Master of All Sins

Chapter 12 : The Sorcerer and the Priest - 3

I felt sorry for Fire tail, but I had anticipated Hoa's betrayal from the beginning to some extent.

Not only had Hoa been hiding her true identity from the start, but she was also overly kind to me and the incident that led her to contact me had some particularly suspicious aspects.

As far as I knew, the Eul was originally a wise monster, albeit with a nasty taste.

The fact that such a creature blindly chased after Hoa, who was stronger than it, and even tried to forcibly pair her, a monster, with me, had given me a strong sense of unease.

Furthermore, in the middle of our fight, its expression suddenly changed as if it was about to say something, only to be stopped by Hoa.

There were many suspicious things about Hoa herself, especially her excessive knowledge of matters outside the Phantom World, such as mentioning comics or modern people.

Of course, with these reasons alone, I couldn't be certain that she would be hostile towards me.

However, I had been concerned that Hoa's words had noticeably decreased since I made a contract with Fire tail.

Perhaps it was because she thought it would be difficult to handle me as she pleased with Fire tail around.

Even now, didn't she ambush Fire tail before me?

“Fire tail, are you alright?”

– Son of a bitch……!

“Oh my, you still have the energy to talk. Please wait a moment, Noble One. Let me take care of this first and then we can talk amongst ourselves.”

Surprisingly, it seemed she intended to keep calling me Noble One even after drawing the sword from her bosom.

I scoffed and said.

“If it dies, I die too. You must know that and are still doing this.”

“I won't kill it. There's no need to provoke that thing's original master and I have no intention of killing you, Noble One. But you will need to be a little quieter. Wouldn't it be good to seal it away for now?”

“I can't let that happen. Fire tail is my shikigami.”

As I tapped the staff infused with spiritual power on the ground and whispered something, tree branches shot out from under Fire tail's feet, grabbing it and flinging it behind me in a protective manner, shielding it from Hoa.

Even though Hoa could have easily blocked it with her abilities, she didn't, as if… she had a clear purpose related to me, yet hesitated to lay a hand on me until the very end.

“My goodness, to think you've already become so proficient in handling the ogre's power…….”

“It's all thanks to you. You were the one who brought the staff and you were the one who helped me remember the incantation.”

Of course, it could just be that she was at ease due to the vast difference in our abilities, but how could anyone think these were the words of someone who held malice towards me?

But it was true.

This was the reason I hadn't let my guard down around Hoa.

……Surprisingly, I had one other such connection.

“How could that be thanks to me? If the ogre's power were easy to handle, their race would have already been wiped out and turned into materials for enchanted tools.”

“That's not the only thing I have to thank you for. Since it has come to this, I must say everything.”

“Huhu, you're not trying to use the time you've bought to pull some trick, are you?”

Even as she said that, Hoa didn't try to stop my actions immediately.

I nodded at that and continued speaking.

“First, thank you for healing me several times.”

“Heal you? It was the Myodusa that healed you, Noble One.”

“That's why I'm saying it. Isn't the Myodusa your shikigami? Or should I call it a vassal?”

“What? What nonsense are you spouting……!”

“I know. I can see it with my eyes now.”

“…….”

Did she not hear my conversation with Fire tail or did she not expect me to be able to grasp another's contractual relationships?

Hoa just gaped, unable to refute.

It was natural, as I, too wouldn't have known this was possible if not for the miraculous encounter I had today.

However, knowing that the Myodusa is Hoa's vassal solves one mystery for certain.

The Art of Self-Severing a Path to Life clearly separated only Hoa and me, so how could the Myodusa have followed?

If the Myodusa was in a contractual relationship with Hoa and could be summoned at any time, it would be a simple solution.

“That's not the only thing I'm grateful for.”

“Ye, yes?”

“Having the Myodusa find me and inducing me to have an ‘appropriate real combat’ experience.”

“No, that's.”

“The method was a bit extreme, but it taught me about real combat and made me realize the danger of my power.”

“I just.”

“The same goes for teaching me sorcery. It was a sorcery with great compatibility, as if made by someone who knew me very well.”

“That just means that I and the Noble One have good compatibility, it doesn't mean anything else…….”

“I can't be sure, but Fire tail becoming my shikigami was also likely influenced by you.”

“That one's not true, that damn dog went crazy after being hit by the young master's baptism of fire and acted on its own!”

It was probably hidden by the bandages, but the moment I heard those words, a faint smile formed on my lips.

“Lastly, for raising me in my mother's stead until now.”

“What does that…… ah.”

Hoa… Geum Mo-a realized she had made a slip of the tongue and shut her mouth.

The change happened immediately after.

Her jet-black hair turned a brilliant gold and swayed much more alluringly, her eyes became a beautiful jade green and her indistinct features transformed into those of a peerless beauty, a harmony of Eastern and Western aesthetics.

At the same time, the small and slender girl's body grew rapidly, returning to the form of the lady I knew so well and I asked.

“So, Mo-a. Were you satisfied with your game?”

“……Since when?”

Facing Geum Mo-a, who wore an embarrassed expression, I scoffed.

“I was suspicious from the start, but I became certain after making the contract with Fire tail.”

“As expected of the young master. You see right through my heart.”

“Do you really think I can see through your heart?”

“Of course, you've always known my heart and taken care of me since long ago! If the young master had been let out of the Shin Clan, you would have made many women cry.”

Geum Mo-a was surely speaking seriously, not joking.

Since long ago, her remarks about me were so blindly affectionate that even my own mother was sometimes shocked.

I sighed lightly and said.

“Is that why you're trying to make it so I can never go outside? By sealing the shikigami I finally obtained and crippling my limbs?”

“Ahahaha…… Yes. About half?”

Even though it was about ruining a person's life, Geum Mo-a just smiled with an expression that said she was simply embarrassed at having her inner thoughts exposed.

That appearance was certainly closer to a monster than a human.

“But it's not as easy as it seems. Just the thought of laying a hand on the young master is dreadful, really.”

“You've been constantly agonizing over it. When we reunited in the Phantom World, when you heard Eul's strange proposal, when the Fire Dog came to me, when I collapsed from exhaustion……. In all those moments, you were severely conflicted, yet you were definitely measuring my openings. Weren't you?”

In truth, it wasn't that Geum Mo-a had suddenly started aiming for my body after entering the Phantom World.

It had been like this from the moment I first met her and lived with her, all the way to this very instant.

Geum Mo-a held a terrifyingly deep affection and malice for me at the same time.

It was also the reason why I, as a young boy, had been so wary of Geum Mo-a, who looked like a beautiful angel on the outside.

Now that I confessed this, Geum Mo-a was purely amazed.

“You realized it so early on and yet you didn't cast me away.”

“Casting someone away is something you can only do when you have many others to replace them. I had no one else to rely on but you. It wasn't because I was a fool that I kept you by my side, even though you hated me.”

“Lies, you like me, young master. That's why you couldn't cast me away, right?”

“……Yes.”

To Geum Mo-a's words, spoken with a bashful smile, I also replied honestly in resignation.

“You are right. You are already my other half, so what does it matter if you hate me? If you were to kill me, it would have to be called a suicide on my part.”

“How romantic……. I feel the same. No, you're more than just my other half. Killing you is unthinkable. Young master, you are my everything. That's why─ I never want to let you out into the world.”

Geum Mo-a's expression suddenly changed and she glared at my chest with a face full of endless hatred.

Inside was the Indulgence I had received from my stepmother yesterday.

“How could something I had all to myself form connections with others again. This is not good. No matter how much it hurts, I should have broken the young master's arms and legs long ago and kept you somewhere only I know.”

“You knew the effect of the Indulgence from the beginning.”

“Yes, I knew as soon as I saw it. I should have torn it up right away.”

Then, the reason Geum Mo-a got angry seeing the Indulgence wasn't because it was a fake talisman, but rather because I, who had been trapped as an invalid unable to even walk properly, now had a chance at freedom?

I sighed and spat out the words.

“Are you the same as that burning bird? Bound by a connection from a past I don't know the origin of…?”

The moment I uttered those words, several gray-tinted scenes flashed through my mind.

Perhaps I had even seen her face in a dream I had just a short while ago…….

But just trying to remember what the dream was about made my head throb, so I gave up.

“It's a little similar, but─ unlike that chick, I've been with the young master in this current life as well. We're not the same at all. I am far superior.”

As if she hated even being compared to someone else, Geum Mo-a spat out her words with a stern face, emphasizing each one, then immediately pushed her face close to mine and whispered quickly.

“Can't we turn back now, young master? Let's tear up the talisman right now and live quietly, just the two of us. You won't have to worry about anything, because I'll do everything for you─.”

“No.”

“Even if I get angry at that answer and do something terrible to you, young master?”

“Still, no.”

I said firmly.

“You say you've been with me in this current life, but your eyes are still looking at the past.”

“……You are my young master, including everything up to the past.”

“It's different, whatever it was, it's different from what you think. Even if it was my own past life, I have not the slightest intention of living while embracing sins I have no memory of committing.”

“If you're going to go that far.”

Geum Mo-a let out a gloomy sigh and raised her head.

Before I knew it, dozens of brilliant golden flames had appeared around her.

Each one of them held a power incomparably stronger than the flames I created.

“I have no choice, it might hurt a little, but please bear with it. Ah, don't force your spiritual power to go berserk like you did during our fight earlier. Then I'll get really angry!”

She's trying to keep me barely alive, yet she says she'll get angry if I fight with my life on the line.

Don't tell me this isn't even her full power?

If that's the case, good.

While she talks of breaking me, there's still hesitation in her attacks.

Now, this very moment, is the only chance to strike her!

“Fire tail!”

– Hryat!

While the conversation between me and Geum Mo-a continued, Fire tail, who had been recovering under my protection, let out an angry roar and shot out from behind my back, charging forward.

It was meant to be a surprise attack, but she seemed to have expected it, focusing all her flames on it at once.

– I'll devour every last one of them!

“Ha, in that puppy-like form?”

If I were her opponent, it might be different, but Geum Mo-a showed no mercy towards Fire tail, concentrating her full power without hesitation.

Before long, the flames that filled the sky above descended on it all at once.

However, the Fire tail did not retreat and charged forward, taking all the flames with its body.

The Fire Dog's authority to swallow fire wasn't complete, so it was getting injured, but it was still using the absorbed flames to recover and strengthen its body, gradually growing in size.

– I'm just a little smaller! I'll definitely land a hit on you, bitch!

“It would be impossible even in your true form!”

Geum Mo-a scoffed and lightly threw her body backward.

Seeing the immense spiritual power gathering in her hands, I couldn't tell what she was trying to do, but I was certain that the moment her sorcery activated, Fire tail would collapse.

So, it has to be now!

I raised my voice, drawing on all available spiritual power.

“I shall exact a fitting punishment on the enemy who stole what is mine, made it theirs and stained it with my blood.”

“Ah……!”

“Fire Blood─ Art of the Red Blood Flame Prison!”

It was a temporary sorcery I created on the spot, based on the patterns I discovered from observing the flame sorceries Geum Mo-a had shown as Hoa.

The Art of Self-Severing a Path to Life had the biggest influence.

Not wanting to destroy my already weak body every time I cast a spell, I took a hint from Geum Mo-a offering her staff instead of her body and figured that an object with deep personal meaning would be imbued with strong thoughts, making it an excellent ingredient for sorcery.

– Fwhoosh

“Kyaaaaaaak!”

─The uniform overcoat, a symbol of a Shin Clan sorcerer and something that would lose its meaning to me from this day forward, must have been an excellent ingredient in that sense.

Even more so since I had taken every opportunity to burst my own blood near her, staining it thoroughly!

– Die!

“Ugh!”

The moment the overcoat Geum Mo-a was wearing became a prison of magnificently burning flames and trapped her, Fire tail, increasing its charging momentum, slammed into her with its body and sent her flying.

Since it even possessed the power to amplify flames, it was safe to say it had landed a solid blow.

'Was it a stroke of luck that she didn't take off the overcoat I gave her.'

Seeing that, I, whose spiritual power had run out, barely supported my staggering body with the staff and had that thought, before soon clicking my tongue and mocking myself.

In fact, I was certain that if I gave her the clothes I wore, she would never take them off.

Since my mother's death, I had splendidly used the heart of the only person who had ever loved me.

But even so, I wanted what came next.

I hoped for a day when I wouldn't have to sigh thinking about tomorrow.

– I'll stomp you flat!

“Fire tail, you can stop now.”

When I stopped Fire tail, who, not satisfied with just slamming into and sending the ablaze Geum Mo-a flying, was about to give chase, it bared its teeth and growled.

– Nonsense! You think you've subdued a great monster like this with just this much? I have to attack as much as possible now and damage… Ah, really! You bastard!

But whether it growled or not, the Shin Clan's shikigami arts were absolute and it was now unable to attack Geum Mo-a any further.

After restraining Fire tail's actions, I dragged my staggering body and barely made it to them, then bent down slightly to check on Geum Mo-a's condition.

Just as I thought, she was desperately trying to protect the overcoat that had become the material for the sorcery and burned away, regardless of her own injuries.

The reason she was so helpless against my freshly made, clumsy sorcery was likely all because of that.

From the moment she failed to protect the overcoat she received from me, it was a fatal blow to Geum Mo-a.

“Mo-a, it's already too late. It's all burnt.”

“Young master…….”

To Geum Mo-a, who looked up at me with a tearful expression, I said coldly.

“It was something I was going to burn anyway. Think of it as me leaving it in your care for a while.”

The same goes for my curse, and of course, my past.

They were things I had to discard anyway; holding on to them would only be hot and painful.

She must have understood my meaning.

Geum Mo-a, now completely free from the sorcery's influence and capable of crushing me in an instant if she wished, nonetheless remained quietly crouched, hugging the ashes of the burnt overcoat.

As if they were me myself.

“But it was something I received from you, young master…….”

“I'll buy you a new, better one later, as many as you want.”

“It's not the same. It's not the same…….”

“If it's not the same, then it might be even better.”

“…….”

To Geum Mo-a, who still wore an unconvinced expression, I held out a hand.

Fire tail let out a wary cry, warning me of the danger, but I did not withdraw my hand.

“Let's do this.”

“How?”

Geum Mo-a didn't take the hand I offered, but she did turn her head towards me in response.

“From now on, I will do my best to live. I thought death was right around the corner, but it seems that was just my own misunderstanding.”

“There's no way I would let you die, young master.”

I could tell that just by seeing that Geum Mo-a had the Myodusa with its healing abilities under her command.

Judging from her slip of the tongue, she likely intended to control things so that I couldn't engage in outside activities, but would never die.

No, it was possible she had been doing so all this time.

However, with the Indulgence and a series of other unexpected events, my physical condition had improved considerably.

At least now, I was at a point where I could try to manage my life on my own without the Myodusa's help.

“So, for that time, you will watch over me from the closest possible position and judge me.”

“……You just said the closest possible position, didn't you.”

“And if you judge that this version of me is no better than the me you knew in the past, then you can do with me as you please.”

“Then right now──.”

“Three years. Let's set a minimum period.”

“Tch.”

She had never once clicked her tongue in front of me while she was a handmaiden, but now that she revealed her true self as a monster, she was more honest about her desires and more indulgent in her attitude than I had imagined.

In fact, I preferred her now to the one who used to meticulously hide her true feelings.

“So, what will you do?”

“If I were to say I'll do as I please, you couldn't stop me, young master. The truth is, I am a very, very powerful monster. Even today, I went extremely easy on you, just in case you or that damn dog might die.”

As she said this, Geum Mo-a revealed her aura more clearly.

Indeed, if even a fraction of the cursed energy flowing from her were to attack with killing intent, not only I but also the current Fire tail would not be able to withstand it for a moment and would be turned into a pool of blood.

But I couldn't just collapse unsightly here.

No matter how heavy it was, if that was Geum Mo-a's true feelings, I had to endure it now.

“I'm well…….”

Putting strength into the staff planted on the ground to barely remain standing.

I painstakingly forced out the words.

“I'm well aware.”

“Is that so? Then, so……”

I didn't miss the look of relief that crossed her face for a moment as she softened her aura.

She, too, must have not known how far to go or where to stop.

“Umm, okay, yes.”

It had been like that since the old days.

While being more mature than I could imagine, there were times when Geum Mo-a would cling to me like a lost child with no one to rely on.

“Just this once, as a special exception, I'll follow your will, young master.”

Finally, slowly, she nodded her head.

“For just three years from now, I, as the handmaiden Geum Mo-a who is a little skilled in sorcery, will play along with your little game, young master.”

“Is that so……. Thank you.”

“There's no loyal subject like me, is there?”

Reaching out her own hand to take mine, Geum Mo-a stood up and let out a small laugh, "Hee."

While wondering what she did so well to be laughing, in the end, I was drawn in and ended up laughing with her.

Ten years had passed since I met the inscrutable Geum Mo-a in our childhood, and finally.

Finally, I felt like I was facing her bare face.

From behind, the Fire Dog was barking that we needed to settle things with 'that person' too, so we should wait five years, not three, but I decided to ignore it for now.