What Should This Cat Do?
The girl stomped her feet in a frantic dance of panic. What should this cat do? What should she do? What was she really supposed to do? In her desperation she yanked her hood up, hiding nearly all of her lovely silver hair. This was the very hair her master had praised as beautiful. The fact that she would cover even that showed just how utterly flustered she was.
“…M-Master.”
“Did you sleep well, Ester? Today you’re… what’s that thing on your head?”
Ester Marigold shrank into herself even further at the question flying her way. Namgung Hyeon was simply asking about the hood she had suddenly pulled on, but to her it sounded as if he were inquiring about what lay hidden beneath it.
“I-I actually… have something I’ve been hiding from you, M-Master.”
“You’ve been hiding something?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t mean to. It’s just… it’s just that….”
At first even she hadn’t understood what was happening. One day she felt a strange presence on her scalp and an odd tickling sensation. She assumed it was merely an itch and paid it no mind. That is, until the day she touched the bizarre thing beginning to sprout from her head. Until it suddenly surged in size until it became impossible to conceal.
“I’m sorry, Master. I’m sorry….”
“Ester. Our youngest. Calm down and take that off, will you?”
“I-If I take it off… you’ll see it too, Master.”
“What’s the matter? Are you hiding a pair of massive horns under there or something?”
At Namgung Hyeon’s words, Ester hiccupped and swallowed a gasp. He had always said her master possessed eyes that saw through everything, but to think he would guess it in a single breath! Aaaaah!
“Take off the hood. Let me see.”
“…Yes.”
Face crumpled in distress, Ester lifted the hood with trembling hands. Her lustrous silver hair spilled down like a cascading waterfall. Anyone, even those uninterested in women, would likely sigh in admiration at the sight. Yet what came next would surely turn that admiration into shock.
Rising from her head were two branched black horns. They were not small; they curved several times and had grown quite large. The sight was enough to plant instant fear and dread in any observer.
“….”
Namgung Hyeon said nothing. Silence, silence, and still more silence. That was all. Because of it, Ester trembled harder, completely at a loss.
You idiot! Why didn’t you cut them off? You should have sliced them away no matter what! You fool! Moron! Complete dunce!
Her dagger work was peerless, the very best—her master had said so. With that skill she could have removed the hideous things, yet in the end she had been unable to do it.
“…Ester.”
“Y-Yes, Master.”
“Our youngest. Our cat. But… it seems you’re not a cat anymore.”
“Aah….”
Youngest. Cat. Those were the pet names her master used for her, and to Ester they were impossibly precious—second only to the name Ester Marigold that Namgung Hyeon had given her himself. But if she was no longer a cat, did that make her a monster instead? When she thought about it, it made perfect sense. A cat? Ridiculous. What cat in the world had horns this large sprouting from its head? If such a thing existed, it would not be a cat at all, but a monster wearing a cat’s skin. A monster could never remain at anyone’s side. It would be an insult and a source of pain both to herself and to others. Thinking this, Ester fought desperately to hold back the tears glistening in her eyes.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to call you horned cat from now on. Right?”
At those following words, the tears she had barely contained finally spilled over.
“H-Huh?”
“You silly girl. Did you honestly think I wouldn’t know what to do just because a few horns decided to sprout?”
“M-Master.”
“You’re of the demon race, so of course horns would appear one day. I know all of that. Just what do you take your master for? I’m certain I told you before—that this master knows far more about you than you know about yourself. Did you perhaps not believe me?”
“No! I believe in Master with all my heart! You’re like my parents—no, you are my parents!”
“There, there. So stop worrying and come here. Our horned cat. Our youngest.”
Namgung Hyeon slowly opened his arms, offering his embrace. Ester swallowed hard, then suddenly broke into a run—tap tap tap!—and threw herself straight into her master’s chest, sobbing.
“I thought… I’d turned into a monster… so you were going to throw me away….”
“What a silly child. Look at your senior sisters. If anything they were worse than you, never better. Have I ever cast any of them aside? You’re worrying yourself over something I haven’t even considered.”
“But they’re all pretty… and strong… and kind… while I, I’m….”
“What? A demon with huge horns on her head and a timid personality on top of it all? Is that what you were going to say?”
At Namgung Hyeon’s words Ester could not answer; she merely nodded. She was too ashamed, too disgusted with herself. So she simply stayed buried in her master’s arms and kept sobbing.
“Ester Marigold.”
“Sniff… Yes, Master.”
“See? You answered, didn’t you? Ester Marigold. When I call you that, you respond.”
“Yes, Master. You said that would be my name from now on.”
“Exactly. Just as I said, you are Ester Marigold. Not a demon. Not some monster with horns on its head. Ester Marigold. Like your senior sisters, you were born with the fate of a Hero. Even if the whole world calls you a demon with horns on your head and says you’re timid—it doesn’t matter. You are a Hero, Ester.”
Namgung Hyeon’s voice rang with firm conviction. Ester lifted her head to gaze at the one who had accepted her—the only person in the world who had taken in a being that belonged nowhere—as he gently stroked her hair.
“Ester Marigold. The Poison Hero. Our sweet youngest. Horned cat. That is who you are.”
“…Yes.”
“Pay no attention to anything else. Don’t acknowledge it. Whether it’s about being a demon or whatever else, ignore it. You are my disciple.”
Master hates the Demon God Worshippers. Sometimes he even mutters curses about them when he is alone. A long, long time ago, back when Master was still weak, the Demon God Worshippers kidnapped him after hearing he had fallen from the sky. They planned to offer him as a sacrifice, claiming anyone who fell from heaven would make an excellent one. He barely—truly barely—managed to escape. That was when he realized how dangerous they were. Beings that threaten this continent, this world, and every person in it. It is not merely the deeds of fanatics. Someday they will drag something truly catastrophic into this world. That is why Master prepared us. The moment the world falls into chaos, the world prepares its heroes, he said. There are those born with the fate of Heroes, and he would teach those who carried that fate. He told me I was one of them.
I wanted to live up to Master’s expectations. Even though standing before others still makes me tremble, makes me scared, makes me embarrassed. But in front of enemies I can cast all those feelings aside. Master said so. My enemy is Master’s enemy, and Master’s enemy is my enemy. Those who try to brand me as a demon instead of a Hero are Demon God Worshippers. Those who deny I am a Hero and beckon me toward darkness are equally disgusting Demon God Worshippers. The Demon God Worshippers must be wiped from this land entirely. Only then can Master, and my senior sisters who cherish me so much, live in a quiet and happy world. Only then can I live without swinging daggers or spreading poison. That is why I must kill those repulsive things without mercy. To annihilate every trace of them, every last breath. That is the duty of I, the Poison Hero Ester Marigold, who carries the glorious name he bestowed upon me.
“You foolish traitor! How can a demon like you turn your back on the Demon God!”
There had been a time when a Demon God Worshipper screamed those words at her. The Poison Hero was so stunned she simply continued her work in silence. That was when the worshipper touched the one part of her that must never be touched. He stepped squarely on her reverse scale.
“My brethren will cut off the heads of everyone connected to you and offer them to the Demon God! Their corpses will be impaled along the roadside as eternal mockery for all to see! Just wait! Aaaaah!”
…Ah, so that’s how they enjoy their mockery. As thanks for teaching her something useful, Ester made certain to kill only him in the most painful way possible. She hung him upside down and drained every drop of his blood until he was a withered husk. After that, Ester changed her methods. Just as the worshipper had threatened her, she severed all their heads. She hung their corpses everywhere like decorations. They had fired the first shot of this war; she was merely returning the favor. To dare speak such words about her master and her senior sisters—it was a provocation Ester could never let pass. She knew her actions were cruel and excessive. There was no need to go this far; it was brutality beyond necessity. Yet if she did not, the enemies would continue to hunt her.
Once, her master had told her that fear itself was the greatest weapon, that enemies used it to incite people. Therefore they too must learn to wield it properly when the time came.
“Don’t resent me. You should never have done that.”
They had tried to harm her master, who was like her parents, like the very heavens. They had even threatened to kill her only family—her senior sisters. This was nothing but the proper anger, hatred, and revenge for their crimes.
Hooo—. Ester exhaled a long breath. Pale purple smoke drifted from between her cherry-red lips. A poison that paralyzed the senses one by one at just the right intensity. Once caught inside it, vision blurred and hearing faded. One might not even notice right away when the person beside them had their throat slit and collapsed. While her prey floundered, clutching at their dimming senses, Ester severed the necks of the Demon God Worshippers with flawless precision, not a single millimeter off.
She could not claim to have no personal feelings. Honestly, she had many. Namgung Hyeon had declared without the slightest doubt that she was not a demon. And Ester herself firmly believed she was a Hero, his disciple. Even so, was the nature of the demon race impossible to overcome? The timid woman became ice-cold the moment battle began. She possessed a cruelty so absolute it seemed not one drop of blood would emerge even if her body were pricked by a needle.
Incidentally, the reason Namgung Hyeon had deliberately given Ester the nickname “cat” was most certainly not simply because her words and actions were cute.