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The one called Seitani grinned as if delighted.

It was hard to see that smile, perhaps because she let her long hair fall down, but surely the corners of her mouth were curling up.

“I’ve come.”

“Your face looks different.”

“I liked the old days more.”

Pouring out words like a torrent from the mouths of many people, Seitani fell from the ceiling. Then she approached Jinseong, allowing her hair to flow and crouching nearby.

Swish.

When Seitani moved, a bizarre sound echoed.

It was a sound that could be made when wiping the floor with a drooping cloth.

Continuing to handle her growing long hair with ease, Seitani drew closer to Jinseong and tilted her head in confusion.

“It doesn’t smell.”

Seitani inspected Jinseong, seeming to find it strange that there was no human scent.

How long did she stare like this?

Realizing something about Jinseong’s original spirit, Seitani’s expression suddenly twisted, and she crept away from him, sliding over to Rise. Then, hanging from Rise’s shoulder, she poured out her words.

“Strange.”

“There’s no human smell.”

“I don’t really like insects.”

“All I think about is eating my body.”

“Your face isn’t that great.”

“I used to like the old days more.”

It seemed she wasn’t pleased with Jinseong’s original spirit and expressed various complaints to Rise.

Rise stared at Seitani and gathered divine power in her hand.

Then she flicked that divine power with her index fingernail…

Pang!

She playfully tapped Seitani’s forehead just as one would hit in a game as a penalty.

But the sound was anything but ordinary.

The divine power accumulated in her fingernail unleashed a massive and heavy sound, like a martial artist striking a punching bag with full force, causing a shockwave that made Rise’s hair sway. And with the shockwave hitting her directly, Seitani’s neck snapped as she flew straight into the wall.

Rise smiled as she watched Seitani tumble to the ground and said, “You shouldn’t insult the deity.”

Her words were reminiscent of gently reminding a child of their mistakes.

However, unlike a phrase you might hear any day, a chilling and sinister atmosphere hung around Rise’s face.

“Eep, I messed up.”

Seeing the eerie aura radiating from Rise, Seitani startled and pleaded for forgiveness.

Then she tiptoed closer, wary until that eerie vibe faded from Rise’s visage, and only when Rise waved her hand gently to indicate it was okay did she approach her.

But was she perhaps wary of Rise’s slap?

Despite being near Rise, Seitani reacted sensitively to her hands, clearly staying just out of reach of a slap.

Jinseong, seeing the interaction between Rise and Seitani, nodded with a satisfied smile.

“Indeed. The blades born from ignorance are the most heartless. It’s truly gratifying to make them realize and reflect.”

He praised Rise for enlightening Seitani about her mistakes.

Rise’s cheeks grew slightly pink in embarrassment as she covered her mouth with her hand.

“Well done, very impressive.”

Jinseong complimented Rise before rolling his eyeballs toward the spot where Seitani was.

Since Seitani had drawn closer to Rise rather than Jinseong, it seemed she found Jinseong a bit uncomfortable compared to Rise, who had slapped her.

‘Being a ghost made from a child, I guess she’s just true to her instincts.’

Generally, the younger a person is, the more in tune they are with their instincts.

Ghosts are no different.

The younger they are, the faster their ego gets depleted, becoming enslaved to their instincts. Even if their ego doesn’t dwindle, they tend to be led by their instincts compared to older ghosts who are provided with have abundant reason and intellect.

Of course, many attempted to take advantage of this susceptibility to instincts.

Though the names could vary depending on the region or the shaman, the terminology commonly used by shamans was the most well-known.

Names like “Child Ghost,” “Child God,” “Prince Ghost,” “Taiju,” and “Seitani.”

The characteristics of this young ghost include the ability to wield stronger spiritual power than similar ghosts, and perhaps due to their developed instincts, they can provide essential help to shamans, who rely on intuition or instinct to see fortunes, along with the added simplicity of their desires, making them manageable.

However, being true to one’s instincts also means there are many variables.

Sometimes, they may develop an obsession, demanding something continually that cannot be provided, or they may become so enslaved by their instincts that their egos easily deteriorate; they could even end up harming the shamans trying to control them.

Another problem is merely their youth.

There’s a reason why the terminology used by shamans became so popularly recognized.

Necromancers or possession sorcerers didn’t particularly like young ghosts.

It wasn’t due to a humane reason of not wanting to control a child ghost that died young.

The fact is, there isn’t much to gain from dealing with them.

Young ghosts?

They possess relatively strong powers, but that’s about it.

Stronger than other ghosts?

What does that even matter?

For a necromancer, it’s much easier to simply capture an evil spirit or ghost and seal it within a divine object for use.

Calling them grand titles like Prince Ghost or Child God means nothing; they are still merely ghosts.

When one reaches the level of a master shaman, they can control greater evil spirits and various evil ghosts, so why would they bother with a mere child ghost?

The same applies even at lower mastery levels.

There was no need to choose a young ghost.

What good is being stronger compared to others?

It’s hard to control.

Unlike in the past, when law and public safety were vague, nowadays if an incident occurs, capable persons, police, or soldiers would quickly swarm and drag you to prison.

In this modern age, who would want to deal with uncontrollable ghosts that could cause any sort of incident?

There’s no reason to take on such a crazy risk.

Thus, necromancers didn’t like young ghosts very much.

And the same goes for possession sorcerers.

Possession sorcerers accepted the ghosts into their bodies to perform magic.

While necromancers summon evil spirits or ghosts to store them in divine objects for use, possession sorcerers offer their own bodies as homes for the ghosts, allowing direct use of their powers without any intermediary.

Being able to utilize their might right away makes for quite exhilarating power.

They could store a spirit in their arm to perform swordsmanship or seal a clever ghost in their ear for advice whenever needed, or even combine numerous heads obtained from the many souls to change their face multiple times in one second, disguising their identity.

But to wield such incredible abilities required one essential condition.

Total control.

Without control, a possession sorcerer could end up dead, or worse than dead.

They might experience horrors that seem trivial compared to others who succumb to evil spirits.

The evil spirits sealed in their limbs could break free from the seals and tear apart the possession sorcerer’s limbs while alive, and evil spirits could induce terrifying illusions at any moment, driving them insane, or weaken their bodies and cause them to die in horrific pain.

They could move their sealed bodies at will, causing harm to others, or even to themselves.

Just picture it.

Your left hand and right hand moving on their own, choking you to death.

Isn’t that horrifying and terrible?

Thus, possession sorcerers would go to great lengths to control the entities dwelling within their bodies.

If they failed to control it, they would witness terrible horrors.

And when they witness such horrors, they would fail to attain their goals.

The exploration of life and death, studies about the nature of death, reflections on the existence of humans, and unraveling the secrets of souls, as well as insights gained from wandering between the living and the dead—all would turn to mere vapor.

Consequently, possession sorcerers did not favor young ghosts.

It was simply too challenging to control them.

At least initially, it might be easier to manage, but they would inevitably cause trouble in the end.

Instinctual desires initially arise simple.

You want to eat a lot of delicious food.

You wish to sleep comfortably and long.

You yearn for fun and excitement.

But as time passes, these desires evolve with learning and experiences.

You want to eat your favorite food in your preferred manner.

You wish to stay comfortably at your favorite place for prolonged periods.

You want the fun and excitement you desire.

The ego interjects, experiences accumulate, and subjectivity develops.

As those desires transform into complex shapes, they become increasingly difficult to control.

The situation is no different for Prince Ghosts.

Thanks to external help, the erosion of their ego may slow down or stop entirely, resulting in accumulated experiences and desires. Those desires become so intricate that they mystify those managing Prince Ghosts, making them challenging to fulfill, leading to the propensity to harm or play tricks on those they deem ‘dislikable’ who do not cater to their whims.

And this moment precisely marks when shamans abandon Prince Ghosts in search of other ghosts.

The shamans were well aware of these traits of young ghosts.

With experiences and records affirming such observations, how could they be ignorant?

Therefore, instead of coaxing and handling young child ghosts only to discard them, they sought to avoid any connections from the very beginning.

But, as is often the case, there are exceptions.

Despite the risks, there were those who wielded young ghosts.

“The ego. Let’s go.”

The reasons were many, but if one were to categorize them broadly…

It was probably due to their specific usefulness.

* * *

There was a sinister villa.

There were sinister people there.

They were people.

 

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