Are MZ Shamans In Trouble In Romance Novels? - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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63.

Wheeee-!

The high-pitched whistling continued. Pail, who didn’t understand what was happening, just watched nervously, while Ian took a defensive stance.

“He’s holding out.”

Calisia snorted and sat down in the chair beside the bed.

Wheeeek!

The whistling sound infused with the General Spirit’s energy pierced fiercely into Talaph’s ears.

-Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

Talaph suddenly bolted upright and let out a bizarre scream, baring his teeth. Over the wrinkled man’s face, swollen flesh with rotting skin overlapped and dripped down.

“Valus!”

Startled, Ian quickly grabbed Calisia’s arm from behind.

“…I’m fine.”

Calisia, who had suddenly found her nose pressed against Ian’s chest, coughed awkwardly and stepped back.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

The awkward atmosphere was brief as both turned their heads toward an unfamiliar noise. At the source of the sound was Talaph, his mouth torn open to his ears.

Clack!Clack!Clack!Clack!Clack!

With a grotesque expression, he frantically clattered his teeth together.

-Hehehe let’s play let’s play together how shall we play shall we put you in water and block your breath hehe until your tender skin rots and rots and melts away shall we play together

Dark blue flesh dripped down from beneath Talaph’s jaw. It was a water ghost.

Crash!

“…F-Father.”

At that moment, Pail, consumed by fear, staggered and grabbed the table. The flower vase shattered and Talaph’s head whipped around. Eyes glistening with murderous intent slowly licked over Pail’s body. It was a terribly unfamiliar gaze. Pail covered his mouth with trembling hands. That thing was his father, but it wasn’t his father.

“Am I going crazy too?”

Pail struggled to shake off the absurd thought. But his body’s sensations were mercilessly telling him otherwise. That thing was not his father.

“Pail.”

Calisia firmly grasped the dazed Pail’s wrist. His skin had turned so pale it was pitiful to see.

“…Uh, uh.”

“Pail Batin!”

Calisia shouted with divine power and grabbed Pail’s face firmly with both hands.

“Huh, gasp! Y-Young Miss.”

Pail, who barely came to his senses, blinked his eyes a few times. He still looked around frantically as if he couldn’t understand what was happening.

“F-Father is.”

“From now on, stay alert and answer me. You said this was an epidemic, right? How many blacksmiths total have the same disease? Where are they now?”

Calisia lightly slapped Pail’s cheek, saying there was no time to waste. Water ghosts were vicious evil spirits that even shamans avoided. If measures weren’t taken quickly, there could be multiple deaths.

“Guide me if you don’t want to see everyone die.”

Pail swallowed dry saliva and nodded his head vigorously.

***

“This is too strange. They’ve never been near water, so how did they all get possessed by water ghosts at once?”

Calisia, who had finished examining all the blacksmiths with the epidemic, collapsed face-down on the bed. The way things were unfolding was not normal. First of all, it was strange that so many had fallen ill around the same time.

-Did you all go swimming somewhere together?

She recalled her previous conversation with Pail.

-Like the sea or a river.

-N-No.

-Really nothing? Not even a streamside?

-The forge is busy 365 days a year. Especially Batar has overwhelming orders among the Five Great Forges, so the blacksmiths barely get any rest.

Pail’s attitude had been certain. That made it even more puzzling. Usually, the only way for a water ghost to come out of water was to bewitch someone. To take their place.

“Normally they die in the water without exception. But here they’re all alive. And they never went near water.”

-Young Miss. But do water ghosts only live in water?

Isaac, who had been listening to Calisia’s story, raised his hand high and asked.

“What kind of question is that, like asking if fish only live in water? Of course they do.”

-Then they can’t come out at all?

“No. They can’t come out at all isn’t quite right either. On rainy days, they can move around through rainwater. But even then, just around waterside? They can’t stray far from where they died.”

That’s why it was strange. Ikines, where the Valus Ducal House was located, was mountainous even among inland areas. As Pail said, it had little connection to waterside.

-Then if they possess someone who was at the waterside on a rainy day, they can escape the water?

“That’s right. From then on, they gain a physical body.”

Calisia said this as if it were nothing special.

-Then maybe this is what happened? A water ghost that was attached to someone passing by the waterside kept moving from body to body and coincidentally possessed Talaph!

“Oh, wrong. Water ghosts are different from regular ghosts. Even if they’re lucky enough to get a physical body on a rainy day, the moment they’re expelled from it, they return to where they were. They’re a type of earthbound spirit.”

Calisia made a groaning sound and buried her face in the pillow. The more she talked, the more complicated her mind became. She couldn’t see any possible way for water ghosts to attach themselves.

-Young Miss. Then how about this? That water ghost that possessed Talaph. Let’s just beat it up once!

“Beat it up?”

Calisia slightly lifted her head from the pillow.

-Yes! Those with fists should use… no, those with great power should rightfully use it.

Isaac flew around the bedside excitedly. It seemed like excitement born from the thought that he couldn’t be the only one suffering.

“No.”

Calisia buried her face again.

-Ah… Why not?

Isaac drooped his shoulders dejectedly, as if he might sink to the ground.

“…It’s rotted so the texture is mushy.”

Calisia shuddered as she recalled the swollen skin. Every time her fist would hit, melted flesh would splatter everywhere – how could she handle that? Besides, if beating could solve it, she would have done it long ago.

-Young Miss. Do you eat ghosts now too? It would be the texture… right.

“It’s enough that you got the gist. Why are you picking a fight again? Want to get hit instead? Come to think of it, our Isaac has just the right texture.”

Calisia got up from the bed and poked Isaac’s forearm.

“Firm and soft and chewy!”

-Why, why are you doing this! And chewy! Chewy! That’s rude to a grown gentleman!

Isaac covered his forearm with his hands and threw a fit.

“Then do you know it’s rude for a gentleman to enter a not-fully-grown lady’s bedroom at this hour? Without even knocking?”

-Th-That’s…!

Isaac, left speechless, flared his nostrils and stammered.

“If you understand, get out, Mr. Eclain.”

Calisia threw a pillow at Isaac’s face.

***

Talaph’s house courtyard-.

“Achoo! Achoo!”

The Northern Knights were coughing and boiling something vigorously in a pot. It was the Three-Item Purification Set: salt, mugwort, and red pepper powder.

“Cough, hack! Cough, gasp!”

Spicy smoke rose continuously and tears welled up in the knights’ eyes. It was truly hell with the mugwort smell they’d never encountered before, plus the spiciness.

“Is it that spicy? It doesn’t seem that bad yet.”

Calisia, who was grinding dried chili peppers with Ian, tilted her head.

“Sniff sniff. It still seems just pungent.”

The knights, shocked by her words, fanned themselves even more vigorously.

“Alright, alright. This level passes.”

“Haah!”

At Calisia’s announcement of success, the knights quickly backed away from the pot. They splashed cold water on their faces and opened their mouths wide to breathe in the fresh air.

“No, I told you to cover your noses with cloth. Why won’t you listen?”

Unable to hide her frustration, Calisia finally started nagging. Why did they insist on being stubborn and making themselves suffer?

“How can a man cover his nose with cloth!”

“What kind of disgrace would it be if rumors spread that the Northern Knights couldn’t handle a bit of smoke!”

The knights crossed their arms in an X, saying it was absolutely unacceptable. This was a matter of Northern pride, they said.

“But is the Young Master alright?”

The Northern Knights, who had been soothing their burning insides for a while, cautiously approached Ian.

“….”

Ian, holding a chili pepper in his hand, silently nodded. The Northern Knights gasped in admiration at his composed appearance. As expected, the Lakies Direct Line was different, they said.

“Fine my ass. Hey, your captain hasn’t been breathing for a while now.”

Calisia snorted and thrust the pot toward Ian’s face.

“Cough…! Hng, mmph.”

Ian quickly held his breath. His throat turned bright red as he endured the coughing without even being able to curse.

“Hey guys, the Young Master is about to suffocate. Tell him to breathe.”

Calisia, who was entering Talaph’s house, poked her head out and shouted.

“Young Master! Please breathe! Breathe!”

“You’re manly enough! Please breathe quickly!”

The Northern Knights rushed to Ian and patted his back while making a fuss.

***

The Purification Ritual ended surprisingly easily. This was thanks to the fact that the origin of mugwort and chili peppers was right up there. But the problem occurred a few days later.

“How did it attach itself again?”

Calisia bit her lips as she looked at the vengeful spirit that had possessed Talaph. Clearly, she had performed the Purification Ritual a few days ago and simultaneously removed the vengeful spirit. Talaph’s condition had seemed to be stabilizing too.

“This can’t be happening….”

“Is something wrong?”

Ian gently grasped the edge of Calisia’s sleeve as she looked confused.

“Very wrong, extremely wrong.”

A vengeful spirit that has been separated from a person’s body eventually returns to where it died. This is because their essence belongs to earthbound spirits.

“Moreover, that thing couldn’t even kill Talaph. How did it crawl back out when it couldn’t even find a soul to replace its place?”

Calisia approached the bed and roughly grabbed Talaph’s chin. Left and right sides. Though the festering skin made it difficult to recognize the face, it was definitely the same one.

“It’s the same one from before. Ah, this is driving me crazy. Unless there’s a karmic thread, this is absolutely impossible.”

“Karmic thread?”

“I’m talking about a strong bond of connection. For example, something like murder. Such blood-stained connections aren’t easily severed even by death.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to find out?”

Ian grabbed the wrist revealed between the dress and turned the thin body around.

“What?”

Calisia, who was suddenly turned around, pressed against Ian’s chest to steady herself.

“Whether Talaph killed that thing.”

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