Chapter 10
“Late at night, is it?”
“I apologize.”
“Enough. Raise your head.”
At some point, clouds had covered the moon, and the mountain birds had become a curtain blocking the lights of modern civilization.
The only thing shining clearly in the darkness was the bright yellow eyes of a being called Yuju.
The moment she met that gaze, cold sweat ran down Jin-ah’s back.
“As I told you a few days ago, your situation is pitiful, but I also told you that there is nothing I can do for you right now.”
Jin-ah had already visited this place a few days ago.
She had asked for help finding a new home where she could raise Arin.
However, the answer she received then and now was the same.
Impossible.
It was unfortunate, but that day Jin-ah understood and left.
But now was different.
“I have something to report regarding that matter. Please look at this first.”
“Hmm?”
Jin-ah politely held out a cucumber with both hands.
It was a familiar sight because until now she had offered precious ingredients as offerings.
However, Yuju’s yellow eyes slightly shook when she saw it.
“……I don’t eat cucumbers.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Thank you.”
Although it was something small, Yuju did not refuse it.
She could give it to someone else later.
There were plenty of people around her who would gratefully accept anything she gave them.
“Please examine it carefully.”
“Alright. It is quite a fine cucumber. The color is beautiful, and the shine is good. The inside is firm, so it has grown well. Haha, I can even feel spiritual energy from it. I would believe it was a thousand-year-old wild ginseng if you told me—”
Yuju, who had been forcing herself to praise a cucumber she disliked, suddenly stopped speaking.
Then she looked at Jin-ah again and asked.
“Why can I feel spiritual energy from this cucumber?”
“Because it is a cucumber that contains spiritual energy.”
“No, I mean… why does a cucumber contain spiritual energy?”
After the spiritual energy of nature disappeared, things once called spiritual plants disappeared from this world.
Even things like thousand-year-old wild ginseng were the same.
But not even a spiritual plant—what kind of cucumber could possibly contain spiritual energy?
To Yuju, it was beyond surprise. It was simply absurd.
“There was a human who could infuse spiritual energy, Lord Yuju.”
“What?”
Yuju narrowed her eyes.
It was impossible to dismiss it as a joke because Jin-ah’s expression was far too serious.
“When that human planted a seed, a sprout grew instantly. I saw it with my own eyes and confirmed it several times.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“That is not all. When I ate the vegetables that grew like that, my body became filled with spiritual energy. My child also received that spiritual energy and was finally able to grow.”
“So you are saying you gained spiritual energy by eating this?”
It was impossible.
If such a thing were possible, Yuju herself would have already done it.
The oldest among the spiritual creatures and the one who represented them.
The head of spiritual beasts, Yuju.
The appearance of someone who achieved what she could not accomplish could certainly become a threat to her.
However, Yuju was not foolish enough to obsess over the word “threat.”
Because right now, there were barely any spiritual creatures left on this land, and almost no one remained who could lead them.
“How interesting. Very interesting.”
Rather than fear, curiosity began to rise within her.
“I must meet this human myself. If what you said is true, then this may be nothing less than a lifeline of salvation for us.”
Yuju took a step forward with sparkling eyes, but suddenly stopped.
“Wait a moment.”
She hurriedly entered the shrine hall, then returned with her eyes curved like a crescent moon.
“Where do I go? Lead me there.”
“Um, Lord Yuju.”
Seeing Yuju urging her, Jin-ah hesitated slightly.
“That place is quite far from here… are you sure it is alright?”
At those words, Yuju’s expression changed.
“How far?”
“It took an entire day.”
“An entire day?!”
Yuju flinched in great surprise.
“Then what about a car?”
“I ran here.”
“No, why?! Why would you do something so foolish when you could use something comfortable?!”
“Sorry. I had my reasons…”
Under Yuju’s sharp gaze, Jin-ah could not come up with an excuse.
The truth was that this place was such a remote area that transportation stopped at night and there were no cars coming or going.
She would have to go all the way to the city just to see a car, but going there in human form was too far and exhausting.
In that case, it was much better to return to her original form and run through the mountains.
“Then we will use a car.”
“But it is already quite late, and for that, you would have to go down the mountain again…”
“We must leave immediately. That child will return in the morning.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, I do not see that person. Where did they go?”
Jin-ah tilted her head for a moment before quickly remembering who Yuju meant.
Another spiritual creature who served Yuju.
It seemed they had left for a while, but Yuju did not seem interested in explaining.
“That one manages all the money and cards. Looking at you, it seems you do not have any money either.”
“……I apologize for being poor.”
Jin-ah became gloomy.
Actually, she did have money.
She had simply left it at home.
She only realized it after running for more than half a day, but by then it was too late to turn back, so she continued all the way here.
“Tch. There is no choice. It has been a while since I showed off this body’s running skills.”
“I will guide you.”
Seeing Yuju’s confident appearance, Jin-ah felt uneasy.
And that uneasiness became reality.
It took a full three days for Jin-ah to bring Yuju to Seojun’s village.
“Your mother seems like she is going to be a little late.”
Kyaang—!
Arin followed behind me with her short legs going tap-tap-tap.
Even when I tried to carry her, the little creature whose personality had grown stronger than before chose to walk by herself.
“Are you not cold? Are you really okay?”
Today, I had climbed Cheongwang Mountain again to recover my divine power.
Naturally, I was worried about Arin following me so diligently.
But despite my worries, she seemed so excited that she ran ahead, then turned around and barked as if telling me to hurry up.
“This little guy. Fine. Exercise is good too.”
After Jin-ah left, my daily life became simple.
I sent my nieces to kindergarten, used the divine power I gathered at night for experiments in the vegetable garden, and cooked meals using those ingredients.
Then, after everyone fell asleep, I climbed Cheongwang Mountain and gathered divine power.
The only small change in this routine was that Arin was always by my side.
“Whew. Good.”
When I arrived at the stream, I naturally took off my clothes.
“Ugh. What am I going to do when winter comes?”
I muttered while entering the freezing water.
Fortunately, the speed and amount of divine power I gained were gradually increasing.
The cold slowly disappeared as my divine power recovered, and my swimming skills improved day by day.
Arin also jumped into the water and swam quite skillfully.
“Why do you like bathing so much?”
She did not just swim beside me.
She drank the water and secretly licked my body.
This little guy… does she want my body that badly?
But I now knew this behavior was not strange.
Spiritual energy, was it?
It was simply an instinctive action to replenish it.
Arin had also accumulated quite a bit of spiritual energy now, because her body had grown slightly bigger compared to when I first met her.
Just as I was enjoying playing in the water with Arin while swimming—
I felt a strange gaze.
I stopped moving, turned my head, and asked.
“What are you doing here?”
“That is what I should be asking. Why are you completely naked in front of someone else’s house?”
Near the place where I had neatly placed my clothes, a very tired-looking Jin-ah was standing there.
She was staring at me as if she had seen a very strange person.
“Was this Jin-ah’s front yard?”
“The entire mountain is basically my house’s front yard, you know? Strictly speaking, you could call it my living room.”
Since she said she was a divine spirit, saying the mountain around here was her front yard was not exactly wrong.
But what did she mean by calling it her living room?
I did not particularly want to know, but it was clear that I had been rude.
“This is impossible…”
“Hmm?”
Jin-ah’s appearance was so shocking that I had not noticed my surroundings.
But looking carefully, there was someone else beside her.
A small young girl.
She looked about the same age as my nieces.
“Why is the spiritual energy of the stream increasing while you are bathing naked?!”
Although she said that while covering her eyes with both hands, strangely enough, the gap between her fingers was slightly open.
Through that gap, her sparkling eyes were clearly looking at me.
“Did you have another daughter?”
“I do not?! This person is—”
Jin-ah shouted loudly but could not finish her sentence.
The mysterious girl suddenly ran over with tiny footsteps and jumped straight into the stream.
“Ah?! Hey! This is surprisingly deep!”
The child showed incredible swimming skills and reached me in the blink of an eye.
“You are noisy, little one! Stay still!”
“What? Wait, why are you touching my body… ahh?!”
“Do not make strange sounds!”
What exactly is this girl?
