Chapter 143: Persuasion
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 143: Persuasion
To be honest, I’d let my guard down.
I never expected to find a connection to the original story at a time like this.
But now that I knew the ghost in front of me was connected to Sakamoto, the protagonist of this world, I couldn't just leave her be.
Based on the information I had, it was highly likely she played a crucial role in the story.
After assessing the situation, I asked the ghost, who was still struggling underneath me.
"Do you, by any chance, know the name Sakamoto Ryuji?"
The moment she heard that, the girl ghost's movements stopped.
Then, she asked back in a trembling voice.
「…Who are you? How do you know that name?」
"Let's just say I know him well."
「Answer me!」
"Ugh!"
That power again.
No matter how hard I tried, my body wouldn't move, as if it were trapped in solid ice.
In that time, she slipped out from under me, snatched the photo from my hand, and swung her right arm.
Ice shot out from all corners of the room, trying to bind my limbs.
But each time, perhaps because of the Yang energy enveloping my body, the ice just hissed into white steam and evaporated in an instant.
「Tch! Damn it!」
As if determined to win, the girl ghost gritted her teeth.
A white blizzard raged inside the room.
The Yin energy was so overwhelming that, for the first time since taking the red pill, my hands and feet began to freeze.
After about five seconds, my body started moving again. As I reached out to subdue her, she backed away and exhaled a white breath.
White frost instantly covered my right arm.
It felt like I was being frozen to the bone.
With me immobilized by the ice, she approached with a cold expression, her nails extended, and asked.
「Answer me! How do you know Ryuji's name!」
"Kim Yoo-Sung!"
"I'm fine. Just give me a moment, Senior."
I calmed Fuma-senpai, who looked ready to rush in and save me at any moment, and looked at the girl ghost before me.
White hair and blue eyes.
A combination of colors that shouldn't occur naturally. Why hadn't I noticed?
Perhaps it was because of my preconceived notion that she was a yokai.
I took a moment to catch my breath before answering her question.
"To tell you the truth, Sakamoto Ryuji is a classmate of mine."
"……."
"I had no idea you were connected to him, but I figured it out when I saw the photo just now. As far as I know, he's the only guy with spiky orange hair."
「Then why did you come here?」
"It seems your power is so strong that people have mistaken you for a yokai. We're not the first people to come to this mansion, are we?"
The girl ghost hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
「I've chased a few people away before.」
"That's exactly why we came."
「…….」
As if she finally understood the sequence of events, the girl ghost fell silent.
Then, she suddenly muttered.
「How stupid.」
The blizzard that had been raging in the room stopped.
The ice covering my arms and legs melted away in an instant.
I rotated my wrists, which still felt cold, and asked.
"What made you suddenly change your mind?"
The girl ghost replied.
「Everything just started to feel pointless. That's all.」
She said, sitting down on the bed.
「Get out of this house right now. If you do, I'll forgive you for this.」
I realized the ghost in front of me had trouble being honest with her feelings.
If I had to put a label on it, she had a tsundere vibe.
"Are you okay, Kim Yoo-Sung?"
"Yes. Maybe because of the pill I took, I'm not seriously hurt. What about you, Senior?"
"Other than the broken rib from earlier, I'm not badly injured either."
"...Isn't that already a serious injury?"
This guy has a weird standard for what counts as a serious injury.
Anyway, the mood for fighting was gone, so we decided to head back to the village.
We hadn't accomplished our original goal of subjugating the Yukionna, but now that we knew she wasn't a yokai but an ordinary ghost, there was no reason to fight anymore.
I felt like an unwelcome guest who had suddenly barged into the home of someone who was living peacefully on their own. With this bad taste in my mouth, I was about to leave the room when a thought occurred to me, and I asked.
"Do you want to come with us?"
「What?」
The girl's eyes widened.
Fuma-senpai, standing next to me, was just as surprised.
But I paid him no mind and continued.
"You're just an earth-bound spirit here, anyway. If you're lingering in this world because of some lingering attachment, wouldn't it be better to go to Tokyo than stay in a place like this where no one ever visits?"
If you're waiting for someone, it'd be much faster to go find them yourself.
「……Fine.」
The girl ghost answered after a long silence.
「I'll go with you. What do I need to do?」
Hearing that, I looked over at Fuma-senpai.
"What should we do, Senior?"
Fuma-senpai touched his forehead as if a headache was coming on.
"When we get back to the village, how am I supposed to explain this situation...?"
I admit, I did feel sorry about that part.
*
The solution was simple.
Either make the girl ghost my shikigami, or have her possess my body.
But I was told that making a spirit who must one day pass on into a shikigami carried many risks, so I chose the latter option.
"This is only possible because it's you, Kim Yoo-Sung. Normally, it would be out of the question."
"Yes, I know."
According to Fuma-senpai, this girl possessed an amount of Yin energy that no ordinary person's body could handle.
He speculated that in life, she likely had a unique constitution called the Nine Yin Severed Meridian (九陰絶脈).
Unlike the Extreme Yang Body, which doesn't cause any major problems for its owner, the Nine Yin Severed Meridian is something like an incurable disease where the Yin energy in the body overwhelms the Yang energy as one ages, leading to a short life.
There's no way an ordinary person could accept enough Yin energy to cause death, but thankfully, since I possess an Extreme Yang Body, it seems it's not a problem for me.
In the end, immense Yin energy is simply suppressed by even greater Yang energy.
「Somehow, my body feels lighter.」
As the girl ghost muttered this and looked over her own body, Fuma-senpai wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and said.
"Of course it does. You were originally an earth-bound spirit tied to this mansion, so you would have felt a strong resistance to leaving it. But I've forcibly severed that connection and tied you to Kim Yoo-Sung instead, so now you're free to move as you please."
「Hmph~」
The girl ghost hummed and nodded.
"Well then, shall we head back to the village? If we're any later, we might miss dinner."
"Sounds good."
At my suggestion, Fuma-senpai nodded and started down the stairs ahead of me.
Following behind him, I asked as we went down the stairs.
"By the way, what's your name?"
「Me? Why do you ask?」
"I can't just keep calling you 'hey' or 'you'."
The girl ghost, floating nonchalantly behind me, replied with a placid expression.
「I forgot my name.」
"What?"
When I asked what kind of nonsense that was, the girl ghost replied, sounding a little wronged.
「It's true. When I first opened my eyes, the only things I could remember were the faces and names of the people precious to me.」
Looks like I'll have to give her a nickname.
My gaze shifted to the ghost's white hair.
"How about Shiro (白)?"
「That sounds too much like a dog's name.」
"Then Shirogane (白金)?"
「…I'll just pick one myself.」
Apparently, my naming sense was pretty bad.
She crossed her arms behind my back and thought for a moment before speaking.
「Saya. From now on, call me Saya.」
She said, offering a slight smile.
*
After returning to the village, we reported the results to Fuma-senpai's grandfather.
"So, in the end, the being in that mansion was not a Yukionna."
"That is correct, Grandfather."
As Fuma-senpai spoke while bowing low, his grandfather, after a moment of silence, looked at Saya floating behind me.
"We sent people based on a one-sided misunderstanding. I apologize. On behalf of everyone in this village, I offer our apologies."
「I don't really care. They were all weak anyway.」
"Mm."
As if stung by her words, Fuma-senpai's grandfather closed his eyes with a pained expression before looking up and speaking again.
"This mission was entirely our village's mistake. Nevertheless, you completed it admirably, so it is only proper that we reward you."
As he said this, Fuma-senpai's grandfather suddenly lifted a nearby tatami mat.
"Grandfather!"
Fuma-senpai's face was a picture of shock.
"This is a book that explains our family's secret martial art, Swift Wind and Lightning. I will give you three days. Steal what you can from its contents."
I respectfully accepted the book from Fuma-senpai's grandfather with both hands.
"Thank you."
The fatigue that had built up all day seemed to melt away just from looking at this book.