“No. For now, please have Myorang and Darong order just those. I’ll think over the rest of what we need slowly later and place another order then.”
“Tell us quickly so we can order everything together, squeak.”
“Even the amount we’re ordering right now is quite a lot. And I need to check what items we’re short on before ordering, so I can’t do it right away. So please just order those for now.”
“Got it, squeak. From next time on, make sure you check in advance what you need to buy, squeak.”
“Yes, understood.”
As Darong was about to place the order, Taiju, who had been quiet until then, opened his mouth.
“But didn’t you say we were ordering alcohol too?”
“Meow! That’s right, meow!”
“Goodness! We forgot the most important thing, squeak! Taiju, you said that really well, squeak!”
Seeing the yokai hurriedly trying to order alcohol, Jiho quickly spoke up.
“But alcohol can’t be ordered online. You have to go buy it in person.”
The moment his words fell, the yokai stared at Jiho with shocked expressions.
“Why are you only telling us that now, squeak?”
“That’s right, meow! You should’ve said something like that sooner, meow!”
“I’m sorry. Even if I can’t go buy it myself, I thought that if I called Meok-soo, he might deliver it, so I was planning to talk to him later.”
“Oh? Is that so, meow?”
“Hurry up and talk to Meok-soo, squeak.”
“As Jiho said, if we order directly from Meok-soo, he’ll take care of it. So hurry up and call him.”
When even Dae-woong, who normally didn’t talk much, urged him on, Jiho quickly called Meok-soo.
As soon as the ringing tone sounded, Meok-soo picked up the phone.
“Jiho!”
“Hello, Meok-soo. How have you been?”
“Yeah. I’ve been doing very, very well. I was actually thinking of calling you, but you beat me to it.”
“Uh… did something happen?”
“Ahahahaha! Something did happen! It’s about selling goods to yokai together with you. That’s been a huge hit!”
“Really? Is that true?”
“Yeah. The day you finished your work and left, I immediately texted the yokai. Since that day, orders have been pouring in nonstop, so I’ve been completely swamped lately.”
“I’m glad business is going well, but it must be tough for you.”
“The staff were grumbling about having too much work, but once I said I’d give them bonuses, they quieted down.”
“Haha. Really?”
“Yeah. Whether they’re humans or yokai, if you pay them well, they quiet down. But what made you call?”
“Is it possible to order alcohol as well?”
“Alcohol?”
“Yes. We can’t normally buy alcohol online, right? So I was wondering if, when I tell you directly, you might be able to deliver it.”
“Of course it’s possible! I was actually wondering why you weren’t ordering alcohol… so you’re finally ordering it now?”
At Meok-soo’s words, Jiho told him about what had happened with the yokai earlier.
“So, since we’re on the subject, I’d like to place an order.”
“Alright. I’ll bring it along with the delivery tomorrow. What kind of alcohol should I bring?”
After thinking for a moment, Jiho spoke.
“Please bring a good amount of soju, beer, and makgeolli. Ah! Do you sell wine too?”
“Of course. We have not just refined rice wine and traditional liquor, but also whiskey, champagne, vodka, and more.”
“Wow! You sell a really wide variety.”
“Our mart has everything except what we don’t have.”
“Haha! Yes. It really does seem that way. Then please send a few bottles each of refined rice wine, traditional liquor, and foreign spirits as well.”
“Alright. Got it. I’ll send every type of alcohol we have at our mart.”
“Yes, thank you. Ah! Meok-soo, are you busy tomorrow?”
“Huh? Why?”
“We’re making napa cabbage kimchi tomorrow. After we finish making the kimchi, we’re planning to have bossam together. If you have time, I wanted to invite you to come eat with us.”
“Tsk. Hearing that makes me want to eat it. Alright. I’ll make time and come tomorrow. I actually had more to tell you anyway, so let’s talk about that in person tomorrow.”
“Yes, understood. Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After ending the call with Meok-soo, the yokai asked with sparkling eyes.
“Did he say he’d bring it, meow?”
“From what I heard, it sounded like that, squeak. Is that right, squeak?”
“Yes. He said he’d bring it. He sells a very wide variety of alcohol, so I asked him to bring a few bottles of each.”
“Well done.”
At Dae-woong’s praise, Jiho smiled playfully and said, “I’m happy you’re praising me, Chief, but… it feels kind of strange to be praised for ordering alcohol?”
“Ahem.”
At Dae-woong’s embarrassed cough, the other yokai burst into laughter.
After chatting like that for a while, the yokai went back out into the yard.
It was time to salt the napa cabbages.
The enormous amount—five hundred heads—was daunting, but just like in the morning, if the yokai lent a hand, it would be finished faster than expected.
Just as he had found online, Jiho dissolved salt in water and spoke.
“First, we’ll dip the cabbages we cut earlier into the brine one by one. Then, sprinkle salt between the leaves and stack them neatly in those containers.”
As he demonstrated and explained, the yokai once again began sprinkling salt onto the cabbages with quick hands from their respective spots.
The cabbages began filling the dozens of containers that had been prepared, and with the final step of pouring brine over the top, all the work was finished.
Seeing the large pile of cabbages become salted in an instant, Jiho marveled once more.
‘Wow… at this rate, we could really make kimchi and sell it. Should I suggest it to Meok-soo?’
As he was thinking that, the yokai who had finished all the work approached and asked, “Is it all done now, meow?”
“Ah, yes. After sprinkling a bit more salt near the base of the cabbages, you just need to put something heavy on top. And every few hours, you need to flip them over. That way, the cabbages will be evenly salted.”
“Got it, squeak. We’ll take care of that ourselves, so you rest now, Jiho, squeak.”
Being told to rest when he felt like he hadn’t done anything made Jiho look embarrassed.
“I’m really not tired at all. Before I could even do anything, you all did everything.”
“We’re strong, so it’s fine, meow. We’re different from humans like you, meow.”
“That’s right, squeak. Seeing you not even able to pull the cart properly earlier really surprised me, squeak.”
At Darong’s words, Jiho protested indignantly.
“Even someone else who’s really strong wouldn’t have been able to pull that! It was seriously heavy!”
Seeing that, the yokai burst into laughter.
Since the work ended earlier than expected, the yokai said they would come back later and returned to their respective homes.
Taiju went out to check on the farmland he was tending, and Jiho went into the kitchen with Haehwa to review the items they needed to order.
Yeonho, who had been following behind with Baekseol, spoke to Jiho.
“Jiho!”
“Huh? What is it?”
“I want to eat that cake we had last time! Can you ask Meok-soo to buy some when he comes tomorrow?”
“Ah… I said I’d buy it for you often, but I haven’t been able to bring it even once since then. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay! You’ve been busy too. And going out just for that would be ridiculous. It takes over an hour by car. And it’s extremely hot outside these days.”
“That’s true. It’s summer now, so it must be really hot outside. Being here, I keep forgetting.”
“Yeah. So don’t go out and tire yourself—just ask Meok-soo to buy it when he comes!”
“Haha! Alright. I’ll ask Meok-soo.”
Haehwa, who had been listening to their conversation, asked with a curious expression.
“What is it that Yeonho is asking you to buy?”
“Ah! It’s a snack from another country, like the cookies you had last time. Humans usually eat it on birthdays or when there’s something to celebrate, but these days, they often buy it as a snack even without that.”
“It’s super sweet and delicious! When you put it in your mouth, it just melts away!”
At Yeonho’s words, Haehwa looked like she wanted to try it too.
Seeing that, Jiho quickly called Meok-soo and asked if he could buy some cake.
When Meok-soo readily agreed, Jiho asked him to buy a variety, including whipped cream cake, cheesecake, and chocolate cake.
After hanging up, Yeonho asked with an anxious expression.
“He said he’d buy it?”
“Yeah. He said he’d bring several different flavors too, not just the one we had last time.”
“Wow! I’m so excited!”
At the sight of Yeonho happily wagging his tail, Jiho and Haehwa burst into laughter.
“Seeing Yeonho like that, it really must be delicious.”
“Yes. I’m sure both you and Taiju will like it too.”
“Thanks to you, I’ve been eating lots of delicious things and having a really enjoyable time these days. Thank you so much.”
“Ah… no! How is it because of me? It’s all thanks to the other yokai. You don’t need to thank me.”
“Of course, I’m grateful to everyone else too. But if you hadn’t come here, we wouldn’t have been able to mingle with each other to this extent. Yokai have lived in this village for a very long time, but eating together and spending time like this every day is something new.”
At Haehwa’s words, Jiho scratched his cheek with an awkward expression.
Then, a question came to mind, and he spoke.
“But there’s something I’m curious about. Didn’t you say that there was another human who stayed here before me?”
“Yes. A very long time ago, there was a little girl who lived here.”
“Ah… she was a woman? But when she stayed here, did you not eat together like we do now?”
“The reason we can eat such a variety of foods now is because the outside world has become abundant, right? And because you can remove the turbid energy…”
“Yes. That’s true.”
“But in the past, except for nobles or the wealthy, food wasn’t abundant. Of course, here in Yoiri, crops grow quickly as long as you plant them, so compared to the outside world, food was plentiful. Still, it was mostly just potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn. And as you know, we yokai don’t really need to eat food. So unless it was a yokai like Darong who enjoys eating, we didn’t go out of our way to find food.”
“....”
“The girl named Seong who lived here before also had the ‘Hand of Purification’ like you, but her ability was different from yours. She had the power to purify evil spirits.”
“Evil spirits?”
“Yes. Sometimes among ghosts or yokai, there are those who harbor evil intentions and become evil spirits. Seong had the power to purify such evil spirits.”
“Ah…”
“I don’t know the details, but before she drifted into this village, there was said to have been a great war in the human world. Perhaps because of that, there were more evil spirits than usual. She was originally a shaman in the human world, and after realizing her power, she tried to eliminate evil spirits. As she traveled the country purifying them, she gradually became famous, and groups that ostracized her began to appear. They were probably afraid of her strength, which was too powerful for a human. After that, while eliminating evil spirits for humans, she was eventually hurt by humans, wandered, and drifted into this village. She lived here and eventually closed her eyes.”
“....”
“When Seong first came here, perhaps because of the wounds in her heart, she stayed shut inside her house and didn’t come out. The yokai simply watched over her. Later, after she recovered somewhat, she began to mingle with the yokai, but not like now, eating together. I didn’t see her much myself, but Seong was a very kind child. However, because her emotional wounds were deep, she couldn’t actively mingle with the yokai like you do, Jiho. Since my husband and I didn’t come out of the stream, we don’t know all the details, but perhaps this kind of lively life is a first for the other yokai as well.”
At Haehwa’s words, Yeonho nodded and spoke loudly.
“That’s right. Before, even if we saw each other separately, we rarely all gathered together! So these days, every single day is so much fun!”
As Yeonho said that, he rubbed his body against Jiho’s leg.