Chapter 60: Proper Living
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 60: Proper Living
I could feel the Regressor’s sharp gaze on me. Calm down, will you? I told you, it's just a simulation.
Meanwhile, Azzy, feeling no sense of danger whatsoever, answered honestly.
“Woof? Are you gonna play with me? Let's play ball! Let's play!”
Ah, no. That would mean I'd have to do all the work. I quickly changed the subject.
“No, no. I'm just a kind, weak, and gentle old puppet man. You're very cute, aren't you?”
“Woof! Thanks! You, um, don't look very tasty!”
“Do you like tasty things?”
“Yeah! I love tasty things!”
“Oh, really? Cute kids deserve candy. Should this old man give you some?”
“Candy? Woof? Can I eat it?”
“Of course. It's for eating. It's a magic orb with a refreshing scent and a fruity taste that gets sweeter the more you eat it. With every lick of your tongue, an ecstatic sensation, painted anew, will fill your mouth.”
Azzy's mouth started watering. Just the thought of it excited her so much that she began spinning in place, shouting.
“Woof! I wanna eat it! I wanna eat it!”
“Alright, then, how about you come with me over there, to a secluded spot where no one can see us? I'll give you candy if you follow me.”
“Woof! Let's go!”
“Khe-he-he-he. Come along now. I'll show you something that feels really good….”
“Woof woof! Good things! I like good things!”
As I moved Mr. Chap, Azzy excitedly followed, circling around him. Without a shred of doubt, she looked ready to follow him wherever he went.
The Regressor, who had been watching this silently, gripped Chun-aeng.
“Skyblade Art, Kicking Wind.”
A wind blew. A thinly condensed gust flew toward Mr. Chap like a blade. I read the Regressor's thoughts and moved my hands frantically, but Mr. Chap, dangling from his strings, was inevitably a beat too slow.
The Qi blade struck the golem. Mr. Chap, who had been trying to lead Azzy away, was shattered by the Regressor's ruthless hand, every joint broken. His severed limbs dangled from their strings, swaying pathetically.
“Aah! Mr. Chaaaaap!”
“Woof! Candy!”
My marionette, painstakingly made by tying strings to a broken golem! I worked so hard to make that, stitch by stitch!
“Candy….”
Azzy looked down at Mr. Chap with a devastated expression. The sight of her poking him, as if to see if he would get back up, was utterly pitiful.
My face twisting into a hideous scowl, I whipped my head around.
“What do you think you're doing?!”
Despite having committed the crimes of property damage and obstruction of official duties, the Regressor replied with a calm face.
“What do you mean? I just punished a criminal who was trying to lure a child away with candy.”
“Don't get so invested! This is just a simulation! I was only trying to teach Azzy a lesson by negative example!”
“Then you should have made him moderately creepy! With a laugh like that, my hand was bound to slip!”
“What's wrong with Mr. Chap's laugh? Where else would you find such a benevolent smile?!”
Enraged, I threw down what was left of Mr. Chap and shouted.
“Mr. Chap was a kind-hearted soul who, having lost his own child at a young age, found joy in giving candy to other children! He only offered candy to Azzy because she unconsciously reminded him of his daughter!”
“You said it was a simulation! Stop adding weird backstories to a simulation!”
“You murderer! First the child, now the father! You have no blood or tears! Did that vampire really suck you dry?!”
The vampire, who had been listening quietly, added a small comment.
“I have never drunk Shei's blood. Though I may have partaken of a little she shed during training.”
“Then is this violence innate?! Such barbarism that you can't even tolerate a mere simulation! There's no need to see any more!”
Raising a piece of chalk, I wrote the name 'Shei' on the blackboard and drew a large X through it. For the reason, I wrote: 'Excessive barbarism and aggression, lack of patience.'
“You….”
“Oh? Are you angry? Perhaps you can't control your rage? Do you feel the urge to commit violence, even though the law is strict and morality still exists? If so, you fail!”
Having cornered her with that logic, I roughly cleaned up the shattered puppet. I tossed one of Mr. Chap's ribs to Azzy, who still hadn't given up on the candy.
Then, I turned around and continued my explanation.
“On the other hand, even if the person has no ill intentions, you should not follow them in a situation like this. You're not mind readers, so you can't know their true intentions, right? You might be physically threatened if you follow them, so you must never agree to such a request. That said, just cutting them down like Trainee Shei did is a bit much.”
CRUNCH.
While I was speaking, I heard the sound of a steel frame shattering from over there. Azzy had taken a bite out of Mr. Chap's steel frame. I'm not sure why it made a crunching sound when she only bit it lightly, though.
Looking over at Azzy, I saw that she had just realized her mistake and was spitting out the crumpled steel frame with a disappointed look on her face.
I turned back again.
“Of course, if you have the physical ability to chew through steel, then it's fine to follow. That's also why I'm not saying anything to Azzy.”
The Regressor crossed her arms and sat defiantly.
‘Now that the stupid puppet is broken, he'll probably wrap this up, right?’
Not a chance. I immediately went out into the hall, grabbed the supplies I'd prepared, and came back in. It was a mannequin made from the frame of the combat arm the Regressor had destroyed last time.
On the visor that served as its face, I had drawn a human face. I rapped on the mannequin, with its line-drawn eyes and thick lips, and spoke.
“Anyway, since Mr. Chap is out of commission, we'll use Mr. Manne the mannequin, whom I brought just in case. Mr. Manne is a charming young man with dimples on both cheeks.”
‘Is he really a psycho….’
“Alright, this time, Trainee Shei will have a go! Will Mr. Manne be able to protect his right arm from Trainee Shei?!”
‘Who does he think is the real psycho here?! Fine, I'll show you!’
The Regressor stomped up to me, fuming. A positive attitude.
I waved the mannequin's hand to greet the Regressor.
“You have a good aura about you. Do you know the Path?”
“The Path? What nonsense is this?”
“My, nonsense, you say! Do you truly not know of the Path?!”
‘Keep talking.’
The Regressor crossed her arms and glared at me from behind the mannequin. Ignoring her, I spread the mannequin's arms wide in an exaggerated gesture, like in a cheap puppet show, and spoke.
“Everything in creation has its own path. It is the road we are meant to walk, and the signpost that points to our destination. This is not limited to humans. From ancient times, it has been said that Heaven, Earth, and Humanity exist in harmony. Mother Earth, endlessly merciful to humans, carves her own flesh to bestow all manner of gifts upon us. We drink the milk of Mother Earth, take her fruit, and carve her flesh to create all sorts of things. That is what led us to prosperity. However, Father Sky God does not tolerate those who dare to overstep their bounds toward the divine, and he takes those things away with rain and wind, floods and lightning.”
Normally, a listener's concentration wanes when a speech drags on. But the Regressor was suddenly listening to my story with great seriousness.
Hey, I'm just spouting whatever nonsense comes to mind. Why are you concentrating so hard?
‘Why is he suddenly saying this? Is there some hidden meaning in his words? I don't know, but I should listen for now just in case.’
She's got a few screws loose, too. A moment ago she was complaining, and now she's deciding to just listen?
She's more fickle than summer weather. Even I, a mind reader, can't predict her.
Sighing inwardly, I continued.
“Thus, humans came to love their Mother and fear their Father. In other words, you could say they look down on their Mother and respect their Father. This is the path of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. The path of humans, caught between the sky and the land.”
“And?”
“O, one with open ears, one who dissolves all things like water. My meeting you must be the will of the heavens. However, this world is full of lies and deceit, where people see each other as prey. I resent myself for being unable to trust you without first testing you. As a show of faith, would you not give me a single gold coin?”
The Regressor took an Alchemic Gold coin from her Pocket and readily handed it over. I used the mannequin's right hand to snatch it and immediately turned the mannequin around.
“Kukuk! You fool! To be tricked by such slick words! I'll be putting this gold coin to good use! Think of it as tuition for a life lesson!”
The steel mannequin waddled away.
The Regressor swung Chun-aeng dispassionately. In that instant, the mannequin's arm, now about five steps away, was sliced clean off, and the gold coin fell out. I hurriedly caught the falling coin and then rebuked the Regressor.
“Hey, Trainee Shei. What are you doing, chopping off its arm without warning?”
“What does it matter? It's fake.”
“Lately, I've been worried that you'd just chop off a real person's arm, Trainee Shei. And why the right arm, of all things? Did you have a grudge against right arms in a past life?”
“Enough. Hand back. Give me the coin.”
“Tch.”
I tried to sneak the coin into my pocket but was stopped. I had no choice but to return it to the Regressor. It was as painful as having my own heart torn out.
I watched regretfully as the Regressor put the gold coin back in her Pocket, then continued my explanation.
“Well, despite what I just said, Trainee Shei's response wasn't wrong. Though cutting off the arm was a bit extreme.”
“I only cut it because it's a model. I wouldn't have if it were real.”
“That's a lie that heaven and earth both know. If you want to argue, say it in front of me, who was almost cut, and Finlay, who actually was.”
After refuting her with empirical evidence, I turned to the vampire and spoke.
“In any case, sometimes people approach you with good intentions, like Mr. Chap, and other times they're just trying to rip you off, like Mr. Manne. A true person of goodwill and a swindler disguised as one are cleverly mixed together, so people have always found it difficult to tell the two apart.”
“Indeed. Those who lack experience are always bound to fear others.”
The vampire's relaxed reply. Reading the sense of superiority beneath it, I stopped talking and looked at her with cold eyes.
“Does that mean, Trainee Tyrkanzyaka, that you have enough experience to distinguish between goodwill and malice disguised as goodwill?”
“Not all, perhaps, but enough.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I have lived for ages and seen countless people, and I have had experiences far beyond that. If I couldn't even judge character, where would all that experience have gone?”
No, wait a minute. Her self-assessment is strange.
Interpreting my silence as agreement, the vampire boasted a little.
“The puppet requested my company, and the mannequin requested money. Even if I don't know their intentions, if the other party is malicious, they will try to take something from me. If you grasp that key point, you cannot be swayed by anyone.”
She's not wrong, but sometimes the messenger undermines the credibility of the message.
No matter how I think about it, the vampire is nothing more than a lucky sucker, yet she thinks of herself like this? Who do you think I'm holding this class for today?
This won't do.
“Then would you like to try a test?”
“A test, you say. I am not one to be tested by others, but I am curious. How do you intend to test me?”
“We'll continue what Azzy and Trainee Shei were doing. Let's see how well you handle it.”
“You don't seem to have any puppets left. What do you plan to use?”
“I have one puppet left that I handle best of all. One that requires no strings to control.”
I slowly walked up to the vampire. Curious about what I was going to do, she simply stared at me. Approaching her side naturally, I bowed my head, then gently took the edge of her parasol and lifted it. Beneath it, her red eyes, a stark contrast to her snow-white skin, were revealed.
I let out a small sigh filled with pure reverence.
“It can't be. Oh, gods.”
The vampire frowned at me for invoking the gods to her face. Just before a wave of displeasure could wash over her, I immediately dropped to one knee before her.
“Seeing you today, I finally understand why jewels are so rare in this world. The gods must have used them all up to create a doll as perfect as you, leaving none behind.”
“…What?”
“Your skin was sculpted from white jade and your hair woven from pure platinum; it is as if all the white gems of the world have been gathered in one place. Ah, what ecstasy, enough to blind a man. But is it the nature of a being that pursues beauty to be drawn to the light, even to throw itself into the flame? I humbly ask, would you permit me to remain by your side, just to breathe in the lingering scent of your beauty?”
The Regressor's jaw dropped.