016 - I Am an Army # 5
016 - I Am Legion # 5
Improvised Holy Water.
Cooking Foil Armor.
On top of these two, I had made a secret weapon.
Namely, Post-it notes with magic circles drawn on every single page.
Post-it notes that are easy to peel off and stick on.
They are small in size, so I can put them in my pocket and pull them out whenever to use.
Even I thought it was a brilliant idea.
However, whether this could truly become an effective secret weapon—
That was a separate issue altogether, though.
Seeing the anomalies inside Yeonseo-ssi's body cowering in fear gave me courage.
This will work.
This is a winning hand.
"Get out of that poor woman!"
Chak—!
I stuck a Post-it note onto Yeonseo-ssi's forehead like a talisman.
The Opening Magic Circle.
What happens when you stick that onto a possessed person—
My fingertips trembled with tension and expectation, and the back of my head tingled as if electricity were flowing through it.
And the next moment.
"Aaaah! Aaaaaah!"
Yeonseo-ssi opened her mouth.
So wide that I wondered if her jaw might unhinge.
And after sticking her tongue out so far that I doubted a human tongue could be that long—
"Uweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek━─!"
Warrr, cheodeok, cheolpudeok—
She began vomiting up everything inside her.
Because of that, standing right in front of her, I ended up getting completely covered in squishy, lukewarm liquid.
"Euaah!"
Struck by an unexpected disaster, I panicked and jumped up and down.
Filthy, so filthy!
Whether I did so or not, Yeonseo-ssi kept vomiting up everything inside her as if squeezing out her very last breath.
"Uwek, wek, uuuwek—."
What poured out from inside her spread across the surrounding floor like a carpet.
Chunks of unidentifiable flesh and blood-red liquids.
A strangely sweet yet sharply sour stench unique to gastric juice hit the tip of my nose.
What the hell is going on?
The moment I wiped the liquid off my face with my hand and questioned what was happening, Yeonseo-ssi spoke.
"This woman is ours."
"We are many, for we are Legion!"
"You who use the tricks of a thief!"
Multiple voices burst forth simultaneously from a single person's mouth.
It sounded like the screams of an angry man, an old person, a sobbing woman, and a child all at once.
Soon, before my eyes, the red liquids that had soaked the floor began creeping closer toward President Kim Manchun and Cho Sena noona.
At this moment, I realized.
Those who have lost their home and their place to belong are bound to seek a new one.
If it were me, I would target defenseless people too.
"Fuck off!"
I hastily tore off Post-it notes drawn with the 'Sealing Magic Circle' and scattered them wildly around Cho Sena noona and President Kim Manchun.
Sticking the Post-it notes directly onto a person would provide a better sealing effect, though.
In truth, I didn't know much about this magic circle in detail either, and not knowing what side effects it might have, I had only scattered them on the floor.
Fortunately, whether the Post-it barrier I threw down worked properly or not, the red liquids could no longer approach and backed away.
Soon, they headed toward the pigs hanging from the meat hooks.
"Uwek, we-ek!"
Yeonseo-ssi continued to vomit after that.
And all the spewed liquids soaked into the pork carcasses.
Tulseok.
In the end, Yeonseo-ssi collapsed as if she had vomited up her very last breath.
Complexion returned to her face, which had been pale to the point of looking bluish, and the basement refrigerator's lights, which had been flickering frantically, hummed with a uuuung—generator sound and shone pale bright.
"...Is it... over?"
Feeling utterly bewildered, I looked around.
The ambient temperature, which had been cold enough to shatter skin, rose significantly to a comfortably cool level.
The width of this basement space, which had felt endlessly vast, returned to the shape of an ordinary basement refrigerator room of about thirty pyeong.
"Is it all over? Really? Can I take off my blindfold now?"
Cho Sena noona untied the towel covering her face.
President Kim Manchun also carefully removed his blindfold, and seeing Yeonseo-ssi collapsed on the floor, his eyes widened more than twice their size.
"Yeo... Yeonseo-ya!"
And then he ran to his daughter, patting her cheeks and embracing her shoulders.
"Yeonseo-ya! Yeonseo-ya, wake up! Yeonseo-ya!"
"......."
Yeonseo-ssi did not answer.
She merely stared at the ceiling with vacant eyes while drool continuously dripped from the corner of her mouth.
"Isn't something wrong here!"
President Kim Manchun crumpled his face so much that one couldn't tell if he was crying or furious.
At this, Cho Sena noona pulled a smartphone out of her handbag to shine light on Yeonseo-ssi's pupils, or blew smoke from the cigarette in her mouth onto her face with a hoo-.
"Seeing how she has no reaction even to mugwort smoke, which spiritual entities hate, it seems all the anomalies inside her body have left. It's probably just a temporary state of shock from malnutrition, right?"
"Haa, thank you. Haa, thank you. Truly...."
President Kim Manchun shed tears that dripped down.
Cho Sena noona stood leaning on one leg, puffing dissatisfiedly on her cigarette.
"If you want to thank someone, do it to him over there, not me. Yuseong-ssi, you've got more skill than I thought. Seeing you perform exorcism using Luke 8:29, you surprisingly seem to have a knack for the faith department too."
I didn't even know what Luke 8:29 was.
I just copied a line that came out in a movie, man.
However, I clearly realized one thing: the title Cho Sena noona used to call me had changed from 'Hey' and 'You' to 'Yuseong', and then from there to 'Yuseong-ssi'.
"Since ancient times, pigs have been great sacrificial substitutes for ghosts. It was lucky that this basement refrigerator was a place storing pork. If not for those, all of them might have jumped into us... Hm?"
Cho Sena noona looked down at the floor.
It seemed she had spotted my Post-it notes.
She squatted down on her knees and picked up one of the red-soaked Post-it notes.
"What's this?"
# # #
Cho Sena noona picked up the Post-it note that had fallen on the floor.
And as she inspected it this way and that, I thought, 'Ah, crap!'
I should have cleaned up quickly.
I had failed to do so because I was overwhelmed by the success of my first exorcism, the sight of this mess, and utter exhaustion.
If she figures out that that's Boribori's magic circle?
If she finds out I might be a 'mage' rather than an ordinary magician, things could get complicated in many ways.
What do I do?
Dogeun-dogeun-dogeun-dogeun—
While my heart thrashed wildly with tension and nervousness, Cho Sena noona took off her sunglasses.
"This is yours, right? What on earth did you draw on it?"
I was panicked as if hit right on the head, but ever since I was young, I was pretty good at lying.
I asked back, subtly probing.
"Can't you tell by looking?"
"Doodles... Ah, were you drawing a magic formula by any chance? It's just squares and circles."
"Ah...."
"Good grief, where on earth do you see such a simple and pathetic magic formula? You seem to have some potential, but in areas like this, your Transfer Student vibes really show loud and clear. Same with the cooking foil."
Her attitude showed she genuinely didn't know what it was.
As if she couldn't feel that it was the 'Sealing' Magic Circle.
Does my magic circle really look like just doodles to Cho Sena noona?
Just as not everyone can see Boribori, perhaps my magic circle and its pattern take effect only through me.
In the end, spellcraft is in the realm of art and technique like a skill.
Making Holy Water, making Cooking Foil Armor, and the like can be replicated by most magicians as long as they know the method.
That is why it is spellcraft.
However, my magic is not like that.
It is my own unique realm that other people cannot know or imitate.
That is why it is magic!
"Ugh, my building..."
Just then, a groan sounded from somewhere.
It was the kind of moaning sound I often heard at the hospital I used to visit frequently because of my younger sister.
When I turned my head, Baksu Choi Janggun, wearing a black leather jacket among the pork carcasses, was staggering toward us.
"The building... it's... mine... my... m-mom's... building... originally... must get it back... Mother's... my... name... carved on it..."
Drool and foam continuously leaked from his mouth as he babbled incomprehensible nonsense.
His eyes were rolled back white, and his eye sockets were exceptionally hollow, sunken in like a skull's.
"Phew, he got swallowed up."
Cho Sena noona clicked her tongue.
Then she rummaged through her handbag and pulled something out—a dagger-like weapon with a silvery metallic sheen engraved with a hawk.
Is it right to call it an Eunjangdo?
Seuk—.
Cho Sena noona unsheathed the blade, revealing a sharp edge.
Slightly flustered, I asked.
"Noona, what are you trying to do?"
"The end of a shaman whose body was stolen by a spirit is obvious. His energy and blood flow are twisted, and his magic circuit is completely broken. In that state, even if you drive out the ghost, he'll be a cripple who can never use magic for the rest of his life. Finishing him off is the right thing to do."
No, wait—.
Does she mean she's going to kill him?
Panicking, I ended up grabbing Cho Sena noona's shoulder.
"Noona, no matter what, you can't kill him! That's a crime! What if you become a murderer and end up on the wanted list!"
"You really know nothing, do you? Besides, that Choi Janggun seemed to dislike you. And it looked like you disliked him too. Wouldn't it be easier on your mind if that guy just vanished right now?"
My mind momentarily went blank.
Is this really the world of magicians?
President Kim Manchun, who was hugging his daughter and sobbing loudly, also stopped crying abruptly and was cautiously eyeing Cho Sena noona's reactions.
'...A person is going to die?'
Choi Janggun disliked me from the very first time we met.
So I disliked him too.
But that didn't mean it was okay for that man to die.
Just mutual dislike wasn't a good enough reason.
I can't stand stuff like that.
That's why I got fired from the restaurant, too.
Kwaaaaaak—.
I had no choice but to grip Cho Sena noona's shoulder tight.
I'll look for an opening to stick an Opening Post-it onto Choi Janggun's forehead and peel it off.
"......!"
While I was thinking that, Boribori raised his tail high and bristled.
And in the next moment, a voice like thunder resounded through the basement refrigerator.
"Hamesh. Arma. Shalosh. Shtaim. Ahat—."
Flustered as to where on earth the voice was coming from, I listened for a brief moment.
On the floor and walls of the cold storage room, circles, six-pointed stars, and worm-like characters began shining with white lines.
The grip of Cho Sena noona, who had drawn her blade, loosened.
"That's the Star of David and Aramaic. Don't tell me this is—"
"E-sh."
Hwareuk—. Hwareureureuk-!
In an instant, fire erupted.
On the pork carcasses hanging in the air.
On Choi Janggun's body.
"Ah... my... building..."
It was a purple flame.
While I was stunned by that strange color, Cho Sena noona spoke.
"It's exorcism magic. To draw such a vast Ritual World formula in a short amount of time... Yu Gain, even if he's a guy, someone from a prominent family really is different."
"Yu Gain... did that guy do it?"
"Yeah, Solomon's Fire. A spiritual flame. Only visible to us magicians... It's my first time seeing it in person too."
Anxious, I looked at Boribori.
Because I was worried he might get swept up in these flames that seemed to burn unclean things.
However, contrary to my worries, Boribori wagged his tail gently while gazing at the flickering purple flames.
As if admiring something beautiful.
At this moment, my head was filled with nothing but question marks.
Boribori.
Who on earth are you?
And me, who got entangled with such a Boribori.
I, Ha Yuseong, am undeniably a mage.
Gladly, and regrettably.
Thus, the day drew to a close.
Since clean-up and various settlements were required, everyone decided to stay behind at the cluttered mansion.
It was around 7:00 PM when Choi Janggun regained consciousness.
Perhaps as an aftermath of what happened today, he said he could not see.
"My eyes... it can't be helped. More importantly, I heard Cho Sena tried to kill me and you stopped her?"
After pulling his injured body up from the sofa, he bowed his head to me.
"I'll be honest with you. Thank you. If it were that wench, she definitely would have killed me."
Expressing his gratitude so openly like this actually made me feel a bit awkward.
However, his words did not end there.
"Because I can't see, there are things I actually come to know better. You, did you say your name was Ha Yuseong? It seems you possess something strange. Something you can't tell others about."
"Huh?"
"That was also why I didn't like you. That's not something a Transfer Student like you can handle. You'd better dispose of it quickly, one way or another."
His attitude suggested he was speaking with absolute certainty.
Could he be talking about Boribori?
Since he's a shaman, can he feel Boribori's presence?
Kungkwang-kungkwang—.
Just as my heart thudded nervously and sweat seeped into my palms, he added more words.
"I'm talking about that thing on your cell phone. Originally I had no intention of meddling, but since you saved my life, I should at least do my duty as much as I received."
On my cell phone....
Ah, don't tell me he means the 「Monkey's Paw Site」?