WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 81: The Distance Between Sanctuaries Is Zero

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Eight-Foot Sister raced along the cable line.

She knocked down and shoved aside every Eight-Foot-Tall Ghost coming toward me.

【Devour~~~~】

【Devour~~~~】

The Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts fell endlessly.

They were ghosts, so they wouldn't die from the fall, right?

Either way, as Eight-Foot Sister raced along the cable without hesitation, Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts came raining down.

"Whoa. I wonder if that's okay."

Still, Eight-Foot Sister was incredible.

Wielding Benkei's Iron Staff, she beat down every Eight-Foot-Tall Ghost clinging to the cable line.

No, they were completely defenseless while hanging from the cable, and she was just beating the crap out of them.

How was she keeping her balance?

I soon figured it out.

Coo! Coo!

Chirp! Caw!

I'd wondered where they'd gone, but the Gugu Corps were supporting Eight-Foot Sister as footholds.

Meanwhile, the Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts without that support had become one-sided punching bags.

"Way to go, Sister!"

【Devour?!】

【Devour!】

【Devour!】

No, not you guys. Our sister over there.

Anyway, Sister cleared them all out. The sight of her slowly approaching atop the Gugu Corps...

"Ahh, Sister is my Zhang Liang and the War God Guan Yu!"

【Devour~】

This wasn't the time for that, though.

"Now's our chance. Let's restore the dragon node first."

* * *

The Osaka dragon node had been corrupted into a Ghost Vein long ago, but turning it into a Holy Vein wasn't difficult.

I'd turned a dragon node occupied by a demon into a Holy Vein in one shot, so what was so hard about this?

The problem was the cleanup.

"Man, they won't give up."

"Looks like they're about to smash through the barrier and come in."

While I led the Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts away, Pastor Go and Kozumi had formed a barrier around the temple.

My barrier only blocked unholy beings, so it didn't work well on such ordinary ghosts. We needed their barrier.

"My lord! Are you unharmed?"

"Yeah. How about you, Kohaku?"

"The Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts didn't handle me too roughly, so I'm fine."

See? I told you they weren't evil spirits.

I'd dealt with plenty of ghosts, and ordinary ghosts could surprisingly be reasoned with. They also rarely hurt people.

Then again, even ghosts were probably just modern people who'd died. They'd naturally avoid violence for the most part.

"This won't do. We should try talking to them."

"Will they understand?"

"Though they are ghosts, they've merged with an urban legend and become anomalies. There's no guarantee they can communicate."

"We have precedent."

When I glanced at Eight-Foot Sister, everyone seemed to understand.

"Are you planning to make familiar contracts? Anomalies like the Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts would consume a tremendous amount of spiritual power through a contract alone."

"The upkeep would be pretty steep, too. An ordinary sorcerer couldn't even make contracts with familiars of that level."

That was true.

Unless I had specialized necromancy that let me use them cheaply, like the Gugu Corps, employing dozens of Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts as familiars would be a burden.

I could manage it somehow, but it wasn't exactly cost-effective.

Still, there was a way if I used a little trick.

"All right, everyone, gather at this entrance!"

【Devour?】

【Devour?】

"Kohaku, translate for me."

"Yes, my lord! This humble one shall interpret in real time!"

Good. We had an interpreter, and the floor was open for discussion, so I looked over the Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts gathered before the barrier.

They really were pervy ghosts whose country of origin was obvious.

I had no idea why they were so obsessed with me, but when I thought about it, I had the upper hand in this relationship.

There was only one of me.

There were many Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts.

And no matter what, they were the ones who wanted me.

"Now, I don't know what you ladies want to do..."

【Devour!】

【Devour, devour!!】

What? Why were they already losing their minds?

"Um... my lord, please don't use such provocative words."

"Which part of what I just said was provocative?"

"Ahem... Well, yes... They're just born that way."

Either way, the interpretation continued.

"I'm going to hire you all as familiars. What do you think?"

The response came immediately.

Good. They liked it.

If I was someone ghosts coveted, then a contract with me was the clearest way to get what they wanted.

"But I can't make contracts with all of you. I only have five slots available right now."

【Devour, devour, devour...】

At the mention of five slots, the Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts began eyeing each other warily.

They looked ready to fight, so I hurried on.

"So, five full-time employees! I'll make intern contracts with the rest!"

"Intern contracts... excuse me?"

Kohaku stopped translating and stared at me with wide eyes.

"Um... what exactly do you mean by interns?"

"Before long, I'll create a sanctuary with Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka as its vertices. I'd like you to protect the ghosts who gather there, exterminate yōkai, and handle some complaints while you're at it."

After setting up a sanctuary in Seoul, I'd realized there was a ridiculous amount of work to do.

I was starting to wonder if I'd have to start interviewing ghosts and hiring them.

Once Kohaku explained my proposal, the Eight-Foot-Tall Ghosts exchanged glances and seemed to accept it.

"For now, only five of you will get familiar contracts. The rest will be contracted in order once your spiritual power grows and you've proven yourselves. Okay?"

【Devour~!】

Nice. They really did communicate well for modern people.

"First, if you have experience in office work or counseling, say Devour. If not, say Devour Devour!"

"Ah, the furry sister over there looks like she'd be good at communicating with animals, so bonus points!"

"If you have detailed opinions, find some paper and write them down!"

The interviews went smoothly.

* * *

The third spiritual vein in Nara was activated.

With that, three pillars of light shot upward and began connecting. The atmosphere changed in an instant.

"C-Chief Priest! Spiritual power signatures throughout the city are withdrawing en masse!"

"Multiple yōkai are retreating! They're all fleeing beyond the designated sanctuary!"

"...So this is Sanctification."

The Tsuchimikado Chief Priest confirmed that the triangular region connecting Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara had become pure, immaculate land.

Pushed back by the sanctuary's energy, evil spirits and yōkai had fled beyond its borders.

The Chief Priest had heard the stories, but it was this powerful?

"...Is it not at Seoul's level?"

"Yes, there's quite a considerable difference."

"This is considered weaker?"

Pastor Kim answered the unbelievable question.

"The day the Seoul Sanctuary was declared, demons and everything unholy were crushed to death at once."

"Even now, any demon or unholy being that enters the Seoul Sanctuary dies."

"What in the world makes such a difference...?"

Pastor Park glanced up at the sky.

That being had not descended upon this sanctuary on the Japanese islands.

"Because no one is watching over it from above."

Still, if one day the lands of this sanctuary were linked together and the complete God's Chariot descended...

If the Kingdom of God were established beyond the sanctuary...

Wouldn't things change dramatically?

* * *

After the Declaration of the Holy Realm, it was clear that all the energy in this land had changed.

For one thing, it was much easier to smell things.

The whole of Japan had reeked wherever I went, full of evil spirits and yōkai, but it had become a clean zone now.

"Hmm-hmm. This feels pretty new."

I'd secured a sanctuary far larger than the Seoul Sanctuary.

The energy flowing in was incredible, too.

It felt like spiritual power was pouring into me.

Thinking about it now, maybe I'd been able to use teleportation without limits in the Seoul Sanctuary because it supplied me with spiritual power.

The problem was...

【My king!】

【My king!】

Just as expected.

The number of complaints from ghosts who came rushing in had increased dozens of times over.

Unlike the Seoul Sanctuary, which only covered a few neighborhoods, the Kansai Sanctuary was territory spanning three cities.

Ghosts came from all over just to see my face, until the Heian Shrine where we were staying temporarily had more ghosts than tourists.

"Sisters? What are you doing? Shouldn't you be organizing the petitioners?"

【Devour~!】

【Devour~!】

Fortunately, we had staff to handle them this time.

The Eight-Foot Sisters held signs and dealt with the ghost petitioners pouring in.

They could serve as a formidable security force, but we'd need far more people for administrative work.

"In that case, would you leave it to us?"

"The Tsuchimikado Chief Priest?"

"Yes. Thanks to the sanctuary, the work of exterminating yōkai and evil spirits has decreased exponentially. Sending the dead on their passage to the afterlife is our original duty as well."

I looked at Pastor Park, and he shrugged.

"Unless you're going to pay to hire civil servants, outsourcing it to experts is a good choice. You've only got one body, after all."

True.

Managing the Seoul Sanctuary was already hard enough. There was no way I could manage Japan too.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd take it on."

"Thank you for trusting us with it. We'll do our utmost so you won't have to worry."

Then the Tsuchimikado Chief Priest handed me some documents.

"What's this?"

"Projected government subsidies and required budget for operating the holy site going forward."

Huh? Subsidies? That was unexpected.

"There are subsidies?"

"An auspicious site benefits the country by itself, so there are subsidies for managing it. A holy site is no different."

Apparently, the annual budget I'd receive would be in the hundreds of billions of won.

They were giving that much money to me?

"Oh, there are construction expenses here. Building a place of worship?"

"A sanctuary needs a place of worship. Japan's Christian population is small, so it won't be easy, but if we build a large place of worship, people will gather."

It seemed a place of worship was necessary for it to function as a sanctuary, just like other sanctuaries.

As a religious symbol, it needed a place where faith and energy could gather.

"You're even going to handle spreading the religion, so that works for me."

Even now, an enormous amount of spiritual power was flowing in, but apparently building a place of worship would allow it to gather on a completely different scale.

Also, when a collective gathered, they could perform miracles.

For example, the silver crosses of the Vatican's four major basilicas accumulated absurd anti-demonic power, and the faith gathered at a Mass led by the Pope had consecrated the dragon that struck the Kyoto White-Faced Golden-Furred Nine-Tailed Fox.

"Should we head home soon? I've arranged a return flight."

"Gari hasn't come out of the cocoon yet."

"Hmm... We can't just leave it like that."

Gari was still sitting motionless within a cocoon on the grounds of Heian Shrine.

We couldn't keep traveling back and forth between Seoul and Kyoto. Did we have to wait until Gari came out?

"Hmm? Wait a second."

A possibility came to mind.

If the sanctuary's energy was flowing into me, couldn't I perform magic on a completely different scale than before?

I grabbed Gari, still in that cocoon-like state on the grounds, and raised my spiritual power.

The moment I envisioned the space I wanted to leap to and released my spiritual power...

Bang!

When I opened my eyes, I was in a familiar yard.

"W-Where are we, my lord?"

"...It worked."

A detached house in Seoul.

I'd succeeded in making a space leap across the sea to another sanctuary.

"No way. Kohaku, get down for a moment."

"Y-Yes!"

I immediately teleported back to Kyoto. This time, I brought the Gugu Corps and the pastors along too.

"No..."

"My goodness... This is Seoul, isn't it?"

Mass teleportation worked too?

That meant I could travel between Korea and Japan anytime I wanted.

Crack!

At the same time, the cocoon surrounding Gari began to crumble.

Footnotes:

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