Chapter 8
It hadn’t been my imagination when I sensed divine power.
The strange energy surrounding the woman in front of me was undoubtedly very similar in nature to the divine power I possessed.
‘No… it’s actually closer to the energy of nature.’
Until now, I had refined the energy of nature into divine power, then returned it to nature, creating prosperity through that cycle.
But the power flowing from Ms. Jina was closer to the energy that existed halfway between natural energy and divine power.
“Interesting.”
I never expected to encounter this kind of power through someone other than myself in this world.
Just what exactly was she?
But one thing was certain.
Yip! Yip!
Tofu, resting in my arms, was reacting with unusual excitement to that energy.
“I thought something was a little strange about Tofu…”
“It’s Arin, not Tofu!”
“Sure, let’s go with that.”
More than anything, she seemed most upset that I kept calling her child Tofu.
And since I responded so casually, she looked even more flustered.
“She even has a similar aura to Tofu.”
“Of course she does! She’s my child!”
“And her scent is similar too, just much stronger. Is that the scent of a fox?”
“My scent?!”
At my words, Ms. Jina jumped back in surprise.
She was so shaken that even the energy surrounding us wavered.
“So… are you something like the nine-tailed fox from old legends?”
“Eek?!”
Did I guess right?
“I’ll take it that you revealed your true identity because you decided there was no need to hide it from me?”
She had clearly intended to keep it secret at first.
If she had only met my sister or my nieces, she probably never would have revealed herself.
But after meeting me, those plans must have changed.
‘If beings like her really existed, wouldn’t people already know about them?’
Wouldn’t there at least be strange rumors?
Ghost stories, mountain spirits, legends passed around rural villages…
Yet our village had none of that.
It was nothing more than an ordinary countryside village.
“I only planned to find my child, repay the favor if I could, and then leave.”
Ms. Jina reached out and took Arin from my arms.
Happy to be back with her mother, Arin wagged her tail vigorously as she snuggled into her embrace.
Joy and complicated emotions crossed Ms. Jina’s face as she watched her child.
“How in the world…”
Carefully stroking Arin, she looked up at me.
“How did you make my child develop spiritual power?”
“…I just fed her cucumbers until she was full.”
“I’m not in the mood for jokes. Tell me the truth. This is important—to me… no, to all of us.”
But I really was telling the truth.
I took something out of the plastic bag I had brought from home.
It was the cucumber filled with divine power that I had prepared as a farewell gift for Arin.
The moment Ms. Jina saw it, her eyes widened, and she quickly snatched it from my hand.
“How… how does a cucumber contain spiritual power?”
She was so shocked that a fluffy tail appeared behind her.
…So she really did have a tail?
But there was only one.
“T-Tell me! Why does this cucumber have spiritual power?!”
Despite her urgent question, I merely shrugged.
“Trade secret.”
We weren’t close enough for me to reveal something like that.
“Grr…!”
My smug attitude made her tail stand straight up.
But only for a moment.
Soon it drooped limply, and the spiritual power surrounding us rapidly weakened.
When she suddenly staggered, I instinctively caught her.
“Are you okay?”
Her complexion had become noticeably pale.
She was obviously pushing herself too hard.
“Haa… haa… This is important. If it’s really not some secret, then please tell me. Why did my child gain spiritual power? And the spiritual power inside that cucumber… I have to know how you did it.”
Her expression was genuinely desperate.
Seeing that softened my heart a little.
After spending my whole life dealing with nothing but a rough older sister, I was especially weak against expressions like that.
“Well… looking at you, I suppose I can tell you.”
“Really?!”
Her expression brightened instantly.
Even her tail wagged just like Arin’s had before eating the cucumber.
“But we’ll exchange secrets.”
“Huh?”
Ms. Jina looked like she absolutely hated the idea.
It was the same face someone would make if a cockroach suddenly appeared inside their house.
Ouch.
Even so, she quickly seemed to finish weighing the pros and cons.
“Then… we’ll each ask one question.”
“Sounds good. I don’t like playing mind games, so you go first.”
Hearing that, she smiled proudly as though she had already won.
She really did have dramatic mood swings.
“How did you make my child gain spiritual power?”
“Oh, that? She just kept eating this stuff, digested it herself, and somehow produced it on her own.”
“…You’re not joking? That’s really what happened?”
“Yep. I swear on my nieces.”
Once I even swore on my nieces, she couldn’t simply dismiss it as a lie.
Even so, suspicion remained in her eyes.
“Then my turn.”
Quietly, I took another bite of the cucumber.
Crunch.
The faint divine power inside it seeped into my body.
Without hiding anything, I let her witness the change.
If my guess was right, the woman before me would notice even the slightest change within me.
“What exactly are you?”
Ms. Jina stared at me in shock after watching the process.
After silently observing me for a moment, she took a deep breath.
“A spiritual being.”
A spiritual being?
I tilted my head, and she continued while looking toward Cheongwang Mountain.
“And the guardian spirit of this mountain.”
A guardian spirit.
The kind that often appeared in old Korean folktales.
Usually, a mountain guardian spirit was imagined as an old man with a long white beard, smiling kindly.
But the being standing before me…
“Please don’t ruin my childhood memories.”
“…What are you talking about?”
Don’t make fun of folktales.
Mountain guardian spirits being old grandpas was a long-standing tradition and an unchanging truth.
“Don’t tell me you’re imagining the guardian spirits from folktales?!”
“Yep.”
“Gah! You humans…”
Ms. Jina muttered in annoyance as if she were completely fed up.
“The times change. People change. Everything around them changes. So why do humans keep insisting that guardian spirits have to look like old grandpas?”
“You even have generations?”
“Of course we do! We’re the new generation! Haven’t you ever heard of Generation X?!”
‘She must be really old.’
The generation she mentioned was considered an ancient relic by today’s standards.
“Well, anyway, I understand.”
“You really understand? You’re actually accepting that I’m a spiritual being… and a guardian spirit?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I’ve already seen and experienced more than enough impossible things.”
My calm reaction only left Ms. Jina more bewildered.
After spending over thirty years in another world, spiritual beings and guardian spirits weren’t anything particularly special to me.
Still…
‘It’s fascinating that beings like this exist in this world too.’
Thinking about it, the old me had been an ordinary human, so it was only natural that I had never known.
“By the way, it looks like you’re pushing yourself pretty hard. Wouldn’t it be better to get rid of this strange fog?”
“…You can see it?”
“It seems to stop people around us from noticing us. Isn’t that what it’s for?”
Ms. Jina looked at me as though she couldn’t believe a human could actually see it.
“What exactly are you?”
“Does that count as your question?”
“N-No! This one doesn’t count!”
“Hm. That’s a shame.”
She hurriedly shook her head.
Seeing her react so desperately, I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
“My turn now! That cucumber with spiritual power… did you grow it yourself? How?”
“Isn’t that two questions?”
“It’s one! Just let that slide!”
She looked so anxious that I couldn’t bring myself to argue.
Besides, there was no real reason to keep that much secret anymore.
She had already told me the most important part.
I might as well throw in a little bonus.
Instead of answering immediately, I crouched down and scooped up a handful of soil.
Then I buried the half-eaten cucumber and covered it with dirt again.
“Hup…”
After taking a short breath, I sent a tiny thread of divine power into the buried spot.
A moment later…
Pop.
A tiny green sprout pushed through the soil.
But that was all.
It didn’t continue growing.
It didn’t bear any fruit.
Only the sprout emerged.
With the little divine power I had left, this was my limit.
Still, it was more than enough to answer her question.
Ms. Jina could only stare in stunned silence, her eyes moving back and forth between me and the tiny sprout.
