes widened like a startled rabbit's.
"Huh...! Did you see what it looked like?! What did it look like?!"
"Hmm... Its body was translucent, but its face was pale and..."
I described the ghost's appearance to her. Levinas trembled at the details.
"L-Levinas is glad she was sleeping..."
Goosebumps had risen on her arms. I could tell how terrified she was.
"Sorry. It must've been really scary."
"Uh-huh. Levinas was very scared."
Levinas stood up and ran over to sit right beside me. She pressed so close that our shoulders and thighs touched, radiating that special warmth only children have.
"Hehe."
My tail wagged at the warmth. It felt nice that she found comfort through me.
Wouldn't it be even better if Saebyeok joined us? The moment the thought crossed my mind, Saebyeok stood up and dashed into the room.
"Darkness must've been really scared of King."
"Yeah..."
Had I made it too scary? Feeling guilty, I stayed frozen in place, staring at the door Saebyeok had disappeared through. Levinas moved in my stead.
"Levinas will go check."
"Uh, okay..."
Levinas carefully peeked into the room. She seemed to be checking on Saebyeok—then suddenly jumped.
"Eek!"
Levinas, who had leapt almost to the ceiling, came running straight at me. She grabbed my clothes hard enough to stretch them and buried her face inside.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Gh-ghost!"
Levinas pointed at the door with a trembling finger. It was the room Saebyeok had entered.
'Ghost?'
An evil spirit had come out of the room Saebyeok went into? The moment I looked over in surprise, Saebyeok appeared in the doorway with a blanket over her head.
"Woo woo."
She approached us making ghost noises—but it was Saebyeok's usual blunt voice, not a ghostly tremble.
'Oh, for goodness' sake.'
Saebyeok was playing a prank. She was surprisingly mischievous. I scratched my cheek and patted Levinas's back.
"It's okay. Saebyeok was just joking."
"Uh, Darkness King?"
"Yeah."
"Really...?"
"Yeah. Really."
Levinas carefully peeked out from my clothes. Saebyeok was still approaching, making her woo woo sounds.
"Sh-she really looks like a ghost...?"
Levinas eyed Saebyeok warily. At that exact moment, Saebyeok stepped on the blanket and tumbled forward.
Thud.
A soft sound echoed. Thanks to the fluffy blanket, she didn't seem hurt.
"The ghost fell...!"
"It's Saebyeok, remember?"
I needed to calm Levinas down. I walked over to the fallen Saebyeok and lifted the blanket.
"See? Inside here is Saebyeok... Huh?"
It had definitely been Saebyeok's voice. So why was there no one inside? My ears and tail shot up in surprise.