Chapter 47. Overprotection
The way Heesong smiled brightly despite the dark circles under her eyes made it obvious just how angry she was.
Well, she has every right to be.
Michael had contacted Heesong at dawn, gone straight to the animal clinic, shoved the claw into her hands, and told her to make him a sword.
“Haa, what the hell is this material?! Why won’t the damn thing melt?! I seriously thought it would take forever!”
Heesong had been annoyed enough about being forced to work without even being told where the claw came from.
Worse, she had sensed traces of demonic energy inside it and needed additional time to purify the material before melting it.
She wanted to punch Michael immediately.
However, considering how much he had helped during the trial, she forced herself to endure it.
“Haa. Anyway, just like you asked, I used grapevine wood, silver, and holy water so it would conduct aura properly.”
The grip appeared to be made of grapevine wood and cowhide.
The blade was forged from the claw mixed with silver and iron, then quenched in holy water.
As a result, when Michael poured aura into the sword, the aura flowed naturally along the blade.
Michael looked it over from several angles.
Apparently satisfied, he nodded.
“It’s not at the level of a Holy Sword, but it’s useful.”
Crack.
A vein bulged on Heesong’s forehead.
She mentally repeated the word patience while calming herself.
“So why did you need a sword?”
“Because a sword made purely from aura has limits.”
Against enemies who resisted aura or White Flame, like Yeonhwa’s father, an actual physical sword was more useful than a weapon formed entirely from aura.
Whoosh!
Michael tested the blade with one swing, then slid it back into the sheath.
“With a sword this good, maintaining aura becomes much easier.”
Unlike at the monastery, he could not always rely on Noah and Enoch’s power while fighting.
Using nothing but a blade made of pure aura might not be enough against the high-ranking demons and Great Demons he would face in the future.
“If that’s the reason, couldn’t you have asked me during the day?! Why did you show up at dawn and make such a mess?!”
“There’s a reason. Anyway, take care of the kids for me.”
“What?!”
Her complaint was valid.
Michael simply refused to answer.
I can’t exactly tell her I’m going to follow Sia secretly.
Creeeak.
After more or less forcing Heesong to look after the Divine Beasts, Michael left the clinic while remembering what had happened over the last few days.
* * *
Late at night, at a logistics warehouse in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, white flames erupted.
Fwoooosh!
“KIEEEEEK!”
Behind the demon purified by White Flame, an unlocked shipping container stood partly open.
Inside were people with their hands and feet bound, waiting to be sold overseas.
After checking them, Sia reported to Michael, who was stroking Samsik and Jeomrye.
“I contacted them. ESP will arrive soon and handle the rest. The payment will also be deposited into the account you made.”
“Got it. Let’s go to the next one.”
For a while after the trial, Michael had been clearing out demon dens for money.
He still had the money Heesong had given him, so staying at a hotel was not a problem for the near future.
However, Michael had a much greater goal.
That meant he needed stable income.
Why the hell are buildings so expensive in this insane country?
Helena had already reached the stage of partial awakening.
A complete awakening could happen at any moment.
Wanting to prepare a place where she could live beforehand, Michael visited a real estate office.
Then he nearly lost his mind after seeing housing prices in Seoul.
The two hundred million won he had received from Heesong could barely buy anything appropriate.
Most proper houses are completely beyond this amount. But there’s no way Lady Helena can live somewhere cramped either. Tch.
In the end, Michael decided to visit John to ask about the book and demand compensation for driving away a Great Demon.
That bastard is never free.
Every time Michael went looking for him, he heard the same thing.
John had left the country for work.
John had temporarily stepped away.
John was busy somewhere else.
Eventually, Sia handed Michael jobs clearing demons, which brought them to their current situation.
Of course, since Sia was Michael’s assigned handler, she started following him again after recovering.
The problem was,
“Filthy priests! Die!!”
A hidden demon thrust a sashimi knife toward Sia.
“Grrrr!”
“Hiss!”
Samsik and Jeomrye noticed it and immediately warned her.
Sia hurriedly began reciting a prayer.
“I, Anastasia, child of God….”
GRAB! FWOOSH!
“KIEEEEEK!”
Before Sia could even finish, Michael grabbed the demon by the neck and purified it.
That was the problem.
For the past several days, Michael had completely prevented Sia from making contact with demons at all.
“Hmm. About low rank. Like I told you before, low-ranking demons are idiots who can barely control demonic energy. Even a trained normal human can suppress them.”
He was also constantly teaching her information she already knew.
“What you need to be careful of starts from the mid ranks. Those ones know how to use demonic energy. At that point, it’s better to have other priests restrain them. High-ranking demons are beyond normal standards, so the moment you see one, run. Needless to say, the same goes for Great Demons.”
“You already told me all that last time.”
Even when Sia frowned to show she did not want to hear it, Michael’s lecture continued.
“You also need to be careful with demonic energy. If you become contaminated by it, your mind becomes clouded and your body weakens. However, possessed bodies are different. When a possessing demon absorbs demonic energy, it becomes stronger, almost like taking a stimulant….”
“So if I detect demonic energy, I should immediately purify it with aura because it strengthens possessed demons. I know. But… haa, this is giving me a headache.”
Sia had no idea what had changed inside Michael.
Ever since the trial, he had been looking after her far too much.
She was not used to the sudden change in his behavior.
More importantly, it made her uncomfortable.
Sia rubbed her forehead as a headache began forming.
“What? Did the knife cut you? Was there demonic energy on it?”
Michael leaned closer to check her condition.
Sia pushed his face away.
“I’m fine. Haa. But seriously, why are you doing this?”
“For your safety. We never know what kind of demon might appear. We need to be careful at all times.”
This was no longer simple concern for safety.
It was overprotection.
“You know this makes me uncomfortable, right?”
“…It’s still necessary….”
“No. It isn’t. And starting tomorrow, I’m on vacation.”
