Chapter 223: East, Hwaseong (11)
Kaen and Hanzo returned to the alcove shortly afterward.
I found the compass I needed to give to the shrine maiden and was rewarded with an effective amulet against demons. All was well, until I noticed a new sword at Kaen’s waist.
It was a familiar design.
That sword was also on Dao Hua’s belt in my past life.
Perhaps Hanzo had kept the sword for himself after Dao Hua’s death, but it’s unclear how a human from the Kingdom of Hwaseong could have gotten his hands on the sword of the Queen of the Moon Kingdom.
When Aizel and Yuri asked about Kaen’s new sword, she told them she’s running an errand.
I don’t know what Kaen and Hanzo talked about, but since she didn’t mention anything about her past life, I decided to play along.
Well, upgrading equipment is important so there was no reason to take it negatively.
I said goodbye to Hanzo, and on my way out of his tomb, I rescued a group of grave robbers who were still stuck in the trap field, unable to get out.
In exchange for their lives, I asked them to spread a small rumor.
“What rumor…?”
“That the One Exiled from Paradise has opened Hanzo’s tomb.”
“…We’ll do it.”
It was a personal request from Hanzo, who wanted to enlighten the ninjas, and, as a bonus, nag future generations who came to visit.
Word would spread through the community of grave robbers and soon reached the ears of the ninja.
By then, the shrine maiden would know about it, and it would be a good thing for me that I wouldn’t have to explain anything further when I met her and handed her the compass.
Hanzo was curious, though.
“But you… How did you manage to crack the code to the entrance?”
“You don’t mean to ask me how I can walk around so well since I’m blind before that? Haha, I just got lucky.”
I skirted around his question and shrugged it off, as the number would have to be found in Hanzo’s memoirs.
The sun was rising as I stepped out of the cave.
Apparently my previous life had taken up more time than I’d anticipated.
Now all I had to do in Hwaseong was find the Divine Beasts with the compass, help the shrine maiden retrieve them, and deal with the traitorous Lords, preferably before the Succession Ceremony.
The Succession Ceremony will provide a good excuse to bury them.
“When will I take a break?”
I thought to myself, as my schedule was busier than I expected. Perhaps after the festival, I’ll be able to relax.
***
As Zetto and the three women returned safely from Hanzo’s tomb, barely able to sleep and eager to start their day, two men on the train to Hwaseong finally set foot on the land of the country.
Keraph and Wild Dog walked along, inhaling the pungent odor of the land they had never trodden before.
The station and the town that they arrived at were in shambles.
“Is there a war?”
The silver-haired boy’s words were true, and the view of the burned-out village was enough to give the illusion of a war.
From the first light of the morning, villagers were running out barefoot to help rebuild the village and bring it back to life.
“It must have been the divine beasts.”
That’s what Keraph said, piecing together the information from the chatter in less than a few seconds.
“Divine beasts? What are divine beasts?”
“I guess we’ll have to find out now.”
Keraph stopped in his tracks and scattered his spirits through the crowd around him to investigate further.
“What’s wrong with him, he’s a strange one.”
The silver-haired boy grumbled, looking at Keraph, who remained motionless, eyes closed and ears alert.
They both had a purpose.
Keraph was trying to follow the trail of Zetto, who must have passed through this village earlier, and ‘Wild Dog’ was following the faintest trace of his scent.
One wanted to assassinate him while the other wanted to warn him of the danger.
Each had a different purpose, but the end goal was the same.
Keraph, in particular, was determined to find Zetto before the silver-haired beast boy did.
“Kek… Kek… Kek…”
The silver-haired boy who had stuck his nose through the ashes on the side of the road sneezed in a long string of pained sneezes.
“I wonder who’s the weirder one…”
Keraph, distracted by the sound, muttered, frowning.
“Kehek… Fuha… I could smell him from here.”
“…”
Keraph turned away from the boy in silence.
Now he understood why Zetto had reacted so casually to the wild dog’s threat, and why he had called the dog stupid.
Keraph borrowed the ears of the spirits to follow Zetto’s trail once more, listening to the chatter of the villagers to gather information.
“Are the repairs finished?”
“The ceiling needs to be fixed. If they hadn’t come to help, the house would have been torn down, let alone repaired.”
“Where did they say they were from, Innocence?”
“Innocence, my dear, some kind of academy in the West.”
From a conversation between two people on a ladder, banging hammers and fixing up a building.
“The students left quietly this morning.”
“Oh, I should have packed something for them.”
“I thought about bringing them some fruit, but they said they were fine and that the residents were the ones who were having the hardest time.”
“They have such big hearts.”
“Where did you think they went after this, anyway?”
“I thought they went to Hwajung, over the valley.”
And the chatter of the women who were helping to treat the wounded.
It didn’t take long to figure out the academy’s schedule.
‘He’s headed to a city called Hwajung.’
Looking around, Keraph soon spotted a fairly large valley in the distance.
‘It must be in that direction, then…before the dog gets to Zetto…’
Quickly making his decision, Keraph sets off but then his ears catch the sound of footsteps behind him.
“…”
“…”
Keraph turned his head, and the silver-haired boy stared back at him as if he didn’t know what he was looking at.
“Are you following me?”
“No, just heading in the same direction.”
Said the boy, who had been sniffing in the direction of the valley. He had already distinguished Zetto’s scent.
Deciding that the dog had already begun to track him, Keraph decided to get ahead of him and reach Zetto first.
He considered taking a carriage, but the state of the village made it difficult to find a functioning one, so he decided to walk the rest of the way to Hwajung.
“Don’t you think you’re suddenly walking a little faster?”
“It’s an illusion. Why are you walking faster than me?”
“Because I want to have a race?”
“……”
The race didn’t last long before a winner was declared.
“Huh… Huh…”
Keraph, who is not very physically fit, was unable to overcome the stamina of Wild Dog, who was the most athletic of the Lycanthropes.
One thing that struck him as bizarre was that the dog just stood there and watched Keraph gasp for air.
The dog was supposed to be on its way, but instead, it was lying on the ground watching the exhausted Keraph as if to mock him.
“Heh… Now… What are you trying to do…?”
“Don’t think I don’t know your tricks.”
“…What are you saying?”
“You’re trying to be a turtle.”
“A turtle?”
“Yes, a turtle. That’s what my sister said. She said that in a race between a hare and a tortoise, the tortoise always wins.”
“No, that doesn’t mean…”
Keraph was having a hard time breathing anyway, and listening to this nonsense was making it even harder.
“You’re acting like a lazy turtle, so I have no choice but to be just as lazy.”
“That’s because the hare is lazy…”
It was a losing battle so Keraph trailed off.
In retrospect, the situation was actually better now.
If he wasn’t going to outrun the hound anyway, he might as well get to Zetto with him and he might be able to capitalize on his stupidity.
“Hah, I wonder if the plan was discovered…”
Keraph cleared his throat at that thought and gave a look of great regret.
“Hmph, your schemes won’t work on me.”
Keraph wasn’t much of an actor, but the dog was very stupid, so he shook his head.
As they crossed the great valley, there was not a city or town in sight, only a barren expanse of land.
Apparently, the valley beyond was much farther than he had thought.
He glanced at the boy’s yellow eyes, which seemed to follow his every move.
‘At least I’ll get some sleep…’
The moment the hound was caught off guard was the only time he could win the race…
***
Hwajung wasn’t the capital of Hwaseong, but it was one of the main strongholds of Hwaseong, home to the Hwayu Temple, where the divine beasts and the shrine maiden reside.
The entire city was bathed in moonlight.
A woman stood alone in contemplation, gazing out into the vast forest in the center of Hwayu Temple.
The forest was empty and silent now, having once been home to roaming beasts many years ago. Only the muffled cries of a few captured divine beasts could be heard from time to time.
Hino, the 53rd shrine maiden of Hwayu Temple, was a black-haired woman who repeatedly recited the names of the souls with pity in her eyes.
“…Who is it?”
Hino turned her head, sensing the sudden presence.
Hwayu Temple was a sacred place so it was not a good thing that a mysterious person had invaded a place where even the King of Hua could not set foot without the permission of the shrine maiden.
But once Hino saw the man in the darkness, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps it was the brightness of the moonlight, but the bandages around his eyes were unusually noticeable tonight.
“Hah… it was you.”
“It’s been a long time, shrine maiden.”
Zetto approached her cautiously.
“I don’t know how you ended up here, this must not be an easy place to get into, and even if you are lost, you have crossed too many lines.”
“I had to come this way. I had an urgent package to deliver to the shrine maiden.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Here.”
Zetto pulled a small object from his pocket and handed it to Hino.
Hino examined the object and then looked at it with a serious face.
“This is…Divine Beast Compass… How did you get this…?”
Divine Beast Compass was a compass that contained a mysterious aura that could track the aura of a divine beast to determine its location.
“…I thought it was something that had been lost to history.”
“Lord Hanzo asked me to pass it on to you, saying it would help you…”
“…Have you met Lord Hanzo? Even if you haven’t, I’ve heard a rumor that the One Exile from Paradise somehow managed to open Lord Hanzo tomb, but Lord Hanzo is…”
“Yes, he wasn’t exactly alive. I met him as…a ghost, if you will.”
“A ghost… I had sent ninjas to Lord Hanzo’s grave to find out if the rumors were true or not, but after what happened, I guess I’ll just have to believe it.”
“Haha, I got lucky.”
“You really are… It hasn’t even been a few days since you set foot in Hwaseong…”
Zetto’s behavior so far had been unbelievable for a normal cadet.
From putting a stop to Miho’s rampage as soon as he arrived in Hwaseong, to not being outmatched by the Lords.
On top of that, he’d managed to open Hanzo’s tomb, one of Hwaseong’s great mysteries, and had even managed to obtain the one thing Hwaseong needed most, the Divine Beast Compass.
Hino, who had been silently admiring him with her mouth open, turned to him and spoke.
“By the way, did you stop by Ishay before you came to Hwaseong?”
“I did.”
“Actually, I have a personal acquaintance with the princess of Ishay, and she had written me a letter, saying that she had met a nobleman whose eyes were covered with a white bandage…”
“Hmm… A nobleman… Who could that be? I don’t know.”
Zetto smiled as he fiddled with the bandage.
‘You’re definitely someone to covet.’
Hino suddenly realized why Kimei, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, had been so full of praise for him.