Chapter 65: The Progenitor Puppet and the Unpleasant Puppet Show - 2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65: The Progenitor Puppet and the Unpleasant Puppet Show - 2
Well. What am I going to do?
How should I explain this?
No, before I even try to explain... I don't know how to express this crushing despair.
I muttered, wiping a hand over my face.
“I warned you, Tyrkanzyaka. I told you to be careful when strangers approach you with sweet words, for they might be trying to take something from you.”
I taught her, showed her, acted it out, and even teased her relentlessly. But it's clear none of it sank in.
Otherwise, she never would have shown Finlay her heart.
“I told her not to give her heart away so carelessly, that magic could never grant her what she truly wanted. I stressed it again and again. And now, this is what happens.”
A voice full of questions was directed at my monologue.
“What are you talking about now?”
“This is why one shouldn't claim to be an educator. Sigh. I feel so drained. What have I been working so hard for, if my trainee just goes off the rails like this? What does that make all my effort?”
“Anyone listening would think you were a proper educator. So what is it?”
The Regressor dismissed my words rudely and pressed on.
I let out a deep sigh and calmly relayed what I had read from Finlay.
“Trainee Tyrkanzyaka has fallen into the Homunculus's Dilemma.”
Fallen into the Homunculus's Dilemma.
For those who know of magic, the phrase holds a symbolic meaning.
It means that in trying to change oneself with the power of magic, one has been reduced to a pathetic state comparable to a mere homunculus.
In other words, it meant she had become someone's puppet.
The Regressor, understanding me instantly, was horrified.
“What? To whom? Don't tell me...”
“Finlay. He has taken control of Trainee Tyrkanzyaka. As a result, Finlay can now wield her power.”
“Impossible!”
The Regressor said.
“How is that possible? A lower-ranking vampire can't defeat a higher-ranking one. There's an enormous gap in their ability to control blood with Bloodcraft! And the Progenitor? She could tear him limb from limb with a flick of her finger!”
“But it happened. It seems Trainee Tyrkanzyaka let her guard down.”
“This isn't a gap that can be closed by just letting one's guard down!”
“Is that so? She was willing to bare her heart to me and ask you, Trainee Shei, to strike her with lightning. Isn't that more than enough carelessness?”
And now she was being controlled as a result.
Unable to find fault with my words, the Regressor looked at the situation with a more objective eye.
“You're right, that explains everything. If Tyrkanzyaka had really intended to leave, she would have at least told us. But... why? To a small fry like him...?”
Her face a mask of confusion, the Regressor slowly recalled the events of yesterday.
How she'd said she wanted a heart that beat on its own. How she'd asked to be struck by lightning. And how she'd said to ask me about the Homunculus's Dilemma.
Remembering that last part, the Regressor glared at me, her expression sharp.
“You. You told Tyrkanzyaka about the Homunculus's Dilemma yesterday, didn't you.”
I nodded in response.
“Yes. At someone's prompting. If she knew about it, she could have just explained it herself, but she kept pawning off the annoying task on me.”
“Tch.”
With no rebuttal, the Regressor clicked her tongue and changed the subject.
“Did you explain it properly? If she'd heard the story, there's no way Tyrkanzyaka would have been so reckless.”
“I did explain it properly. However, it seems our expectations were a little off.”
Naturally, the Homunculus's Dilemma is a cautionary tale.
A stern warning not to even dream of altering one's body with magic, lest you end up a grotesque mess, dismantled piece by piece to be used as materials.
“For an ordinary human, being dismantled and used as materials is a terrifying prospect, isn't it?”
But the vampire had shown a disregard for common sense several times. I knew this, and yet, at the same time, I didn't.
Because even I, who can read everything from a person's thoughts to their memories, couldn't completely read a vampire who had lived for 1,200 years.
Perhaps that's why. My realization came a little too late.
“But do you think Trainee Tyrkanzyaka felt fear or even a vague sense of repulsion when she heard that horror story? Or did she just think, 'Oh, so that's another way to do it,' and move on?”
Somehow, when I told her about the Homunculus's Dilemma yesterday, she didn't seem to have much of a reaction to the details.
I should have realized it then.
“Perhaps Trainee Tyrkanzyaka didn't see it as a taboo... but as just another method to make her heart beat again.”
The Regressor's face hardened.
To a vampire who would bare her chest for an electric shock, who would ask for magic to strike her with lightning because a simple shock wasn't enough...
...the Homunculus's Dilemma was not some dreadful taboo, but merely a roundabout refusal.
“I had no idea...”
The Regressor's voice trembled.
“Then is it my fault? Did Tyrkanzyaka give her heart to Finlay because of me?”
Your fault? What nonsense.
If it's your responsibility just for saying it, then what does that make me? I was reading her thoughts in real-time and still didn't predict this.
“No. It's not your fault, Trainee Shei.”
I'm not responsible. Therefore, you're not responsible either. Let's just absolve each other.
“And it's not my fault, either. How were we supposed to know Trainee Tyrkanzyaka's desire for a beating heart was that strong? Honestly, this is her fault from start to finish. Good grief, she's not some senile old woman. Does she have to stick her head into every single danger she sees? If she weren't undying, she would've been dead long ago.”
I offered my consolation in an endlessly light tone.
For a moment, the Regressor was a little moved by my words. Warm comfort was a rare thing for her.
Just as she was about to relax...
‘Wait a minute.’
The strength returned to her downcast eyes. The Regressor forced aside the sweet comfort, raising sharp thorns against her own weakening heart.
“How did you know that?”
Ahaha. Sharp.
I read his memories.
Everything from Finlay's lies yesterday to the sight of the vampire taking out her own heart even after hearing those obvious lies. I saw it all clearly in Finlay's memories.
But I couldn't tell her that, so I brought a finger to my lips.
“It's a secret.”
I said, giving her a perfectly innocent smile.
At that, the Regressor's gaze darkened further. She glared at me like an animal facing an enemy, every sense on high alert, and grit her teeth.
Seriously, why? I gave her such a friendly smile. What did I do?
“...Fine. We'll skip the secret. Then.”
The Regressor demanded an answer, looking like she would spring into action at the slightest touch.
“So. What are you going to do? Stand by? Cooperate? Or be hostile?”
Well now.
If I could use the vampire's power to escape to the outside, I might have cooperated with Finlay. No, before that, I would have coaxed the vampire into going up to the surface with me.
However, I know I can't escape through such a simple method. I got a clue from dismantling Finlay's bracelet, and I became certain after interrogating the golem.
To get outside, something other than the ability to fly is needed.
Which means.
“Finlay will fail to escape. You can't get out of the Abyss that way.”
Being immortal vampires, they could patiently keep climbing. But even that has its limits. As they ascend, they will eventually realize that they can never reach the surface this way.
“When he realizes he was wrong, he'll come looking for us again. That would be incredibly awkward for everyone, wouldn't it? Imagine saying 'Hello! Goodbye!' only for them to come back because they didn't actually know the way out. It would be awkward for us and for them, and the already heavy air of the Abyss would become even heavier.”
“So, your point is?”
I don't have the ability to get Finlay out. But even if I told him that, he wouldn't believe me. And even if he came to believe it after checking through various means, he wouldn't let me, the one who deceived him, go.
In short, we are fated to clash eventually.
If I want to live... I'll have to kill Finlay.
“I'm a naturally cheerful person, so I hate awkward atmospheres more than anything. I suppose I'll have to catch Finlay and kill him, if only to keep him here.”
I grinned and extended a hand to the Regressor.
“Trainee Shei, let's cooperate. To catch and kill Finlay.”
“Hmph. You think I'd cooperate with someone as inscrutable as you?”
Seriously, I'm giving her a friendly smile and a cooperative attitude, so why is she so prickly? Are you secretly the King of Hedgehogs?
Ignoring my awkwardly outstretched hand, the Regressor brushed off her clothes.
“We just happen to share the same goal. Just don't get in my way.”
“Whatever you say. I feel reassured.”
“I don't feel reassured at all.”
‘It's better than having him as an enemy, but I can't trust him completely. For now, I'll assume I'm fighting alone.’
Oh. A fine resolution.
Because you really will have to fight alone. I don't have the ability to fight a vampire.
So you have to win on your own. If I'm left alone, I'm in big trouble.
Watching the Regressor steel her resolve to fight alone, I casually asked.
“Do you have a plan?”
“...Hoo. I suppose there's no reason to hide it.”
The Regressor raised her hand. As she focused her mind and exerted her power, crimson blood seeped from between her fingers, coalescing into a bead that rolled across her fingertips.
“Bloodcraft is an ability all vampires possess. But no matter how good he is, he's still just a Yeiling. Not an Elder, not even an Ain. The link to his power must be loose. In that case.”
Pop. The Regressor flicked her finger, and the bead of blood exploded in midair. The impact was comparable to a small bomb.
Amidst the scattering droplets of blood, the Regressor spoke with confidence.
“I'll use my Bloodcraft to shock Tyrkanzyaka. My power is primal Bloodcraft. It doesn't belong to Tyrkanzyaka's system of power. If I stimulate her with a foreign power, her instincts will lash out, if only to resist it.”
Her head might be a little messed up, but a Regressor is still a Regressor. Her plan is solid. It's more than a passing grade.
No need to hold back on the praise at a time like this.
“Nice. An excellent plan.”
The Regressor scoffed in response.
“Hmph. Instead of spouting empty words, you can provide long-range support.”
“I don't exactly have any means of long-range support.”
The Regressor gave me an icy look.
Why the look? You think long-range support is the only thing I'm missing?
Actually, I don't have any close-range support either! Ta-da!
“Then just use magic from the back.”
“The only magic I can use is limited to level 0 spells.”
You saw me use magic before. And that pathetic amount of mana.
Just then, the Regressor seemed to remember and her face crumpled in disgust.
“Tch, what the hell. You're just a swordsman? A swordsman with no abilities has the worst compatibility against Tyrkanzyaka!”
No, I'm a card user. I've barely ever used a sword. The kitchen knife I use for cooking is the extent of my history as a swordsman.
“Then just take care of Tyrkanzyaka's familiars! I'll handle everything else!”
‘He's not reassuring at all! Hmph, but it's fine. I can do it alone. I've done it before in a previous timeline!’
For a moment, the Regressor recalled something from a previous timeline. Back during the great war, when she had raided the headquarters of the immortal legion that fought against the Sanctum.
Back then, the Regressor had come face to face with the Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka—a vengeful demon who had declared a bloody retribution with crimson-stained eyes.
‘I'm weaker now than I was then, and I have fewer options, but the same goes for her. No, it's even more true for her. There are no Elders or Ain from the Duchy of Mist to protect her, right? If I can just be careful of Ralion, I can definitely wake Tyrkanzyaka up.’
The brief recollection ended. Having finished her calculations, the Regressor steeled her resolve and spoke.
“I need to prepare.”
“What a coincidence. I also needed to prepare.”
“Meet back here in one minute. We're going to kill Finlay and save Tyrkanzyaka.”
She didn't wait for an answer. The Regressor strode back to her room to retrieve the tools she would need to face a vampire.
Hmm.
Truthfully, I have nothing to prepare. Still, I should at least pretend to get ready, right?
I scratched my head and headed upstairs, to gather what little equipment I had.