Monsters Wag Their Tails Only at Me

For some reason, I didn’t know why, but tears burst out as if a dam had broken.

These tears were not mine. Deep within my chest, Ceryl was crying.

The chains that had bound him for over a decade had finally been severed, yet instead of freedom, another emotion surged first.

Ceryl felt a hollow emptiness at the death of the demon who had cast him into hell.

"Ugh... ngh, hngh..."

The end had come at someone else’s hands, but in the end, it had been me who decided Phiren should die.

I had killed Ceryl’s enemy, yet there was no relief. It seemed Ceryl had not wanted Phiren’s death.

The owner of this body, kind to a foolish degree, expressed his will in this way.

"There, there. It’s all right. It’s all right, Ceryl."

Varen did not ask why I was crying. He simply wiped my tears, kissed me, and held me until my sobs stopped.

He soothed me like a child as my shoulders shook with each breath.

I had no choice but to cling to the final bulwark that kept me from losing myself.

***

Only after crying my fill did I finally leave the bed. Varen supported my staggering body as we moved.

When we went down to the first floor together, familiar faces greeted me in the reception room.

Morpha, in the form of a young man, sipped tea and greeted me.

"You’re finally awake, Ceryl."

"Ah... Morpha."

"Shall I have them prepare a meal?"

"No, it’s fine."

I had not eaten for two days, but the dragon saliva Varen had fed me was enough.

Varen and I sat across from Morpha. Then Theo, who was sitting to the side, raised his hand.

"Ceryl, you look like hell. Morpha made such a fuss that we rushed over—glad we did."

"Thanks. You all okay?"

"We moved carefully, so we’re fine."

There were many things I wanted to ask, but after crying for so long, my throat felt raw.

As I rubbed my tired face, Morpha spoke first.

"The humans who were burned have all been treated. Fortunately, they do not remember last night’s commotion."

"Why?"

"It seems they lose their reason the moment they receive an order. They believe they were attacked by the national army."

"...I see. That’s good."

I nodded, brushing back my dry hair.

Phiren had lied to the servants. He had told them it was a protective spell that activated in times of danger, when in fact it was a curse.

They had done nothing wrong. They were ordinary people, unrelated to the war that was about to unfold.

Yet simply because they worked for the Aylos family, they had been reduced to puppets who would offer up their lives.

So it was better they did not know the truth. To have their loyalty repaid with betrayal would be too cruel.

I looked out the window of the reception room. Bright daylight filled the sky.

The garden that had been devastated by Horace’s attack had been roughly restored. The servants, unaware of anything, continued their duties diligently.

"Margon has taken care of Phiren’s body."

"..."

"It would be better to ask him directly how he handled it."

Now that I thought about it, Margon was nowhere to be seen. I did not bother looking for him.

Ceryl had suffered over Phiren’s death. Only now did I realize that revenge did not leave a clean aftertaste.

Perhaps Margon felt something similar. He would need time alone too, so I decided to wait until he returned on his own.

As I reviewed what had happened two days ago, something nagged at me.

"There were a lot of dragon hunters outside..."

"They’ve been taken care of, so don’t worry."

"You killed them?"

When I looked at them blankly, Morpha only shrugged.

I did not need words to know the answer. My tired expression fell.

To a dragon, dragon hunters were an irritant. Since there was no knowing what spark they might become, it was probably right to eliminate them whenever they appeared.

An indescribable feeling stirred inside my chest. I hid my expression by burying my face in my palm.

Once, I had hoped Varen would not grow accustomed to killing, and I had hoped the same for myself.

But now, hearing that dozens had been killed did not shake me at all. I, too, was becoming numb to human blood.

"Ah, we did let one mage escape. He seemed to have lost a lot of blood, but his trail disappeared partway."

"You lost Horace?"

"Is that his name?"

At the unsettling news, I snapped my head up. My body still had not fully recovered; even that small movement made my head spin.

Pressing a hand to my forehead, I steadied my breathing. Then I dug through Phiren’s memories for information on Horace.

"Horace Quinsley... He used to belong to the king’s mage corps. Highly skilled, but expelled for his cruelty."

"I see."

"He joined hands with Phiren... simply because he enjoyed playing with corpses. There was no other reason."

I continued in a heavy voice. Morpha only stared at me with an unreadable expression.

Their gaze demanded the truth from me. But when I lowered my head and avoided it, they did not press further.

Setting down their teacup, Morpha let out a small sigh.

"We let a dangerous one escape. That is my failure."

"No. Thank you for coming."

"I hurried. I had to. Neither Varen nor you are particularly trustworthy when it comes to avoiding reckless actions."

I could not quite laugh, only twitching my lips awkwardly. Varen, lumped in with me, raised his chin proudly.

Looking between us, Morpha frowned.

"What exactly were you trying to do, letting things escalate like this? The goal of this infiltration was to quietly gather information."

"...That was the plan."

"I told you not to do anything dangerous... haah, never mind."

I braced myself for a lecture, but Morpha stopped midway.

When I looked at them in confusion, they simply shook their head.

"If you were going to listen to me, you would have already."

"Morpha, have you given up on us?"

"Yes, I have. It’s enough that you’re both alive."

The attitude that they had never expected anything in the first place left a bitter taste in my mouth.

It felt like I had become a hopeless child, but there was nothing to be done.

Now somewhat recovered, I straightened my back and spoke of the results we had achieved.

"I have solid information. A way to counter the army of the dead."

"Is that so? The books you collected did not contain anything useful."

"Really? We grabbed so many."

"Yes. At best, they were a mage’s scribbles."

Damn it, we got caught breaking the barrier in that underground laboratory for nothing.

Letting go of that, I pulled out Phiren’s memories.

"Surprisingly, the method is simple. Find who the cursed people’s lives are bound to, and sever that connection."

"That does not sound simple at all."

"We have the Drunkard. Maybe he can unravel the magic?"

"The bigger problem is finding who they are bound to."

At Morpha’s sharp point, I fell silent.

The reason I had spared Days and captured him alive was to take him, along with Milo, to the Drunkard.

The cursed and the one their lives were bound to.

I thought everything would be solved if we could just find a way to sever the connection between Milo and Days.

"Haah... I didn’t think of that."

So the key I had found was only half of one.

As I ruffled my hair in frustration, Theo, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.

"Leave that to us."

At his confident voice, all eyes turned to him. He grinned.

"As it happens, our informant successfully infiltrated the royal palace."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Until now, the best we could do was get him in as a gatekeeper, but this time it’s different. He got in as a cleaner."

Compared to the grand buildup, the position was unexpectedly mundane. I didn’t know how to react.

As I only blinked, Theo gave me a look of disbelief.

"Don’t get it? A cleaner can go anywhere. From the underground prison to the king’s bedroom."

"...Ah!"

A beat late, I let out a realization. When I gave him a thumbs-up, Theo looked pleased.

With Theo joining the conversation, the atmosphere eased a little. I finally managed to smile.

"Anyway, I’m glad everyone’s safe."

"You wouldn’t be in danger if you didn’t act recklessly."

There was still an edge to Morpha’s words. Without even looking at me, they sipped their cold tea and muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

"It is basic knowledge that if you forcibly break a mage’s barrier, the caster will notice."

"...Why is that basic knowledge? Not everyone knows that."

"When you interfere with a barrier, a backlash occurs. Even if you did not know beforehand, it is something you can predict."

I quietly reached out and took Varen’s hand. Gently patting the back of his trembling hand, I whispered softly.

"It’s okay, it’s okay. I didn’t know either."

"..."

"Not knowing isn’t a crime. Right?"

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