Chapter 138: Building a Nest (16)

Making the land barren?

That wasn’t a problem if used in places where it didn't matter if they became barren.

Moreover, even the organic nutrients could be replenished by using fertilizers to raise the land's fertility. In the past, they might have only had guano as an option, but in modern times, chemical fertilizers would do.

In other words, with proper management, a very efficient hiding place could be created.

However, the issue was that this wasn't something Jinseong had obtained directly from ruins, but something Rise had acquired and sent photos of to him.

What I can know, others surely can too.

Jinseong sent a message to Rise.

『 Where did you get the scroll from among the photos you sent? 』

『 I brought it from a storehouse belonging to the family of one of the politicians. 』

Receiving that reply, Jinseong nodded.

This is something that shouldn't be used carelessly.

There was a very high probability that the politician, or the politician's family, was using this 'Yamanbo's Tree Shade' sorcery.

In other words, it would be difficult to manage the risks.

As it was a sorcery that might require unknown prices if misused, it would be right to use it in the future.

Thinking this, Jinseong checked another photo.

The next one was recorded on bamboo.

The bamboo was inscribed with crooked characters in a handwriting that would be hard to compliment even as a white lie, looking as if it had been carved by forcibly gripping something sharp in the palm rather than using fingers.

Survival on the battlefield is directly related to reaching a state. It is said that martial arts should primarily focus on cultivating the mind, but in these chaotic times, surviving is equivalent to reaching the Way. Disciple, I write my life and enlightenment on this bamboo...

Jinseong smirked after reading this far.

What was recorded on the bamboo wasn't sorcery, but martial arts.

Jinseong looked at other photos just in case, but no matter how he looked, only martial arts were written. Not just martial arts, but methods for surviving in war, ways to subtly sacrifice others in chaotic battles, and how to avoid being hunted by farmers when becoming a defeated warrior after the war.

This might be useful if given to Arin later.

Thinking this, Jinseong looked at the next photo.

The last remaining photo.

A book made of woven Korean paper.

Jinseong looked at it with a glimmer of expectation, and as soon as he saw the photo, he couldn't help but be very surprised.

It wasn't the content that surprised him.

It was because the illustrations inserted between the contents of the book were related to what had made him shudder since he first entered Japan.

The illustrations were typical Japanese-style drawings. Some depicted people, some yokai-like beings, and some animals. But upon careful observation, unlike the text that seemed to be written on flat surfaces, the drawings had a strange three-dimensionality and seemed to be brimming with life as if they might move at any moment.

Moreover, only the photos of the drawings were unnecessarily clear, as if the drawings were shouting at him to focus on them.

The content is clearly patched together from various sources, but... Ha. This is strange indeed! Strange.

This was because white paper had been pasted over the Korean paper, and then the drawings were made on top. Moreover, it was clear that not just ink or paint had been used, but some 'very special ingredients' had been added.

Jinseong immediately sent a message to Rise.

『 The book made of woven Korean paper. Who did you get it from? 』

As if she had been waiting, a reply came back.

『 It's from the politician Uchikawa Ryosuke. 』

『 Send a photo too. 』

As it was a name he didn't remember, Jinseong asked Rise for a photo. But when he received the photo Rise sent, he slapped his knee with an "Ah!" as he recalled someone from his memory.

"It's that guy."

The politician who had performed the necromancy to summon water ghosts on his behalf when he was collectively bewitching politicians in Japan recently.

Thanks to following the secret method he had been told, he wasn't bewitched by the water ghosts, and as he had wished, he even became special by gaining spirit eyes.

But he had a very strong desire for power to step on others and rise above them, and he had an incredibly vile personality that acted only for his own benefit regardless of benefactors or anything else. Moreover, his physiognomy was the very image of 'spitting out the strong and swallowing the weak', so Jinseong had thought he would need to deal with him soon...

Is he moving already?

He had thought there was still some use for him.

Jinseong muttered this inwardly as he carefully examined the photo.

Then he copied the Chinese characters from the message Rise had sent and searched them on the internet, and several articles came up.

The articles had recent photos of Ryosuke, and Jinseong carefully examined each of these photos.

In some photos, his face was oily.

In some photos, an inexplicable killing intent was flowing.

In some photos, he was gripping his tie as if trying to escape a leash.

In some photos, there was nothing special about his appearance, but the stars floating above him were speaking to Jinseong instead.

The stars in the photo spoke.

The stars scattered like shattered glass powder, the shape of the stars, the glow of the stars preserved in the photo whispered to him.

Those who don't know their place should rightfully be sacrificed.

Jinseong quietly looked at the stars in the photo and then raised his head.

The mountain, which had become dark without him noticing.

The branches were swaying in the cold wind as if ghosts were waving their hands, and they were dropping leaves and sending them flying towards him as if trying to stretch out their hands and strangle him. On the ground, the cold intensified as if the dead were crawling up from the depths of the underworld, and each tree, if you looked carefully, was strangely bending in the darkness and transforming into something resembling human shapes.

And in the center of it all, Jinseong saw stars faintly shining in the less polluted sky.

Stars shining faintly near the brightly shining artificial satellites, so faint that they could only be seen with eyes enhanced by sorcery.

Jinseong became one with nature, draping the eerie atmosphere of the mountain over himself and accepting the cold that tried to terrify him deep into his body. He stood motionless, becoming a tree, and like a tree raising its head to receive the essence of the stars, he stood straight and continued to look at the stars.

And after some time had passed like this–

White light began to enter where Jinseong was standing.

At first glance, it looked as if the moon had emerged from the clouds and was giving him light, but there were clearly faint stars in the path where that light was shining.

Jinseong, not missing the moment, held out his palm to expose it to the starlight, and saw shadows forming as dark parts appeared here and there due to the swaying branches and clouds covering the sky. The shadows repeatedly covered and disappeared from his palm, changing their shape and gradually forming more detailed forms.

And after forming shapes several times, as if they had said all they needed to say, the light withdrew and disappeared, and only then did Jinseong lower his palm and pick up his smartphone again.

Let's see. The moon and stars spoke of a knife stabbing from behind, a pack of wolves, an attack with fire, and a half-moon.

The knife stabbing from behind meant that Ryosuke had other intentions.

The pack of wolves meant that not only Ryosuke's power was wielding the knife, but he had drawn in others.

Fire and moon spoke of opposing yin and yang.

This clearly referred to an Onmyoji.

But the half-moon also meant that it was still far from being realized.

Jinseong looked at the drawing once more on his smartphone.

It's Shikigami.

Jinseong sent a message to Rise.

『 It seems Uchikawa Ryosuke is trying to stab me with a dagger. It looks like we need to bring about his downfall, so tell the politicians to keep him in check. However, this should appear as jealousy and disapproval towards him, not as if we've noticed his betrayal. 』

After he sent that message, a reply came back after a short while.

『 How dare he forget the grace of the Divine Lord and bare his teeth! 』

Rise's reply seemed to have anger in every single character.

『 And this Ryosuke is the type to grovel before the strong, yet he did this. This is clearly because he thinks we're at a disadvantage, so investigate well who has approached Ryosuke's circle and what's happening with the politicians. 』

After sending that message, Jinseong put away his smartphone.

Then he moved, using teleportation repeatedly.

His destination was the mansion.