GRR 16

“Did you report it to King Yeomra?”

“Ah, yes! I safely handed him over to the Kings and reported it immediately to King Yeomra. Oh, and I also retrieved the registers. She said she will sort through them and send them all at once soon.”

Yu Chasa carefully placed a register on the table, then reached out and pushed it toward Kwon Chasa. Kwon Chasa glanced at the register, then leaned back completely against the sofa and rubbed his temples.

“Yu Chasa, did you learn how to erase the memories of a living person?”

“Uh… yes, of course I learned it!”

“Then, Yu Chasa, try erasing that student’s memory.”

“What? Me?”

Jion briefly wondered if it was okay for him to overhear this conversation, but since they didn’t seem to care much, he kept quiet.

“I wonder if it’s because his spiritual eyes are fully open… but his memories are exactly the same. My abilities aren’t working.”

“…If you can’t do it, Kwon Chasa-nim, wouldn’t I really have no chance? I did learn how to do it, but I’ve never actually done it even once…”

“Give it a try. You never know. I’ve been learning for a long time, but you learned more recently, so your incantation might be more accurate.”

“All right.”

Jion, who had been looking with displeasure at the grim reapers arguing back and forth right in front of the person involved, held his breath as he watched Yu Chasa approach.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Yu Chasa, who had been hesitating, bowed and asked for understanding first. Just as Jion was thinking that he was much more humane than that annoying Kwon Chasa, he carefully placed his hand on Jion’s head. As Jion closed his eyes and took a deep breath to relax, just like before, it wasn’t long before he felt his mind grow cold again.

Please, let it be erased this time. His desperate wish lasted only a moment; he lost consciousness in an instant, then slowly returned. As he blinked several times to gradually clear his vision, the memories unfortunately became distinct again.

“…It didn’t work this time either.”

As he slowly raised his head and spoke, Yu Chasa sullenly lowered the corners of his mouth. Kwon Chasa sighed, and Yu Chasa returned to his seat.

“Should I ask King Yeomra…?”

Kwon Chasa tapped the sofa armrest with his index finger and muttered to himself. In the downcast atmosphere, Yu Chasa glanced at Kwon Chasa and cautiously opened his mouth.

“Living one, I have a question. May I ask you?”

“…Yes.”

“You were with the deceased just a moment ago, too. Did you happen to help him like you did for Jung Suho?”

Jion flinched because his gaze was so bright it was almost overwhelming, and nodded slightly. It was also a bit embarrassing to have shown himself with a ghost again, even after hearing Kwon Chasa asking why he was hastening his own death.

“Kanghyun-hyung came to see me and asked me to write a letter to his family. He said he had something he wanted to say, but since his family can’t see him, he asked me to write down what he wanted to say and deliver it to them.”

“Oh… so did you pass it on to Yoo Kanghyun’s family?”

“Yes. Before that, I made a promise with him. We agreed that once I delivered the letter, he would come to terms with it and go to the afterlife. Not long after that, the two of you came and took him away.”

“You say the memories are still the same, but I guess you’ve forgotten that I told you you’d meet a meaningless death for being so nosy. Seeing as you made a promise with a ghost again.”

Kwon Chasa, who had been listening to the conversation in silence, interrupted. His cold voice felt like it was pricking his body. Startled, Jion flinched, but soon glared at Kwon Chasa with a sullen expression.

Couldn’t you have spoken a little more nicely? Do you really have to speak as if you are cursing me? As he muttered his dissatisfaction to himself, Kwon Chasa clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“I’ll go ask King Yeomra, so wait a moment.”

“Uh… Kwon Chasa-nim, just a moment!”

Yu Chasa urgently grabbed Kwon Chasa, who had risen from his seat without hesitation. When Kwon Chasa stopped and turned around, Yu Chasa gazed at him with desperate eyes.

“I just had a really good idea. Would you like to hear it?”

Both Kwon Chasa and Jion stared at him with questioning expressions. They had tried three times, but his memories hadn’t been erased; what good idea made his eyes shine like that?

Will they use some barbaric method like injuring my head to make me lose my memory completely…? As Jion looked at Yu Chasa feeling slightly nervous, Kwon Chasa, who had sat back down, gestured with his chin for him to speak.

“Just like with Jung Suho last time and Yoo Kanghyun this time, thanks to your help both times, we were able to take them to the underworld quickly without much effort. Since King Yeomra said she would work hard to ensure Yoo Kanghyun can also be reincarnated in the Human Realm, I suppose the matter has been resolved well.”

So that person… no, the grim reaper acknowledges my efforts. Someone just hurled curses, saying I would meet a meaningless death. With a proud smile on his lips, Jion leaned closer to listen to Yu Chasa.

“So, since things have turned out this way… how about we postpone erasing the memories for a while and ask him for a favor…?”

“What kind of favor? Are you asking to get involved with a human?”

Kwon Chasa, who had been listening in silence, retorted in a slightly agitated voice. Yu Chasa flinched slightly, then cautiously glanced around before continuing to speak.

“I think… his method seems quite effective…! Of course, there are some souls to whom Kwon Chasa-nim’s threats work, but there are many others who don’t. Most of the souls who have come to us have been in the mortal world for so long that they rarely even bat an eye. And we can’t exactly use force…”

Was it okay to talk back to him? Jion grew slightly nervous, fearing that Kwon Chasa, who spoke with absolutely no consideration for the listener’s feelings, might raise his voice and berate Yu Chasa. For some reason, Kwon Chasa remained silent, and Yu Chasa, seemingly emboldened, spoke again.

“That is when we seek help from the living one I thought that if he could persuade the deceased to go to the afterlife, we might be able to work a bit more easily.”

“…….”

“But since we are receiving help from a living person… we should probably grant a wish in return.”

Jion mulled over Yu Chasa’s words, lost in thought. Fulfilling the requests of the ghosts and helping them leave this place was something he had been doing for a long time. Although he had seen ghosts since childhood, it was in his second year of middle school that he first actively ran and moved to help them on his own.

Starting with granting the wish of a child who was the same age as him at the time and took their own life after being unable to endure severe bullying, the number of souls Jion had sent off to date was substantial.

After realizing that every single action taken by the deceased’s relatives or acquaintances influenced the judgment of the departed, he began to help the ghosts wandering the living world more actively. This was because he believed that if he accumulated merit in this way, his mother’s sins would be lessened accordingly.

Jion felt indebted to his mother, who had passed away long ago. This was because his mother, who died of illness, could not leave this world for over a year out of concern for Jion when he was 7 years old, and only headed to the underworld after accumulating karma during that time.

“You can communicate with the deceased, and since you have a place in this world, you can intervene in the affairs that take place here. That means you are much freer than us. If you help us, I think we could finish our work quickly and return to the underworld…”

“Hmm… well, there is some truth to that.”

“Right? And back when I first went to get the spring water from Dongsu-ja, I asked out of curiosity. He said that while it doesn’t taste good, drinking a lot of it causes absolutely no problems. So, if you just drink the water regularly, wouldn’t all the incidental issues be resolved as well?”

Jion had never once done such a thing to satisfy his own desires. If his mother’s sins could be at lessened even a little, that alone was enough. He simply hoped that his actions would be of help when his mother, who was likely unable to reincarnate as a human and was being punished in hell, eventually stood trial in the afterlife.

Perhaps it was because he had been helping ghosts with such a mindset. Yu Chasa’s words that he would grant a wish in exchange for help felt a little burdensome. Although he described it as them “receiving help,” he couldn’t be sure if he could properly provide the assistance they desired. After all, the previous two instances might have simply been a matter of luck.

“What do you think? May we request a favor?”

Yu Chasa asked a question to Jion, who was lost in thought. When Jion smiled awkwardly, unsure of how to answer, he started getting anxious. Kwon Chasa remained silent. He placed his elbows on the sofa armrest and pressed his temple against his hand, appearing lost in thought.

“Are you perhaps feeling burdened? You can just help out once in a while whenever you have the time or the capacity. We will certainly repay you.”

“Ah, I…”

“We’ll grant you 1… no, 2 wishes! 1 from me, and 1 from Kwon Chasa. We feel obligated to repay anyone who helps us.”