Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

126 – I Am No Dragon, But a Spirit

Newly born spirits possess

an instinct for imprinting.

This is a phenomenon

often seen in wild creatures;

put simply, they regard the first being they see as their mother and follow it.

Of course, spirits, who possess

virtually no reproductive function,

lack even the concept of parents,

so you can simply think of it as following the first creature they see.

“…?”

Here lies a spirit.

One that, from birth, has never been surrounded by light.

The only thing that exists

where she is is darkness.

Darkness, thick and viscous,

and she sat alone in the very center of it.

Understandably, her

knowledge of the world is near nonexistent.

Since she’d lived alone

in that darkness since birth.

She knew nothing

except how to move her body.

She had merely lived, without

knowing the sweetness of rest

or the pleasure of taste.

[..If all your failings and sins are washed away, you will surely emerge once more.]

The only sound she ever

heard was this one sentence.

A beautiful voice telling her

to shed sins and failings

that did not even exist in her memory.

She thought that this day

would never change,

always.

“…?”

But then.

It was she who, just recently,

stirred herself into motion.

For her vision had captured a color other than darkness.

Perhaps it might have ended with mere curiosity,

but she did not miss

that once-in-a-lifetime chance.

“Eee-aaah!”

Her consciousness was once

sucked away somewhere,

then began to reconstitute itself.

Not filled with darkness, but

in a world outside, bursting with beautiful color.

“Whoa…”

The colors she saw for the first time

were achingly beautiful,

and the light she faced for the first time

was so dazzling and warm.

Her world, once filled only with darkness,

was, in this very instant,

widened just a little more.

“Now, listen, that’s…”

“Mom! Can you buy me this?”

“Hey, you little brat…Stop right there?!”

But as I said a little while ago,

everything is new to her now.

The noisy commotion

ringing around her.

The warm sunlight

shining on her through the window.

The blue stream trickling, trickling,

far off in the distance.

These were all things

so new and unfamiliar to her.

So then, she who had always lived with darkness,

becoming accustomed to it,

she who, at this very moment, in this very place,

could be said to have been reborn.

She faced this startlingly strange

Could one truly be immune to unease,

in surroundings such as these?

Even after a lifetime spent with her friend,

where the comforting dark seemed to meet its end?

“Uhh…uhhh…”

At first, surely, it must have felt novel.

So many things she’d never known,

experiences beyond her proving.

And, simultaneously, frightening, no doubt.

For the unknown, by its very being,

summons forth a feeling dreadfully keen.

Had she been, at the very least, a somewhat

more mature spirit in all she could be,

she wouldn’t be so consumed by anxiety.

Alas, for her, that very maturity,

that sense of knowing, certainty,

the chance to gain it had never presented, decidedly.

For at her side, nobody lingered,

nor was there a single soul who cared for her, a finger

laid in concern, or a watchful, tender eye to lend.

“Awoo…uhhh…”

Consumed by this disquietude,

she scanned her surroundings, her gaze askewed.

Perhaps, just perhaps, even in this bright

and blindingly beautiful world,

her friend, her darkness,

might yet hold a place, her banner unfurled.

“…?”

And then, before her very gaze,

a color so very familiar did play.

The symbol of shadow, of the abyss so deep,

that purest black that secrets keep.

Of course, the troublesome part, it’s true,

was that this color was beginning to subtly move.

“….”

She pondered.

Could this, perhaps, be her darkness, undeterred?

Her friend, the darkness, come to her,

its true form revealed, the shadows a blur?

Always, you were always there with me,

so perhaps, to be there once more,

you followed me here?

“..Yes!”

She was certain.

This was the darkness.

Unable to forget her,

it had rushed to her like this.

She was certain.

“Hee hee..”

The fact she wasn’t alone

in this world filled her with such joy,

she thrashed and squirmed,

but only for a moment,

her fingers, alight with glee as she bounced,

brushed against the darkness’s nape.

“Ugh?”

And just like that, once more,

her consciousness was sucked away.

Somehow, this time to a deeper place.

“Uheeeng..”

“..What’s that?”

“..Heh?”

And when she opened her eyes again,

before her sat a woman,

ashen in hue, serene.

Fiddling with glittering crystals all around.

The moment of imprinting had arrived.

*

The Ashen Dragon, Ibedia.

Once, she bore within herself

all the hatred and resentment of this world.

Long ago, in a certain village,

a song like this lingered in the air:

‘When injustice peaks,

it becomes, in itself, a resentment,

and drawn to the scent of that resentment,

there wanders an ashen dragon.

Born and living

amidst mounds of black ash.’

Everyone resents her, or so it seems,

And she, in turn, resents everyone.

Perhaps this cycle

Shall continue for eternity, no end.~’

‘Hey, what kind of lyrics are those? Bad luck, they are…’

‘Isn’t it fun? Some wandering poet was babbling them.’

‘…Who are you talking about?’

‘Ah, over there… huh? He’s gone?’

The truth is, most of those lyrics

Were entirely true.

She hated the world.

Because she was born with the title of Ma (魔) – of Demon.

Because everyone resented her,

She resolved to reject them all.

She slew humans.

She devoured beasts,

Desecrated the earth and its works,

And did not hesitate to kill even her own kind, the dragons.

She was, in the truest sense,

A dragon walking the path of apostasy.

Leaning on someone else

Was something she had never even imagined,

Nor had she ever considered

Living alongside anyone.

Not until her heart was pierced by that damned b*stard’s hand, did she die.

…Was that why, perhaps?

“No, where did you even come from?!”

“Heehee…”

“Don’t laugh!! What’s so funny…”

“Heeheehee!”

“…Never mind, what am I even saying… Hey, don’t go over there!!”

The fact that I can’t communicate

With the spirit before me.

‘…Is my conversational ability really this bad?’

“Ahee!”

“Hey!!”

*

“Heehee.”

“…What a predicament this is.”

Let’s get straight to the point.

It was incredibly arduous.

To be clear, my initial impulse was to kill whoever it was, instantly.

Even if the ritual had been… abbreviated,

they were now my contractor.

Naturally, an intruder barging into their inner world

wouldn’t exactly be met with a warm welcome.

Though, truth be told, I was more offended that my own residence had been invaded.

‘What audacious fool dares

to barge in like this…!’

“Uwee hee…”

“…What in the world is that?”

Never could I have imagined that the perpetrator

would be a spirit.

Not a ghost, nor a god, nor

any other spiritual being, but

a spirit entering a person’s inner world.

It wasn’t impossible, I knew,

but it was certainly not common.

Those haughty beings who only lent their power to

those who pleased them…

What could possibly possess them to enter

the inner world of a mere human?

“Hey, little one. What are you doing here?”

In the old days, I would have

swallowed her whole without a second thought,

but now I treated her with the utmost respect.

Even resorting to the ancient spirit tongue, which

I hadn’t used in ages.

I didn’t want this place, my dwelling,

to be destroyed.

‘If something happens in this

damn inner world, I’m the only one who loses out.’

“..Heh?”

However, I

had overlooked something.

A spirit that had been

trapped in darkness for so long…

The only sounds of people she’d heard within,

were speaking solely in the common tongue.

“..Hee-hee!”

“Ah, damn it all.”

The Spirit Tongue, notorious amongst humans

for its complex pronunciation,

was beyond her comprehension.

And so, she found herself stranded,

unable to go forward, unable to retreat.

Sharing a space with a Spirit who’d seemingly

rolled in from who-knew-where, was unsettling,

but she couldn’t communicate,

and judging by appearance, they looked so young,

it felt… ill-advised, to simply eliminate them.

“..Ah, right. There is that method, isn’t there.”

“…?”

But, fortunately or unfortunately… this was the Inner Realm.

If she searched persistently enough,

memories or experiences

related to language would surely exist.

‘And then, I’ll extract only the linguistic parts,

and inject them directly.’

Wouldn’t this be the truest form,

of rote learning?

After that, it was simple.

Ever since arriving here,

time was the one thing she had in abundance.

Inflicting rote learning on a clueless kid was

child’s play, frankly.

“Eve!”

“Good, now that’s more like it.”

Finally, she’d succeeded

in elevating this little one’s intellectual capacity.

“..Mama?”

“The hell are you saying?!”

“Mama! Black!”

Though, admittedly, it seemed some slightly

incorrect knowledge had slipped in there.

“Ah, finally, I can ask something.”

“…?”

“Kid, where’d you come from?

What’s your name, and how did you get here…”

It was then.

That the dreamscape they stood in

began to violently tremble.

“Kyaa!”

“Ah, damn… is this guy gonna croak?”

“…Die?”

“…Can’t be, how long would we have to wait if he bites it…”

Though still a little tyke

not yet fluent in the language,

she now understood the meaning of simple words.

“…Die? Blackie?”

“Huh? Who’s Blackie?”

Death.

She’d definitely learned that word before.

‘This… don’t know…’

‘…Ha, what is it…death?’

‘Yeah…’

‘…Heh, kids these days probably learn stuff like that too.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Ah, it’s nothing.

So, what this is…well…’

Mama had told her.

Death is when a person goes to a place

where you can never see them again.

“Blackie…leave?”

“…What the hell is this…”

“Abandon…me?”

She didn’t like it, not one bit.

Blackie, who was always by her side,

leaving her.

She hated it more than death.

“Blackie…I’ll protect you…!”

*BOOM─*

In an instant, with a massive explosion,

she vanished.

“…Where the hell did this b*stard pick up someone like *that*?!”

Once again, he was left

all alone.

Left behind, Ryong howled.

A touch of fury lacing the sound.

*

“Don’t…bully Kamang.”

“…Who the hell are you?”