A Heart Growing Strange (2)
After a commotion stirred up thanks to Serena, Seong Hyun-jin lay back down on the bed.
It was on Yeonhui's advice—that she still needed rest, that she'd already moved around plenty today, and that she should lie down right away. It certainly seemed necessary. Seong Hyun-jin could feel her own body growing weary.
"Get some good rest. I'll clear out so you can sleep immediately."
"Got it."
With Yeonhui taking the lead, everyone left, and Seong Hyun-jin dragged her exhausted body onto the bed. All she'd done today was step out for a few minutes and have some conversations. It felt utterly alien that she, who had endured the grueling training under Karin, should find this so taxing. Grumbling under her breath, she muttered,
"Why the hell does this have to be so rough…?"
Addressing someone who wasn't there—or rather, his contracted spirit, Astaroth. Ever since that incident, Seong Hyun-jin had called for Astaroth countless times, but she hadn't responded, hadn't even reacted. It was as if she'd vanished from his side entirely. But he knew she remained fully his contracted spirit. She was still recovering from the vitality that had drained out of her like mad as the price for using her power.
Seong Hyun-jin squeezed his eyes shut, recalling the words she'd spoken while freely manipulating his body.
It was for my master's sake. She'd said she acted for her master—for Seong Hyun-jin. So why, then, did she demand such a hefty price, leaving him in this state?
Evil spirit… The Wise Star definitely called her that.
Was it because Astaroth was an evil spirit? Seong Hyun-jin, whose knowledge of spirits was far from extensive, had no real grasp of just how problematic such a being could be. He only felt it was unreasonable.
"If you'd just tell me why, I could at least understand."
He sighed in a soliloquy of lament. That was when it happened.
A voice echoed in his mind. Seong Hyun-jin felt the spirit's power stir without him consciously willing it. A pitch-black aura gathered beside his bed with a soft whoosh.
And now, the voice came not in his head, but directly to his ear.
"I'm not taking anything unfairly—I'm just claiming what my master owes me."
With a soft pop, snow-white hair cascaded down, and vivid red eyes gleamed through the strands like fresh snow. It was Astaroth.
"You…"
Seong Hyun-jin was about to demand why she'd stayed silent until now and only appeared at this moment, but Astaroth cut him off.
"Master, don't misunderstand—I wasn't deliberately ignoring you."
"Misunderstand?"
Astaroth nodded slightly. Kneeling beside the bed, she met the gaze of the reclining Seong Hyun-jin.
"I wanted to speak, too. I wanted to talk like this. But you've been unwell all this time."
"…Who made me unwell in the first place, saying crap like that?"
"Like I said earlier, it was an unavoidable part of the deal. It just ended up making you suffer as a result… That's why I held back until you were okay, like now."
Astaroth continued,
"If I moved while you were sick, your body couldn't handle it."
"…Just manifesting like this takes a toll on me?"
"I don't take payment if you don't borrow my power. But merely me speaking or moving burdens you."
From Astaroth's explanation, Seong Hyun-jin newly realized just how immensely powerful she was. Spirits grew stronger with higher ranks, but correspondingly harder to handle. People like Serena or Ciela, who could fully manifest great spirits, weren't top dogs in the academy for nothing—it meant they possessed exceptional skill. And Yeonhui, who wielded even higher divine spirits, went without saying.
Astaroth, whom Seong Hyun-jin had contracted, wasn't some mere spirit of chaos—she was an evil spirit of collapse. A spirit so mighty she called herself 'queen.' He'd seen her deflect an attack from Abraham, one of the Palstar Heroes, with a mere gesture.
Handling such a potent spirit naturally strained the body.
"…But I only called out to you—I never said to come out."
"I like seeing your face and chatting like this, master?"
Astaroth said with a faint smile. It looked pleasant, yet somehow ominous. Staring at her for a long moment, Seong Hyun-jin wondered if he was forgetting something.
"Were you like this when we first contracted?"
"Nope. If I had been, you wouldn't have been so shocked at the sight of me."
He wasn't misremembering, then.
"So why approach me hiding from the start?"
"I wasn't hiding, master."
Astaroth spoke in a voice brimming with regret, as if she'd had no choice.
"I wanted to meet you like this, but circumstances forced me to appear in that filthy form."
Filthy form. Seong Hyun-jin knew exactly what that meant. Not her current appearance, but when she'd posed as the spirit of chaos. He just didn't know why that form was filthy.
"Why's the 'King of Chaos' a filthy form?"
As Seong Hyun-jin asked, puzzled, Astaroth's expression turned icy. She who had gazed at him so warmly shot to her feet, glaring down at him in warning.
"…Don't call me by that name anymore, master."
Flustered by Astaroth's chill response, Seong Hyun-jin could only stammer,
"Uh…"
"……."
Astaroth held the expression a moment, then blinked, resetting her face to normal. Kneeling once more, she met his eyes again.
"…So, where were we?"
"I was asking why you met me in that form… But if you don't wanna talk about it, fine."
Seong Hyun-jin picked up on her reluctance and moved past it. Astaroth glanced at him in slight surprise, but he didn't notice, diving into the main point.
"What I want to know is why you take my vitality as payment. I can't keep collapsing every time I use your power."
"When you borrow our power, you pay a fair price. Usually, we take what's most useful to us from what the contractor can offer…"
"And that's my vitality?"
"Yeah, exactly."
Astaroth answered frankly.
"To escape that filthy form, I needed human vitality."
"…And now?"
"The price is set at the first contract and can't be changed. And master, this isn't a bad deal for you either."
"What're you talking about?"
"Like this time, I can lend you the power to overcome any crisis. In exchange, I take your vitality—but isn't a few tough days better than dying?"
Seong Hyun-jin paused at her words. If Astaroth hadn't helped when she did, Abraham's strike surely would have killed him.
"Besides, you don't have much else to offer me."
"What?"
"Think about it, master. What could you possibly give me?"
Astaroth smirked slyly at Seong Hyun-jin.
"You don't have much worth taking. I couldn't very well demand your body every time you use my power."
"……."
Seong Hyun-jin's eyes widened. If true, that meant Astaroth could demand his body as payment if she wished.
"If you took my body as payment… what happens?"
"You'd hand it over to me. You kinda experienced it last time, right? Though that wasn't for payment—it was because your consciousness couldn't handle my manifestation and lost control…"
Astaroth shook her head slightly, continuing,
"And like I said, the price can't be changed now, and I have no intention of demanding that. I like you, master."
"Me?"
Seong Hyun-jin said, as if it made no sense.
"A spirit as strong as you… why would I appeal to you? Like you said, I got nothing but vitality to give."
"Well."
Astaroth grinned. Extending a pale finger, she gently lifted his chin.
"Your face is my type?"
"……?"
Seong Hyun-jin's face twisted into a bizarre expression at Astaroth's out-of-left-field nonsense. She burst into laughter, as if it were a joke.
"Pfft! Kidding, master. Your face was priceless."
"…So what's the real reason?"
"You're special."
"What?"
Astaroth smiled faintly. Seong Hyun-jin was a bit startled by it. Her previous smiles had always carried an undercurrent of menace, but this one resembled the warm ones from those dear to him.
"You're special to me. That's why I approached you."
"How am I special?"
Seong Hyun-jin was a reincarnator and half-elf—unique traits, sure, but not extraordinarily so. Reincarnators weren't that rare in this world, and half-elves existed, if uncommon.
Yet Astaroth pressed a hand to her chest.
"This."
"……?"
Seong Hyun-jin mimicked her, placing a hand on his own chest. Realizing what she meant, he asked in surprise,
"…My heart?"
"The power to contract spirits—what humans call spirit affinity. It originates here, in the heart."
Astaroth explained,
"Yours is a bit special… It could restore me from that state to my true form. Finding you was truly special luck for me."
"…Why only me?"
"Who knows?"
Astaroth tilted her head.
"I don't know the details myself."
"……Is it because I'm a reincarnator?"
Seong Hyun-jin's face clouded in confusion at her words. After pondering without conclusion, he shifted topics. There was still more to discuss.
"So, what're your plans going forward?"
"Going forward? Stay by your side, of course…"
"Every time I use your power, I collapse like this."
"So? It'll be fine."
"I can't worry everyone around me every time."
As Seong Hyun-jin refused, Astaroth's brows drooped like she was hurt.
"If my power causes issues, I can just eliminate the problems."
"I don't really plan to…"
"Just think about it."
Astaroth smiled again. But this wasn't the gentle one from before—it was the wicked grin she'd worn battling Abraham.
"They'll all kneel at your feet. Anyone you hate or who tries to harm you—dead. Anything you want or like—yours."
"You, what the…"
He'd brought it up to find some compromise, since he couldn't keep borrowing her power and collapsing. But the conversation kept veering strangely, leaving Seong Hyun-jin flustered.
How do I even persuade her…?
Before he could try, the atmosphere shifted abruptly. A cool breeze blew in. The room door and window were closed—yet wind came.
Realizing it late, Seong Hyun-jin widened his eyes in shock. Then he saw her. Contrasting Astaroth's snow-white hair and black Western dress was a woman with night-sky black hair and a loosely worn snow-white kimono-like garment. She held her sword with a cold gaze, snarling fiercely at Astaroth.
"Begone."
"…Oh my."
Astaroth caressed her throat. A thin, sharp crack appeared there.
Thud.
Her head fell clean off. As a spirit, it merely dispersed her manifestation—no death. No blood flowed, proving it. But to decapitate a spirit as mighty as Astaroth without her noticing, at such speed… it defied common sense.
Astaroth lingered motionless for a while even headless, then began fading. Her fallen head's lips moved.
"…Master, looks like we'll have to continue later."
With that, Astaroth vanished.
Seong Hyun-jin stared in astonishment at the woman before him.
"…Master?"
"My disciple."
She was the Sword Star, who had reached the world's pinnacle with naught but her sword, no spirit's aid.
"Never keep something like that close again."
It was Hakodate Karin.