The Beggar (5)
Fortunately, things had gone well.
"Keh-heh! Teach you one thing and you grasp ten! You're a joy to teach!"
The Dark King burst into hearty laughter.
A tiny cut remained on his sleeve.
Two hours into the lesson, and against all odds, Lapis had managed to leave a scratch on the Dark King's clothing.
Looking faintly worn out, Lapis came scampering straight over to Evan.
"Evan… I'm tired."
"Well done, Lapis. Rest for a moment."
Evan popped a cabbage leaf he'd prepared into her mouth.
Lapis melted into a look of pure bliss.
Her vegetarian leanings were on full display. With that pure white hair, she looked just like a rabbit—if you ignored the part where, raised wrong, she'd become a murder rabbit that ate human flesh.
"Ahem, ahem."
The Dark King's expression turned slightly awkward.
"…The more I look, the stranger it is how much she loves vegetables. This old man's techniques are specialized for protecting the body, but…"
"Aren't herbivores among animals the strong ones to begin with?"
Evan deflected casually. Elephants were an example of that, at least.
Fortunately, he seemed to accept it and asked no further questions.
It's not like this is the only strange thing here…
There was plenty to be suspicious about, really. Starting with the Dark King's techniques themselves.
He's teaching surprisingly well, but still.
Wasn't it a little odd to teach assassination techniques as bodyguard techniques? He was even teaching his own unique arts.
—Mm… it's easy.
—…Wh-what?
—These are all too easy…
He seemed wounded by Lapis's honest assessment.
Lapis's talent really does seem exceptional.
Especially with Shadow Stepping. The Dark King's unique technique for moving without a single trace of presence. Even high-ranking Expert knights struggled to master it, yet Lapis had learned it in ten minutes. The assassination techniques that followed were the same.
—Mm! With this I can make prettier cat's cradles! Thank you, Evan. You must have known…!
What are you talking about? I have no idea…
At any rate, after receiving thorough instruction, Lapis had become an excellent assassin in just two hours. At minimum, high-ranking Expert knight level. The movement technique Shadow Stepping had even evolved into Shadow Crossing.
From that point on, the Dark King had gone past shock into something like resignation—no, joy. Talent that transcended the realm of mastery. It was a rare thing to witness.
"Keh-heh. Just where did you find a child like this?"
The Dark King laughed. His eyes were warm—the look of a professor who'd discovered a graduate school candidate. The same look professors used to give friends who'd become slaves (graduate students) before Evan's transmigration…
Should I tell her to learn a little more slowly from now on?
Evan was seriously considering it when—
"Young master. May this old man speak frankly of what he has felt?"
"…Yes. Of course."
"This child is a genius. More so than any child this old man has ever seen."
"!"
It was Theodore who looked startled. He seemed puzzled as to how a slave could possess such talent. His eyes met Evan's. Evan casually raised a finger to his lips.
Shh.
Please stay quiet!
Perhaps the deeply sincere look in his eyes got through? Theodore nodded. He looked a little frightened, but it would be fine… right?
"This old man may look like nothing much, but I've lived long enough to see many people. Yet I've never seen a genius to match this child…"
The Dark King's gaze grew serious.
"But I am also worried. Excessive talent can become poison. More than anything…"
"More than anything?"
The Dark King spoke in a voice low enough for only Evan to hear.
"I smell blood on this child's talent."
Thud.
Evan's heart sank with tension. Tap, tap. He drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair—a habit that came out when he was anxious.
Don't tell me… he figured out she's the Sin of Wrath?
Then what should he do? Kill him? The Dark King? Him—kill the main supporting character?
His head was spinning with panic when—
"My guess is that she is of the Heavenly Slaughter Star."
"…Ah."
Wrong. Evan stopped drumming his fingers.
…He didn't figure it out.
If it had come out that she was a Sin? Well. He couldn't even predict how things would go. "Sin" was a name attached to the future, after all. At present, it was little more than something from the scriptures.
The Dark King wouldn't go crazy over that, but still.
It was dangerous, that much was true. He had to keep this fact hidden as much as possible. Evan put on his most nonchalant face and calmly opened his mouth.
"…The Heavenly Slaughter Star. You mean one of those stars in the heavens?"
"You know of it?"
"I was fortunate. There was a related book in the library."
Of course he'd seen it in the game. The information was probably largely the same.
The heavens. That place beyond the sky, where countless stars resided. One among them was the Heavenly Slaughter Star—a star that formed contracts with those born destined to bathe the continent in blood, and bestowed power upon them.
"And that Heavenly Slaughter Star has contracted with Lapis?"
"I cannot be certain, but this old man's instincts say so."
The Dark King forcefully voiced his opinion, spittle flying from his mouth.
"While we're at it, allow me to confirm whether this child has truly formed a contract!"
"Wait…"
"Lapis."
Before Theodore could intervene, Evan spoke first. His emotionless gaze turned to Lapis.
"Would that be all right? Confirming whether you have formed a contract with a star."
He was asking her directly? Interest flickered in the Dark King's eyes, while shock filled Theodore's. Why on earth would he ask a slave?!
Of course, Evan had his reasons.
No, you can't look at her as an ordinary slave…
She was a slave in name only—just so he had a pretext to keep her at the estate. A real slave? Please. She was more like a friend who might end the whole relationship if they had one fight and she got sulky. And he was going to ignore her opinion and perform a ritual to confirm a star contract?
That would be a disaster.
Men valued their friends, after all. It absolutely wasn't because he was scared.
"Yes!"
Lapis nodded.
"Of course it's fine. Ah…"
"Is there a problem?"
"It won't hurt or anything, right?"
"Keh-heh. As if this old man would ask something like that. It won't hurt at all."
"Then, okay. If Evan wants it, I'll do it."
"If Lapis is fine with it, then so am I."
Evan accepted without refusing. There was nothing to worry about.
Lapis hasn't actually formed a contract with any star, after all.
The Sin of Wrath, Ira. The destiny she was born with was nothing so trivial as a star contract. He didn't know the exact details—Evan was a hardcore player, not the game's developer. What he was sure of was that Ira's destined Sin was far more powerful than any star contract.
Still, this is an opportunity.
A chance to make Lapis look like an ordinary talented person. If he could fool the Dark King, he could fool others as well.
"Of course, this old man is no match for a Priestess of the Constellations, but I can manage a small divination."
The familiar way he mentioned the Priestess of the Constellations. Did the two of them know each other? …If he asked for an introduction, would he get one?
Evan suppressed the impulse and nodded.
"Please do."
This is remarkable.
The Dark King. As he prepared the small ritual to confirm a constellation contract, he could not hide his astonishment.
A contractor of the Heavenly Slaughter Star!
He had not yet performed the ritual. But he was certain. Lapis was a contractor of the Heavenly Slaughter Star.
Nothing else could explain talent like that.
Beyond human. Lapis's talent could not be measured by human standards—an overwhelming talent that even transcended time. Talent recorded not in history but in legend, not in legend but in myth—talent that history itself had barely recorded a handful of times.
How exciting.
His fingers twitched with excitement. One of the few things the Dark King still possessed after casting so much aside was "history."
I will write a new page of history!
What greater endeavor could there be? Contractors of stars like the Heavenly Slaughter Star appeared maybe once every few centuries, so records of them were scarce. Hero, or mass murderer. Either was fine. As long as he rewrote history. The Dark King would be recorded as the mysterious old man who taught them.
So the crow omen was wrong after all.
Unlucky? Nonsense! What could be luckier than this?
With this, I set another record.
The Dark King had written history with his own hands and become a legend among assassins. But he had never managed to raise another talent who would write history in turn. One of the reasons he had taken disciples. At last, the moment had come to fulfill that long-held wish. And once that was done, only one thing remained—to complete the history he had built as the Dark King into legend.
Honestly, I want her. If it weren't for that boy, I would have kidnapped her.
The Dark King looked at Evan with regretful eyes. That cunning young alchemist had recognized the talent early and brought her under his wing. A slave, no less! With a seal branded on her, she couldn't be kidnapped—or even betray him. Truly ruthless.
Worse than me, even.
Even the Dark King had never gone so far as to form a slave contract. Unaware that Evan and Lapis were master and slave in name only, the Dark King's misunderstanding piled up naturally.
Tap, tap.
A small magic circle drawn on the floor. Rising from the ancient formula that looked rather like a transmutation circle, the Dark King spread his arms theatrically.
"Now then! Let us see whether Lapis has a contract!"
"How does it work?"
"Keh-heh. It's simple. Just roll this iron ball."
This, too, was a kind of superstition. The superstition held that star contractors possessed a power that endlessly drew in the power of the stars, so within this space that manifested a "constellation," an iron ball would roll without ever stopping. And it was real. The only condition was that realizing a "constellation" required a high level of understanding, like the Dark King's.
"Here we go, rolling."
The Dark King began to roll the iron ball.
Clatter-clatter! Clatter-clatter!
The iron ball rolled endlessly, as unhindered as if drawn by a magnet. The Dark King's smile deepened.
Just as I thought—she is a contractor!
This formula could only determine whether a contract existed. If the iron ball stopped, an ordinary person. If the iron ball rolled, a contractor. And if it was destroyed? Well. In very rare cases, that meant the person was bound to a destiny more powerful than any star. But for that to actually happen…
Crack! Bang!
The iron ball shattered. The Dark King's smile vanished.
"…Wh-what… how could this…"
"Lapis. Are you all right?"
"Yes."
Lapis nodded. In her hand were fragments of the shattered iron ball. Evan was relieved. Whew! She almost got hurt.
"Urgh…"
Theodore had gotten hurt. Honestly, Evan didn't particularly care. He'd recover soon enough.
"Theodore, are you all right?"
"I-I'm fine."
Still, he asked once out of concern. Good that he said it didn't hurt. Just in case, he handed over a potion as well. Theodore's expression grew complicated.
"Elder. Are you all right?"
The Dark King looked as if his soul had left his body. When Evan asked with concern, the Dark King hurriedly nodded.
"Ah, yes! Of course."
He seems quite shocked.
Was the fact that she wasn't a star contractor that big a deal? Evan found it odd, but casually gestured to Golem No. 4. This was the chance—the moment to hand over a potion and deepen their friendship.
"You seem tired. Please drink this potion."
"…A potion?"
"It's good for the body. I get so tense that my hands often shake, and whenever that happens, drinking this helps."
Theodore shot him a look that said, What nonsense is that? Evan ignored him.
The potion's effects are a bit… excessive, admittedly.
Not only did it fix physical problems, it had reached the level of deceiving curses by numbing the nerves. But it should be fine, right? The effects were good, at least?
The Dark King stared at the potion for a moment. Then finally accepted it.
"…I shall drink it well."
With a strange emotion in his heart.
That evening.
"There is nothing more for me to teach."
Having drunk the potion and passed on many techniques, the Dark King rose from his seat. Crunch. Lapis, who had taken a big bite of an apple, nodded.
"Well, crunch, done, crunch."
"…You may speak after you've finished eating."
"Teaching such a bright child has been a great experience for me as well. Please put my techniques to good use."
"Mm. I like cat's cradle."
The Dark King, ever the professional, ignored Lapis's final remark.
"…I have received far too great a reward. The potion as well."
"It's nothing…"
"This is my small token of gratitude."
Swoosh.
At some point, a letter had appeared on Evan's desk. Evan, as if he had already known, wore an expressionless face.
"Please look at it after I am gone."
"…I shall."
"May we meet again under better circumstances."
The Dark King vanished with a whoosh. Shadow Crossing. In an instant he was out of the estate and appeared in a nearby forest.
"Master."
Another beggar appeared before the Dark King and dropped to one knee.
"I have come to escort you."
A red hood. A black coat. The symbols representing the Resistance—and also the first disciple the Dark King had raised.
"Yuda. Is everything prepared?"
"Yes. As you commanded."
The red eyes beneath the tightly drawn hood spoke calmly.
"We have toppled the territory ruled by a knight of the Emperor's direct command."
"Well done."
"Is this ducal house also a place you mean to topple?"
Those red eyes turned toward the ducal estate.
"No."
The Dark King shook his head. Overthrow it? Ridiculous. It was impossible for the Dark King alone. Even if all his disciples came, the same would be true. Not because of the Duke—but because of the little girl he had just met. And the young alchemist who kept her as a slave.
"I met some interesting people. It seems my perspective was still too narrow."
"How can Master say such a thing…"
"My dream is still far, far away."
A smile played on the Dark King's lips. To leave a lasting mark on history. What was one way to do that? Power. To become an emperor with absolute, unassailable, overwhelming power and authority.
Dante Midas. Crime: attempted assassination of the Emperor. Sentence: a thousand years of suspended execution, and the Curse of the Golden Hand. A man unsatisfied with the offerings poured upon him. Now craving the "power" that would leave its mark on history.
The Dark King, Dante, removed his glove. The hand within was golden. The Curse of the Golden Hand—a curse that turned everything he touched to gold.
Thud.
He rested his hand on a nearby tree. Amazingly, the tree turned to gold. But the branches at the very tip remained wood. Normally, even the ground itself should have been dyed gold.
"It has mitigated my curse. With just a single potion."
"…What do you mean?"
"Interesting. Very interesting."
He had known the boy was no ordinary alchemist. But to this extent? A destiny greater than any star contractor. A destiny steeped in blood—one that might even destroy this continent. Just being near him was enough to get swept up. And yet he had placed that destiny beneath him.
He said he taught himself alchemy, too.
If he were to learn alchemy properly? How far would he grow? What would he become?
Rattle!
The Dark King rolled a black pebble. A black stone that did not change even under the curse of gold. A Fate Stone—a fragment of the stele once used only by the imperial bloodline. The image drawn on the Fate Stone foretold his future.
"…I see nothing."
No animal image appeared at all. As if it were hiding from Evan. He rolled it twice more, but the result was the same. The first time might be coincidence, the second necessity, the third destiny. As he was now, the Dark King could not even look upon Evan's fate. And this was still a child who had not finished growing.
"Young Black Demon."
A smile formed on the Dark King's lips.
"Next time, when you've grown larger—what kind of monster will you have become—"
How truly exciting.
Whoosh—
Leaving those words behind, the Dark King departed the forest. The gift he had left before going. Certain that Evan would take a liking to it.