Some might condemn that hand, but at least not the man.
It was salvation.
The salvation he had truly been waiting for, counting the days.
“I won’t charge you rent for the rest of your life, sir. Truly··· I mean it. I really do. Just help me. Please··· please save me.”
Jang-yul spoke with tears in his voice.
Sincerity was buried in his expression and eyes.
“···If I could, I would simply hand over that building.”
That thing was so sickening that he found it disgusting every time he looked at it.
The fact that he had been tormented to death by an invisible being because of that one building—no, tormented until he had already let go of his life countless times—was enough to drive him mad.
No, perhaps he had already gone mad.
“But I can’t do that. That bastard··· won’t let me go. I can feel that it’s waiting for me to die. So··· sir.”
The two hands with which Jang-yul clutched Noel’s clothes trembled.
He wanted to give him everything.
No matter how much money it was, he wanted to give every bit of it to this person.
“······Please save me.”
At that desperate sight, Yeong-hyeon narrowed his eyes.
-He looks like he’s suffering so much. I really feel sorry for him.
‘In the world I lived in, most ghosts were trash like that.’
Noel snickered inwardly, then raised his gaze and looked at the executive assistant.
“You come here too.”
The executive assistant approached without a word.
Black fingernail marks were visible on the nape of his neck.
‘Of course. As if it would leave the people nearby alone.’
It seemed that evil spirit had been determined to turn everything around Jang-yul into ruin.
Tsk.
Noel clicked his tongue.
“Your neck has been hurting lately, hasn’t it?”
“······Yes.”
After hesitating, the executive assistant answered.
How had he known?
Was it simply something shamans usually said?
The executive assistant looked at Noel with wary eyes.
Bandages plastered here and there on his face, a bandage wrapped around his head, an arm in a cast.
Perhaps he had been in an accident himself, but he did not look perfectly fine either.
“I know what I’m saying may sound strange. But if I leave that alone, my god may get angry, so I’m doing this.”
Noel looked at Ashin, who had been silently glaring at the building since earlier.
Since the other side had already noticed their presence, what need was there for words?
Noel made a purple fire bloom in his palm and brought it to the executive assistant’s neck.
When the erosion melted away, the executive assistant’s eyes widened.
The stinging pain vanished in an instant.
“Mr. Shin.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Once this place is cleaned up, I’ll visit your family as well. That is all right, isn’t it?”
“Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
Jang-yul squeezed his eyes shut and thanked him again.
Noel drew back his hand and looked at the executive assistant.
“Before that, could you bring the contract?”
What if they ran off once everything was over?
How was he supposed to prove ghosts existed?
He had to leave everything in writing.
The real estate office owner, who had been watching quietly, also nodded as if to say that was well done.
***
The contract terms flowed overwhelmingly in his favor.
Perhaps because Jang-yul could not see anything else right now, he had initially insisted on simply handing the building over.
For a moment, Noel nearly accepted out of greed that surged all the way up his throat, but the real estate office owner stopped him.
~Student. This is not simply free. If you buy a building, you have to pay all sorts of taxes. Can you handle that?
When Noel heard the building’s actual transaction price and the taxes he would have to pay, he came sharply to his senses.
Therefore, they agreed that Noel would rent the first and second floors indefinitely for 10,000 won a month per floor.
He had considered taking up to the third floor, but he left at least a little conscience behind.
Since the building went up to the seventh floor, would this much not be fine?
‘No, wait. He’s already a company president. He’s rich. Of course it’s fine.’
Noel took out the card that could open the building.
-But Noel.
“What?”
-Why did you rent up to the second floor?
“It’s cheap. The first and second floors together are 20,000 won.”
They said the contract had to state at least some amount, so he had named 10,000 won.
-It isn’t just cheap; it’s incredible! You could almost call it insane! Wouldn’t it have been all right to rent the third and fourth floors too?
“A bakery on the first floor. A fortune-telling shop on the second. That’s what I’m planning.”
At Noel’s words, Yeong-hyeon stopped while following him.
Bakery.
At that single word, he looked at Noel with wavering eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
-···Because I’m grateful. So grateful.
To think it was for the sake of fulfilling his dream of opening a bakery.
“To be honest, I’m not confident about the bakery. I’m just trying it because the rent is low. I’m confident I can earn a lot of money as a shaman. You saw my ability, didn’t you?”
Noel smiled brightly.
There had never been a moment when his ability had been this useful.
He could receive thanks, and he could earn money.
-I saw it. It’s incredible. You looked just like a savior.
Yeong-hyeon smiled brightly along with him.
How many people had Noel already helped?
It was not easy work, and it was even less something just anyone could do.
Ashin watched the two of them converse with satisfaction.
The words the little ones exchanged were, how should she put it, like chicks chirping.
-What do you want to do?
Noel, who had been about to tap the card, paused briefly at Yeong-hyeon’s question.
Something he wanted to do.
That was something he must never think about, and wanting anything was even less permitted.
Since he had been born a necromancer, the only thing he could do was run away.
“Every moment right now is what I wanted.”
Noel tapped the card.
Beep.
“Not being chased or forced to hide anymore, being able to eat well, and being able to sleep well. This moment right now.”
-···Huh?
“It’s dangerous, so you go over to where the owners are.”
-Wait, Noel.
“I said I’d tell you everything before you pass on. Don’t rush. I keep my promises.”
At those words, Yeong-hyeon nodded.
There was only one thing he could say now.
-···Come back safely.
“Of course. Don’t worry.”
Noel watched Yeong-hyeon withdraw, then pointed at the door.
“You can cut it, right?”
-Easily.
Ashin drew her sword and sliced down in a long line from top to bottom.
When the power that thing had cast was erased, Noel opened the door.
Haaah.
White breath flowed out.
His skin stung all over, and he even felt as though he were being cut.
That was all because of the erosion filling the inside of the building.
-Are you all right?
“My skin is prickling, but that can’t be helped. Inside, I’m completely fine.”
As long as he had a body, the pain of erosion was natural.
But there was no chance of erosion entering him.
That was thanks to his own resistance and Ashin’s power.
Noel took something from his pocket.
-Is that not money?
“That’s right. It’s a shame, but it’s perfect kindling for the fire that’ll burn that erosion.”
It was a kind of payment.
They said shamans received shaman’s fees as payment for revealing Heaven’s secrets.
Was it not a concept like equivalent exchange, for the sake of both sides?
This was the same.
Purple fire burned erosion, but it burned better when there was kindling.
As payment, the best thing was “money,” which humans desired most and which everyone treasured.
“This is a ghost domain. Shouldn’t I make everything certain?”
The erosion moved like a single being.
Before that erosion poured over him, Noel drew purple fire from his grip.
Like a barrier, the erosion could not approach by the slightest margin and melted away.
-Indeed.
When Ashin held out her sword, the erosion retreated even farther.
“It’s fine. I’ll do this. You only recently became an evil spirit.”
-That has already recovered. You know those things can no longer do anything to me.
“I do know, but this will be faster.”
Noel took out two 50,000-won bills and shook them.
‘Now, you’d better work for as much as you gobble down.’
Hamburgers, fried chicken, boiled pork wraps.
Thinking of foods that made his mouth water just by imagining them, Noel let out a long breath and placed the money over the purple fire.
As if it had been chewed and swallowed, the money turned to ash and vanished in an instant.
The flame grew fierce, and Noel grinned as he threw it.
FWOOSH!
The purple fire caught on the erosion and blazed up.
Upward.
Higher and higher it climbed, burning away every bit of erosion in the building as if pulling it all in.
-···So this is the power of money.
Ashin revealed her surprise.
Perhaps because money had gone into it, the power looked both extremely rough and lofty.
Was it not like watching a single violet firebird?
“It’s the power of money.”
-I have been a guardian spirit for a long time, but this is my first time seeing such a sight.
“This is why being free is better than being bound, right?”
At Noel’s question, Ashin was delighted.
-You are right. The world changed while I remained in that place.
With a smile, Ashin looked upward.
-Come here.
Along with the command, a strong force pressed down from above, and something rapidly descended.
THUD.
When Ashin approached, the thing was forced to its knees.
Perhaps because erosion had made it lose even its form, it was such a mess that it would not have been strange to say it had draped itself in a wild beast’s hide.
‘At this point, they usually even lose who they were.’
Grrrrrr.
“What, it really makes beast sounds?”
-It seems the impurity has gained a self as well.
Ashin gently stabbed the evil spirit’s head with the sword she held out.
Wooooong.
A clear sound spread outward, and the erosion trembled, melting away in the color that spread along with the sound.
As a form was created, a human figure emerged.
A man with shaggy hair looked at Ashin with blank eyes.
He blinked his black, white-less eyes several times, then suddenly shouted.
-This is my land! Even you cannot enter this place as you please!
When Ashin struck her sword down, several swords descended around the man and made the ground ring.
THUD.
-How insolent.
At the gaze Ashin directed at him, the man trembled.
It was the dignity of a guardian spirit.
“Do you remember what you did?”
At Noel’s question, the man’s gaze quickly sharpened, but he bit his lip under Ashin’s pressure.
“I guess you do remember. That’s good.”
Noel smiled and pointed at the man’s neck with a finger.
The moment black smoke rippled around his neck, the man groaned in pain.
-···Kaaagh.
“I’m debating what to do with you. For now, I’ve cleared away the erosion on the outside, but what you’ve done is so deeply sinful that you’re still an evil spirit.”
-···No··· way··· Kaaagh.
“It hurts, doesn’t it? You never imagined it would hurt even after death, did you? Of course you didn’t. That’s why you tormented people with this fine power of yours.”
The moment Noel loosened his power, the man shouted,
-This is my land! No matter what anyone says, it is my land! No one, no one can take it away···!
“Ah, so it was that side of things? You were caught by the delusion that you had to protect it even after death, and that’s why you tormented people.”
-I told them not to come. I clearly told them not to come! And yet they insisted on coming anyway!
“How are the living supposed to understand the words of the dead? You talk to yourself, warn them by yourself, and think that makes sense? No matter how much you apologize to the people who were dying, do you think they can hear you?”
-If they were hurt, they should have stopped coming. If something strange happened, they should have left this place. I’m not the strange one! They’re the ones who are strange!
“You wormlike bastard who doesn’t even know the basic common sense that the living and the dead are different.”
Noel did not listen any further.
Whatever he said, it was nothing but excuses.
-You, wait a moment.
“Why? That thing has no will to pass on. If we leave him here, he’ll obviously become an evil spirit again.”
This was where Noel’s shop would be set up now.
-From now on, that will be the dog that guards the house.
“What···? All of a sudden?”
-Is a being that guards the house not necessary? Seeing how severe his obsession with the land is, I think he is perfectly suited for it.
Ashin spoke coldly.
After watching for a moment, she had seen that, quite naturally, many ghosts clung around Noel.
That was not good for the living.
She understood that they craved him because there were too few beings who could listen to and see them, but that was far too deep an interest.
Since he would be working here, there needed to be a guard to drive away unnecessary ghosts.
The power it possessed would shrink somewhat, but it would still be better than most ghosts.
-I can hold that one’s leash. Did he not threaten you?
“A guardian spirit’s right? Authority? Something like that?”
-Something similar. He will absolutely be unable to harm you. Therefore.
Ashin flew softly over, seemed to grip the man’s neck, and then grabbed his forehead.
HISSSSS.
-Aaaaaagh!
-This is my power, granted by Heaven, and it is a brand you cannot escape until you repent your sins and accumulate merit.
When Ashin drew back her hand, a scar-like mark appeared on the man’s forehead.
The man clutched his own head and writhed in agony.
Aside from the brand, a long, thick mark appeared sideways across his neck.
‘Is that a real leash?’
Around the time Noel looked at him with doubt, the man choked and staggered, then looked at Ashin.
-······Guardian spirit.
With eyes mixed with resentment and desperation, he spoke to Ashin.
-I must··· protect this land, no matter what I have to do.
-Protect this place as much as you like. That is why I placed the brand. But this place is not your land. You must abandon that obsession.
-I cannot give up on that alone! This place is my land. It is the land I first acquired with my wife, and where my wife and child are buried······.
“No matter how desperate you were, that has nothing to do with anything.”
Noel openly sneered at the man and headed toward the window.
When he looked back, despair had already appeared on the man’s face.
-Do not··· do it. Please, do not.
“You’re dead, and the owner of this land isn’t you, but the living. Use this chance to hammer that into your useless head.”
The evil spirit had blocked the passages that connected to the outside in order to sever the place from the world.
Since a ghost could only unfold its territory in the world of the living by cutting it off from the outside.
There was a reason ghosts took root and staged sieges over their domains.
“And you lost.”
Noel opened the window.
He opened a passage from inside to outside.
“Now, do you see your world collapsing?”
Noel smiled joyfully at the evil spirit.