When Noel turned his head, he saw a mountain.
-The hill right behind it?
Yeong-hyeon felt the same absurdity Noel did.
-···So the holy relic thief stole the holy relic and ran to the mountain right behind the church?
When Yeong-hyeon spoke, the ghost nodded as if it were obvious.
-I do not understand why they cannot find it when it is this close.
-But that was fun, wasn’t it?
When the ghost beside him nudged another ghost, they agreed and giggled.
-It was fun. It was right behind them, but they could not find it and were fumbling around.
-They looked really stupid. If it was that precious, they should have checked somewhere close first.
Yeong-hyeon narrowed his eyes at their words.
Was that not mockery?
But Noel and Ashin were strangely calm.
Why?
-···Ah, still, we kept telling them. The others did too. But no matter how much we shouted, they could not hear us. In that situation, is it not a little funny when they say they are children of God or whatever?
-It is funny.
The ghosts giggled again.
“In any case, you don’t know the exact location.”
-We do not. The holy relic, how should I put it, is very warm, but when we get close, it feels a little nauseating.
-We simply do not want to get close. So much that I wonder how anyone managed to steal something like that.
“I understand. Now go.”
When Noel waved his hand, the ghosts did not leave and kept peeking at him.
“Why are you following me?”
-Will you really find it?
“Why? Do you want me not to find it?”
It was a rather sharp question, but the ghost shook his head.
-No. It is not that. We really hope you find it. The priest is a good person.
-That is why we told them, but what are the chances they could hear us? Everyone kept peeking around, wondering if someone would see us, and then you arrived just like this, shaman.
“I won’t grant anything even if you flatter me.”
-That is not what this is.
The ghost giggled.
-You can tell from the fact that everyone stays near the church.
“You mean you want to follow the underworld messenger after atoning?”
When Noel hit the mark exactly, the ghost looked embarrassed.
-That is right. I thought everything ended after death, but when I found out there was something after that, I suddenly got scared.
‘What changes if you atone after you die?’
Noel did not bother saying that aloud.
-We do not need to score any points, so please find it.
Listening to the ghost’s words, Noel nodded and moved his feet.
‘It was really close.’
How wronged would the priest feel once he learned the truth of the case?
Things found nearby felt somehow more unfair than things found far away.
-···They’re strange.
Yeong-hyeon spoke.
“The ghosts?”
-Yeah. They’re so strange. Why are they like this one moment and like that the next?
“They’re always like that, though. That much is extremely docile.”
Did they throw a tantrum?
No.
Did they get angry?
Not at all.
Did they curse him because he would not grant their request?
Nope.
‘That’s a mild version in its own way.’
Then again, the ghosts here were rather docile as a group.
-···Is that so?
Ashin asked with a face that said she did not know at all.
“They don’t treat you carelessly.”
Would there even be a ghost who could act carelessly toward Ashin?
-There will be no such thing for you from now on either.
“Now there won’t be.”
Because Ashin was his guardian spirit.
Noel smiled faintly and headed toward the hill behind the church.
***
‘···Oh. It’s quiet.’
Before stepping onto the hill behind the church, that was the first thing that surprised Noel.
The second surprising thing was that he could feel the power with extreme clarity.
-This is the place.
Ashin felt it clearly as well, did she not?
‘What? This is too easy.’
He had expected it to be a little more urgent.
Noel looked upward for a moment.
‘The mountain is the problem, though.’
After taking a couple of steps upward, he glanced at Ashin.
Would it not be faster for Ashin to bring it over than for him to climb?
-Do you want me to bring it?
“Can you?”
-Do you not know my power?
“I wondered if it would be all right since the other side’s power is rather intense.”
-There is no problem at all.
Ashin looked toward the direction where the power could be felt.
As Noel had said, the power was intense.
It might be because of the thing called a holy relic.
But could a guardian spirit be unable to do even this much?
Ashin inhaled and stretched out her hand.
-Come here!
Ashin’s power spread into the mountain.
Then a vibration arose.
Wooooong.
A small sound spread, and then they heard something hurriedly running toward them.
Rustle.
Something burst through the underbrush.
-···A cat?
Yeong-hyeon doubted his own eyes.
It was a black cat with yellow eyes.
It had run over in response to Ashin’s call for now, but its back was arched and its fur was standing on end.
“······What is this?”
Noel was just as surprised.
An animal, of all things.
Animal ghosts were almost never seen.
Unlike humans, animals tended to know they had to go and accept it.
‘But why··· is it here?’
-How cute.
Ashin barely held back the laugh that was about to slip out.
“No, this thing is really the culprit?”
Noel could not believe it.
~They were sloppy, and if you saw them, you couldn’t forget them.
He remembered what the ghost had said.
Only then did he understand what it meant.
It was sloppy because it was an animal, and unforgettable because it was a cat.
‘I wondered why the ghosts liked this so much, and it was because it’s an animal.’
Noel looked indifferently at the frightened cat, then was surprised again.
“What is that on your forehead?”
It was a cross.
There was no sea-like power, but somehow, he felt a power similar to the holy relic.
Why was such power embedded in its forehead?
Surely the holy relic’s power had not transferred to it.
“Answer me. You can talk, can’t you? Tell me why you saw us too.”
-···Noel? Cats can only say “meow,” you know?
Yeong-hyeon laughed lightly.
“Older brother.”
-Hm?
“Normally, yes. But once you die, language becomes unnecessary. Everything can be heard.”
-···What? Really?
“It’s true.”
-Then it can hear everything right now and is pretending it can’t?
“That’s about right. Very irritatingly, too.”
Noel raised the corner of his eye slightly.
What was needed at a time like this?
“Ashin.”
When Noel called Ashin, she hesitated for a moment.
-Still, is it not an animal?
“It’s deceiving us right now, though.”
-It may simply be too startled.
“Ashin···?”
When Noel’s eyes widened, the cat looked left and right, then sidled toward Ashin.
When Ashin welcomed it, the cat gently swayed its tail and looked at her with the most pitiful eyes it could make.
-···I was scared.
-I am sorry. I did not mean to frighten······.
-I-it, it t-t-talked! It really talked!
Yeong-hyeon shouted in horror, enough to surprise even Ashin.
“I told you it can talk.”
Noel held out his hand to the cat.
The cat stared blankly at that hand, then tilted its head.
“Hand over the holy relic.”
Not adding “thief” was the greatest consideration he could show.
-···I don’t want to!
“You’re a thief, yet your tongue is long.”
Noel laughed lightly.
Before being a ghost, was it not an animal?
“Why did you look at us?”
The cat started to say something, then soon closed its mouth.
“Someone tempted you, didn’t they?”
It could speak because it had become a ghost, but with an animal’s mind, there was no way it could act that shrewdly.
It was right to assume someone else was involved.
“They must have told you that you could do something with that holy relic, didn’t they?”
To begin with, how would that cat know the use of a holy relic?
Even if it had overheard something, there was no reason for it to steal one.
Someone must have tempted it with something the cat wanted.
-You saw···?
The cat’s eyes widened, and it gently bent its hind legs.
“I know even without seeing.”
-How do you know?
“It’s obvious from the way the holy relic was hidden. You put the holy relic inside a tree anyway, didn’t you?”
At those words, spoken as if he had seen it himself, the cat felt indescribable fear.
Noel’s large body seemed even larger.
It curled itself into a ball and stared quietly at Noel.
‘···That human is smart.’
“I guessed everything right, didn’t I?”
Noel twisted one corner of his mouth upward.
‘No. He isn’t smart. He’s different!’
The cat’s eyes shook greatly.
He was different.
It had only noticed that now.
-How can you see me?
“Am I not supposed to?”
-That child can’t see me.
“That child?”
-Yes. The other human who gave me food can’t see me either. And the human who played with me can’t see me. The human who adored me can’t see me.
“That’s because I’m special.”
At Noel’s answer, the cat looked up at him.
-Special?
“Yeah.”
-Only you?
“Mostly, I suppose. That’s why I also know where you hid the holy relic, right?”
Noel smiled confidently.
Since it was a ghost, digging into the ground would have been difficult.
Then a tree hollow, a gap between rocks, or a small burrow would be perfect.
‘I already guessed tree hollow.’
If its expression changed, he could just mention the remaining options.
-I’ll give you the holy relic.
“Bring it here.”
-Instead, tell the child what I have to say.
“No.”
-Huh? Don’t you need the holy relic?
“The holy relic is something that naturally has to be returned. It isn’t an object for a transaction. You stole it.”
Noel made that clear to the cat.
To begin with, the holy relic was not something to bargain with.
-Then what do I do?
“Did you steal the holy relic to meet that child?”
-Yes.
The cat nodded.
It blinked, then nodded again.
-They said if the child touched the holy relic, she would be able to see me.
-Who said that?
Ashin cut in.
-A dead human said it. He told me near the hospital.
-That person is a complete bastard!
Yeong-hyeon raised his voice.
Had he not led a cat that knew nothing into doing something wrong?
-A person is not a dog. A dog is a dog. A bad dog.
The cat sat down on its haunches and looked at Yeong-hyeon.
-Yes. You are right.
Ashin approached the cat and carefully reached out.
When she touched it lightly, her hand trembled.
It was truly soft.
She did not know how long it had been since she had felt such a sensation.
Living cats, no, animals, would not even come near her.
“You remember, right?”
-Yes. I remember. I’m smart.
“Then bring the holy relic first.”
-Okay.
The cat ran back the way it had come.
Normally, one would be suspicious here, but seeing it run off right away, Noel thought it was truly innocent.
-Will you help it?
Ashin asked Noel.
“It has to give me something that benefits me. For example, if it heard interesting information while passing by, something like that.”
Helping someone out of pity was foolish.
Did they think people would help him just because he had helped them?
‘No. Absolutely not.’
Rather, they would usually ask for more, raise their voices louder, and turn him into the strange one.
If the other party wanted help, should they not show at least the bare minimum sincerity?
Was it not far too shameless to simply ask for help with nothing?
“Like I said earlier, the holy relic has to be returned anyway, so it needs to offer something else. Right?”
At Noel’s words, Ashin hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
-You are right. Protecting others was my own decision, but I learned that such a decision alone held no meaning.
Meaning was only created if the other party remembered it, at least.
If the other party did not remember, all she had done was accumulate virtue.
Had she not learned that emptiness just recently?
“But you saw the cross on the cat’s forehead, right?”
-I saw it.
“Older brother, could you see it?”
-No. I couldn’t see it. There keep being things I can’t see.
Out of awkwardness, Yeong-hyeon touched the bridge of his nose for no reason.
Even though he was dead, many mysterious things were happening.
“Then how does that cat feel to you?”
-···Um, how should I put it? Like the place where the holy relic is? It feels like I’ve stepped right near that place? It’s kind of strange.
“Does it repel you?”
-It draws my eye, but it feels like I shouldn’t touch it carelessly. Still, I do want to touch it.
Yeong-hyeon looked at Ashin’s expression.
How soft was it for her to smile so brightly like that?
-But why are you asking?
“This is what I think. It feels like the holy relic’s power transferred to the cat.”
-What? Is that possible?
“I’ve never seen it myself. But it isn’t human, is it? The gods over there tend to like pure things. Animals are the purest. Right, Ashin?”
-Though this is a case I have not seen directly either, I agree with you. It seems the holy relic’s power has transferred to the cat.
-Then what happens?
-I do not know.
Ashin answered rather firmly.
When Yeong-hyeon’s gaze turned to Noel, he shrugged.
“I don’t know either. Who knows? Perhaps a miracle will manifest.”
It was not as if the holy relic was foolish. Would it have simply shared its power for no reason?
There had to be some reason.
It was not a bad thing.
-···Urk.
Yeong-hyeon suddenly let out a cry and quickly backed away.
-It’s here!
The cat had come with something in its mouth.
It was a set of prayer beads bearing a cross that resembled snow-white ivory.
That was the holy relic.
The cross stamped on the cat’s forehead and the cross attached to the prayer beads seemed almost exactly the same size.
When Noel held out his hand, the cat brought him the holy relic.
“How did you get this out?”
-The dead human told me where it was. So I went up the building and slipped right in.
“······?”
Noel froze just like that.
Slipped right in?
-I brought it like this.
The cat thrust its face out, opened its mouth, and mimed snatching something.
-The holy relic got smaller than it was at first. I didn’t do that. It just got smaller. I was surprised, so I hit it over and over, but it didn’t go back.
“Wait, you’re saying you can go into··· walls?”
-Yes.
“How···?”
In the realm of the living, one had to follow the rules of the living.
Could a person pass through walls?
It was impossible.
Therefore, ghosts, too, could only enter and exit through doors and windows.
Well, there were occasional exceptions, but the important thing was that this cat had just done it.
And it had brought a holy relic, something all kinds of ghosts did not want to approach, as if it were nothing.
-You can’t? ···Ah! You’re alive. You can’t.
This cat with pitch-black fur and bright eyes had done that.
The corner of Noel’s mouth trembled very slightly.