To Remain Human
"...It's been a long time, Master."
Like Huey, the old man wore black, but over it he had draped a thin black outer robe that fell to his knees. His snow-white hair was neatly tied back, and he stroked his long beard with one hand as he looked Huey up and down.
"Cheonyu."
"Yes."
He called out in the language of Gaon to Cheonyu, who had been waiting stiffly outside the pavilion.
"Now I finally understand why you never stood a chance."
"...Elder. Please keep your mouth shut."
"They say women from foreign lands develop early, don't they?"
He pointed at me with a thoroughly annoying expression and gave his own forehead a sharp tap.
"Elder—!!"
"Master, it's not like that, so please just..."
Whatever he had said, Cheonyu was furious and Huey was clutching the back of his neck.
"I have no idea what he's saying, but he seems like a fun old coot."
"I rather like him already."
Lucy and I were watching the old man who was supposedly Huey's master when I suddenly felt a presence behind me. Something was clearly coming for me, so I spun without hesitation and shot my leg backward.
Twisting at the waist as I turned my head, I saw a man's hand reaching for my backside with a thoroughly lecherous gesture. I curled my toes just enough to bare my claws and put real force into the kick, fully intending to kill him then and there.
—Thwuck!
The sound of claws punching through flesh, the sensation of ribs crushing under my foot—
...or so I thought I felt.
"Ren!"
"What on earth is going on— Elder!"
Ignoring Huey and Cheonyu as they rushed toward me in alarm, I shook off the smoke that had somehow bound my claws and launched myself at the old man still grinning lecherously from atop the pavilion.
—Crack!
Sure enough, the leg I had thrown stopped dead just short of his face, as if it had struck something invisible.
"And here I thought you were a proper young lady. Even the beasts of the forest aren't this fierce."
"Old man. You looking to die?"
They had told me every high-ranking person in this country could speak our language, so I glared at the old man who kept babbling in his own tongue and gave him a clear warning.
"Ren! Kill him!"
From the way Lucy was clutching her own backside and fuming with a bright red face behind us, it seemed he had tried the same stunt on her at the same time.
I kept pushing against whatever was still blocking my foot and was just about to circulate mana through my entire body in earnest when—
"...Ren. How about I apologize for him instead? Could you stop?"
"No."
Huey approached with a sigh and tried to talk me down, so I refused. I had no need for someone else's apology.
The next instant, Huey's hands slipped under my arms.
"Pii—!?"
"It's just a clone anyway. I'll make him apologize properly."
An electric shiver shot up from my armpits and I let out an involuntary scream.
"Wh-wh-wh-what are you doiiiing—!"
He stretched his arms straight up and lifted me into the air like some kind of pet. I was so startled I stupidly flailed in his grip for a moment.
"Put me down right now!"
"Yes, yes."
I glared at him in pure indignation, and only then did he set me down.
"You... you just wait! I'll get you for this!"
I wrapped both wings around the armpits his hands had touched and vowed revenge.
"...Funny how the ones who say 'just you wait' never turn out to be scary."
Huey mocked me with the exact line he always used whenever the Captain and I fought.
"Grr—!"
I had let my guard down just because we had gotten a little closer, and this was the humiliation I got for it. I would never forgive him.
I was still glaring and fuming when—
"Ugh. Companions, my ass..."
"Pwahaha! Hahahaha! What a spectacle! A real spectacle!"
"You two are having quite the time."
Only then did I remember that other people were present besides Huey and me.
Cheonyu's gaze was as full of hostility as it had been yesterday. Huey's master was laughing from a distance. Lucy's voice was distinctly sour as she looked at the two of us.
......
—Thud!
"Gah!"
"...This is all your fault."
I kicked Huey hard in the shin while he was still off guard, then fanned my overheated face with a wing and grumbled.
"What kind of scene is this, honestly..."
I was so drained I couldn't even work up a proper temper. I just sighed.
"Ow... that really hurt. Anyway, Master. I won't be able to stop her next time, so just apologize nicely."
Huey clutched his leg beside me and said something.
"Ugh. I'm sorry. The joke went too far."
Only then did the old man scratch his head and apologize in our language.
"...Tsk."
I clicked my tongue quietly and gave my wings a little shake to show it was fine.
After we had a moment to settle the brief uproar—
"Ahem. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Hyeonjin, the greatest Taoist of Gaon, who has served as Taoist Master of Gaon no fewer than twice."
The old man—Hyeonjin—introduced himself while tightly bound in ropes that gave off a strange energy.
"Cheonyu. No matter what, I am still your superior... ghk."
"I could strip you of that position this very moment, Elder."
Cheonyu tightened the ropes and glared at Hyeonjin with a razor-sharp look.
"Honestly. The older you get, the more your mischievous streak grows."
She added that the ropes sealed his Taoist power so he wouldn't be able to pull any more pranks for a while, then shot me a sidelong glare. I tilted my head, wondering what I had done, only for her to mutter something in the language of Gaon so Huey wouldn't hear.
"Thieving cat..."
For some reason it left a thoroughly unpleasant feeling.
"I received your letter. You came because you wanted me to examine his condition, correct?"
"Yes. It never hurts to be careful, even for the one-in-a-million chance."
"Hmph. True. I'm busy, but for my one and only disciple, this much is nothing."
While Cheonyu and I locked eyes and kept a wary watch on each other just in case—
"...Cheonyu. Could you untie me already?"
"Cheonyu?"
"Hah. Understood."
Everyone's gazes settled on the two of us as if asking what we thought we were doing.
"What are you doing, Ren?"
"Nothing. She just keeps staring at me in that creepy way."
I was talking with Lucy, who looked puzzled, when—
—Crrk.
"Ahh, now I can breathe again. Don't you think you're being a little harsh on an old man?"
"Your jokes go too far, Elder. You're still perfectly spry."
Hyeonjin, freed from the ropes, stretched and came into view.
"All right then. Strip."
"...Excuse me?"
"I said strip."
He pointed a finger at Huey and ordered him to take his clothes off.
"Hold on, Master. Right here?"
"For a grown man you sure talk a lot. You used to strip bare without a second thought in front of Cheonyu."
"...Elder. Please refrain from remarks that could cause misunderstandings."
Since they were finally speaking in a language we could understand, Lucy and I exchanged a glance, nodded, and spoke up.
"He told you to strip."
"Master. Just take them off quietly. Before we tear them off."
Huey seemed to realize at last that he had no allies here. With reluctant movements he began removing his upper garments.
"That's a pretty big scar."
"I asked about it, but he never answered."
As the large scar carved across his chest came into view—
"Kh."
Huey somehow flushed and swallowed a small sound.
A guy getting embarrassed just from taking his shirt off.
"Haa. Your body has improved since last time."
...Though I suppose anyone would feel a little self-conscious with someone staring that hard.
"Ahem. Lie down here."
"...Yes."
Hyeonjin pushed the table in the pavilion off to the side, laid Huey in the center, and quietly placed a hand over his heart.
"Let's see..."
The energy they called Taoist power stirred around the closed-eyed Hyeonjin for a brief moment.
"...I have a clear picture of his condition for now."
In that short span Hyeonjin had broken out in a waterfall of cold sweat. He withdrew his hand from Huey—
—Slap!
"Gah!"
—and struck Huey's chest hard with his open palm.
"Oof, that looked like it hurt."
"What a magnificent scream."
Something was clearly wrong. Hyeonjin suddenly stripped off even his outer robe and handed it to Cheonyu.
"You foolish boy. When I heard you had broken the seal twice I had my suspicions, but..."
"Elder, what is it? Is something wrong with Chan-hui...?"
"He's too healthy. That's the problem."
Everyone looked at Hyeonjin in confusion, but he said nothing more and quietly rolled up his sleeves.
"This will hurt a little."
"...Master?"
"Shut your mouth. Unless you want to bite your tongue off."
He interlaced his fingers and formed a complex mudra, then pressed his two thumbs together as if stamping a seal—
—BOOM—!
"Kh—!?"
—and, still with his hands locked, flipped them over and slammed both palms hard into Huey's chest.
Immediately, Taoist power surged through the air.
"G-aaaaaagh—!"
Huey screamed in pure agony.
"Hey, old man!"
"What is the meaning of this all of a sudden!"
Lucy and I shot to our feet and demanded an explanation, but—
"I'll explain later—just hold this idiot down so he can't thrash!"
—Hyeonjin shouted back in an urgent voice. Lucy and I exchanged a quick look.
"I'll take this arm."
I carefully extended a leg and pinned Huey's elbow joint so he wouldn't hurt himself.
"Then I'll take Master's legs."
"...I'll handle the remaining arm."
Feeling the energy swell until the very air trembled, we quietly watched Huey thrash against the restraints on all four limbs.
A short while later, after Huey had finally gone limp from the continuous struggle—
"Hoo. I've placed one more seal for the time being, so he should be fine for a while."
Hyeonjin let out a breath of relief and took his hands off Huey.
"Anyway, leave Chan-hui to sleep it off."
He sank down with an exhausted face, glanced briefly at Cheonyu as she wiped the sweat from Huey's body and dressed him again, then turned to Lucy and me.
"Have a seat. This will take a while."
"...I'll go prepare some tea."
"Yes. Please do."
And so—
"Well then. Shall we begin among ourselves first?"
—the story that began from Hyeonjin's mouth was the very thing Huey had always been reluctant to tell us.
"The story of a dragon-slayer who was becoming a dragon as the price for killing one."
Yet it was something we absolutely had to know if we were going to continue adventuring together.
"The story of a stranger who abandoned everything in order to remain human."