The Guide

 

“But the face was the same as one of the portraits hanging in the mansion.”

 

“If there is a portrait in the house, it means that it was a member of the family.
But how come ancestors harm their descendants?”

 

“It’s not common, but…, You know.”

 

Ordinary ancestors try to care for or protect their descendants as much as possible, even if they do not have a very good personality.
Therefore, it is highly likely that the deceased, who has committed murder only on their offspring for hundreds of years, has had a tremendous grudge against someone or is out of control.

 

“Anyway, the evil spirit that has endured hundreds of years while continuing to harm people cannot be solved by the ordinary guides.
Ability is not necessarily proportional to time, but the difference in experience is large.
Humans who have not lived for 100 years are not even considered an opponent to its eyes.”

 

“Then does the CEO take care of all those evil spirits?”

 

Gaon smiled and shook her head slowly at Ji-Won’s question. I wish I could, but….

 

“It is practically impossible.
First of all, there are so many cases where it is not revealed if it is the work of the deceased.
I try to deal with what I find out somehow as much as possible, but unfortunately I have one body.”

 

“I guess you go on business trips like this a lot.”

 

“No.
It hasn’t been long since I started going on a business trip.
Now I can move freely between continents because of the development of the transportation system, so I can go anywhere I want.
But it took more than two months when I first came to England.
Before that, I could only travel by land.
It was also difficult to go around often at that time.”

 

I’ve never seen her talk this long since I got to know the CEO.
Her voice is so nice. Ji-Won, who was briefly distracted by the voice that was nicer and more resonant than the content of the conversation, did not respond as quickly as usual even after hearing the words that reached his ears.
The question came a little late.

 

“Two months… two months? What did you ride here?”

 

“Well.
First I took a boat from Yokohama to San Francisco, then I took a train from there and moved East, and then I took a boat again from New York.
It was the fastest way back then.
And it was almost the only way.
At that time, the Trans-Siberian Railway was under construction, so I had to walk to Europe by land, but I couldn’t waste that much time.”

 

Ji-Won’s eyes grew bigger and bigger as he listened to the astonishing journey of Gaon.
The Trans-Siberian Railway…, It was under construction? Didn’t it start building around in the early 1900s? What year was “The Barber of Siberia”* set?

 

 

[T/N: The Barber of Siberia (Russian: Сибирский цирюльник, translit.
Sibirskiy tsiryulnik) is a 1998 Russian film.]

 

“When was that?”

 

“In 1896.
The season changed when I went back.”

 

Huh, 19th century…! At the moment, Ji-Won had to bite his molars to avoid spouting curses.
Of course, he guessed that Gaon was much older than she looked.
First of all, the aura that she revealed wasn’t common for women in their early twenties to show.
She didn’t seem to have a rude personality, but the characteristics that came out when dealing with employees were so natural.

 

When they greeted a local employee who came to receive them at the airport yesterday, Ji-Won felt that Gaon was strangely using old-fashioned English.
It wasn’t a long conversation, and all she asked was a few questions while listening to a simple situation report.
But there was a word that Ji-Won, who lived in a country whose native language is English for more than 10 years, heard for the first time.
Still, he didn’t know it was beyond the century.

 

Then how old is she? Is she even human?

 

“At that time, the situation in London was very serious.
The air quality was so bad that it was hard to breathe.
I had a sore throat for a long time after I went back.
I think it was the time of the Great Smog of London*.”

 

 

[T/N: The Great Smog of London, or Great Smog of 1952, was a severe air pollution event that affected London, England, in December 1952.
It lasted from Friday 5 December to Tuesday 9 December 1952, then dispersed quickly when the weather changed.]

 

 

“…what?”

 

Gaon, who was looking at the scenery with a faint look, slowly turned her head.
For some reason, Ji-Won’s voice seemed to have changed completely along with his expression.
But as she tried to look closely at his expression, the doorbell rang to announce the arrival of the visitor.

 

“CEO, get ready.
It seems that Jayden is here.”

 

“…yes.”

 

Gaon was a little worried because the atmosphere suddenly seemed to have become serious, but she couldn’t afford to take care of Ji-Won’s mood.
Gaon, who gently got up from her seat, tightened her loose tie neatly, opened the closet, and took out a neatly ironed jacket and put it on.
It was time for her to start her mission as the CEO.

 

 

****

 

 

Gaon, who was resting in a comfortable posture, straightened her back and looked sharply when the old house, which preserved the appearance of the Middle Ages, came into view.
As soon as the party entered Chester, the clear sky gradually darkened, and by the time it reached Rosenvalov Castle, it began to rain one or two drops.
Ji-Won was familiar with the rainy weather in England, but this rain was somehow unusual.

 

Doesn’t it feel like winter rain? It’s so warm, but it’s so cold…. Ji-Won couldn’t quite describe weather events, but the rain was quite intimidating.
As if it had its own will.
I’ve definitely felt this similar sensation somewhere….
Ji-Won, who was watching the growing raindrops tapping the car window, suddenly realized something.

 

“This rain… Is the CEO making it?”

 

“Why do you think so?”

 

“Because it’s the same energy as when you summoned a sword in Jungcheon before.”

 

Gaon, who had been calm for a moment, raised her eyebrows with a look of great surprise.
Among the senior guides she often contacts with, it was only a small part of them that could distinguish her energy.

 

“No one has ever noticed it at once.”

 

 

“I just guessed.
It’s too coincidental that the timing of the rain starting to fall was a coincidence.”

 

“You’re smart.”

 

At Gaon’s pure admiration, Ji-Won closed his mouth and smiled vaguely.
He was treated like a child again in just a day, but this time he couldn’t even complain.
In her eyes, he, the Chief of Security, and Hae-Soo all are probably the same children anyway.