Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Episode 18: Suspicious Bodyguards (3)

-Bang.

“What on earth is going on?”

“You’re back? I didn’t hear a car. Did you walk here?”

“Welcome back!”

“No, I’m back, but... what are you doing right now? And what in the world is this energy?”

“Heh heh, incredible, isn’t it? I taught her. Look at this. I only explained it roughly, but the divine power Ria is releasing reaches all the way to the Celestial Realm! At this level, ordinary monsters won’t even dare come near.”

“If I just clench and open my hands like this, it gets really bright!”

She bragged with such an utterly innocent expression that I nearly praised her without thinking. Just as expected, Ria was the culprit(?) behind this whole mess. More precisely, the Elder who had taught her to do this seemed like the greater problem, but now was not the time to argue about that.

“Good grief, it’s chaos outside because of that right now.”

“Hm? Unless divine power resides in someone’s body, they can’t even sense divine power. What kind of chaos?”

“I don’t know the details either. Ria, hurry and release that first.”

“Okay!”

-Whoooosh.

When Ria waved her hands around at the mysterious pattern floating over her head, the blue light pouring out in every direction was drawn back into her body.

“But what do you mean it’s chaos outside?”

“Don’t even ask. Everyone is coming here looking half dead.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know either. Now that the energy is gone, they’ll probably come in soon.”

They did not seem like bad people. If they were, the ring made of divine stone would have reacted first.

Sure enough, no sooner had I finished speaking than a woman wearing a hat decorated with peacock feathers and a man in a leather jacket came running into the coffeehouse.

“Pant, pant, first place! W-We’re first! No, wait. One, two, three... fourth place, damn it!”

“Pant, pant... I think my heart’s going to burst.”

“Hm? Aren’t you lot under that raccoon dog?”

“N-N-Nine-tailed fox Elder?”

“You know them?”

“They are the ones who guard the Divine Tree on Mount Gyeryong. When the raccoon dog leaves the Divine Tree unattended, these people guard it.”

“So that’s what happened. Anyway, Elder, please conceal your energy too. Can’t you see how uncomfortable they are?”

“Ah, my divine power is simply so great that some of it inevitably leaks out!”

“Stop lying. You can do it, but you’re just too lazy, aren’t you? If anyone here faints, it’ll all be your fault. Hurry and rein it in. I’ll go outside with Ria and check whether anyone has collapsed.”

“Damn it, those sharp eyes of yours make it impossible to fool you. Fine, you brat.”

And so, without even getting a chance to change clothes, I went back outside and spent quite some time awkwardly directing traffic.

____________

(What the hell! Why is the nine-tailed fox Elder here!)

(How should I know?)

(You must’ve heard something from the Mountain God!)

(He just said he was worried about the Divine Tree, so I came running!)

The shamans sitting in small groups at each table were in the same situation as the first two who had arrived.

Those who had followed without knowing why were busy complaining, while the shamans who had personally heard the Mountain God’s words on Mount Gyeryong were equally busy protesting their innocence.

(Is that person really the nine-tailed fox Elder?)

(...)

(...)

At the ridiculous question, the two silently looked at the innocent shaman seated at their table.

(I only received my divine calling recently...)

(Yes. Just like the Mountain God, he is a divine beast who has lived since before the Three Kingdoms period.)

(Then isn’t he a good person? Why is everyone trembling like this?)

(Well, that is true, but he doesn’t particularly like humans. If there’s a sinful soul, he sometimes erases it before it can even reach King Yama. If you get on his bad side, just—slice.)

The Haedong Divine Maiden made a small throat-cutting gesture with the edge of her hand, visible only to the innocent shaman at their table.

“Hic!”

Only then did the shaman realize what sort of place she had come to, and she hiccupped without meaning to.

In the eyes of sacred beings, they were already little different from sinners.

Borrowing the power of Heaven to steal glimpses of heavenly secrets.

And coveting wealth in exchange for revealing the heavenly secrets they had seen.

Both were grave sins.

That was why even their justification for guarding the Divine Tree was not entirely pure.

They did it to accumulate good deeds somehow and reduce their karma, even if only a little.

And today, they had even come running in hopes of receiving a sacred object from the guardian of the new Divine Tree.

Besides, even without hearing of the nine-tailed fox monster’s infamous reputation firsthand, the legends surrounding him were already terrifying.

Wasn’t the most famous story about him eating human livers?

For these people, struggling against overwhelming divine power as they ran toward the coffeehouse had almost been preferable.

At least then, their lives had not seemed to hang by a thread.

(But that person who just went outside was scolding the nine-tailed fox Elder like crazy. Then just how much more incredible is he?)

This time, no answer came from the Haedong Divine Maiden.

‘He dared scold the nine-tailed fox Elder? A divine beast who has lived for over three thousand years?’

She had seen it with her own eyes, but the scene had been so unrealistic that she had not even dared question it.

At the other tables, everyone was staring blankly at the door Jinseong had gone through, apparently only now realizing what he had done.

And so the misunderstanding surrounding Jinseong, who possessed not even a speck of divine power, only deepened.

_____________

Fortunately, now that Ria’s power had disappeared, the people running toward the coffeehouse looked much more comfortable than before.

Though they were still running with everything they had.

“There’s no one left, right?”

“Yes! I can’t feel any more energy! Oh, but if someone died, I wouldn’t be able to feel their energy, so they might be dead!”

“Let’s go inside...”

I decided to pretend I had not heard that answer.

“We’re back. Fortunately, it looks like everyone made it inside. Hm? But why is everyone sitting like that?”

They were not sitting in relaxed positions.

A little over twenty people were all sitting with their backs ramrod straight, like soldiers being inspected by a division commander.

“Good grief, they must all be exhausted. Couldn’t you at least have given everyone a cup of warm water? There’s a kettle sitting right on the stove.”

“Hmph, I assumed that if they were thirsty, they would pour themselves some. You know, don’t taverns these days have signs saying that?”

“Water is self-service?”

“Exactly!”

“Well, not here, so hurry and pour everyone a cup. I’ll go inside and bring something out.”

“W-We’ll pour it ourselves!”

“Exactly! The ones even a year younger should be the ones moving. Young people these days have no respect for age at all.”

The shamans took the kettle from the Elder with the utmost politeness and began pouring water into their own cups.

Their movements were lightning-fast.

Of course, the first ones to receive cups of water were the Elder and Ria.

Leaving that distinctly uncomfortable gathering behind, I went into the kitchen and opened the old recipe notebook once again.

-Rustle. Rustle.

There were only about ten pages containing menus and preparation methods.

Finding a drink among them that might restore their energy was extremely easy.

『Ssanghwa Tea

A little water + 3 spoons powder + one jujube + float 1 yolk』

This ssanghwa tea was practically the signature drink of a coffeehouse.

Even someone like me, who had rarely had opportunities to visit coffeehouses, knew about ssanghwa tea with an egg yolk floating on top.

And it was a good opportunity to use up the tray of eggs I had bought with the intention of cooking properly at home before they became dead stock.

Making twenty-five cups at once was no small amount of work, but after making drinks a few times while pretending to run a coffee business, the motions had become familiar enough that the preparation finished faster than expected.

While the kettle boiled, I filled the lined-up teacups generously with ssanghwa tea powder and placed one dried jujube into each.

-Wheeeeeee.

The kettle boiled.

When I carefully poured hot water into the cups and stirred them with a spoon, a rich, savory fragrance filled the kitchen.

And the key point was the egg yolk.

I carefully rolled each egg yolk back and forth between the shell halves to separate it, then dropped one into each cup of ssanghwa tea.

They looked quite appetizing.

Two hands, four trays packed tightly with teacups.

And so, once again, I had no choice but to call for an assistant.

“Elder! Please take this! And don’t make the guests do it again!”

“Stop working me so hard. Am I not a paying customer too?”

“We’re short on hands. What else am I supposed to do? All you have to do is carry this out.”

“Damn it, of course that fellow had to leave because he had something busy to do at a time like this. Tsk.”

Despite grumbling, the Elder promptly took a tray, and with the two of us making the rounds, serving was finished in the blink of an eye.

Though that was also thanks to the guests, who hurriedly crowded around to receive their portions(?) because they did not know what else to do.

“I thought about serving coffee, but you looked like you needed something to restore your energy, so I made ssanghwa tea instead. If you’d prefer another drink, just let me know.”

“No! Thank you for the tea!”

“Thank you very much!”

“Yes, it’s nothing special, but enjoy.”

Strange. I had noticed it before, but they were being far too polite.

Was it because of the Elder?

“Heh heh, what are you wondering about now?”

“They seem far too uncomfortable around me. I understand why they would be around you, Elder, but there’s no reason for them to act that way toward me, is there?”

“There are more than enough reasons.”

“Pardon?”

-Sip.

“Hmm, excellent. I never imagined the richness of this yolk would suit it so well.”

“It’s hot, but delicious!”

“Heh heh, drink carefully. If you get hurt, this place is full of people who would have a fit.”

Apparently, he had no intention of making it easy and telling me.

The price for skillfully using the Elder as an employee had returned far too quickly.

Couldn’t be helped.

I would have to hear it from the people involved.

I approached the shamans who had arrived first and whose faces were at least somewhat familiar, then quietly spoke to them.

“Does the tea suit your taste?”

“Ah, yes! It’s really delicious!”

“You don’t need to be so nervous. But what brings you here? I heard San sent you.”

“Yes. There is a Divine Tree here as well, and the Mountain God said he was worried because he could not guard both. So...”

“So all of you came here to guard the Divine Tree.”

Of course, that was not everything.

They kept subtly avoiding my gaze like puppies desperate to relieve themselves, nudging one another with their elbows as if urging someone else to speak.

And with the Elder openly grinning without the slightest attempt to hide his expression, I could no longer avoid asking.

“Is there some other reason?”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, I wasn’t asking you. I was asking the one behind you.”

(Oho, you can see me?)

“I can. More precisely, I can see you through this person’s eyes.”

They were shamans, so naturally they each had a god they served.

And those gods resided within their eyes.

Until now, I had never felt any need to deliberately look at them or converse with them, but I needed someone who would give me a proper answer.

I was done playing guessing games.

But somehow the atmosphere became even stranger.

Even the nine-tailed fox Elder, who had been grinning until a moment ago, was now staring at me with an expression of disbelief.

“Why is everyone looking at me like that?”

“You... Don’t tell me you can see the gods those people serve?”

“Yes. I’m speaking with one right now, aren’t I?”

“Ha!”

Apparently, I had made some kind of mistake again.