Gaiden ― Blank (2)
“What do you mean by the Four Great Spirits?”
At Han Soo-young’s question, Belluna tilted her head.
“Isn’t that literally the meaning of four kinds of spirits? According to the standards set by you, water, fire, earth, and wind. That’s it.”
“… Like Belluna-san or Yado’s blacksmith?”
“It’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. After all, there was such a guy.”
Belluna nodded her head as if muttering faintly.
Here, Han Soo-young realized that if she tried to hide something, she would not get the answer she was expecting.
Now, even one more helper was needed, and even a little more information was needed.
“… You said that you can feel the energy of Ariman from me, right?”
As she began to speak quietly, Belluna looked at her with a smile that seemed to be satisfied now.
Han Soo-young talked about how she got Ariman’s power to summarize the situation at that time, and Belluna, who was quietly listening to her story, slowly nodded her head after a while.
“The four spirits are literally a concept.”
Han Soo-young listened quietly to her words.
“It’s not a special position, and it’s not about hierarchy or order. Literally four different spirits with similar powers.”
“It was a word…” Did you mean something else in the first place?”
Belluna smiled.
“Exactly.”
she added
“Exactly, rather than mean something else… uh… The story you spoke of only applies to me, the blacksmith of Yado, and the other two.”
Belluna frowned as if trying to bring back her memories.
“A long time ago… I, the blacksmith of Yado, and two other spirits visited her at the request of the World Tree.”
“Please?”
“Yeah, in my case, they asked me to help with pruning.”
Han Soo-young paused for a moment and asked.
“Is it figurative?”
“no? It literally means. prune, prune. It is the pruning that thins out branches.”
At her words, Han Soo-young tilted her head.
I was sure there was going to be something grandiose, but at least pruning.
“Then what about the others?”
“The blacksmith of Yado burns the surroundings and thins out weeds and parasites, libita… So the water spirit gave water, and the earth spirit digs the ground to make it easier for the world tree to take root.”
Han Soo-young put her thoughts together for a moment and then asked her.
“… I’m not very knowledgeable about spirits, so I’m not sure what you mean. Have you ever received something in return from the World Tree for that?”
“I had to get it. It was a long time ago, so it has been a long time since I started using it.”
Han Soo-young sip the tea without saying a word.
Belluna, who looked at her cutely, said with a small smile.
“Ugh, you should stop playing. You’ve done such a bad thing to a desperate person.”
She said, tapping the teacup.
“To put it simply, the four of us are spirits who helped the world tree grow. And there were only the four of us in charge of that task. this is… It’s a symbol, not something that has a big meaning or something like a ritual.”
“A symbol?”
“Yes, symbol.”
She nodded.
“Actually, all we did was… It was only a little help, but it can be said that the world tree was raised depending on the interpretation. And there is only one person who can be so obsessed with such trivial things.”
“Are you talking about Ariman?”
“no. It’s a little different.”
Belluna replied with a smile.
“A person who wants to kill the World Tree. Well… In this case, it would be Ariman. Hearing Suyeong’s story, it seems that after burning the World Tree in another world, he even killed me and Yado’s blacksmith to prepare for the possibility.”
Maybe it was because I was bothered by my son’s revenge and rushed at me like crazy.
Mumbling in a hoarse voice, she squeaked and drank through a straw.
“Anyway, you seem to have come expecting many things from me, but unfortunately I don’t have much to say. If you want to talk more, you might want to go find someone else.”
“If you say someone else… .”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
She shrugged.
“The World Tree, the author of this story.”
With a click, she raised the glass.
As if he didn’t need to talk anymore.
“I just came, over there.”
At her words, Han Soo-young could see that the person who had just opened the store door was Lee Ye-eun.
Belluna smiled brightly at her, who slowly got up from her seat.
“I hope it will come true.”
“Thank you, Belluna. … Oh, right.”
Han Soo-young asked.
“Didn’t you say there was something you wanted to ask me?”
“Ah, that’s okay, I’ve already heard the answer.”
Belluna put down the glass and answered.
“I wondered if the existence of Ariman would be a danger to my son, just like in any other world… After talking about it, it doesn’t seem like that. So I just decided to support Han Soo-young.”
And there… .
She muttered in a slightly gloomy voice.
“Because I know very well how sad it is to lose a loved one because of the Seven Evils.”
* * *
“… How are you?”
These were the first words Yeeun Lee uttered as she looked at Han Soo-young, who obeyed her request to follow her.
Holding the steering wheel, she glanced at Han Soo-young sitting in the passenger seat, and Han Soo-young answered with a smile.
“I was like Yeeun sunbaenim, huh?”
“… It sounds like you haven’t been doing well.”
Han Soo-young said to Lee Ye-eun, who was smiling bitterly.
“It would be the same for everyone. Senior or me… Jin Ye-seul or Yuna. And other people.”
Yeeun Lee just nodded her head.
After a while, she cautiously opened her mouth.
“You seem to be aware of the situation to some extent, and I know who the person you were with just before is… I’m going to go ahead and talk about the gist of it.”
After taking a deep breath for a while, Yeeun Lee said, ‘Before that… ‘ he muttered, rolling up his sleeves and showing his forearms.
Han Soo-young frowned at the appearance of her arms bulging out in various places as if gas had been put directly into the blood vessels.
“… How the hell did you happen to be like this?”
“When a member of our clan continues to question the world tree, that is, Mother’s shrine, blasphemously and persistently ask for it, the power will flow backwards in this way. Blessings turn into curses.”
So, she added, that in ancient times, criminals within the clan were executed in this way.
“There is nothing to worry about as you will be fine with time. The most important thing right now is not the wound on my arm, but the answer I got after asking for something like this.”
Come to think of it, it is clear that she said that every day was a long day, and that she had performed a ceremony at the Shrine of the World Tree.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that she is the most loved by the World Tree, but what was the answer that she got until she became like that?
“… For the past month, I’ve been asking Segye-soo, my mother, about Ji-hyeok. As Sooyoung knows, the World Tree is known to be a being that connects and takes root in many dimensions, and above all, Ji-hyeok has a lot to do with the World Tree.”
As she said, Yoo Ji-hyuk had a close relationship with the World Tree, including the branches of the World Tree and Nidhogg’s fangs.
“I kept begging my mother. Please take pity on your descendant and only daughter and give me an answer. Please help… .”
If you don’t want to see your daughter stab herself to death, please help.
At that, Han Soo-young gave a surprised expression and Lee Ye-eun smiled bitterly.
“… In fact, it seems like you are being punished for saying such a thing. No matter how annoying he was, he was still and immediately punished me like this as soon as I said that.”
No parent would like to see their children protest in front of their eyes.
Ye-eun Lee, who raised her sleeves, muttered as she skillfully drove the car.
“So the reason you came to me is because of the answer that the World Tree gave you?”
“yes that’s right. Well… Sorry. You said you were only talking about the main body, but you kept telling the story line by word.”
“It’s okay, Yeeun-senpai.”
Han Soo-young whispered.
“Because I understand.”
“… … .”
Yeeun Lee was silent for a very short time.
Then, she let out a very small sigh, and it sounded as if Han Soo-young contained earnestness, or perhaps unknown anger.
“My mother said.”
If you really want to make Yoo Ji-hyeok come back.
“Han Soo-young, so bring you to yourself. And let yourself be alone.”
Here, Han Soo-young could understand the meaning of the anger contained in the sigh she exhaled.
Ye-eun Lee, who was holding the steering wheel, said.
“… I’ll be here in a little while. Surely Sooyoung’s specialty was space movement, right?”
“yes.”
“My secretary, that is, Wooseok, is a very talented wizard. Since I asked you in advance, I will go with you to my office. After that, let me go straight to the shrine.”
Han Soo-young thought for a moment and asked.
“Does that sound like telling other people not to notice?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Yeeun Lee replied
“If a member of the clan, even a clan member, approaches the shrine, a person who is not a member of the original family cannot avoid severe punishment. One of the greatest sins that can be committed as a clan of the World Tree is to defile the Holy Land.”
She murmured as if nothing had happened.
“However, if the fact that an outsider was brought into the shrine was caught… He may be dismissed from his position as head of the party. I’m sure a lot of people will like the ones where Jihyeok disappeared and secretly raised his voice.”
“What will happen to me?”
Yeeun Lee replied
“In principle, it would be just a house invasion… Before that, there will be people who run rampant to kill Sooyoung themselves. There are still a lot of people who are polar people who get up every morning and bow towards the shrine every time they go to bed.”
In a word, it was the sound of turning the entire clan of the World Tree as an enemy.
Han Soo-young responded lightly to that story.
“It’s nothing.”
Yeeun Lee responded.
“Yeah, that’s not really a big deal.”
* * *
Contrary to their concerns, they were able to get to the front of the shrine without any problems.
Ye-eun Lee, who guided me to the front of the shrine, went back with the words that she would wait outside, and Su-yeong Han, who was left alone, looked up at the huge World Tree and muttered blankly.
“… This is the world tree.”
It was a look that made people in awe by just its size.
Seeing her lightly disregarding the many rules and regulations she knew, Han Soo-young gulped in tension and swallowed.
‘… So Ahriman burned these things by himself?’
No matter how much I thought about it, it was a story I couldn’t even imagine myself.
After holding a breath for a while, Su-yeong Han opened the door of the shrine as carefully and politely as possible and went inside.
In the middle of the shrine where no one should have been, someone who had already arrived as a passenger was waiting for her.
“… … .”
Even though she and Lee Ye-eun were twins, she looked like she was trustworthy, but as soon as she saw that she wasn’t Lee Ye-eun, I could tell.
Han Soo-young closed the door without realizing it, and knelt down as if facing her.
After a while, he opened his closed eyes and looked at Han Soo-young.
“A new manager has arrived.”
It was a beautiful voice.
At those words, Han Soo-young tried to lower her head, but it reached out and stopped her.
“Stop the tedious talk and just talk to the point, new manager. I have no intention of receiving greetings from you, who are not my children.”
It was said in a very formal voice.
“How am I supposed to call him?”
“yes?”
“Did you not understand? I am asking if I should call him Ariman, which is the same title as his predecessor, or if there is another name that I would like him to call.”
“It’s Han Soo-young.”
She replied reflexively.
Because I didn’t want to be called by that name even as a joke.
“Call me Han Soo-young.”
“Yes, Han Soo-young.”
The World Tree looked at her with a slightly softened attitude.
“Looking at her appearance, she seems to understand roughly what happened to her, don’t she?”
She nodded quietly.
As the World Tree said, she knew to some extent what had happened to her and what kind of situation she was in now.
Yoo Ji-hyuk was a person from another world.
Yoo Ji-hyuk and Ari-man were different but the same person.
Yoo Ji-hyuk returned to his original world.
He accepted the power of Yoo Ji-hyuk and Ariman.
And in the process, Ariman’s energy flowed through him.
Those words meant that he had become the same as Ariman.
“… … .”
The world tree looked at Han Soo-young without saying a word, and then slowly got up from his seat.
When she woke up, the hem of an indescribably long dress creaked, and only then did Han Su-young realize that it was the hem of her robe, not the floor, that she was sitting on.
“… Newly becoming Ahriman like you are naturally coming to see me.”
The World Tree swept the hair down to his toes as if it were annoying.
“Thanks to that, I had to teach the man who destroyed the other world and killed me and my children in the other world, as if he were a mother, to act as ‘Ariman’.”
“What… .”
Segyesu slowly turned his head toward Han Soo-young, who was muttering blankly, and looked at her.
“Ariman… No, Han Soo-young.”
Han Soo-young looked at her slightly nervously.
“Do you want to bring Yoo Ji-hyuk back into this world?”
“… What?”
“I asked if you wanted to bring the Yoo Ji-hyeok you know into this world again.”
Han Soo-young immediately nodded at her question.
He meets Yoo Ji-hyuk again.
It was only because she had come all the way here.
“Then answer my questions without lies from now on.”
Han Soo-young nodded quickly again.
Seeing her like that, the World Tree spit out in a dry voice.
“Have you ever had s*xual intercourse with a man?”
“… … yes?”
For a moment, Han Soo-young wondered if she had heard it wrong.
Seeing Han Soo-young, who was dazed at the unexpected question, the world tree nodded.
“Ah, the question is a bit misleading.”
The World Tree asked her once more, this time with a clear pronunciation.
“I asked if he had a physical relationship with Yoo Ji-hyeok, that is, had s*xual intercourse.”
Han Soo-young’s eyes suddenly became dizzy.