Chapter 79: Myeong-Myeong and the Familiar League (7)

“Young man, I don’t understand. Why did you save me?”

Save her? Did I ever save that girl?

All I ever gave that crazy girl was a solid flick to the forehead. I've never heard of someone being saved by a flick before.

Ah, I get it now.

So, she's asking why I didn't finish her off after knocking her down. What a terrifying way to think. Are all psychic kids this ruthless?

I looked at the crazy girl and said, “I never even thought about killing you in the first place.”

“If you don’t kill me now... you might regret it later…” the girl continued.

“I’m a dangerous being... a wicked soul...” she said, smiling.

A dangerous being.

A wicked soul.

“You might want to kill me now… it could be for the best.”

For some reason, it reminded me of something my mom's colleagues used to say when my little sister could barely speak. God, I hoped they weren't serious.

Actually, looking back, it's a good thing I didn’t act out back then. After the day of spiritual awakening, a few of my mom’s colleagues became famous faces on the news.

Anyway, a dangerous being.

A wicked soul.

I only had one thing to say to that.

“A soul isn’t all of you. If we broke it down, your soul wouldn’t even make up 0.001% of what makes you human.”

I continued, “A person is a warm, tangible being. So, a soul is just a tiny part of who someone is.”

“What? A soul is just a tiny part of a person?”

It’s a strange world.

A world where people torment and kill others because of invisible ghosts, while the living, breathing humans are right in front of them.

“I’m not going to kill you just because that tiny part of you is dangerous.”

At that moment, hurried footsteps approached. It was the woman with the hairpin who had helped me advance through the preliminaries.

“Hwa-ya!”

Now that I look at them, they really do resemble each other.

I don’t know if their souls are similar, but their bodies sure are.

The mother hugged her daughter, who looked just like her.

“Myeong-Myeong…”

Myeong-Myeong meowed sadly.

Come to think of it, Myeong-Myeong lost its mother too.

I silently picked up Myeong-Myeong.

Without protest, Myeong-Myeong nestled into my arms.

As I comforted Myeong-Myeong, I looked behind me.

“Young lady, are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“We’re sorry. This was our fault. Who would have thought that a malicious spirit could break through the Holy Vessel’s defense?”

The chick was surrounded by adults, acting all tough, spouting nonsense like, “I’m fine,” “It was all expected,” and “How foolish to come after me with such a trivial trick.”

‘Quite the show-off.’

Anyway, the fact that the crazy girl is the grand prize for winning this tournament… no thanks.

I have no interest in a prize like that.

I can’t even tell if she’s an adult or a high schooler.

I’m not looking to end up in handcuffs.

“I’ll just take my winnings and leave.”

And so, the Familiar League continued.

I won the semifinal match by default.

The opponent backed out, saying something about “a divine beast that deals true damage to sinners being too terrifying.”

How could they say Myeong-Myeong is scary when it’s this cute?

I wanted to argue but held back.

And so, I made it to the finals.

Then, I forfeited.

As long as I placed, I’d still get the sacred blood, so it didn’t matter.

My opponent beamed when they heard I was forfeiting, while Myeong-Myeong meowed at me as if demanding to know why. From the VIP seats in the distance, there was a bit of commotion.

But none of that changed my decision to forfeit. As soon as the winner was confirmed, a booming voice echoed from the speakers.

“The winner of this Sacred Blood Festival has been decided! The winner of this year’s festival is…”

Everyone was watching the Familiar League champion—or rather, the Sacred Blood Festival’s champion—except for me, since I was already making my exit after my forfeit.

Actually, the chick was doing the same. The chick didn’t seem to care about the festival’s winner either and was quietly heading somewhere.

Where is that chick going?

Can’t they just hurry up, award the winner, hand out the sacred blood, and get it over with?

But the chick, oblivious to my impatience, walked toward a transparent tent.

“Lower the curtain. There’s something I must handle quietly.”

“As you wish.”

And then, the chick entered the tent.

Is that even a tent?

No, it looks more like a greenhouse.

An empty greenhouse, at that.

As soon as the tent’s flap closed, the chick collapsed to the ground. Then, out of nowhere, she began to cry uncontrollably.

“Ahhh… Waaah! Peep… sob… sniffle…”

Crying with such sorrow.

Wailing with such grief.

“I… I don’t want to be the heir…”

Wait, is it okay to cry that loudly?

The chick has a reputation to uphold, right?

But I didn’t need to worry about that.

Glancing around, everyone was too focused on the winner’s speech to pay attention to the chick’s whimpering.

“Why… why did the head choose someone like me… peep… peep… someone without talent like me…”

The chick’s lamentations continued.

“Even though she was possessed by an evil spirit, sniff, even Hwa-ya could use full power deployment while she was trapped. And I… I still can’t do it. Why can Hwa-ya use divine arts and full power deployment?”

The chick wiped their tears with their sleeve.

“I… I can’t even use divine arts, peep, and yet… they sent an evil spirit after me to kill me…”

The chick pulled her shoulders inward as she sat there, defeated.

“It’s… it’s just too much now…”

-Trembling.

The chick’s body shook.

Come to think of it, I’d heard that chicks are sensitive to the cold and need proper heating when raised. Even I, someone who knows nothing, could see that the chick was in danger right now.

Watching her, tear-streaked and realizing she didn’t even have a tissue or handkerchief to wipe their face with, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her.

Guess I have no choice.

At this rate, the competition might not be able to continue.

I’ll have to calm her down.

I grabbed a bundle of handkerchiefs and quietly made my way to the back of the transparent greenhouse. Lifting the plastic cover slightly, I slipped inside.

“Peep?! H-how did you… how did you get inside the tent?”

The chick stopped crying, startled by my sudden appearance.

But just because she stopped crying didn’t mean her tears had disappeared.

The chick glanced at the bundle of handkerchiefs in my hand and muttered.

“This bundle of handkerchiefs… h-how did you know I’d be crying?”

“How did I know…?”

I just figured.

I couldn't respond truthfully.

To be honest, it's been months since I started working in this field. Just by looking at this so-called greenhouse, I could tell it was probably something like the illusion tricks with that blackboard or the card games in Big Hand Casino.

That’s why it was transparent to my eyes.

But I couldn't explain that.

So, I shamelessly replied, "It's just something I can sense, you crying."

"N-no. I'm not a crybaby," she stammered.

"Sure, sure. Says the chick who's always peep-peeping and crying."

"Peep, peep," she murmured, clamping her hands over her mouth and lowering her head in embarrassment.

"It's because of the chick instincts…"

"I know, you’re crying because of the chick in your heart," I said, handing her the bundle of handkerchiefs.

****

"It's because of the chick instincts…"

"I know, you’re crying because of the chick in your heart."

Jinari accepted the bundle of handkerchiefs from the man. 

So many handkerchiefs. 

She had hidden herself inside the tent to cry, so there was no way anyone could have known she was crying.

'So, he just… understood my feelings. The feelings no one else could see.'

For some reason, warmth filled a corner of her heart at that thought. It was only then that Jinari could truly stop her tears.

Maybe the reason the chick peeped was because it wanted someone to see it, to acknowledge it. Smiling to herself, Jinari felt grateful.

"Thank you."

And so, Yoo Hajin and Jinari headed toward the stage. As promised, the winner of the Sacred Blood Festival was granted the right to command the heir of the Black Dragon Yi family.

Naturally, the winner was eager to exercise their right. A girl who called herself a “young lady,” dressed in traditional Korean hanbok and looking like a beautiful young maiden.

The winner could hardly contain their excitement about commanding her.

But, of course, the result was as expected:

The winner ended up gravely injured.

"I said you’d have the right to command her. I never said she’d obey," remarked Lee Ryeo, the head of the Black Dragon Yi family, gazing at the fallen winner.

Lee Ryeo had no intention of acknowledging anyone except the man who saved her daughter. Thus, it became known that the Sacred  Blood Festival's victory was actually a trap.

Meanwhile, the runner-up was awarded the promised Sacred blood.

The Sacred blood was, literally, crimson-red blood.

According to the chick, the effects of the Sacred blood were as follows:

‘This is the primordial sacred blood. It gives demonic beasts the opportunity to evolve into divine beasts and helps young divine beasts advance to the next level.’

And the chick thought to herself:

'It was powerful enough to subdue Hwa-ya, who was practically at the level of a semi-immortal. Could absorbing this blood even allow one to confront a heavenly sage?'

That was something to be determined from now on.

Just how far could Myeong-Myeong’s potential go?

Could it, perhaps, even take on a semi-immortal, becoming an ultra-powerful chobiom?

"I really have no idea."

Could such a chobiom even be controlled?

Yoo Hajin pondered seriously.

Then, he muttered to himself, "I really don’t know. Will Myeong-Myeong evolve like a Pokémon? Or like a Digimon? I'm so curious…!"

And without hesitation, he tore open the packaging of the Sacred blood.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

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