Invitation to the Chatroom of the Gods - Chapter 11



Only Krnovel

Episode 11 – Missing (1)

“Byeoksami hasn’t come home yet?”

My eyes widened without me realizing it.

“Since when have you not seen Byuksami?”

“That is… since I came here, to the missionary office.”

It was only yesterday that Byuksam came to the missionary office.

That too, early in the morning.

Now, a day has passed since then, past the hour of the pig.

Then, he didn’t come home for almost two days.

It was definitely something strange.

But that could also be the case.

“Maybe you forgot to come in while playing at the festival at the night market?”

That would be the case, since yesterday was the day the night market was open.

I might have forgotten to come home after enjoying the festival at the night market late into the night.

“I thought so at first too.”

So, even Byuksam’s mother thought it was like that until yesterday.

He was worried about Byuksami not coming home late at night, but he said he would come back after playing at the night market festival.

“But why hasn’t it come in by this time···.”

But not today.

The night market is not open today.

Not only was the festival over, but there was no reason why Byuksami would not come in even after the hour of the pig had passed.

“First of all, no one saw Byuksami at the night market yesterday.”

···This was definitely strange.

It was so strange that it seemed clear that something had happened.

“Have you ever been to Horonggwan?”

The reason why Byuksam-i left the missionary office was to attend Horong-gwan.

After telling me that he would quit the missionary office, it was very likely that he headed to Horonggwan.

To my question, Byuksam’s mother shook her head.

“I was just about to go.”

It seems that he stopped by the missionary office before going to Horonggwan.

Horonggwan was located in none other than the village next door.

It seemed like they came here to check out the missionary office before going to Horonggwan.

I opened my mouth as if a sudden memory had occurred to me.

“By the way, is this what you meant when you said that?”

“What did Byeoksami say to you, teacher?”

“That guy Byuksam once confided in me that he hated his mother.”

It wasn’t a lie.

Because I had heard some grumbling from Byuksam before he left the missionary post.

It looked like he had a fight with his mother.

It’s not been that long either.

Since it happened three days ago, it was likely still ongoing.

“···ah.”

A small exclamation escaped from Byuksam’s mother’s mouth.

As expected, it seemed like the fight was still ongoing.

Of course, I didn’t know the details.

Literally, I just overheard Byuksami grumbling to himself.

“Was that so? Did Byuksami really do that?”

“Yes. I even ran away from home and did something like that.”

This was a lie.

“At the time, I thought it was a childish remark and tried to appease him, but I never thought it would turn out like this…”

“That means…”

“It looks like that guy Byuksam ran away from home.”

At my words, the darkness covering Mother Byuksam’s face lifted a little.

“I forced Byuksam to continue going to the missionary center···.”

It seems that this is what happened.

I thought we were arguing over something trivial, but I didn’t know it would turn into something like this.

Byuksam’s mother looked restless, not knowing what to do.

I spoke to that wall-crawler’s mother as if to reassure her.

“I’m fine. And don’t worry too much. Isn’t that how it is for everyone at that age?”

“That, that’s right. I hope nothing happened to Byuksami.”

Byuksam’s mother asked as if she was begging.

What on earth did I say? You had an earnest look on your face.

“Of course. I’ll come back tomorrow, quietly. I said I was hungry.”

“Where are you and what are you doing without even eating···.”

“It’s getting late today, so let’s go now. It might be a good idea to make some food that Byuksami likes.”

“Thank you, teacher. I really… really feel relieved. I apologize for calling you at this late hour.”

Byuksam’s mother bowed her head to me with sincerity.

And then he left the place.

I quietly watched the back of Byuksam’s mother as she left.

And still, her back was full of worry.

I stayed there until Byuksam’s mother got some distance away.

“···Isn’t Byuksami the type of person to do that?”

No matter how much I thought about it, it was strange.

The Byuksami I know wasn’t the type of person to run away from home.

I have never seen a child with as kind a personality as Byuksam.

Even when the other kids silently quit being missionaries, didn’t Byuksam come to me and say thank you for everything?

He was also a very filial child who took great care of his mother.

Of course, even so, I could argue with my mother.

I, too, have had many fights with my father.

Most of it was because of my tantrums and whining, but anyway, fights between parents and children are common.

Judging from Byuksam’s mother’s reaction just now, it seems like they actually had a fight.

“Is that enough to make you run away from home?”

However, it was not common for someone to fight to the point of deciding to run away from home.

This is especially true for Byuksam, who is extremely devoted to his mother.

“hmm···.”

It looks like something happened to Byuksami.

“You said that no one saw Byuksami at the night market.”

They say that no one in our village has been seen since the missionary went there.

Then that means something happened in a village other than ours.

And there is only one place where Byuksami can go.

“I think something happened when I went to Horonggwan.”

There was only Horonggwan in the neighboring village.

But it was difficult to go to Horonggwan right now.

It takes a long time to go back and forth to the next village, and it’s also too late now.

Besides, I had to take classes early in the morning tomorrow.

I need to go to sleep quickly now.

Above all, Byuksam is no longer a student of the missionary officer.

It has nothing to do with me.

No matter how I think about it, it’s just pointless rambling.

There is no other place like this one.

“···Let’s just check.”

Still, I went out as a missionary.

* * *

The village next door where Horonggwan was located was about half an hour’s walk away.

However, it was dark and I couldn’t see the road ahead very well.

Because my pace was somewhat slow, I was able to arrive at Horonggwan after half an hour and another hour had passed.

At the main gate of Horonggwan, two men who appeared to be gatekeepers were standing guard.

As I approached, one of the gatekeepers blocked my way.

“Who are you?”

“It is called the missionary’s blue cloud.”

“A missionary? Or are you talking about the missionary in the next village?”

“Yes.”

As expected, it seemed that Horonggwan was also aware of the existence of the missionary officer.

“But, what brings you from Seonmu-gwan to Horong-gwan at this late hour?”

“Nothing else, but has anyone by the name of Byuksam visited Horonggwan yesterday or today?”

The man who asked me the question tilted his head.

“Biksami? Well, is this the first time you’ve heard of Ioman? I don’t know.”

The man who answered asked a question that appeared to be his colleague.

“What do you know?”

“Well…? I don’t remember that kid either. I’ve been guarding the door all day yesterday and today, but I haven’t seen that kid named Byuksam?”

The person who appeared to be a colleague also tilted his head.

After that, the two of them kept tilting their heads as if they were trying to remember Byuksami.

I was really trying hard to remember Byuksami.

“I’m sorry, but nothing comes to mind.”

They both spoke to me with really apologetic faces.

Seeing that they were both sincere, it seemed certain that Byuksam had not come to Horonggwan.

It seemed like something had happened on the way to Horonggwan.

···It was such a brilliant performance that I was fooled into thinking it was nothing more than a passing joke.

I just took the lottery ticket with a face full of regret.

“Thank you for your kindness. And I’m truly sorry for being late.”

And then he left without hesitation.

That’s the place I left.

The two men guarding the door to Horonggwan began to look around.

He must have looked around twice and thought there was no one there.

They started muttering something to each other.

I was very alert every now and then to avoid anyone eavesdropping.

Luckily, I was far away so they couldn’t see me.

On the contrary, I couldn’t hear what those two were saying either.

But I could roughly understand what they were talking about.

Wallflower.

Of course, those two said they didn’t know the boy named Byuksam.

But I didn’t call Byuksami a ‘child’.

At first, I asked if a person named Byuksam had come to Horonggwan.

I asked this.

I didn’t ask if the ‘child’ named Byeok-sam had ever visited Horong-gwan.

However, those two answered that they were ‘children’ who were hearing about Byuksami for the first time.

He answered, “A child,” which he had no recollection of.

Is it because Horonggwan only accepts children?

Absolutely not.

The lord of Horonggwan is a distant collateral descendant of the Namgung family.

It is by no means a missionary center run only by children, like the one I run.

Daeaeaeng-!

At that moment, the sound of the gong announcing midnight was heard.

Taking that as a signal, the two hurriedly entered the Horonggwan.

I hid myself in the darkness and climbed over the wall of Horonggwan.

* * *

At dawn of midnight, when even the moonlight was obscured by clouds.

Since vision is vision, infiltration was not as difficult as expected.

‘Fortunately, it seems there are no unmanned vehicles.’

There were no people visible inside Horonggwan.

This time too, it seemed like everyone was asleep as the time was passing.

The situation is that there are only two men guarding the front gate.

The two men were hiding inside the main building in the center of Horonggwan.

‘Should I follow you?’

I hesitated for a moment, but then shook my head.

If you had learned some stealth, you wouldn’t know.

It was difficult to sneak into the main building without being caught.

So I sat down at a suitable distance outside the main building.

Then, all of a sudden, a voice with a tinge of anger was heard from inside the main building.

“What? What the hell! Didn’t you say that it wouldn’t be a problem if she disappeared!”

It was a different voice from the two men before.

There was quite a bit of bickering, but the voices weren’t that loud.

“that is···.”

“I clearly said I didn’t have a father···.”

“Then you’re saying you have a mother!”

The voice was lower than before.

I held my breath as much as possible and focused on the conversation.

“Did the person who just came say that he was the missionary’s messenger?”

“Yes.”

“···If he were to report me to the authorities, it would be quite a headache.”

“Then how about we get rid of that bastard before reporting him to the authorities?”

“Yes. From what I’ve heard, that guy Cheongun is a piece of trash who can’t even become a third-rate unmanned islander.”

“It hasn’t been long since he left. We’ll chase him down and kill him right now.”

“No. Even if that guy is like that, what are we going to do with the mother of that child named Byuksam?”

“Why don’t we kill that mother too?”

···The conversation going back and forth was no different from the most evil and evil of black magic.

I wondered if this was really a military office run by a collateral branch of the Namgung family.

“It’s too late for that.”

“yes?”

“I see that there’s a rumor going around in the neighboring village that a boy named Byuksam has disappeared. Even if we get rid of Cheongun and his mother, someone will still report it.”

“then···.”

“It would be the same if a report was filed with the government office. If we get rid of that guy Cheongun and the child’s mother, it would only make things worse.”

“Then what should I do? Isn’t the exorcism not yet complete?”

······what?

For a moment I couldn’t help but doubt my ears.

It was because of the word ‘Yeonmae (厭魅)’.

If the salt they were talking about is the salt that is right…

This meant a method of making poison using the ghost of the fetus.

Here, the ghost of a dead child is called the prince’s ghost.

It was not a real ghost, but a general term for the corpse of a dead child.

The process of exhumation was truly horrific, as it required the body of a child.

First of all, you need a child who is under eight years old.

They bring such a child in, lock him in a small, dark place, and starve him until he faints.

When the child became so skinny that he almost died.

They lure the child by placing food inside a bamboo tube that is barely large enough for the child to fit into.

A hungry child crawls into a bamboo tube on his own to get food.

However, the bamboo tube is too small to fit in properly.

Still, the child struggles and pushes himself into the barrel.

I was blinded by the food inside the can.

The child struggles and tries to crawl through the bamboo tube.

The child, who was struggling like that, was stabbed to death with a sharp knife.

Afterwards, close the lid and seal it to prevent the spirit from escaping.

Then, the corpse of the child who died of starvation is created as the Crown Prince.

As time passes in that state, the soul of the crown prince will not be able to leave the bamboo tube and will rot and fall into it.

The most vicious and terrible loneliness (蠱毒).

Among them, the worst one called ‘Ingo’ is created.

It is literally the worst and most heinous sin.

Naturally, it is the most taboo of taboos and cannot be avoided with execution.

This is a matter of such importance that it will even move the royal family, let alone the Murim Alliance.

But now that I look back, it seems like they were trying to kidnap Byuksam and turn him into a salt merchant.

No, if you listen carefully, it’s not just Bidan Byuksami.

“It’s too bad to give up now, isn’t it a waste to waste the other salts?”

It seems that these guys were only capturing children without any connections among the children who came to Horonggwan and turning them into salt fish.