015 – I Am an Army # 4
015 - I Am an Army # 4
There might be a scary illustration ahead!
While chasing the footsteps with Cho Sena.
I discovered that the footsteps climbed up the wall and headed all the way to the ceiling.
With a nonchalant attitude, like someone who hadn't noticed it yet, I slightly rolled my eyes upward.
To explain what I saw at that moment, I might have to fill several pages of paper.
I had neither the time nor the guts for that.
I just thought that I had to hide Cho Sena behind me first.
"Three!"
"Hey, you son of a b━─!"
At the urgent countdown, Cho Sena crashed down behind me, but.
If anything, it was fortunate.
Seuseuseuk─.
Because something like a long strand of seaweed had dropped down from right above where she had been standing, trying to wrap around her.
I didn't know for sure, but if we were even a little later, she would have been caught by that thing.
I didn't want to imagine what would happen after getting caught.
"Eua, what is that!"
Cho Sena, who slammed her butt on the floor and ended up looking up at the ceiling, turned even paler.
Between her scattering breaths, strands of hair stretched out like spiderwebs across the ceiling.
And between those strands of hair.
A woman was grinning so wide her mouth reached all the way to her ears.
My eyes met its eyes.
I saw it.
And it saw me.
Seeing it roll its eyeballs back and forth made the color drain right out of me.
The reason I didn't turn around and run away right then and there was because I had a tiny bit of faith in my Cooking Foil Armor and holy water.
Let's do this.
I said, let me try this.
"Kkiheeheeheeheehee!"
Suaaaaa─.
The long hair reaching out in all directions lunged at me─.
─or so I thought, but it wrapped around the neck of Cho Sena, who was in the middle of getting up clumsily.
"Gueok, eueok!"
In an instant, Cho Sena was suspended in the air, flailing wildly.
She clawed at the hair wrapped around her neck, her eyes rolling wildly, and swung her legs exposed beneath her one-piece dress back and forth like a swimmer.
Because of that, her high heels fell off, and yellow urine streamed down her thighs.
If I were to see a human being hanged, would they look just like that?
"Keugeogeok, geugeogeok─geok─eukgeok!"
Overwhelmed by a sight I had never seen in my life, I froze unconsciously for a single second.
Pabat─.
At that moment, something moved swiftly past my side.
It was Boribori.
Boribori had approached beneath Cho Sena's frantically swinging feet and grabbed hold of her feet.
"Restes! Restes!"
Boribori screamed a word I couldn't understand at the top of his lungs, grabbing Cho Sena's ankles with his tiny hands and desperately pushing her upward.
His whole body trembled violently, and his face turned red as if his blood vessels were about to burst.
Only then did I snap back to my senses.
"Noona!"
I rushed over as well, hugged her legs, and lifted them high.
This should make it a bit easier for her to breathe.
Ppudeuk, ppudeudeudeuk-.
However, the hair wrapped around her neck tightened even further, making an ominous sound. At this rate, her neck bone would snap.
Reaching that thought, I realized that supporting her feet didn't mean much.
So I drew an Opening Magic Circle on the cap of the water bottle I had just pulled out and opened that door.
"Die! You ugly bitch!"
The liquid inside the water bottle.
My specially made holy water.
Praying that it would work, I splashed all of its contents toward the woman hanging from the ceiling.
Chwaaaa, chwaaaa-.
Water droplets sloshing as they flew through the air.
As soon as it touched her, the situation changed in an instant.
"━━───!!!"
A shockingly ear-splitting screech burst from the mouth of the woman who had been smirking.
It was a reverberation that sounded as if multiple animals and people had gathered inside a single cave and were screaming all at once.
Probably a scream.
Screaming, it thudded onto the floor.
Seuseuseuseuseuseu─.
As the bundle of pitch-black hair lost its power, Cho Sena also plummeted to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut.
"Eua, fuck... cough!"
"Noona, are you okay?"
"I... I peed myself...."
"Seeing how you're joking around, you must be fine."
Cho Sena grimaced as she stroked her neck.
After adjusting her sunglasses, she pulled something like a spray out of her handbag and spritzed it onto her neck, chik-chik-.
After a brief pungent smell, Cho Sena spoke in a much improved voice.
"Cough, was that liquid in the bottle holy water by any chance? Phew, it smells harsh, but the effect is great. What did you say your name was?"
"Ha Yuseong."
"Ha Yuseong, honestly..., cough, I admit you helped me. But you, I don't think you're cut out to make a living as a magician in this business."
"Why are you cursing me right after admitting I helped?"
"If it were me, I wouldn't have saved you even if you were the one getting attacked."
What kind of nonsense is that?
As I scowled heavily, Sena-noona kept clearing her throat, "Ah-ah─", and said.
"It's not just me. That Choi Janggun, and probably Yu Gain-ssi too. The fewer people there are, the bigger the payout to split. That's how magicians are."
Her expression and voice were serious, not seeming like a joke.
Chik-chik-chik─.
Cho Sena began spraying around the woman lying face down on the floor as well.
"Now I'm going to set up a barrier around that girl. If we finish this before Choi Janggun or Yu Gain-ssi get here, our contribution will be bigger, so we can get paid even more handsomely."
Hwareuk!
She took out a few candles and lit them.
She also poured out the holy water she had brought separately to draw a circle.
# # #
The long-haired woman didn't move an inch inside the bizarre barrier we created.
She just lay face down.
Cho Sena tied her wrists and ankles with rope.
Whether as revenge for having her own neck strangled, she tied the knots exceptionally tiiiight.
"If it were a Twilight Grade anomaly, it should have been exorcised with just the spray I sprayed. This is probably a Tiger Hazard Grade. It doesn't look like there's only one spirit inside that girl either."
"What do you mean, not just one?"
"Multiple spirits are inside that girl. It'd be hard to end up like that even if someone spent their entire life wandering around haunted houses or abandoned buildings on purpose. What on earth was she doing walking around?"
Sena-ssi let out a sharp sigh, looking thoroughly annoyed.
"Haah, I'm an Alchemy-type magician, so I can't exorcise a Tiger Hazard Grade anomaly with my current equipment. I'll have to bring that male shaman or Gain-ssi."
Alchemy-type.
Another word I didn't know popped up.
"I'll go fetch Gain-ssi, so stay here quietly and watch over her. Even if whatever's inside there speaks to you, absolutely do not answer. Got it?"
"You're going alone? Will you be okay?"
"Just answer me. Got it or not?"
"Yes, I'll be careful."
Sena-ssi lit a cigarette and blew out smoke, hoo-.
Then the smoke transformed into butterflies and fluttered away somewhere, and Sena-noona also followed behind it, her high heels clicking.
When she was no longer in sight.
Seureureureuk-.
The woman lying inside the candle barrier sat up.
And then she groaned while touching the back of her head.
"Ugh, my head. Where on earth is this...?"
As she parted her hair with gaunt hands, the face of a slightly gaunt woman was revealed.
She looked to be in her early twenties. Although her eye area was hollow and her skin was rough, her face itself was quite beautiful.
"W-who are you? Is this... a basement? Ugh, it's cold!"
Seeing me, her eyes widened like a deer's, and her demeanor was that of an ordinary woman.
"Why is my body... tied up? Please untie this! Untie me! Appaaaa! Ommaaaa! Save me! Is anybody out thereeee─!?"
"......."
"Who on earth are you? Who are you to do this to me! Please untie this! P-please save me, please...."
Streaming tears made her look truly wronged and terrified.
Like a young lady who had been kidnapped.
If it had been me a few days ago, I would have been completely fooled, but.
"Urrrrr...."
Boribori had his tail standing on end while looking at the woman.
He even wrinkled his nose like an angry beast and growled.
So I decided to ignore her.
Then, the woman who had been crying for a while suddenly began screaming as if enraged.
"What business do you have with me to do this! Don't torment me! I'll kill youuuu!!"
Crying, then screaming.
Pleading in a high-pitched voice, then raging in a deep voice.
Her excessively erratic attitude gave me full-body goosebumps.
At that moment, Sena-ssi reappeared.
Beside Sena-ssi, President Kim Manchun was wheezing for breath.
"Ah shit, I can't find that male shaman or Gain-ssi! We'll have to do this on our own for now!"
"Ye-Yeonseo!"
President Kim Manchun's eyes grew as big as king-sized candies.
In front of the president, his daughter Yeonseo-ssi screamed.
"Appa! Appa, save me! It's tied so tight it hurts! And it's s-s-s... so cold here! Appa, I'm scared! What on earth is this! Appa, rescue meee-ack! Cough, cough, achoo!"
Seeing Yeonseo-ssi coughing while wailing in a pathetic voice reminded me of my younger sister who was very sick when we were young, making me feel quite uncomfortable.
Not to mention, how must it feel from the perspective of her father, Kim Manchun-ssi?
Kim Manchun-ssi grabbed my shoulders with a face that looked ready to burst into tears at any moment.
"This is the first time in months that Yeonseo has recognized me! Can't we just untie her now!? She's going to catch a cold at this rate!"
"Absolutely not, President Kim."
Sena-noona, speaking sternly, handed a candle to Kim Manchun-ssi.
"The reason I called you is to form a triangular formation. Stand right over here. You must never let the triangle fall out of alignment."
"...A triangle?"
"You've heard of the Holy Trinity or the Bermuda Triangle, right? In magic science, a triangle is a solid framework. But if, by any chance, even one vertex disappears─."
Cho Sena fell silent.
However, her silence and omission seemed to speak more volumes than a detailed explanation.
She held out a tree branch she was holding toward me.
"This is a peach tree branch. It seems that guy Choi Janggun dropped it."
"Why are you giving this to me?"
"You could see the footsteps of these spirits. You probably have a high aptitude for the Mediumship World. Since you could make holy water, you must also have aptitudes for the Alchemy World and the Ritual World."
"And so?"
"Exorcism magic is most effective when executed by someone with aptitudes in the Mediumship World and Ritual World. As long as that male shaman and Yu Gain-ssi aren't here, you're the only one who can do it."
What am I supposed to do with this peach branch?
However, I wasn't a total novice either.
Ever since Boribori became visible to me, I had watched a few movies related to 'exorcism.'
And along with the holy water bottle and Cooking Foil Armor, I did have a 'secret weapon' I brought with me.
If I used that, maybe things would work out somehow.
"Noona, I have one condition instead. Do you happen to have any cloth? Please cover your eyes and the president's eyes with it. You must never open your eyes."
My secret weapon was something I didn't want to show other people if possible.
Especially to magicians like Cho Sena, I wanted to keep it secret.
"...Huh? Mister, cover my eyes?"
President Kim Manchun looked back and forth between me and his daughter with a tearful expression.
Then, perhaps noticing the determination filled in my expression, he accepted a towel from Sena-noona.
Desperate to save his daughter, he was probably trying to grasp at any straw.
"...Yuseong-ah, what are you trying to do? Will you be okay?"
Sena-noona also covered her eyes and asked me in a subtle voice.
A situation where I could feel her voice was filled with distrust.
Just like that, when everyone covered their eyes.
I pulled out my secret weapon from my pants pocket.
And the moment Yeonseo-ssi saw it, her hair stood on end and she screamed at the same time.
"A-Appa! This man is touching my chest! Ahhh! Appa, this man isssss!"
Yeonseo-ssi screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Ahhhh! You perverted bastarddd! Appaaaa! Appaaa, save meee! This man is touching my butt-ooo! Aaaaaaaack!"
Are you really pulling this trick right from the start?
The president was so flustered his whole body shook.
"Y-Yeonseo-aaaa!!!! Heyyyy! What are you doing to my daughter right now━─!!!"
The president put his hand up to the cloth covering his face.
I hurriedly grabbed President Kim's hand.
"Never! You must never open your eyes!"
I was also a bit taken aback because I didn't expect that woman to act like that, but.
One thing became certain from that just now.
That guy—no, those guys—were afraid of my 'secret weapon.'
A Post-it note pad worth 2,000 KRW.
The magic circles densely drawn on every single page of it.
The one hour of my life I used to make it-!
Jjeoeok-.
I peeled off an Opening Magic Circle and stuck it right onto Yeonseo-ssi's forehead, chak-.
"You filthy ghosts."
"Eu-geok!"
The woman's eyes opened wide, and her black pupils rolled back.
"Get out of that poor woman!"