Chapter 15
Was the word proposal always something people tossed around so casually?
“……”
It had been spoken without shame or responsibility—just blurted out. So feeling shaken by it was ridiculous.
And yet…
Tap—!
Ian chose to cover his ears instead and kicked off the ground, leaping high into the air. His bird-like ascent left the villagers with their mouths hanging open.
Swoosh—!
When Ian swung his dagger, slicing through the air, the wind roared.
“I swear something flashed in front of my eyes.”
“Since when can a man’s hand make the wind howl like that?”
“He’s better than our village chief swinging around like that.”
Still blinking in disbelief, the villagers finally snapped out of it and praised Ian.
Calicia and Ian safely joined the subjugation party and followed the villagers up the mountain. After showing off his dagger skills, Ian seemed strangely puffed up, taking the lead with his axe.
“U-ugh… why is my body shaking like this?”
As they climbed, Calicia frowned deeply. A sudden wave of terrible anxiety washed over her.
Her heart pounded wildly, her skin tingled sharply. She inhaled deeply, clenching and unclenching her trembling hands.
Each time she blinked, she saw two pairs of blood-weeping eyes lingering like afterimages.
“Ah, seriously! Who is it!”
Calicia snapped irritably without meaning to and scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes. The guilt, fear, and dread crushing her weren’t her own.
Her red eyes darted rapidly across the group. She had to figure out who she was resonating with.
“You!”
Without pause, she lunged forward, leaping up the slope and grabbing a man’s arm. The one called “Speckle,” known for the large blotches on his face.
“Your hand!”
Her fiery voice rang out as she flipped his hand over sharply.
“W-what the—!”
Speckle flailed, trying to pull free, but his strength kept draining for some reason.
“Haven’t your dreams been violent lately?”
Calicia stared straight into his eyes with a chilling aura.
“W-what are you talking abou—”
“Two pairs of eyes crying blood.”
Speckle’s body shook uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face.
“It’s you. You’re the one who struck the guardian totem with an axe.”
Her cold gaze froze on his palm, filled with torn, wounded skin.
— Please! Please! Someone save me! I swear I don’t remember anything!
After sending the sobbing, hysterical Speckle back to the village, Calicia resumed the climb.
“But sirs, isn’t it rare for an entire village to be attacked by a tiger spirit?”
Crossing the rough middle slope of the mountain, she asked the men.
“Normally, yes.”
“Then what grudge does the tiger here have to go this far?”
“You mean you haven’t heard?”
One of the men stared at her, baffled.
“What rumor?”
“The mugwort field.”
“The… mugwort field?”
Calicia scrunched her nose, clearly confused. The men let out groans.
“Figured you knew nothing the moment you didn’t react when we found the dead tiger-hunter. You really never heard? In this tiger-cursed village, there’s said to be a miraculous mugwort that can revive the dead.”
“Mugwort that brings back the dead?”
“Well… that’s what they say. Some all-curing miracle herb. But it’s all nonsense.”
The man scoffed angrily, clenching his fist.
“If it’s not a miracle cure, then what is it?”
“That mugwort kills people. The damned tigers drag humans here and use them as fertilizer!”
The man, neck flushed red with fury, slammed his spear into the dirt.
[ Keywords Met ]
Boom—
Clack!
A drum sounded in the sky, and a long scroll unfurled again.
[ Chapter 2: The Mugwort Field of the Abandoned Tiger Clan ]
※ Dangun Myth
Long ago, Hwanung descended from the heavens and said to a bear and a tiger…
Enter a dark cave and endure for one hundred days, eating only twenty cloves of garlic and a handful of mugwort, and you shall become human.
But the tiger could not endure even a few days and ran out of the cave.
Thus, the bear became human, and the tiger remained a beast.
》This mugwort field was created by the tiger clan, who never let go of their obsession with becoming human.
A chang-gwi (ghost formed from someone eaten by a tiger) now tends it.
□ Mission: Harvest mugwort while avoiding the chang-gwi
■ Reward: “Rebirth Mugwort” medicine
Removes all current ailments (high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, lung disease, etc…)
× Failure: Permanent employment at the mugwort field
Calicia and Ian calmly examined the scroll.
“Heart disease.”
“Heart disease!”
They stared at each other when they read the word.
“Rakies. I think that rebirth medicine might heal my heart.”
Boom—
Clack!
The drum sounded again, and the world flickered black. In the instant they blinked, the mountainside became the peak.
— How unfair! How outrageous! How can mere mugwort and garlic block the path of this mountain lord? Bah! I need neither heaven nor Hwanung!
A shrill voice echoed across the mountain as a vast mugwort field spread before them.
“…T-the chang-gwi!”
At the axe’s warning, everyone quickly hid behind rocks and trees. Wandering the field was a chang-gwi, its chest brutally torn open.
— Kuh… kuh—
Its long, loose hair and shredded, blood-soaked body dripped with gore from countless bites. The spirit drooled dark saliva as it stared at the arms and legs sticking out of the field.
“Ugh!”
“Mm—!”
The villagers stifled their cries, trembling. Even worse than the sight was the stench—a sickening rot that burned the nose. They held back vomit as tears streamed down.
“Heh… heh.”
Between their frightened whimpers came a strange laugh. Ian turned sharply toward it.
Calicia, head lowered, shoulders shaking, was grinning ear-to-ear. The thought of finally curing her heart filled her with uncontrollable joy.
“……”
Ian saw her expression and quietly stepped back.
“Rakies. I’ll take the chang-gwi. Cover me from behind. If a tiger appears, you have to fight it.”
Calicia rolled up her sleeves, still glowing with excitement.
“No.”
A long arm suddenly barred her way.
“I’ll handle it. You stay back.”
Ian drew his weapon, full of knightly determination.
“Ha! You stay back. Ghost-slayer.”
Calicia scoffed, blocking his view. If he got possessed by the chang-gwi, it’d be a disaster.
“Don’t you remember getting beaten by me in the bushes last time? Leave the scary ghost to this big sister. You just rest.”
Ignoring the offended, speechless Ian, Calicia charged across the mugwort field. For unruly ghosts, fists were the best cure.
Tap-tap-tap!
She sprinted forward at full speed, raising her arm high. Cool wind rippled through her hair, and her sweet dream flashed before her eyes—
—kneeling chang-gwi before her, mugwort in her hands, and then her new heart blasting flames.
No more worrying about turning into roast chicken.
“This is it!”
Whoosh!
Her dream-filled fist cut through the air.
But—
The moment she swung—
Instead of impact, she heard only air being sliced. Her fist passed straight through the chang-gwi as if hitting nothing at all, dropping limply.
“Huh…?”
Completely off-balance, Calicia toppled straight into the mugwort field.
