EP.64 The Puppet Progenitor and the Unpleasant Puppet Show
People are always amidst temptation.
This proposition requires no verification of its truth or falsehood. For humans face a great trial every single morning.
Whether to savor happiness for a few more minutes in a comfortable bed and warm blankets, or to cast that aside and stand before the frightening world. Every day, as humans retire to bed, they inevitably confront the harsh trial they will face the next morning.
The vast majority of humans overcome this trial and take a step forward into the rough world. Not because they possess courage, but because they cannot survive otherwise. Yet that does not deny the fact that they have achieved victory.
Take pride, oh humans. You are beings who fight the morning and win every single time.
Well, unless you're a vampire capable of sleeping for 300 consecutive years in a coffin, the story would be a bit different. Anyway, such is humanity.
Be that as it may.
"Woof! Woof woof!"
The very thing that renders even such a trial unnecessary was the Military Nation's alarm clock, or rather, the puppy King Aji who had volunteered to substitute for it.
They forcibly drag people to their feet, robbing me of even the right to face my trial. Brutally pruning away all other options, they force a single path upon me.
They are certainly convenient. Efficient.
But there is no anguish there. No reflection gained through suffering, no growth achieved through it.
Get lost, dog.
You're not even the king of chickens. Why do you covet my right to be noble?
I will agonize a little longer in this soft blanket and achieve my delayed victory. Now begone!
"Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof!!"
"Alright, I'm sorry! I'll get up!"
Damn it. Not working at all.
After washing up as usual and wetting my hair, I slotted in a clothing packet and put on my instructor uniform. The stiff instructor uniform envelops my body.
Like all clothing packets, it's remarkably comfortable compared to its appearance, but I have one complaint. The sleeves are too narrow, making it inconvenient to hide anything inside. For a magician of my caliber, I can still slip cards into these tight sleeves, but any other magician would feel like they're wearing handcuffs.
As I stepped out of the room after hiding cards in my sleeves as always, entertaining such petty thoughts.
"Grrrrr."
"Hm?"
"Woof?"
When I looked at Aji, Aji looked back at me. Those large eyes turned toward me.
When I tilted my head, Aji tilted his head to follow.
"That's strange. Weren't you growling just now?"
"Woof?"
"Really? Never mind then."
I thought I heard something, how odd. Is Finlay nearby?
Ah, whatever. Probably nothing.
I prepared breakfast with yesterday's leftover rice. While Aji ate heartily, I merely filled my stomach and leisurely made my way down to the courtyard.
"Alright, what shall we do today... Hmm, there's not much to do. I should swindle some alchemy cards from Trainee Shei under the pretext of lessons."
I'll tell the vampire we're having a very important lesson today, butter her up, pump her full of expectations, then awkwardly back out. Then the regressor will open her wallet on her own, won't she?
The artworks the vampire possesses are expensive but impossible to use immediately, which is their drawback. Considering that, alchemy cards are truly the best. Especially since they can be materialized right away.
Hehe. I'll swipe a bunch of alchemy cards and have a new deck of cards made. Naturally, all with alchemy-conversion specifications.
As I walked along, scheming today's scam plan, I heard another peculiar thought from one side of the courtyard.
What now? Did the regressor cut off Finlay's arm again? Curious, I approached.
Then.
"I figured you'd show up sooner or later. Instructor."
The regressor and Finlay stood facing each other side by side. It was a scene reminiscent of Finlay's first day here.
However, their attitudes were the exact opposite of before. Finlay sat in a chair with a confident expression, and beside him, two Black Knights composed entirely of shimmering darkness stood in orderly fashion as if serving as his guard.
The regressor stood with her arms crossed, wearing her usual displeased expression.
I asked in bewilderment.
"What's the commotion this time? Did Trainee Shei cut off someone's arm?"
The regressor, casting a sideways glance, answered curtly.
"Not yet."
Not yet, I see. Hmm.
Finlay, catching the hidden meaning in those words, let out a short scoff.
"Drawing a blade beyond your station is arrogant... Though that too will end today."
"Arrogant?"
What's with him? Does he have a death wish?
The regressor trying to cut off someone's arm is everyday occurrence, but Finlay's confident, strutting attitude was a situation far beyond expectation.
He's a guy who'd get minced into pieces and become the Vampire Council if the regressor just set her mind to it, so what's he relying on to strut like that?
Curious.
I concentrated my mind and read Finlay's thoughts coming from outside.
And I realized what he had done last night.
My my.
There's an even bigger scammer than me right here.
The scammer raised his chin. The sight was strangely unpleasant, as if he were imitating the vampire.
"I do not favor you. However, it seems the Progenitor regards you and that brat with some fondness. I shall leave you a message."
As if he were some proxy, Finlay arrogantly declared to me and the regressor.
"The Progenitor will ascend to the surface along with me."
"What?"
"This is neither a request for permission nor a demand for understanding. This is a notification. The Progenitor's will is resolute, and you cannot stop what He will do."
The Progenitor's will, he says. More like his own will.
While I scoffed inwardly, the regressor, who didn't know the whole story, expressed her doubt.
"What are you talking about? Tirkanjaka said she had no intention of going up."
"You wretch! Do not utter the Progenitor's name so carelessly!"
She momentarily flared up, but even so, the regressor demonstrated the discernment to not draw Cheonang. Finlay gazed at the stationary me and the regressor with satisfaction.
"That's right. Long ago, the Progenitor said so. But She has since changed Her mind. To ascend to the surface for our kin, to watch over them."
"I don't believe you."
"Look at the Black Knights beside me. This is the Progenitor's authority. Without the Progenitor's will, how could I be accompanied by Black Knights wreathed in blood fighting spirit?"
As if responding to those words, the Black Knights wreathed in red blood fighting spirit stamped their feet simultaneously. In their own way, it was meant to be threatening.
But the regressor answered without so much as batting an eye.
"I'll meet Tirkanjaka directly and judge for myself. Take me to her."
A sharp gaze that seemed ready to slice through anything blocking her path at any moment.
Finlay did not avert his gaze either.
"Did you not hear me? The Progenitor is preparing to ascend."
"You're the one who didn't hear me. I said I'll hear it directly and judge, so take me to her."
The atmosphere trembled uneasily. Killing intent radiated from the regressor's eyes. In response, blood fighting spirit bloomed across the Black Knights' entire bodies.
A hair-trigger situation. Cheonang, which had been spinning slowly like a compass, gradually came to a halt, just as the Black Knights were about to extend their arms behind their backs.
"Wait, Trainee Shei."
I interjected into that situation. Reaching out to block the regressor's path, I pointed at Finlay, who remained merely sitting still throughout all this, and spoke.
"That's a puppet made of blood and darkness."
The regressor frowned and said.
"A puppet?"
"Yes. The real one is controlling the puppet outside this building."
The moment I pointed it out, Finlay's body swelled with darkness. Finlay's puppet, instantly transformed into a pitch-black shadow, tore its mouth wide open and spoke.
[You're quite perceptive, Instructor. How did you know?]
I read your thoughts. The thoughts coming from outside this building right now, that is.
I couldn't exactly say that, so I improvised.
"Cowards all do the same thing. There's no way a coward like you would reveal your true body before us, right?"
In response to my answer, the pitch-black shadow opened its mouth wide and laughed maniacally.
[Keuk, how arrogant. Arrogant. A mere commoner, strutting about just because you have some paltry power...]
That's what the puppet said, but the thoughts of the main body eavesdropping on this conversation were slightly different.
'Seeing through a puppet created by the Progenitor's authority? He's certainly no ordinary fellow...! Keuk, right. Definitely. Even with the Progenitor's power, it's better to avoid combat...!'
The thoughts I heard from beyond the wall grew increasingly distant. Finlay, who had been hiding his body in the vampire's darkness and observing this side, had fled at full speed the moment I pointed him out.
Not just a coward, but a remarkable coward.
As the distance grew, the puppet's form distorted as well. Skin melted away, flesh twisted, and darkness oozed from the cracks. Finlay's puppet, reduced to a form that wasn't even a puppet let alone human, spat out bizarre sounds.
[But do you see? This puppet that perfectly imitates me is itself proof of the Progenitor's authority. Brat, will you believe now that my will is the Progenitor's will?]
I had to concede the point. Even with the regressor's senses, she hadn't been able to determine that the puppet wasn't the main body.
The regressor answered with a frustrated expression.
"Tch. It's definitely a power far beyond what someone like you deserves to wield."
[If you understand, then this conversation will become easier. We have one demand.]
Even as the main body fled far away, the puppet steadfastly spat out its final message.
[Do not interfere with our escape. If you don't, we won't kill...]
Slash.
Before those words could even be formed, the regressor cleaved the puppet's waist. The puppet's body snapped, and smoke poured out from the gap.
The Black Knights who had lost their puppet reacted, but the regressor swung Cheonang in a single motion and severed both Black Knights' necks as well. The moment the black helmets touched the ground, the Black Knights' entire bodies transformed into black smoke and vanished.
Silence fell upon the space the vampires had vacated. Having stored Cheonang away, the regressor glared at the billowing black smoke with eyes burning with hostility.
"I need to go meet Tirkanjaka. Meet her directly and hear what's going on."
'If Tirkanjaka seriously opposes me, I won't be able to win alone. Mutual destruction would be the best outcome at most. But.'
Mutual destruction counts as the regressor's victory. Because she has the next iteration beyond this one.
She can simply use the information learned this time to find a better future.
The regressor, having steeled her resolve, turned her gaze toward me.
"What will you do?"