Chapter 8 — The Sorcerer Lost In A Dream (5)

Ham Seoyeon had quietly hoped the Father would refuse, but he granted Yun Jubaek’s request to visit the cathedral without a moment’s hesitation.

Perhaps it was all the more because the Father knew of Yun Jubaek’s feelings for Shin Myeongin.
At any rate, when Yun Jubaek followed them to Myeongdong Cathedral and recognized the face of the Father who came out to meet them, his expression turned grim.

“That man… he’s the one Myeongin took an interest in back then.”
“This is exactly why I hated coming here.”

Towing the sighing Ham Seoyeon along, Shin Hweein walked up to Father Lucas, skipped the greeting entirely, and got straight to it.

“Where is Do Yumi?”
“In the convent, where the sisters who serve the cathedral live. She’s to be baptized soon and become a sister herself, in any case.”
“…You mean to make that woman a sister?”

True, her sins were grave.
But to force a woman who had never had any faith to begin with into the veil was, looked at one way, a punishment crueler still than the one Do Yuna, who had actually committed the deed, was receiving.

When Shin Hweein recoiled, Father Lucas read his thoughts at once, gave a wry smile, and shook his head.

“There’s nothing of the sort to worry about. I’ll explain the details once we’re alone.”
“Father, what is it that’s happened at the cathedral?”

At that, Yun Jubaek thrust his face in from behind.

“This area is close to Zone 0 as well. If a spiritual incident has broken out, it must be reported at once.”
“Be at ease, Brother. It’s a personal matter.”
“Hmm…”

Returning a kind smile even to Yun Jubaek, who made no effort to hide his hostility, the Father led them all into the cathedral.

Hweein had half expected it, but Father Lucas stood out conspicuously even here, at the heart of the Archdiocese of Seoul, where the very best of the Aeshin Catholic Church gathered.
The ordinary parishioners and the lay ministers helping with the cathedral’s affairs were one thing, but even priests and sisters who unmistakably wore the cloth were sending Father Lucas glances of admiration.
From that alone, one could begin to grasp just how formidable a station “direct subordinate of the Vatican” was.

“He’s as handsome today as ever.”
“The guests have a fine face on them too, but really, no one beats Father Lucas.”
“There’s no comparison.”
“None. It thrills me every single time.”

No.
Perhaps it was that he drew all the more attention because of his beauty.

Looking at Father Lucas’s silver hair, dazzling beyond measure and so long it flared in his wake, Shin Hweein thought that even if the man died and rose again, he would never manage to carry out a covert mission.

He ignored Yun Jubaek, who, abruptly finding his face held up against the Father’s, was openly out of sorts and clicking his tongue.

“You’ve come.”

Sister Barbara, who had been standing watch near the convent entrance with her arms folded, recognized them and let her arms drop.
She must have been tense.
She let out a deep sigh and was raising the electronic vape (No. 2) that hung at her neck toward her lips when Father Lucas’s stern gaze stopped her.

“We’re inside the cathedral, Sister Barbara.”
“Sorry. Force of habit, the moment I felt stifled…”
“Then let’s go straight in.”
“…”

When Shin Hweein stepped forward, Sister Barbara’s eyes turned savage.
She clearly had not forgotten her grudge over the wrecking of electronic vape (No. 1).
Then again, a person ought to check the lay of the ground before sticking out a foot.

He gave a faint snort, and the sister, hotter under the collar than ever, trembled head to toe.
But knowing the fault was her own, she could not bring herself to complain, and only ground her teeth.

To this Father Lucas poured oil on the flames.

“You’ve grown close with Sister Barbara so quickly, I see. Remarkable, Brother. From childhood she’s always drawn people’s eyes, but she’s so sharp-edged that it’s rare for anyone to grow close to her. Men especially.”
“In the Father’s eyes, this is—”
“This looks close to you? Lucas, your eyes have gone bad too.”
“As I thought, the two of you really are in step with each other!”

Father Lucas clapped his hands and laughed, haha, as though the words the two of them had happened to say together had landed in perfect harmony.

Shin Hweein shook his head and called to Sister Barbara, whose anger sat a hairsbreadth from its critical point.

“Lead the way, if you would.”
“Yes. Sir. Right away…!”

Replying in a voice that sounded as though she had just come from killing someone, Sister Barbara strode off, the hem of her skirt flaring, and led them into the convent.

It was, strictly speaking, a quarter forbidden to men, and stepping into it left him faintly tense.
But thanks to the Father’s having sent word ahead, no other presence could be felt.

“To think even the sisters are pretty…”

This man Yun Jubaek.
His ability might be uncertain, but if he didn’t soon learn to keep that running commentary of his inner thoughts on the inside, promotion past Lt. Colonel would surely prove difficult.

Hweein had thought Sister Barbara might fly at Yun Jubaek too, but she walked on in silence, as though she hadn’t heard a word.

“Here. One moment.”

When she reached a tightly shut door, the sister stepped in first to check, then opened it for them.

The room within was tidier than he had expected, and there she lay, asleep on the bed.
He had never noticed it, since she so often wore only a venomous expression, but her face, calmly asleep, was as pure and lovely as an angel’s.

At the same time, something about it left Shin Hweein ill at ease, and as he silently puzzled over why, he soon let out a low sigh.

‘Is she not the very spitting image of her older sister. And not only the expression — she wore her makeup deliberately heavy in everyday life. …She did not wish to look like Do Yuna.’

At his own realization, a bitter taste rose in Shin Hweein’s mouth.

If she had loved her sister’s man and wished to seduce him, surely she would have made herself up to resemble her sister all the more.
That she could not bring herself to do even that.
Had she hated her elder sister with such force?

“Shin Hae? Are you all right?”

Ham Seoyeon, quick to catch the darkening of his mood, spoke up.

He shook his head slowly and answered.

“I’m all right. I was only thinking it’s rather a good thing that, with her asleep, there’s no occasion for a headache.”
“Whatever it is that happened between the two of you, don’t dislike her so much. Miss Do Yumi doesn’t seem to dislike you particularly, you know.”
“Yes. A mercy, at least, that she puts on a fine show of manners in her master’s presence.”
“Ugh.”
“Ahem. Well then, let me have a look!”

While Shin Hweein and Ham Seoyeon traded words, Yun Jubaek, whose attitude had visibly changed the instant he confirmed Do Yumi’s looks, stepped forward.

The gaze the women in the room turned on him was nearer to glacial than warm.
Could it be he was unaware?
Yes, surely it was precisely because he did not know it that he could chase a heedless whirlwind like Shin Myeongin and call himself delighted.

That said, his ability was the real article.
That alone was a consolation.

“Hm? This isn’t… a curse. There’s no trace of sorcery to be felt. Is she carrying some strange object on her, or is there an unfamiliar mark somewhere on her body?”
“We’ve already checked every corner. There’s nothing.”
“A mystery I can’t make out… short of a god descending, it shouldn’t be possible. If it weren’t sorcery, but a dream-demon manipulating dreams by its own power, that would be a possibility — but otherwise. Could some ancient mystery whose source can’t be traced be involved? Has this lady recently gone into some hazardous foreign region, or entered the Specter Realm or some unknown Other Realm?”
“She was at the operation site with the rest of us. Apart from that, nothing in particular.”
“Ah.”

It was an exclamation that meant: in that case, there was nothing more he could do.
Still, unwilling to look incompetent, he hurried to add more.

“If it’s all right with you, shall we take this lady to our unit? There are many fine curse-quelling healers there, and we should be able to get aid. Or — this is a rather low method, but there’s also the way of asking my own House for help. Ah, the truth is, I’m a direct-line member of the Yun House. One of the Three Capital Houses among the Eight Pure-Blood Houses, no less. For someone like me not to know, this is likely a graver matter than it seems—”
“Thank you for the offer, but for now I’d like to show her to my partner as well. Brother Shin Hae.”
“Eh? Ah… well, in any case. Mm. Understood.”

It was a mercy he had at least swallowed the last of what he meant to say.

At the Father’s words Yun Jubaek made a sour face and stepped back, and Shin Hweein moved his staff forward and opened his mouth.

“The myodusa.”
“Yes.”

— Nya.

Springing nimbly out from Geum Moa’s bosom, the myodusa gathered itself into Shin Hweein’s arms.

Only now did Yun Jubaek see the myodusa, and his eyes went round.
But Hweein paid him no mind, stepped forward, drew blood with one hand and smeared it on the myodusa’s forehead, then whispered.

“Bear with me a little. I’m only lending you my strength.”

— Meow.

Far from refusing, the myodusa stuck out its tongue and licked his hand, making a show of affection.
He had braced for its tail across his face.
The heart of a cat, it seemed, was still beyond his knowing.

“Do Yumi, do you hear me? Child, do you hear me?”

Looking down at the sleeping Do Yumi, he first tried calling out with strength behind his voice.
He had not, of course, expected her to answer from that alone.
But in that instant, her body twitched.

“What is this? …Why does she respond?”
“It seems to be because Sister has a personal connection with Brother Shin Hae.”

The startled Yun Jubaek, and Father Lucas, who explained it with a markedly more relieved look.

If Father Lucas’s words were right, then that response of hers just now had surely been a tremor of fear at Shin Hweein.

“Myodusa. I leave it to you.”

— Myau.

The myodusa leapt lightly down onto Do Yumi’s breast, coiled itself there, and began to give off a blue energy.
The brand of blood Shin Hweein had marked on its forehead pulsed with light as though in resonance, and his spiritual power strengthened the creature, deepening the blue glow further still.

The Shin House’s shikigami arts had originally gone no further than empowering one’s own shikigami.
But Shin Hweein, having taken the Vampire Lord’s blood and grown the authority of the blood-curse into himself, had at last gained the power to break that boundary down.

“Oh, wow… the myodusa is no joke.”
“Ah — look, my hangover’s clearing.”
“Even the inside of my head feels like it’s being washed clean… Wait. Sister Barbara?”

As the creature’s blue light filled the room, the others received their share of the benefit too.
But just as Geum Moa had said, the myodusa’s healing power could not, it seemed, rouse a narcolepsy patient.
No miracle of Do Yumi opening her eyes came.

Instead.

— Uncle…!

“Yes, child. You’ve worked hard.”

Taeju Doryeong appeared in midair and threw himself, sobbing, into Shin Hweein’s arms.

At the figure of a child who now looked no more than four or five, Yun Jubaek’s eyes went wide.

“A taejagwi?! No — no, it isn’t. A taeju-mudang! So that’s why Miss Ham Seoyeon — but why in a cathedral?”
“Ha-ha. Sister Do Yumi is an exorcist-in-training. What a taeju-mudang might be, I’m afraid I wouldn’t know.”
“…”

Soothing the wailing child, Shin Hweein calmly asked what had been happening all this while.
As he had expected, Taeju had indeed been affected by Do Yumi falling asleep.
Only, normally the little one alone could have woken quickly, yet he had spent all his strength until now trying to wake Do Yumi.

— But it doesn’t work. Auntie doesn’t want to wake up.

“Doesn’t… ‘want’ to wake up, you say?”

— Mm. Auntie is silly. Silly. Even though I’m here, and Uncle too, and everyone…

“Setting me aside, perhaps — if she won’t come even when you are here, it’s only because she’s forgetting you for a little while. She’ll be sure to remember and come back to herself soon.”

— I don’t know. It’s too sad.

By now it was plain, naturally, that this was no simple narcolepsy.

Soothing the pouting, weeping child, Shin Hweein listened to the account of the dreams Do Yumi was said to be having, and before long he could be certain.

“To be made to dream the dream one longs for and yet unable to wake. And what’s more, the dream does not run on happy but breaks off, so that the one who thirsts for it clings, longing once more for the happy dream. It is the typical nightmare.”
“Then this is, after all…”
“If it isn’t sorcery, then nine times out of ten it’s the work of a dream-demon.”

Having reached his conclusion, Shin Hweein recalled the dream he himself had dreamt and turned his thoughts afresh to the woman who called herself the queen of the dream-demons.

From the very form in which her power had manifested, it had already been clear she was a different kind of dream-demon from this one.
But even a fragment of her power would be enough to settle the matter.

‘Yes. I must meet her once more. I must learn, directly, that power of hers that handles dreams.’

To learn the true power of a dream-demon. Before any question of aptitude, it was even doubtful a human could learn such a thing at all.
And yet Shin Hweein remembered that sensation, clear and distinct.

This was not simply because Shin Hweein had been born with a genius temperament.
It was more likely because he lay under a curse of hers.

He had not yet curse-absolved it, but a curse that had run on across long ages was also a connection of incomparable depth.
It was not as easy and simple as gaining authority through curse-absolution had been, but it conferred the underlying gift all the same, and with certainty.

“All the same, you still can’t wake her, can you? Then surely my House—”
“The Yun House likely already knows.”
“What in the world do you mean?”
“I mean that this unnatural narcolepsy is not happening to one person alone.”
“What?!”

Yun Jubaek cried out in shock, then seemed to remember something all at once, snatched out his phone, and dashed outside.

When Shin Hweein gave the signal, Geum Moa swiftly locked the door and raised a barrier.
At the lightning coordination, Sister Barbara made an exasperated face.

“What are you up to now?”
“Father Lucas. Can you keep the sister’s mouth shut?”
“But of course.”
“What? Lucas, who are you to tell me—”
“Hush. Now is not the time.”
“Ngh…”

When Father Lucas silenced the sister, Shin Hweein again gave Geum Moa a signal.
She tilted her head with a look of feigned ignorance, but Shin Hweein, not fooled in the least, held out a hand and crooked his fingers.

“I know you have them. Hand them over at once.”
“Tch…!”
“I’ll buy you double next time.”
“For the two of us to eat together.”
“Of course.”
“Hehee.”

Only after extracting the promise did Geum Moa pull a box of macarons from her bosom.
Shin Hweein sighed at the thought of the trouble waiting for him later, took it, and tossed it into the air.

“Aengseol. Old Aengseol…”

— I am here!

Before he could even get his questions out, a red-eyed girl appeared in midair, snatched the box smartly, and landed on the floor.

“Hm?”

Shin Hweein, unable for a moment to believe his eyes, blinked and turned to Geum Moa.
When Geum Moa likewise shrugged, he tried to compose himself and turned his gaze back to Old Aengseol.

“A reply alone would have sufficed. And yet you’ve come yourself. Faster than ever, no less.”

— Because you are my master. That is the contract.

Old Aengseol, dressed in colorful festival-clothes, answered in a placid voice, then opened the box, took out a ttungcaron, fat with cream, and bit into it.

— Delicious! I do not like the fox-of-flame, but her sense for choosing desserts is not bad.

“That is well, then. Now, there is something I should like to ask…”

— I will answer anything. Anything!

“Aaaah! I remember!”

Ham Seoyeon, who had been staring blankly at the farcical scene a moment before, let out a great cry.
When all eyes turned on her, she made to say something more, then put on the face of one who had just blundered and worked her spirit-power so that only Shin Hweein could hear.

— Lately Myeongin’s been complaining like crazy that she can’t summon Old Aengseol anymore! Why is it that you can call her?!

At words he was hearing for the first time in his life, Shin Hweein, unable to fathom the reason himself, tilted his head.

Happily, there was one ready to answer the question. Old Aengseol, of course.

— That is simple. Because only he is my master. Nom.

Putting a second ttungcaron in her mouth, she went on.

— Well. Next question?