Since I had hinted at having the ability of prophecy not too long ago, he would probably try to help me if I used that fact.
However, the yokai that would appear this time didn’t seem to be a good match for Johan’s sorcery, so I had no choice but to hold off on making a decision for now.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙮.」
So, that guy will definitely show up around here tonight.
I tried to imagine myself in the yokai’s shoes and visualize how I would move in order to achieve my goal efficiently.
In the midst of my thoughts, a familiar voice called out from behind me.
“Oppa? What are you doing?”
Feeling slightly embarrassed for some reason, I stopped my train of thought, quickly adjusted my movements, and replied to her.
“I was taking a walk. I was curious about the surroundings.”
“I hate to say it, but your movements were kind of suspicious. . . . . . .”
As I was trying to smooth things over with various excuses, a suspicious aura briefly brushed against the edge of my senses.
Swish.
At the same time, I could feel Ggong-sam-yi reacting to something in the shadows.
「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙩.」
The name of the yokai that would appear in this story was none other than the mirror demon, Sahwanjae.
Since it was a relative of Ggong-sam-yi, a Fire Demon, it was clear that it must have sensed something unique.
I raised my hand to stop Han Seo-ah and quickly began to examine the surroundings.
“. . .Oppa? What’s wrong?”
“It’s been strange since earlier, there’s definitely something here,”
After finishing my act, I checked the spot I had been keeping an eye on.
As a result, I finally found it. Sahwanjae, rolling its eyes and looking at us from the edge of the pond.
This was a huge opportunity. A chance to nip the crisis in the bud before the story could even properly begin.
With that, I carefully drew out my spiritual power and quietly whispered to Han Seo-ah.
“Count to three, then get away from here and report the situation to the teachers,”
“What?”
One, two, three.
After finishing the countdown, I kicked off the ground and dashed towards Sahwanjae, who had been watching us.
“Huh?”
The startled Sahwanjae immediately activated its spell and tried to escape into its own dimension, but I had naturally anticipated that much.
I followed right behind Sahwanjae and jumped into the passageway reflected on the water’s surface.
Whoooosh.
A brief feeling of floating and dizziness washed over me, and when I came to my senses, a strange space that looked like a cave spread out before me.
The only difference was that there were passageways like the one I had just entered scattered in all directions.
「. . .𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚.」
This place was a special stage-like space known as Sahwanjae’s nest.
Sahwanjae freely traveled between various locations through this place, and sometimes used it as a hideout or escape route.
「𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝.」
In fact, even in the original story, it had taken quite a while to subdue this Sahwanjae.
As I was coming to that conclusion, I heard a familiar voice again, along with the sensation of something crossing over from another passageway.
“Whew!”
Bam!
It was Han Seo-ah, who had been with me.
“Why did you follow me? It’s dangerous, so I told you to get away.”
“. . .How could you just calmly run away on your own after saying that? Would it have been okay if it was Oppa?”
There was nothing I could say if she used that kind of logic. I averted my gaze slightly and replied to Han Seo-ah.
“Just follow right behind me.”
“. . .Yes. Got it.”
In any case, Sahwanjae wasn’t a high-ranking yokai with particularly outstanding combat abilities.
If it was a one-on-one fight, it might even lose to Ggong-sam-yi.
「𝙒𝙚’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙬𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡.」
Having made my decision, I slowly began to tour the interior of the nest with Han Seo-ah.
I could see passageways created by Sahwanjae here and there, but there was no sign of Sahwanjae itself.
However, it was impossible for it to just sit still while we invaded its territory, so it was probably lurking somewhere, waiting for an opportunity.
「𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙔𝙤𝙤 𝙃𝙖-𝙤𝙣’𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩. . . . . . .」
Sahwanjae was an exception. It was one of the yokai that I had wanted to make my shikigami and test its abilities ever since before.
「𝙄𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮.」
Despite that, there was no sign of it.
I took Ggong-sam-yi out from the shadows and immediately asked for her cooperation.
Swish.
Poof!
“Let me know as soon as you sense it,”
“. . .Don’t burn it.”
Ggong-sam-yi nodded and took the lead, while Han Seo-ah and I followed behind.
After traveling for some time, we came across a huge space where countless passageways converged.
“Oppa, this is. . . . . . .”
“It seems to be the center of this place. If we cause a commotion here, that guy might not be able to hold back and show itself.”
I took out a talisman from my waistband and immediately activated my spell, destroying the passageways created by Sahwanjae.
“Barrier-Eating Void”
Rip.
Zzzzap!
I knew that it took a lot of energy to create one of these passageways, so Sahwanjae would definitely come here to stop me.
Just as I had completely destroyed several passageways, Han Seo-ah, who had been observing the situation from a short distance away, suddenly pointed at something.
“Oppa, what’s that? There’s one that has a completely different shape.”
“A different shape?”
Was there something like that in Sahwanjae’s nest?
Feeling something strange, I stopped what I was doing and stared at the space Han Seo-ah was pointing at.
Then, my expression hardened and I shouted.
“Get away from there right now!”
But it was too late. A dimensional rift with a completely different shape from the passageways created by Sahwanjae suddenly expanded and greedily enveloped Han Seo-ah’s entire body.
Without even having time to think of a countermeasure, I immediately rushed forward and jumped into the rift that had swallowed Han Seo-ah.
And then.
Swish.
Whoooosh.
“. . .Don’t burn it?”
After the giant rift that seemed like it would devour everything disappeared, only Ggong-sam-yi, who had been left alone in the empty space, was left tapping her foot, not knowing what to do.
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