53. A Shadow Cast Upon the Wind (4)
Inside the Gate set against the backdrop of the Pung Empire, the city looked like a silent place where every person had vanished and nothing remained—but that did not mean there were no people in every location.
Life most certainly existed inside the Persona Gate as well.
It was simply that they were unreal NPCs, beings who moved according to fixed stories and predetermined fates.
At the noisy sound of chatter all around them, Hong Biyeon’s face twisted in obvious irritation. It was an expression that only appeared when she was truly in a foul mood, so under normal circumstances Baek Yuseol would have acted with considerable care—but not now.
“Oh… looks like this one is set a hundred and fifty years in the past?”
As Baek Yuseol stepped into the marketplace with curiosity and observed the surroundings, Hong Biyeon also flicked her gaze around.
It was not as if she had often visited the Pung Empire, but the style of dress and the atmosphere of the buildings were certainly too old-fashioned to be called modern.
“See those Nine-Wheel Masks over there? They were masks mainly used by a famous assassin two centuries ago. Supposedly he killed corrupt rich people, stole their money, and handed it out to the poor. To the people of that era, he must have felt like some kind of hero.”
Strange masks painted with nine wheels were lying around everywhere, and some people were even wearing them.
Hong Biyeon could not understand what was supposed to be so cool about those things at all, but she quickly realized that trying to understand the culture of a foreign country from a hundred and fifty years ago was itself a pointless thing to do.
“Then is this called the Legend of the Nine-Wheel Mask?”
“No, not that. This one’s just a novel. Like Hong Gil-dong or Sherlock Holmes…”
“Sherlock?”
“No, never mind that. Anyway, there’s no real reason for us to stay here, so let’s go.”
Once again, Baek Yuseol took Hong Biyeon’s hand and led her onward. The market was so densely packed that if they were separated even for a moment, they could get lost in the crowd. Of course, if he used his glasses, finding her would not be a problem at all—but he judged there was no need to waste any more time than necessary.
The false crowd. The false noise.
None of it reached Hong Biyeon’s ears anymore.
She was not in the mood to be bothered by fakes.
According to the logic of one certain mage, the NPCs inside Persona Gates might in fact be real beings, alive and breathing in some other world…
But that was only a hypothesis.
She had no desire to waste time or attention on beings whose existence as true living lifeforms could not even be confirmed.
A short while later, once they left the market, night fell in an instant and a bright half-moon hung in the sky.
It was a phenomenon that occurred whenever they crossed from one story into another—time and place changed together.
For example, when they entered the legend of a werewolf that transformed beneath the full moon, the background became a full moonlit night; and when they entered the Nine-Wheel Mask tale, about a righteous thief hiding among the people, the backdrop became a crowded market under broad daylight.
“Nighttime folktales are dangerous, so be careful. Don’t get reckless.”
Baek Yuseol was receiving guidance far more precise than the Guideline Message through his glasses anyway, but he still did not forget to warn Hong Biyeon.
Because in the original game, she was always the one to raise a death flag first.
And normally, whenever he teased her like this, Hong Biyeon would get furious and snap at him, and every time she did, Baek Yuseol could see the tension easing from her shoulders—so he had a habit of deliberately provoking her whenever situations like this came up.
“…I’m not a child.”
“Huh? Ah, yeah, I know that.”
But Hong Biyeon, though grumbling, did not really scold him.
He had said it expecting to get cursed at, but when the other person did nothing more than complain quietly, the situation somehow turned awkward in its own way.
This time, Baek Yuseol took the folktale slowly and carefully.
It felt like the most common sort of moralistic children’s folktale where good punished evil—but once you actually cracked those stories open, there were often plenty of hidden dangers, like tigers that possessed intelligence, walked on two legs, disguised themselves, and even mimicked human voices, so one had to move with caution.
Because when a powerful beast possessed intelligence on par with a human’s, it became something far more terrifying than one might imagine.
“…What are those two doing?”
By the time it had become the third day, Ryu Derick was gradually growing weary of pursuing Baek Yuseol.
Or rather, perhaps “bored” would be the more accurate word than “weary.”
He had never imagined that doing nothing but trailing along behind a junior like this could be so irritating.
“Are those bastards on a date or what…?”
By now, Ryu Derick was almost certain of it. Maybe not Baek Yuseol, but Princess Hong Biyeon’s reactions were decidedly strange.
Ryu Derick, too, was in Class A, second year, and he had been keeping a close eye on the movements of the first-year freshmen. Since Princess Hong Biyeon was so famous, he was also quite well acquainted with her personality.
“Was the princess really always like that?”
A master of killing with a single razor-edged phrase.
With a face more beautiful than an angel’s and purer than a fairy’s, she wore a cold sneer while trampling people’s pride and shredding even their souls apart with venom-filled words.
Was that not Hong Biyeon Adolevit?
“So that really is Princess Hong Biyeon?”
What in the world had happened to the Hong Biyeon he thought he knew? The woman before Ryu Derick now…
was nothing more than an utterly ordinary girl.
“How does a duck tie its shoelaces?”
“I don’t care.”
“Tightly.”
“Puhahaha!”
Fwoosh!!
But a moment later, as he watched a ball of flame go flying at Baek Yuseol, Ryu Derick corrected his own thoughts.
“Hm, no. I was mistaken after all.”
Seeing that violently blazing figure, it became obvious that the Hong Biyeon he knew had not vanished anywhere.
So how long did he continue following after Baek Yuseol?
Only after the moon had set and risen several times over did they finally arrive somewhere that could truly be called their destination.
“…So this is it.”
Ryu Derick looked at the Guideline Message and frowned.
He had never expected them to reach the final destination this quickly and this smoothly.
It looked as though they had done nothing but flirt and go on dates, yet when he reviewed the record of their progress, it was so thorough, calculated, and flawless that he could not find a single point to criticize.
“This is just…”
Ryu Derick let out a deep sigh and lowered the score sheets for Baek Yuseol and Hong Biyeon.
There was no point continuing to lurk for some opportunity to interfere.
All it would bring him now was a sense of self-loathing.
It had already been three days since Anella became trapped in this village. She was beginning to realize that, for some reason, she had been imprisoned here and could no longer get out.
“This isn’t a barrier, and it isn’t an illusion either.”
Hidden in the grass like a squirrel, every nerve wound taut as she scanned her surroundings, Anella looked terrible.
Her clothes had been torn to rags, and because she had suffered countless small wounds all over her body, they were stained red with blood.
She had somehow torn the remaining strips of cloth to stanch the bleeding, but that only meant even less of her body remained protected, and if she ran into the villagers again, she might suffer even worse injuries next time.
“How do I get out?”
Her hair was soaked with cold sweat, which should have been miserably unpleasant, but right now she did not care about such things in the slightest.
“Where is it?!”
“Check over there!”
“Damn it, that monster bitch. Where did it disappear to?!”
“If we don’t find it before the sun goes down, it’ll all be for nothing! Hurry!”
The villagers were racing busily through the forest trying to find her, but no matter how one looked at it, their movements were not normal. Some blasted mana beneath their feet to leap tremendous distances; others drew magic circles on the ground with their staffs and even used pursuit magic.
Yet even seeing that, Anella felt no sense of incongruity at all.
“Of course ordinary farmers use magic.”
That bizarre sort of common sense was lodged in her head.
“Haa…”
Why could she not leave the village?
She still had not solved that question.
She was certain no magical power was interfering. If it were, Anella—Darkkin, and one who could even be called a master of mental arts—would never have failed to notice it.
“It feels like space itself is twisted.”
She had definitely run straight out beyond the village, yet at some point, whenever she came back to her senses, she had returned to the village again.
Running away, being chased, running away, being chased—the same moment repeated over and over.
There were around ten farmers in total pursuing her, and because they took turns five at a time, they showed no signs of growing tired. But Anella was starting to feel the limits of her stamina.
For three days now, she had not slept a wink.
Nor had she been able to drink even a single mouthful of water. To Darkkin, human blood was in truth even more necessary than food, so if she truly wished, all she had to do was grab one of those human farmers wandering the forest carelessly on his own and snap his neck.
It would be easy.
No matter how weakened she was, there was no way Anella could lose to such pitiful little farmers.
Anella’s perfect trait would let her destroy only a human’s mind and obtain blood in its pure form. If she only replenished her stamina, she would have no reason to keep being chased around by mere humans.
“…I don’t want that.”
Her lips were dry and cracking.
How long had it been since she last drank blood? She had endured this hunger and thirst until now.
She did not want to directly harm a human for a reason as paltry as this.
“Because I’m human.”
Because I will become human.
“I can endure it…”
The Darkkin used to say:
A Darkkin starved of blood could not withstand the phenomenon of energy depletion, and would eventually rampage, lose all reason, and become a mindless monster.
But Anella did not.
Rather than becoming a monster…
she was able to think even more coolly and rationally, with a mind that felt clearer and cleaner than before.
“This is proof that I’m becoming human.”
There was no doubt.
Anella believed that firmly.
With trembling hands, she reached toward her chest. Ever since Baek Yuseol had given it to her, whenever she felt anxious, she would clutch that talisman tightly and pray.
But now, there was only emptiness.
“Ah…”
Baek Yuseol’s talisman, whose whereabouts she no longer knew after it had been stolen by the witch.
Why did its absence feel so unusually large?
“My, why are you acting so boring~?”
Then a sinister voice whispered by her ear.
It was unmistakably that witch’s tone of speech.
The instant Anella jolted and lifted her head, the tree above the clump of grass where she was hiding snapped and crashed to the ground.
“If you’re going to do it, do it properly~!”
“Wah?!”
Crash! Boom!
Anella struck a tree, then a rock, and tumbled miserably to the ground. In an instant, the villagers came swarming over.
“Over hereee!!”
She staggered, trying to rise, but her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. She could not stay here, though, so clutching at a tree with all her might, Anella forced herself up and squeezed out the strength to run again.
But she had already lost far too much strength.
It was impossible for her to flee very far.
KRA-BOOM!!
A blue magic circle formed in midair and lightning struck Anella’s body, while shards of rock erupted from the ground and bound her limbs in place.
A deluge of water. A baptism of flames.
Only after Anella’s body finally sagged limp, having been struck by all manner of magic, did the villagers—
no, the first-year cadets of Stella—
stop their attack.
“Finally got her…”
“Whew, that was seriously exhausting.”
“This is definitely the Forgotten Folktale the Guideline Message was talking about, right?”
“Yeah. The senior guaranteed it, didn’t he?”
The cadets crept closer to Anella, who hung there weakly, restrained in stone. A form no one could possibly call human—black mottled patterns giving the impression of something pretending to be a person.
That appearance instinctively repulsed them, and the cadets frowned.
“D-do we really have to kill it? It’s so disgusting.”
“Then what are you going to do? Offer to shake hands and make peace now?”
“If you’re not going to do it, then step back. I’ll kill it and take the bonus points.”
“N-no. I’ll do it too.”
The students edged forward toward Anella, who looked as if she had lost consciousness. But when her fingertips and head suddenly twitched, they all backed away in unison, as though they had rehearsed it.
“D-don’t wuss out!”
“You backed off because of her too!”
Ashamed that they had become frightened of some monster that had already lost all its strength, the cadets instead snapped at one another.
“Let’s get this over with and go. I feel sick just doing this.”
“It’s pitiful that it was born a monster, but… it’s only a fake life anyway.”
“Right. No need to ruin our mood over a fake.”
Even as they said that, no one was willing to step forward first. At last, a male student from Class A lost patience, rolled up his sleeve, and approached Anella.
“Move. I’ll do it myself.”
The moment he raised his staff over her head and began to chant—
“One last chance~”
A bleak wind stirred from somewhere, and a small cut suddenly opened on the male student’s forearm, blood beginning to drip from it.
“Ugh!”
At the sudden pain, the boy hurriedly stepped back—but the pool of blood that had fallen to the ground did not disappear.
“Such a sweet smell…”
Familiar, unpleasant, yet desperately craved.
At the scent of that blood, Anella unconsciously opened her eyes and looked down at the ground.
It lay there within reach—close enough to touch if she only lowered her head a little.
“A mage’s blood…”
It was not much, only enough to scoop up in one palm, but for Anella, it was enough.
More than enough to destroy the minds of every student present and bring the whole village crashing down.
“Now there’s no more chance~! If you’re human, then act like a human! If you’re Darkkin, then act like Darkkin! Everyone has their own predetermined fate and role, you know. And you, in your arrogance, tried to defy that.”
“Look at you—trampled by mere human children who haven’t even lived twenty years! Do you understand now the price of trying to go against fate?”
As the witch’s voice echoed in her ears, Anella’s mind grew more and more hazy.
“Accept your fate. Submit to it. What was it Baek Yuseol said when he gave you that talisman? Did he tempt you with sweet words that fate could be changed? Anyone can tell those were lies, can’t they? Because you’re Darkkin. A stupid Darkkin, easy to use!”
Drip.
A bead of sweat fell and mixed with the blood.
At some point, Anella’s gaze had become fixed on that pool of blood.
“Drink it. You have the makings of a witch. If you drink it, I’ll share my blood with you. You still won’t become human, but I can at least let you live a life better than that of a Darkkin.”
Temptation of every kind dug into Anella’s mind.
Human blood.
The life of a witch.
To devour all of those desires and pleasures—
and then slaughter every human before her, every one who had tormented her.
“Just imagining it feels exquisite, doesn’t it?”
It was true.
Just thinking about it was delightful, thrilling, pleasure surging up from the deepest part of her heart.
And so, Anella…
“…Kill me.”
closed her eyes.
“Huh?”
“There isn’t… even a soul left in me that can enjoy pleasure anymore…”
“W-wait. What are you saying, child?”
She had come too far, and suffered too much, to chase after pleasure now.
Her mind had been shredded to pieces, her soul worn down until there was nothing left.
If there was only one thing she wanted now, it was this:
to close her eyes as a human, at least in her final moment.
“This is how… I become human.”
To cast off every black temptation—
and meet death.
“My dream… is fulfilled through death.”
Was that not, truly, a very human sort of death?
[Read only on MugenCodex.]
