The Flute-Playing Priest - (2)
The days back home were peaceful and leisurely.
I lay on the wooden platform in the backyard, gazing up at the autumn sky.
“The air’s nice here.”
A cool breeze, cozy sunlight, a gentle wind, and the distant crowing of a rooster.
No original protagonists dropping by every other day, no villains singing of destruction.
“This is what happiness looks like. Nothing more to it.”
I scratched Void’s belly as she rolled around beside me.
“Right, Void?”
“Meat!”
“Yeah, meat for dinner tonight.”
Void had picked up a few more words lately.
Mostly “meat.”
The orphanage director had slaughtered a pig—something he never did lightly—just to give it to her.
“Saje!”
Void purred happily under my touch.
Truth be told, no one enjoyed this relaxed vacation more than Void. She was practically glowing with joy every single day.
Before long, she had become fast friends with the village children, especially the orphans from the relief house.
“Bweh!”
“Whoa! This big sister’s really good at shaping dirt!”
She built elaborate castles out of soil with such skill that even I was impressed. I never would have guessed she had that kind of talent.
‘Or maybe it’s Isolde’s talent.’
Since she had taken on a child’s form using Isolde’s mana, it made sense that she might have inherited some of her abilities too.
Would she be able to use magic on her own someday?
I hoped so…
“Saje!”
While I was lost in thought, Void came running over with dirt-covered hands and threw herself into my arms.
“Having fun?”
“Food!”
“You already ate earlier.”
She bit my finger, clearly still hungry.
It didn’t hurt—just tickled.
“…Maybe once everything’s over, I’ll just settle down here and farm.”
I doubted I’d return to Earth even after the original story ended.
If I had to spend the rest of my life in this world, a quiet countryside without worries sounded pretty good.
I meant it.
*
That evening, Baekmyeon imprinted her soul onto the clone she had dispatched to the Libel region.
A kind of puppet.
Her puppets, scattered across the entire continent, could activate whenever needed to carry out operations.
That was why Baekmyeon boasted absolute secrecy when it came to the Shadows’ plans.
‘Careless.’
Baekmyeon snorted.
This remote village was so defenseless it didn’t even have the usual barriers. Judging by the lack of wild beasts nearby, it was understandable that security had grown this lax.
Still, she couldn’t afford to be careless.
Her target was an archmage—one immune to her brainwashing.
Baekmyeon controlled the puppet with extreme precision, gliding silently toward the church.
The closer she got, the more uneasy she felt.
‘Not a single defensive spell.’
She had been tense, expecting to face an archmage, yet there were no barriers or even basic alarms near the church.
No patrols, no familiars.
This wasn’t confidence—it was arrogance.
The peace of the countryside had dulled their senses.
A mistake Baekmyeon would never make.
‘That’ll be your downfall.’
The puppet slipped through the window and stared at the golden-haired priest sleeping soundly in bed.
He looked so deeply asleep that his face showed no trace of worry.
He had no idea a dagger was being drawn right in front of him.
Baekmyeon twisted her lips into a sneer and raised the blade high.
One strike infused with mana would sever even the strongest neck in an instant. If brainwashing didn’t work, physical elimination would do.
‘Die.’
Die and become a sacrifice for the grand plan.
Just as she whispered that and swung the dagger down—
“…”
Rustle.
There was a presence.
Baekmyeon froze. She had clearly seen only one life sign inside when she checked from outside.
She swallowed hard and slowly turned her head.
“…Saje?”
In the dark room, someone was watching her.
It wasn’t a hostile gaze—just calm and transparent.
A small girl sat curled up in the shadows by the head of the bed.
‘No… that’s not human.’
Baekmyeon instinctively realized the being before her wasn’t a person.
Too transparent to be human—a mass of pure power.
A familiar?
Whatever it was, she had to subdue it before it caused a commotion. Baekmyeon activated her authority and stared into the girl’s gray eyes. She intended to brainwash her into taking her own life.
But contrary to her expectations, the girl remained unaffected.
“Huh?”
The authority didn’t take hold.
It wasn’t repelled either.
It simply vanished, as if poured into a bottomless jar.
A chill ran down her spine. This wasn’t a familiar. It only pretended to be human, pretended to be a familiar—its true nature was pure emptiness.
“…Kuh.”
There was no time to analyze. Baekmyeon changed targets and swung the dagger at the girl.
Yet even when faced with hostility, the girl simply smiled brightly, as if it meant nothing.
Then her small mouth opened.
“Food!”
Baekmyeon’s body stiffened.
The hand holding the dagger froze in midair.
She couldn’t move.
Only then did she realize her own authority had turned against her, tightening around her neck.
The being saw her as prey.
It was trying to devour her.
“Kuh.”
If this continued, she would be consumed.
It wasn’t just the puppet dying—the main body’s soul would take damage too.
She had to sever the connection.
Suppressing her nausea, Baekmyeon forcibly cut the link to the puppet. Agonizing pain flooded her, but survival came first.
Whoosh.
The puppet collapsed, and her soul fled out the window in its original shadowy form.
The plan to kill the priest had already failed.
All she wanted now was to escape this hellish place.
But—
“Hmm…”
In the middle of the yard stood a priest holding a broom.
“A being whose soul is completely separated from its body. No trace of evil energy either… How strange for a vengeful spirit.”
Baekmyeon halted.
The old man was staring directly at her soul form.
More than anything, the holy power radiating from him was denser than any priest she had ever encountered.
‘…Just what is someone like this doing in a rural village?’
At the very least, an inquisitor.
Only then did Baekmyeon understand why this shabby village had no defenses at all.
“That Leo boy really does drag around the strangest companions, including that spirit. What an unfortunate fate. That’s why I told him not to half-heartedly learn holy magic… Tch.”
The priest raised his hand as if annoyed.
A sphere like condensed sunlight formed above his palm.
“Begone, vengeful spirit. Return to where you belong.”
In the next moment, Baekmyeon’s vision flashed white.
It wasn’t a simple physical attack like the one from the saint candidate last time.
This was a flame that burned the very source of the soul.
Which meant it would damage the main body as well.
——BOOM.
“Kuhak!”
Blood gushed from Baekmyeon’s real body on the opposite side of the kingdom.
Her entire body burned as if on fire.
The damage to her separated soul had transferred directly to her true self.
“Hah, hahk…”
Coughing up blood from her eyes, nose, and mouth, Baekmyeon curled up and trembled.
It wasn’t just frustration over the failed plan.
It was pure humiliation.
She had been injured by some rural village priest.
“…Damn it…”
Even more humiliating than when she had let the half-naked saint candidate attack her.
*
“Saje—!”
The next morning, for reasons unknown, Void was sitting on top of me.
She looked down at my face with a delighted expression. She seemed to be in an even better mood than usual. Had she had a good dream?
While I was thinking that, Void pointed at my face and opened her mouth. The moment our eyes met, she grinned brightly and said,
“Saje! Black!”
“…Huh?”
Black? Did she just say black?
Confused, I watched as she reached out and poked my cheek.
“Black!”
“…Ah.”
So Void had learned the word “black” before she learned “dad.”
Well, it was normal for kids to pick up color words quickly…
“Even so, what’s with that?”
“Black!”
My skin was on the darker side. Especially after being exposed to the sun nonstop on the way to the Libel region, it had gotten even darker.
“Yeah. I’m black. Unlike you, Void.”
“White!”
This time Void pointed at the floor and shouted.
White? I looked where she was pointing…
“What the—?”
A layer of white powder had piled up on the floorboards.
It wasn’t the season for snow yet.
Must be dust from the ceiling.
“Seriously, Director, you should clean more often.”
I clicked my tongue and grabbed the broom from the corner.
But before I could sweep, Void reached out her hand.
A hole formed in the air.
Until now, Void’s only ability had been creating small-scale destruction the size of a fist…
Whoosh.
An invisible force pulled everything toward her fingertips—starting with the powder on the floor, then my carelessly discarded socks, breadcrumbs, and a few apples.
Naturally, the room now looked like a storm had swept through it.
“…This… Is this spatial storage?”
The Academy’s Divine Throne, Act 5.
The subspace ability used by Void when she appeared as a boss.
The troublesome boss technique—this tiny girl had already mastered it.
“Hmm…”
Void had suddenly awakened a new ability.
I had no idea why.
I hadn’t fed her extra mana or anything.
Maybe she had secretly eaten some wild ginseng last night?
“Food!”
Void proudly opened another subspace with her other hand and pulled out an apple, crunching into it happily.
Then, noticing my stare, she neatly broke off a piece and offered it to me.
“Well… yeah. You’re still growing.”
I accepted it with a resigned sigh and took a bite.
It was sweet.
A peaceful morning.
At least, that’s how it looked to me.