Chapter 8: Kawada Arena (4).

In a corner of the cafe window, where soft jazz was playing, Seohee was excitedly cutting a cake.

Chayeon was sipping an Americano.

“Umm~! It’s so sweet.”

Seohee was munching on the cake with a happy expression. Chayeon was watching her silently from across the table.

“How’s the investigation going?”

Chayeon asked after seeing Seohee put down her fork.

“Are you talking about other cases where someone became a woman after receiving a spirit?”

“Yes.”

Gulp, gulp-

“I’ve been investigating this and that since you enrolled. Whether there are any other cases I don’t know about in the academy. Or if there was such a person in the past.”

“Was there? Such a person?”

Chayeon asked with a very curious expression.

“It’s not certain, but there’s a rumor.”

“A rumor?”

“Yeah. There’s a story that one of the current Seven Divine Pillars was a man in the past. The source of the information is uncertain, though.”

“The Seven Divine Pillars?”

It was a familiar echo, but it wasn’t clear.

Chayeon tilted her head.

“Oh, you don’t know about the Seven Divine Pillars? Haven’t you learned it yet?”

“I might have learned it, but I don’t know. I don’t listen to classes well.”

“Then you can’t do that. You have to listen hard.”

Seohee playfully pretended to flick her forehead.

“The Seven Divine Pillars is a term that refers to the seven greatest spirits and divine beasts. They are above all spirits and divine beasts, so to speak, the kings of spirits and divine beasts.”

“There’s something like that.”

Listening to it, it seemed like it was a story that had come out in class.

“Yeah, the Seven Divine Pillars are now dwelling in different vessels, people, and there’s a story that one of them was originally a man but became a woman after receiving the spirit.”

“Who is it? Like me?”

“A white fox, the Baekgumiho.”

At the word ‘Baekgumiho’, Chayeon’s eyes widened.

“Bae…Baekgumiho!?”

“Yeah, the vessel’s name isn’t known. The affiliation is Jindal, but nothing is known. She disappears somewhere without saying a word every time and suddenly reappears, so she’s also called a wandering fox. All that’s known is that the spirit she has is the Baekgumiho, one of the Seven Divine Pillars.”

While listening to Seohee’s explanation, Chayeon called Heukgu inwardly.

‘Hey. Are you listening. Answer me.’

<<What’s going on?>>

‘Seohee Noona is talking about the Baekgumiho, who is one of the Seven Divine Pillars or something. Isn’t it the Baekgumiho that I have to find and kill?’

That’s right. That’s the Baekgumiho. She’s probably still looking for this body to kill me.

Chayeon’s thought, which had been about to curse, stopped.

What did you say just now?

To kill me?

‘Wait. I know that I have to kill the Baekgumiho to get out of this f*cking woman’s life. What does it mean that the Baekgumiho is trying to kill you?’

That’s exactly what it means. The Baekgumiho is traveling all over the country to find me and kill me. The previous vessel was also killed by the Baekgumiho. The reason I told you to hide my identity is to prevent it from leaking to the Baekgumiho. Didn’t I tell you?

It was the first time she had heard that.

So what she had thought was a prey to be hunted unilaterally was actually a beast that was after each other.

No, according to Seohee Noona, that side was a great existence called the Seven Divine Pillars or something.

This side was closer to being prey.

‘You son of a b*tch.’

Why are you angry. I don’t understand. Nothing has changed.

‘What do you mean nothing has changed, you b*stard, so you ran away from that Baekgumiho or whatever and came to me, and you’re telling me to kill that Baekgumiho so that you can live.’

I can’t deny that.

‘You son of a b*tch.’

Then was the fact that she told her to catch the Baekgumiho just for her own safety? Could it be that the statement that she could return if she caught the Baekgumiho was just a lie?

Feeling uneasy about the absurd possibility, Heukgu read her mind and replied.

There is not a single lie in the statement that you can return to being a man if you catch the Baekgumiho. After absorbing that guy’s power, I can exist in this world on my own without a vessel.

She was relieved for a moment, but then her anger soared again.

This f*cking fox doesn’t tell me anything properly.

Meanwhile, seeing Chayeon suddenly angry and seething, Seohee asked worriedly.

What’s wrong? Are you okay?

At those words, Chayeon tried to calm herself and said, catching her breath.

“Yes, I was just having a conversation with the spirit for a while.”

“What kind of conversation did you have to turn so red and blue?”

Seohee looked at her in disbelief, but Chayeon ambiguously avoided her eyes.

“You said it was a fox spirit, right?”

“Yes.”

Chayeon nodded at Seohee’s words.

She had only told her that it was a fox spirit when she asked about the spirit once again before.

She had done that because Heukgu stubbornly insisted on not revealing his identity, but she now knew why.

“I’ve investigated that part too, but it’s still strange. You can’t communicate with the spirit except for a few exceptions. The only time you can convey your will is during the first meeting to lend your power. Besides, even then, you can only convey the content, usage, and restrictions of the power.”

Because excessive interference from the spirit is not allowed, Seohee, who had finished speaking, took a breath and drank some water, and then continued speaking.

“So I don’t understand why Chayeon is talking to the spirit. Whether it’s really a spirit, or something else is pretending to be a spirit.”

Chayeon agreed 200% with Seohee, who trailed off worriedly.

There’s no way this b*stard is a sacred spirit.

I am the most noble being among the spirits, the spirit of spirits.

‘Shut up.’

She thought they were getting a little close, but that thought disappeared.

She could feel Heukgu shrinking, having read her mind, but whether she was sulking or not.

“In my opinion, I think it’s best to ask another of the Seven Divine Pillars, especially the fox spirit.”

“If it’s a fox spirit, is it the Baekgumiho?”

She wanted to avoid it somehow now that she knew she was also being targeted, let alone before.

She would have to meet her someday, but that would be after she was fully prepared.

“No.”

Contrary to those worries, Seohee shook her head.

“The Baekgumiho is so elusive that it’s difficult to meet. But Jindal doesn’t only have the Baekgumiho as the fox-type Seven Divine Pillars.”

There was another fox among the Seven Divine Pillars?

Seohee continued, thinking about that, to Chayeon, who was listening.

“The Heukgumiho, who is said to be the strongest of the Seven Divine Pillars, is here in Jindal.”

At those words, Chayeon only blinked.

The strongest, is said, what?

…Heukgumiho?

What is this all about.

What is this all about.

In a corner of the cafe window, a little away from the seats where Chayeon and Seohee were talking, Arena, wearing a mask and sunglasses, was doubting her ears.

She couldn’t hear what they were talking about in detail because of the distance, but she definitely heard the word “became a woman.”

Arena recalled the dialogue she had eavesdropped on at the clothing store earlier.

‘Teacher, please don’t forget that I’m a man.’

She definitely thought she had misheard.

That’s because there was no way that a child as cute and pretty as Chayeon was a man. It didn’t make sense.

But once again, she heard a meaningful remark.

‘Became a woman.’ That word meant that,

‘Jeon Chayeon, is a man!?’

The Jeon Chayeon she thought was a woman was a man who wanted to become a woman.

So, her current appearance was cross-dressing.

Arena, who had learned the shocking fact, trembled.

‘A man, that appearance, a man! No, haven’t I learned too big of a secret?’

She had intended to dig up his weaknesses, but she became uncomfortable because she had learned a secret related to his personal privacy to this extent.

……No, let’s come to your senses, Kawada Arena. Don’t forget the humiliation of that day. The opponent is that Jeon Chayeon.

Use everything you can use.

She had the biggest weakness of Jeon Chayeon.

That face, that figure, that voice, and she’s a man!

The body is! Well, I can understand it, though.

Come to think of it, Chayeon came wearing a girl’s school uniform on the first day.

She had deliberately dressed up as a woman.

This was a considerable harvest.

Let’s threaten Chayeon with this. So that she can pay the price for her deception.

I’ll make her apologize in front of everyone.

‘After I get rid of that resentment, I’ll, I’ll get a little closer, and we’ll do swordsmanship training together, and we’ll help each other…, of, of course, I’ll catch up soon, so I’ll be giving help unilaterally, but still. Heh!’

While Arena was spreading her imagination, the two of them got up from their seats, having finished their conversation.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t you want me to walk you home?”

“You’ll be late if you walk with me.”

“I’m sorry. I forgot that the report was due by midnight today, geez.”

“Go in quickly.”

“Okay, go in carefully!”

Seohee’s body disappeared after saying goodbye.

It was teleportation, one of her supernatural powers that Arena knew well.

Arena, who was only a witch in appearance, was only interested in swordsmanship, so she didn’t pay much attention to it, but Teacher Seohee, who had all kinds of magical abilities, was a famous object of admiration in the academy.

However, she also had a subtle distance from people and a subtly authoritarian side, so it was hard to just get close to her.

‘What’s the relationship between Chayeon and Teacher Seohee?’

That question came to her mind, but she soon forgot about it.

Because that’s not what’s important now.

She followed Chayeon, who was leaving the store, with a certain distance.

She vaguely heard Chayeon muttering to herself while walking ahead.

She didn’t know what she was saying, but it looked like she was talking to someone.

‘Talking to herself?’

She was saying something to herself and suddenly getting angry, and sometimes muttering in a weak voice.

She looked indifferent and chic in the classroom, but looking at her like this, she seemed to be a little out of her mind.

‘She has this side to her too.’

The image of Chayeon, who had turned red and lowered her head when Seohee grabbed her hand in front of the cafe, passed through her mind.

‘Surprisingly cute…what am I talking about. Come to your senses, Kawada Arena!’

While Arena was conflicted with her inner self, she saw Chayeon, who had arrived in front of the women’s dormitory, entering the building.

She quickly followed her.

Chayeon, who Arena had been watching until now, never used the elevator.

Even though her room was on the 6th floor. It was an incomprehensible action for Arena, but it was good now.

Arena quickly followed Chayeon, who was climbing the stairwell.

Arena called out to Chayeon, who was climbing the emergency stairs between the 3rd and 4th floors, from behind.

“Jeon Chayeon!”

“…? Ru Geum…, Arena?”

Chayeon, who was about to call her by that name without realizing it, quickly changed her words.

After being harassed for a month, he had finally noticed that those three letters were Arena’s taboo.

Arena climbed the stairs toward Chayeon, who was widening her eyes.

“You’re not going to spar at this time.

“You!”

Arena stood in front of Chayeon and pointed her finger at Chayeon’s face.

In a word, she was pointing.

“You’re a man!”

Chayeon widened her eyes with a shocked expression.

Seeing that face, Arena was convinced that her thoughts were correct.

“What, how did you know.”

Arena, who was surprised by her unexpectedly easy admission, gave a dignified expression and said.

“Huh! What do you take me for? I knew you were a man at first sight! Don’t underestimate a woman’s sense.”

After bluffing as much as she could, she proudly continued her words.

“If you don’t want your secret to be revealed to others, you’ll have to listen to me from now on!”

“It’s not a secret.”

“Wh, what!?”

Arena, who was rather surprised by Chayeon’s nonchalant answer, jumped up and down.

“D, do you think that kind of bluff will work?”

“Bluff or whatever, not really….”

“If it’s not a secret, why are you cross-dressing!?”