Chapter 101

It was when the Gumiho went to catch the cipher.

Having been told that following would be a nuisance, Carami came to the Celestial Pavilion to deliver news to Yu Hwa. The sky had collapsed, and Yu Hwa was working in an ordinary office.

Upon hearing that the Gumiho had gone to catch the cipher, Yu Hwa nodded knowingly, but her expression was far from pleasant.

Even if they had absorbed the power of the celestial beast, it would be tough for the current Gumiho to defeat a cipher.

“I do have a way,” Carami presented enticing words like a conman promising to make someone a millionaire if they invested solely in him.

Yu Hwa, who had been through many encounters with con men and had developed a high immunity, couldn’t help but be impressed by Carami’s story.

However, there were several obstacles in the way.

Yu Hwa roughly knew the location of the Umwolsa, but how could they get there, where yokai were crawling all over?

Having lost her powers, Yu Hwa could only handle simple sorcery. She had become too weak to confront strong yokai.

“Why worry? I have one more strong slave,” Carami said.

“Ah.”

Yu Hwa automatically understood, as one person immediately came to mind.

***

Recently, something strange had been happening in the Vestia royal palace.

The thug princess Hilde never left her room.

Rather than maintaining her dignity as a princess, she had often gone out into the market and bullied innocent people.

But from a certain day onward, she had not even glanced outside the palace.

Some were pleased, thinking Hilde had finally come to her senses, but the truth was different.

“You bastard! I’ll tear you to shreds!”

It had started after she became a slave, taking walks like a pet. The leash was gone, but the shackles filled with her soul remained.

She attempted to visit the court mage to ask for a release, but Hilde couldn’t do it in the end. The moment a servant saw her and spread rumors about “the princess being bound,” it would have been the end for her. She was trapped in a situation with no escape.

Because of that, she couldn’t go outside. She had no idea what humiliation she would endure if she ran into Carami.

That was why Hilde didn’t even step outside.

The only silver lining was that she was still a princess. As long as she remained in the palace, Carami couldn’t come in.

Although she didn’t think it would change anything by enduring, it was still much better than crawling on the floor like a dog.

Tap.

Hilde flinched at the very small sound, her shoulders tensing. A pure white fox had climbed up to the window sill.

It laid a scroll that it had in its mouth before flying away through the window.

It was the fox Yu Hwa raised. It was her messenger when delivering news. Hilde had received its messages a few times before.

Yu Hwa.

The vile, ungrateful fox that dared to deceive the princess.

Like Carami, it was something she couldn’t let go of without biting back her irritation.

What kind of sly tongue would it wag this time?

Hilde unfolded the scroll and read it.

The content was not long.

It ended with a brief sentence.

-“Bring the leash and come to the Celestial Pavilion. If you don’t come, I’ll announce to the world that you’re a slave.”

In an instant, Hilde’s eyes widened, and she crumpled the paper. Her complexion turned pale as if she had seen a death list with her name on it.

Stunned, she remained idle for a moment, wondering if she had misread it, only to check again, but the content remained unchanged.

Plop.

Hilde buried her face in the bed.

She pounded the bed with her fists, silently screaming in frustration.

***

In the end, Hilde packed her leash and went to the Celestial Pavilion.

Carami and Yu Hwa were waiting. When Hilde’s gaze met Yu Hwa’s, she growled fiercely, and Yu Hwa averted her eyes slightly.

Carami laughed heartily as she stepped between them.

“Wow, thankfully you came quickly. It would have been quite a problem if you hadn’t.”

The problematic statement was directed at herself, but to Hilde, it felt quite the opposite.

‘Wow, you came quite fast, huh? If you hadn’t, I would have been paraded around as a slave. Lucky you.’

It was as if those words were meant for her.

“W-what did you call me for? D-don’t tell me it’s another walk…?”

“How could you put a leash on a princess and take her for a walk in broad daylight? That’s absurd.”

What about at night? The absurdity was yours to deal with, not mine!

Hilde nearly lost her temper but managed to suppress her feelings.

“I have somewhere to go. I would like to request your escort.”

You say the yokai are strong?

Then, let’s take a strong slave with us.

With someone of Hilde’s caliber, she could make it to the Umwolsa without trouble.

Besides, when would she get to experience being escorted as a princess?

She needed to seize the opportunity.

As Hilde swallowed her curses and prepared to leave, Yu Hwa approached Carami.

“Ciphers are very cautious but also quite curious. They are like scholars, unable to resist when curiosity arises. Here, take this. If used in the right place and time, it can be of great help.”

What Yu Hwa handed over was a brown fabric pouch. Inside were blue, red, and white beads slightly smaller than a fist.

“Oh.”

Carami recognized the items well.

They were Yu Hwa’s sorcery pouch, inspired by the three-colored gourd used to chase away foxes from the Korean folktale “The Fox Sister.”

Although it looked amusing for a fox to hand it over, any help was welcome at the moment.

After securing the sorcery pouch, Carami absorbed the usage of the beads from Yu Hwa and dashed toward the Umwolsa.

“Shit, shit, shit!”

“Wow, you’re really fast.”

Hilde was on Carami’s back.

***

“I’ve come for divination~”

This was the story before Carami arrived at the Umwolsa.

To Hekbi, who had no way of knowing the detailed circumstances, she appeared to be an unwelcome guest.

What is that madman?

Having always been calm, Hekbi had to think that this person was insane.

‘Who is this?’

Sometimes, Hekbi would disguise herself and wander the human world. While she met several people, none could compare to this person. She didn’t recognize him at all.

Though she wanted to ignore him, he might be the Gumiho’s reinforcements. If he broke the barrier, it would become very troublesome.

As long as the barrier worked well, the Gumiho couldn’t get out.

Hekbi maintained the barrier and stepped outside. It was a soft descent reminiscent of a celestial maiden.

However, her fox ears and tail had vanished due to her disguise.

“Oh?”

As Hekbi appeared from thin air, Carami’s eyes widened in surprise.

Hekbi, who delicately landed in front of Carami, shot him a displeased look for interrupting her work.

Her silver eyes didn’t possess the ability to pierce into the essence of others like a clairvoyant, but someone of her caliber could roughly guess just from appearance.

‘Ordinary….’

There really wasn’t anything more ordinary than this person. How on earth had someone like this come here?

Could he possibly possess extraordinary abilities hidden beneath his mundane appearance? Hekbi spoke warily.

“Who are you?”

“I’ve come for divination. A friend informed me that there is a well-known fortune-telling place here.”

“It seems there has been a misunderstanding. As you can see, there is nothing here.”

“Rather than there being nothing, it seems like everything has disappeared.”

The ground was littered with traces of a fierce battle.

What once was a shrine had only scraps left that hadn’t burned away completely.

The lingering flames hadn’t yet died down and transmitted the heat of the recent battle.

So what of it?

If there was a battle, what could you do about it?

Hekbi felt a growing annoyance creeping from deep within her. She considered simply killing him to just get rid of him, but she wasn’t fond of killing.

Having captured the Gumiho already made her feel rather good, so she decided to show mercy for once.

“You need not concern yourself with this. I don’t know who told you about this place, but it is not somewhere you should come. Please leave as soon as possible.”

Her calm tone concealed a subtle threat.

As she said, it implied that he should leave quickly, leading Carami to reluctantly express his defeat.

“Hmm, seems I have no choice.”

He looked as if he would return, but suddenly, he rummaged through his clothes directly in front of Hekbi. He pulled out a brown pouch and retrieved a white bead from within.

“Here.”

He lightly tossed it toward Hekbi.

Boom!

The bead exploded, sending smoke billowing out.

“Cough, cough!”

Hekbi coughed violently after inhaling the smoke from the surprise attack.

She concealed her breathing with her sleeve and felt her body twitching. At that moment, her hidden tail and ears popped out.

‘My sorcery?!’

The disguise had been undone.

By an ordinary bead thrown by a human.

Moreover, it wasn’t an ordinary bead; it was a bead containing sorcery, lethal to foxes.

“Celestial beast…?”

The aura felt from that sorcery was none other than that of the celestial beast.

“Oh, he’s a friend who introduced me to this place. Seems you know him?”

“…….”

A friend of the celestial beast?

He had informed him of her location?

Who exactly was he?

What ulterior motive could the celestial beast, who had cooperated with the Gumiho, have…?

What was this man thinking…?

“You said you came for divination?”

“Yes.”

“…I understand. Though not as proficient as the Celestial Beast, I can do a bit of fortune-telling as well.”

As Hekbi, with her silver eyes, surveyed the surroundings, the ruined shrine and ground swiftly regained their original form.

“Please, enter.”

Hekbi moved silently, deciding it would be fine to observe what kind of person he was.

Her curiosity had outweighed her caution.

Meanwhile, trailing closely behind her was Carami.

‘Wow! A cipher! Hekbi! The fox shaman!’

The yokai trio set was right before them!