“I—I’m really sorry……. Th-the book clearly said ‘Taejong Rain’ was a, a panacea….”
Kkyuwoong!
“I-I-I’m sorry…….”
Watching the Saeang Rabbit glaring with its eyes sharpened in anger and the exorcist repeatedly apologizing, Iri finally spoke.
“You’ve got two things wrong.”
“Hii—!” When the bird spoke, the exorcist startled so badly he fell backward onto his butt. He was truly a clumsy, unsophisticated man.
“First, ‘Taejong Rain’ only becomes a panacea after being purified by the Juktonghwain for a full year. You should’ve stolen old rainwater, not fresh rainwater.”
“A-ah…….”
“Second, panacea ‘Taejong Rain’ only works on plants. It doesn’t work on beasts or beast-based yokai.”
“Aaah…….”
The exorcist couldn’t manage to form a proper sentence. His eyes, hidden behind long bangs, wavered restlessly. Iri examined his appearance. Ragged clothes, a scrawny body. Even his sneakers were worn out, with parts of the sole peeling away.
Grrrk.
A sound loudly announcing hunger came from the exorcist’s stomach.
“Th-then….”
Looking at the tiny metal tit, the exorcist asked,
“H-how can I, I heal th-this child?”
“…You can just apply ointment.”
“O-ointment? Th-the kind humans use?”
“Yes.”
The exorcist’s face brightened instantly. He hastily pulled out a pouch from the backpack he was carrying. Inside the old pouch were emergency medical supplies stuffed to the brim. He squeezed out far more ointment than necessary and slathered it all over the Saeang Rabbit’s burn.
Kkyung, kkyuwoong. Kkyung!
The Saeang Rabbit, as if uninterested in the exorcist’s actions, hopped over to the metal tit and sniffed at it. It was trying to determine whether this bird was Immortal Iri or not.
Iri’s transformation art was exceptional, yet in another sense, utterly terrible. Because all Wia could recognize Iri’s existence, there were many times when even complete transformations failed to fool even small fry like this.
“Th-thank you, M-metal Tit. F-for telling me.”
The exorcist thanked Iri. Iri met his gaze. The exorcist found himself captivated by those clear, pitch-black eyes.
“Did you injure this yokai?”
“…N-no, not me, s-someone I know….”
The exorcist clapped a hand over his mouth, startled by his own answer. But it was already too late.
“Someone you know—Lee Seokjin?”
“Th-the thing inside S-Seokjin’s b-body…….”
“Berimos?”
“I-I c-can’t say…….”
“Are you going around cleaning up the messes Berimos leaves behind?”
“Y-you c-can’t mention th-that name…!”
U-uaaagh! The exorcist suddenly went into convulsions. He’d been caught by a kind of geas. Since he wasn’t using stealth arts, people began to gather, saying things like, “Hey, what’s going on?” Just as Iri was about to use magic—
“Master? Master!”
A disciple cried out desperately for Iri.
“Master!”
The voice searching for his master boomed across the entire theme park.
“Wh-what? Master?”
“Whoa, I thought that was coming from the speakers. That’s a human voice?”
Dojin wasn’t using stealth arts either… everyone heard it.
“Master? Where are you? Wait, why are there so many people here?”
The voice drew closer, and then a large man emerged alone from the crowd. Dojin spotted the exorcist clutching his head in agony, and his eyes blazed.
“Hey, you saw my master, right? What did you do to him?”
“I-I-I d-don’t kn-know…!”
“You fucking bastard. Hand over my master right now!”
Dojin grabbed the exorcist by the collar and shook him violently. The exorcist couldn’t even resist, flailing like a sheet of paper.
“H-hey, y-you’re gonna kill him at this rate.”
“Call the police, the police!”
“Shouldn’t someone stop him?”
“Ahem, s-somebody please stop him already!”
Dojin’s expression was so ferocious, his build so large, and his momentum so threatening that no one dared step in.
Phew….
Iri let out a sigh. Dojin’s ears twitched. Still gripping the exorcist’s collar, Dojin looked at the metal tit. Like the Saeang Rabbit earlier, he tilted his head uncertainly.
Only after Iri fluttered over and perched on Dojin’s fist, as if spoon-feeding him the answer, did the commotion finally settle down.
The three moved to a restaurant inside the theme park. Arms crossed, Dojin glared viciously at the exorcist sitting across from him. The exorcist shrank back as if he were guilty of some crime. Still, with ramen, earthen-pot bulgogi, and tonkatsu laid out before them, the scene didn’t look all that dire.
“Hey, exorcist. What’s your name?”
“H-Han-su, I-it is.”
“Age?”
“T-twenty-eight…. Th-then y-you’re n-name is—”
“What’s it to you? Tch.”
“S-sorry— hic.”
People around them cast sideways glances at the suspicious table. Dojin was about to use stealth arts, but Iri stopped him and instructed Hansu instead.
“Try using stealth arts.”
“S-s-stealth arts…?”
“You don’t know?”
“N-no, I… I d-don’t know how to… I-I’m sorry…….”
“Dojin.”
“Yes.”
With Iri’s permission, Dojin executed clean stealth arts. Despite the suspicious people vanishing all at once, no one questioned it and simply continued their own conversations.
Grrrk.
The exorcist’s stomach cried out in hunger again.
“Eat.”
The exorcist rolled his eyes.
“Wh-why… w-why to me…….”
“Yeah. Why bother with trash like this?”
Dojin asked in an even more sulky tone, clearly upset about having been left out.
“If I pretend not to see a starving person right in front of me, my virtue takes a huge hit. And Dojin, you’re hungry too, so eat a bit.”
“I’m fine. I’ll eat when we get back to the shop.”
Kkiwoong….
Kkiwoong, apparently hungry, crawled out with a wobble. The exorcist stared at the tiny Dark One with fascination. He failed to recognize it as something that had once been his, and the Dark One likewise failed to recognize its former owner.
Hesitating because of the unfamiliar person, Kkiwoong glanced at Iri and Dojin, then—trusting the two dependable figures—latched onto a piece of tonkatsu.
Chomp chomp chomp.
Even though it could survive on shadows alone, it was physically devouring the tonkatsu.
“At this rate, Kkiwoong’s going to eat it all. Hurry up and eat.”
“…W-why… to me….”
“I told you. You can’t ignore someone who’s starving.”
“…….”
“Once you’re full, we’ll talk.”
“…….”
With trembling hands, the exorcist picked up a fork. He took a bite of the tonkatsu first. Crunch, crunch, crunch. After chewing exactly three times and swallowing, he checked his body for anything wrong—then, realizing there was no poison, began shoveling the food into his mouth ravenously.
Dojin rested his chin on his hand and stared intently at the sight. It was a watchful stare, just in case the fork might be thrown at Iri.
Iri lightly tapped Dojin’s arm. Dojin instantly relaxed his fierce expression and looked at Iri with an adorable face. Iri silently mouthed,
‘Prosthetic.’
Dojin looked back at the exorcist.
Only then did he realize the exorcist’s left arm was a prosthetic. The arm Iri had pulled out was clearly Lee Seokjin’s left arm—meaning this exorcist’s left arm being artificial meant….
He’d given his arm to Lee Seokjin.
Whether it was loyalty or friendship… it was grotesque to the point of being unsettling.
The exorcist devoured three full servings by himself. Because using spells consumed enormous amounts of energy, they’d ordered a generous three portions, yet it still wasn’t enough. That alone showed how severely the exorcist had been pushing himself.
“Dojin, go get more food.”
“Yes.”
“N-no, it’s o-okay! R-really…! I-it’s fine.”
After finishing the meal, he reverted to the dazed, clumsy, shaggy-haired man he’d been before. He refused so desperately that it seemed like he might pass out if more food arrived, so they decided to cancel the extra order.
Kkiuwoong….
With his belly plump and full, Kkiwoong toddled over and poked the exorcist’s clenched fingers. Startled, the exorcist cautiously extended a single index finger. Accustomed to Dojin’s sturdy fingers, Kkiwoong found the bony finger unsatisfactory, but as if resigned, he played along anyway.
“For a shy one, that’s unusual.”
Maybe the fact that he was the former owner was etched into instinct. Watching Kkiwoong approach first, Dojin lifted one corner of his mouth in disbelief.
The exorcist tried to smile along, but his face looked strange, like someone who had never smiled properly before.
Iri quietly tapped the table.
He’d sat them down, yet now there was nothing easy to say. Everything related to Berimos seemed bound by a geas… leaving their topics severely limited.
“You’re the one I talked to before, right?”
The exorcist bit his lip. Even though he must’ve known this conversation was coming, he looked like he wanted to avoid it.
“Y-yes… th-that was me….”
“What’s your relationship with Lee Seokjin? Master and servant?”
“Ah.”
The exorcist jerked his head up in shock.
“W-we’re… fr-friends, f-family….”
“Friends or family—which is it? You can’t answer properly? Want me to grab your collar again?”
“Don’t, Dojin.”
Iri placed a hand over the back of Dojin’s hand—a signal to calm down.
“Family and friends at the same time, I suppose. I get it.”
“…Y-yes…. Th-there’s something I…!”
“Speak.”
“A-are you two… m-master and disciple…?”
“Yes.”
“Y-you’re… Immortal Iri.”
“That’s right.”
“Immortal Iri…….”
The exorcist wore his bangs long, but not so long that his eyes were completely hidden. In his dark, gloomy gaze was admiration and yearning for Immortal Iri. Mixed in was something akin to longing—a fervent desire.
Dojin furrowed his brow, but because Iri’s hand still rested on his, he endured it.
