“You’re saying I interfered with life and death?”
Noel spoke with an expression that said he had never heard of such a thing.
“Yes. The contents of the Registry changed completely, you see. One of my team members came to inspect this area and discovered you, sir.”
“The Registry is originally highly variable, isn’t it?”
When Noel’s gaze turned slightly fierce, Jin-hon raised both hands.
“Sir, this is a misunderstanding. I did not come to argue.”
-Is that true?
When even Ashin glared at him, Jin-hon instead looked at her with covetous eyes.
“It is. I came because I was worried that Heaven might have grown angry and sent down divine punishment. Right now, you are not exactly in a normal state, sir.”
Though it was blank, there was another name in the Registry.
It was also in a state without a lifespan.
Since Noel was being treated as a shaman, they did not know what might happen.
-There is no need to worry about divine punishment.
“Is that so? Then I am relieved.”
Apart from Jin-hon’s relief, Noel was curious what that was.
They kept saying divine punishment, divine punishment.
“What is divine punishment?”
-It is commonly called punishment sent down by Heaven or a god. It happens when one does something one must not do.
“Is it something shamans receive?”
-Yes.
‘Then I won’t be receiving it.’
Noel thought lightly.
He was not a shaman, so he figured that would not happen.
“Since I can set that worry aside··· Guardian spirit. If you do not mind······.”
-I refuse.
“If you could please hear me out to the end······.”
-Are you not about to ask me to become one of your civil servants? I refuse.
When Ashin glared at Jin-hon even more sharply, he made a regretful expression.
If he proposed any more, she looked as though she would draw her sword.
Jin-hon pressed his lips together, then suddenly looked back and forth between Noel and Ashin.
“Has the guardian spirit decided to remain by your side, sir?”
-Why do you ask?
Ashin asked warily.
“Because when I come to see my respected sir, I will also be able to see the respected guardian spirit. How could that not make me very happy?”
It was obvious he did not mean a word of it.
Still, it was probably not a lie that he had come in case something had gone wrong.
He had said it in front of a guardian spirit, and had the team leader not moved personally?
“Messenger. Is the work that hard?”
Noel smiled gently.
“Yes, sir.”
Jin-hon answered at once.
He even clasped his two hands solemnly and spoke as if muttering.
“I am already dead, so the only thing left after this is extinction, yet there is so much work that extinction flickers in my mind. Since I am dead, I no longer get sick, but I cannot shake off the feeling of being tired enough to die. So my smile is not a smile, and my life is not a life. I cannot sleep, and it is simply a twenty-four-hour hamster wheel of existence. That is why I earnestly, very earnestly, need someone to work with me.”
Hahaha.
Jin-hon let out a lifeless laugh.
Even if he wanted to quit, he could not.
He had no choice but to keep working.
“I’ll help you.”
“Really···?”
The word salvation seemed to be engraved in both of Jin-hon’s eyes.
“However, promise me only two things.”
“Say anything, sir!”
Jin-hon looked at him expectantly, as if he would pull out his liver and gallbladder for him.
“There’s no law saying another coincidence like today’s won’t happen, is there?”
“That is something I can handle on my own. Life and death can change according to the will of Heaven by nature, after all.”
Without a single hesitation, Jin-hon nodded.
Even in his own opinion, he thought he could easily grant that much.
The real issue was the second condition.
“No matter what happens, take my side.”
It seemed light, but was it not the heaviest kind of promise?
Even if it was sly, he needed backing.
‘Aren’t they trying to monitor me anyway?’
Noel looked at him confidently.
“Yes, sir!”
Jin-hon answered without the slightest hesitation, enough to drain the tension away.
Was he light, or was he pretending to be light?
“I am now on your side, sir.”
“That wouldn’t be a violation, would it?”
“Since you are not one of the dead, it is not favoritism, and since this is a promise made by mutual agreement rather than a one-sided promise on my part, it is not a violation. Thank you, sir. Then······.”
“You can bring them to me, but not for free. Only bring ghosts who have jewelry, valuables, or some kind of wealth.”
“······Pardon?”
“If word spreads that I help ghosts without payment, they’ll come no matter who they are, won’t they? Won’t presumptuous ghosts who think I’m a sucker interfere with my business? You wouldn’t want me to starve to death, would you? You’re on my side now.”
Noel laughed lightly and turned away just like that.
He was not some priest, and charity and sacrifice could go to the dogs.
“···That is true.”
At Jin-hon’s listless answer, Ashin quietly clapped her hands together.
-Excellent.
“······Guardian spirit?”
-Did Heaven not recognize that snake-like heart of yours?
“I-I swear, I have never done such a thing!”
-Good. Continue to maintain that mindset. As that child’s guardian spirit, destroying a single messenger would be no great task, no matter the price.
Ashin’s eyes turned cold.
Since long ago, underworld messengers had been snakes.
They were people who had no choice but to become snakes in order to guide souls, but she had no pity for them.
All messengers were sinners who had not received Heaven’s forgiveness.
When even Ashin turned away, Jin-hon narrowed his eyes and lowered the corners.
“···Both of you are too cruel.”
***
“···Do you want to chase the bastard who harmed that child?”
Noel asked Ashin as he headed toward Yeong-hyeon.
-That is fine. Divine punishment will descend, and he will never be able to move those filthy hands again.
“How do you know that?”
Noel looked at Ashin and asked.
She had already finished figuring out who the culprit was and what they did.
-I can know without seeing. It began from nothing but greed to possess me. Since he has been punished, there is no need to touch him further.
“···Is this why you’re a guardian spirit?”
When Noel spoke as if impressed, Ashin laughed lightly.
He spoke as if he were seeing a guardian spirit for the first time.
-What an amusing joke.
“It’s not a jo······.”
-Noel!
At Yeong-hyeon’s voice, Noel turned his head.
“Older brother.”
At Noel’s slight smile, Yeong-hyeon stopped approaching and smiled like a fool.
-Why are you only coming now? I was so worried I nearly charged in there.
“You almost could have.”
It had been dangerous, yet not dangerous.
Even after becoming an evil spirit, Ashin had been able to identify allies.
-I should have, then.
As Yeong-hyeon spoke with regret, he saw Ashin.
She was somehow warm, and he stared blankly at her.
-Nice to meet you.
At the benevolent voice, Yeong-hyeon immediately greeted her.
-H-hello. Please excuse my rudeness.
-There is no need to be so stiff.
As Ashin spoke, she looked back and forth between Yeong-hyeon and Noel.
They looked exactly the same, but they were different.
There must be a reason.
“She’s a guardian spirit. Her name is Ashin.”
-······Huh?
At Noel’s words, Yeong-hyeon grew flustered.
-That is how things turned out.
Ashin answered simply.
-A-are you a god?
-Child. It is not like that. I have merely accumulated a little more merit.
At Ashin’s smile, Yeong-hyeon’s mouth opened slightly.
How should he put it?
She was like sunlight approaching in the cold winter.
It was his first time seeing her, yet reverence kept springing up from within him.
“That’s a natural reaction. Benevolence will pour from a being who has accumulated virtue.”
-Still, my heart strangely feels reverent. Enough that I want to pray···?
“Then that’s a relief. She’s also the one who’ll become my fake god from now on.”
At Noel’s words, Yeong-hyeon smiled brightly as if it were his own business.
Things were being prepared one by one.
-That’s great. You were worried because you didn’t have a god you served, right?
“That’s right. Now let’s go home. This is too heavy.”
-Let’s take a taxi. Your arm hurts too, so you should take a taxi.
“I will.”
Noel put down the side dishes and took out his cell phone.
When he looked at it as if asking how to use it, Yeong-hyeon taught him one step at a time.
“This is hard. My head and hands are moving separately.”
-Just try it slowly. You’ll learn it quickly.
Yeong-hyeon showed him again and again, neither too quickly nor too slowly.
“Oh, it worked.”
-See? I told you it would.
Each time the number of things he had to teach decreased one by one, Yeong-hyeon knew the time for them to part was drawing closer, but he accepted that time gladly and smiled even more.
***
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
“Uncle.”
At that voice, Shin-hyeon, who had been looking over documents, was startled.
Was it not Yeong-hyeon?
“How did you come all the way here?”
“By taxi.”
“Your body isn’t well, so why?”
“I got side dishes, so I came to give you some.”
Through Yeong-hyeon, Noel knew what Shin-hyeon liked.
When he set the side dishes down on the table, emotion rippled in both of Shin-hyeon’s eyes.
It was as if he could picture before his eyes how his nephew must have come all the way here for these side dishes.
‘With one arm, how hard must it have been?’
“It wasn’t hard.”
Noel cut him off sharply, but Shin-hyeon still looked at him as if he was so proud he could hardly stand it.
“Uncle.”
“Hm?”
“Sometimes, your head hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Sometimes, yes? Because I look at a lot of documents?”
“It isn’t because of the documents.”
At those firm words, goosebumps momentarily rose on Shin-hyeon’s skin.
“······Is there one?”
“Yes. There is.”
Noel pointed at the ceiling.
Yeong-hyeon had already gone over and was touching it.
When it twitched, Yeong-hyeon was startled and backed away.
“It has legs.”
“Wh-what, l-legs? Really? You aren’t joking?”
“Why would I joke?”
Noel stared at him quietly.
“···Is it stuck?”
“Stuck? A ghost is stuck in the ceiling?”
“That’s what it looks like. It’s hanging down just enough that when Uncle sits there, it can diligently stomp its feet over your head.”
After seeing Shin-hyeon horrified, Noel approached.
He grabbed the legs and asked,
“Hey. Talk.”
When no answer came, Ashin, who had been looking around here and there, came closer.
-Answer him at once.
At those words, a voice was heard.
-···I’m stu, stuck.
It was an extremely faint voice.
“Ghosts can get stuck too?”
-I feel a faint power from upstairs.
At Ashin’s words, Noel called Shin-hyeon.
“Uncle.”
“Huh? Is it leaving? Did it say it’s going?”
“That’s not it. Is the floor above yours too?”
“No. It belongs to the bank.”
Shin-hyeon answered with an extremely frightened expression.
He reached out and grabbed Noel’s shoulder.
“Yeong-hyeon. Even if you get a shop, don’t expand recklessly. Each day becomes frightening.”
“Yes. I’ll see your fear and learn from it, Uncle.”
“That’s right. Be sure to keep it in mind. It’s the most frightening choice, one you can’t reverse.”
“If you go broke, Uncle, I’ll support you.”
Was that not what Yeong-hyeon would want?
When Noel turned his head, Yeong-hyeon was curling his index finger and thumb into a circle.
-Uncle likes those words. Look, he’s smiling even now.
It was true.
Shin-hyeon was delighted.
-Noel.
Yeong-hyeon called him in a slightly heavy voice.
-Even after I leave, please don’t tell Uncle the truth. He won’t be able to endure it. Uncle is only looking at me right now. Uncle’s lifeline··· is me.
Noel nodded.
Shin-hyeon was a good person.
Though his face was different, Noel had come to think of his father.
Was it the same for Yeong-hyeon?
Even without considering what Yeong-hyeon had given him, this was a request he could grant.
***
“When it’s solved··· come out. I’ll be waiting. Uncle’s heart is pounding too much for this.”
Shin-hyeon clutched his chest, but Noel knew he was leaving deliberately.
The whispers on the way here would have been audible to anyone with ears.
Had he gone mad after hurting his head?
How creepy, and so on.
“It’ll be over quickly.”
When Noel smiled, Shin-hyeon nodded, then went outside.
-Don’t mind what they said about you earlier.
At Yeong-hyeon’s words, Noel laughed lightly.
“I don’t. Don’t worry. Bad words are always the first to reach your ears. There were more people stopping them.”
-But unlike you, it seems your uncle does mind.
At Ashin’s words, Noel looked at the door.
“It seems so.”
He would have to get used to it.
In truth, that was nothing.
He had heard words that dug much deeper for far too long, so they did not affect him at all.
Noel lowered his gaze.
The ghost’s upper body was here.
-······H-hello.
The moment she met Noel’s eyes, she greeted him while timidly covering her face.
“Why are you like this?”
-···Because I’m embarrassed.
‘···?’
Noel stared at her like a fool for a moment.
Embarrassed?
By what?