A week passed.
Ring— the phone rang, and Iri, who had been standing right in front of the workbench, reached for the receiver. But before he could touch it, another hand snatched it away.
“Hello! This is Iri’s Curio Rental Shop!”
It was Dojin, who had been staring at the ‘Paulownia Brazier’ in the garden and came sprinting at full speed the moment he heard the phone.
“Yes, this is employee Kim Dojin. What’s the nature of your request? …Ah, I see. Then it’s not that you’re contacting us because you need a curio specifically, is it? Hmm. I’ll book you for next weekend. Any sooner would be difficult. …A lie? What do you mean, a lie? I’m the disciple of an Immortal and currently accumulating virtue. I can’t lie. Yes, yes. I’m telling you, that’s how it is.”
As he spoke, Dojin waved his hand as if telling Iri not to interfere. Iri narrowed his eyes.
For the past few days, whether Dojin had been on the second floor, in the garden, or even outside the front gate, whenever the phone rang he would sprint at full power and pick up the receiver before Iri could.
And whenever the request wasn’t one that required a curio, he would use a tone that sounded polite at first glance but was subtly forceful, pushing the consultation date further back. And those scheduled dates weren’t being written on the shared calendar, either—
“Then I’ll put you down for next Saturday at three p.m. Please leave your name and contact information. Yes, yes.”
He pulled out a separate memo pad from his chest pocket, wrote it down, and slipped it back inside.
Without showing it to Iri at all.
Everything was being scheduled for next week, or the week after that…
Iri thought to himself that, in Dojin’s words, he must be planning to take all those ‘useless’ clients at once and resolve them quickly in one go.
Even though he was pushing the consultation dates back, he wasn’t outright rejecting customers. And when there truly was an urgent consultation, Dojin didn’t delay it and made flexible arrangements. So Iri didn’t interfere, and a few more days passed.
Iri woke around six in the morning, changed his clothes, and came down the stairs as usual, breathing in the faint aroma of tea.
“Master, you’re up.”
Dojin pulled out a chair in front of the workbench and greeted him. When Iri sat down, Dojin naturally poured tea into an antique teacup.
Kkiwoong……
Beside them, Kkiwoong had his face buried in a miniature teacup, dozing off. Iri lifted Kkiwoong out with his fingers and gently wiped his face with a tissue. It was a daily routine every morning.
“Can’t you just let the kid sleep? Do you really have to bring him out every single morning?”
“Of course. While we’re working hard, we can’t let a freeloader who does nothing but eat and waste food sprawl out and sleep.”
When Dojin tried to flick the sleeping Kkiwoong, whose mouth was hanging open, Iri blocked him.
“This morning’s quiet, so if a customer comes, we can wake him then. Thanks to you appropriately pushing back the requests that don’t require curios, we get to have a leisurely time like this. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Alright. I’ll let it slide.”
Dojin grinned broadly. Iri’s disciple was extremely sensitive but also extremely simple—once you figured out how to handle him, he wasn’t that hard to control.
“Oh, we got a response through the ‘Distant Butterfly’ from the Twelve Divine Generals. They said mid-July should be fine.”
“That’s a relief. Anything else?”
“Princess Bari sent word asking for understanding since she won’t be able to attend… and the Seven Stars Gods, the Five Directional Generals, and the Forty-Ninth Chasa all confirmed attendance. Among the Ten Kings, everyone except King Jingwang, King Byeonseong, and King Pyeongdeung is confirmed. King Byeonseong and King Pyeongdeung are still undecided, and King Jingwang says he won’t be able to until after August.”
Iri and Dojin had set the Gido Ceremony for mid-July and were steadily preparing for it. The King and four Heaven-and-Earth Divine Spirits had already confirmed attendance, and coordination with their direct subordinates was now in its final stages.
“Starting tomorrow, let’s reach out to those living in the Middle Realm. There are still many we haven’t contacted yet, like the Mountain Divine Spirits and Jeon Woochi.”
“Yes. I’ll step out for a bit, then come back and work hard on making the paper.”
“You’re going out?”
Iri’s eyes widened.
Dojin never went out on his own unless Iri told him to. He was the type who wanted to stick right next to his master for even one more second. Iri even checked the schedule, wondering if there was some external errand he’d forgotten, but nothing was written there.
“Hoo… hoo… hoo…….”
Suddenly, Dojin made a suspicious grin and stood up. Iri quietly watched him head into the storage room.
Dojin returned carrying five binders. Each binder held about twenty pages—at a glance, well over a hundred sheets in total.
“What’s that?”
“These are all the ‘useless’ requests we’ve received over the past week. I filled out the request forms myself.”
Dojin slammed the binders down on the workbench with a bang.
Kkiung!
Startled, Kkiwoong jolted awake, glanced around in confusion, then used Iri’s finger as a pillow and went right back to sleep.
“What are you planning to do with those…? Burn them?”
“No. I’m going to transfer these requests to the proper institution that should be handling them.”
“…The Welfare Center?”
“Yes!”
Dojin planted his hands proudly on his hips. His eyes gleamed fiercely.
“I told you I’d take care of it. Master, you can just stay here and wait for the results I bring back. Your disciple will go and settle this once and for all!”
Dojin puffed out his chest and straightened his shoulders like a proud bird. He lifted his chin so high that, from where Iri was sitting, he could clearly see the handsome flare of his nostrils.
“…Alright. Do your best.”
Iri considered stopping him, but thought it might be good to take this opportunity to formally introduce themselves to the Welfare Center as well, so he let Dojin have his way. Besides, if he stopped him now, Dojin—who had clearly been planning this for quite some time—would probably sulk for a good while……
***
The Welfare Center is located in Hadong County, South Gyeongsang Province. They debated whether to build it on the slopes of Geumosan or in town, and ultimately chose to place it in a human residential area. If you enter a small alley from a modest park on the eastern side of Gayasan, you’ll find the Welfare Center, its exterior styled like a standalone house, much like the rental shop.
Dojin parked the Dragon Horse in a nearby paid parking lot.
“This is a human neighborhood, so don’t move at all. Pretend you’re just a car.”
[(∪.∪ )…zzz]
“Yeah. Sleeping’s even better.”
As Dojin got out of the car, two young men wearing sunglasses approached.
“You’re finally here?”
“You came early, Ihaeja-nim.”
One of them was Ihaeja, with white hair and tattoo-covered arms exposed by a sleeveless shirt. The other was—
“You’re here.”
“Yes, Scholar-nim. It’s been a while.”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Long, straight black hair reaching down to her waist, bronze-toned skin that looked deeply tanned, heavy eye makeup, purple lipstick, and even leopard-print clothing—this woman was the Scholar.
The Scholar had risen from a ‘brush’, to a rare object, then a Yeongmul, and finally became a divine spirit. In fact, she could have become a Divine Beast. Divine Beasts are a lineage comparable to sacred beasts, a position of considerable honor. However, she gave up part of her own virtue and instead elevated her close friend Inkstone—who had still remained a rare object—into a Yeongmul.
No one knew how she had come to serve as one of Iri’s divine spirits.
But despite her rough-and-ready demeanor, she was an extremely loyal subordinate… which was why she was here.
The night before, Dojin had created a small group chat excluding Iri, with the Apothecary Divine Spirit, the Scholar, Ihaeja, and the Observer. He left a message saying that he could no longer stand by and watch the Welfare Center’s outrageous behavior, that he was going to settle things the next day, and that any divine spirits who wanted to join should come along.
[Ihaeja
Oh?]
[Ihaeja
I’ve been]
[Ihaeja
waiting]
[Ihaeja
for this day]
[Ihaeja
I’m in ㅇㅇ]
[Apothecary
Ah— at least you could’ve told me a week earlierㅠ I’ve got plans tomorrow so I can’t go ㅠ]
[Scholar
I’m in too]
[Scholar
Let’s fuck those bastards up]
[What about you, Observer-nim?]
[Ihaeja
That one’s not comingㅋㅋㅋ No point asking]
[Alright, then see you tomorrow at 1 p.m.]
And so, two of Iri’s divine spirits and one of Iri’s disciples banded together.
Kkiwoong……
Along with one stray spirit of Iri’s as well.
“But seriously, why are you both dressed like that? I get it for you, Ihaeja-nim, but Scholar-nim too—what is that outfit…?”
“I searched ‘clothes that look strong’ on the internet. That’s what came up.”
“You’re both on about the same level, huh.”
“Oh? We haven’t seen each other in a while, and you start by insulting me?”
“How is that an insult?! Hey, Scholar. How is that an insult?!”
Ihaeja bristled, but the Scholar casually dug a finger into her ear. That only made Ihaeja more heated.
“Please stop. I’ll refrain from stirring things up too. At least for today, we’re all allies.”
“But that bastard—”
“Remember, Ihaeja-nim. Our goal is one thing and one thing only. To make Master comfortable.”
“…Right. Everything is for Immortal Iri.”
“For Immortal Iri.”
Dojin stretched out his hand. Ihaeja placed his hand on top, and then the Scholar placed hers on top of that.
After quietly but resolutely chanting “Fighting,” the three headed toward the Welfare Center.
[Welfare Center]
Arriving in front of the neat, standalone house, the three grew agitated once again.
“Wow, these assholes even made their nameplate tiny as hell! You’d walk right past without noticing it.”
“They did this on purpose, no doubt. Bastards!”
Iri’s Curio Rental Shop had large signboards both horizontally and vertically so it could be recognized from far away, and at night it even lit up. But these Welfare Center guys had only hung a single tiny plaque—ten centimeters wide and twenty centimeters tall—right above the doorbell. That was it.
Grinding his teeth, Dojin pulled out his phone and took photos, then recorded videos as well. After thoroughly gathering evidence, he planned to report how lax and irresponsible the Welfare Center was when he met the King of the True Mortal Realm during the Gido Ceremony.
“Once you’ve taken enough, let’s ring the bell. You said we’d use ‘transfer of duties’ as an excuse, right?”
“Ah, before that—just a moment.”
Dojin tapped the front pocket of his shirt.
“Hey, Kim Kkiwoong.”
Kkiung?
“You’re going to infiltrate this place pretending to be a customer.”
Kkiung…!
