It was the murky dawn as the day broke. A drizzling rain fell, amplifying the dismal atmosphere, making it a day more suitable than any other for the use of Sorcery.
Kim Si-in, dressed in long black clothing similar to a priest's robe, had his eyes closed tightly as if swallowing down regret. A man, whose face was a mess from how much he had wept, was kneeling before Kim Si-in.
The man, who kept moving his lips for a long time trying to decide what to say, looked at Kim Si-in's closed face with a long, desperate gaze.
"If I truly do that, then my younger sibling... they can live, right?"
The man's voice trembled visibly with uncontainable anxiety.
Kim Si-in slowly opened his eyes, and his gaze was immeasurably cold, like the gentle waves of winter.
The man who saw Kim Si-in's eyes seemed to realize something, and a renewed redness swelled up in his own eyes as fresh tears welled up.
"I know. I know, but now that the day is approaching, my heart feels infinitely frail. My heart believes in that person without a doubt. However, my mind keeps putting on the brakes. Reverend Kim. Please tell me once more, definitively. That my younger sibling will not die."
It was truly a voice of profound grief. As if representing his emotions, the man's hands moved without rest—clinching and relaxing his fists, rubbing and wringing his wrists, massaging the back of his neck, and pushing back his hair.
How immense must the anxiety be that had swallowed the man's spirit? Kim Si-in, seeming to pity the man, calmly comforted him.
"Are you doubting the miracles you have seen up until now?" "I've done this much, but what if, even so..."
Gently wrapping his arm around the shoulders of the man who was nervously chewing his fingernails, Kim Si-in whispered into the man's ear.
"Do not doubt that person's power. Rely on memory. Recall the final fate of those who were not chosen."
The man nodded passionately at every single word from Kim Si-in, and then, bursting into tears, buried himself in Kim Si-in's arms.
"Look into my eyes."
The man, as if entranced, lifted his face, which was smeared with tears and snot. He gazed into the warm, yellow eyes, like a perfectly ripened tangerine.
A gaze so warm that merely looking at it brought peace to the heart and made all worry and anxiety disappear.
"You are the one chosen by that person. Perform the mission given by the heavens with all your heart and all your spirit."
Though his voice was infinitely gentle, when the man recalled what he had to do next, fine goosebumps rose on the back of his neck.
"Bring the soul. A clean, untainted soul that has not been defiled."
The anxiety and fear in the man's eyes began to burn with determination as he focused on his goal, guided by Kim Si-in's voice gently melting into his mind.
Clasping their hands together desperately, as if in prayer, the two chanted in unison.
"Until the last remaining pair of brown eyes in the world disappears." "Until the last remaining pair of brown eyes in the world disappears."