Chapter 39: The Scholar and the Shaman
The elf shaman who had been standing beside River drew out a broad moon blade from thin air.
Before long, the blade—engraved with numerous miracle inscriptions—was aimed at Diesel’s nape.
“Stop. Ms. Chae Seol-ah.”
“…….”
At those words, the shaman’s hand faltered.
But River’s words were not directed solely at the shaman Chae Seol-ah.
“I ask you. Elder.”
An automatic revolver targeting the underside of Chae Seol-ah’s chin glinted in the darkness.
“It’s all right. You may trust this person.”
Was she saying that to me, or to that elf?
As Diesel turned that thought over in his mind, the Fixer River smiled at him.
“So please, lower your weapon.”
Chae Seol-ah’s cold gaze dropped.
She looked like a woman who had worn only a single expression her entire life.
Soon, the moon blade she had been holding emitted a bright light and vanished.
“Seeing you again, Mage.”
“Was your name Chae Seol-ah?”
“…….”
The shaman whose name had been called did not answer, only staring intently at Diesel.
“Do you two know each other already?”
The shaman who had pierced the Gale Consortium’s multi-legged combat machine, AT-71, with a single arrow.
Diesel recalled the miracle she had used back then, called ‘Red Arrow Gate.’
‘She wasn’t an ordinary expert.’
As if she had read the strange tension flowing between the two, River spoke.
“It seems that way.”
“River, why are you here?”
Diesel asked the main question first.
The keyword ‘Seed’ he had heard from the witch.
To think that the end of the thread he had barely found deep within the Electrosphere would be the Fixer River.
“I was surprised as well. I was simply trying to find out who it was that was digging into dangerous truths, but I never expected to meet you here, Elder.”
Looking at Diesel, River spoke the keyword he had been seeking.
“Seed.”
“…….”
“That must be why you came all the way here.”
At Diesel’s nonchalant expression, River asked politely.
“May I ask where you heard that information?”
“By chance.”
“Hmm…….”
“What? By chance?”
Chae Seol-ah spoke as if it were absurd.
“There’s no place where you can obtain that by chance.”
Eyes filled with suspicion swept over Diesel along with her words.
“So Seed is that big of a deal?”
“It is. Just knowing what it is is enough to make you a criminal.”
“Is that so?”
At River’s answer, Diesel looked back and forth between the two women.
“Then does that mean you’re both criminals?”
“…….”
“Well, you could see it that way.”
River took a pipe from her waist and flicked it alight.
“You. What kind of person are you supposed to be?”
“Phew……. Ms. Seol-ah. Please don’t be so rude.”
River’s tobacco smoke blanketed Chae Seol-ah’s sharp words.
Diesel asked through the haze.
“What you’re doing here—does it have anything to do with that incident from a while ago?”
“What incident are you referring to?”
“I heard there was a minor dispute among Fixers recently.”
Chae Seol-ah made a face that clearly showed she didn’t like the adjective ‘minor’ Diesel had used.
But before she could say anything, River stepped in.
“You’ve been a Ghostcatcher for less than three months, yet you already know even that much. As expected, you’re impressive.”
It was information he had picked up from idle chatter with Sis, but there was no need to reveal the source.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Of course. I have high expectations of you, Elder.”
Beyond the tobacco smoke, River’s smile flickered past.
“Not long ago, five heavily armed mercenaries attacked me. They were a very well-organized team that included a mage and a hacker. After investigating afterward, it turned out they were Ghostcatchers belonging to a clan called the Dragon Star Group.”
“The reason for the attack?”
“I don’t know. They committed suicide before I could even ask.”
“What’s certain is that they received a commission from another Fixer in Joseon.”
Chae Seol-ah clicked her tongue and continued.
“Someone broke the unspoken rules.”
The unspoken rule among Fixers—that they do not attack each other.
Diesel had heard of it in passing as well.
“But this is all just speculation. No definitive evidence has come out yet.”
“Then how is that shaman so sure?”
“Because…….”
“River.”
Suddenly, Chae Seol-ah cut her off.
“This place is too dangerous.”
At her words, River nodded in agreement.
“You’re right.”
Then she exhaled a long stream of smoke from her pipe, and the entire alley was shrouded in a pale fog.
Watching the smoke, Diesel spoke.
“You’re still uneasy even after spewing out smoke that blocks outside interference like this?”
River tapped the ash from her pipe.
“So you know what this is now. That’s right. What I’m about to say is extremely important. Even though this smoke has a very strong isolation effect, it isn’t perfect. As you saw last time, when someone managed to breach it.”
“…….”
“Then I’ll ask just one question, straight to the point. I believe you’d prefer it that way as well, Elder.”
Looking straight at Diesel, she said,
“Would you like to take on a job?”
At that, Chae Seol-ah’s pointed ears twitched.
“What? Don’t tell me you’re asking this man to—”
She was about to continue, but at River’s firm expression, she shut her mouth.
“Work, huh.”
Fixer River.
Among the Fixers who ruled the back alleys of Seoul, she was a recognized heavyweight.
Perhaps receiving a job from her could have been a huge opportunity for Diesel.
“What kind of job is it?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t tell you here.”
Diesel met River’s eyes.
That gentle yet resolute gaze.
It was the exact same look as the Older Brother he had loathed to the point of nausea in the past.
The look that appeared when someone believed they were doing the right thing.
That was precisely why Diesel was more wary of River than anyone else.
Because a warped sense of justice could sometimes be more harmful than petty injustice.
“I refuse.”
At Diesel’s answer, the two women showed similar reactions.
“Hmm…….”
“You…….”
But at the words Diesel added immediately after, their expressions diverged.
“The keyword ‘Seed.’”
“…….”
“If you attach the condition that you’ll tell me information about that, I’ll accept.”
At Diesel’s words, Fixer River showed a faint smile.
The elf shaman glared at Diesel as if she wanted to devour him.
Soon, River nodded and spoke.
“Very well. I’ll tell you.”
“…….”
“Of course, the job fee is separate.”
“Naturally. Then, shall we change locations?”
River glanced lightly at Chae Seol-ah beside her as she spoke.
“Ms. Seol-ah, I’ll ask you for a favor.”
“……Do we really have to go this far for this man?”
“Yes.”
At River’s short and firm reply, Chae Seol-ah openly showed her distrustful expression.
Then she reached into her clothes and took out a palm-sized ‘Great Deity Knife.’
When she thrust it deep into the ground, miracle letters began to seep out from the blade.
‘That is…….’
Shamanistic characters, as if possessed, bloomed forth.
They were adorned with highly dramatic expressions—pleas for entry into another world.
“Don’t get distracted. Follow closely.”
Soon, a faintly spreading vibration trembled through the air, and a gate leading to another realm tore open with a riiiip.
Holding the knife she had pulled from the ground, Chae Seol-ah stepped inside.
“Do you happen to like flowers?”
“…….”
“I hope you do.”
As River followed the shaman into the gate, Diesel also moved his feet.
The first thing that came into view was a brilliant flower field that covered his entire vision.
A flower field stretching endlessly, like a watercolor painting.
‘So this is the realm of Shamanism.’
To go from back alleys rotting with stench and exhaust fumes to a field where vivid flowers bloomed in full glory.
The gap between the two places was as vast as the difference between a beggar’s toilet and a rich man’s toilet.
‘To move between realms this easily…….’
Crossing directly into another realm was never an easy matter.
To set foot there, one first had to receive permission from the being that ruled that realm.
Yet to even bring along uninvited guests like this was something no one could do lightly.
“This is the edge of the Seocheon Flower Garden.”
With an expressionless face, Chae Seol-ah looked at the flowers scattering in the wind.
“It’s better not to touch the flowers here.”
Each flower bore a unique and powerful miracle.
After carefully reading them one by one, Diesel realized that the elf shaman’s words were no exaggeration.
‘Each one is a thoroughly managed flower.’
If one were to touch such flowers carelessly, they could earn the displeasure of the master of this space—the being called a ‘god.’
“This way, Elder.”
River’s voice came from a neat pavilion built atop a hill.
Following Chae Seol-ah up to the structure, Diesel found River waiting for them with a tea table prepared.
“I’ll pour you a cup.”
River waited until Diesel sat down and then poured the tea with a soft trickle.
Watching her handle the tea with the practiced ease of someone steeped in tea etiquette (Tea Ceremony), Diesel was reminded anew that she was a Confucian scholar.
‘A scholar entering the realm of Shamanism. The old Confucian scholars would faint if they saw this.’
Thinking about it, the relationship between River and Chae Seol-ah was truly peculiar.
A Confucian scholar, who in the past had oppressed shamanistic faith more harshly than anyone under the label of superstition, now being protected by a shaman.
Just that alone made it clear what religion meant in this world.
‘Religion is merely a means to use miracles.’
The religious figures of the present were very different from the fervent believers of the past who devoted their bodies and souls.
It was closer to holding a job.
A job where one provided labor in exchange for the power called miracles.
‘Well, it’s not like there aren’t people here who are completely bound together by faith.’
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
Far beyond the flower field, a vermilion sunset was sinking.
River looked at the scenery, then lightly sipped the tea imbued with the sunset’s glow.
“Sometimes, when I gaze upon such ecstasy of another realm, I feel an impulse to live here forever. What about you, Elder?”
“Why. Regret that Confucianism doesn’t have a heaven like this?”
At his words, River smiled.
“Having an afterlife you can go to isn’t necessarily a blessing. Perhaps observing it as an outsider like this might be happier.”
Even now, when religion had become a material reality, the world after death was still largely unknown.
Only outward rules were known, such as ‘those who believe in Yahweh’s doctrine go to the Heavenly Realm, and those who follow Buddha’s discipline sever the cycle of reincarnation and go to the Fire Faction.’
But even those were nothing more than vague beliefs, not something fully understood.
“Let’s finish the story we were talking about earlier.”
“Very well.”
River set down her teacup.
“You asked how we could be so certain.”
The Fixers’ unspoken rules that had been strictly upheld until now.
River was convinced someone had broken them, despite there being no definitive evidence.
“Because the ones who attacked me were trying to steal this from me.”
River took something out from her clothes.
“…….”
It pulsed like a living heart.
A shattered golem core.
“You know what this is, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
It wasn’t just any concrete golem core.
The moment Diesel saw the powerful magic contained within it, he knew who had created the golem.
“This is the core of a golem created by Archmage Lee Hayun.”
It was the core of a golem made by my Younger Sister.