episode_0038

The place they followed behind the woman was a house.

I naturally went inside to see if it was a place where a woman lived. We also followed the woman in. As you enter, what you see are ordinary household items.

It was the kind of house that a family could live in.

The woman gave us chairs.

We sat on the chairs and awkwardly exchanged glances.

The woman poured tea, served it to us, and sat down across from us.

Unlike before, the woman was a little calmer.

“I’m sorry. You were very surprised.”

The voice is still hoarse.

However, there was some comfort in it.

Is there hope for us?

If so, I would like to say that I enjoyed it.

At least I had no intention of letting this incident pass by.

“It’s okay.”

I said after taking a sip of tea.

The woman smiles weakly and begins to talk.

“First of all… If I tell you my story, I was an ordinary housewife. I have a husband and one child… It was an ordinary house, no different from other houses. But I was happy. Because I have you on my side… But one day… The child disappeared.”

“Do you remember when?”

“A week ago… But the child’s father went out to look for the child… ”

The woman shed tears.

He closes his mouth as if trying to suppress it.

However, tears that I couldn’t hold back flowed down my cheeks.

As I looked at that scene, I could roughly understand what had happened.

‘You didn’t come in.’

The disappearance of the child and the disappearance of the husband who went out to look for the child.

From a woman’s perspective, holding on to her spirit was a great thing.

It wouldn’t be strange for a normal person to go crazy.

‘After the children, it’s the disappearance of my husband.’

Is it just the woman in front of me?

I don’t know if it’s the same for him or the other houses, but what is certain is that there is a lot involved in this incident.

I had to search in earnest to find out what it was.

“Do you know where the child last went?”

“I’m not sure… I just said I was going out to play with the neighborhood kids like usual.”

“Do you have nowhere to hide?”

Hyria asked.

The woman swallowed for a moment as if thinking about Hiria’s question, then opened her mouth.

“If you are in a place where you are confined… I think he’s a gentleman… Children go to the shrine a lot. In this village, there are many people who worship other gods besides the Goddess of Light. Children often go to the shrine they built.”

I immediately exchanged glances with Hiria.

It seemed like we would be able to face the culprit of this situation sooner than expected.

We stood up without wasting any more time.

“I’ll go check it out right away.”

“Bu, already?”

Confusion appeared on the woman’s face, as if she was embarrassed by our quick decision to act.

I nodded at the woman’s words.

“Yes. There is no need to delay any longer.”

The woman looked at us as we were about to leave.

A conflict visible to both eyes.

I said, sensing that the woman wanted to say something.

“You can speak comfortably.”

“… ”

The woman opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.

“… Please save my child… Not only my child, but also other missing children and my husband… please… ”

After saying those words, the woman lowered her head.

A woman’s voice filled with earnest wishes.

As soon as I heard Ya-seong’s words, memories of the past came to mind.

Memories of tiring and difficult days while traveling with colleagues.

-If there is someone in this world who needs me, I will move for them!

A vow shouted alone under a moonlit night in a place where no one could hear.

These were the words I said whenever I felt tired and wanted to give up, thinking of those who regained their smiles thanks to my help.

This is something no one has ever heard.

There will be no problems if you do not follow them.

No one can say anything.

Because my story is already over.

Moreover, it is a different dimension.

There was no reason to keep the oath.

Because everything for me is over.

Also, heroes called warriors already exist in this world.

But I keep the oath I made back then.

Although my days as a hero have long since ended.

It’s been a long time since I put it down myself.

But still.

I move to keep the oath I made back then.

Because that’s me.

What if my story is over?

What if this place is different from the world I was in?

The location of the oath I uttered was not important.

It didn’t matter what I was like either.

As long as there were people who needed my help, that was enough.

That was the oath I made and my own belief.

“Let’s go.”

said to Hiria.

Hiria followed me silently.

***

I headed to the shrine the woman mentioned.

The location was closer than I thought, so I was able to find it without much difficulty.

The shrine gave off a classic atmosphere.

As you pass through the entrance and enter, you can feel the unique atmosphere and energy of the shrine.

Perhaps because it was a place where different gods were worshiped, the atmosphere was subtly different.

“Who are you?”

A beautiful woman’s voice is heard.

We turned our attention to the woman’s voice.

A woman wearing a shaman costume.

She was a woman who exuded a mysterious aura to those who saw her, combined with her old-fashioned atmosphere and beauty.

“Ah.”

Hiria pinches my arm as if complaining.

Seeing that he barely felt any pain meant that he was a little dissatisfied.

I asked in a low voice that only Hiria could hear.

“Why?”

“No.”

It’s a very unpleasant expression, but if you deny it, who would accept it that way?

However, in the current situation, there was something more important than that.

The woman who appeared before my eyes.

No matter how much I didn’t keep my guard up, I couldn’t sense any presence.

What this meant was that the woman was not a very easy person.

The woman frowned.

“Can’t you hear me?”

I spoke quickly because I felt like I would only get hostility if I continued like this.

“Children have been disappearing recently. And I came here after hearing that the children often stopped by here.

“Are you saying the children are gone?”

“Yes.”

The woman seemed to be thinking deeply about something and then turned around.

“Follow me.”

I followed the woman as she said.

Next to me, Hiria was showing signs of being quite unhappy with something.

“Something is suspicious.”

“… Isn’t this too much of a leap of faith?”

“You were suspicious when I said he was a gentleman earlier.”

“That’s right.”

In my mind, I was almost certain.

A shrine that worships a deity other than a goddess.

The children who often went there disappeared.

Doesn’t something come to mind just by looking at it?

‘I thought I was supporting wealth.’

When I saw the woman in front of me, my thoughts changed.

If you ask her if it’s simply because she’s pretty, she will consistently say it’s bullshit.

How many years have you lived and how many things have you seen? Would you be tempted by appearances?

It was truly ridiculous.

But if you ask how I can be sure, it is because of the energy I feel from the woman.

‘Looking at her, she seems to be a shaman who serves a significant god.’

Shaman refers to those who serve gods.

In some ways, it can be said to be similar to a saint, but it was quite different from a saint.

The saint receives the power of God and uses divine power.

Not a shaman.

The shaman carries the soul of the god she directly serves in her body.

Although ordinary humans cannot handle the soul of a god, sometimes people are born who have the constitution to allow the soul of a god to settle in their bodies.

Such people usually become shamans.

And the shrine maiden in front of me is a shrine maiden who serves a considerable deity.

A god who can trample on quite a few gods would not do such an inefficient thing as sacrifice children to increase his power.

The power that can be gained by doing such an act is equivalent to pouring a bucket of water onto the beach.

Moreover, since humans serve the gods, the gods are basically very friendly to humans and never do such things.

As a result, the woman in front of me had to be excluded from the list of dragons.

Moreover, when I think about the current air, the energy of God is clearly felt, but the influence seems to be small.

‘I guess it’s out of consideration for the children.’

It is clear that consideration was given to the children who would come to the shrine.

A god who is so kind to humans and children would do such a thing?

‘That’s funny.’

Hiria probably knows too.

Still, I don’t know why I said that.

‘But didn’t you tell me my identity?’

The god the shaman serves will know.

My and Hiria’s souls are not human souls, but the souls of transcendents.

However, seeing as the shaman didn’t know our identity, it seemed like she didn’t tell us.

‘It looks like you have some sense. Otherwise, there must be something else.’

Since I don’t know what it is yet, I think I should follow the shaman first.

The place where Hiria and I arrived, following the shaman, was a place where the energy of God was felt most strongly.