“Sometimes, Haje, you seem uninterested, yet you watch everything happening on the communication network. You are creepy.”
“Your manner of speaking is getting worse by the day. Hey, do you think I am the only one? Everyone does it. You do it too.”
No, I only do it because I need to become accustomed to calling up the communication network.
Wonhyeok swallowed those words and sighed.
If he said anything, Haje would only respond with something like, “You are still not used to it? What a complete idiot!”
Just wait. He would grow stronger and find a way to break the contract within the record stone.
When the two entered the village, several farmers who seemed to be returning home spotted them.
“Who are you two?”
At that, Wonhyeok looked back and forth between Haje and the farmers in brief confusion. Thinking it would be better for him to step forward than for the exceedingly suspicious Haje to do so, he moved ahead.
“Greetings. We were passing by, but night is falling, so we came into the village. We are Ghost Gate Messengers.”
“Oh, thank you for your service.”
“Ghost Gate Messengers?”
At the words “Ghost Gate Messengers,” the farmers halted and stared at Wonhyeok and Haje.
Wonhyeok was unfamiliar with their reaction. They looked at the two less like officials and more like some curious troupe of traveling entertainers.
How had he reacted? Wonhyeok could not remember. He had never seen a Ghost Gate Messenger before, so how could he?
The first Ghost Gate Messenger he saw had been Haje. Before he even had time to collapse in fright at the sight of him, he had been struck by lightning.
“Would you like us to direct you to an inn, Messengers?”
“There is an inn?”
“Of course! Our village is near the county office, so quite a few travelers pass through.”
Wonhyeok’s face brightened, and he nodded.
As they followed the villagers, something flickered across his vision.
[Chatroom: (Private) / Haje]
Haje (1st): I think your life would have been short if you had passed the civil service examination.
What was that supposed to mean?
Wonhyeok turned to the side, about to open his mouth.
Then Haje sent another message through the communication network.
Haje (1st): Keep your mouth shut. What good would it do to let people know Ghost Gate Messengers can talk separately like this?
Jade Willow (10th): ...What are you talking about all of a sudden? Why are you shortening someone’s life right out of nowhere? Just this contract alone has left my lifespan hanging by a thread.
When Wonhyeok asked, Haje only shrugged where only Wonhyeok could see.
The farmers led the two to an inn, then quickly departed.
An elderly innkeeper and a young boy greeted them.
Wonhyeok handed over the flowers Haje had picked and asked for a supper table with drinks. The chatroom glimmered again.
Haje (1st): If you grow too close to commoners, nearby officials will stab you for it.
Jade Willow (10th): ...Please stop. You are starting to scare me.
It was not as though he had grown close to them. They had merely shown him the way.
Perhaps his sulky expression showed on his face. The innkeeper looked flustered as she asked, “My lord, is anything uncomfortable?”
“Ah, no.”
Then Wonhyeok noticed that the boy was still standing behind the innkeeper.
“Your child stays up late.”
“Pardon?”
The innkeeper turned around, then asked Wonhyeok with unease in her eyes, “What child are you referring to?”
In that instant, the boy grinned from ear to ear, then changed shape.
Only then could Wonhyeok see the boy more clearly.
It was the Blue-Robed Boy he had encountered in the Ghost Gate!
Wonhyeok swallowed.
“It is nothing. My eyes must be failing me.”
“Ah.... I see....”
The deeply wrinkled innkeeper did not look particularly reassured by Wonhyeok’s words.
Anyone would feel uneasy if a Ghost Gate Messenger said something like that.
Normally, Wonhyeok would have reassured the innkeeper. Yet at this moment, he was so frightened that he could only creak into his room like a wooden puppet.
Haje tilted his head and asked, “Are you ill?”
“H-Haje, did you see it too?”
“I told you not to call me by my name.”
“Ah.”
No, he had not said anything before!
Did he mean Wonhyeok should not call him by name when other people were around?
It did not matter what Haje wanted to be called—Haje, old man, or anything else. There was something more important.
“T-that child. The boy. Did you see him too?”
“You mean that child ghost?”
So it was not visible only to Wonhyeok! He felt relieved.
One good thing about being an accompanying inspector was that, even when he saw strange things like this, he was not alone.
The unfortunate part was how closely this life tied him to goblins.
Wonhyeok hurriedly sat before Haje before supper arrived and asked, “Why is that Blue-Robed Boy attached to the innkeeper?”
“Blue-Robed Boy? More importantly, you think that ghost is attached to the innkeeper?”
“Then what is it?”
“Look over there.”
Haje tipped his chin toward the papered window.
When Wonhyeok turned, he saw a tiny shadow pressed flat against it.
It was the child ghost!
Wonhyeok went pale, yet still questioned Haje. “How can a ghost have a shadow?!”
“You are rather unusual yourself, asking that. Strictly speaking, it is not a shadow. It is a manifestation of its presence. The light is inside this room, so why would a shadow be cast?”
Just as Haje said, a candle was burning in the room.
Wonhyeok trembled as he asked again, “Then has that ghost attached itself to us? Why?”
“Do not put me in the same boat as you, Clerk. He has attached himself to you. And why? That is precisely what I would like to know.”
Then the Blue-Robed Boy shouted.
【Underworld Official Candidate! Open the door for me!】
“Oh? An Underworld Official Candidate. Clerk, when did you get a second job?”
“What are you talking about?!”
Wonhyeok suddenly recalled what the Blue-Robed Boy had shouted while riding the Heavenly Horse when he had been sucked into the Ghost Gate.
【As expected, you are overflowing with the qualifications to become an Underworld Official!】
Right. It was that Blue-Robed Boy!
He had said he would kill Wonhyeok so he could become an Underworld Official. He had come here determined to kill him.
Then the door flew open.
Seeing the metal ring of the papered door floating in midair, Wonhyeok turned to Haje.
Haje smiled beneath his black veil.
“It seems it is looking for you.”
“Is that why you opened the door?!”
【Thaaank youuu!】
The Blue-Robed Boy swelled like a dark-blue wave, then surged into the room in an instant.
Wonhyeok shrieked and crouched down, covering his head with his arms.
At that moment, the room flared with light amid a sound like sputtering oil.
【Aagh!】
With a grotesque scream, the Blue-Robed Boy tumbled into a corner.
Hearing that sound, Wonhyeok jerked up his head like a foolish pheasant.
“Clerk, do you have no skills? You are a Gap Grade Ghost Gate Messenger now. How can you be frightened by every little thing?”
“I-I do not have any attack skills!”
“You can defend yourself.”
At those words, Wonhyeok recalled one of his skills, <Constellation>.
Constellation:
Even the stars adorning the heavens gain a story only after someone connects them with a brush.
Draws celestial bodies to create a defensive barrier.
But he still did not know how to use it...!
There was no time to hesitate, however.
Haje pointed at the Blue-Robed Boy and said, “I will not block the next attack.”
“Pardon?!”
Wonhyeok thought, Surely Haje would not let the accompanying inspector bound to him by contract die.
‘Still, he cannot be trusted...!’
Now that Haje had declared that, he truly seemed as though he would not help!
That damned Ghost Gate Messenger casually staked one hundred years of his lifespan for reasons Wonhyeok did not understand!
He would not let Wonhyeok die, perhaps, but did that not mean anything short of death was acceptable?
As that thought crossed his mind, the Blue-Robed Boy slowly restored his body, then stretched upright.
Its mouth gaped wide in the exact same shape as the Giant-Mouthed Ghost.
Haje gave an impressed sound.
“Oh, it was a Giant-Mouthed Ghost. They say that a Giant-Mouthed Ghost takes the form of a Blue-Robed Boy before someone it has acknowledged and brings them wealth and glory. You are fortunate, Clerk.”
“Does that look like wealth and glory to you?!”
“Perhaps he does.”
With that, the Giant-Mouthed Ghost truly lunged at Wonhyeok, just as it had in the Ghost Gate.
“Constellation, Constellation,” Wonhyeok repeated, struggling to use his skill.
Then something suddenly crossed his mind.
A celestial chart a kind acquaintance had shown him....
Golden light flooded the room in an instant, blocking the Giant-Mouthed Ghost’s mouth as it rushed toward him.
Haje tilted his head at the clusters of light swimming slowly through the air like moving celestial bodies.
“...The Chart of the Constellations and the Regions They Govern?”
“I-I did it! I blocked it!”
“Oh, you idiot. If your concentration breaks....”
CRASH!
The shattered Constellation scattered across the floor like sparks, clattering and rolling over the boards.
The Giant-Mouthed Ghost took that chance and leaned toward Wonhyeok.
“<Westward Slash>.”
As Haje raised his arm, blue light split the space between Wonhyeok and the Giant-Mouthed Ghost.
【GRAHK!】
“Good. You have used a skill, so leave now. From the look of it, you are only a stray ghost that attached itself to our Clerk without any connection.”
【What do you mean, no connection?! He possesses the qualifications of an Underworld Official!】
“Oh dear. I do not know what that is, but we hired him first. Our Clerk has no intention of changing jobs either, so why are you clinging so desperately?”
Wonhyeok did not know whether he should be pleased that these two black beings both wanted him.
The Giant-Mouthed Ghost glared at Haje for a long time, then suddenly leaped back as if startled by something and vanished.
Wonhyeok stared blankly at where the Giant-Mouthed Ghost had disappeared, then turned to Haje.
“...Is it gone?”
“Yes. It was a strange one. What are these qualifications of an Underworld Official?”
“What makes you think I would know just because you ask?”
“I did not expect you to.”
Haje sighed and made the sword in his hand disappear.
It was strange. The pitch-black sword had appeared out of thin air, then disappeared into thin air.
His control over his strength had been so exquisite that no trace remained along the path of Haje’s blade beyond a faint ghostly aura.
Meanwhile, Wonhyeok’s defensive barrier had damaged the wooden lattice of the door slightly.
Then a knock sounded on the veranda outside.
Having been frightened by a turtle, Wonhyeok jolted as though a pot lid had suddenly lunged at him. Yet when Haje asked, “Who is it?” the innkeeper’s voice answered.
“My lords, supper is ready. Where should I set it down?”
“P-please leave it on the veranda.”
Giant-Mouthed Ghost or whatever, Wonhyeok suddenly found himself more concerned with not wanting to eat inside and then fall asleep with the smell of food in the room.
When he trudged out to the veranda, the bright full moon greeted the two of them.
The innkeeper kindly left quilted cushions and a lantern for them, then withdrew.
Before going into the room, Wonhyeok had clearly looked neat and composed. She did give him a strange sidelong glance when he returned looking disheveled, like someone who had gone through a wild melee.
Yet Wonhyeok, exhausted from the strange incident just before, did not notice her wary gaze.
As Wonhyeok struggled to tuck the loose hair that had fallen beneath his headband behind his ear, Haje asked, “How did you become entangled with a ghost like that?”
“That was, in the Ghost Gate....”
He wanted to say, ‘A mad Giant-Mouthed Ghost posed a riddle to me on the spot, then said it would kill me because I answered correctly.’
But his chest still felt as though his breath was being stifled, and he could not speak at all.
Haje raised a hand to stop him.