Chapter 214: East, Hwaseong (2)
I burst Orphele’s bubble. Or, more precisely, I shattered it into many smaller ones and as a result, rain was falling from the sky.
Each divine beast has its own weaknesses.
The fiery fox’s weakness, of course, is water, which is why she’s so afraid of rain.
A brief, artificial rain shower wouldn’t douse her fire, but it could temporarily disorient her.
As the rain falls from nowhere in the dry sky, the frightened creature gradually shrinks in size, until it’s about the size of an average fox and runs away.
“It’s raining! Catch Miho!”
“It’s already run away…!”
“Damn it, when is the senior ninja going to come back?!”
The ninjas who were still able to move their bodies shouted as they looked helplessly at the cute tail of the fleeing rookie in the distance.
Her name must have been Miho.
Her appearance and name reminded me of Gumiho, but alas, she didn’t have nine tails.
I didn’t really go after her.
I might be able to kill it, but I couldn’t catch it.
-Roar!
The sky rumbled again, and Aizel, who had been hugging me with a sullen expression on her face, lifted her magpie paws and reached over my head to catch the thunder that was falling toward me.
“This is the third time you’ve done this… Aren’t you going to tell me what it is?”
Aizel rubbed her hands together and tilted her head to look at me. Aizel was questioning the lightning bolt that had struck me after using the third chapter of the Reverse Heaven.
“Maybe I’m being punished for being too good.”
“…Bad luck.”
Aizel giggles at my sarcasm and hugs me tightly again.
With her, I look around, soaking up the rain that will soon stop.
All around us, people were shouting and running around, claiming to have found wounded.
The battle was effectively over.
We had just made progress.
[Progress:
Saint – 9%
King – 4%
Demon – 9%]
As expected, the King’s progression is boosted by commanding and leading in battle.
What’s unusual is that Aizel, Kaen, Yuri, and others were also judged to be major figures.
I’m not sure what that means right now, but it’s a good thing.
There will be plenty of opportunities to fight alongside them in the future.
“Good work.”
From the other side, Edward approaches, clapping his hands.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but for now, we need to help clean up this mess. And Cadet Zetto, Medical Officer Priscilla wants to see you.”
“…Understood.”
I guess I’m supposed to help treat the wounded.
Even the rain in the dry skies doesn’t give me a chance to relax but I didn’t mind, as long as I can make good progress.
***
“It just so happens that the village’s senior ninja and the two elders have gone to a nearby village to help.”
“They had to deal with a new divine beast?”
“Yes, that’s where things get tricky, because this one was a high-level divine beast.”
As I helped Priscilla check on the wounded, I listened to a bit of their story.
Some of the information I already knew, some of it new.
The problem that Hwaseong needed to solve was the divine beasts that were wreaking havoc in the country.
However, I realized something in Ishay.
I realized that the information and problems were the same ones I had known before, but in a slightly different form.
Originally, my goal was to visit each country in the East and make connections with the so-called “High Ones” by solving their problems and issues.
I figured that these connections would help prevent terrorism during the festival.
I also made the best possible impression on Princess Kimei, the future Queen of Ishay, and the King’s brother, King Shui.
Part of me thought that since I was already as famous as I was going to be, I would be safer if I became even more famous and increased the number of people who supported me.
But the mention of a mysterious “offering” that shouldn’t have been there in the first place bothered me.
The future has changed, and Helgenas is on the move.
That’s how the changes came about, I assumed.
So I contrasted what I knew with the current state of affairs in Hwaseong to see what might have changed.
“If the shrine maiden was here, this might have been her chance to catch Miho.”
“If the shrine maiden…?”
“…She is the only one who has the mysterious power to control the divine beasts. Right now, she’s busy trying to recapture the runaway divine beasts.”
“I thought I heard that the divine beasts didn’t harm people in the first place.”
“They used to be, but a few years ago they lost control. Ha… Little by little, we’ve been reclaiming them, but there are still some big ones out there, and this Miho is one of them.”
“This must be a disaster for the people of the Hwaseong Kingdom.”
“I wonder how things came to this…”
The wounded ninja bowed his head deeply.
So far, I hadn’t sensed much difference from what I knew.
The rampage of divine beasts out of control and the shrine maidens and ninjas of Hwaseong trying to retrieve them was I remembered.
The only difference was that my arrival in Hwaseong had been delayed, and I confronted a divine beast upon my arrival.
If I had timed it right, I would have been able to calculate which ones were appearing and where, but that’s no longer possible.
They appear all over the country, wreak havoc, and then disappear.
There is, however, an object that can tell you where they are, so I’m going to have to approach the problem the old-fashioned way, which is to get it and solve it.
That’s not the only problem.
There’s a traitor in the ranks of the Ten Ninja of Hwaseong, and he’s the cause of all this.
To summarize, I don’t have a lot of time to stay in Hwaseong, so I’ll need to help the shrine maiden capture some of the strongest divine beasts and eliminate one of the top ninjas.
All the while, I had to take into account the changed circumstances of the future.
‘I’ll be short two bodies…’
In fact, assuming my plan doesn’t go awry, I’d like to leave the job to a fellow worthy of the title, but I’m not sure he’ll be able to find his way here.
‘He doesn’t even know how to ride a train in the first place, so I’m guessing he’d have to run all the way from Ishay…’
They say that if your head is bad, your body will suffer but Inrang is such a monster. I wonder if he really suffered.
In any case, the patient in front of me had no injuries that my acupuncture could address so I focused on triaging the patients as Priscilla had instructed.
As I worked on the patients with the occasional abnormality, watching my progress with acupuncture, Priscilla walked up to me and asked softly.
“You’re having a hard time, Zetto.”
“Haha, I’m not running out of steam.”
“Oh, good.”
She hadn’t come to me, but had been treating a patient next to me.
“By the way, you seem to be in quite a dangerous situation.”
“Uhm…What do you mean?”
“…They haven’t come for you yet.”
Priscilla, the healer, muttered something to herself when I tried to pretend I didn’t know anything.
Apparently, news had reached her ears, and it wasn’t good news: the hound was after me.
I wasn’t surprised to hear that she was getting news from the underworld.
“You’d best keep to yourself for the time being.”
This was not her advice as Priscilla, the Academy’s medical officer, but as the Ghost of the Holy Land.
“Haha, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Just today, didn’t you fearlessly face a divine beast? I heard it was called an ‘extraordinary divine beast’.”
“That’s because Instructor Edward asked me to stop it at least until the evacuation was over.”
“Edward…? What does he think we cadets are…?”
“We managed to stop him somehow.”
“…Don’t get me wrong, you did, but it only worked out so well. Anyway, will you take care of yourself, or better yet, stay around me?”
“You’re a bit clumsy with your date requests, Doc.”
“……”
My smirk leaves Priscilla speechless.
‘I’m going to have to do something about it.’
There’s nothing I can do to stop it.
The ‘dog’ she’s worried about is already in the palm of my hand.
‘But what are they doing over there…?”’
Priscilla turned her head and glanced at the three women on the other side.
There were Aizel, Yuri, and Kaen.
“Zetto, I have a headache.”
“It’s because you used too much mana, and you’re suddenly feeling dizzy…”
“My muscles are sore from blocking the divine beast attack earlier…”
The seemingly healthy, or at least well, women pretended to be sick and took a seat where the least prioritized were sorted.
“I put out the immediate fire, so it doesn’t matter…”
“…I’ll send you back.”
I’m going to have to let these women off the hook.
***
While Zetto had safely chased away the divine beast, the silver-haired boy who remained in Ishay was trying to figure out how to get to Hwaseong.
“You want to go to Hwaseong? You can take the train.”
“A train…? What is it?”
The bearded old man, who looked much older than he was, stammered.
“You don’t even know trains…”
Judging by the boy’s shabby appearance and lack of common sense, the old man didn’t even bother to tackle him, assuming it was due to his lack of education.
The old man then explains to the boy about trains.
“So if I take the train, I can go to Hwaseong, right?”
“That’s right…”
“I want to get on the train.”
“Do you have any money?”
“I don’t have a dime.”
The boy’s ears pricked up at the sound of money.
He had been spending every penny he earned on his sister’s treatment.
“Then you won’t be able to catch the train.”
“Give me money.”
The boy spread his hands.
“…I’m not paying you for anything.”
“I’ll sleep with you. Why do old people sleep with young children and give them money?”
The boy’s life in the underworld had taught him to see only the abnormal, and he had no common sense.
“You…! You deserve to be punished… I’m not that kind of person.”
At the mention of prostitution, the old man was taken aback.
“Really? Then how can I get paid?”
The boy didn’t seem to know what he was talking about.
“Hah… Bow down.”
“What’s a bow?”
The old man with the cane barely managed to stifle a sigh as he explained that bowing is a culture of the East.
The boy understood and immediately bowed down to the old man.
Then he dusted himself off, stood up, and held out his hand.
“Now give me the money.”
“With your bald head… Yes.”
The old man clicks his tongue and puts the money into the boy’s tiny hand.
It was just enough money for a train ride.
“But what are you going to do in Hwaseong?”
The old man, who was curious about the boy’s purpose, asked and the boy’s lips twitched as he looked at the money, then he answered in a nonchalant voice.
“I’m going to kill a man. 50,000 gold.”
“……Yes, go ahead, go ahead.”
The old man gave up on further conversation.