There’s a Monster Inside Me Chapter 6

There’s a Monster Inside Me
Chapter 6

The tiny snake paid no attention to the commotion outside and showed no intention of opening its eyes.

I snatched the basket with the snake from Gokdu’s grasp.

When I saw its slender body coiled up without moving, it was as if lightning struck my head.

That thing…

That thing is definitely not a snake.

It absolutely cannot be a snake.

The bulging protrusions on both sides of the white snake’s head proved it wasn’t a snake.

Snakes naturally don’t have ears, so those protrusions must be horns.

Among snakes, those with horns are dragons, and beings destined to become dragons are imugi, so this must definitely be an imugi.

I couldn’t sense any demonic energy, divine energy, or even earthly or animal energy from the white snake.

If I had to describe it, it had a pure white… almost non-existent, colorless, formless, odorless energy.

I know this kind of energy well.

The food spirit demon sleeping inside my stomach…

Its energy was exactly like this.

Colorless, formless, odorless…

A presence that no one except me could feel.

This was why I was able to stay at the Thousand-Year School for several years even with a demon in my stomach.

Ah, I still couldn’t believe it.

An imugi!

In my past life, a country child discovered it by chance, but in this life, Gokdu discovered the imugi while thinking about making a special dish.

For my sake.

I just blankly stared at the white snake.

In my past life or this life, naturally no one could have found it.

Even if skilled sorcerers or shamans came, who would think there would be a white snake coiled inside the waterfall? Especially when no energy could be felt from it.

“What’s wrong? Well, it is quite strange. I’ve never seen a snake with closed eyes in my entire life.”

Gokdu’s words made me realize.

The snake’s white eyelids were tightly shut.

“Hehe, snakes can’t close their eyes. Strange, isn’t it?”

Originally, snakes don’t have eyelids. However, the white snake before me had white lids covering both eyes.

So this made it even more certain that this was the imugi I had been looking for.

Who could guess the identity of this tiny snake that would barely wrap around a wrist once?

Seeing me dumbfounded, Gokdu gave me a worried look.

“What’s wrong? I was going to boil that and…”

“Hey! You….”

I rushed with all my might to cover Gokdu’s mouth.

If the imugi learned of our intention to harm it, it wouldn’t be the snake that would be boiled and eaten, but us.

“Gokdu! This… give this to me.”

“Huh?”

Gokdu looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“I was going to give it to you anyway…”

“No, just like this. Without touching it, can you give it to me just like this?”

“Well, sure. If that’s what you want.”

Gokdu answered without hesitation.

He closed the basket lid and handed it to me.

Only after blankly receiving it did I belatedly ask him.

“You’re not… going to ask why?”

Isn’t it strange that I suddenly asked for something he brought to boil and eat? Why isn’t he asking anything?

“You must need it, that’s why you’re asking. What’s the big deal?”

“This… is extremely precious… really precious. I’m serious.”

“Is that so? Haha. Then even better.”

Gokdu laughed heartily and patted my shoulder.

He was the kind who wasn’t the least bit regretful about giving something precious; he only felt sorry he couldn’t give something better.

What kind of person…

What kind of person is he?

The tip of my nose stung.

“This… is actually an imugi.”

“Oh, is that so? I was lucky then.”

That was all he said.

“It’s incredible! It’s a highest-level divine beast, a divine beast.”

“Then that’s good. At that Thousand-Year School or whatever, it must be good for someone with divine powers to have it, right?”

“It’s not just good, this is…”

It was only natural that chaos would ensue if an imugi appeared among divine power users.

It wasn’t uncommon for people to risk their lives fighting to become the master of a divine beast.

“So it’s a good thing. It’s all your luck.”

Gokdu just kept smiling brightly.

I knelt before Gokdu.

“I don’t have a way to repay you now… but someday I will return this favor. I will never forget it.”

“Maru, have you lost your mind? What favor is there between us? Then should I give my life after eating the wild ginseng you gave me?”

“This can’t even be compared to something like wild ginseng…”

“Got it! I’ve done nothing. It’s all your luck.”

The lady who belatedly heard the whole story was no different from Gokdu.

“How wonderful, how wonderful.”

I just received plenty of congratulations.

The more the two people rejoiced, the heavier my shoulders felt.

Everything was grace, and my debt.

That night, instead of snake, we roasted freshly caught rabbit. Amidst the rising bonfire, our conversation wouldn’t easily end.

Though I had a long journey ahead, I kept postponing the time to close my eyes.

When I briefly nodded off and woke up, it was already bright all around.

…Gokdu was nowhere to be seen.

“I’m sorry, what can I do. Where on earth did this child go…”

The lady looked regretful. After all, Gokdu had disappeared without a final goodbye.

I wasn’t disappointed at all. Somehow I had expected it would be like this.

Because farewells are awkward for me too.

“Excuse me, ma’am, this is for Gokdu…”

I gave to his mother what I couldn’t have given if I had faced him directly.

It was a gift I had secretly bought but kept postponing giving because I couldn’t muster the courage.

“Oh my, goodness….”

Inside the tightly wrapped pink wrapping cloth was a roomy set of pants and jacket, and a dark brown leather vest.

I heard it was the clothing worn by forest hunters.

Except for the blue eyes, Gokdu was a human male in every aspect.

That is, until the gods with keen noses discovered that he was half-human, half-spirit.

I bought it thinking that if he wore worn leather clothes without drawing attention, wouldn’t it be much easier for him to blend into the human world?

“Ah, this… I… wanted to do this for him before I die… Maru, Maru…”

“Please tell him I found it on my way here.”

“How can I thank you enough? How can I ever repay all this…”

“Ma’am… am I only trying to repay my life debt?”

Seeing Gokdu’s mother shedding tears made it difficult to stay any longer.

I read somewhere in a book.

The longer the farewell, the harder it becomes.

“Goodbye, ma’am.”

I quickly bowed my head and ran out without looking back.

A faint, coughing sound trailed behind me.

Even after eating wild ginseng, she still hadn’t fully recovered.

When tears come, breathing becomes difficult, and when breathing becomes difficult, coughing follows,it is still the same even after consuming the wild ginseng.

But surely after steeping it two or three times and drinking it for several days, she would definitely get better?

In my past life, it’s no exaggeration to say that wild ginseng made up eighty percent of what nourished my body when I was a fugitive.

When I dug it up from deep in the mountains and ate it, I wouldn’t feel hunger even after three days without food. My divine energy would surge, and the vitality would last for a long time.

I sincerely hoped that energy would be fully transmitted to the lady.

With each running step, I earnestly wished.

Even if I never see Gokdu again, may his mother be healthy. So that she and Gokdu could be happy together for a long, long time…

Gokdu is not a child who would come to the Thousand-Year School leaving his sick mother behind. So, in my past life, the fact that he appeared at the Thousand-Year School also meant that his mother’s life was not far away.

Despite not particularly worshiping any deity, I put my hands together.

I wished to heaven with a heart that couldn’t be more desperate.

In this life, at the Thousand-Year School…

I prayed not to meet Gokdu again.

***

When I returned home, both master and Yeolmae couldn’t hide their joy.

Preparations for the village festival were complete.

I went from house to house sharing rice cakes and savory pancakes, and spent a whole day eating and drinking with fellow students.

Even Master, who used to say thorns would grow in his mouth if he didn’t recite scriptures daily, turned a blind eye just for that day.

That’s how the day of departure approached.

Oh! Amid the uneventful time, there was one remarkable discovery. It was all thanks to the bright and diligent Yeolmae.

“Is this a snake?”

Since all I brought back was just one hairpin for Yeolmae and the white snake, Yeolmae’s eyes looked unusual.

For a while, Yeolmae stared at the white snake curled up in the round straw basket.

The perceptive child quickly noticed my affection for the small silk snake.

For a while, Yeolmae just watched as I quietly put fresh chicken meat, pork, and even beef into the basket.

One day, as I was putting in chicken gizzards, Yeolmae shook her head.

“You’re so simple, brother. Haven’t you thought that the silk snake might not have a taste for meat? Why don’t you try a variety of things?”

“But…”

As far as I know, Imugi’s eat fresh meat. Fresh raw meat with blood dripping, that is.

“Let me try.”

Since I couldn’t reveal that this was a Imugi, I could only quietly observe what Yeolmae was doing.

Yeolmae collected all sorts of things she thought appropriate for the snake to eat and put them in the basket.

Larvae, grasshoppers, and even frogs with only their front legs formed.

One day, there was even an incident where the basket was overturned after she put in a live mouse.

When the mouse knocked over the basket, I really thought the world was ending.

It would have been justified if the awakened dragon spirit had eaten us all.

“I-Imugi! P-please be patient. You must be patient! You know I saved your life, right? That… I stopped Gokdu in front of the threat of a kitchen knife…And you saw it, even with your eyes closed, didn’t you? You know I prevented you from being turned into boiling broth, right?”

I’m not sure if I saved the Imugi’s life or if the Imugi saved Gokdu and me. Anyway, I babbled all sorts of nonsense.

If that could subdue the Imugi, it would be enough.

Fortunately, nothing happened.

A few days before departure.

“AAAAH, brother.”

I rushed at Yeolmae’s shout.

Yeolmae was looking at the dragon spirit’s basket with sparkling eyes.

“Brother, it’s… gone.”

“What?”

I checked the basket in alarm.

PHEW…

A sigh of relief rushed over me.

The little white serpent was still there, coiled up exactly as before.

“It’s gone, it’s gone.”

Yet Yeolmae was making a fuss about something being missing.

“What is?”

“The quail egg! Everything else is the same… but the quail egg is gone. You didn’t take it out, did you, brother?”

“N-no, I didn’t?”

Yeolmae put her hands together as if moved.

“Ah, heavenly gods, thank you. You really granted my wish.”

Yeolmae smiled brightly.

“I figured out the white snake like, brother! It’s quail egg!”

“Uh, perhaps… could you be mistaken?”

“No way.”

“Really… truly?”

I couldn’t believe it and checked several times, but Yeolmae’s face shone with confidence.

The next evening, we put another quail egg in the basket. My heart was pounding with anticipation.

I stayed up all night with my ear perked up next to the basket.

“…Brother!”

It seems I had dozed off.

Yeolmae’s eyes that woke me were sparkling just like yesterday.

Could it be…

In the straw basket was only the white snake, while the fingernail-sized egg we had placed the previous evening had disappeared.

“Yeolmae, you did it! You really found out.”

“Yes! I figured it out! HEHEHE.”

From the next day on, we tried various eggs,chicken eggs, blue duck eggs, and goose eggs.

I worried whether the thin, slender white snake could swallow eggs bigger than its own body, but my concerns were groundless.

After a day passed, the eggs would invariably disappear, and the Imugi would pretend to be asleep.

“Thank you, Yeolmae. Thank you.”

When I patted the top of her head, Yeolmae giggled.

The butterfly hairpin dangled from her hair. She wore the unremarkable hairpin I bought her from the market every single day.

A faint smile came to my lips.

I think I came to understand a little about the joy of giving to someone.

***

And finally, that day came.

The day to leave for the Thousand-Year School.

Before dawn broke, I had finished preparing to depart.

While I, the person concerned, had slept well, eaten well, and woken up fine,Master and Yeolmae had swollen eyes.

The Thousand-Year School was in a distant place that would take several days of walking to reach. And among ordinary people, no one knew exactly where it was.

The Thousand-Year School, which raised talents who upheld divine power and protected the human world, could be targeted by evil spirits and demons, so everything, including its location, was kept secret.

For this reason, new students needed senior students to guide them to the Thousand-Year School.

And…

Finally, ‘that person’ came looking for me.