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Chapter 240

"It\'s okay, so tell them not to be scared," I said as I approached Yuk Eun-Hyung.

The purple glow near the staff was still shimmering.

Yuk Eun-Hyung took a step back as he let out a cold sweat. I didn’t want to read his expression, but the emotions displayed on his face were too vivid to ignore.

Yuk Eun-Hyung was clearly afraid of me. I tightly gripped the staff.

"Quickly."

"Understood. What will the Cult Leader—"

"I will return tomorrow morning. I\'ll be resting in the tent until then," I said, then quickly entered the empty tent as if escaping.

I was out of breath. I was hungry and thirsty.

The tent was stuffy with the heat of the summer sunlight, making the air stifling. There was no food or water available. I wanted to ask for some food and water by going out, but I couldn\'t leave. I was afraid of facing their fearful expressions.

“Please stay still...”

The staff trembled. I couldn\'t tell if my hand clutching the staff was shaking or if the staff itself was shaking. Whichever it was, I told it to stop shaking.

By the time the trembling subsided, my chest felt tight, so I breathed in and out deeply. I couldn’t breathe well. Perhaps it was because my throat was dry, or because of thirst or hunger, or maybe it was just because the air was heavy. Now that I thought about it, I still had my mask on.

Snap.

I took off the mask. Blood had dried up and hardened on the inside of the mask. The dried blood stuck to my face, making it sticky.

I wiped the dried blood off my face with my bare hands. My face stung. Finally, breathing became a little easier. When I patted my hair a few times, dirt and dust fell out.

I held the staff in my arms and laid down while curled up. Exhaustion overwhelmed me.

[You look tired.]

"Long time no see, Legba," I replied with my eyes closed.

For a moment, Legba\'s figure appeared and disappeared in the darkness.

[There were other methods you could have chosen, but you happened to choose the most burdensome way by abusing a staff that you don\'t even know how to use properly.]

"Because it was flashy."

[The problem was that it was unnecessarily flashy.]

"It wasn’t entirely unnecessary. A warning has to be flashy to leave a lasting impression.”

[You should have thought about your own body as well. I thought you were trying to kill yourself.]

"No way."

I tossed and turned, tired but unable to sleep. I heard voices outside the tent. It sounded like Yuk Eun-Hyung and the members of the mercenary corps were talking.

I closed my eyes and listened to them. I didn\'t know what they were talking about, but the atmosphere seemed quite lively.

It was different from when the staff hit the ground on its own and when everyone had been afraid of me.

"...I’ve never tried to kill myself. I’ve never thought about wanting to die," I said, not wanting to hear any more of the conversation outside the tent.

[But then why do you always choose to do the things that will get you killed? I don’t understand.]

“Because I keep thinking that if I did that much, it wouldn’t be a problem even if I died.”

[Do you often have such thoughts?] Legba asked.

I couldn\'t understand why he was suddenly asking about this. He had never asked me such a question before.

"Not often, but occasionally."

[Occasionally.]

"No, not occasionally, but sometimes?"

I hesitated for a moment and then continued, "What do you think is the difference between occasionally and sometimes?"

[You must be feeling relaxed right now to be wondering about such pointless things.]

"I suppose so," I quickly agreed.

In fact, I was so tired that I blurted out whatever came to mind.

And then I fell asleep. When I opened my eyes, it was nighttime. The outside, which had been buzzing with the voices of Yuk Eun-Hyung and the members of the mercenary corps, was now quiet.

I stepped out of the tent and took in the slightly cool air of the late summer night. In the deep silence, I could faintly hear the sound of waves. The night sky was filled with stars which hung low as if they could fall at any moment.

I gazed at the night sky for a while. Then I grabbed my staff, poncho, and mask and headed toward the beach.

"Damballa," I said.

[What a shame. I wanted to rest a little longer. Do we have to go back right now?]

"Yes."

I had to go back immediately. Hearing me speak firmly, Damballa clicked her tongue as if slightly displeased.

Soon, scales appeared on the staff that I was holding, and then the staff transformed into the shape of a giant snake. Damballa bowed her head and showed me her forehead. I climbed on top of it.

She wriggled her body from side to side, navigating through the waves and crossing the sea. Since I didn\'t call for Bade, the waves were weak, and Damballa seemed tired, so her speed was much slower.

But it was okay. Now was the time to relax, considering all the urgent matters were finished.

All the urgent matters? I guess it wasn’t all the urgent matters, but still...

"Huh?"

At that moment, Damballa picked up speed. Her body shook roughly from side to side.

Thud!

A water droplet hit my poncho. I tightly held onto the scales. However, no matter how hard I held on, I couldn\'t maintain my balance.

With only my hand holding onto Damballa\'s scales, my body floated in mid-air and shook back and forth. I tried to say something to Damballa, but she was moving her body so violently that I couldn\'t say anything. If I opened my mouth, seawater would enter.

"Uh, Damballa─!"

Splash!

Just as I was about to say something, Damballa\'s body tilted. I ended up letting go of the scales, and I fell into the sea.

I was bewildered and confused. Did Damballa betray me? Why? Was it because I didn\'t listen to her? Or because I had handled her too roughly during this battle? I couldn\'t understand. I felt my body sinking endlessly. The sea at night was so dark that I couldn\'t see anything. I could only see faint, hazy particles floating around.

I held my breath and struggled. But the more I thrashed, the poncho I wore became more entangled around me. Eventually, I could no longer struggle because of the poncho.

I couldn\'t do anything except sink. As I became accustomed to sinking, I didn\'t even notice the sensation anymore. It just felt like I was just lying on a very soft bed. It was cozy and comfortable.

[Kid.]

Suddenly, I heard Damballa\'s voice, and I wasn’t sinking anymore.

At some point, Damballa had entered the sea and grabbed hold of me. Damballa’s yellow eyes glowed in the darkness as she gazed at me.

Her eyes looked like two giant moons rising in the night sky.

[Grab on to me. And breathe.]

I grabbed onto Damballa\'s scales, and I climbed back onto her body.

I took a breath. Even though I was underwater, I could still breathe. However, I was not used to breathing underwater, so it felt a bit suffocating.

At first, I couldn’t see anything in the sea because it had been pitch black, but it gradually became brighter. Countless creatures hiding in the darkness of the sea revealed themselves. I could see a school of fast-swimming fish. I could also see sand marks and colorful corals shimmering along the waves.

Damballa took me deeper into the sea. Large and small fish gathered to form numerous clusters. The sight of a giant whale slowly swimming through the water appeared. The whale was so huge that it was awe-inspiring. All the creatures in the sea seemed to be moving somewhere. I couldn\'t tell where they were heading. At first glance, it seemed like they were circling the same place.

[You have nothing to fear,] Damballa said. [Isn\'t everyone here on your side?]

Numerous schools of fish revolved around a giant whale. All those creatures, whether they were cute, scary, or even strangely shaped, drifted with the currents.

All of them began to follow me. They wrapped around me and Damballa, swimming alongside us as if they were our escorts. Among the many creatures following us, a mysterious being appeared. It was a mermaid. Her lower half resembled a fish, while her upper half resembled a human. The mermaid\'s long locks of hair swayed in the sea. The scales covering her lower half shimmered like jewels—beautiful and enchanting.

She was the Loa of the Sea, La Sirene.

La Sirene said something to me underwater, but I couldn\'t hear her. I couldn’t tell what she was trying to say to me, but when she finished speaking, she looked at me and smiled softly. I had never seen such a beautiful smile before, and it seemed like I wouldn\'t be able to see something like that again in the future.

I rode on Damballa, swimming through the sea with countless fish, whales, and La Sirene. I took a deep breath and exhaled. It was such a refreshing and invigorating breath.

When I regained my senses, I found myself on the beach. Damballa was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the staff was lying on the beach as if it had been washed ashore by the waves. As the sun pushed away the darkness, it revealed its presence above the horizon. I could hear the sound of the waves crashing. It felt as if everything I had experienced earlier was a dream.

But it wasn\'t a dream. I could tell because my body was soaked and heavy with seawater.

I dragged myself along the beach and picked up the staff that had been cast ashore. For a moment, I stood on the beach and listened to the sound of the waves.

"Sun-Woo─!"

At that moment, someone called out to me. I turned my head. In the distance, my uncle was driving toward me, waving his hand.

* * *

"Did everything work out well?" my uncle asked as he drove.

I didn\'t nod or shake my head.

"I didn’t exactly work out well. It just turned out alright..."

"If you came back in one piece, then it turned out well.”

"That\'s one way to think about it. By the way, how is Ji-Ah?"

"She was a bit shaken for half a day, but after sleeping and waking up, she\'s fine, thankfully."

“That’s a relief."

I nodded and lowered the car window. I had discarded the poncho and changed my clothes before getting in the car, but my hair was still wet from the seawater. I planned on drying my hair with the wind.

After completely drying my hair, I smoothed it out with my hands. The ends of my hair were stiff, perhaps because of the salt.

"Uncle, do I ever scare you?" I asked as I closed the window.

"What nonsense is this?"

"Because of my spells or powers or anything like that."

My uncle tilted his head. "Ah, that’s what you were talking about? Well, not really?"

He smirked at me and said, "Right now, you should be scared of me. If I just turn the steering wheel, you\'ll die instantly."

"But then won’t you also die too, Uncle?”

"No, I\'m wearing a seat belt."

"I see."

Click. I finally fastened my seat belt.

When I returned to the underground chapel, the first person I saw was Soo-Yeong.

"Soo-Yeong, you..."

"Huh, what is it?"

"...Never mind."

I stopped myself from asking Soo-Yeong the same question I had asked my uncle. There would be no point in asking.

"Why did you stop midway through your sentence? What is it?" Soo-Yeong snapped in an irritated tone.

I kept my mouth shut and went into my room. Soo-Yeong tried to come into the room, so I locked the door. I could hear the sound of her trying to twist the door handle forcefully and then the sound of her voice.

Yeah, there was no way she was afraid of me.

There was no need to think about this anymore.