Master of All Sins

Chapter 16 : Younger Sister and Older Sister - 2

When I came out of the Phantom World in the morning, I didn't have the leisure to look around, but now, striding through the streets in broad daylight, there was something I felt anew.

One was that, compared to District 1 where I used to live, District 2 was like a completely different country.

In the past, whenever I stepped outside my house, I used to feel a sense of unfamiliarity at the thought that the roads and buildings were overly neat and built in a Western style, but compared to District 2, District 1 could be said to be at a level of preserving Aeshin's traditions.

Everywhere I looked, not only were the buildings constructed in a Western style, but there was not a single road, sign or shop signboard that did not contain the squiggly letters, making me confused as to whether I had been dropped in some foreign country instead of District 2 of the Capital City.

“How, how could this be……. We have the beautiful script of Hangeul left to us by the Great King, so why.”

“……By any chance, Brother Shin-hae, are you a person who lived in the past and was sealed away?”

“The Young Master loves the traditional culture of Aeshin. Then again, what would you Western bastards know.”

“Western bastard…….”

And yet, Geum Mo-a, who berated Father Lucas as she said this, was walking and eating on the street without a shred of dignity, holding a box containing a dessert…… a tribute set from a Western-style confectionery in one hand and a chocolate éclair she had picked out for herself from that same shop in the other.

Only, her dazzling beauty managed to package even that to look lovely.

With her blonde hair, gray eyes, and exotic beauty, it was also funny that if one had to choose whether she looked more Western or Eastern, it would be Western.

“Mo-a, is it delicious.”

“Yes, Young Master. Ah! But honey cookies are more delicious. Of course.”

“However, I saw earlier that the Western-style confectionery was also selling pastries with honey cookies embedded in them. Could the honey cookie you said you like be.”

“…….”

As the situation turned unfavorable, Geum Mo-a clamped her mouth shut and exercised her right to remain silent.

If she liked Western sweets so much, why not just obediently say she liked them; why did she care about my words?

I let out a sigh and looked around once more.

At first, I had been captivated by the exotic streetscape, but now my gaze fell upon the people.

The vast majority were dressed in suits like myself, and although it was still spring, many were lightly dressed.

Excessively, light.

‘Truly, how, could this be……!’

I remembered being thrilled by the overly old-fashioned mindset of the elders I heard speak at the family banquets I attended a few times as a child, but now, it seemed I could understand how they felt.

But I had to endure it.

If this was the current state of Aeshin, wouldn't I, who would no longer be living in District 1, have to adapt?

“We have arrived.”

As if the rich have a penchant for places not too far from the city center yet not frequented by many people, after leaving the crowded road and climbing a small hill, I soon saw well-built traditional houses lined up at regular intervals.

It was the pitiful struggle of those who, unable to enter District 1 due to their inadequate birth, tried to fill that void with extravagant decorations.

But I, who had such thoughts, also wanted to live in a hanok rather than a Western-style house, so perhaps I too might one day be floundering alongside them.

“Father!”

As I was in a daze when I left, I couldn't distinguish one mass-produced hanok from another, but thankfully, a man who popped out of one of them grabbed onto Father Lucas.

“You've come again! I was certain you had given up…….”

“Given up? The Lord never forsakes a little lamb that seeks salvation. I was merely worried that my abilities were insufficient to fully follow the Lord's will, but the Lord has sent me someone who will help me like this.”

“Someone who will help…… Eek.”

As Father Lucas stepped aside, the man who naturally came to face me, Kim Hyeon-u, let out a small scream.

I thought it might be fine since I didn't draw as much attention as expected in the city, but it seemed that people who saw my masked face up close in a one-on-one encounter found it bizarre.

“Are you perhaps a curse-sealing master…… sir?”

“I cannot reveal my identity. You can think of me as the Father's assistant.”

“I, I see. The thing is, my wife is not very fond of sorcery…….”

While living in Aeshin, the country of sorcery?

Finding that peculiar, I felt a question finally being answered.

If his wife was under a curse, it would have been appropriate and the procedure simple to call a curse-sealing master, but I had felt a sense of dissonance in the fact that, no matter how much of a Catholic he was, he went so far as to have an exorcist priest dispatched from the Vatican.

I didn't know for sure, but he must have donated a considerable amount of money to the church for Father Lucas's dispatch; if he disliked curse-sealing masters that much, it couldn't be helped that he was repulsed by the sight of me.

‘But his house is a traditional house. I see it as him not denying Aeshin. In that case…… he only dislikes sorcery? Does he have a bad memory related to sorcery? While he is currently suffering from a curse?’

“Brother-in-law! Has the Father arrived?!”

“Sister-in-law!”

Just as my complicated thoughts continued, I spotted a young woman rushing out from inside the house and frowned.

‘That woman, could she be…….’

As all humans have a soul, they naturally possess a minimal amount of spiritual power, but those who know how to wield it are a small minority.

As such, those who can handle spiritual power in any way are bound to stand out, but concealing it well could also be called a practitioner's accomplishment.

By now, as anyone could guess, the woman Kim Hyeon-u called sister-in-law was someone who knew how to wield spiritual power.

Depending on the method of awakening the power, the aura it exuded also changed and hers was close to the power of a curse-sealing master, commonly known as cursed power.

‘No…… I think I’ve seen a power even closer to that than cursed power, what was it?’

As I was lost in thought, she too noticed me and frowned.

“A curse-sealing master……?”

“And you are?”

“No!”

At my words, her face turned deathly pale, and she warned me.

“My sister and I have been living far from sorcery after a bad experience in our childhood. Do not call me that.”

“I see.”

I had thought the aura flowing from her was somehow unstable, and wondered if that was the reason.

Of course, among those not of noble blood, there are some born with a talent for sorcery, but if they fail to realize it and leave it unattended, the sorcery can sometimes run rampant and cause an accident.

If something like that had happened to her and it remained as a mental scar, causing her to deliberately distance herself from sorcery, then her current state was understandable.

However, the expression ‘sisters’ bothered me somewhat…… but I would find out later when I saw the older sister in person.

Having finished my thoughts, I responded to her, who was still looking at me warily, with a snort.

“But this matter cannot be resolved with the Father's abilities alone. Endure it, even if you don't like my presence.”

“Hmph, can you really solve it?”

“Sister!”

As she made no attempt to hide her hostility, Father Lucas immediately stepped between her and me and spoke in a placating manner.

“Brother Shin-hae is a man who kindly helped me when I was ihaen trouble, so I can vouch for his character and abilities. Please, trust us and leave it to us.”

“Hmph, I'm starting to think you're not very capable either, Father.”

When a handsome man like Father Lucas asked her to trust him with such a serious face, I thought she would easily hand over the deed to her house, but seeing the woman act cold from beginning to end, I conversely came to trust her.

At the very least, she wouldn't have discriminated against me just because I was a suspicious person wearing a mask.

“Hahaha, I will do my best. Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of new priests, will also protect you, Sister Do Yu-na.”

“Then you'd better do a good job. If you fail after my brother-in-law paid so much money…….”

“Sister-in-law! It's an offering, an offering. It's not money given as payment, but a token of gratitude offered to God. To protect Yu-na, to have mercy on her.”

At the sight of Kim Hyeon-u, who was so devout in his faith that he was scolding her, the sister-in-law shook her head as if frustrated.

“Gosh, brother-in-law, you're just too nice. Fine, you two figure it out yourselves. We should go get something to eat.”

“Eat? It's a bit much for us to go out alone when Yu-na is sick…….”

“That's why we've been by her side, skipping breakfast. Now that people have come to watch over her, we need to get some rest. What are you going to do if you collapse too in this situation, hurry up and come.”

“Still…… Ah, Father! I'm counting on you!”

The sister-in-law, who seemed to think of her brother-in-law as family, grabbed him with both hands and dragged him out and Kim Hyeon-u, who was either naturally weak-willed or couldn't resist much, was dragged away while still bowing his head to Father Lucas.

Quietly watching the scene, I softly called Fire Tail's name.

“A single strand of hair from each, is it possible?”

– What do you take me for? I'll burn not just one strand, but all of it!

“Hoo……. Mo-a?”

“I've already plucked them.”

This must fall within the category of ‘a handmaiden slightly skilled in the arts’.

Geum Mo-a, who acted before I even spoke, handed me two strands of hair without a word and I let out a sigh as I wrapped them in a tissue and put them in my pocket.

I, too, wanted to become a curse-sealing master who could handle information warfare, reconnaissance and intense close-quarters combat without any problems by commanding various shikigami…….

“I'll need to acquire a shikigami skilled in covert operations soon.”

“You can leave all such things to me from now on!”

“Uh…… Brother? Why do you have their hair?”

While Geum Mo-a answered spiritedly, I replied in a cool voice to Father Lucas, who asked with a bewildered expression, seemingly unable to grasp the situation.

“Because they are currently the most likely suspects. It's necessary to collect a part of their bodies.”

“What?!”

Could it be that he really hadn't suspected the two of them at all? To the priest who replied with a shocked face, I spoke in a dumbfounded tone.

“If she fell ill with a curse after meeting no one else and spending all her time with just those two, isn't it obvious to suspect them first? It would be so even without a motive, but now, the motive is even glaringly obvious.”

At those words, Father Lucas's face finally contorted.

“There's a motive, you say? For a husband to curse his wife? For a younger sister to curse her older sister!”

“Of course. ……Lust.”

Recalling the face of the sister-in-law who had been pulling her brother-in-law and the raw emotion I saw in her, I quietly uttered the word.

That the more explicit word ‘lust,’ rather than ‘love,’ had come out might have been the influence of the morning's dream that I now barely remembered.

“What you mean, Brother Shin-hae, is that…….”

“I don't want to jump to conclusions either. If a person uses sorcery on another even once, that person becomes more susceptible to curses. So for now, let's go inside and take a closer look.”

“Let's do that. I'm sure you've read too much into it, Brother. 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' is a basic teaching of Catholicism. I believe in Brother Kim Hyeon-u.”

What I had been talking about was not him but the other one…… though it does take two to tango.

I said nothing more and stepped up onto the wooden floor.

When I left this house in the morning, I was in such a hurry to rest that I had no time to look around, but now that I saw it, the house seemed eerily empty.

And yet, I could see a faint aura lingering in various places and it was not simple spiritual or demonic power.

It was also slightly different from the cursed power of a curse-sealing master, but as I approached the main bedroom, where the priest had said he felt danger, I realized what it was.

“Is it a ghostly ki.”

“Most ghosts either pass on peacefully on their own or become monsters and hide in the Phantom World. To remain in the Human World must mean they are that strong.”

“Or…… they have a master.”

The moment I said that and placed my hand on the door of the main bedroom, I realized my intuition from before had been correct.

‘I see, the older sister has cursed power as well. In that case, is she enduring the curse with her own power……?’

But just as I was about to open the door and check the victim's detailed condition, I felt an aura slithering towards me.

A powerful and sinister aura, beyond imagination.

It was the aura of a ghost.

“Fire Tail.”

– You sense it too, right? It doesn't seem to be on this side.

“In that case.”

I suddenly reached out one hand and grabbed the collar of Father Lucas's clothes.

Geum Mo-a also grabbed a part of my body.

“Mo-a, grab my shoulder, not my chest.”

“Oops, my mistake.”

– You perverted wench!

“Brother? What are you doing now…….”

“What do you mean?”

The ghostly ki surrounding us was increasing in an instant.

At this point, it became certain that the Eight Families of White Blood were not involved and I was inwardly relieved.

This was more like what wild monsters do.

Luring a person to a remote place by some means, blurring the boundary between reality and illusion, and finally, pulling them completely into their own territory to devour them.

“To catch a tiger, you must enter its den. So let's fall for it one more time.”

“What?!”

In the neighboring country of fire , where the number of monsters was as great as the number of disasters experienced, this was called Kamikakushi (hidden by a god).

However, what was different from a typical kamikakushi was that its ability was considerably powerful, easily drawing them into the Phantom World even here, where the conditions for opening a Phantom World were not properly established.

This ghost probably had an ability specialized in breaking down the boundary between the Human World and the Phantom World.

But, as expected, it was significantly lacking compared to the Gatekeeper's Seal that the legitimate children of the Eight Families of White Blood possessed and I could have suppressed it with my power if I had wanted to, but I deliberately chose not to.

As I had told Father Lucas, to catch a tiger, you must enter its den; temporarily blocking the entrance to the den with a rock wouldn't solve the problem.

“However, we can't go in empty-handed…… Mo-a, throw it.”

“Yessir.”

A thick, purple mist was already settling at our feet.

The surrounding scenery was gradually collapsing, and we were now halfway into the Phantom World.

“Heave.”

“Ugh.”

When Geum Mo-a tossed the box containing the tribute set into the air, I swung my one-handed staff and split the box open.

Ignoring the priest who was gaping at the macarons, slices of cake, and cream puffs scattering in the air, I recited an incantation.

“Oriole Tongue, Old Oriole's Tongue, tell us the ghost's identity and guide us to the fiend.”

– A pleasing tribute!

This was the third time I had called Old Oriole's Tongue, so I tested to see if I could call it without revealing my identity─ and thankfully, the old oriole's voice answered me.

Immediately after, the macarons and small pastries in the air vanished all at once, and finally, even the remaining slice of cake was taken a bite, then two, from, with bite marks appearing on the cross-section, before disappearing completely on the third bite.

Since it had devoured the tribute right away, I narrowed my eyes, wondering how it would show us the direction, and at that moment, the vision of me and my party crumpled.

“Ah, already!”

“It’s the Phantom World.”

As if folding a piece of paper or washing away paint on a drawing with water.

After everything slowly descended, what bloomed out of the chaos was the distinct scenery of the Phantom World.

By the time everyone's vision had completely returned, we were in the middle of nature, with no trace of the building in sight.

Looking up at the sky, the only thing visible was the purple crescent moon that could only be seen in the Phantom World.

In the darkness, where no source of light could be found other than that sinister moon, two red eyes quietly appeared.

It was Old Oriole's Tongue.

– Then, I shall first tell you the ghost's identity. It is a Taejagwi.

“Taejagwi?”

Pretending not to hear Father Lucas's innocent question, who did not know what a Taejagwi was, Old Oriole's Tongue continued speaking from its hiding place in the darkness.

– And a child who died cursed in its mother's womb at that. Having met death before gaining life, it was inevitable that it would gain the ability to cross the boundary, and it is also inevitable that it thinks deeply of the mother who carried it.

“What, did you say……?”

“I see.”

While Father Lucas, who had now roughly guessed what a Taejagwi was, made a choked sound, I merely nodded my head slightly at Old Oriole's Tongue's words.

I had expected it to some extent.

“So, you mean, it's a baby? Who can't even properly judge good and evil…….”

“No, it is a demon that the Father dislikes. One that must be vanquished.”

“Brother!”

A Taejagwi is a ghost reborn from the death of a young child.

And now, it was an evil spirit trying to drag a woman carrying a life and the child in her womb to their deaths as well.

That was our enemy.