Are MZ Shamans In Trouble In Romance Novels? - Chapter 96

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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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96.

“Ah, oh my! What are you saying! If someone were to hear…”

Startled, Manseok raised and lowered his hands restlessly. In truth, he had suspected the Magistrate. The Government Guards were all keeping their mouths shut, and the Clerk’s rampage must have been under the Magistrate’s protection. But what reason could a high-ranking nobleman possibly have to harm Elder Brother, who was merely a commoner?

“…I just want to know where Elder Brother went, that’s all.”

Manseok hung his head low, desperately hiding his true feelings.

‘How strange. Why do words flow so easily in front of this woman?’

Manseok bit his lips. Regardless of social status, murder was a grave crime. Momentary suspicion or circumstantial evidence was far from enough. Moreover, the opponent was the Government Office. Just speaking of it could be dangerous.

“Then let’s find out where Elder Brother is. First, let’s check if he’s alive or dead.”

“Pardon? Elder Brother’s life or death?”

“Yes. We can just ask.”

Manseok’s eyes widened. He could see that the woman before him had been with the Clerk. But why would she step forward to help him when they had never even met?

“…The Clerk won’t answer.”

Manseok shook his head, saying he was grateful just for her concern.

“The Clerk? I was talking about asking the person himself.”

“Yes… Yes?”

Manseok replied with a dumbfounded expression.

“You know that Shamans have been coming and going in the village lately, right?”

“Yes, yes. They say they’re performing the Guardian Tree Ritual.”

It was true that the village had been ominous lately. People who had been perfectly fine were falling seriously ill or even dying.

“You might have noticed, but I’m one of those Shamans.”

“Ah…”

A sigh escaped from Manseok’s lips. The more he looked, the more he felt they emanated an extraordinary aura. Though he hadn’t thought they were the Shamans summoned by the Magistrate.

“May I… ask why you’re trying to help me?”

Half disbelief, half a premonition that he must not let this woman slip away.

“I was indeed summoned by the Magistrate, but ultimately I’m someone who came to remove the Frozen Land from the village.”

Calisia looked at Manseok with utterly sincere eyes.

“My fate doesn’t lie with the Magistrate, but with the Divine Spirits.”

“Elder Brother is the only blood relative I have left. May I… trust you, Bodhisattva?”

Manseok’s gaze became resolute. Though he hadn’t learned much and didn’t have any particular skills, he knew one thing. Now was the time to make a decision.

“Don’t trust me, trust the Divine Spirits once. They don’t have the patience to sit idly by while their Divine Disciple does foolish things.”

Calisia drove the point home.

***

“No, weave it here.”

Calisia sighed as she watched Izriel struggling with the straw. Offering to help make the doll had been the source of trouble.

“This is supposed to be the head, so how can you tie it so short? Have you ever seen someone with such a small head?”

Frustrated, Calisia clutched her chest and snatched the straw away. She skillfully wove the straw with practiced hands. She had hoped to benefit from having a disciple, but ended up having to clean up after him.

“Look. You need to weave this part to make it look like a person.”

Calisia held out a fairly well-made straw doll to Izriel.

“It’s ugly.”

Izriel stared intently at the straw doll and spoke with a disgruntled expression.

“What are you saying? Do I need to worry about beauty when performing necromancy?”

Calisia snatched the ritual effigy away and placed it on the floor.

“Summoning spirits into such things is extremely dangerous. It’s wicked and evil. Moreover, such an ugly and hideous doll…”

Izriel picked up the end of the straw doll. No matter how you looked at it, this was an object used for casting curses.

“Then would it be okay to summon spirits into a statue of Hellasin? That one’s pretty.”

“That’s blasphemous.”

“Blah blah blah. What blasphemy from an Apostate of all people.”

Don’t listen. You’re the best ritual effigy. Calisia covered the straw doll’s ears.

“It doesn’t have ears, so what exactly are you covering?”

“If you have nothing to do, go call Manseok.”

Izriel went into the room, muttering about how ugly it was until the end. Shortly after, he came out to the courtyard bringing Manseok, who looked visibly nervous.

“Please tell me Elder Brother’s birth details.”

Calisia took out yellow paper and cinnabar ink from her bundle.

“Born on the third day of the sixth month of year 41.”

“Year 41? Well… Please tell me all four pillars.”

Calisia scratched her forehead with the brush handle. She could roughly tell this was the Joseon period, but predicting the exact year was difficult. Ah, my divine luck seems to be running out.

“Ah, born in 1641.”

“1641. If it’s year 41, then gab, eul, byeong, jeong… Year of the Metal Snake.”

The government office that reeked of snake fishy smell and the disappeared snake-year born. Calisia narrowed her eyes at the strange uneasiness.

“What about the birth hour?”

“The hour of the Rat.”

“As expected, having a shaman in the family means you know Elder Brother’s birth details precisely.”

Calisia smiled and wrote the birth details on the yellow paper. It didn’t matter if there was no birth hour, but it was certainly more convenient to have it.

“How, how did you know that?”

“You have spiritual lineage. That runs in the blood. Manseok? What should I call you? That doesn’t mean you’re destined to become a shaman though.”

“My maternal grandfather was a shaman. He wasn’t a great shaman famous throughout the capital city and eight provinces, but… still, my mother told me that quite a few people in the village sought him out.”

Manseok’s eyes reddened as he recalled those he missed. It was an even more sorrowful moment because there was no one left to share those memories with.

***

Calisia stuffed the yellow paper with the birth details into the belly of the ritual effigy. A vessel was needed to contain the spirit she was about to summon.

“Please light the incense.”

Calisia placed the ritual effigy in the center of the courtyard and extended her hand toward Manseok.

“Yes, Bodhisattva.”

One, two, three, four, five… She began placing incense sticks one by one around the ritual effigy.

“This ritual is called ‘Spirit Summoning.’ If Elder Brother is alive, there will be little reaction, but if he’s dead, the incense will break.”

Manseok swallowed his dry saliva. He had said he would have no regrets if he could just know whether his elder brother was alive or dead. However, now that the moment had come, all he wanted to do was run away.

“If something terrible has happened to Elder Brother… then… then…”

Manseok’s throat seized up. It was because an ominous premonition had suddenly surged up.

“Humans can only intervene in the present. So let’s set aside our worries for now and do what we can first.”

Calisia offered rough comfort. Manseok, who had clenched his fists tightly, nodded his head. Whether his elder brother was alive or dead, he was the only one who could resolve that injustice. So he couldn’t waver already.

“Disciple, you just need to beat the drum until I tell you to stop. Thump- thump- thump- thump-. In this rhythm.”

Izriel, sitting cross-legged, picked up the drumstick. He struck the drum with awkward movements.

“Good job. Then let’s begin. Oh, and just in case, Manseok, please stay back a bit.”

Calisia picked up the brass bell. The clear, high sound of the bell began to dominate the courtyard.

Clang! Clang!

“Choi Cheonseok, born at the hour of the rat on the third day of the sixth month in the year of the metal snake, answer the call! Choi Cheonseok! Choi Cheonseok! Choi Cheonseok!”

A great cry burst forth from Calisia’s body like the Mountain Lord’s roar.

“Come and dwell here! I have lit incense to open the path, so pause your hurried steps and dwell here! Eoheoyi!”

She shook the brass bell vigorously while spinning around the ritual effigy.

Clang! Clang!

“The paths in all directions are opening! Do not hesitate and come! Eoheoyi! Do not think of it as a long journey and come quickly! Come and dwell here!”

Calisia closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds ringing in her ears.

Thump, thump, thump, thump-!

Clang! Clang! Clarang!

The heavy vibrations of the drum and the sharp sound of the bell tore through her mind. Thump, thump, thump, thump-. Calisia’s body trembled as she leaped high from her position.

‘It’s coming!’

Her eyes snapped open as she frantically surrendered her body to the shamanic music. The ritual effigy’s limbs bent in all directions as it convulsed.

-Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!

Suddenly, the ritual effigy that had bolted upright let out a throat-tearing scream. It was a sound of writhing in such agony that even the listeners were paralyzed with fear.

“El, Elder Brother…”

Manseok, who had been standing far away, began to foam at the mouth. For an ordinary person to hear, the resentment contained in the Ghostly Wail was too great. Eventually, Manseok’s body tilted and collapsed to the side.

“Brother…”

As his eyes rolled back and his consciousness faded, he reached his arm forward. It was only for a moment, but it was definitely his elder brother’s voice.

“Izriel!”

Izriel, who had put down the drumstick, ran toward the collapsed Manseok.

“Pantokar tor heilo-.”

[Almighty Hellaisi.]

Kneeling on one knee, he inscribed sacred words on Manseok’s forehead. It was to protect his body from impure spiritual energy and to strengthen his weakened spirit.

“…”

Meanwhile, Calisia glared fiercely at the ritual effigy that had begun to turn black.

-…ya.

Jewung muttered something continuously in a croaking voice. Clang! Calisia shook the brass bell. It was to channel energy to the spirit.

-…snake, um. It’s a snake.

The straw doll that had struggled to convey its message fell downward.

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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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