𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒𝟔
Eventually, my purpose boiled down to two main goals.
To proceed with the things I had originally planned, and to raise my level as quickly as possible.
The first thing I intended to do, as I mentioned before, was to awaken the unidentified trait of Princess Laura.
“I’m really looking forward to traveling and completing quests together.”
She had also chosen the Field Trip Club because she was curious about Korea’s famous places at the beginning of the semester, so we often saw each other there.
And this time, the club gave us an assignment.
We had to form teams of three or four people, visit our favorite spiritual spots, and write a report about them.
This was a golden opportunity for me, as I wanted to be near Princess Laura and naturally aim to unlock her unidentified trait.
“So where should we go? If we’re going, I’d like to go somewhere that’s hard to visit normally.”
As Shin So-ra, who was in the same class, was also in the club, we naturally decided to form a team of three.
“Somewhere that’s hard to visit normally. . . . Ah, how about here?”
The place Laura pointed to was Ondalsanseong Fortress in Danyang, Chungcheongbuk-do.
It was quite a distance away, but it certainly met Shin So-ra’s conditions, so there was no disagreement.
“Apparently, there’s a festival going on too?”
“Wow, this is my first Korean festival. . . .”
“Then it’s settled. Let’s go there.”
Once that was decided, we had to choose a team leader.
With only three people, it might have been pointless to have a team leader, but since we had to give a presentation based on the report, we couldn’t avoid making a decision.
“If it’s a team leader, then. . . .”
“It has to be Kang Yoon, right?”
The two of them naturally turned their gazes and met my eyes, but I shook my head.
“This is also an experience, so why don’t we give it a try, Laura?”
It wasn’t that I was being difficult. I judged that this would also help awaken Laura’s trait.
One of the two unidentified traits she possessed was the Way of the King.
It had various detailed effects, but the most special thing about it was that it gave her a huge advantage as a commander or leader of a group.
「𝘼𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥, 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨.」
In addition, those under her command received a large bonus to their stamina and mental strength.
Such abilities could certainly be a key in the upcoming Night Parade of a Hundred Demons incident.
So, how do you awaken the Way of the King trait?
「𝙊𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.」
You have to stand in front of countless others, sometimes as a leader and sometimes as their commander.
Once that experience reaches a certain point, the Way of the King trait will reveal itself.
“Well, that’s fine too. Laura has done a lot of that over there, hasn’t she?”
“W-Well, yes. . . .”
As Shin So-ra said, Laura must have already accumulated some experience like that.
So all I had to do was keep stimulating that part and instill confidence in her.
Perhaps in a few months at the earliest, the trait would begin to awaken.
“Yes. I understand. Then I’ll give it a try.”
So, a few days later, we headed to North Chungcheong Province as scheduled.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
The concept of spiritual spots in this world is quite interesting.
In places where countless people have passed by for countless hours, such as tourist attractions or cultural heritage sites, you can feel a more refined spiritual power.
“This place feels strange too.”
“Yes. I felt it when I visited Jongmyo Shrine last time, but the experience is completely different in each country.”
I, a modern person, could feel the same sensation.
It’s hard to put into words, but it’s like the footsteps of the many people who have passed through this place over time are still etched here?
In any case, the result is that you can train more efficiently in such places than usual, and the recovery of spiritual power and the power of spells themselves are also increased.
It’s not for nothing that they’re called spiritual spots.
Clap.
After a while, Laura clapped her hands once and looked at the two of us before continuing.
“So, first, let’s walk around and look around?”
After all, a princess is a princess.
Even in that simple sentence, you can feel her grace and dignity. Should I say that it makes you want to follow her words without realizing it?
Anyway, we followed her words and toured the tourist area of Ondalsanseong Fortress, taking in the sights and taking pictures.
To be exact, it was centered around Ondalsanseong Fortress, with many relics related to the past Ondal legend.
Shin So-ra, who had discovered the cave at the end of the course, tilted her head and said.
“I thought we were just looking at the fortress, but there’s more to it than I thought. What’s that cave?”
“It’s Ondalkul Cave. It’s a natural limestone cave where General Ondal is said to have trained in the past, hence the name.”
“Wow, Laura is Spanish, but why does she know so much?”
“W-Well, I’m the team leader, so I studied a little beforehand. . . .”
Laura smiled sheepishly, and we toured all the attractions in the tourist area, ending with the cave.
There was surprisingly a lot to see, so it took quite a while.
It was already 4:20 PM. There was only a little time left until the festival started at 5 PM.
“It’s a good time to have a drink and go sightseeing.”
“Yes. Okay. Hehe. This is my first Korean festival, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Leaving the two of them in high spirits, I quietly looked away and opened my mouth.
“Can I have some time alone with the two of you? I have some personal business to attend to. I’ll be back before the festival starts.”
“Oh, yes. I’m fine.”
“Come back soon~”
With that, I parted ways with the two of them, briefly left the tourist area, and took out the Black Bird in the shadows and sent it flying somewhere.
Swish.
Poof!
「𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜.」
One of the reasons I joined this Field Trip Club.
It was for the search of Yeouiju, where I had made a covenant with the Azure Dragon.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙗𝙮.」
I had studied all the exorcism series and researched the setting book to create hypotheses.
If I checked them one by one, I would surely reach my destination someday.
Whoosh.
「𝙐𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙞𝙩.」
I had checked three places so far. But they were all misses.
Of course, that didn’t mean I had to be disappointed. After all, I hadn’t checked the candidate sites that I personally found most promising.
However, just as I was about to give up, I sensed a strange aura for a moment and followed its trace.
And at the bottom of the lake, I found something I had never expected.
「𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚?」
A translucent, colorful passage that seemed to distort space.
It was one of the entrances to the Eternal Labyrinth.
「. . .𝙄𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚.」
In that case, the entrance will probably disappear within a few days and reappear in a different place.
After a brief deliberation, I summoned Sahwanjae in the shadows and gave him an order.
“That. Can you connect it to your space? So that I can go there even if the location changes later.”
The passage of the labyrinth had definitely appeared in Sahwanjae’s previous nest.
In that case, it probably wouldn’t be impossible.
As if my thoughts were not wrong, Sahwanjae tilted his head back and forth and made a gesture as if to try.
『kyaaag.』
And after about ten minutes, Sahwanjae looked at me with a proud expression, dripping with sweat.
He had succeeded in connecting the passage.
「. . .𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩.」
Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it right away, but I had now acquired a way to enter the Eternal Labyrinth again if I ever needed it.
The destination was random, but it was like getting a direct ticket.
「𝙊𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚, 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙤 𝙞𝙣.」
There are three remaining areas of the labyrinth.
If I were to fall into the worst of them, the Blinding Mountain, even I couldn’t guarantee that I would come back alive.
「𝙄𝙨 𝙓𝙞𝙖𝙤 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚?」
If she hadn’t died either, she would be wandering somewhere in the Blinding Mountain.
Recalling the past for a moment, I gathered my thoughts and slowly left the place.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
It was already 4:55 PM. Now, the long-awaited festival was about to begin.
However, my thoughts were elsewhere. I had one thing in mind when I heard that the festival was planned.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙄’𝙢 𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩.」
For that, I was going to cause a very small disturbance.
Of course, I didn’t intend to ruin the festival that everyone was looking forward to. It was just a minor incident that wouldn’t interfere with it.
「𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙.」
Outwardly, I enjoyed the festival with them, and I kept looking for the right moment. And finally, I was able to face the moment I had been waiting for.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬, 𝙄 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨.」
However, I soon couldn’t help but panic.
Kwaang!
Koogwang!
“Kyaaaa!”
“R-Run away!”
“Exorcist! Where’s the exorcist!”
A sudden noise and terrified civilians.
Of course, I hadn’t done anything yet. And even what I had planned wasn’t an event of this scale.
In that case, there was only one possible inference.
“. . . .Everyone.”
“. . . .Yeah. It looks like it.”
“A yokai seems to have appeared.”
Indeed, a yokai had attacked the festival site. A real, live situation had occurred.
“Don’t panic and help evacuate the civilians. There will be exorcists patrolling the yokai.”
“With a festival of this scale, there must be at least a 2nd-grade here, right?”
Their words were correct. There was an exorcist with some skill present anyway. What we had to do here was to help them, even a little.
However, as soon as the commotion started, I sent out the Black Bird to grasp the situation, and I soon realized that things were going strangely.
“. . . .They’ve already been hit. Two 3rd-grade exorcists who were patrolling. They’re seriously injured.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Of course, there were still other exorcists besides the two who had collapsed.
And I was soon able to find them.
Exorcists who were desperately blocking the way of a yokai with wings flying in the air.
They were already struggling to continue fighting and were in danger of losing their lives.
There was only one meaning to such a sight.
“Be on your guard. Our opponent is probably a high-ranking yokai.”
“. . . . . .”
It was the moment when a disaster struck before the eyes of the civilians enjoying the festival.
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