Chapter 16
“Ugh—! Eek!”
Kalisia barely managed to regain her balance in a ridiculous posture.
“…Resting, my ass.”
Ian lifted one corner of his mouth and nodded slowly.
“I’m just in bad condition, that’s all. Condition!”
Letting out a dry laugh, Kalisia rotated her wrists.
“Wood-East-Three-Fork-Exorcising-Spirit, Wood-South-Three-Fork-Exorcising-Spirit, Wood-West…”
Her momentary panic ended quickly, and she recited the exorcising mantra again, pulling up her divine power. In her blazing red eyes, a faint blue glow of spiritual power began to appear once more.
“Here I go.”
Grinding her teeth, Kalisia charged toward the chang-gwi. The blue light wrapped around her small fist struck its mouth, smeared black with poisonous saliva.
“It worked…!”
But the moment she raised her voice, her body pitched forward. Her fist had passed clean through the chang-gwi once again. She bit her lip hard.
—KIEEEEEEH!
The chang-gwi, which had been silently watching her, shrieked with an ear-splitting wail.
Buzz—!
Shoved backward by an invisible wave, she spewed bright red nosebleed.
I’m screwed.
Kalisia wiped the blood with her sleeve. Just because she felt excited about fixing her heart didn’t mean she should’ve run into a place full of mugwort and monsters alone.
Damn it… If I can just get out of this field, I might manage something.
Working her brain desperately, Kalisia bit her pinky finger with her canine. The soft flesh tore with a crunch, blood welling up quickly.
Enduring the sting, she used her bleeding finger to draw a quick symbol on her chest. It was only temporary, but it would blind the chang-gwi for a short time.
Hey!
Creating an escape window, Kalisia slightly turned her head and met Ian’s eyes.
Ret. Reat.
She mouthed the words, executing her best ventriloquism to signal a tactical retreat.
Idiot?
Re. Treat!!
But such everyday slang was far too low-brow for a noble young master to know. Ian scrunched his brows, gave up on deciphering her message, and drew an X with his arms.
RETREAT! RETREAT! RETREAT, YOU MORON!
Watching the chang-gwi’s movements carefully, Kalisia mimed running by tucking her arms against her sides.
“Run?”
Wincing one eye, Ian finally understood and began waking the terrified villagers one by one.
“….”
Holding her breath, Kalisia slowly backed away while tracking the creature’s attention.
One step… two steps… three—
“Ah, shit!”
Her foot suddenly plunged into the mugwort bed beneath her. A rotten corpse collapsed under her weight, causing her to scream.
—KIEEEEEEEH!
Seeing its trampled mugwort, the chang-gwi shrieked madly. Kalisia tried to lift her trapped foot to escape.
“Come on! Damn it!”
Her leg wouldn’t budge. The hem of her dress had gotten pulled inward and was holding her in place.
“RUN!”
Kalisia finally gave up on pulling her foot free and shouted at Ian and the subjugation squad. Her cry sent everyone sprinting forward. Coughs and sobs filled the air, turning everything chaotic.
—Ki…kik… How shall I kill you, kill you… under the Mountain Lord’s claw…
But Kalisia’s situation was even worse. She was now dead center in the mugwort field, the chang-gwi’s full attention locked on her.
“East-Blue-Guardian, South-Red-Guardian, West-White-Guardian…”
Covering both ears tightly, she recited the exorcising chant nonstop. Her lips moved frantically while her mind raced even faster to survive.
WHOOSH—!
“Aah!”
With a rush of air, Kalisia’s thin body was lifted off the ground. Strong arms, veined hands—within an instant, she landed in Ian’s arms, her face stunned.
“Dung-for-brains, you…”
“Hold tight.”
Ian warned her in a low voice as he bolted forward at a terrifying speed.
—
Who knew how long it had been—
“Upper-Heaven-Palace, Lower-Heaven-Court, Clear-and-Pure—blegh!”
Kalisia, who’d been chanting nonstop so Ian wouldn’t be bewitched by the chang-gwi, gagged violently.
“S-stop! S-stop now! No more chanting! I’m done!”
Pale as a sheet, she smacked Ian’s chest repeatedly. She was about to throw up from being carried at such insane speed.
“Put me… down! Nngh—now! Quick!”
Once freed from his arms, she sprawled flat on the ground with a groan.
“Thanks to you, I had a good rest. Ballus.”
Ian lifted his chin slightly as he looked down at the exhausted Kalisia.
A humble meal, just red bean porridge with no side dishes. Ignoring the table, Kalisia lay on the wooden floor of the cottage, staring intently at her hand. Her blue divine power rippled as usual.
Then why isn’t it working?
She wanted to tear her hair out. The spells and talismans worked fine, yet the “beating with love” method had completely lost its effectiveness.
Is divine power unusable in this story? No… the power itself feels the same.
Rolling onto her side, she shook her head. Talismans or fists—she was using the same divine power either way.
I definitely released my power properly. Then what? Could it be… the story prevents characters from being affected by too much outside force? Or maybe the narrative itself demands a certain flow or method…?
Gnawing her nail, she spiraled deeper into thought. Did the rules of this tale apply to all outsiders? If so, how useful were Ian and herself, really?
He practically flew down the mountain earlier, so simple magic seems allowed… God, if only I could beat up just ONE person using my ability.
Sigh… whatever it is, tonight is the real problem.
Tilting her head back, she moved her eyes rapidly. She had two enemies to deal with tonight—the tiger and the chang-gwi. The only usable spiritual tools were…
The jangseung totems. If she couldn’t use strong divine power, then she’d borrow strength from within the story. And also—
“Ugh! I’m starving!”
Her brain felt like it would explode from thinking. She shot upright and grabbed her spoon. She’d burned through all her blood sugar.
“Koreans live on rice, damn it…”
Muttering complaints, she began devouring the red bean porridge like a soldier preparing for war. She had mountains of work to finish before nightfall if she wanted to live.
“Eat this too! Delicious!”
Talking with her mouth full, she pushed the porridge toward Ian. The more she chewed, the nuttier it tasted.
“Swallow before you speak. Didn’t Ballus teach you table manners?”
Ian grimaced at her muffled speech.
“Gulp! Just eat quickly!”
“…I’ve lost my appetite because of you.”
Frowning, Ian set his spoon down quietly.
“Twelve-guardian-purification, twenty-eight-direction-purification…”
Chanting to drive off impurities, Kalisia sprinkled salt gently over the members of the subjugation team. In a place like Tiger Disaster Village, salt was as precious as blood.
“Even fish gets more salt than this. You sure this’ll really cleanse bad luck?”
“You didn’t see her fortune-telling earlier? Scary how accurate she was.”
The men whispered, sneaking glances at Kalisia. The neighbor’s drowned dog, another family’s child dead from a jar falling, a boy who died young from mysterious fever—
Just by seeing someone’s face, she could list their entire family misfortune. It was terrifyingly accurate.
“You, Mr. Spots over there—come here for a moment.”
At her call, the freckled man flinched. Obviously because he had something on his conscience.
“W-why me…?”
“You’re going to chop or fetch some wood immediately and carve a small jangseung totem. About this size.”
She spread her hand one span wide.
“O-okay… but I’ve never carved anything before…”
“That’s fine. As long as it’s recognizable. What matters is that you carve it with your own hands.”
Summoning back a departed guardian spirit wasn’t easy. Thankfully, the village’s jangseung spirit hadn’t left yet.
“After carving it, fill a jar with clean water. Then drop one drop of your blood into it.”
“M-my blood?”
“Pretend you’ve got indigestion and prick your finger with a needle. Then submerge the jangseung in that water.”
I’ll handle the rest.
Comforting the frightened freckled man, Kalisia left the area.
