Chapter 101: Indepedence Approaches (3)

Ella's master, Agnes A Reich, arrived at the hotel in less than a few hours.

When Lee Serin said she sensed that she had arrived using her ability, Jinseong tactfully took the sisters and left the hotel.

Lee Serin and Lee Arin seemed to want to greet Ella's master, but would someone who was barely holding onto their sanity due to what happened to Ella be able to properly receive greetings now?

Jinseong persuaded the sisters, saying that they would be able to have a proper conversation only after performing the ritual and returning, so now they should let the three have a cozy time together.

So Jinseong led Lee Serin and Lee Arin towards a remote area.

They stuffed the materials into a rented truck, and items that shouldn't be damaged could be stored in boxes imbued with cooling magic. However, the goat and capybara were at risk of freezing to death if put in the back compartment due to Russia's extremely cold temperature.

Because of this, the sisters had no choice but to each hug one capybara and one goat while riding.

"Eek, eek! Stay, stay still!"

"Ugh! You poopy stiff ball of fur!"

Thanks to this, the capybara and goat escaped the danger of death due to the sisters' body heat, but Lee Serin and Lee Arin suffered instead. The goat in Lee Serin's arms kept twisting its body as if it wanted to escape and run around the vast snowy field, and the capybara in Lee Arin's arms was relatively well-behaved but kept defecating and urinating on her clothes incessantly. Moreover, when this 'poopy stiff ball of fur' started defecating, the goat also seemed to compete by defecating and urinating, so it was truly no different from hell.

Fortunately, Jinseong had prepared cleaning artifacts anticipating such incidents, so they could prevent the truck interior from being covered in filth. The cleaning artifacts not only cleanly removed the excrement and urine spilled on the floor, but also made the clothes that were first soiled by the animal waste clean and fluffy as if they had been to the dry cleaners.

There was no problem with the body that had been dirtied either, as it could be washed using cleansing artifacts made for maintaining cleanliness during travel.

But human feelings were truly strange.

No matter how clean and as good as new something was, it was instinctive to be reluctant if the words 'used' or 'refurbished' were attached.

Even if the clothes and body became clean, the fact that they received excrement and urine didn't disappear, so naturally, negative feelings accumulated.

"Brother! How much longer until we reach the destination?!"

"Qu-quick! Quickly do the sorcery!"

The sisters, who had said things like "Capybaras are unexpectedly cute... It's a bit pitiful to offer them as sacrifices" and "The goat is too cute, can't we, um, do the ritual with something else?" shortly after departure, were now naturally uttering cruel words like "Let's quickly kill these evil beasts and offer them as sacrifices."

"Agh! Why is it trying to gnaw on my hand!"

"Kyaaaa! Why are you trying to eat my clothes! No, no! You don't need to tell me about goat habits!"

The goat turned Lee Serin's skirt hem into rags by chewing on it, and the capybara gnawed on Lee Arin's fingers to grind its growing teeth. Not stopping there, when Lee Serin let her guard down, the goat escaped and tried to move behind her, defecating on her head in the process.

For the sisters, the time spent with these uncontrollable animals was truly no different from a nightmare.

But nightmares were nightmares because they didn't end at will.

The sisters had to spend a long time in cozy time with the animals while hearing indifferent responses like "It won't take long," "We're almost there," and "Enjoy the scenery outside."

So they ended up getting in the car when the sun rose and reaching their destination only after the sun had completely set.

"This... place?"

Lee Serin, who got out of the truck, exclaimed when she saw the scenery.

"Wow, the scenery is really amazing. It wouldn't be strange if ghosts appeared, right? Brother, this isn't our destination, right? Tell me it's not."

Lee Arin followed with exclamation.

But their exclamations were by no means positive.

It was the kind of exclamation that would come out when seeing something terrible and frightening, different from the usual exclamation when seeing a beautiful scenery.

What appeared in their sight was an abandoned amusement park.

First, near the entrance, unknown grasses and trees were growing abundantly. Things that looked like vines densely surrounded the lush trees, causing them to wither, and the roof created in this way wrapped the path to the amusement park in a curtain of pitch-black darkness. It seemed that even if one turned on a flashlight, the light might be swallowed by the darkness.

Moreover, the entrance could be seen in the distance, and that entrance was also ominous. The main gate, firmly closed with thick chains and locks, was filled with an eerie atmosphere. The rust on the metal looked like dried bloodstains, and the graffiti that seemed to have been drawn by someone as a prank looked as if it was shouting with all its might, "This place is dangerous."

And beyond the entrance, huge amusement rides could be seen, all of which looked so precarious that they seemed like they might lose balance and collapse at any moment.

"This is the place."

But Jinseong didn't bat an eye.

Rather, he just looked at the sisters as if asking what the problem was.

"The most important thing in performing a ritual is its magical meaning. Of course, places with history, legends, and traditions would be best. But it's a prejudice to think that only such places can use proper sorcery."

Everything changed with time.

The same went for sorcery rituals.

A very long time ago.

When humanity had just begun to create civilization, they surely performed sorcery in places that seemed mystical.

On mountaintops that created a scenery like a white sea due to mist all year round, lakes where lightning struck incessantly, caves where the walls sparkled with sunlight at certain times, lakes where people floated instead of sinking when they lay down, seas that were so clear you could see the bottom but were tens of meters deep, and so on.

Places accompanied by incomprehensible natural phenomena.

Masterpieces created by nature that naturally inspire awe.

Mysterious places that remained incomprehensible no matter how much one investigated.

Such places were the main locations for sorcery rituals.

But as time passed, humans conquered nature, and they destroyed and possessed such awe, considering it something they should rightfully conquer. And in that process, changes occurred in the places where sorcery rituals were held, namely, altars.

These altars differed in form depending on the era and region.

In some regions, they created structures reaching tens of meters in height by carving stones and piling countless stairs, while in other regions, they took the form of sky-piercing towers full of sculptures and murals related to mythology. In some regions, they piled countless skulls like towers, and in others, they created pyramid-shaped altars with mud bricks made by mixing well-kneaded clay with human skulls.

"I was a bit worried before coming, but seeing it directly, it's not bad. No, rather, it's excellent."

People revered, respected, feared, and longed for high places.

That was why people believed that there was an incomprehensibly vast being beyond the sky, and preferred methods of sending prayers and wishes towards the sky when praying for something.

They believed that when the smoke from burnt offerings rose to the sky, it reached the gods above, and when the traces disappeared after being burned, they thought the gods had taken the offering through fire. Loud sounds were a medium that stimulated people's emotions and allowed communication with gods beyond, and at the same time, they were human struggles to make distant gods hear.

And as time passed, human obsession with the sky grew.

Altars became higher to get closer to the gods.

Sounds to reach the gods were refined and given form.

Mental elevation to communicate with the gods became their sole goal.

Only when humans finally flew in the sky did this obsession with the sky somewhat subside…

But even so, the symbolism didn't disappear.

High places were close to the sky.

Being close to the sky increased the effect of burnt offerings.

And here, there was a tall artificial structure created by humans.

"That ferris wheel will be the place for your ritual."

Jinseong said this while looking at Lee Serin.

"Th-there?"

Where Jinseong's finger was pointing, there was a pile of junk that wouldn't be strange if it collapsed and rolled down at any moment. At a glance, it looked like it hadn't operated for decades, and even if it did operate, it was scrap metal that one should worry might explode if something went wrong.

"Hic."

Lee Serin's complexion turned pale.

"Don't worry. You don't have to go all the way up there."

Jinseong patted her shoulder as if to reassure her and then took the goat out of the car and placed it in her arms. The goat, back in Lee Serin's arms that had been holding it all along, bleated "Meh-eh" and tried to escape, but when Jinseong placed his hand on its head, it gently closed its eyes and entrusted its body to her.

As the goat in her arms fell asleep, Lee Serin looked at it as if in disbelief. And Lee Arin, standing next to her, also looked at Jinseong as if reproaching him.

As if asking why he didn't put them to sleep like this in the car.

"If they sleep for too long, the value of the sacrifice decreases and deteriorates. Sleep has been considered closely related to death since ancient times, so if they sleep for too long, the symbolism related to life decreases."

In ancient Greece, the god of sleep Hypnos (Ὕπνος) was considered the twin brother of the god of death Thanatos (Θανατος). People who saw others die as if falling asleep considered death as 'eternal sleep'.

And not just in ancient Greece, but in other cultures as well.

Some places considered sleep as the soul resting, and in some countries' folklore, it was described that a person's soul becomes an animal form and wanders outside before returning. And if the soul got lost or didn't return in time, it was believed to die, which also indicated the close relationship between death and sleep.

"Of course, unless you put them to sleep for an extremely long time, there wouldn't be much difference, but wouldn't it be good to receive it with the best efficiency since we're doing it anyway?"

Jinseong explained this to them and then took out a sack from the truck.

The sack was full of white salt that had been sunbathed.

As Jinseong grasped the air, the salt floated in the air as if defying gravity and began to orbit around Lee Serin and Lee Arin like Saturn's rings.

"This salt will prevent impurities."

Saying this, Jinseong led them towards the amusement park.