Are MZ Shamans In Trouble In Romance Novels? - Chapter 100

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

100.

-And you, don’t kick stones.

Calisia, who had returned to the Government Office Quarters, recalled the Stone Spirit’s last words.

“…Why the hell did it give me this? To reflect on it forever?”

Her gaze turned to the stone lying in her palm. It was something the Stone Spirit had given her on the way back.

“It said it would be useful someday. Hehe-.”

Izriel, who was stuck to the ondol floor like burnt rice crust, gulped down rice wine. The sour yet savory taste was unfamiliar but strangely addictive.

“Where did you get that from?”

“I asked the ladies outside and they brought it to me. The name was… oh, makgeolli.”

“When did you charm the Government Maids? Really, being an alcoholic is such a blessed fate. Blessed fate.”

Calisia clicked her tongue asking how alcohol could go down his throat right now, then quickly lost interest.

“Ha, but no matter how I look at it, it just looks like a regular rock.”

She frowned deeply and stared intently at the stone. It was just an ordinary gray rock with no mystical energy or brilliant colors.

“Am I supposed to crack the Magistrate’s head with this? But wait, I could do that with any rock, right? Does this one have a bit more destructive power?”

After pondering, Calisia struck her own head with the rock.

Thwack!

“Ah, ack! Ugh, eep! Ah, oh!”

Calisia frantically rubbed her now-bumped head with her palm. Seeing stars before her eyes, she was just someone who had been ordinarily hit by a stone.

“It is useful. Looking at you, Valus, you have even less faith in gods than I do, an Apostate.”

“Ah, ugh… Look at the state of this village. Does it look like something to have faith in?”

Spirits were never merciful. Just look at the Stone Spirit – hadn’t it brought the Frozen Land upon innocent villagers? What Calisia worried about was whether this rock would ultimately be beneficial or harmful.

‘If the Stone Spirit changes its mind and decides to sweep away the entire village…’

Divine arrangements ultimately make you follow their will. This single rock could become the cornerstone of a disaster that devours the village.

“But about this rock. If what you say is true and this really is a useful Sacred Object…”

“I didn’t say it was a Sacred Object.”

Izriel firmly cut off her words.

“Maybe it recognizes its master? Originally it has tremendous destructive power.”

Regardless, Calisia stubbornly continued her train of thought.

“Disciple, come here for a moment.”

She looked back and forth between the rock and Izriel.

“Put it down.”

Izriel, who had been lying on the ondol floor sipping alcohol, quickly sat up. It was obvious what Calisia was thinking.

“It’ll just take a moment.”

“That’s just a stone. A raw stone.”

Izriel smiled awkwardly and shook his head.

“Earlier you said it would be useful, right? Why are you changing your words?”

“That rock’s purpose isn’t to crack my head open. I swear by Hella’s name.”

Izriel stealthily moved his feet toward the door.

“Where does an Apostate get off invoking gods?”

“Put the rock down.”

“Ah… Speaking of rocks, it reminds me of when I got cursed last time. Exactly 3 rocks in the steak, 6 in the vongole, 7 in the chili soup. A total of 16.”

Calisia folded her fingers one by one as she chewed over her old grudge.

“Should I replace the Head Chef?”

Izriel grinned annoyingly and kicked open the door, rushing outside. For someone who had emptied a bottle of makgeolli, his movements were quite nimble.

“Hey! Aren’t you coming here? Come! I said come!”

Calisia raised the rock high and chased after him closely.

“…”

A moment later, two people sat side by side on the wooden veranda, both sporting bumps on their heads, looking dazed. From rescuing the Young Imugi to punishing Bodhisattva Myeonghyeon, they had a mountain of tasks ahead.

“Imugi or Myeonghyeon. Myeonghyeon or Imugi. That is terribly the question.”

Calisia, lost in thought, tapped her forehead with her fist. It was to decide the priority of tasks.

“Hey, disciple! You think quickly too.”

“Thanks to someone, my head is cracked so I don’t know if it’ll work properly.”

Izriel thrust his fist-sized bump sideways and acted stubborn.

“It never worked that well to begin with.”

Calisia calmly launched a personal attack. In fact, it was the truth. When someone was soaked in alcohol all day, how could their head work properly?

“…We strike Bodhisattva Myeonghyeon first.”

Calisia, having organized her thoughts, stood up with a determined air. In fact, from any angle, dealing with Myeonghyeon first was correct. Even with a broken body, he was wielding sinister dark magic. They had to act to prevent him from causing more trouble.

-…Does this disciple wish for Myeonghyeon’s Divine Connection to be severed?

But she had no intention of punishing Myeonghyeon the way the Stone Spirit wanted. Severing Divine Connection meant breaking a disciple’s vessel.

‘An empty shell that can no longer contain gods.’

For a shaman, it was a punishment worse than death. Moreover, ‘Severing Divine Connection’ was an act that even Great Shamans found burdensome. It required cutting open the belly with a Divine Blade and severing the divine cord.

“…”

So she needed a way to punish Myeonghyeon without dirtying her own hands. No, to be a bit more honest, she wasn’t keen on the task. It was because of stale emotions from old memories.

-…Yuha.

Calisia let out an unusually heavy breath. It was because the gaze she had tried so hard to bury came to mind. A Clapping Shaman whose Divine Connection was severed by the National Shamanic Hall. Her spiritual sibling whom she had once respected and loved dearly.

-Ugh, aaaaah!

It was the scream her brother had let out the moment his soul vessel shattered. Walking the shaman’s path, she had encountered countless spirits filled with sorrow and deep resentment. But such an agonizing cry was a first. Regardless of whether her brother had received his due punishment.

“With what? With a rock?”

Izriel, who had been quietly watching her, picked up a rock. He had sensed the suddenly heavy atmosphere.

“No. Since he so desperately wants to receive a divine spirit, we should grant his wish.”

Calisia’s gaze turned toward where the Sacred Village Tree stood.

***

“I’ll, I’ll go in.”

A dark room where not a single ray of sunlight entered. Clerk, who had been pacing outside for a while, grasped the door handle. The dwelling of a sinister shaman who had received divine punishment. If not for the Magistrate’s orders, it was a place he would never dream of visiting.

“Gasp!”

The man who entered the room involuntarily drew in a breath. Something seemed to be writhing beneath his feet. Clerk swallowed his saliva with a gulp and slowly lowered his eyelids. Cloth soaked with blood water and pus, and a face half-melted from lightning fire.

Scritch-. Scritch-.

Myeonghyeon, with both hands covered in blood, was endlessly writing something down. Lying flat on her stomach like an insect.

‘How many months has it been since that damned thing shut herself in this room claiming to summon a divine spirit!’

Strange patterns densely filled all the walls and floor. Clerk, unable to hide his disgust, deeply furrowed his brow. Whether it was cursed dark magic or protective arts, the human blood that wretch had used up would easily exceed ten chests by now. Yet she couldn’t even take care of her own body, let alone summon a divine spirit – how frustrating.

“Go… away!”

A harsh metallic sound flowed through her damaged vocal cords. It was an ominous voice that made one’s hair stand on end.

“Why, why are you like this?”

Clerk, scared out of his wits, reluctantly bent his knees. His awkward sitting posture showed he wanted to leave immediately.

“The Tree, Spirit… How, is it… going… Kh, ugh! Going?”

Eyes turned bright red from burst blood vessels looked up at Clerk.

“That matter… We’re trying to appease it by calling a shaman rumored to be skilled from Bongha Mountain.”

“You must… ! The Tree, Spirit must be appeased, or killed! That bastard’s shamanic, arts have tainted the purification, ritual… Kh, ugh! It won’t, work.”

Myeonghyeon tightly grasped Clerk’s sleeve. Though her body was ruined, Tiger Official still needed her. It was because of the shamanic studies in her head. So, if this matter was concluded well, she would take a ship to Qing Dynasty and heal her body.

“Al, alright! Let go of this!”

Clerk was horrified to see blood water staining his sleeve.

“I’ll go first! If, if you need anything, tell the servants!”

Clerk pulled his arm free and immediately fled.

***

“What are you doing?”

Clerk, who had sought out the Bonghasan Shaman from early dawn, frowned. It was because of the strange spectacle that had been unfolding since daybreak.

“It’s nothing. Haha.”

Delicate hands roughly gripped the chin of the man she called her disciple.

“Gulp-, gulp- drink it down. My disciple! Gulp! That’s right!”

The shaman, paying no attention to the gaze directed at her, shoved a medicine ladle into her disciple’s mouth. Thick brown liquid dripped down the corners of his mouth.

“Ugh, brbrbrbr!”

The disciple, with both cheeks held, shook his head and struggled violently. Anyone watching would think poison was being poured down his throat. Clerk stroked his beard at the incomprehensible situation.

“But what brings you here?”

The shaman, having completely emptied the medicine ladle, finally properly acknowledged him.

“Why else? Because of the Sacred Village Tree. How is the work progressing?”

Clerk, whose under-eyes had darkened with anxiety and tension, asked in an irritated tone. It was because he had been tormented by Myeonghyeon every other day for the past few days. That damned Tree Spirit! Tree Spirit! Tree Spirit! He felt like he was going to have a fit. If he could, he wanted to perform the shamanic ritual himself.

“Don’t worry about that. It’s going very well.”

“Is that really true?”

Clerk’s complexion brightened with a flash of relief.

“Please do well! Hm? Please do well!”

Grasping her small hands, he repeatedly conveyed his earnest requests. He seemed quite terrified.

And the next day-.

The Clerk, who had been meeting with the Magistrate and was leaving the Government Office, stopped in his tracks. It was because of two familiar silhouettes he could see in the distance.

“Ugh, brbrbrbr!”

It was the Shaman brought from Bongha Mountain and her disciple. The Clerk narrowed his eyes. Wondering what they were doing, he saw they were struggling with a medicine ladle again today.

“What are you two doing?”

Unable to contain his curiosity, the Clerk approached with his hands clasped behind his back.

“It’s nothing. Haha. Please pass by.”

The Shaman nodded her head and hid the medicine ladle behind her back. Her behavior was so awkward that the Clerk raised his eyebrows.

“…?”

“Haha.”

The Bonghasan Disciple also awkwardly forced a smile.

“Well, really.”

The Clerk turned around, thinking he was seeing some truly ridiculous people. The problem started after that. One day, two days, three days, and up to six days… The same behavior was repeated at every path he took.

“What on earth are you doing!”

Unable to bear the two people’s strange behavior any longer, the Clerk flew into a rage. They had abandoned the Sacred Village Tree they were supposed to be tending to and were just carrying around the medicine ladle all day, which was extremely irritating.

“Are you even doing any work at all!”

“Ah, well… Actually, the truth is.”

The Bonghasan Shaman opened her mouth with a hesitant expression. She said that the Tree Spirit’s anger was so great that there was absolutely no way to appease it.

“You can’t appease it! What do you mean! Didn’t you say before that things were going well!”

The Clerk’s neck veins bulged with anger. If they couldn’t resolve the Tree Spirit issue, Aneul Village would be finished. The Left Minister’s wrath would descend upon the Government Office before the god’s anger would.

“The work is going well.”

“Are you trying to play games with me right now?”

“How dare I do such a thing. Rather, could you come closer for a moment?”

The Shaman, who had secretly looked around, held out the medicine ladle.

“What is this?”

The Clerk slightly lowered his head. Dried tree branches were floating on top of the deeply brewed tea.

“…These are pieces of the Sacred Village Tree’s roots that we cut off.”

“Sa-Sacred Village Tree’s roots?”

The startled Clerk stammered. Although he wasn’t a shaman himself, he knew what it meant to lay hands on a Sacred Tree.

“Shh! Someone might hear!”

The Shaman lowered her voice and gestured for him to lend her his ear.

“…That’s the plan.”

After whispering in the Clerk’s ear for a long time, the Shaman covered her mouth with her sleeve.

“…You mean to receive Tree Spirit Possession?”

A glimmer of interest flashed in the Clerk’s eyes. If this were true, it would be a clever move that could solve both the Tree Spirit and Myeonghyeon problems at once.

“Yes. We’ve been boiling and drinking the Sacred Village Tree’s roots all this time for Tree Spirit Possession. To bring the divine body into our bodies.”

The Bonghasan Shaman showed a regretful expression. She said that since she already served a heavenly god, she couldn’t receive the Tree Spirit.

“So my disciple will receive Tree Spirit Possession and lift the village’s frozen curse.”

“But Tree Spirit Possession… Is such a thing truly possible?”

“Originally, tree spirits dwell within trees, so humans cannot receive them. However, there is one Protective Arts technique that my Spirit Mother left behind…”

Calisia trailed off her words. Of course, it was a lie. Tree spirits were literally divine beings that dwelled in ‘trees.’ They were completely different species, so how could they possibly possess a human? But vain greed always clouded human judgment. Especially for a fake shaman who had received a false calling.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————