1.
I had been passing peaceful days. As I was spending another quiet day in my domain, a ruckus reached my ears.
“…What is it?”
Noise coming from a place where, normally, there should be none. When such a noise was heard, there was usually only one cause.
Humans had entered my domain.
“What could humans have come in for this time?”
Ordinarily, they did not come. There was nothing in my domain that they wanted. And yet, if someone had entered, it meant they were no ordinary humans. Someone a little unusual… no, strange had come looking.
2.
A place where no one lived. Ordinarily, it was somewhere no one would even think of coming.
“Professor, do you really think there’s something here?”
“Yes, there should be. It’s a place people rarely visit, but oddly enough, there’s a tomb here. A human tomb, at that.”
There were no people. But traces of people existed. In that case, it meant there was something here.
“There’s something here… but will it be all right? Usually, when there’s something in a place like this, isn’t it mostly the kind of thing that isn’t friendly to us?”
“Mm, that’s true as well.”
There was certainly a chance that something not friendly to us would be waiting. Still, considering that nothing had come at us yet, it was fine for now. Of course, I couldn’t be sure what would happen after that.
“Hmm.”
A signpost… or at least something that looked that way. It was so old it had weathered away.
“What do you think was written on it?”
“I don’t know, but usually, when something like this exists… it’s meant to inform someone. To warn them so they won’t lose their way, or to warn them not to enter at all.”
Which was it? There wasn’t much time to think about that. We couldn’t stay here forever either.
“For now, let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
3.
As someone who majored in archaeology, moments like this, going out on an exploration, could be called enjoyable. Of course, it depended on the place.
“It’s eerie.”
“Because it must be a place without people. And since there aren’t even any bones here that look human, perhaps that makes it even more so.”
There should at least be bones. That was what the professor had told me. If there weren’t even bones, then it meant there was nothing here. Then what about the tomb discovered here? The answer to that question came relatively quickly.
“It could be the trace of someone who fled, or the trace of someone who was driven out.”
“Nothing was known about the inside of the tomb, was there?”
“No, nothing. All they knew was that it seemed to be a rather old tomb. To begin with, it’s a mystery how this place was discovered at all.”
It was a miracle in itself that a human tomb had been found in a place with no people. No, since there was nothing here to begin with, perhaps it had been relatively easy to find. In any case, it had ultimately been discovered, and we had come here.
“Is this a lizard?”
What we saw while wandering around was a carving. It was so old there was no way to tell what it was, but it was definitely a carving. And its shape was probably that of a lizard.
“Could this be a place related to lizards or reptiles?”
“I don’t know, but it must mean something. Don’t touch it for too long. It could be something strange, after all. You haven’t forgotten how last time you casually touched a cursed object and ended up changing sex, have you?”
“Ah, of course not.”
Who could have known that among the relics there would be an object containing a curse that changed one’s sex? Thanks to that, I had become a woman now, but in truth there wasn’t much inconvenience. My sex had simply changed, that was all. It didn’t have much effect on my work as an archaeologist. Having to listen to the professor’s endless nagging was another matter.
4.
Usually, those who came here were people who had lost their way. It was absurd that they would go out of their way to come here and get lost, but they had gotten lost, and I made sure there would be no trouble by showing them the way out. In that case, what should I do about those two who had deliberately set foot here now? Were they even lost to begin with? For that, there was no fear in their actions. The two of them lacked the unique fear of people who had lost their way.
“…Hm, are they not lost?”
If they were not lost, then it meant their destination had been this place from the beginning. People who had lost all sense of fear might come here, but even so, it was not the sort of place one would deliberately choose. That was also one reason I had made it my domain. In that case, there was usually only one thing I could think of. If they were aiming for this place, then it was either about me, or about something here. And excluding anything about me, that left what was here.
“Did they come to pay respects?”
There had been people like that not long ago, too. It was not the sort of place one would come all this way merely to mourn, and surely no one would have known him. I cannot grasp their intent. Should I approach? But there is no benefit to be gained by going up to those humans. Nothing but driving away uninvited guests.
“…Should I watch a little longer?”
5.
“Professor, it feels like we’re getting deeper and deeper.”
“Yes, and the farther we go in, the more I feel as though we won’t be able to get back out.”
It was strange. We were going deeper into this place. At this point, getting out would not be easy. And yet we were walking straight ahead. We were clearly heading toward the mysterious grave said to be here. But we weren’t getting lost.
“Any bones on the ground?”
“None.”
There were no bones. In a graveyard that must have existed here for a long time, even though we were approaching it, there were no missing people. It wouldn’t have been strange for someone to have gotten lost, disappeared, and left traces behind. Just as I was wondering why that wasn’t the case—
“You haven’t lost your way. Rather, you’re walking straight ahead, are you?”
“Professor, that voice just now…”
“Yes, someone is here.”
The ones heading here today were the two of us. Other than us, no one was going to this place. To begin with, there was no one who would even decide to come. Under those circumstances, hearing a voice was impossible.
“Who are you?”
“Usually, when you say that, aren’t you supposed to introduce yourself first? Still, well… I suppose it doesn’t matter. Seo Eunha. One who has settled in this place. Ordinarily, I have no intention of speaking with the likes of you, but since your purpose in coming here is quite obvious, I have revealed myself.”
She was not human. Her appearance was clearly not something one could call human. A reptilian beastperson—that thought did come to mind, but even that was a little different. As I stared at her, I recalled the carvings we had seen while passing through. Statues in the shape of lizards or reptiles. If those had not been modeled after lizards or some other reptile, then—
“Could you be… a dragon?”
There was only one thing I could think of.
6.
“To think you would take such an interest in a single person’s grave.”
Archaeologists. I knew nothing about them. The era when I had been active was different from the present. Whatever purpose they had for coming here was none of my concern.
“There is nothing here that you want. In any case, he was not the sort of fellow who left behind anything so impressive.”
“Did you know the owner of this grave?”
“Of course I knew him. I made this grave. When a man who had lost all fear boldly said he would settle here, what do you think I did?”
He was a man with nothing left behind except this grave. His audacity was impressive, but in the end, he was only a man who lived a wretched life. He knew that fact well, too. That in the end, nothing would remain to him.
“How did you come to know about this man’s grave?”
“We heard a story. That there was some kind of grave here, and that if we investigated it, perhaps something might come out of it.”
“…Hm.”
I did not know who had told what story, but it seemed that story had not spread widely. If it had, the ones here now might not have been two, but more. For me… should I call that fortunate? At least no one more than this would be setting foot in my domain.
“Follow me.”
For now, it would be best to humor them moderately and send them on their way. There likely would not be anything here that would interest them, but people all saw different things and wished to see different things.
7.
The place we arrived at under her guidance was a cave. A cave with nothing particularly special in it.
“What kind of place is this?”
“My dwelling. The place where I live. There is nothing special. You are uninvited guests, but that does not mean I can simply leave you be. I refuse to deal with troublesome matters.”
“…I see.”
I could not understand at all. What she was thinking as she looked at us so calmly.
“…Hm. Are you that curious? About the owner of that grave.”
“I suppose so. It doesn’t seem to be a grave made recently. Could you perhaps tell us when it was made?”
“When it was made… I don’t remember the exact time, but I believe it was during the period when the king was running mad. Around then, they also said that the yangban fellows were nearly all dying off.”
“That’s…”
“It was probably the Joseon period, wasn’t it?”
“Most likely.”