Chapter 94
Chapter 94
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Knowledge in Conflict
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A beautiful weapon shop owner with a slight tomboyish air fussed over him excitedly, and Hwan-in looked down at the gray stone knife and black-handled stone axe in his hand.
"Do you know anything about the material of this stone axe?"
"Truth be told, this is the first time I've even seen one. It's not something found in the Wayford Labyrinth. From what I've heard, it only rarely appears in labyrinths blessed by the Earth God... Would it be all right if I took a closer look?"
Hwan-in gazed for a moment at the affable-looking shop owner before handing over the stone axe.
Taking the axe back to the counter, she placed it on what looked like an inspection table, fetched a magnifying glass-like tool to examine it closely, and gently tapped various spots with a small wooden mallet.
"Hmm... I see. Did you make this stone axe yourself by any chance?"
"I seized it from a green hob that was carrying it around."
"I see! No wonder it looked so crude and the balance was all off."
Putting away the magnifying glass and mallet, the shop owner brought over a palm-sized rod topped with a round glass orb and ran it over various parts of the stone axe.
Each time the glass orb touched the axe, blue light emanated from the handle and green light from the blade.
"Ahem. It has the characteristics of Hillan's Black Wood and Gimrak's Stone—tougher and more resilient than steel, yet it doesn't rust like steel or get as easily contaminated. Even if blood gets on it, a quick rinse in water leaves it good as new. It's used as material for excellent weapons and armor, but it commands such high prices because of an even more important property."
Hwan-in was already aware of those basic traits. That's why he'd kept using it instead of discarding it. But what was this important property she mentioned?
"What would that important property be?"
"It takes on phase power so readily that it's even more prized as material for magic tools and magical devices."
However, she explained that in the case of this particular stone axe, it already had properties imbued, so trying to add new ones would likely destroy the weapon itself.
"Do you know what kind of imbued effects it has?"
"When I ran the appraisal rod over it earlier, it emitted green and blue lights, right? Blue usually relates to hardness options, and green to repair ones. If you want more details, I'd recommend visiting the Diviner's Association for a professional appraisal."
"I see. Thank you for the appraisal, even if it was just a rough one."
This was a weapon shop. Appraisals like this were normally a paid service, so her doing it for free was clearly a gesture of goodwill.
If a few casual words could buy that goodwill, it was a no-brainer.
The shop owner beamed at his thanks and waved it off.
"Oh, come on. It's nothing. A simple appraisal like this doesn't even cost a few pennies."
She leaned in closer, her cute, lightly freckled face sparkling as she met his eyes.
"That said... Customer, hasn't this stone axe been hard to wield?"
"It wasn't without its issues."
"If you'd like, how about I add some fittings to balance it out? Looking at it, two yin coins should cover it. The axe itself is incredibly sturdy, and the options suit long-term use, so you could rely on it for ages. But with the balance all wrong, it'll be tough to handle. I promise you won't regret the cost."
Hwan-in smiled wryly. This was her goal all along.
"Is that possible?"
At his question, the shop owner ducked through the door behind the counter and soon returned with a box full of various metal clamps and fittings.
"Do you have a preferred shape in mind? I can match it as closely as possible."
"It's a stone axe meant for throwing as well. A bit more weight is fine, but I'd like to keep the proportions the same."
"Got it. Please wait just a moment."
With that, she began attaching large and small clip-like fittings to the stone axe right in front of him.
A short while later, the axe returned to his hand transformed—now wrapped in sleek bands resembling Celtic patterns.
"...!"
The moment Hwan-in gripped it, he was quite surprised.
Just holding it had strained his inner forearm before, but now, merely by adding these fittings, it felt incredibly comfortable.
The weight had been heavily skewed toward the back of the blade; now it was properly centered near the end of the handle, as it should be.
And the attack power remained untouched... If anything, the previously worrisome joints felt even more solidly connected, boosting durability as well.
"Want to give it a throw? Here."
The shop owner grunted as she hauled a log about 20 cm in diameter onto the counter. Hwan-in hurled the stone axe at it.
Whish—crack!!
With a vicious sound, the axe buried itself into the log in one go.
Even with a light toss, its speed and power were incomparably better than before.
"Excellent."
"Glad you like it. Now I'll secure the fittings so they don't come loose. If you ever want them removed, just visit an intermediate smithy or higher."
She fetched something resembling tongs and physically fastened each fitting one by one.
'Is that a magic tool?'
A simple rod with nothing connected and no fancy shape, yet heat emanated from the tip. It could only be a magic tool.
'What a truly wondrous world.'
A place with superpowers, magic items straight out of fantasy novels or games, monsters, and races as different from each other as paper from rock—humans mingling with entirely alien species.
Hwan-in wondered if the author of the first fantasy novel had simply written down their own experiences.
Pocketing his enhanced Celtic-style stone axe along with some emergency rations, Hwan-in arrived at the Second Cemetery feeling a touch of regret.
It was getting dark, and he'd moved alone. If someone were up to no good, this would be the time to strike—but nothing had happened.
'Maybe passersby deterred them.'
In any case, as he entered the cemetery, Ielcata appeared from a path ahead, patrolling the graves just as she had yesterday.
The difference was that her hood was off.
Spotting Hwan-in, delight spread across Ielcata's face.
"You've come."
She approached with a slight smile, the emptiness of dawn completely gone.
Her brighter, softer expression prompted Hwan-in to nod back.
"You seem much better now."
"...Ah, I apologize for my rudeness this morning. You humored my selfishness, and I couldn't even see you off..."
"You must have been exhausted. I understand."
"...!"
Hwan-in caught the strong goodwill toward him in Ielcata's shy, bowed posture.
It wasn't particularly surprising. Every woman he'd been intimate with in this world had taken a liking to him, great or small.
'In her case, it's amplified by her having chosen me for her first time.'
Hwan-in circled the cemetery with her, speaking to any souls that caught his eye and gathering them at the enshrined shrine where their personal effects were kept.
They cross-checked among themselves to ensure none were missing, ending up with a total of 31 souls.
Looking at the translucent gray souls murmuring with clear self-awareness, he asked Ielcata,
"How many bodies are interred here?"
"498 in the garden plots, and 4,176 enshrined in the halls."
Lukrang funeral customs consisted of sky burial, cremation, or burial.
Of these, the garden plots—outdoor park-like areas—held those with ample wealth but lacking the status or honor to enter the noble district.
The shrine halls functioned like earthly columbaria, for those wealthy enough to live in the central district.
Ielcata explained it could serve as a cemetery for another 300 years, and Hwan-in surveyed the souls.
"...!"
Meeting the gazes of the translucent gray souls staring at him, Hwan-in briefly closed then opened his eyes and spoke.
"As you may have guessed, I am a Soul Shaman. I help souls like you achieve Buddhahood."
"Ooh! A real Soul Shaman!"
"Soul Shaman, please clear my grievance!"
"Please hear me out. I can't achieve Buddhahood with this resentment boiling inside!"
"Quiet."
The souls clamoring to air their grievances fell silent at Hwan-in's sharp gaze and voice, as if trembling.
"I swear on the heavens, if you truly have a grave injustice, I will help however I can. However..."
Raising his left arm and slowly extending his index finger, Hwan-in drew all eyes to its tip as the souls gulped nervously.
"Gasp. What is that?"
"M-Mommy."
"Uh-uh..."
The 35 soul orbs attached to his left arm scattered at once, spinning wildly,
and as three orbs converged at his fingertip into an arrow, the souls shuddered and backed away from Hwan-in.
Perhaps because they were souls themselves, they visibly recoiled in fear at the sight of the soul orbs on his arm.
Coldly regarding them, he continued,
"However, those seeking mere venting or personal gain through distortion and deception, harming the living—such souls will pay the fitting price."
Ping—!
The soul arrow shot like lightning toward the shrine entrance and vanished.
At the overt threat, the souls exchanged uneasy glances—especially those who had been the loudest in demanding to be heard.
'Just as I expected.'
Yesterday, Ielcata had spoken as if all souls were benevolent. But Hwan-in hadn't bought it.
The clearer the consciousness, the more likely they retained their living personality—including the bad traits.
Those buried in the central cemetery were society's upper crust.
Naturally greedier than most, and with their consciousness intact?
Hwan-in had no intention of being used by such types—not even 1g worth. He'd threatened them openly, and as expected, most of the 31 souls gulped repeatedly, staring at him in fear.
Of course, not all were cowed.
A white-haired Inmyo tribeswoman, looking peacefully aged, approached and bowed.
"Soul Shaman. I was an old woman living on Central Street 7 with all my children gone, only my sole bloodline granddaughter for company..."
She explained she'd wanted to stay until her granddaughter married but couldn't overcome her lifespan's limit, leaving the child alone.
"My granddaughter is such a good girl. I worried some bad man might prey on her, so I couldn't achieve Buddhahood and lingered around her..."
Sure enough, she'd witnessed a loathsome man—already an eyesore in life—seducing her granddaughter into becoming not even a concubine, but a mere plaything. She earnestly begged him to at least warn the girl.
Hwan-in borrowed Ielcata's white hooded robe to conceal his face, then led the souls to the house the old woman's soul described.
"G-Grandma...? Grandma!!"
"Child..."
He facilitated their reunion, and once the grandmother received her granddaughter's firm promise to have no ties with the cad, she achieved Buddhahood with a face free of regrets, radiating light right before the girl's eyes.
"Thank you, Soul Shaman. Thank you so much..."
"Your grandmother will watch over you from heaven. Don't feel lonely in this world—live strong."
"Y-Yes...!"
Absorbing the small light orb left behind, Hwan-in led the remaining souls back to the Second Cemetery shrine.
"As you see, if it's something that doesn't violate morals or ethics, I'll help however I can. If anyone still needs aid, step forward and speak."
Did his words lend them courage?
A few souls, intimidated by his show of force earlier, mustered the nerve to approach and speak to him.
"Um, excuse me... I have a request for you too, Soul Shaman..."
"Me too, me too..."
Six hours after entering the cemetery, the 31 souls had dwindled to 13.
Some achieved Buddhahood after conveying words they'd left unsaid in life through Hwan-in.
Tell my lover, who can't forget my death, to move on and be happy.
Thank you for caring for me until my end.
I was happy because you were my husband.
Others passed on knowledge they'd failed to share with family, achieving Buddhahood with relieved expressions.
I lent money to so-and-so; the proof is there. I owe a great debt to thus-and-such; be sure to collect. Treasures are buried here; retrieve them...
Delivering such materialistic requests, Hwan-in extorted "offerings for the souls' peace" from the bereaved under the guise of aiding their rest.
Most bereaved were wealthy, owning multi-story homes or even mansions with servants.
Some families paid willingly at the souls' direct urging, but Hwan-in also directly demanded "refinement fees" to smooth the souls' path to the afterlife.
After sending five souls to Buddhahood this way, he'd collected roughly nine gold coins—a fortune equivalent to 900 million won.
Ielcata, who had followed Hwan-in watching his rituals, was utterly shocked the moment she saw him extort these offerings.
H-How could a Soul Shaman help souls achieve Buddhahood and then take offerings from the bereaved... no, receive compensation?!
To Ielcata, who had only thought to serve society and peace selflessly, such worldly behavior was incomprehensible.
Of course, she kept it to herself.
She believed Hwan-in must have some deeper reasoning she, a foolish non-Soul Shaman, couldn't grasp.
And after witnessing the final category of souls' send-offs, her faith in him only grew stronger.
The last group could be called the pitiful ones.
Souls whose families had fallen into ruin after their deaths, the survivors chased to the common districts.
Unable to ignore their families' suffering, they'd delayed Buddhahood to watch over them—their sole wish being their families' well-being.
Here, Hwan-in pondered deeply.
Nine gold was a large sum, but not enough to bring true peace to those souls' bereaved.
Still, he acted.
The places the souls described were back-alley shantytowns in the common district's worst security zones, so despite the late hour, he fetched Brillit from Ssa's mansion.
Having a professional guard would swiftly deter any riffraff.
Draping Brillit in a white hooded robe as well, Hwan-in visited the first soul's family...
"We need to relocate you first."
He sighed at the corner of the shantytown, thick with nauseating stench and rivulets of sewage.
Shocked by the sight, Brillit replied stiffly,
"...I know a decent inn in the common district. The owner couple is honest, and the guests are respectable enough. As a common inn, the rates aren't high."
"We'll go there. Follow me."
The gaunt survivors, terrified by these midnight visitors, grew even more frightened when Hwan-in cast Soul Possession, but they trailed fearfully behind him.
A bone-thin elderly woman, two women in their mid-to-late 30s who still had some flesh, and finally a early-20s man missing his left arm from the shoulder.
En route, he learned the women were actually 24 but looked aged from hardship.
Their work: selling their bodies.
For mere scraps of iron coins. Shoving this four-person family into the inn Brillit recommended, Hwan-in prepaid for two rooms for 10 days—10 dong coins.
'Prices vary wildly. One night at Olts Hotel equals 100 days here.'
The next soul's family was in similar straits, so he housed them there too.
The third soul's family lived somewhat ordinarily in a log cabin, with two sons keeping things afloat. Seeing their deceased husband and father, they wept and wailed.
Why leave us behind to die alone? What shame brings you back now?
After a sea of tears, they finally noticed Hwan-in, stifled their sobs, and spoke hoarsely.
"You fool... So that's why you wouldn't achieve Buddhahood and kept circling us?"
"I'm sorry... Truly, I'm so sorry..."
"Enough. What can we say to a dead man... Don't burden the honorable Soul Shaman anymore—just go achieve Buddhahood. We've adapted here and lived our share; we'll follow when our time comes..."
"All I can say is sorry... I'm so sorry..."
The soul, no longer reproached, apologized with regret-filled voice to his hollow wife and weeping children, dissolving into pale light amid a few tears.
He'd hoped his family would find peace, but seeing the horrific straits of the prior two families had sparked relative contentment, letting him go.
The family, watching, shed quiet tears, holding back sobs.
He was their husband and father, after all. At least guided by a Soul Shaman to Buddhahood, entry to the Garden of Gods shouldn't be hard—they took solace in that.
"Madam."
"Y-Yes, Soul Shaman."
"Take this. It's your husband's final wish."
He placed five silver yin coins in her palm, aged beyond her years.
The woman and family gaped at the 50 million won windfall.
Enough to open a small street shop.
"Daytalk is heard by birds, nighttalk by rats. Use it wisely so greedy eyes don't target you."
"Y-Yes, we'll heed your words, Soul Shaman. Thank you, so much..."
The wife bowed repeatedly, tears streaming.
Thus, Hwan-in supported those needing treatment with medical fees, the diligently struggling with modest funds, and both where needed—then returned to the Second Cemetery, sighing as he removed his hood.
Handing back the robe, Ielcata was moved.
To think he'd distribute the offerings from the wealthy to aid the needy, gifting them peace.
Missing her awe, Hwan-in addressed Brillit, who gazed at her with admiration.
"The first and second souls' families seem unable to adapt here, so suggesting relocation to a village might be best. I can cover moving costs—could you ask Ssa's intentions?"
"I'll speak to him right away. Master will surely help you, Hwan-in."
"I appreciate it."
Excluding the 13 hesitant ones, Hwan-in had sent off 18 souls to Buddhahood: 3 ordinary, 5 greedy, 10 pitiful.
To the rest, he said,
"You each have your own grievances, no doubt. But you are the dead. You have neither right nor duty to interfere in the living's lives."
"...!"
"...!"
Perhaps shocked by the 10 pitiful cases among the 18? The 13 souls averted their eyes, silent.
"Don't cling to regrets or grudges so deeply. They will only lead you to become vengeful spirits."
At "vengeful spirits," their expressions darkened.
Fitting for those seeking selfish gains even in death—they were sensitive to such warnings.
"You're right... Even I think it was forced."
A plump Indon tribesman muttered with a look of release, enveloped in faint light, ascending as sparkling dust.
"The dead are dead, the living live—that's it, huh..."
The neighboring In'gyeon tribesman followed with an enlightened face, then eight more achieved Buddhahood.
The remaining three showed no sign of departing or speaking up.
Save one.
"Um, Soul Shaman. What should I do?"
The Inho tribesman Helmar Bere—the only one whose soul had stirred unease on first sight.