Chapter 214: The Master Is Here (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 214: The Master Is Here (3)
The Celestial Pavilion hadn't changed dramatically since I’d left.
The Celestial Fox’s heavenly realm had collapsed, replaced by the Gumiho’s Dream Garden.
And with Yuhwa’s retirement, Heukbi had been saddled with the position of leader.
It was a position any merchant would dream of, but not for Heukbi.
“You look quite haggard since I last saw you.”
“…”
Heukbi staggered out, unable to even offer a proper greeting. Exhaustion was plastered to her face like gum. Her hazy silver eyes were like a smudged mirror.
In contrast, Yuhwa, who had tossed the leadership role to Heukbi, looked decades younger. No, she was younger. She had the appearance of a young woman, not a grandmother.
She was using shapeshifting.
“What’s with the new look?”
“My Mandate of Heaven as the Celestial Fox is gone, and I’ve passed on the leadership. Shouldn’t I forge my own destiny now?”
“What, are you out meeting men or something?”
“None of them are up to my standards. They just get flustered the moment they see this face. Tsk, tsk.”
Yuhwa spoke with an air of genuine disappointment.
Then, with a faint smile, she looked at me.
“In that respect, you were unfazed even when you saw my true self. What do you say? Care to go out with me for a bit? I believe the young folk call it ‘having a thing’?”
I turned my back to the chattering Yuhwa.
“Here, hop on. I’ll give you a safe ride to the chicken joint.”
Her appearance was as beautiful as Rin’s, but beneath that skin was a thousand-year-old grandmother. Since I knew the truth, I felt no attraction whatsoever.
Unfortunately, Yuhwa did not take me up on my offer of a human piggyback ride.
“What brings you back here?”
“From what the girls told me, the clergy are running rampant here, too.”
“The ‘here, too’ part makes it sound like you’re involved again.”
“It just sort of happened that way.”
Yuhwa clicked her tongue.
Heukbi stared at me with cold, dead eyes.
“I know nothing of this matter. I am not at fault.”
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
“And if you’re their master, then please, take your slaves with you. The Celestial Pavilion is not a daycare. I have more than enough to do without them.”
Spitting out her words like a rap, Heukbi said her piece and staggered away.
So this is what happens to even someone like Heukbi when she’s buried in work.
More importantly…
“Alright, you two. What trouble did you cause?”
“…None?”
“Rin knows nothing of it.”
The two girls, who were always so eager to cling to me, now avoided my gaze.
You two definitely caused trouble.
“What did you do? Tell me the truth.”
“It was nothing. We just spread Mastah’s greatness to the world.”
“The Reaper’s Order already has ten thousand members! And with this latest incident, the number is sure to grow!”
The Reaper’s Order?
How did you two…
Ah.
“So it was you. You created a cult in my name without my permission.”
I grabbed both of their cheeks and pulled.
Their cheeks stretched like mochi.
“Mwaaah, we were just trying to show people the joy of liberation…”
“Mashtah, we di’n’t do anyfing baaad.”
“We helped them make some money.”
“An’ healed shome people.”
“Helped them find girlfriends.”
“An’ jush’ revived shome dead people.”
You did a hell of a lot.
And none of that qualifies as “some.”
Don’t you dare use the word “some” after bringing people back from the dead.
“I’ll let it slide since you said you didn’t do anything bad, but this is punishment for using your powers so recklessly. Don’t you know that with great power comes great responsibility?”
“Rin told me to do it…”
“She told me to do it…”
“Ssssup.”
“I’m sorry…”
“I’m shorry.”
I let go of their cheeks.
They both rubbed their reddened faces.
Now I understood why Heukbi looked at me like I was her mortal enemy. One of them was a handful, so having two must have been exhausting.
Still, while I felt sorry for Heukbi, as their master, I was somewhat relieved.
I’d been worried they might still be at each other’s throats, but it seemed they were getting along quite well. The problem was that they got along a little too well.
“Master, so what would you like me to do?”
“Before that.”
There was something I needed to clear up.
“Mirabelle, did you happen to know that an elder from the Magic Tower tried to have me killed?”
“What?”
“A demon known as Zakaril the Mischievous came after me. Can you believe a shark tore my arm off? Thankfully, I’m fine now, but I almost had to get a mechanical arm.”
Mirabelle blinked blankly, slow to process my words. When she finally grasped the situation, her entire demeanor changed.
“…Please wait here a moment.”
With the terrifying expression of a witch, devoid of any cuteness, Mirabelle vanished.
*
When Mirabelle, who had left for a moment, returned, she had Zakaril with her. I couldn’t tell if she had teleported him here with spatial magic or summoned him.
Either way, it was top-tier magic that only an Archmage could perform.
Thud.
Zakaril, bound by Mirabelle’s magic, was thrown down in front of me.
“Oh? The Magic Tower Master’s master? We meet again?”
“It’s been a while.”
“The Magic Tower Master got super mad and caught me, you know? Do you know why?”
“Probably because you tried to kill me.”
“Aha. Is that all?”
Zakaril spoke as if it were no big deal. He glanced around, his eyes widening.
“Wow! An elf with a spirit in her body, and some super strong-looking foxes. There’s a lot of fun-looking stuff here! Come on, play with me!”
Whether he couldn’t grasp the situation or simply didn’t feel the need to, Zakaril was as cheerful as ever. Mirabelle aimed her staff at his head.
“Don’t you dare run your mouth in front of the Master, Zakaril.”
“Hmph.”
“Answer my questions truthfully. Otherwise, I’ll blow your head off.”
“Ooh, scary~”
Mirabelle began her interrogation.
“Why did you try to harm the Master?”
“Because it looked like fun. But he cheated at hide-and-seek and called a friend! Look at this! I lost a wing!”
“How did you know of the Master’s existence? How did you find him?”
“Hmph! I’m not gonna tell you! Morgana would get mad if I did!”
“Morgana…”
A name from Zakaril’s lips.
Muttering the name of the witch and elder of the Magic Tower, Mirabelle turned her head toward the distant sky.
She tapped the floor with her staff.
Whoosh- A navy-blue Reaper materialized, enveloping Mirabelle.
It gripped its scythe, awaiting her command.
“Bring her.”
At that single command, the Reaper passed through the wall and soared into the sky.
*
The moment Karami had arrived, Morgana had fled Vestia as if her life depended on it.
She gnawed on her lip, her face a mask of pure irritation.
“Damn it. Damn it! It was the perfect opportunity!” Morgana screamed in frustration.
In all her life, Morgana had never seen a being as bizarre as Mirabelle.
When she first met her, she was just a young witch who was quite skilled with magic for her age. She was cute, too, so Morgana had thought of taking her under her wing and teaching her a thing or two.
But everything changed once Mirabelle began living at the Magic Tower. She mastered magic perfectly just by skimming through books, without any effort at all.
A terrifying learning ability.
The archmages, sages, and great witches of history were nothing compared to Mirabelle.
If she could use Mirabelle, she could even drag down the gods and place the world at the witches’ feet.
Witches would no longer have to live in hiding.
They could rule the very world that had once persecuted them.
But to do that, she had to eliminate that man, the master.
“Zakaril, you utter fool! You can’t even handle one simple task…!”
He was always complaining about how bored he was, yet she’d never seen him do a job properly when she gave him one.
Mirabelle was in Vestia, too. How hard could it be to take care of a single human? No, it was her own fault for entrusting the task to such an idiot.
She had to put as much distance between them as possible, as quickly as possible. Somewhere beyond the reach of Mirabelle’s magic. If she was caught, she would not escape with her life.
Fortunately, there was no risk of being discovered.
Only a handful of people knew Zakaril was a member of the Magic Tower. It would be dangerous if Karami knew Zakaril’s identity, but there was no way he could.
Still, just in case, she had intended to get away from him. If she said she had urgent business, even Mirabelle wouldn’t be suspicious.
It was just as Morgana had crossed a dozen cities at supersonic speed.
“…!”
Suddenly, she felt an immense pressure from behind.
The pressure sent an involuntary shiver down Morgana’s spine.
On the off chance… she glanced back.
A navy-blue Reaper, scythe in hand, was chasing her with terrifying speed.
“Tch!”
She’d been found.
How?
No, that wasn’t important right now.
Thankfully, Mirabelle hadn’t come after her personally. It seemed she had commanded the Reaper she usually handled.
“My dear, sweet Magic Tower Master. Aren’t you underestimating me a little?”
Of course, Mirabelle was in a league of her own, but so was Morgana. A Great Witch who could destroy an entire nation single-handedly.
She was more than capable of suppressing a single Reaper.
Morgana stopped her escape, placed a pipe between her lips, and lit it. She took a deep drag, then slowly exhaled.
Her mana circulation accelerated to a taut hum.
It was an amplification of her mana, mediated by a special drug of her own creation.
It forcibly increased the mana consumed when casting magic.
The power of her spells would be doubled.
With this, dealing with a single Reaper would be child’s play.
Morgana began to cast her spell.
*
It was no use.
This wasn’t just a Reaper; it was the embodiment of Mirabelle’s path of magic, her very life’s work. Even a calamity like Morgana stood no chance of defeating Mirabelle’s Reaper.
Captured by the Reaper, Morgana was forced to her knees like a criminal.
“Morgana! Hi!”
“I’m not ‘hi’ at all, thanks to you.”
Zakaril was sprawled out right next to her. Morgana gritted her teeth and replied to the mischievous boy, who was grinning and greeting her even in this situation.
“Morgana Sherisein.”
At the call, which sounded like the naming of a sinner, Morgana raised her head.
There stood Karami, with Mirabelle at his side like a loyal aide.
“Is it true that you ordered Zakaril to harm the Master?”
“Yes, it is.”
There was no point in lying. Mirabelle would uncover the truth with a simple inquiry, so Morgana readily admitted to the charge.
“Why did you do it?”
“Because it’s absurd for the Magic Tower Master to be a slave. A young witch, no less. I was certain that man must have used some strange trick on you when you were still naive.”
“You did it for my sake?”
“That’s right.”
“There may be some logic to your thinking, Morgana, but the Master is not that kind of person. He is the one who saved me and helped me rise to this position. I can never forgive an act that threatened my Master’s life.”
The truth was out.
“What will you do, Master?”
Mirabelle’s role was finished.
She was a slave and the Hand of the Death God.
The verdict was up to her master, Karami.
Karami studied Morgana intently for a moment before speaking.
“It seems this incident arose from suspicion. I understand. The world is not yet ready to accept my existence.”
What is that supposed to mean? Morgana thought.
“I will grant you the special opportunity to become my slave. That should clear up any misunderstandings, wouldn’t you agree?”
Morgana screamed internally.
She had chipped away at her soul and shed blood to become a Great Witch, only for her story to end as a mere slave. Death would be preferable.
“I’m against it.”
But an objection was raised.
Alfia spoke in a tone of discontent.
“The girl who tried to kill you gets to be a slave, same as me? I can’t accept that.”
“Rin agrees! She did something wrong, so why is she getting a reward instead of a punishment! When Rin did something wrong, I couldn’t eat meat and had to eat vegetables! Although I did sneak some, of course.”
If you commit a crime, you must pay the price. But in their view, Karami’s verdict was not a punishment, but a blessing.
However, Karami was firm.
“What can be done? If she has a sin, it is the sin of not meeting me sooner. Shouldn’t I give her one chance?”
He was showing great magnanimity.
…Or so it seemed. The truth was slightly different.
A pretty female character? I can’t resist adding her to my collection.
Morgana was the very model of a witch.
Her seductive eyes that could bewitch any man, the dress that revealed her voluptuous figure—she was quite attractive.
Although she had threatened his life and gotten his arm cut off, he was perfectly fine now. So in a case like this, why not let his little head do the thinking?
Yes. That was fine.
“But…”
“I will not accept any counterarguments.”
To a slave, the master’s command was more powerful than the authority of a god.
Though their dissatisfaction remained, Karami had dismissed their opinions, so there were no further objections.
Meanwhile, Morgana, who had been watching everything, was bewildered.
…What is this? Is the world mocking me?
Why were they jealous?
What opportunity?
What reward?
Have you all gone completely insane?
Morgana couldn’t understand any of it.
“What should we do with Zakaril, Master?”
“Eh… do whatever you want with him.”
A stark contrast to his handling of Morgana, Karami’s interest had plummeted, and he answered dismissively.
He’s a male character. He can fend for himself.