After attaching the last talisman to the wall behind my head, the Lord of Jemungak returned to the side of the bed and sat down in the chair, saying:

“You can be comfortable however you like. You can sit, or lie down if you want. Just don’t fall asleep.”

“Ah, I understand.”

“Good. Keep your wits about you.”

The Lord of Jemungak spoke as if giving advice, then reached out and grasped my wrist as if taking my pulse.

Then he took out a jade piece about the size of a child’s fist from his bosom. There were strange patterns engraved on the surface of the jade. It seemed to be a kind of tool like a talisman that allows temporary use of natural mana.

Holding it clasped in his other hand, he slowly closed his eyes and began to chant something softly under his breath.

It sounded like an incomprehensible spell, or like a Daoist scripture I didn’t know.

‘This must be the real thing.’

I tensed up and kept my mouth tightly shut.

The soft whispers filled the room like a mist. The atmosphere was clearly unusual. But since I couldn’t feel anything myself, I was able to pretend to be calm despite the tension.

But.

“…Ah.”

At some point, I felt an unknown force discover ‘that thing’ in my mind and start circling around it.

It didn’t touch it directly, but carefully examined it as if probing and approached to close range.

To a place where it could touch ‘that thing’ if it just reached out a hand.

When I realized this, a familiar chill came over my body. My expression stiffened without me realizing. The Great Master, who had been watching, straightened up as if about to stride over at any moment.

But the Lord of Jemungak didn’t seem to notice such signs, and continued to mutter unintelligible spells without opening his closed eyes or moving at all.

Time passed.

I couldn’t even tell if that time was long or short as I endured the chilling sensation.

At the end of the probing, which felt like both an instant and several hours, the Lord of Jemungak finally opened his eyes wide. His expression had become even more serious than before he took my pulse.

His glinting eyes looked almost eerie. He whispered a short word.

“…Devil cult.”

For a moment, silence fell over the room. The Lord of Jemungak continued, unconcerned:

“Yes, there’s an evil spell cast on you that’s only used by devil cults.”

He spoke in a tone of complete certainty, as if he had already fully confirmed it.

Sitting in front of him, I looked back at the Lord of Jemungak in confusion. His brightly shining gaze carefully scanned over various parts of my face. However, there was nothing unpleasant about his gaze.

‘Was there anything about a devil cult in the original work?’

It was the sudden appearance of a word I hadn’t even thought of.

Strictly speaking, a devil cult can be seen as something like a pseudo-religion. It’s not often talked about in daily life, but if you look for it, it clearly exists somewhere. So its existence itself wasn’t surprising.

But…

I had no idea why it was related to this body.

“An evil spell from a devil cult?”

The Great Master knocked on the doorframe a couple times and asked as he strode in. At the same time, as if the knocking had been some kind of signal, my master also opened the door and entered.

As they approached the bed, the Lord of Jemungak slightly furrowed his brow.

“Yes, we should explain this outside…”

“Just do it here. How can we discuss an important matter without the person concerned?”

“What? No, telling a child about this…”

“It would be more worrying for the child if the adults went out and whispered among themselves without any explanation. If you’ve examined her body without explanation, you should at least explain it properly. My grand-disciple asked for help because she wants to know what exactly is wrong with her.”

Judging by how they addressed each other, it seemed the Great Master was the Lord of Jemungak’s senior. The Lord of Jemungak frowned at the Great Master as if unable to refuse him, then glanced slightly at me.

It was a look as if asking if I really wanted to hear. I quickly sided with the Great Master.

“Yes, I want to hear it too, Elder. I can’t accept not knowing about a problem that’s in my own body.”

“Well then.”

Clicking his tongue softly at my urgency, the Lord of Jemungak finally nodded as if giving up.

And so, in the not very large room, the three adults squeezed in along with me.

The Lord of Jemungak closed his eyes in silence for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts. My master, the Great Master, and I focused our gazes on him, waiting for him to open his mouth.

After a brief wait, the Lord of Jemungak finally slowly began to speak.

“This is, well… to be precise, it can be seen as a curse that allows one to control another person according to the will of the sorcerer who cast the spell.”

Control?

I faltered for a moment. Because of the strange familiarity I felt from that word.

‘Control according to the sorcerer’s will.’

Wasn’t that the same kind of spell that ‘Ha Eun’ had tried to use on my master when she was 18, but failed?

‘No, it’s not just the same kind…’

It seems to be exactly the same spell?

As I opened my eyes wide, my master reached out and lightly patted my arm. The Lord of Jemungak checked my expression and asked as if confirming:

“Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“…Yes, it’s fine.”

I know he’s worried that I might be greatly shocked. But I was rather gripped by the feeling that I shouldn’t miss this now.

There is a spell cast on ‘Ha Eun’s’ body that can control others.

But ‘Ha Eun’ tried to cast that very same spell on my master when she was about 18 years old, according to the original work.

It’s unclear if ‘Ha Eun’ knew that the identity of something inside her was also that spell.

But the occasion for learning how to cast the spell was supposedly a mere coincidence.

‘…But what if it wasn’t a coincidence?’

I had grumbled that this villainous supporting character’s behavior lacked plausibility, but in fact there may have been circumstances I didn’t know about.

Circumstances of hers that even ‘Ha Eun’, the true party involved in this matter, may not have properly known.

From the particularly irrational obsession, despite how anxious the situation was, to making the nonsensical decision to cast a spell on her master, all of those things may have been…

‘Intentional actions under someone’s control.’

Thinking about it again, I must not miss this opportunity for conversation.

Seeing my adamant attitude that I must hear this, the Lord of Jemungak continued as if he had no choice.

“Where was I?”

My master quietly answered.

“You said it’s a spell that allows one to control others according to the sorcerer’s will.”

“Right, control according to their will.”

The Lord of Jemungak slowly nodded.

“This is a quite powerful spell. It should be considered a curse, in fact. That’s why only devil cults use it, but even among them, not just anyone can cast it. So… yes, a young child could very well fall victim to it without even realizing a curse was being placed on them.”

Recalling the contents of the original work, ‘Ha Eun’ never knew, until her death, who the mysterious force was that attacked her family and massacred all of her household.

The ‘ma’ of ‘devil cult’ never appeared either, in my memory.

Feeling the scattered pieces slowly coming together, I muttered:

“If I was subjected to a spell without my knowledge, since they couldn’t have infiltrated Hwasan, it must have happened before I came to Hwasan. Then probably, the most likely possibility is that those who attacked my family and brought about their destruction before I met my master…”

“Ha Eun.”

“There’s a high chance they were from a devil cult.”

As my muttering continued, the gazes of the adults, who had each been looking troubled or complicated, suddenly turned to my master.

My master hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth in a slightly subdued voice.

“…Ha Eun is correct. We can be certain of it.”

“How so?”

“I…”

He turned to look at me, checking my complexion. Seeing his hesitant attitude, I quickly grasped my master’s arm.

“It’s alright to continue speaking. I just… want to know.”

My master stared at me intently with a complicated gaze. The other two adults seemed to understand his feelings and did not rush him. I too remained silent for a long while as I received his gaze.

In the end, he let out a light sigh as if he had no choice.

“When I met Ha Eun, by the time I checked, the perpetrators had already fled. Because Ha Eun’s condition was not good, I prioritized returning to Hwasan instead of pursuing them. And last summer, I only informed the sect leader and requested an investigation from the Murim Alliance. Ha Eun’s family was also a major clan belonging to the righteous faction of the martial arts world before her initiation, so when such a place was exterminated overnight, the Murim Alliance also began investigating without delay. However…”

My master looked at me for a moment with eyes that seemed to wonder if he should cover my ears even now. He appeared to be worried about whether it was alright to convey such words so unprepared.

“The villagers where the clan’s estate was located do not remember what happened that night. Even the estate itself disappeared without a trace, they said. Only an empty lot remained, so they could only guess that it was where the estate had been…”

“My goodness.”

“Oh dear.”

The elders exclaimed in unison. My master continued in a heavy voice:

“There were voices from the Murim Alliance suspecting a devil cult, but since it had been nearly 100 years since they had openly operated, they couldn’t be certain. In the end, they said the investigation was suspended without fully clarifying the circumstances.”

My master sighed again and said to me:

“I was worried you would be shocked, so I couldn’t tell you right away even after hearing it. I’m sorry to have to tell you like this.”

“…No, master.”

I barely managed to respond.

Silence fell over the room. In it, I organized in my mind the stories that had come out so far.