Chapter 64: The Puppet Progenitor and the Unpleasant Puppet Show
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 64: The Puppet Progenitor and the Unpleasant Puppet Show
A person is always surrounded by temptation.
This proposition requires no proof. For humanity faces a great trial every single morning.
Will you savor a few more minutes of bliss in your comfortable bed, under your warm blankets, or will you cast it all aside and stand before the daunting world? Every day, the moment a person goes to sleep, they are destined to face the harsh trial that awaits them the next morning.
Most people overcome this trial and take a step into the harsh world. Not because they are courageous, but because they cannot survive otherwise. Still, that doesn't negate the fact that they have won.
Take pride, O humans. For you are beings who fight against the morning and claim victory after victory.
Well, the story might be a little different for a vampire who can sleep for 300 years straight in a coffin. But for humans, this is how it is.
And yet.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
There are things that make such trials unnecessary, namely the Military State's alarm clock, or in its place, Azzy, the Dog King.
These things that forcibly rouse a person from sleep rob me of even the right to be tested. They violently prune away all other options, forcing a single path upon me.
They are certainly convenient. Efficient.
But there is no anguish in it. No introspection gained through anguish, and thus, no growth achieved through it.
Go away, dog.
You’re not the King of Roosters. Why do you covet my right to become noble?
I shall agonize a little longer in this fluffy blanket and achieve a delayed victory. So be gone!
“Woofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoof!!”
“Alright, I’m sorry! I’m getting up!”
Dammit. It’s not working at all.
I washed my face and wet my hair as usual, then inserted a Clothing Packet to don my warden's uniform. The stiff fabric enveloped my body.
Like all Clothing Packets, it was far more comfortable than it looked, but I had one complaint: the sleeves were too tight, making it difficult to hide things inside. Only a magician of my caliber could hide cards in these narrow sleeves; any other magician would feel like they were in handcuffs.
Mulling over such trivial thoughts, I hid my cards in my sleeve as always and left the room.
“Grrrrr.”
“Hm?”
“Woof?”
When I looked at Azzy, Azzy looked back at me. Her large, round eyes were fixed on me.
When I tilted my head, Azzy tilted hers to match.
“That’s strange. Weren’t you just growling?”
“Woof?”
“Really? Never mind, then.”
I thought I heard something, but it was odd. Was Finlay nearby?
Ah, well. It’s probably nothing.
I prepared breakfast with last night’s leftovers. While Azzy ate with relish, I filled my own stomach just enough and leisurely went down to the yard.
“Now, what to do today… Hmm, there’s not much to do. It would be nice to squeeze some Alchemic Gold out of Trainee Shei in the name of a lesson.”
My plan was to gently coax the vampire by telling her we had a very important lesson today, inflate her expectations, and then pretend to be reluctant to proceed. Wouldn’t the Regressor open her wallet on her own then?
The drawback of the artifacts the vampire possessed was that while they were valuable, they couldn't be used immediately. Considering that, Alchemic Gold was the best. Especially since it could be instantly converted to cash.
Heh heh. I’ll squeeze a ton of Alchemic Gold out of her and get a new set of cards. All of them spec’d for alchemical transformation, of course.
As I walked, plotting today’s scam, I heard a strange thought coming from a corner of the yard again.
What is it? Did the Regressor cut off Finlay’s arm again? My curiosity piqued, I approached the source.
And there…
“I thought you’d be here soon, Warden.”
The Regressor and Finlay stood facing each other. It was a scene reminiscent of the day Finlay first arrived.
However, their attitudes were the complete opposite of before. Finlay sat confidently in a chair, flanked by two dark knights whose entire bodies shimmered with darkness, standing at attention as if they were his guards.
The Regressor had her arms crossed, her expression as disgruntled as ever.
I asked, puzzled.
“What’s all the commotion about now? Did Trainee Shei cut off someone’s arm?”
The Regressor glanced at me and answered curtly.
“Not yet.”
Not yet, I see. Hmm.
Finlay, catching the hidden meaning in her words, let out a short, dry laugh.
“How arrogant you are, wielding a sword beyond your station… But that ends today.”
“Arrogant?”
What’s this? Does he have a death wish?
The Regressor trying to cut off someone’s arm was a daily occurrence, but Finlay’s confident and defiant attitude was far beyond my expectations.
What was he relying on to act so bold when the Regressor could slice him into minced meat for a vampire tartare if she felt like it?
I was curious.
I focused my mind and read Finlay’s thoughts coming from outside.
And I realized what he had done last night.
Wow.
There was a bigger con artist than me right here.
The con artist lifted his chin. The gesture was an uncanny imitation of a vampire, and it was strangely unpleasant.
“I do not find you to my liking. However, the Progenitor seems to hold you and that little one in some affection. Thus, I shall leave you with a message.”
As if he were her official representative, Finlay declared arrogantly to me and the Regressor.
“The Progenitor will be leaving for the surface with me.”
“What?”
“This is not a request for permission, nor a plea for understanding. This is a notification. The Progenitor’s will is firm, and you will not be able to stop what she does.”
The Progenitor’s will, he says. He means his own will.
While I was scoffing internally, the Regressor, who didn’t know the full story, voiced her doubt.
“What are you talking about? Tyrkanzyaka said she had no intention of going up.”
“You cur! Do not speak the Progenitor’s name so freely!”
Though he flared up for a moment, the Regressor showed the discretion not to draw Chun-aeng. Finlay looked at the still Regressor and me with satisfaction.
“Yes. A long time ago, the Progenitor did say that. But she soon changed her mind. For the sake of our kind, she has decided to ascend to the surface and look after them.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Look at the dark knights by my side. This is the Progenitor’s power. If it were not her will, how could I be accompanied by dark knights clad in Blood Aura?”
As if in response to his words, the red-clad dark knights stomped their feet in unison. It was an act meant to intimidate.
But the Regressor answered without batting an eye.
“I’ll meet Tyrkanzyaka myself and then I’ll decide. Take me to her.”
Her sharp gaze seemed ready to cut down anything that stood in her way.
Finlay did not avoid her stare.
“Did you not hear me? I said the Progenitor is preparing to ascend.”
“And you, did you not hear me? I said I’ll hear it from her myself and decide, so take me to her.”
The air trembled uneasily. Killing intent radiated from the Regressor’s gaze. In response, Blood Aura flared up around the dark knights’ bodies.
It was a hair-trigger situation. Chun-aeng, which had been spinning like a compass, slowly came to a halt, and just as the dark knights were about to reach behind their backs…
“Wait, Trainee Shei.”
I stepped into the situation. Reaching out a hand to block the Regressor, I pointed at Finlay, who remained seated even now, and said.
“That’s a puppet made of blood and darkness.”
The Regressor frowned.
“A puppet?”
“Yes. The real one is controlling it from outside this building.”
The moment I pointed it out, Finlay’s body swelled with darkness. Instantly transforming into a pitch-black shadow, Finlay’s puppet stretched its mouth wide and spoke.
[Quite perceptive, Warden. How did you know?]
I read your thoughts. The ones coming from outside the building right now.
Since I couldn’t say that, I gave a plausible excuse.
“All cowards do the same things. A coward like you would never reveal your real body to us, would you?”
At my answer, the pitch-black shadow opened its mouth wide and cackled.
[Heh, how arrogant. So arrogant. A commoner acting high and mighty just because you have some paltry power…]
The puppet said as much, but the thoughts of the real one, who was eavesdropping on this conversation, were slightly different.
‘He saw through a puppet created with the Progenitor’s power? He’s certainly no pushover…! Hmph, yes. Definitely. It’s better to avoid a confrontation, even with the Progenitor’s power…!’
The thoughts I heard from beyond the wall grew more distant. Finlay, who had been hiding his body with the vampire’s darkness and observing us, had fled at full speed the moment I called him out.
Not just a coward, but a magnificent one.
As the distance grew, the puppet’s form distorted. Its skin melted and its flesh twisted, darkness billowing from the cracks. Finlay’s puppet, now a grotesque form that was neither human nor even a proper puppet, uttered a bizarre sound.
[But, do you see? This puppet, a perfect imitation of me, is itself proof of the Progenitor’s power. Little one, do you now believe that my will is the Progenitor’s will?]
It was hard to deny. Even with the Regressor’s senses, she hadn’t been able to tell that the puppet wasn’t the real thing.
The Regressor replied with a frustrated look.
“Tch. It’s certainly a power beyond the likes of you.”
[If you understand, then this will be simple. We have one demand.]
Even as the real one fled far away, the puppet steadfastly delivered its final message.
[Do not interfere with our escape. If you do not, we will not kill you—]
Slice.
Before it could even form the words, the Regressor slashed through the puppet’s waist. The puppet’s body bent, and smoke poured from the gap.
The now masterless dark knights reacted, but the Regressor swung Chun-aeng in a single motion and beheaded both of them. The moment their black helmets hit the ground, the knights’ bodies turned into black smoke and vanished.
Silence fell upon the space where the vampires had been. Sheathing Chun-aeng, the Regressor glared at the billowing black smoke with eyes burning with hostility.
“I have to go see Tyrkanzyaka. I need to meet her myself and hear what’s going on.”
‘If Tyrkanzyaka truly decides to fight me, I won’t be able to win alone. At best, mutual destruction is the only option. But…’
Mutual destruction would be the Regressor’s victory. For her, there was always the next timeline after this one.
She could use the information gained this time to find a better future.
Her resolve hardened, the Regressor’s gaze turned to me.
“What are you going to do?”