Yokai Come to the Countryside Café

Chapter 9: The Opening Ceremony Was a Mess (3)

The conversation wasn’t long.

I hadn’t prepared anything like a “list of questions to ask when you meet a god,” and it’s not like the Mago Goddess was obligated to answer everything anyway.

The main reason for the short conversation was that I didn’t really have anything I was curious about.

The talkative Gumiho had already told me a lot about this world without me needing to ask.

Just as I was getting tired of quietly sitting in the field, watching the peaceful countryside scenery, I dusted off my backside and got up, casually tossing the empty thermos into the passenger seat.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes, I’ve seen enough.”

“You’re peculiar. Even as a formality, most would ask if they may stay a bit longer.”

“If it’s not possible, you’d just have to uncomfortably decline.”

“Hoho, I see. You’re a considerate one.”

“Well then, I’ll be going now.”

“Here, take this. I can’t just send you off empty-handed after only treating you to coffee.”

“I’m fine with just the coffee.”

“I said take it.”

When I firmly refused, a small object in the Mago Goddess’ hand flew into mine.

It was a ring. A thin one made of jade.

“This is too precious to accept just for coffee. I already received the café at a bargain, and that’s enough.”

“That’s why I’m giving it. You’ll need it. It wards off malevolent energy. Though Geumi and Sani will protect you well, you still need to take care of yourself.”

“Then I’ll borrow it just until I run the café.”

“You’re adding more conditions than the one giving the gift, hoho. Go now. This old lady has clung to you long enough.”

I bowed deeply and slowly drove the car, following the tire tracks pressed into the field from when I had arrived.

(Come by from time to time.)

“Huh? What do you mean…”

-Flash.

Before I could even finish the question, ‘How could I come here again?’, the scenery abruptly changed into the familiar road I knew.

And beside me, the familiar black sedan was driving alongside. It was the car the Gumiho rode.

I rolled down the window and waved cheerfully.

“Where are you all headed in such a hurry?”

“Oh? It’s the café owner!”

“You rascal! Where have you been? This is no time to joke. Hurry back!”

The café I returned to, now with a new ‘hitchhiker’(?) tagging along, was no longer as it had been.

In less than an hour, it looked like a disaster zone, with things strewn everywhere, as if a war had broken out.

“Was there a break-in or something?”

“Ahem, it’s all this rascal’s fault.”

“Oww! That hurts!”

Only when I saw the Gumiho tugging hard on the Raccoon Dog’s cheeks did I realize why they had rushed out in such a hurry.

“It’s because of this, right?”

I pulled a leaf out of my wallet and held it up.

“Oh my! And you managed to carry that without incident!”

“There actually was a bit of an incident.”

“What? What happened? Did you encounter another yokai?”

“Not a yokai. I went to the Heavenly Realm and met the Mago Goddess.”

“……”

The three of them had quite the looks on their faces.

Mouths wide open, eyes bulging as if they’d pop out at any moment.

“N-no way…”

“Is it really that serious?”

“You really went there?!”

“Yes, thanks to this leaf.”

“Hah! Even hermits who train their whole lives and divine beasts can’t easily go to the Heavenly Realm. But a human like you went there? It’s hard to believe.”

“It wasn’t anything special. I just stayed briefly.”

“That in itself is earth-shattering! In all my life, I’ve never heard of a human who visited the Heavenly Realm. Makes me wonder if you got duped by some weird yokai. This is just unbelievable.”

“It’s not much, but I also received this from the Mago Goddess. She said it wards off malevolent energy.”

“Oh? This is made of divine stone! Divine stone only exists in the Heavenly Realm!”

The Gumiho slumped into a chair, stunned, upon seeing the ring.

“You really did go… hoho.”

“I’ve never seen divine stone before!”

While the Raccoon Dog spun the ring around with its front paws, I quietly got up.

“Where are you going? Sit and tell us everything that happened!”

“I got up because I figured you’d say that. But there’s not much to tell. If you’re really curious, I took some photos on my phone. Have a look at those.”

“Photos?”

“Yes, I asked the Mago Goddess for permission and took some shots of the scenery. I didn’t think I’d ever go again.”

“You not only went to the Heavenly Realm, but you took pictures of it too?”

“Yeah. The Heavenly Realm is vast, so I couldn’t see it all though.”

I had agonized over the idea for a long while before asking, worried it might be disrespectful.

But I figured if I might never return, I’d like to at least keep a few photos.

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect them to serve as such a handy escape route(?).

“I want to see!”

“Swipe to the right as you look.”

“Wowww! Is this the Heavenly Realm? Incredible! It’s like… like… a village from a thousand years ago!”

“Hey! Don’t hog it. Bring it here!”

Just then, the sound of a motorcycle came from outside, and a delivery person wearing a helmet knocked on the door.

-Knock knock.

“Delivery!”

“Yes, just a moment.”

Finally escaping the barrage of questions, I brought in two large bags.

“What’s that? It smells delicious!”

“Jokbal.”

“Chokbari?”

“What the heck are you saying? I said jokbal. Pig’s feet. Here, go set it on the table. I’ll go heat up some instant rice.”

“Hmph, when did you order this?”

“I placed the order while parking earlier. You were all too busy causing a ruckus to eat, right?”

Thanks to the havoc they had wreaked in the café since morning, they had probably missed mealtime. I was just getting hungry too.

The menu was the only delivery food that made it all the way out to this rural countryside: jokbal.

Even if you managed to place an order through the app, it often got canceled right away. Thankfully, the one jokbal place that did deliver happened to be pretty good.

By the time I came back out with the instant rice warmed in the microwave, the table was so full there wasn’t even space to set down chopsticks.

“It’s like a feast day!”

“Hmph, you should’ve just brewed some coffee like usual—why buy so much food?”

“There are still some documents left to finish, but technically today is the opening day, so I thought we might as well celebrate.”

That was the excuse, anyway.

Sure, it was just a registration certificate approved with a few internet clicks, but it still felt like a day worth celebrating.

Except for the mountain of documents I still had to handle and the chaos caused by the trip to the Heavenly Realm.

“Well, come to think of it, opening this café is thanks to us.”

“Elder, to be precise, it’s thanks to our mission expenses.”

“Silence. There’s never just one founding contributor to a new kingdom. I and this Raccoon Dog also helped lay the foundation of this shabby café.”

“That’s right! We’re like Han Xin and Peng Yue!”

“No, not those guys!”

“Then maybe Sun Yu?”

“No… someone from Joseon!”

“Jeong Do-jeon?”

“Forget it. Just eat your meat.”

They were all founding contributors, indeed.

But just like with kingdoms, things didn’t go smoothly afterward.

“So did Mago Granny say anything else? There must’ve been a reason she called you to the Heavenly Realm.”

“She didn’t say much. If I had to guess, she hinted that there might be some hard times ahead.”

“Hard times?”

“Yes, since she gave me that ring to protect myself just in case.”

I pointed at the ring the Raccoon Dog was fiddling with using my chopsticks.

“Hmph, with me and this rascal around, who would dare harm you?”

“But there’s always a one-in-a-million chance, right? You two can’t always stay with me either.”

“If you’re really uneasy, you could come stay with us at the National Intelligence Service.”

“I think the ring was meant to prevent just that.”

“I see. Divine stone nullifies malevolent energy, so anyone trying to harm you will vanish without a trace. Well, our protection is most certain, but the divine stone is no less reliable.”

“That’s right! With this ring, at the very least, no yokai will be cutting your head off!”

“Tsk! Must you say things like that...”

I had a vague feeling.

That living like usual might be difficult.

Just like nothing in the world comes for free, this café I thought I had gotten for nothing, and the ‘whoa’-inducing revenue that came with it, had their own costs.

The kind of customers that are hard to deal with.

The first was the Gumiho, the second the Raccoon Dog—so thinking there wouldn’t be a third was stranger, really.

If you asked whether I was scared, of course I was.

When even a god arms you with protective gear and warns you to be careful, who wouldn’t be scared?

Images of countless movie extras dying off meaninglessly in horror films briefly floated in my mind, giving me a chill.

But it’s fine.

Aside from meeting yokai, this kind of thing was almost routine for me ever since I left Shinan.

In fact, I was better off now.

At least I knew a lot more than I did back then.

And one more thing.

I no longer had to hide my cursed eyes.

At least, not from these people.

That fact gave me more comfort than receiving any talisman.

-Crack.

What was that sound?

Did someone come again?

Thanks to the hearty meat dishes, the buzz from the beer I hadn’t had in a while hadn’t fully worn off, and I had a hard time getting up.

-Crack. Creak.

It wasn’t the sound of someone arriving.

The strange noise was coming from my wallet beside the bed.

Unless I was dreaming, a tree was growing out of my wallet!

“This is insane!”

I quickly yanked out the tree digging its roots into my blanket and threw it out the window.

-Rumble...

Then, as if it had been waiting, the little sapling began to surge upward with a roar that shook the ground.

“Oh my god…”

Only then did I realize what the Mago Goddess’s words in my head really meant.

A large tree had suddenly sprouted in my backyard, and from within it radiated a familiar energy.

The Divine Tree had grown.

A Divine Tree holding the energy to bridge this world and the Heavenly Realm when necessary.

I opened my phone and called the only person I needed to tell about this.

(Yes, this is Baek Mahyeon.)

“Sorry to contact you so late. Something urgent’s come up—could all three of you come back here?”

(What’s going on?)

“A tree just sprouted in my backyard, and I think it’s the same kind of Divine Tree said to grow on Mount Gyeryong.”

-Thud!

There was a loud crash on the other end, and then the call abruptly ended.

It’s certainly rude to hang up without even a goodbye, but I had called at dawn, and Baek Mahyeon had probably been just as stunned.

-Beep beep beep.

“Yes, this is Kim Jin…”

(We’ll be right there! Wait—actually, I’ll call back with a video call!)

The day full of chaos was still far from over.