Writhing Malice
Three days had already passed since meeting the King of Gaon and Huey's master.
"At last, I have you all to myself."
I was in a serious crisis right now.
"...Excuse me?"
"Come with me."
I had barely managed to lay an egg just moments ago, desperately suppressing a body that kept trying to heat up on its own. And now, exhausted from laying an egg at dawn, I was being dragged somewhere by Cheonyu — who had shown up first thing in the morning and seized one of my wings.
"No, wait, just let me go back to my room for a second..."
"There's no time."
Even at this early hour, the people within the castle were already hard at work. Watching the faces around us flush at the sight of me, I tapped Cheonyu with my free wing.
"I don't know why you're in such a hurry, but could you at least give me time to put something on down there?"
"...Pardon?"
The wind blowing through my fluttering clothes was coolly tickling my groin. Being seen didn't particularly bother me — but even I felt a little uneasy about walking around in front of people with nothing covering my lower half.
"Ah..."
Only then did Cheonyu notice that my hip area was bare, letting out a soft gasp.
"...Why on earth were you only naked from the waist down?"
Why else?
"I'd appreciate it if you acknowledged that some species in this world lay eggs."
Right after that, Cheonyu somehow flushed red and began staring at my lower body with strangely heated eyes.
"Don't tell me... from down there...?"
"What, you think I'd lay them from my mouth?"
The way she swallowed and asked that was so absurd I couldn't help but bonk her on the head with my wing. Only then did she seem to come to her senses, clearing her throat and turning her gaze toward the sky.
"...Ahem. Please bear with me just a little longer. We were headed to get your measurements taken anyway, so I'll find you something suitable to wear along the way."
"Just so you know in advance — there aren't many clothes that accommodate my claws and wings."
I don't wear this kind of outfit for no reason. But wait a second.
"Clothes? All of a sudden?"
"His Majesty has ordered that you guests also attend the Floating Cloud Rite in a few days."
For Lucy, finding clothes of a suitable size would be enough. But given how I look, they decided to rush a custom outfit.
"Clothes can be made that quickly?"
"We're altering already-made garments, so it won't take long."
After taking my measurements, she said there was also somewhere she wanted me to come along to.
"I have a little business in the forest."
And since she'd promised to show me her skills anyway, she asked me to keep her company.
"We've arrived. Let's get your clothes fitted here first."
In the end, carefully holding down my fluttering clothes with my wings, I arrived at the building.
"If you have anything to say in the meantime, please call for me."
She dumped me with about four or five women, then sat in the corner of the room with a meaningful smile and started drinking tea.
"Oh my, this will be fun to work on."
"Wow, what pretty wings... You're so lovely..."
"Deputy Taoist Master. Is there any particular style you'd prefer?"
"I trust the artisans' eye more than my own, so I'll leave it entirely to you."
After that, with unintelligible chatter coming from all directions, I decided to give up on thinking.
...They said we came to get clothes fitted, so if I just stay still, they'll handle it.
...This is uncomfortable.
"Ugh."
"It seems the clothes aren't to your liking."
"How could they be?"
After having my measurements taken amid incomprehensible chatter and squealing, I changed clothes and came out to the forest with Cheonyu. Remembering how I'd rejected their attempts to put me in a skirt with my entire body, I grumbled at her.
"I can't even put these on or take them off by myself."
After tearing through about three pairs of pants, the solution they'd found was ultimately an outfit that didn't feel like much of an improvement over what I usually wore. They'd simply cut the arms and legs of clothes like the ones Huey and Cheonyu wore to appropriate lengths, then practically assembled them onto my body and tied them in place with cords everywhere.
"Please bear with it just for today. These are skilled artisans, so the finished clothes will be fine."
"Sigh."
I sighed at Cheonyu's face, full of pride as she smiled.
"Anyway, isn't this the kind of work you usually leave to subordinates?"
I asked, drooping my wings in exhaustion. I'd been tormented so much in that short time that I just wanted to go back and rest.
"There's a report that's been bothering me somewhat."
Apparently, stories of people spotting bizarre creatures in the forest had been cropping up more and more lately.
"Everyone testifies that there was a foul smell, so something is clearly there, but..."
Even when they set out to search, they'd been coming up empty for weeks now.
"So you brought me along because...?"
"I heard from Chan-hui. He said you have good instincts."
In case of the one-in-a-million situation, she wanted my help. And so, walking through the forest in step with Cheonyu amid a brief silence—
A prickling sensation. A strange presence began to make itself felt from somewhere a little ways off.
"Hold on."
"Have you sensed something?"
About three of them. Large builds, but with strangely weak footsteps.
"Probably brown bears... but something's off about their condition."
But I'd clearly heard from Huey that brown bears don't form groups.
"...Let's go check it out for now."
After hearing my explanation, Cheonyu made a puzzled face — three brown bears gathered together didn't make sense either — and together we moved toward the direction where a foul smell was growing stronger.
"Revolting."
"Smells like rotting corpses."
Arriving at a small open clearing, we found three brown bears standing side by side.
"What... is that?"
At Cheonyu's startled voice — she'd never seen such a sight before—
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue instead of answering.
Flesh fallen away in places, gouged-out eyeballs, the distinctive stench of decaying corpses. Black blood, sticky and clotted, dripping and contaminating the surroundings.
"...Living Dead."
They were clearly Living Dead born from brown bear corpses. On top of that, a dense aura of death so thick you could hardly believe this was a forest full of life.
"Living... Dead?"
"Think of them as corpses that move while still alive. They'll keep moving until you drop their heads or smash them."
Since she seemed to be seeing undead-type monsters for the first time, I gave a brief explanation.
"Watch out for the blood. Rot-poison is the kind of thing that gets you if you don't know about it."
Huey had been fine, so protecting herself with Taoist power should work, I finished.
"I see. Understood."
Cheonyu nodded and pressed her palms together. My flames could purify Living Dead without much difficulty — but since she'd said she'd show me her skills, I decided to just stay put this time.
"You said smashing the head would do it."
"Yep."
Only then did the brown bear corpses notice us and slowly turn around.
Right after—
—KRRRUMBLE!
"Oh."
When Cheonyu stamped her foot, mounds of earth surged up from the ground and bound the three corpses.
—CLAP!
Then, with the sound of a clap, a gentle wind blew.
—SLASH!
The wind that blew soon swept sharply around the corpses' necks, dropping their heads — and blew the foul stench that had spread everywhere up into the sky.
"I'll take one back to examine a bit."
Soon, Cheonyu set fire to the two headless corpses and looked at me.
"This doesn't have any contagious properties or anything, does it?"
"No idea. How they're made hasn't been precisely determined in the first place."
There's quite a bit of talk about undead-type monsters, especially Living Dead. That the old Demon God's subordinates create them out of spite. That souls who couldn't find rest return corrupted. There are various other hypotheses, but the theory treated as established fact is that they are born when death energy accumulates.
"So on our side, the principle is usually to call a priest for a funeral when a corpse turns up, or bury it somewhere full of life energy."
After all, the places where Living Dead mainly appear are abandoned graveyards and old battlefields.
"Is there any chance a large number of corpses were buried around here?"
"Impossible. In Gaon, we don't kill without purpose."
Except in cases where they can be put to useful purpose, the principle is to leave not even a trace of a corpse.
"Then what about the energy blanketing this area?"
"...At least in all the years I've been alive, I've never heard of a place in the forest this saturated with yin energy."
Cheonyu frowned at the dense aura of death. So they call it yin energy here.
"It seems best to postpone demonstrating my skills until next time."
She said she needed to investigate the surroundings first and look for anything problematic. At Cheonyu's voice, serious as she rested her chin on one hand, I quietly nodded as well.
And so, I returned to the Taoist hall with Cheonyu, who manipulated the earthen mound still wrapping the remaining Living Dead and floated it beside her — only to be confronted with my underwear and lower garments carefully laid out on the neatly made bed, three eggs lined up in a tidy row, and Huey and Lucy looking thoroughly amused as they teased me.
"Ren. It's fine. People can get a little... breezy sometimes."
"Still, somehow midway through — pfft. It seems you noticed and changed clothes. Puh, puheh."
As if they'd scored an entertaining scoop. I had no choice but to face Huey and Lucy's delighted expressions as they made fun of me.