Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
⟨Chapter 18⟩
“It’s a tree yokai.”
Beak Ran replied.
“In other words, that girl is this small plum tree. So how are we supposed to eradicate her?”
“Ah, okay? Why is she so messed up?”
Yu Dan looked back. The white-haired girl at some point sat down in the corner again and hid her head.
“Her face is so gloomy, you could mistake her for a ghost. Hey, stand up. Go back home.”
As he expected, there was no response. It seemed she didn’t hear other people’s words at all. When he stared at her quietly, he heard a quiet voice barely touching the rims of his ears.
— Why are you not coming?
Yu Dan looked at Baek Ran.
“Who is she looking for?”
“Well. Shall we take a look?”
Beak Ran stood up. He walked up to a bookshelf and after rummaging for a while, he soon took out an antique octagonal mirror.
“What is it?”
“Yokai’s mirror[1]. A mirror, which can show the yokai’s history and origins.”
“Amazing.”
“That eye You already have is also able to do that much. It doesn’t because it’s not developed.”
After Baek Ran reflected the plum tree in the old mirror and mumbled something under his breath, a mysterious fog soon crept out the mirror. As the fog spread out in all four directions, it united into one, creating some kind of image.
In the cracking old image, as if a video projection from an old projector, stood the plum tree. At the foot of other trees, which were full of white blooming flowers, only this little tree stood empty. It was the very tree that was filling up the flower pot right now.
“Her name is Silver Plum Blossom, eh?”
Baek Ran spoke.
“She was born in the forest of a distant south province, from the energy of the plum trees. A certain scholar discovered it and marveling over it, he moved it to the flower pot, but after that she was treated as a bonsai tree and kept changing hands.”
“She must have hate it. Why didn’t she flee?”
“Didn’t have energy.”
The image reflected in the yokai’s mirror changed.
“She was born sickly. Just like this boy.”
He saw a boy laying down in a hospital bed. After a person, who seemed to be his mother, left a flower pot with the plum tree besides the boy’s head, the sickly face became a bit brighter.
“The boy liked the tree. Saying she was a tree from the children’s tales’ dwarf kingdom, he always had her by his side and cherished her a lot. And it seems that this child also ended up liking the boy. For the first time someone treated her so kindly, eh? So why not secretly show him flowers once…?”
They saw a spectacle in the room, the silver flower petals pouring down like rain. The boy reached out with his palms to accept the flower petals with extreme wonder. He forced his body to stand up to accept even more, but he lost his balance and was about to fall. At that moment, a white shadow jumped out of the tree and caught the boy.
“She even ended up revealing herself in front of the boy. After that, she always protected him from the side, made the flower bloom every day just to see the smile on his pale face. Later, even though she didn’t have enough energy, she finally ended up consuming all her vitality to bloom the flowers.”
The image reflected in the yokai’s mirror changed again. They saw the boy being carried to an ambulance. His state didn’t look very good. Just before leaving, the boy mouthed to the girl which only he could see.
I’ll make sure to get better and come back.
“That was the last time she saw him. That child believed that promise and kept waiting, while roaming the house. The family was frightened, and someone brought this plum tree here it seems.”
“To ask to chase away the ghost, right?”
Now he roughly figured it out.
The Silver Plum Blossom stared at the two, who were telling her entire story. The fog that leaked out of the yokai’s mirror stirred all of a sudden.
「Why are you not coming?」
The girl’s voice was heard a little bit more clearly.
「Are you still not better? When are you going to be better?」
Yu Dan looked at Baek Ran.
“What do we do?”
“I think it would be best to explain it to her it so easily that anyone can understand.”
“I got it.”
He spoke to the crouching girl.
“That kid is dead.”
“What are You saying?”
Beak Ran stared at him as if saying ‘this is ridiculous’.
“Didn’t you say to explain in easy to understand manner? I said it in a way she would understand at once.”
“That’s not what I meant. You don’t have any conversation skills, do You? You should be a little more considerate of the listener’s feelings, so can You express it a bit more metaphorically?”
“Okay. That kid closed his eyes.”
“That’s too metaphorical.”
“That kid crossed the rainbow bridge.”
“He is not a pet.”
“Got it. How about this then? That kid left to a far away place.”
Only then the girl yokai slightly raised her eyes.
「Far away?」
“Yeah. He ended up leaving.”
「How far away?」
“Very far way. How far away would you say? To the west of this whole land?”
「The west to this whole land? That far…?」
The girl mumbled as if shocked. It seemed she was extremely disappointed. Her despair was so vivid as if the sky crumbled and the earth split.
Baek Ran put down the yokai’s mirror. And reasoned with the Silver Plum Blossom.
“Humans and yokai are completely different. You can’t give your heart to someone based on the momentary feelings. It rarely ends well.”
The girl just hid her head like before.
“I wanted to make a medicine, but as Your vitality was consumed, even hundreds of medical pills would be useless. You have to recover naturally. Please stay here and stabilize. Don’t bloom any flowers for the time being.”
“…”
“Understood?”
After Baek Ran asked again, she just weakly nodded.
“Done. This flower pot can be put on the window sill. If possible, in a place with a lot of sunlight.”
“Got it.”
Yu Dan picked up the plum tree flower pot again.
“I don’t understand. What is so good about humans?”
“That thing… Shall I call it a unique life force? For yokai it looks like a jewel locked in the glass, or like warm sunlight that is out of reach.”
Did it mean something they want but can’t have? He seemed to get it but not quite.
“So if a human treats us with even a little bit of kindness, it’s easy to fall in love.”
“I should be careful. Though I was never kind even by mistake.”
“Please don’t worry. Because for us You look not like a warm sunlight but hellfire.”
“Ah, is that so?”
He had nothing more to say. Yu Dan picked the flower pot and descended to the first floor.
The place with a lot of sunlight…. Luckily, there was an empty place at the window, so he put the flower pot there.
Silver Plum Blossom entered the dark space between the corner and the box, and crouched down again. Looking at that appearance, she seemed no different from a human. He had no idea that the feeling of love and the sadness of separation would be so exactly like human’s.
Yu Dan opened the book again.
Because even with Silver Plum Blossom here, it was quiet, he soon could concentrate. But when he solved a few problems, suddenly his vision swirled.
Was he studying too hard? There was no way.
It was a different type of dizziness. His vision twisted slightly and he heard faint tinnitus.
Supernatural?
Yu Dan stared at the entrance.
The door suddenly opened.
“Please flee! A scary ghost…!”
An elementary school boy, carrying a school backpack, barged in. He almost ran into a table, but barely stopped, but soon jumped again.
“Ack! A ghost! There is a ghost here too!”
He pointed at the Silver Plum Blossom crouching down in the darkness and made a fuss.
Where such a loud brat came from? In addition, how was he involved with the supernatural? Yu Dan’s head was already starting to hurt.
“Quiet down a bit! That’s not a ghost, but a tree yokai. Originally she was that small plum tree, but her vitality was hurt, so she is currently recuperating.”
The elementary student turned his head and looked at Yu Dan. Immediately, some kind of emotion appeared in his two eyes. A respect.
“I came to a right place, huh? No. I came to the right place, yes sir?[2]”
Why did he suddenly change his tone to polite? With an “Ack…”, he sat down.
“My legs are killing me. I walked a real distance. Here is why, so please listen to my story for a bit. I can’t come back home right now. Because of the stepmother.”
“Stepmother?”
“Yes. The lady my dad married after mom passed away.”
“Hey! Who doesn’t know who a stepmother is?”
“Anyhow, that stepmother hates me. Like really hates me. After a new dongsaeng was born, it became even more severe. She said I should disappear forever. And put some kind of strange paper on the house’s main door. After that, every time I tried to enter the house, some sort of grandpa ghost stands at the entrance, protecting and yelling at me. Things like ‘You can’t enter this house!’.”
“Wait a moment. Your stepmother summoned a ghost?”
“From the looks of it. If you hear his voice, Your whole body trembles and Your energy is completely dried up. That grandpa is really scary. He is bald, his eyes are completely white and his voice is like a thunder. It’s really scary.”
As if he would die from fright by just thinking about it, the child shivered a few times with a deathly pale face.
“But I have to quickly return home. If not, my dongsaeng will die.”
“What is that nonsense again? Are you talking about that new dongsaeng your stepmother just gave birth to?”
“No. That’s another dongsaeng. I’m talking about my real dongsaeng. Because the stepmother doesn’t feed him, he will die from starvation.”
“No, what is up with this entire house?”
Each point of the story was a sight to behold. It was a story that he only saw on the current news programs. He had no idea something like that could happen around here.
“Are there no adults around? No one who can help? Now it’s not even a time to be doing this. You should be reporting it!”
He held his smartphone, but the brat spoke:
“No. Even police uncles can’t do anything about that grandpa ghost. I first have to chase away the ghost and bring my dongsaeng to safety, it’s urgent.”
“Is that so? Got it. Wait a moment.”
Yu Dan hastily ascended to the second floor.
The moment he opened the door, he stomped on the two letters that jumped out and tried to escape. Throwing the flatten letters on the desk, he asked:
“What the hell kind of supernatural thing is a grandpa who blocks the entrance and makes you unable to come in?”
“That…”
The fox yokai was about to say something.
“A secret.”
“Is it a time to joke right now? Look. Some kind of brat is on the first floor, what do you know? It seems that the stepmother is a shaman. He said that she put some kind of strange paper on the entrance and summoned a ghost. It seems that from the three children, the first one can’t enter the house, the second is starving to death, and she plans to only raise the third one, which she gave birth to.”
“Even without You telling, I already heard everything. There is a very serious problem.”
“I’m glad you know that’s serious. Then tell me how to chase away that ghost.”
“It wasn’t what I was talking about. How did You not realize at all the strangeness of this story? That’s the serious problem I’m talking about.”
“What?”
“You always have to make sure to keep Your reason. You have to look at each one of the little clues with a sharp eye. If You don’t build up such a habit, it’s going to be dangerous.”
“Then what am I missing right now?”
“Why should I tell You this? It wouldn’t be fun.”
Beak Ran stretched his hand out and took out a fan.
“I knew something like this would happen someday. Even if You can see other beings, and hear their voices, You’re still human. As humans are bound to the worldly logic, it’s not unexpected that You’re deceived by what You see and can’t see the truth. However, even if all humans are like this, You alone can’t be. Because the small loophole You let pass without thinking will catch Your ankle later and Your life may be in danger.”
While drying the letters with a fan, he spoke with an indifferent face.
“So I can’t instruct You. Please figure it out and go by Yourself.
“Figure out and… go?”
“Yes. Please follow that child and go.”
“What about the shop?”
“That place is close. Please don’t worry and go.”
He turned as he stood up, and then turned back.
“Do you perhaps have things like leftovers of talismans or a weapon…”
“No.”
The fox spoke coldly, cutting him off.
As he descended in some doubt, the elementary school student, who had been impatiently waiting, quickly raised his head.
“What were You doing up there?”
“I don’t even know. Anyhow, let’s go to your house.”
“Really? We’re going together?”
The child’s face swiftly brightened up.
However, even in such a situation, thinking about leaving the store was a bit awkward. Yu Dan gathered the menus that were on the counter. He walked up to Silver Plum Blossom, who was sitting depressed in the corner and gave them all to her.
“I’m going out for a moment. If by chance a customer comes in, prevent them from leaving and give them this. You don’t have to say anything. Got it?”
No response. He expected that he asked for too much, but after a while, she nodded slightly.
“Okay. Work hard. We’re going. Your house is close, if I remember?”
“Wow, how did You know that? It’s in the adjacent neighborhood. We can walk there from here.”
“Uh? Wait a moment…”
Some kind of words that were just about to come out of his mouth disappeared.
He had a feeling something was weird. However, he couldn’t figure out what was strange. He had a feeling of playing a mystery game without catching a clue.
Yu Dan tried to put his brain to work for a moment, then gave up and started moving.
As he walked diligently, following the child, they entered a quiet residential area. The huge houses lined up and towered over their heads with very high walls and tall pine trees.
“Your family is rich, huh?”
“Yes. But…”
The child suddenly halted and whispered with a very troubled expression.
“My stepmother and dad are coming.”
“What?”
He understood at a glance. A middle-aged couple were coming towards them pushing a baby carriage. As if they came out for a night workout, they were both wearing gym clothes, and dad was without doubt a rich director and…
“Wait! Your stepmother is ordinary? She isn’t a shaman?”
“Who is a shaman?”
The child’s eyes turned round.
As if they heard a voice, the couple looked in their direction at the same time. Even though they saw their own child, they were expressionless as if they weren’t happy at all and treated him like some other family’s child.
The child immediately turned timid and hesitantly stepped forward, bowing his head.
“Mom, dad. I was wrong. Please let me enter the house now.”
Even though he was begging with a sobbing voice, the couple turned their heads as if seeing nothing, and started to walk and push the carrier again.
“They ignored you competently?”
“It was like this from the beginning. They now act like they can’t see me at all. Even so, in the past they at least greeted me.”
“But they’re your parents! What kind of parents are like this?”
Yu Dan shouted at the back of the child’s stepmother.
“Look! Isn’t that really too much? Is your child the only child? Take off the wicked talisman you put on the door! Your eldest son can’t go home even at this hour and is wandering, you know!?”
The woman turned around with a swish.
Her face turned so pale in the instant, instead it was him who flinched in surprise. Her pupils grew so big, he didn’t even know it was possible, and she couldn’t control her shaking, when she looked at Yu Dan. She had a face as if she was looking at a monster.
“Wha-what? What the hell do you mea…”
She couldn’t continue her words, because she was shaking like a leaf. The child’s father looked as if asking ‘what’s going on?’.
“What nonsense is this? Darling, did you put some kind of talisman on the door?”
“I-I don’t know! Let’s go quickly! This kid is strange!”
The women grabbed her husband’s arm and hurriedly left. The sound of carrier wheels rolling rang out loudly.
“They fled straight away. They made such a thing when they have no guts at all? If we report it to the police, it will be truly a sight to behold.”
There was no reply.
Looking back, the child has shrunk as much as he could. With a pale face he was pointing at the entrance door and backing away.
“There! There! That grandpa ghost appeared again! I was wrong! Don’t come! Please don’t scold me!”
The child couldn’t endure anymore. He covered his ears and sunk to his knees.
“Such wicked…!”
Yu Dan stared at the door.
But he was struck dumb straight away.
There was nothing there. There was no fierce, bald, white-eyed grandpa ghost or even an insect flying around.
“Where? I don’t see it?”
“There! He is blocking the door! He is shouting to dare to try to enter! Scary!”
The child pointed at the empty air and trembled.
It wasn’t an act. He was truly terrified.
However, why Yu Dan wasn’t seeing anything supernatural?
What was wrong? What was he missing right now?
Yu Dan walked up to the entrance door.
*~*~*
[1] Yokai’s mirror — 조요경 (照妖鏡), literally translated to a mirror which reflects yokai.
[2] “I came to a right place, huh? No. I came to the right place, yes sir?” — In the first sentence, the kid uses a casual tone, which would be impolite towards Yu Dan, who is older. So he switches to a polite tone in the next sentence.
Translator’s note: Yu Dan will summon anything to just not study math.⟨Chapter 18⟩
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