MBOMEN 10

Chapter 10. Conditions for Free Lodging (4)
2023.12.10.

Laila suddenly recalled the strange magical tool that Eustar had used in Lizikus Village.

That thing that moved so swiftly… But didn’t he say something about needing to recharge it or something? If he had that in the first place, they wouldn’t have had to walk half a day.

It took her just a few seconds to realize that he wasn’t using a magic tool. Laila had simply clung loosely to his chest, flustered by the fact that Eustar was running through the crowd at his fastest speed.

“Eustar, you can’t shake it off like this!” Laila shouted. Such behavior would only attract the ghost’s attention.

She turned her head and clenched her teeth upon seeing the man’s spirit pursuing them at an unbelievably fast speed. One leg was almost completely rotten and barely visible, yet he staggered toward them with long strides.

“Eustar!”

“I know, Laila. Don’t worry, I’m not just running away recklessly.”

Holding Laila, he skillfully leapt between narrow stalls.

When his body briefly lifted off the ground, Laila instinctively grabbed his collar tightly. When they reached a less crowded spot, Eustar fully lifted her with one hand and rummaged through his pocket.

“Just a moment, hang on.”

Laila thought, I really hate this position. Not only was it unpleasant to be slung over his shoulder like luggage, but it was worst not being able to avert her eyes from the ghost that was almost touching them.

From his mouth, which was wide open as if it would dislocate, rotten fish kept dropping with a splashing sound.

“All right, just hold on a little longer.”

Eustar spun Laila’s body forward again and embraced her. She noticed the monocle over his right eye.

“That monocle…”

“This will be better.”

Spinning quickly, Eustar entered an alley and set Laila down.

At that moment, the sloshing sound grew closer, and the man with his mouth agape appeared right before their eyes. Whether it had stretched while running or had always been that way, his elongated arms nearly touched the ground.

“Laila, don’t close your eyes. Look straight ahead. You have to see clearly so I can too.”

A creaking sound came as the man raised his arm. He whipped his arm like a whip, and Eustar dodged swiftly, holding Laila close.

“Do I just have to keep looking?”

“Yes, exactly. Don’t close your eyes. Look and listen. You’ve done this before. You can do it.”

She saw his wet, pale hand dragged on the ground, like layers of snake skin moving by themselves.

Suppressing the nausea rising in her stomach, Laila opened her eyes wide and stared at the man. A buzzing noise echoed in her ears, along with a sharp sound cutting through the air.

—He killed me. He killed me! That bastard killed me.

Laila realized the voice belonged to the half-decayed man before her. He was full of rage. Nothing but anger and screams could be felt.

This is dangerous, Laila thought, trying to loosen her stiff body from tension.

Some ghosts retain a bit of reason, but others do not. One of the most dangerous types of irrational ghosts to encounter is one consumed by rage. There must be a reason for this man’s death — it wasn’t a simple accident…

“Can you perform the ‘Overlay’, Laila?”

Eustar whispered near her ear. She briefly thought it was too close, but in this situation, knowing he was right behind her was the only comfort.

“You want me to see this man’s memory? Like with Bin?”

“Yes. You know that even a spirit left only as a soul has a ‘core,’ right?”

Laila bit her lower lip nervously and nodded.

“I know.”

“Only a medium like you can see that core. I can make it clearer with this monocle and your power, but I can’t look inside the core myself. I’m not a medium. I’ll explain it later.”

“Why do I need to see the ‘core’?”

She turned her head with a somewhat challenging tone. She didn’t know what the man’s core was, but she didn’t feel eager to see it. Surely it wasn’t going to be some joyful circus show.

Eustar replied calmly:

“If you understand what the core is, capturing it becomes much easier.”

Capturing it. Laila repeated the word in her mind. Like how he took the children’s ghosts away in Lizikus Village… Is that what he meant? But…

“Alright, I’ll try.”

Laila nodded and lifted her gaze to look straight at the man.

From his mouth came a dark substance with a gulping sound. It dripped down from his almost detached lower jaw and rotten ragged body, pooling on the ground.

—He killed me, he killed me… That guy killed me.

Laila focused all her senses on his voice, his only remaining eye, and his gaping mouth. She could feel the ghost’s presence growing stronger.

Laila’s awareness of the ghost and calling it forth was like suddenly noticing a stain you never knew was there.

Before seeing the stain, no matter how big or visible it was, you might easily pass it by.

But once you notice it, you can’t look away, and the stain seems to grow larger even if you try to ignore it…

Now, Laila was not only staring directly at the stain but moving closer, trying to touch it with her hand.

—He killed me! Hear me! He killed me! That bastard!

A black substance erupted from the man’s mouth, smelling fishy, and a clear scene flashed through Laila’s mind.

The buzzing sound grew louder until she couldn’t hear it, but she saw two men. They were sitting on a rock fishing. No one else was around.

A place only the two knew. Laila thought. The two had different hair colors: one redhead and one blonde.

Blinking, she saw the redhead snatch the fishing rod from the blonde and kick him below the knee with thick boots.

The water was deep but not deep enough to drown. The blonde might have survived — if he hadn’t hit his head on the rock when falling.

A shriek was heard, and Laila was pulled out of the man’s memory at the same time. The despair of hitting the rock, the last feeling of betrayal on the razor’s edge between death and life.

That was the man’s core.

“Well done, Laila.”

Eustar whispered. Laila staggered as Eustar drew his glowing right hand in front of his chest and then spread it sideways. If anyone had seen him, they would surely have thought him a handsome magician.

“The Adiak God asks, ‘Do you bear guilt?’ Answer thus: ‘It is the sin of another, not mine. See how my hands are as pure as Habbashka’s.’”

The man’s waist convulsed as he vomited the black substance — which Laila knew was all the corruption and the man’s obsession.

His head thudded repeatedly on the ground, and decayed fish carcasses scattered from his gaping mouth.

Eustar raised his voice. His right hand, wrapped in a bluish light, was now almost invisible.

“The Adiak asks, ‘Do you bear guilt?’ Bow your head and answer, ‘It is the sin of another, not mine. Behold, my hands are clean!’”

A piercing scream was heard. It was probably loud and sharp enough for everyone in the small village to hear. The man’s spirit flailed wildly, flying somewhere with a whooshing sound through the wind.

Laila’s eyes widened. She saw Eustar’s hand where the light had disappeared. Now on his palm lay a transparent, large glass orb.

Inside the orb was clean water that never tilted or shook no matter how much the orb moved. Strangely so.

“Did you chase it away?”

Laila asked. Eustar carefully placed the orb in his leather bag and checked her face.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! But why didn’t you capture it? In Lizikus…”

“Oh, there, I had to perform exorcism. But this man… well, I thought there was no need to exorcise him.”

“Why is that…”

At that moment—

“Ah! What’s wrong with this guy?”

“Stop him! Stop him! He’s dying!”

Voices shouted in confusion outside the alley. As Laila was about to run out without realizing, Eustar grabbed her wrist.

“It’s better if you don’t see.”

He did this, Laila thought. She heard screams and saw people running away. Whatever happened around the corner, it was Eustar’s doing.

“I think I have to see.”

“It’s not a pretty sight.”

“I don’t care. I’ve never seen a pretty sight in my life anyway.”

For a moment, a faint smile appeared and disappeared on Eustar’s face. Was it pity? Either way, it didn’t matter now…

He pulled Laila’s hood back over her head, wrapped his arm protectively around her shoulder, and stepped out of the alley.

As soon as they turned the corner, a thick smell of blood hit them. Laila covered her mouth and nose just as a bloodied man slammed his head hard against a solid wall.

“Good heavens!”

People screamed. Blood flowed like a river over the entire ground. The man died with his eyes wide open, staring at Laila. Inside his crushed skull, a grayish mass was visible.

“Could this be…”

Laila’s voice trembled.

He was the red-haired man from the dead man’s memory. His bloodied and crushed face was barely recognizable, but she could tell.

Eustar said:

“I set his destination for him. Now that his grudge is avenged, he won’t appear again.”

Laila shook off Eustar’s hand with a stunned expression and turned away. Her eyes showed confusion mixed with anger.