SDG 54

Chapter 54

Honestly, I hadn’t expected much when I said it.
I’d never even heard of a reaper actually fighting someone hand-to-hand.

After all, for a human to pick a fight with a reaper was something close to impossible.
Naturally, a reaper possessed the ability to subdue ordinary souls—or even living people with souls—at will.

It was a kind of divine power, something close to a god’s authority: they could immobilize one’s soul or even make one lose consciousness with just a word.
Especially when dealing with the living or the newly dead, that power was said to be absolute.
It was an immutable law created so that the dead could be guided to the underworld without incident.

On the other hand, that power was said to be limited against abnormal spirits like the corpse giant Taeryeok had just defeated.
That was why Taeryeok had to fight and subdue the thing with his own strength.

Anyway, I’d assumed Taeryeok would simply ignore my challenge—
Anyone could see I was being unreasonable.

But to my surprise, Taeryeok accepted it readily.

“If that’s what it takes for you to accept my apology, then so be it.”

At that moment, I could sense it clearly—
Right now, Taeryeok wasn’t acting as a reaper. He was burning with the fighting spirit of a martial artist.
Apparently, this reaper was quite different from the others.

Not that I minded. For me, that was a good thing.

“Then let’s begin right away.”

I raised my hand and beckoned him provocatively.
But contrary to my words, Taeryeok didn’t take any stance at all.
He simply smiled and said,

“I have something I must take care of first. Let’s postpone this for another time.”

He pointed toward Yeomwang Chaeju, Doosan Baek, and the evil spirits that had been reduced from corpse giants.
Ironically, Yeomwang Chaeju and Doosan Baek were just then attempting to flee.

“D–damn, we’re caught.”
“Run for it!”

I shook my head as I watched them take off despite being discovered.
Had they eaten their age through their rear ends or something?
How could they be that stupid?

“They don’t honestly think they can escape, do they?”

If that were possible, the world would’ve long since become a ghost-infested mess.

A sigh was all it took. That much time was enough for the reapers to catch them.

“Stop fooling around and come back quietly.”

That single sentence was all Taeryeok said.

“Ghk!”
“M–my body’s moving on its own!”

Yeomwang Chaeju and Doosan Baek, who had been running for their lives, suddenly froze, turned around, and started walking back.
They struggled desperately to resist, but it was useless.

As I said before, in such situations, the reaper’s power was absolute.

Just as that minor issue was resolved—

Tsk!

A tongue-click sounded beside me.
I turned my head to see Saheun, wearing a look of disapproval.

Then, out of nowhere, Saheun looked at me and made a rather unexpected request.

“Young Master, may I step away for a short while? It seems I’ll need to personally escort those two to the underworld. It won’t take long.”

It wasn’t a difficult request to grant.
And I could roughly guess why Saheun was asking this.

So I readily agreed.

“Go ahead.”
“My thanks.”

After bowing in gratitude, Saheun turned to Taeryeok.

“I’ll handle these pieces of trash. I leave the rest to you.”

He was referring to the still-immobilized evil spirits.
That was why he’d volunteered to take on the task.

“The longer we delay, the worse it’ll be for them. You said you’d advocate for them—see that you keep your word.”

Taeryeok nodded.

“That’s why I postponed my duel with Young Master Geum in the first place. Don’t worry.”

So that’s why he suddenly backed out?
In that case, I couldn’t really insist.

“You seem busy, so let’s meet again next time. We’ll have our match then.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
“It’s nothing worth thanking me for.”

And with that, I sent Taeryeok back to the underworld.

Before Saheun left, he gave me one final word of caution.

“I’ll return as quickly as I can. Until then, stay alert and keep yourself safe.”

For the time being, I was safe—both myself and the Geum Merchant Guild.
It was an unnecessary concern, but I nodded anyway.
Better he leave with peace of mind.

Once Saheun departed, the cave felt eerily empty.
Other than myself, only corpses remained.
I was used to such things, but still, I didn’t feel like staying any longer.

“Time to head back… though before that, maybe I should check out the place Yeomwang Chaeju mentioned.”

Just as I was about to leave the cave, I stopped at the entrance.
I’d changed my mind.

“Better erase any traces before I go.”

I hadn’t left anything obvious behind, but one could never be too careful.
There were plenty in this world skilled in tracking beyond my imagination.

So I went back up, fetched some torches and oil, and set the place ablaze.
That still felt insufficient, so I collapsed the cave entirely and set fire to the mountain stronghold as well.

“That should make me untraceable.”

Now I could leave with an easy heart.

With a lighter step, I headed toward the mountain Yeomwang Chaeju had mentioned.
It was still some time before dawn.

By the time I arrived at the Geum Merchant Guild, carrying the large wooden chest Yeomwang Chaeju had hidden beneath the twin rocks of the neighboring mountain, the sun was already high overhead.
It wasn’t that the chest was particularly heavy—
I’d simply taken my time, no longer needing to hurry like before when I was chasing Saheun.

As a result, my plan to slip out unnoticed had failed, but it wasn’t all bad.
Because inside the chest was something I hadn’t expected.

A pair of gloves.

They were so thin they were almost invisible, so I named them Formless Shackles.
Despite their appearance, they were durable enough to contain divine power.

That alone was impressive, but there was more.

“…I want to…”

The Formless Shackles whispered. They didn’t say what they wanted to do—just that they wanted to.

Like the Myeolak Divine Sword back when it was still called the Gray Blade, these gloves possessed self-awareness.
That meant they were on the verge of awakening as a divine artifact.

“Seems like I could awaken you right away if I tried.”

But after some thought, I decided to postpone that.
I wasn’t about to recklessly awaken just any item.

“At the very least, I should know what kind of personality you have.”

The first impression wasn’t bad, but that alone didn’t mean much.
To avoid mistakes, some degree of mutual understanding was necessary.
And that understanding would naturally develop through use.

So, I decided not to rush it.

“I’ll listen to what you want—slowly, in time.”

They were comfortable to wear, so I kept them on.

After turning my gaze from the gloves, I looked back at the wooden chest.
It was smaller than I’d imagined—about the size of a large pumpkin.
But its contents were far from lacking.

“Just the promissory notes add up to about three hundred thousand silver nyang.”

The rest of the space was filled with gems—only the finest ones, it seemed.
Their value was at least equal to the notes, if not higher.
Including the Formless Shackles, it was quite the windfall.

All thanks to Yeomwang Chaeju—but I saw no reason to thank a bandit.

“I’ll put this to good use.”

If I used it to save the world, he’d have no right to complain.
Then again, being a bandit, he’d probably complain anyway.

I chuckled and stood up.
Covered in dust from the bandits’ den, I needed a bath and a change of clothes.

That meant delaying a previously postponed meeting even further.

When I stepped outside, a familiar gravestone and a purple tiger awaited me.

“You’ve returned safely, I see.”

The tiger—once white, now purple—answered politely.

“Thanks to your consideration, Master, I managed to finish everything, more or less.”

Master, huh.
The sudden title didn’t surprise me; I’d expected this development.

More importantly—he’d clearly achieved something significant.
Though only a few days had passed, Baekho’s Purple Spirit Technique had reached maturity.
His divine power had grown substantially too—almost as if he’d encountered a fortuitous chance.

Whatever had happened, it was something worth congratulating.

“Congratulations. I can’t compare it to before, but it’s good to see you’ve regained so much strength.”

I expected him to thank me, and then we’d move on to another topic—
Like that gravestone he’d brought back from the Hall of Longevity.

But instead of thanks, Baekho said something unexpected.

“In fact, that’s what I wished to discuss with you.”
“You mean your increase in divine power?”
“Yes.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because I found and consumed a spirit herb I’d long been seeking.”

I wasn’t particularly surprised.
Judging by his newfound strength, I’d already guessed as much.

“So that’s why you rushed back to the Hall of Longevity.”

My gaze drifted toward the gravestone.
Though I hadn’t looked inside, I figured that was where the herb had been stored.

“A spirit herb powerful enough to enhance divine energy must’ve been quite rare.”

Finding and consuming such an herb was sheer good fortune.
Feeling that my earlier congratulations had been insufficient, I was about to say more—

But Baekho spoke first.

“The problem came afterward.”
“A problem? What kind?”

Had something gone wrong during the consumption process?
It didn’t seem that way.

And sure enough, that wasn’t what he meant.

“After I ate the herb and was about to leave…”
“Yes?”
“…I found another one across from it. One even older and stronger than the one I ate—at least two or three times its potency.”

That was a problem.
A very big one.