Thought She Was an Alchemist, Turns Out She's a Dokkaebi (2)

Hwarang turned the Sky Lily over in her hand, tilting her head. "This is a Sky Lily, all right. The quality's excellent, but what exactly are you planning to do with it? For a diffuser, you'd be better off going to an actual perfumer than me."

Seolhwa spoke up. "Brew me an elixir that can raise mana sensitivity. This Sky Lily is going to be one of its key ingredients."

Then she added with a smile, "And it's one of the ingredients in the medicine that can save your grandmother, too."

The moment the words left her mouth, Hwarang had a fistful of Seolhwa's collar. "Where the hell did you hear about that?"

"I told you — it's a secret. Besides, I didn't lie."

Hwarang's eyes glowed a faint blue, and a few seconds passed. Seolhwa's words, it turned out, had been no lie.

"Even if that's true, there's still a problem. I don't know the formula."

She let go of the collar and sank back into her chair.

"The formula's the part I already know. And I came to you because you're the only one who can make it."

"I'm the only one?"

"That's right. Think of it as the power of the King of Chimimoryo."

The moment Seolhwa said it, a blue flame drifted over from across the room. It circled Seolhwa once, twice, taking her measure — and then eyes and a mouth bloomed open on its surface.

A voice rolled out of it. "Cheeky little thing, aren't you, child. Calling my name twice, no less."

Seolhwa bowed her head and spoke with perfect courtesy. "Lord of mountains and rocks, of houses and vessels, of stones and trees, of rivers and ponds — I bow before the King of Chimimoryo."

The blue flame swayed, its strangely split mouth curving into a grin. "Hmm. These days humans are too busy either forgetting me or writing me off as some minor god. You're a surprisingly well-mannered one, aren't you."

"Bi-bi?"

"And then there's the fact that you've never once let my contractor come to harm. Not to mention the skill it took to force your way into my domain."

The flame circled Seolhwa round and round before breaking into laughter. "Well then. Time for a proper introduction. I am the King of Chimimoryo. Biyeong."

"Bi-bi! What are you doing dropping that on us out of nowhere?!"

Hwarang grabbed the flame and set it down on her knee. "It's fine. I doubt this one goes around blabbing. Besides, she smells similar to me."

"Similar smell?"

"The aura of another constellation, I'd say. Though it's awfully faint."

At that, Seolhwa pulled Aurora out of her inventory and held it up for all to see.

Biyeong drifted around the weapon for a long look, then spoke. "So that's what I sensed from this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bow."

"Yes. It's something I received from the Goddess."

"Judging by the scent, I'd say it's a piece from the Roman side."

With that, the flame began circling Seolhwa once more. "Your hair and your eyes must have come under her influence as well."

"Biyeong. That's enough."

At Hwarang's scolding, the flame giggled and drifted back to her side. "If my contractor insists, I suppose I'll behave. Now then — what exactly is it that this child can make?"

Seolhwa pointed at the Sky Lily resting on the table. "An elixir that permanently raises mana sensitivity."

"What?!"

The viewers and Hwarang reacted in much the same way. Only Biyeong stayed composed, pressing on. "An elixir that raises mana sensitivity, you say. Elaborate."

Seolhwa took a breath and looked at Hwarang.

Think of this as a gift from your future self — to you.

Then she continued. "The Sky Lily has the effect of amplifying the properties of other ingredients. It also helps them be extracted in an even purer form."

As she spoke, she brushed her fingers over the flower's petals.

"So raising the purity of the ingredients lets them produce a stronger effect — that's what you're saying?"

"That's the idea."

"Then we've got a problem. I get that those petals are the core material. But I don't know the recipe for an elixir that raises mana ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sensitivity. Not the ingredients, not the dosage."

It was a fair point. But Seolhwa happened to have one thing Hwarang didn't — the recipe itself.

"You do know the ingredients for a high-grade mana potion, right?"

"Obviously."

"To that, add Sky Lily extract and one Udumbara."

Hwarang shot to her feet. "Hey! Where the hell am I supposed to get an Udumbara?!"

Seolhwa looked at her calmly. "You already know where they grow. You've just never been able to bring one back, because it's too dangerous."

Hwarang's expression hardened. "How do you know about that too...?" She was staring at Seolhwa now like the woman genuinely frightened her. "So you do know, then."

Seolhwa met her gaze evenly. "I'll bring you the Udumbara. And you brew the elixir. See? A simple contract."

A flush of excitement crossed Hwarang's face — then hardened into something serious. "How am I supposed to trust you enough to hand you something like that!"

Seolhwa answered as if she'd been expecting exactly this. "If you can't trust me, there's one way to settle it. We'll proceed with a dokkaebi contract."

"A dokkaebi contract?"

Biyeong burst out laughing, loud enough to rattle the walls. "Hahahaha!! A dokkaebi contract, no less. You really aren't right in the head, are you."

"Bi-bi. What's a dokkaebi contract?"

Hwarang sounded as though she'd never heard of it in her life.

So she doesn't know yet, huh.

Seolhwa explained. "Countless tales have been passed down about the dokkaebi. Among them is this one: a dokkaebi always, without fail, keeps a promise made to a human. And standing before us right now is the King of Dokkaebi himself. The weight of that is beyond imagination."

"Mm. Quite right."

Biyeong nodded along, then went on. "But what happens when the human fails to keep the promise?"

The instant the words landed, the air in the workshop grew heavy. Objects trembled on their shelves, and Biyeong's flame began to swell.

Even under that crushing pressure, Seolhwa's voice stayed perfectly steady. "Then you lose your life to the dokkaebi."

The moment she finished, the air pressing down on her returned to normal.

"Well, well. You know your lore."

"So? Can you trust me now?"

Hwarang mulled it over for a moment, then made up her mind. "Fine. I'll take the deal. In exchange, you take me into the gate with you. I'm the only one who knows the location. Bi-bi, I'm counting on you."

"Understood, Contractor."

At that instant, the blue flame burst apart with a pop — and where it had been stood a strikingly handsome young man with hair the same sky-blue as Hwarang's, dressed in an ornate hanbok.

Biyeong rapped his dokkaebi club against the floor, and with another pop a single sheet of paper materialized in the air. "I, Biyeong, King of Chimimoryo, hereby commence the dokkaebi contract."

His voice — clear and full of quiet majesty — rang through the workshop. On the floating page, red characters were inscribing themselves one by one, unbidden.

"Sign."

At Biyeong's gesture, the paper flew to Seolhwa. The terms were brutal, but she didn't hesitate — she bit down on her fingertip and drew blood.

The moment she pressed her thumbprint to the page, the paper burst into blue flame and burned away, leaving a small gate-shaped mark etched into both women's wrists.

"The contract is sealed."

Biyeong swung the club again, and his form scattered like smoke, settling back into the familiar shape of a blue flame.

"Shall we set out right away? Or do you need time?"

"No — better to go now. The Udumbara's blooming period is extremely short. Miss this window, and who knows when the next one comes."

Hwarang hurried to pack her things. Potions and tools of every kind vanished into her bag in a blur, and then she fished one more item out from a corner — a club, nearly identical to the one Biyeong carried.

"Is that really enough gear?"

"As if. Bi-bi."

At her call, the blue flame began reshaping Hwarang's hoodie. When it finished, she stood dressed in a hanbok much like Biyeong's — the only difference being the tiny miniature of a Joseon-era constable's hat perched atop her head.

Exactly like back then.

The image of Hwarang as she'd been known in her memories — the one they'd called a dokkaebi — had been brought back to life before Seolhwa's eyes.

"Let's go."

When the two of them stepped out of the workshop, night had already fallen outside, and Biyeong's blue flame lit the path ahead of them.

"So where's the destination?"

"Deep in the Bukhansan mountains. There's a gate out there where a gate break has never once occurred — and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you can clear it without ever fighting the boss."

Seolhwa nodded along. It was a place she'd cleared with her once before, long ago. And so she called her by that old name.

"Well then — I'm counting on you, dokkaebi."