Subdued Soul Chronicle

The five ghosts just looked at him without saying anything.

They didn’t respond.

So he asked again,

“Have you ever heard of a woman named Mita?”

As if the ghosts waited, they all shone at the same time as if they had released their emotions.

“They don’t know.”

Seol Young said with a sad face.

“I was hoping to get some information.”

“As expected. There are bad coincidences, but there are no coincidences that are helping us out. So I didn’t expect much.”

Zaha said,

“It seems that the times and places are a bit out of sync. Anyway, where in Gaya?”

He looked at Seol Young.

“Ask about the iron troops.”

“Yes.”

Seol Young asked the tomb spirits,

“Actually, I went to the tomb last night. The tomb is presumed to belong to a high-ranking woman from Gaya. However, there were iron troops guarding that place. The fact that they were strong was one thing, but in the middle of our fight, I was paralyzed. Do you know what sorcery that is?”

The tomb spirits were silent.

But the feeling was different from before. Even though they were in different worlds, their existence was similar.

Seol Young would be able to understand them right away because he had experience communicating with them before.

“You don’t seem to know how to convey other bits of information with your body.”

“Please inform us step by step, starting with the small things.”

Perhaps after hearing Zaha’s words, Teacher Seo began to move slowly.

He floated through the study, stopped at the iron sword that was hanging on the wall, and shook his head.

And he repeated that several times.

“The iron we saw in the tomb is different from the ordinary one.”

Seol Young interpreted it for Zaha. As if that were correct, Teacher Seo’s body flickered.

Meanwhile, on the side, Lady Mo moved.

She acted like she knocked down the Gaya-related books and sticks. Zaha looked at her, confused.

“What does that mean now? We don’t need to refer to them? The grave isn’t for a person from Gaya?”

Lady Mo pretended to collect the books again.

“Not that.”

Seol Young explained.

“The part about being a person from Gaya is right, but it isn’t like the nation that we thought about that had been mentioned in books.”

“Aha.”

The two looked at each other for a while.

In the land of the old Gaya, many nations rose and fell over the past hundred years. There were over twenty nations whose names became known to the people of Silla.

The history of the Gaya Confederation was a mystery. Because they didn’t have a system like Silla or Goguryeo that preserved their records well.

That was why every clue about it was considered precious.

“Summarizing the stories of the tomb spirits…”

Zaha arranged them.

“So they want us to find which Gaya allied nation produced a specific iron and not the normal one?”

Right. Right.

The five ghosts blinked in unison. Then Lady To approached Seol Young.

And she patted his chest where his talisman bundles were and shook her head.

“Not sorcery?”

When Zaha asked, Lady To’s body said,

‘Right, right.’

And she shone brightly.

Then, she went and stood in front of the iron sword that Teacher Seo had pointed out.

Seol Young interpreted it again.

“The iron troops didn’t use sorcery on us. It was because of that special iron that our bodies went numb.”

“Because of the iron? Can we know more?”

Silence passed.

Apparently, even the ghosts didn’t seem to know more about it.

“I need to rest now.”

Seol Young used a lot of energy to summon these faded spirits.

“Iron…”

Zaha went and sat on the desk. Based on the clues they had gotten until now, they found out a few things.

“I don’t know what the hell this is. Does this mean that the numbing is caused by the enemy’s armor? Like a frog who sees a snake and hardens? That is kind of weird.”

He frowned.

“Rather than cutting the gaps in their armor, we should hit the iron troops on the head.”

“Well, I see…”

Seol Young recalled what had happened in the tomb. And just the thought of it was surprising.

“I never thought you would think of infusing demonic qi into the burial items. At first, I thought someone used an Air Sword technique.”

It was the legendary sword skill where one infuses qi to control things.

Zaha had a bitter smile.

“If it was a burial item that was placed in Mita’s tomb, it seemed to respond to my energy. So I tried it, and it somehow managed to work? With that kind of thing, Air Swordsmanship or something….”

“No, it is still amazing. Not long ago, you could not even move a single bamboo leaf.”

“What?”

Zaha pulled out a leaf from the pot on the desk and infused demonic qi into it.

And the leaf jumped up.

Then he picked up a GO coin on the corner and threw it. Then he threw a bunch more of them, and all of them fell on either side of Seol Young.

Seol Young was shocked.

“Seriously. Have you been practicing? You had never learned sorcery. You practiced it by gritting your teeth, I see.”

“Practice? Where do I have time for that? Isn’t that what everyone basically does? Seol Young-rang is the one that needs to practice.”

Zaha replied as if it were ridiculous.

“Anyway, it was a good talk. Instead of my right arm, which is injured, I just used that.”

While he was doing that, they heard this buzzing noise from the outside.

It was the sound of footsteps. It was already bright in the morning.

They must have heard the two of them talking, and the couple spoke politely,

“It is said that the distinguished guests will leave early. He said that he had unexpectedly slept here last night, and before he would get delayed again Sir Baek San said he would greet the Governor and leave….”

“Ah.”

Zaha got up right away. He hid the injury on his right arm by putting on a robe, and then he opened the door that Seol Young had locked.

Seol Young’s parents were also there.

And they all smiled.

“Seeing that the Governor was out last night, it seems like you worked hard. It felt like an urgent mission. We unintentionally caused trouble yesterday.”

While doing so, they looked at Seol Young and Zaha.

But at that moment, both of his parents’ faces went stiff.

“….”

They went over here to greet their son and say goodbye.

But what was this?

They wondered and thought of something belatedly. Then they gazed down.

A board and some GO coins were laid out where Seol Young had been sitting earlier.

The black and white stones were crashing and rolling together. It was a situation that anyone could misunderstand.

The head had locked up his sub all night and made him work, then he threw GO coins at him and ran away?

‘The Governor couldn’t possibly?’

Unlike the last time, Seol Young’s parents didn’t accept this calmly, and they were visibly shocked.

“It’s not what you are thinking….”

Zaha was also shocked.

At that moment, Seol Young forgot everything else.

‘Let’s see how this works.’

He quickly stepped forward and lowered his head.

“Do not care about this. I was stupid and didn’t understand the words of the Governor.”

And Zaha looked even more dumbfounded now.

“What are you doing, Seol Young-rang? This is not right!”

If he had had some time to recover mentally, he couldn’t have made them calm down. But he couldn’t do that now.

He finally found a weakness in this snarky man, but it was a pity that it only worked in a different world.

Seol Young immediately confessed,

“Actually, it was a joke. The Governor showed interest in sorcery, so I taught him.”

“… Ah.”

Both of his parents sighed at that.

“True.”

As if they were sorry for the momentary misunderstanding, they smiled at Zaha several times.

“We will see you later.”

They left those words for Seol Young, and their eyes that had been glaring at their son’s boss calmed down.

“Go back safely.”

Zaha sent them their way with a smile. And soon, his expression changed.

“I am dumbfounded. I managed to appease you when you were running and crying, but it hasn’t even been a while, and you do this? Don’t you have a conscience, Seol Young-rang?”

“It is a joke. I also used shock therapy to sober you up.”

Seol Young accepted it calmly.

“You need to consider your behavior. Isn’t this at the level of a child’s joke compared to the harsh words you have said to me?”

“I should have done more. I should have made you cry. I am too softhearted.”

Zaha said, but it was too late.

As long as the High Governor’s turn was done, whatever he said wouldn’t matter. Seol Young recalled the vague feeling he had experienced earlier.

‘That is what I am most afraid of.’

Killing each other by doubting one another. Wasn’t that what the God of Cataclysm wanted?

And it wasn’t just that.

Compared to that, it felt like they could endure whatever came their way, not thinking of it as the worst.

‘Right. I learned something good.’

However, Seol Young felt bitter.

“Why are you not talking? What more are you planning?”

Zaha opened the door and looked around.

“The eyes looking for Buddha see Buddha, and the eyes looking for pigs only see pigs. Do you think I am someone who bullies people all the time?”

Seol Young replied coldly.

“I was only thinking about finding out about the strange iron.”

“Do not lie. I was thinking about that.”

The two exchanged words and left the hall. In the yard, some servants were wandering among the trees and walking around.

And one sneezed.

They passed by them without a thought, but Zaha suddenly stopped.

“Wait.”

“Why?”

“That one-second feeling.”

“What are you looking for? Seeing a servant sneeze?”

“Right.”

He was not joking. There was no mischief on Zaha’s face.

“Find it quickly. But where is that?”

“What?”

“My brother-in-law.”

“By that… you mean Zaun-rang’s husband?”

“Who else could be?”

Zaha hurriedly headed somewhere.

“Follow me.”

Why?

Seol Young wondered and followed.