Chapter 149: Give And Take
After hearing everything, Sasha’s response was…
“What will you do for me if I help you?”
At that moment, I was at a loss for words.
“You’re not thinking of getting help without giving something in return, are you? I’d be disappointed if that were the case.”
Even if I had ten mouths, I wouldn’t have been able to respond.
Certainly, it felt too shameless.
“What do you want from me?”
Then Sasha smiled slyly, resting her chin on her right hand, and said,
“Give me three wishes.”
“Wishes?”“The deadline is right before graduation. How about it?”
“Do I have to grant any wish no matter what?”
“Haha, no need to be so wary. I won’t ask for anything unreasonable.”
“If that’s the case, then…”
As I nodded, Sasha clapped her hands.
Curious, I looked and saw that Boris was carefully holding out a contract.
“Shouldn’t such a thing be in writing, not just a verbal agreement?”
“Yeah, right.”
I was surprised by how formal it was.
I was about to sign the bottom of the contract when I found myself reading it again.
“If the contract is breached without a special reason, financial compensation may be demanded.”
“……”
Was this right?
Since there was nothing else in the contract that could be called a poison pill, I obediently signed.
After handing back the contract, Sasha, looking satisfied, passed it to Boris who was standing nearby.
“Now it’s my turn to help you, as promised.”
Sasha said that and stood up.
Then she came straight towards me and said,
“Undress.”
“What?”
“I need to examine you, so undress.”
Overwhelmed by her assertive attitude, I hastily looked at Saya, who was beside me.
But Saya just rubbed her chin with an amused expression, merely observing.
Unlike before, she seemed to have no intention of helping.
“Wait, just calm down and listen to me, Sasha. There are plenty of ways to examine without undressing… Aaagh!”
Her rough touch quickly disarmed me, weakened by the side effects of the medicine.
It happened in the blink of an eye, and before I could properly resist, my t-shirt was stripped off.
“For now, it seems there is nothing wrong with your body itself.”
After finishing the examination with a serious face, Sasha said this and stepped back.
Meanwhile, I felt like I had lost something precious due to her rough touch over my entire body.
Regaining my senses belatedly, I asked her who was standing in front of me.
“Then what do you think is the reason my body shrank?”
Sasha crossed her arms and said,
“From what I see, the ghost that possessed you is definitely the cause. Normally, qi should continuously be produced in your body, but now it’s just faintly pulsating.”
“It’s just pulsating?”
“There’s a Korean saying, ‘like pouring water into a bottomless pot.’ That’s exactly your current state. The depleted yang energy is continuously being consumed to block the yin energy coming from outside before it can accumulate in the body. Normally, you wouldn’t feel anything because you have a lot of yang energy, but now it’s temporarily depleted, causing this antagonistic reaction.”
I couldn’t help but admire Sasha’s logical explanation.
Even I, completely unfamiliar with that knowledge, could understand what she meant.
“Then, can you also know the solution?”
In response to my question, Sasha nodded.
“It’s simple. If the ghost that possessed you is the cause, then temporarily separating that ghost from your body will do.”
“…!”
Such a method!
I looked at Saya, who was beside me.
Saya sighed softly and nodded.
“Okay. I just have to leave your body, right? I’ll leave.”
She was a ghost who understood quickly.
Being released from possession was a very peculiar sensation.
Like something was being pulled out from inside my body?
I momentarily felt a loss of strength in my body.
Saya temporarily resided in Sasha’s body, and the two seemed surprisingly compatible.
According to Senior Fuma, a normal person’s health would be seriously affected if Saya possessed them.
When I asked about her physical condition, Sasha waved her hand dismissively.
“The cold in Russia is much stronger than this. The current body temperature is just perfect for drinking vodka.”
She seemed to be serious about it.
It made me feel like the odd one out for worrying.
“Anyway, I thought ghosts were supposed to look scarier, but you look quite ordinary, which is surprising.”
Sasha said this while glancing at Saya’s face floating beside her.
Originally, she couldn’t see ghosts, but it seemed like she had acquired the ability to see them due to being possessed.
“Your hair color seems more unusual than me being a ghost.”
“My hair color is a proud inheritance from my mother.”
“…Sorry.”
Was this the real her?
I was surprised to see Saya apologize so readily.
Because the Saya I knew was an insincere tsundere.
Anyway, since their relationship didn’t seem too bad, I felt relieved and ready to leave.
“Please take care of her for the next three days. She may be blunt, but she’s a good person.”
“Leave it to me.”
I looked at Saya floating in the air.
“I’ll come to pick you up in three days, so be good and listen to Sasha.”
“…Am I some kind of pet?”
“It kind of feels like it.”
“Kyaaaak!”
I quickly fled from Saya, who hissed like a cat.
I planned to recover as much yang energy as possible in three days and then pick her up on Sunday.
On my way home after meeting Sasha, I called Senior Fuma.
“Kim Yu-seong? What’s up all of a sudden?”
“No, nothing much; I just wanted to ask something.”
I said that and then explained the current situation.
“So, you want to quickly recover the yang energy you’ve spent?”
“Yes. There are only three days left until school starts.”
Then, after a brief silence on the other end of the phone, Senior Fuma spoke a beat later.
“Normally, there’s no special way to recover depleted qi. Just eat and sleep more than usual. Other than that, acquiring… no, never mind. Instead, I’ll recommend some food.”
Senior Fuma hesitated as if about to say something, then suddenly changed the subject to food.
“Eat lots of meat and garlic. There’s no better food for replenishing yang energy. Or you can boil turtle or eel and eat that.”
The foods she listed were all known to be good for vitality.
But I got a sense of what types of food I should eat.
“Thank you, Senior.”
“Glad to be of help. I’ll hang up now. I’m busy with my part-time job.”
“Yes. Take care.”
Click!
Apparently in a hurry, Senior Fuma abruptly ended the call.
I put my smartphone away and was about to go eat meat, as Senior Fuma recommended, when I suddenly realized something.
Normally, I would have eaten at my parents’ restaurant, but I couldn’t do that in my current form.
“Should I go for all-you-can-eat…?”
I decided to change my plan and go eat meat alone.
All-you-can-eat.
It was like an oasis for students with tight budgets.
With the money that would barely buy two servings at a regular restaurant, you could eat your fill here.
After meeting Sasha in Akihabara, I faced an unexpected problem at the most famous beef all-you-can-eat place nearby.
“Kid, are you alone? Where’s your adult?”
Ah…
I was currently in the form of an elementary school student.
So, I needed a guardian to eat at such a restaurant.
After all, they wouldn’t expect an elementary schooler to come alone for all-you-can-eat meat.
I quickly thought and replied,
“My sister said she’d be here soon, so she told me to wait here first!”
“Is that so?”
The overly kind part-timer crouched down to my eye level.
“Then follow me. I’ll show you to your sister’s table.”
“…Yes!”
Acting like an elementary schooler at my age made me want to die.
Having bought some time by bluffing to the part-timer, I sat at the table and pondered.
My plan to boldly eat alone was ruined, so now I had to call someone.
There were many faces that came to mind, but the problem was that I had to reveal my younger appearance.
Someone familiar with the underworld, available at the moment, and wouldn’t panic seeing my younger appearance…
Naturally, the options narrowed down.
‘Wait, hold on. There was that guy, too.’
I was about to call Sasha but then quickly scrolled through my phone contacts.
Fortunately, it was there.
I hesitated slightly, then made the call.
“Hello?”
A voice soon came from the other side of the phone.
I spoke to her.
“Minami? Can you come out for a moment?”