Chapter 10. Black Wolf

I wondered if it could even be called a wolf.

It was such a huge wolf that I had that thought.

'It does seem to be a wolf though.'

Although it seemed even larger than a tiger, its appearance was indeed that of a wolf.

It was ink-black, with a strange pattern that looked as if it had been painted with a brush, but still.

This ink-black wolf was lying comfortably in the front yard of my house, enjoying a sunbath.

-Is this mountain possibly full of spiritual energy, or overflowing with demonic energy?

"This concubine doesn't sense anything like that. Unless it's shamanic power, there's no spiritual or demonic energy..."

I wondered if it was originally living on this mountain.

But as Hwa-ryeon said, this mountain wasn't full of spiritual or demonic energy.

Meaning there was no reason for such a unique being to appear.

As I was pondering this,

Rin, who was beside me, moved towards the wolf and said,

"Wow, is this a wolf you're raising? It's huge... Is it a spiritual beast?"

"Don't approach it, that's not something I'm raising."

"...Eh?"

I grabbed Rin's hand that was reaching towards the wolf and pulled her back.

Then I cautiously approached it.

'If it goes on a rampage, it could destroy our house.'

That couldn't happen.

This was my precious house, almost the only source of comfort since coming to this world.

So I approached it cautiously, being careful.

Just as I was about to reach the wolf's face,

It opened its eyes that had been closed.

"...!"

"Hmm... It has the same golden eyes as you, my lord."

Bright golden eyes contrasting with its ink-black fur.

The wolf looked at me with those eyes for a moment.

Then it raised its body that had been lying down.

It was even bigger than I thought.

At this size, it was definitely larger than a tiger.

And right after that, something came to my ears.

-You. I waited.

It was a girl's voice.

It felt more like a voice injected into my head rather than coming from afar.

I could guess who the owner of this voice was.

"Was that you speaking?"

-Yes. My voice.

The wolf nodded in affirmation to my question.

From what I could hear,

It seemed unable to form concrete sentences, but communication itself appeared possible.

This was a good thing, if anything.

"Why are you here?"

-You. I waited.

"For me? Why?"

-Don't know. Just waited.

It waited for me but didn't know why.

As I was confused by this contradictory statement,

Suddenly, the ink-black wolf pushed its cheek against my face.

What I felt from the wolf was the sensation of a living body.

But at the same time, I could tell that this wolf wasn't purely made of flesh and blood.

It felt more natural and less defined...

'Ah.'

As I thought that far, I could roughly guess the identity of this wolf.

I had seen it in the novel, and in the books at home for the past few days since my transmigration.

I couldn't be certain, but this was the only being that fit.

"Why is a spirit in our house?"

"Indeed, it's a species that's hard to see even if you deliberately look for them."

It had a physical body but wasn't a complete being.

Its body was formed of undefined energy, but it wasn't without a physical form.

There are quite a few such beings.

Yokai that form their bodies with demonic energy.

Shamanic spirits that form their bodies with shamanic power.

And lastly, spirits that form their bodies with spiritual energy.

If spiritual beasts are beings that gained spiritual energy and grew after having a complete physical body,

Spirits were beings whose bodies were formed of spiritual energy from birth.

The ink-black wolf in front of me was one of those spirits.

"This wolf is a spirit? Wow... I've only seen spirits a few times myself."

"It seems so."

I answered Rin's question, who had somehow come to my side, but

The biggest question still hadn't been resolved.

Why was this wolf in the front yard of my house?

And why was it waiting for me?

The answers to these questions hadn't come out yet.

-Name. What?

"My name is Kang Shin-woo."

-Kang Shin-woo. Contract with me.

Saying this, the ink-black wolf moved its body, which looked as if it had been painted with a brush, and circled around me and Rin.

"You want to make a contract with me? You mean a familiar spirit contract?"

-Yes. Familiar spirit contract. Let's do it.

The wolf nudged my back with its nose as if urging me.

It didn't seem to put much strength into it.

But maybe because of its size, I almost stumbled forward.

More importantly, a familiar spirit contract.

'It is possible.'

Spirits are originally spiritual energy but have physical bodies.

Because of that, they usually don't need familiar spirit contracts.

But that doesn't mean it's impossible to make a contract.

Spirits are beings fundamentally made of spiritual energy and souls.

In a way, they could be considered a type of ghost.

That's what it said in the books at home.

"It might be good to do it, my lord. It doesn't show any hostility and seems to be quite a strong spirit."

"It feels like things are progressing too easily."

Suddenly, one day, this rare spirit appeared in the front yard of my house.

It's friendly towards me, strong, and wants to become my familiar spirit on its own.

The situation seemed to be progressing too easily. It really was.

Because of that, I couldn't help but feel something was strange.

But

"Still, it's probably better to do it."

I decided to make the contract.

Currently, the only familiar spirit I have is Hwa-ryeon.

Although she alone is strong, she's in a state of having lost her power.

It was obvious that if I continued like this, with familiar spirits being my main power, I would reach an awkward moment of being neither here nor there.

Familiar spirit shamans basically rely on quantity.

Even for an elite few, there's a minimum number.

So I'm thinking of making a familiar spirit contract.

"What's your name?"

-Heuk-rang. My name.

"That's simple."

It was a fitting name for a wolf whose entire body was dyed ink-black.

After thinking about that name for a moment, I put my hand on Heuk-rang's head and said,

"Spirit, I declare Heuk-rang as my familiar spirit."

-I accept.

[Target, ?? wolf 'Heuk-rang' is contracted as your familiar spirit.]

[It has been subordinated to your soul.]

Along with that, a sensation similar to when I contracted with Hwa-ryeon passed through my body.

A strangely ticklish feeling.

[Your soul is strengthened.]

After that, a message appeared that hadn't shown up before.

What does it mean that my soul was strengthened?

-I. Will sleep.

But before I could think about it for long,

Heuk-rang, who spoke in a declarative manner, lay down in the yard to enjoy sunbathing just like when I first saw it.

'I guess I can call it with summoning.'

Hwa-ryeon is a special case.

Originally, the summoning skill is for summoning that moves across space.

For now, it's fine to leave it like this.

"You've finally obtained your second familiar spirit! Congratulations!"

As I was thinking this,

Hwa-ryeon shouted and hugged me.

Almost as tightly as when we first met.

Because of that, the shocking sensation felt from my arms was considerable.

"Hey, don't hug so tightly."

"Hehe, is my chest that stimulating? If you want, the inside, or a bit lower..."

"That won't happen, so get off."

Hwa-ryeon is a gumiho, and even if she's a familiar spirit, I shouldn't be enchanted.

With this thought, I've been enduring until now.

But sometimes when she clings to me directly like this, it often makes my heart skip a beat.

As I was struggling to detach the clingy Hwa-ryeon,

Rin, who had been watching me from the side, approached and said,

"Are you talking to your familiar spirit now? That gumiho?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. Want me to show you?"

It wasn't particularly because of Rin, but I was planning to summon Hwa-ryeon at home anyway.

It doesn't use much shamanic power,

And I'm planning to give her one of the many spare rooms in the house.

If she keeps clinging to me like this, I won't be able to keep my sanity.

Though I wonder if she'll actually stay away if I give her a room and summon her.

"Show me! I've always wanted to see a familiar spirit at least once."

"Hwa-ryeon, is that okay?"

"There's no need to ask for my opinion, this concubine always wants to be summoned! And I'd like to talk with this young lady too."

Having received consent from both sides,

There was no reason not to summon her.

[Familiar spirit, 'Hwa-ryeon' is summoned.]

As I materialized Hwa-ryeon, I felt a bit of shamanic power draining.

Hwa-ryeon, who had been clinging to my arm, greeted Rin.

"This is our first direct greeting. I am Hwa-ryeon, the gumiho wife of my lord."

Saying this, she swayed her nine tails and turned towards Rin.

The lush golden fox tails wrapping around Rin's body.

Facing Hwa-ryeon, who was smiling seductively, Rin opened her mouth as if flustered.

"Ah, wife? Are you... married to Shin-woo?"

"Of course. My lord and I have our souls bound and are inseparable!"

"Everything except the last part is wrong. Only our souls are bound, we can be separated, and we're not married."

At my words, Hwa-ryeon moved her nine tails that had been wrapping around Rin to me instead.

Somehow, it felt like she was clinging more now that she was summoned.

...Honestly, it felt surprisingly soft and pleasant.

"I'll show you to your room first. Hwa-ryeon, you too."

"Thank you!"

"My lord... I'd like to share a room with you...!"

"No, that's why."

The first place we headed was Rin's room.

My room was in the center of the house, next to the small pond garden.

Rin's room was a bit further to the side from there.

It was of a decent size, and although it was a bit dusty from not being cleaned,

It was basically a neat guest room with a bed and a desk.

"Wow, it's big! Is it okay to give me such a nice room?"

"It's fine. I live alone in this house anyway, so all the rooms are empty."

"Where are your parents?"

"They're not here. I've never seen them."

"Ah... that.. um.. S-Sorry!"

At my words, Rin waved her hands, making an expression I'd never seen before, seemingly very flustered.

Well, I don't have any particular feelings about parents I've never seen and don't even know if they exist.

Rather, I should be grateful to the parents who likely gave me this house.

But I said this purely because Rin's reaction was amusing.

Just with this one statement, how many reactions did I get?

"It's okay. Anyway, there's a hot spring over there for bathing. As for clothes..."

"It's fine even without them. I'm only staying for one night anyway."

"If that's the case. Then rest, I'll call you for dinner. We'll probably eat in about two hours."

Slide-

I closed the sliding door and headed to my room.

The room I've become familiar with after living here for about a week.

And Hwa-ryeon's room was next to mine.

It wasn't so much that I assigned it to her, but rather she insisted on staying there.

"If you don't give me at least this room... This concubine might really strip!"

"That threat is really vicious."

I'm serious.

"If you have anything to say, come to my room. I'm going to rest now."

Anyway, after detaching Hwa-ryeon as well, I entered my room and felt at ease.

The silence that finally arrived.

In that silence, I lay down on the bed.

'So it begins now.'

Academy admission.

The starting point of the novel, you could say.

Now we can say that the story has finally begun, crossing that point.

Am I afraid?

It would be a lie to say not at all.

Someday, a massive outer god that surpasses even the Seven Stars will descend upon this world.

One more powerful than the 1st and 2nd outer gods that previously invaded this world.

And a being that even this generation of unparalleled geniuses couldn't stop.

It would be a lie to say I'm not afraid.

But it would also be wrong to say I have no confidence.

How should I put it?

'It's baseless confidence.'

There's no basis.

But I just felt that way. A feeling that I could do something.

And to make this feeling a reality, I'll have to work hard from now on.

Let's do it.

As I was making this resolution and about to fall into a light sleep on the bed,

Slide-

The closed door opened.

"My lord, would you like to... take a bath with me?"

Hwa-ryeon, wrapped in a towel, entered and said this.

What now?