Chapter 149: Give and Take
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 149: Give and Take
After I explained everything, this was what Sasha said.
"If I help you, what will you do for me?"
At that moment, I was at a loss for words.
"You weren't planning on getting help for free, were you? I'd be disappointed if you really thought that."
I was left completely speechless.
It was true; asking for help without offering anything in return felt incredibly shameless.
"What do you want from me?"
Sasha smiled, propped her chin on her right hand, and said.
"Give me three Wish Rights."
"Wish Rights?"
"The deadline is just before graduation. How about it?"
"Do I have to grant the wish no matter what it is?"
"Heh, no need to be so wary. I won't ask for anything unreasonable."
"If that's the case, then..."
As I nodded, Sasha clapped her hands.
I looked over, wondering what was happening, and saw Boris carefully holding out a contract.
"Shouldn't we have this in writing, rather than just a verbal agreement?"
"R-Right."
I was surprised by how official this all was.
I was about to sign the bottom of the simple contract when I found myself reading it over one more time.
「In the event of failure to fulfill the contract without a special reason, monetary compensation may be demanded.」
“……”
Is this really okay?
Still, there were no other clauses that could be called unfair, so I obediently signed it.
When I handed the contract back, Sasha took it with a satisfied expression and passed it to Boris, who was standing beside her.
"Well then, as promised, it's my turn to help you."
Sasha said as she stood up.
Then she suddenly walked up to me and said.
"Strip."
"What?"
"I need to examine you, so take it off."
Her tone was so overbearing that I frantically looked over at Sakuya.
But Sakuya was just standing by, rubbing her chin with an intrigued expression.
Unlike before, she seemed to have no intention of helping.
"W-Wait a minute, calm down and listen to me, Sasha. There are plenty of ways to examine me without taking off my clothes... Aaaargh!"
*
Her rough hands, trained in Systema, instantly disarmed me in my younger body, a side effect of the medicine.
It literally happened in the blink of an eye, so my T-shirt was off before I could even put up a proper fight.
"Well, your body itself doesn't seem to have any problems."
Sasha said with a serious face after finishing her palpation, taking a step back.
Meanwhile, having had my entire body manhandled by her rough hands, I felt like I had lost something precious.
After belatedly coming to my senses, I asked her.
"So, what do you think is the reason my body got smaller?"
Sasha crossed her arms and said.
"From what I can see, the ghost possessing you is definitely the cause. Normally, your body should be constantly producing Ki, but right now, all I feel is a faint pulse."
"Just a pulse?"
"You have a Korean proverb, 'pouring water into a bottomless jar,' right? That's exactly your situation. Before your depleted Yang Energy can even accumulate, it's being constantly consumed to block the Yin Energy that has entered from the outside. Normally, you have such a massive amount of Yang Energy that it wouldn't be a problem, but since it's temporarily depleted now, an antagonistic reaction is occurring."
I couldn't help but be impressed by Sasha's logical explanation.
Even for a complete layman like me, it was easy to understand.
"Then do you know the solution?"
Sasha nodded at my question.
"It's simple. If the cause is the ghost possessing you, then we just need to temporarily separate her from your body."
“……!”
So that's how!
I looked at Sakuya next to me.
Sakuya let out a small sigh and nodded.
「Fine. I just have to move out, right? I'll move.」
She was a ghost who took a hint very well.
*
Having the possession lifted felt incredibly strange.
It was like something inside my body was just... slipping out.
A temporary feeling of lethargy washed over me.
Sakuya's temporary residence was Sasha's body, and surprisingly, the two seemed to be quite compatible, as if nothing was wrong.
Fuma-senpai had definitely said that if Sakuya possessed a normal person, it would cause serious health problems.
When I asked if she was feeling okay, Sasha waved her hand dismissively and said.
"The Russian cold is much stronger than this. A body temperature like this is just right for drinking vodka."
She seemed to be completely serious.
I felt like I was the weird one for being worried.
"Anyway, I thought ghosts were supposed to look scarier. I'm surprised at how normal you look."
Sasha said, glancing at Sakuya's face floating beside her.
She couldn't see ghosts before, but it seemed that becoming a host for possession had opened her Spiritual Eyes.
「I think your hair color is more unusual than my appearance.」
"My hair color is a proud inheritance from my mother."
「...Sorry.」
Is this a Tarulra moment?
I was shocked to see Sakuya apologize so readily.
The Sakuya I knew was a tsundere who could never be honest with herself.
Anyway, their relationship didn't seem too bad, so I felt I could leave without worrying.
"Well then, I'll leave her with you for three days. She's a bit foul-mouthed, but she's a good kid, so please treat her well."
"Leave it to me."
I looked at Sakuya floating in the air.
"I'll be back to get you in three days, so listen to Sasha and be good."
「...Am I some kind of pet?」
"You're kind of similar."
「Hiss!」
I hastily fled from Sakuya, who was hissing like a cat.
My plan was to recover as much Yang Energy as possible over the next three days and come back for her on Sunday.
*
On my way home from meeting Sasha, I called Fuma-senpai.
「Kim Yoo-Sung? What's up all of a sudden?」
"Oh, it's nothing big. I just wanted to ask you something."
I said, then explained my current situation.
「So, you want to recover your spent Yang Energy as quickly as possible?」
"Yes. There are only three days left until school starts."
After a moment of silence on the other end of the line, Fuma-senpai spoke, a beat late.
「Generally, there's no special way to recover depleted Ki. You just eat well and sleep well, more than usual. Other than that, there's the Yin-Nourishing... no, it's nothing. Let me recommend some food instead.」
Fuma-senpai started to say something, then trailed off and suddenly changed the subject to food.
「Eat lots of meat and garlic. There's nothing better for boosting Yang Energy. Or, things like turtle or eel, stewed for a long time, are also good.」
Somehow, all the foods he listed were good for one's stamina.
But I got the general idea of what kind of food I should eat.
"Thank you, Senior."
「I'm glad I could help. I'm hanging up now. I'm busy with my part-time job.」
"Okay. Talk to you later."
Click!
He must have been in a real hurry, because he hung up quite abruptly.
I put my smartphone away and was about to go eat meat as Fuma-senpai recommended when I suddenly realized something.
Normally, I would have eaten at my parents' restaurant, but I couldn't in my current state.
"Guess I'll go for all-you-can-eat..."
I changed my plan and decided to go eat meat by myself.
*
All-you-can-eat.
For students with tight wallets, it's a true oasis.
With the money it would take to barely order two servings at a regular BBQ place, you could eat until you were stuffed here.
Since I was already in Akihabara to meet Sasha, I stopped by the most famous all-you-can-eat beef restaurant nearby, only to run into an unexpected obstacle.
"Hey little guy, are you here alone? Where's your guardian?"
Ah...
I currently looked like an elementary school student.
In other words, I needed a guardian to eat at a restaurant like this.
No one would expect an elementary schooler to come to an all-you-can-eat BBQ place to eat alone.
I quickly racked my brain and replied.
"My older sister told me to come ahead and wait because she'll be here soon!"
"Oh, really?"
The unnecessarily kind part-timer crouched down to meet my eyes.
"Well, I'll show you to a table then. Follow me, okay?"
"...Yes!"
Having to act like an elementary schooler at my age made me want to die.
*
Having bought some time by fibbing to the staff, I sat at the table and thought.
My bold plan to eat alone had failed, so now I had no choice but to call someone.
Many faces came to mind, but the problem was that I would have to reveal my younger form.
Someone familiar with the underworld, who's free right now, and who wouldn't be fazed by my shrunken appearance...
The options naturally narrowed down.
'No, wait a minute. Now that I think about it, there's her, too.'
I was about to call Sasha but stopped and quickly scrolled down my contact list.
Thankfully, she was there.
After a moment's hesitation, I made the call.
「Hello?」
A voice soon answered from the other side.
I said to her.
「Minami? Are you free to come out for a bit?」