Waiting For Your Reincarnation Chapter 78

Yeon-young touched the bulletproof vest she was wearing with a smile. Edelous had gotten her a new one.

 

‘What was that conversation earlier?’

 

Ryu Won’s mind was elsewhere, even though Yeon-young was beside him. He and Jaeho had been in a cold war since their conversation earlier.

 

It had been a short conversation, but they’d both gotten the meaning behind it.

 

Yeon-young chewed her lower lip slightly as she surveyed the town of Robillo they had arrived in.

 

“The town is smaller than I thought, huh?”

 

“That’s because Branch 5 is the newest.”

 

Robillo had the feel of a sparsely populated country town.

 

Mountains surrounded the clustered low-rise houses. There was more farmland planted with crops than amenities.

 

The more she looked at this view of the village, the less she understood why it was the first place the Snarl army invaded.

 

It didn’t seem like there was much to be gained by turning it into a Snarl colony.

 

‘Just an example.’

 

Yeon-Young swallowed her curiosity and walked to the entrance of the village.

 

The lights that surrounded the town of Robillo flickered unsteadily.

 

The air was pungent and gritty, as if it had been through a war.

 

The entrances to the town were pockmarked with gouges in the ground, as if a meteorite had fallen.

 

If this was the case even before entering the village, it was obvious that the inside would be damaged.

 

“Ms. Yeon-young, did you feel any vibrations or unusual glowing things?”

 

“No, I don’t feel anything yet.”

 

Not even the spirit of the soul fragment was visible.

 

Yeon-young gave Jaeho a doubtful look, as if to ask if he had dropped it here.

 

He nodded slightly in affirmation.

 

After searching Robillo Village without finding any shards, they stood in front of the village entrance.

 

They took a cautious step forward.

 

As expected, the center of the village was worse. The buildings were shattered beyond recognition, and there was no heat to be felt.

 

It was strange. Surely the inhabitants hadn’t been evacuated, Edelous said. But any sign of the spirits was long gone.

 

Yeon-young’s footsteps reached the center of the village.

 

Beep-!

 

A deafening whistle sounded, and at the same time, an axe flew over Yeon-young’s  head.

 

“Huh!”

 

Ryu Won quickly blocked in front of Yeon-young, forming a wind shield. Seeing that Yeon-young was safe, Jaeho created water droplets to temporarily clear the smoke.

 

As they dodged the attack, they saw a swarm of spirits in the distance.

 

“Snarling?”

 

“No.”

 

The shapes of the spirits gradually became clearer through the cloudy smoke.

 

Yeon-Young shook her head slightly and blinked her eyes several times. The approaching spirits were smaller than she had expected.

 

“Children?”

 

They were none other than the spirits of children running towards her. They quickly surrounded her.

Despite their cute appearance, each of them held a deadly weapon in their hands.

 

The axes must have belonged to them.

 

“How dare you enter our village?”

 

“One axe blow and you’re gone.”

 

“Oh, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen them, and I’ve seen Snarl again.”

 

Yeon-young’s tension melted away at the sound of the old melody.

 

His face was that of a child, but his voice was that of an old man who had lived long enough. 

 

She couldn’t tell how old they were.

 

At that moment, a little boy emerged from the crowd of children, carrying a bag on his back, his eyes fixed on Ryu Won.

 

Ryu Won looked at the boy with a friendly smile.

 

“It’s not Snarl. You must be Ophir. It’s been a long time.”

 

“Ophir?”

 

That was Ryu Won’s name before he changed it.

 

One by one, the spirits lowered their weapons to the ground at the sound of Ophir’s name. They looked up at him with confused faces.

 

“Pawn, how are you? We’re volunteers from the First Division.”

 

“I’m fine! The village has been devastated by these crazy bastards. What are you going to do with all that farming?”

 

“I’ll help as much as I can.”

 

The surrounding spirits all turned to Ryu Won. They all seemed to recognize each other’s faces.

 

Yeon-young relaxed her shoulders and carefully asked Jaeho.

 

“I think they all know each other?”

 

“Of course they do. They’re all old souls from the early days of Branch 5.”

 

“They all look so young.”

 

“They made their vessel small to maximize their strength.”

 

“So they’re retired and homesteaded?”

 

“Still at the Center. They’re in the business of harvesting souls.”

 

Yeon-young’s questions kept coming.

 

Still, Yeon-young was undeterred and asked the question she wanted to know.

 

“Why do they need to harvest the souls?”

 

“Branch 5 is still undeveloped, so the spirits that come up the pillar rarely fall properly. That’s when the old spirits catch and separate them up, Sly for Sly and Phantom for Phantom.”

 

“And the snarl?”

 

“Instant annihilation. And she doesn’t like unstable souls. It’s an old-fashioned mindset. Anyway, hide it well. Unless you want to be annihilated here.”

 

Unlike when he’d said he’d shown his hand and that they were in the same boat, Jaeho spoke as if it were business as usual.

 

Yeon-young secretly let out a small sigh. It wasn’t the kind of advice that Jaeho would take to heart if it was repeated over and over again.

 

After finishing his conversation with the spirits of the Fifth Division, Ryu Won approached Yeon-young with a more relaxed face.

 

“Ms. Yeon-young, let’s go, now that we’ve cleared up the misunderstanding.”

 

“Yes.”

 

 Ryu Won gently grabbed Yeon-young’s shoulder and led her inside.

 

The first spirit to notice Ryu Won’s presence, Pawn, glared at Yeon-young.

 

Its red eyes were as beautiful as rubies, and she couldn’t stop staring at them.

 

They seemed to be searching for her from the inside out.

 

“Is it strange that there are still phatoms these days?

 

Yeon-young had gotten used to these stares since she’d arrived at Tanato.

 

The other spirits were always curious about Yeon-young, the newest Phantom.

 

So she assumed that this spirit standing in front of her was staring at her for the same reason.

 

After studying her for a while, Pawn turned away and said in a cold voice, “You’re not thinking of coming into town, are you?”

 

“You must not enter the village.”

 

“What?”

 

“You’re going to set foot in Robillo in such an impious manner.”

 

Pawn struck the ground several times with the axe he was holding to make his point.

 

Yeon-young furrowed her brow as if she didn’t understand.

 

One by one, the spirits who had dropped their weapons on the ground picked them up again.

 

Jaeho wrapped his arms around Yeon-young’s back, and Ryu Won stepped in to intervene.

 

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

 

“White hair. You know what Robillo is like, and you bring her here?”

 

“Speak plainly, Ms. Yeon-young, she’s a phantom from Branch 1 who came to help you restore Branch 5.”

 

“That’s a phantom? I’ve never seen a soul like that in all my years in Tanato. The soul was torn to shreds… They glued it back together and this is what it looks like. Not even enough pieces. Cursed, dear.”

 

Pawn appraised her sourly.

 

At his words about her body being torn apart, her dark eyes widened in distress. She examined her body.

 

In her eyes, she couldn’t tell what made her different from the other spirits.

 

Ryu Won, on the other hand, visibly stiffened. He seemed to know why.

 

“You say I’ve been torn apart?”

 

“Any moment now, you’ll run wild and disappear without a trace, so get out. Don’t come near me.”

 

“Runaway?”

 

Yeon-young looked around. The spirits of the villagers living in Robillo all had anxious faces like Pawns’.

 

They looked at her as if she were an ominous stranger, a cursed being.

 

The reason she had risked her life to come to the Fifth Branch was to prevent her powers from overflowing.

 

“Runaway?”

 

Ryu Won gasped at the word “runaway” and grabbed Pawn by the shoulders.

 

Pawn’s brow furrowed harshly as he realized that he was more powerful than he looked. Then he slapped Ryu Won’s hand hard enough to make a harsh sound.

 

He was obviously offended that Ryu Won had brought her here.

 

“It’s literally too unstable. I don’t know how it gathered the fragments and became a spirit form, but if we don’t find a way to fix it soon, it’ll explode. Just get out of my village. I can’t repeat the same thing. Get out.”

 

‘They can’t repeat the same thing? What was going on in Robillo?’

 

Pawn politely but firmly bowed his head and asked.

 

The other residents followed suit and refused to let them in.

 

“Just leave.”

 

Ryu Won, watching the scene, concluded.

 

Jaeho didn’t know what was going through his mind, but he put up a barrier of water around Yeon-young.

 

When they were completely out of the village, there was a transparent barrier at the entrance.

 

Jaeho realized at once what it was.

 

“Wow, those old people are bad.”

 

“Why?”

 

The entrance to Robillo was sealed.