The Archbishop at the Door
The Archbishop standing before the door sneered at Mikhail.
"Puhahahaha...!!"
Her brows furrowed. That mocking laughter was loud enough to burst her eardrums. Whatever amused him so greatly, the endless peals of laughter showed no sign of stopping.
—Click.
"Haa... Kid. I think you're pretty impressive."
—Clack. The sound of the locked doorknob turning reached Mikhail's ears. At the same time, from beyond the door came the sound of Yung drawing a long breath: "Huuuup..."
"I was hoping for a wonderful reunion..."
—Clack.
"What a shame."
Yung muttered to himself and continued from where he'd left off. As if it didn't matter whether she answered or not, he kept praising the Mikhail on the other side of the door.
"Getting into the academy without parents and living without envy from others—that's impressive."
'Grip...'
Mikhail clutched the doorknob and answered Yung's words with silence. She had no intention of playing along with his games. Hot anger boiled in her chest, but she had no confidence she could defeat him with her current strength. She had already suffered a bitter defeat once before. Mikhail, unwilling to repeat the same mistake, bit her lip and endured. It would be better for her future to watch for an opening and escape rather than lose her reason and throw away her chance.
Besides...
—Next week, I'll treat you to a meal.
—...Can I come again?
—Of course. I have a promise to keep.
Mikhail wanted to avoid any reckless challenges. No matter what that man said.
"It really is impressive."
She intended to push forward with the best choice she could make right now. Yung continued the one-sided conversation.
"Honestly, I thought you'd become a vengeful spirit. I figured you'd foam at the mouth trying to get revenge on me somehow."
Yung went on in a flat, emotionless voice. As if he were genuinely praising the path Mikhail had walked.
"Everyone else did, so I assumed you would too."
He calmly explained from his own experience.
"Picking up a sword you'd never even held before, all because of revenge..."
"..."
"Hiring mercenaries with money to come capture me..."
"..."
"Learning black magic half-heartedly and destroying yourself..."
"I'm not interested in your story. Get lost before I kill you."
"Shouldn't you be interested? Otherwise, how would you know what kind of magic I cast on you?"
"..."
'Magic...?'
Mikhail swallowed the question that rose at the word "magic" from Yung's mouth. It was the first time she'd heard it. She had no memory of it. No—she couldn't remember. That day, the memory of this man casting magic on her...
—Let go...!
'...'
Yung let out a small chuckle at Mikhail's suddenly quiet breathing and imagined her expression.
"Curious?"
"..."
"It's driving you crazy, isn't it?"
"...What did you do to me?"
"Yes... That's the reaction I wanted. Only then do I feel like telling you."
"Tell me right now."
"Puhaha! You're dying to know what kind of prank I played on you, right? So you have to listen. I heard your story through someone else's memories... Don't you think you should hear mine too?"
Yung drew a deep breath and began forcing his story on Mikhail. Muttering that every event had its own narrative.
"I wasn't always like this either."
Yung's voice carried a thick layer of regret. Like someone walking through a mirage, he reminisced and spoke to Mikhail.
"I had good parents, a girl I had a crush on, and lived a youth without envy."
"...Then why?"
"The wind blew."
"..."
"An unavoidable wind."
Emotion began to creep into Yung's voice.
"My parents died in an accident."
"..."
"The girl I liked left for another man."
"..."
"I had nothing left."
"What are you talking about right now?"
"I'm telling you why this uncle went crazy."
Yung scolded Mikhail for questioning him and raised his voice.
"Life was hard. I got scammed, gambled away all my savings... and eventually, I got angry. Why is my life such a mess... I wondered."
"..."
It was sickening to listen to. The emotional manipulation from the man who had given her such ugly memories was nauseating to the point of making her teeth chatter.
"When I was young—exactly your age, that is..."
"..."
"I thought, 'Whatever happens, happens,' and threw rocks at the guy the girl I liked was into. He happened to walk right past me, annoying me..."
"..."
"So I hit him in the head. Hoping he'd just die."
Mikhail's shoulders trembled at the glee in Yung's voice as he bragged about what he'd done.
"Want to know what happened?"
Yung burst out laughing. "He couldn't remember."
"..."
"Who the girl he liked was, who hit him in the head... I turned him into an idiot, and he thanked me for bringing him to the hospital..."
Yung grinned as if his face would split and said to Mikhail,
"He didn't know a single thing! Puhahaha!"
Listening to Yung, Mikhail gripped the doorknob and breathed heavily. She still couldn't adapt to this situation. This madman's complaints. She was terrified of this man's twisted ideals that turned small misfortunes into greater ones, and her hands kept shaking.
Yung felt the slight tremor through the doorknob and spoke.
"That's why I went crazy."
"..."
"Because it's so fun... This thrill! The fun of stealing someone else's life...! It's so good, I just have to endure it..."
Mikhail asked in a trembling voice,
"Just... because of that?"
"What do you mean 'just'? Do you know how miserable I was?"
"You did all this just because of something so trivial!!!"
Mikhail couldn't understand Yung speaking as if he were the victim. While it was true he'd suffered misfortune, she couldn't accept that as justification for his corruption. If anything, her own life had been far more wretched and miserable, yet the misfortune she'd endured was even...
—Clack.
"Kid."
"..."
"Watch your mouth. Unless you want to die right now."
"Gulp."
Yung, who had spoken coldly, let out a hearty laugh and continued.
"You too..."
Suppressing his anger, Yung revealed his ideals to Mikhail. Without using force or trying to break the door open, he continued speaking leisurely to himself.
"You too. If you'd seen my memories, you wouldn't have said that. The word 'just' would've disappeared, and you'd have been sobbing instead."
"...No. I don't pity trash like you."
Mikhail bit her lip at Yung's words. There were people who deserved pity and people who didn't.
"Hmm... You're so cold."
"Stop spouting nonsense and tell me what magic you cast on me."
"I don't feel like telling you anymore."
"Cut it out...!"
"Why?"
Yung slammed his fist against the door with a 'Bang!' and sneered.
"Why am I trash?"
"Because you're trash who killed countless people..."
"In other people's memories, you forgave everyone. So why won't you forgive me?"
"..."
"I can become a good person too."
"..."
"If you give me a chance, I can become good. If you open the door and hug me tight... I can 'atone.'"
"...Don't talk shit."
Yung sneered and said to Mikhail,
"You don't believe me..."
"..."
"Well..."
Yung looked at the door with a sharp gaze and spoke to Mikhail.
"People don't change."
"..."
"Unless you rewrite their memories completely, people don't change even if they die."
Yung spoke to the rigid Mikhail.
"I suppose it's time I told you what you're curious about."
—Gulp.
"You must've had a hard time waiting. You're probably getting tired of listening to an old man's sob story by now."
—...
"What a shame."
—...
"If I'd cast it a little stronger, I could've seen something interesting."
"Something interesting...?"
"I should've cast it on that kid instead of you. It would've been more fun... but it didn't work. It made me want to kill them..."
"What are you talking about...?"
Yung could clearly see Mikhail's expression. The look of someone going mad with curiosity.
"Didn't you think it was strange?"
"What was strange...?"
"Think about it. Haven't you found yourself hating or resenting someone to an abnormal degree? I'm sure you have. Haven't you?"
At Yung's chilling question, Mikhail fell silent for a moment. His words filled her with an ominous premonition.
"It's not something worth hating that much... but the hatred only grows."
'No...'
"It's something that could've been resolved through conversation, but you ignore it, thinking words won't work."
—Isn't that right...?
At the silence from beyond the door, Yung let out a small sneer, savoring his delight.
"Didn't you think it was strange?"
No. No way. It can't be. Mikhail gripped the doorknob with both hands and stared at the door with trembling eyes. Realizing that 'he' was the root of everything, she exhaled roughly, blood vessels rising in her eyes.
"You must be remembering something."
"You..."
"Now the story's getting interesting, isn't it?"
"You did this?"
Yung lightly ignored Mikhail's question and continued boasting about his magic.
"My black magic can turn people into blank slates like the ones you've passed by..."
"..."
"It can make someone call their mortal enemy 'Mother.'"
"..."
"Conversely..."
Mikhail gritted her teeth and gripped the doorknob tightly at the deep malice in Yung's voice.
"It can also make someone hate another person."
"..."
"When you see photos related to them, their face becomes blurry no matter how hard you try to remember, and you can't recall it."
"..."
At Yung's chilling testimony, Mikhail's fingers began to tremble.
"But you can't forget them, and you miss them."
".."
"You miss them so much it hurts, and sometimes you cry..."
"..."
"But then."
—Clack.
The doorknob Mikhail was holding began to tremble. The sound of the firmly locked door clicking started coming repeatedly.
—Clack. Clack. Clack!
"When you see a specific person, impulsive emotions rise..."
"..."
"Why are they making that kind of face?"
"..."
"Why are they smiling like that?"
"..."
"I don't want that person to be happy."
Mikhail shouted at Yung in a boiling voice.
"I'm asking if you did this!"
"Why are you angry, kid? I was just trying to apologize for the prank I played on you."
"I told you to shut up."
"Why...?"
Yung spoke to Mikhail in a calm voice.
"Are you scared?"
"..."
"No. I only planted a small seed of doubt. Just enough so that when that kid appears before you, that emotion could turn into 'rage.'"
"..."
"The one who ruined that relationship was you."
"..."
"The black magic was cast weakly... You could've overcome it, but the fact that you couldn't is your fault."
—Tremble, tremble, tremble.
Yung smiled in satisfaction at the shaking doorknob.
"You shouldn't be trembling already. What will you do if I open the door and come in?"
"..."
"You know I'm not the type to end things like this."
"..."
"I prepared a gift for you with all my heart. It'd be boring if it ended so blandly."
Yung spoke with genuine delight.
"Should I try rewriting your memories completely this time?"
"..."
"This time, I'll really make you hate that kid. While making you call me 'Daddy,' I'll turn the person you thought was a hero into your enemy...!"
"...Shut up."
"Yes! I'll change our first meeting into a memorable memory...! I'll swap my face with that kid's and that kid's face with mine..."
"...I'll kill you. I'll kill you right now!"
"You will?"
Yung asked Mikhail seriously.
"How?"
"..."
"Can you kill me?"
"..."
"You can, kid."
Yung sneered at Mikhail and said,
"If it weren't for me, when you saw that kid, you would've burst into tears first, wouldn't you?"
"..."
"You should be grateful."
"I'll... I'll kill you."
"There's beauty in waiting."
Yung turned the doorknob once more with a 'clack' and spoke to Mikhail.
"If I open this door and come in, a new world will unfold before you... Aren't you excited?"
Yung spoke to Mikhail with genuine sincerity.
"You'll be happy. Happier than any happiness you've ever felt."
—Clack!
"So..."
—Clack.. Clack...!
"Let's have a pleasant dream..."
The doorknob began to tremble violently. Along with the shaking doorknob, Mikhail's body began to tremble as well. The previously quiet people started pounding on the door like mad, and darkness began to gather outside the window. The falling rain brought a cruel storm, swallowing up sound.
—Shhhhhhhhhh.
As if announcing that for Mikhail, the worst was not the end but the beginning.
—Shhhhhhhhhh.
A fierce downpour began to fall.