Chapter 135 (1/2)

Chapter 135. Goodbye, Ghost Saintess!

After bidding farewell to Ian, Seol Jihu headed to a grocery store run by an Earthling.

After carefully selecting and purchasing food ingredients, he went to the stables to hire a carriage. However, when he mentioned the Forest of Denial, most coachmen refused to go. It was only after bribing them with extra money that there finally was one volunteer willing to take him.

Immediately after contracting a carriage, Seol Jihu returned to the office to get ready for another journey.

“You're leaving as soon as you've come.”

Jang Maldong clicked his tongue while shaking his head. Seol Jihu had just come back from a tiring event, so to see him leaving again without resting, not to mention even showering, made Jang Maldong feel sorry for him.

Seol Jihu, who was carefully packing his bag, grinned.

“I'll feel uncomfortable if I keep pus.h.i.+ng this off. Not to mention, it's something I'd eventually have to do. And I'll only be gone for a short while anyway.”

Jang Maldong snorted hearing Seol Jihu making it sound like he was going off on a vacation.

“You're definitely the only one who can make a trip to the Forest of Denial sound like a stroll in the park.”

Despite saying this, he knew where Seol Jihu's confidence in going alone stemmed from.

Having the protection of a centuries-old evil spirit strong enough to instantly obliterate hundreds of Parasites certainly guaranteed Seol Jihu's life, at least inside of the Forest of Denial.

“Anyways, what are you packing so much for? The bag's going to explode at that rate, you scoundrel.”

“Ah. It's a farewell gift.”

“A farewell gift?”

Jang Maldong stopped commenting. It was because he saw a sad expression flit past Seol Jihu's face.

He changed the subject.

“How long do you think you'll take?”

“Four days should be enough. Five days at the most.”

“Five days huh… it shouldn't be a problem then. Anyways, I won't say much to someone who has managed to drag himself alive from the Parasite's territory, but you make sure to be careful, alright?”

Hearing the worried undertone, Seol Jihu, who was tightly packing his bag, paused. Thinking back, it had been a while since he had received someone's heartfelt concern.

It was a little embarra.s.sing, but Jang Maldong felt like his grandfather.

'Then am I a grandson?'

“Put that gross stare away this instant.”

Jang Maldong spat as he felt Seol's intent gaze.

“There's nothing to worry about.”

Seol Jihu pointed at his earring.

“If push comes to shove, I can just activate my Festina Earring and escape.”

“Someone's certainly talking big. Who was the one boasting about training to not run away again?”

Jang Maldong remarked sarcastically. After an awkward laugh, Seol Jihu lifted up his bag.

“Well, I'll be off then.”

“Alright.”

Seol Jihu left the Carpe Diem office after leaving words of farewell.

[That's not all either. They say that, as if flipping the carefully prepared ceremony table wasn't enough, she also refused the altar.]

[The issue was that no one knew what went wrong. Not to mention that there was no way to communicate, it was just utter chaos. It wasn't as if anyone touched anything or was disrespectful…]

[But they supposedly weren't denied entry though. There was no sign of refusal, and at first, the black smoke looked like it was excitedly swis.h.i.+ng around the attendants. Then suddenly…]

[Well. According to Princess Teresa, it strangely looked like a little girl throwing a tantrum because she didn't like her present.]

Ian voiced his opinion of whether the spirit had finally lost its ego and transformed into a complete evil spirit, but Seol Jihu thought otherwise.

He couldn't deny that the poor spirit was born from ma.s.sive amounts of resentment, but she was still a pure spirit with clear consciousness.

Most importantly, if it had fully transformed into an evil spirit, then everyone who had entered the Forest of Denial would have been ma.s.sacred.

But the fact remained that not one of them died.

Thus, there must have been a reason for its actions. A reason as to why the Ghost Saintess threw a fit.

'What made her do that?'

In a way, the Ghost Saintess was an extreme example of the Golden Commandment.

She would be as cruel as a witch to those who harmed the grave, but as generous as a saint to those who showed respect.

He didn't know why she got angry this time and was honestly afraid of getting lashed at.

But ever since he became determined to live according to the Golden Commandment, Seol Jihu never once considered the option of not visiting. He needed to repay her favor of saving his life.

Seol Jihu carefully placed the things he was holding into his pocket and picked up his pace.

Seol Jihu unhesitantly entered the Forest of Denial after getting off at Napal Hill. Because he had already come here on several occasions, he knew the road to the grave like the back of his hand.

Excluding the one time he felt like he wanted to deny the existence of his sister, the trip was relatively smooth. As soon as his destination came into view, Seol Jihu opened his mouth.

“Miss Saintess!”

“It's me! I'm here!”

But in spite of raising his voice to shout out several times, the door didn't fling open like it usually did. There was no reaction.

Considering that she always rushed over whenever he had called previously, this definitely wasn't a good sign.

A moment later, Seol Jihu arrived at the secluded grave in the middle of the Forest of Denial.

The area near the grave was dead silent. It was a place where even monsters were hesitant to approach. The grave was covered in a gloomy and ominous atmosphere.

“Miss Saintess?”

Nothing happened when he carefully knocked on the entrance after calling out one more time.

'That's strange…'

Why was there no sign of refusal but at the same time, no response? After hesitating for a while, Seol Jihu extended his arm.

“Excuse me. I'll be coming in.”

And at the moment he was going to open the door—

'Huh?'

An expression of disbelief dawned on Seol Jihu's face.

'It won't open?'

The door didn't budge. No matter how much he forced it, the door showed no signs of opening.

Finally, after a long time of wrestling with the door, he retreated with no results.

'What happened…?'

Maybe he was just unlucky. Thinking that the Saintess might have taken a stroll outside, he plopped down on the gra.s.s to wait for her return.

They said the black smoke was there the last time they came. At this point, his imagination started roaming wild, thinking that she might even be dealing with the Parasites that came back for revenge.

After waiting for over an hour, Seol Jihu let loose a deep sigh.

'There's nothing I can do about it, I guess.'

He couldn't just dumbly wait here day and night. Eventually, he slowly stood up.

It was then…

Flick.

As Seol Jihu bent his body to lift his bag, a stone the size of a bean, hit his head. But unable to feel it, Seol Jihu turned his body.

[Eeek.]

Flick!

Seol Jihu flinched. He touched his neck with his hand.

“…A stone?”

Rubbing a small piece of rock between his thumb and forefinger, he swiftly looked around the grave.

He could see it clearly. The black smoke hiding behind the grave.

Seol Jihu's eyes became as wide as lanterns.

“Saintess?”

Rus.h.i.+ng over to the other side, there was a cloud of black smoke in a corner as expected. As if it was hiding.

“Y-You were there?”

[…Hmph!]

“Why are you hiding here…”

[Hmph!]

A pouting Ghost Saintess.

As Seol Jihu felt troubled, the smoke seemed to try to inch away from him.

[Hmmmph!]

It didn't forget to leave a snort before leaving.

“Wait a second!”

Seol Jihu hesitated after extending his arm forward reflexively. He was trying to stop it from leaving, but thinking through the smoke didn't have a physical form. It couldn't be caught.

…Yeah. It was obviously like that.

[Noooooo! Let go!]

It got caught?

To be precise, the smoke stopped in place as soon as his hands touched it.

Seol Jihu rubbed his eyes repeatedly at the unbelievable sight.

It was logically impossible. Waving his hand around, he was sure that his hands pa.s.sed right through the smoke.

[Let go!]

But it told him to let go.

Unable to wave because of his confusion, Seol Jihu staggered backwards. The smoke turned around and slipped away.

'Oh!'

Barely getting back to his senses, Seol Jihu hurriedly chased after the smoke.

'Did the smoke stop intentionally?'

This thought suddenly came to his mind, but it wasn't important at the moment. He told himself that since the jet-black smoke was the Ghost Saintess' soul, it could have different properties than that of gases.

But what he still couldn't understand was why the door that had been sealed shut all this time was now wide open.