Chapter 56
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Mujin Mountain's Shrine Maiden (2)
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Neither an elder nor one of the Four Pillars, the shrine maiden had revealed her vulnerabilities to this complete outsider—a fixer—before speaking of the elders.
"Fixer."
"Yes. I'm listening, so please go ahead."
"All right... Before we get to that, there's something I want to ask you first. In your eyes, does the world seem peaceful? Does the sky remain blue, birds chirp away, and the days repeat much like always?"
The fixer's life was neither ordinary nor peaceful, but to the question of whether the world appeared peaceful on the surface, he had no choice but to answer yes.
"I see. That means we're doing our jobs well, then. There are countless anomalies crawling out from all sorts of bizarre reasons in places you wouldn't even know about. Finding them all and dealing with them before they harm civilians... that's an incredibly difficult task."
And the Lunar Blossom Sect was accomplishing it.
Through the sacrifices and dedication of countless shamans.
"How many people could handle a disaster-grade anomaly without any casualties—and all by themselves? We don't have the manpower to deal with them one by one. Nor the time. In the end, the only option is to seal them away in Mujin Mountain and pray they vanish. Understand? There are no other methods."
That was why she endured the pain.
If she faltered, all sorts of monstrosities would rampage across the land.
The Anomaly Management Department went without saying, but even the churches and Buddhist orders couldn't fill that void entirely.
They'd have to rely on outside forces in the end, but the shrine maiden had already experienced the consequences of that once before.
"Think back to the past, when the island's onmyoji and the mainland's sorcerers took root here. If the Lunar Blossom Sect vanished, it would lead to the worst possible outcome. Do you know the sorrow of losing one's land to foreign powers?"
"...."
"Now you understand why I can't cast out that foolish, idiotic bastard Ok-won. A little, at least?"
The fixer had confirmed through Ok-won's status window that he was the price of the seal.
And he had also figured out why the shrine maiden couldn't use her Four Pillars—practically her personal guard—to deal with the Elder Council and Ok-won.
"You worried that indiscriminately sealing anomalies in the mountain might lead them to devour each other inside and birth a calamity-grade one, didn't you?"
"Are you reading my mind now too?"
"No need for mind-reading. Your expressions are so obvious, I can see right through them."
There was a shortage of time and manpower to exterminate every single disaster-grade anomaly.
But abandoning them risked unknown damage to civilians.
In the end, with limited resources, the best option was to bring unvanquished anomalies to Mujin Mountain and dispose of them there. But dumping too many could cause an overflow.
Thus, managing the mountain to prevent yokai nests from forming was one of the Elder Council's duties.
"They all have their uses. I know most of them are rotten to the core. But there's a reason I can't just discard them easily. Their personalities are trash, sure. But reality is, we don't have anyone to replace them right now."
The fixer was about to ask if the Four Pillars weren't strong enough, but the shrine maiden, already reading his thoughts, provided the answer.
"These children... they can only fight. Unfortunately, they lack administrative skills. They're total battle maniacs. People who excel at everything are rare, after all. Plus, two of the Four Pillars must always protect me from assassins, while the other two hunt anomalies outside as needed. They're all performing their roles to the extreme. Push them further, and they'll collapse or fall to corruption?"
That was why she couldn't cast out the Elder Council and had no choice but to keep them close.
Even knowing they were greedy, arrogant, trashy scoundrels.
Because there was no one to fill their positions if she did.
"Why not raise the Youth Association? Of course we are. Almost everything you can think of is already in progress. But do you know? Even with all these efforts... it's starting to fall short."
"Pardon?"
Exhaustion laced the shrine maiden's voice.
No matter how hard they tried, the current situation felt like pouring water into a bottomless jar.
"Fixer. There are too many anomalies in the world. I don't fully know where all these anomalies come from, but one thing is certain."
"What is it?"
"Ever since the spread of the internet, computers, and cell phones that you young folks talk about, the anomaly spawn rate has skyrocketed exponentially."
Modern civilization's advancement had caused anomalies to explode in number.
And Mujin City's Youth Association pursued reform, so she couldn't blindly back them either.
"The more human civilization advances, the harder the anomalies become to handle. Exorcism methods grow more complex, and the old ways leave elders dying to attacks they don't even understand."
As the world changed, anomalies grew more complex and incomprehensible.
"Look at the old anomalies. For example, think of the woman in your ring. Simple, right? A yokai born from the grudges of resentful women. So, what do you do? Hold a spirit wedding, let them vent—clear methods. Most old ones are like that. They have definite reasons for birth and ways to resolve their grudges. But modern ones are different."
Their origins were often incomprehensible, let alone their backgrounds.
Making exorcism methods equally elusive.
Not everyone could see strategies like the fixer.
Nor exorcise by raising or lowering affinity.
"Do you think it's normal for three Tiger Mountain Beasts to emerge in a single year? They used to appear once every five years, if at all. Three in one year? That's blatantly abnormal. Not standard numbers."
Listening to the shrine maiden, the fixer grew increasingly dizzy.
The world was racing toward ruin at breakneck speed.
Overdeveloped science, the shadows of the internet and anonymity, maximized individualism and collective melancholy.
For myriad reasons, anomalies spawned more easily and crawled into the world.
"That's why Mujin City halted its development. Any further, and we couldn't handle it. We had to stop it here. To prevent the 21st century's anomaly flood. We blocked it thoroughly. But the Youth Association kids want a new era. We can't hold it back forever. We've stalled progress for over 40 years already. Blocking more would create its own problems."
She couldn't blindly push the Youth Association, nor did she have immediate replacements for the elders. Don't dismantle the Elder Council—that was her point.
"Still, those guys deserved a beating. They know they're hot stuff, so they figured I wouldn't cast them out and acted recklessly—only to get thoroughly thrashed by you. Ok-won probably wondered till he passed out why the Four Pillars didn't help me. Still, it felt damn good, thanks to you."
The shrine maiden had deliberately amplified the elders' greed-like emotions to make them ripe for a thrashing, leaked info that they'd easily seize the sealed Mukhae Ghost King, informed them the fixer could be subdued if the Four Pillars intervened, then blocked the Four Pillars from stepping in when the fixer beat the elders.
She knew the fixer would go all out if the Four Pillars moved.
What she wanted was the fixer crushing the Elder Council—not the sect collapsing at his hands.
In short, she'd set the stage for the elders to overstep and provoke the fixer.
"Now that you have justification to beat them, go ahead as much as you want. Just don't kill them. I beg you... And sorry for using you."
"I won't kill the elders. But you must pay properly for using me."
"Of course."
With that, the fixer secured blanket beating rights over the Elder Council from the shrine maiden.
The council of spirit arts masters naturally needed oversight to prevent corruption, but pitting the socially inept Four Pillars against them would just spark infighting.
Thus, she wanted an outsider who could handle anything to monitor the Lunar Blossom Sect's elders.
So she'd engineered a situation where Ok-won and his faction crossed the line and deserved a thrashing—giving the fixer justification.
She hadn't even considered the fixer losing to the elders. Unless the Four Pillars intervened, she knew they couldn't take him.
Above all, she'd secretly hoped Ok-won would get pummeled, and watching the sealed Mukhae Ghost King burst out and thrash them had pure joy for her.
Sensing her feelings, the fixer smiled along with her and asked,
"Using me to watch the Elder Council get beaten—did that feel good?"
"I wanted to see more. They needed it. No one ever hits them, so they can't tell friend from foe and strut like wolves. They've only fought anomalies, never people. Good lesson in humility. It was quite enjoyable for me. Must've soured your mood, though. But I got a great show. I'll compensate you properly."
The fixer couldn't help but laugh at the shrine maiden's thrilled reaction—it defied belief.
She'd let him beat them just to watch the Elder Council get thrashed.
Like parents enjoying their bratty kid getting disciplined by the tiger teacher.
"Oh, right—we should talk about the revelation soon... *cough*. *Cough*!"
Enjoying the conversation with the fixer, the shrine maiden tried to keep talking without rest, but her body hit its limit first.
Blood mixed heavily into her coughs, and the vital signs monitor fluctuated wildly.
Finally, Elder Jeong Mi-dam could stand it no longer and intervened.
"You're coughing nonstop. You've talked too much, Mother. Time to rest now."
"This wretched body. I want to talk more with this child. It's been ages since I met such a rising star. To leave a shining soul like that just to sleep... So powerless. Powerless enough to cry, but tears would be blood tears. Can't even do that, lest I burden you all to clean up... What a twisted fate."
"Mother... I'll handle the rest. Okay? Bedtime now. Pushing further will drive you mad. You don't want that. Another month of seizures? Then what of the revelation? Leave it to him and rest?"
"...No, I don't. Fine. I'll sleep."
The Lunar Blossom Sect's elders—especially Elder Jeong Mi-dam—called the shrine maiden "Mother."
She had no biological children, of course, but she'd raised the entire sect with affection.
At the earnest plea from Elder Jeong Mi-dam, who acted like a real daughter, the shrine maiden sighed and looked at the fixer.
"Anyway, sorry for testing you. But I wanted to see. If you could truly handle a calamity-grade anomaly. If you matched the vision I saw. And I wanted to watch the elders get wrecked by you. If the Four Pillars and elders drift too far apart... *cough*... it gets complicated. In the end, I angered you and the Ghost King... I'll make it right. A Four-Silver Sword... should do..."
The shrine maiden trailed off and fell asleep as if fainting.
'Four-Silver Sword?'
The fixer clearly heard "Four-Silver Sword" in her fading voice.
It seemed her compensation for this incident was one of the Lunar Blossom Sect's Four-Silver Swords.
Beating up the troublesome elder brats for a suffering shrine maiden and getting a Four-Silver Sword? More than worth it.
In World of Doom, genuine Four-Silver Swords—not replicas—weren't obtainable on demand.
The Lunar Blossom Sect was the only group that could craft one every 12 years, and currently, the sole technician was Elder Dam-heon, the Elder Council's ceremonial item overseer.
Hard to make, harder to acquire. Not for sale. Before he knew it, the fixer's anger had fully dissipated.
Sensing his mood, the Mukhae Ghost King quietly returned to the Breath of Mukhae.
Meanwhile, the Dharma Protectors swiftly moved the shrine maiden to the inner shrine's sickroom. Left behind, Jeong Mi-dam glared at the fainted elders, then deeply bowed to the fixer.
"Truly sorry, Fixer. I knew Ok-won would end up like this someday with his worm-like ambitions, yet I couldn't stop him sooner. And since you told us not to intervene, we could only watch."
Gone was the friendly neighborhood wife vibe; Elder Jeong Mi-dam offered a heartfelt apology with utmost respect.
She'd been the sole elder friendly to him from the start, so he wasn't mad at her. If anything, he grew more curious about the shrine maiden.
"What is she, exactly... that shrine maiden?"
"She's... in a lot of pain. And she's our mother. She existed before I was born and has endured that state ever since. Modern medicine has helped a bit, but she used to have periodic seizures that made even talking hard."
"...Is that pain even survivable for a human?"
"No. Most kids who challenged that seat... broke. Mentally or physically."
"A place run on one person's sacrifice... This is a madhouse."
"I understand. Calling it a madhouse. But please know that thanks to her, not just Mujin City but countless people on the peninsula live without fear."
As Elder Jeong Mi-dam said, thanks to the Lunar Blossom Sect and Shrine Maiden Ha-un, farmers tilled worry-free, ranchers raised livestock safely, and fishermen headed to sea daily.
No matter how much churches and Buddhist orders exterminated anomalies, they couldn't cover every corner nationwide.
The Lunar Blossom Sect exorcised an unimaginable number annually. And at its center was the shrine maiden.
Her steadfast endurance kept the sect from corruption.
"The elders too. Ok-won is excessively greedy, but he has his reasons. And genuine zeal to seal more anomalies borrowing the Mukhae Ghost King's power."
"No matter how skilled or passionate, someone in the Grand Elder's seat can't act so recklessly. Strutting like he owns the world. Don't try to whitewash him."
"Not what I meant. Not defending Ok-won. More an excuse. For why the shrine maiden can't cast out the current Elder Council. I have no intention of justifying his actions. He'll be the first replaced once the Youth Association matures."
She and the shrine maiden knew Ok-won and his faction had issues.
But they couldn't easily oust or eliminate them.
Essential talents in their fields. Removing them rashly without replacements would harm Mujin City and those beyond the fog.
"If you're still angry, take it out on me if you must..."
"Why take it out on you? Beat Ok-won if anyone's getting beaten. You did nothing wrong—don't shoulder his blame. He's the one who needs beating, the one who needs to apologize."
"Yes... Understood. Then, for tonight, please stay at the Pure Heart Pavilion. I'll serve you with utmost care."
As Elder Jeong Mi-dam approached, the fixer waved her off hastily.
With the White-Faced Bride glaring from his ring, he couldn't casually touch another woman.
"No. I'll head down the mountain and find a place. Saw an inn on the way up. First, wake these fainted folks."
The fixer tended to the deranged Taoist Moon Seon-woo and the unconscious Youth Association members, while Jeong Mi-dam roughly shoved the elders into a corner of the shrine with her foot.
The elders, who usually lorded over Mujin City, had finally met their match today.
Even the arrogant ones would wake in terror and kneel before the fixer.
The shrine maiden gained an outsider to rein in her unruly elders—good for her. The fixer could extract fair compensation—good for him.
Now, only the revelation remained. Tomorrow, once she awoke, he'd get the full details.