Chapter 35
***
Mak Gilja's childhood was not a happy one.
Her father died before she was even born.
Her mother, whom the village pointed at as the woman who had killed her husband.
If a childhood so poor that even one meal a day was hard could be called happy, then who on earth could be happy?
What was more, the woman called her mother wasn't even particularly kind to her daughter.
To her, her daughter was nothing more than a tool to help with the housework.
So.
So she ran away.
Because for three years, she hadn't been able to attend the primary school the other village children went to.
The day she said she was envious of that and wanted to go to school, she was beaten senseless by her mother, and after that she ran away.
There weren't many places she could go.
What choice did a child of barely ten have?
Much less in hard times like those.
An era when there were plenty of people who would snatch up children roaming the roadside and use them for begging.
The one who grabbed her arm then was a middle-aged woman.
A woman who introduced herself as Haewol Mudang.
She was a shaman.
A fairly well-known shaman on Gyeryongsan.
Thinking that at least she wouldn't go hungry under her, she followed Haewol Mudang.
And that was the start of her training as a spirit daughter.
It was painful and grueling.
But there was no malice in it.
Haewol Mudang was her spirit mother, and she gave the girl the love of a mother she had never received.
She was happy.
Because of that, she always tried to live by her spirit mother's words.
Live honestly.
A shaman is someone who speaks with the gods and helps people.
Be honest.
Her spirit mother kept saying those words to her until the day she died.
And then, the girl grew up.
The girl who received the divine name Muwol took those words to heart, and like Haewol Mudang, she lived as a shaman with honesty and helping people as her creed.
Many people came looking for her.
Whether it was a coincidence or perhaps her true power, she didn't know.
As she solved a few people's troubles, her name rose higher and higher.
Then, one day.
A man came to see her.
A man who said he was the president of a construction company proposed that she give a false reading to the wife of a construction-company owner who often visited Haewol Mudang.
That her husband was having an affair.
That he had an illegitimate child.
Stories like that.
The price was an absurdly large sum of money.
She wanted to turn him away.
But the amount of money was too much.
Living honestly and helping people.
That was a good thing.
But it wasn't good for her.
Her reputation had grown, yet she was still so poor she had no choice but to survive on two meals of ramen a day.
If she took this money, she'd be able to escape that poverty.
Unlike other shamans, she'd be able to ride around in even a small car and help more people.
Just once.
If she manipulated a reading just once.
In the end, she nodded.
For the children under her who had to fill their stomachs with ramen.
For the children at the orphanage she helped.
And so she told the lie.
But to her surprise.
The president's wife really did have a husband who was cheating, and he really did have an illegitimate child.
That was the beginning.
From then on, she became known among the high and mighty as a gifted shaman who could expose a husband's infidelity.
From then on, the people who came looking for her changed.
From poor, desperate people.
To rich, comfortable ones.
The fees she received began to grow to outrageous levels as well.
She was happy.
That she didn't need to be honest.
That she didn't need to live virtuously.
Something black deep inside her stirred.
Just a little more.
Just a little more, and then make a huge haul.
Then.
Then she wouldn't have to keep living this miserable life.
It was the moment venom took root in Haewol Mudang's eyes.
***
"Wh-what! What are you talking about!!"
"Are you going to deny that you gave the president of Jinam Construction a false reading saying his son was sleeping with his sibling?"
"......"
Facing the old woman's trembling eyes, I lifted my phone.
"Or are you going to deny telling the wife of the president of Taeyang Trading that her husband was cheating?"
"...Nonsense..."
"Was it honest to sell a talisman you casually scribbled on a piece of paper to the wife of Sejong City councilman Oh Giltae for fifty million won, claiming it could keep her daughter safe from misfortune and foul influences?"
Everything.
Everything she had done after awakening to the darkness.
It was all denial and lies.
She knew that too.
A reading is ultimately a matter of interpretation.
How you interpret it is subjective to the person doing the reading.
Someone who uses a silver tongue to beguile desperate people and make a profit is calling me a liar.
Honestly, that doesn't feel good.
"Shut up! Shut up! What do you know, how dare you!!"
"Mak Gilja."
".....!!!"
Mak Gilja.
The name she had discarded after becoming Haewol Mudang's spirit daughter.
The moment she heard a name that no one else could possibly know, Muwol Bosal's legs gave out and she slumped to the ground.
"I know everything you've done so far. Then shall I tell you your future now?"
I took a step forward.
Muwol Bosal moved her legs while still seated.
As if trying to get away from me.
As if feeling immense fear.
But how far can someone who has already gone weak in the legs and sat down possibly run, even if they struggle?
Just as you can't stop an unavoidable future.
She only trembled and looked up at me.
"I'm not going to say things like you'll fall into hell or anything like that."
"...Th-then..."
"You'll be charged with fraud."
"A... ah?"
"And the dirty money you've accumulated will be confiscated. Of course, I'm not talking about the tens of millions of won sitting in your bank account."
I pointed at Gyeryongsan.
"The gold bars and jewels carefully stored in a jar buried beneath the Yakgi pine on Gyeryongsan. Those will be seized too."
"Ah. No...!!"
Muwol Bosal, after awakening to darkness...
Saying it like that does make me sound a bit like a chuunibyou.
The wealth she'd accumulated since she began giving free rein to her desires.
For her, these were everything.
All of it would be confiscated and turned over to the state treasury.
"How did I gather that!! How did I gather all that!!"
"That's not my problem."
I smiled and looked her straight in the eye.
"You don't have any evidence..."
"Haha. Did you think I wouldn't know that you made deals with them and signed contracts? And I also know that the contract is right there under the eaves."
Her expression twisted completely.
"W-what are you doing! Arrest those bastards right now!!"
The faces of the women called spirit daughters turned vicious.
Cheolhon pulled out a gas pistol and a collapsible baton.
But there was no need to go that far.
I took out the phone in my pocket.
"You can come in now."
"-...."
There was no particular response from the other end of the phone.
A little later.
As the front gate of the hanok was flung open, a group of people came in.
"Ms. O Ji-young. You are under arrest for fraud."
A fiery female prosecutor had come in person.
Mak Gilja looked at me with a bewildered expression.
O Ji-young.
The name registered on her resident registration card.
A new name registered at the request of someone high-ranking after Haewol Mudang picked her up.
That was why her eyes were trembling.
"You... who are you..."
"Just a plain orphan."
"It's a ghost!! It's a ghost! You're the real evil and the false prophet!!"
With handcuffs on her wrists, she was dragged away by the police.
In the meantime, a police officer who checked under the eaves I had mentioned brought out a small safe.
Inside that safe were bundles of contracts.
The prosecutor who had arrested Haewol Mudang and was checking them one by one approached me.
"Are you Mr. Kang Noa?"
"Yes."
"I'm Prosecutor Oh Haewon of the South Chungcheong District Prosecutors' Office. I've heard a lot about you from Senior Yang."
The female prosecutor, Oh Haewon, greeted me politely.
She let out a sigh and looked around.
"By the way, I didn't know divination could really be that accurate."
Just in case, before heading down to Daejeon, I had asked Gumnamcheol and Yang Wonju if they knew about Muwol Bosal.
They said they did.
They said a junior colleague of Yang Wonju's in the Daejeon area was investigating her.
So I talked with her and planned the operation together.
If she really was a fraud, we'd expose her and arrest her immediately.
And if she turned out to be fake, we'd arrest her.
"You said you also know where O Ji-young hid her assets? If possible, could you lead us there?"
"Let's go."
I took the people with me and headed to where Muwol Bosal had hidden her assets.
Near Gyeryongsan.
When we arrived at the place where she had loudly claimed there was a sacred tree and kept her spirit daughters from approaching recklessly, I told the others.
"Dig here."
"Yes..."
Oh Haewon's subordinates began digging the ground.
And how much time had passed?
"We found it!!"
A small jar came into view.
When we opened the lid, gold bars and jewels were inside.
"Hah... this much..."
She let out a heavy sigh, frowning.
"This is why fake shamans are so scary."
"I suppose."
"Mr. Kang... are you really the real deal?"
"You're curious. And you're also a little suspicious of me."
Oh Haewon shuddered slightly.
Of course.
For a prosecutor, being suspicious of people wasn't anything special.
I had no intention of saying anything about that.
"Would you like to flip it over?"
"Yes..."
The hesitant woman turned the card over.
I could say it now.
"Prosecutor Oh Haewon. In four days, you're planning to go to the Yeonggil gang's illegal gambling den, aren't you?"
"...H-how did you know?"
"Wear a stab vest when you go."
The future I saw for her.
A future where a knife is driven into her side.
"Especially watch your right side."
"......."
Staring at me in disbelief, she eventually gave a slight nod.
"Then since we've taken care of everything we needed to do here... Cheolhon. Let's go."
"Yes!"
"How about tofu jorim for dinner tonight?"
"Isn't that just braised tofu?"
"...Then let's just make do with jajangmyeon. I heard there's a really good Chinese restaurant in Daejeon."
And tomorrow morning, let's stop by Simseongdang to get cake before heading back.
It had been a rather enjoyable business trip.
"W-wait a moment!!!"
"Yes?"
Just as we were about to leave Muwol Bosal's house, Oh Haewon grabbed us.
Why? It seemed like everything we needed to do here was already done.
"Um... if ever a problem comes up that no matter what I can't solve, could I contact you?"
Smiling at the flustered woman, I said,
"If you ask Prosecutor Yang, you'll be able to get in touch with me. But is there some kind of problem?"
After hesitating, she gave a small nod.
To such a woman, I held out a deck of cards.
Oh Haewon silently turned over a card, and seeing it, I said,
"The Obeopa boss, Gil Yuyeong, is currently at a small farm in Honggok-dong, Daejeon."
"...Yes?"
"She's hiding there, so hurry over and catch her. Ah, and..."
Smiling at Oh Haewon, who was staring blankly at me.
"You'll get a flat tire, so have it checked at a repair shop."
Now that everything that needed doing was done, let's really go.