The one rolling in the mud will reach the great mountain sooner than the one lying on silk.『An old proverb descending from the Deep Tower.』
* * *“Y-you… livestock… how dare you…!”
It was a ridiculous statent.How was she still able to say such things when they were at the academy, not a ranch, even after getting the back of her head smashed?It made Seti realize how little the shepherds thought of the sheep all this ti.Seti smiled in response.“Livestock? Ms. Shepherd, you should be addressing as cadet or Black Sheep instead.”“Shut up! I said shut up…!”The shepherd cursed as she fled.Blood oozed out the back of her head, and having lost her sense of direction, she staggered, but she moved by any ans possible to distance herself from Seti.It wasn’t a rational decision.If the back of her head hadn’t been smashed… she would have imdiately invoked the ban or fought with her head held high.However, after being ambushed, she was unable to even think clearly, let alone take proper steps.Thud! Her feet tangled after taking a few steps, and she slamd her face into the ground.“Keugh…!”The shepherd struggled to get back up, turning her head toward the sound of footsteps getting closer.Beneath the long shadows of the night, a girl with a hamr drenched in blood approached her leisurely.”Seti… you… filthy wench…”The shepherd’s hands began to tremble involuntarily.It was inevitable; after all, the blood on that hamr was hers.“If you’re livestock, then behave like livestock…!”Rembering the ban belatedly, she began to gather mana. And just as Seti reached right in front of her…Snap! She snapped her fingers.“Kneel…!”The spell, made from twisted mana, flew towards Seti’s head, and Seti…Simply smirked as she looked down at the shepherd.“H-how… the ban…?”“In the first place, would I have even ambushed you if I were afraid of that? Oh, perhaps you didn’t think that far because your head is cracked?”As the shepherd’s face turned grim, Seti pulled sothing from her coat.A black crystal slightly larger than a thumbnail.Was it a magic tool that absorbed the spell making up the ban? Or was it sothing else? She had no way of knowing, but one thing was certain.The sheep had broken free from her leash.“Seti, you treacherous w-!”Before she could complete her sentence, the hamr ca flying.Crack! Along with a disturbing sound, the shepherd lost sensation in her leg.Instead of screaming, the shepherd began gathering mana with urgency.Think… I need to use my head even at tis like these…However, it was all in vain.Seti knew the shepherd better than the shepherd knew about herself, and she had no intention of giving that woman a chance to counterattack.Thud!She swung the hamr. Tainted black blood splattered under the moonlight.Seti swung the hamr with precision. Her goal was to inflict as much pain as possible, while making sure that the woman remained alive.Thud!The hamr ca down once more. Sweat, laden with all sorts of emotions, rolled down her cheeks like tears.Drip, drip.And by the ti the dripping sweat reached the pool of blood and created ripples…Seti stopped swinging her hamr. Her blue eyes turned to the shepherd, who lay flat on the ground.Was it because she controlled her force? The shepherd could still move her lips.“Cough, y-you… wench… d-do you think… you’ll get away … cough, after doing sothing like this……?”“…”The shepherd spoke as blood-soaked gasps escaped her lips. Whether due to the pain or her fading consciousness, her words were nearly incoherent.“Garbage…! Even with three possibilities… you were unable to even handle two… defective…! That’s what you and your sisters are!”Martial arts, magic, divinity. The three thods of manipulating mana.Seti and her sisters were born with the potential to wield all three, yet they struggled to even use two.Unable to co to terms with reality, the South Korean governnt pushed the sisters relentlessly, forcing them to master all three thods.Torture, threats, and every repulsive thod imaginable.“Especially… you… Seti, you’re the worst… cough… you lost your divinity… and all you have left now is… martial arts…”Resting her hamr, Seti bent down, and t the shepherd’s gaze. Her eyes, filled with hatred and disgust, locked with the shepherd’s.“A failure… a livestock wench like you… your only… worth… was to be bred, cough…”“…To be bred?”Seti suddenly recalled the words from her dream—the disgusting comnt about the ranch owner finding her a good ram.She found it absurd back then, but now she realized it wasn’t just so nonsensical talk inside a dream.“Cough, why do you think… we left you and your sisters’ virginity untouched…?”Even though the words were ant to insult her and her sisters’ womanhood, Seti smiled sweetly.Because she realized that this wasn’t just the shepherd’s belief, but the entire South Korean governnt’s as a whole.“Ah, so that’s the reason you ca running here all by yourself! Because the bred animal you never expected to succeed brought back a good ram?”The shepherd didn’t reply.But from her eyes, filled with hatred, Seti knew that she had guessed correctly.“…Thanks for telling .”“Cough… w-what?”“I was wondering how to connect Yeomyeong and the governnt… now I’m sure.”Yeomyeong? Was Cheon Yeomyeong not just bait to lure her out?“W-what does… that… cough!”Just as the shepherd tried to continue speaking…Thunk—Seti stuck her finger into the shepherd’s temple.“Also, you’re mistaken about one thing. I never lost my divinity.”Even though her head was pierced, the shepherd didn’t die instantly. And that fact made her feel an unspeakable terror.“The gods abandoned because I carried out your order to kill the Saintess during the match.”“A-a… uh…”The shepherd’s mouth gaped open, her cry unable to beco a scream.Seti looked down at the shepherd as she gathered her mana.“But a new god has reached out to .”The shepherd trembled.She realized that Seti was speaking the truth, and the mana flowing through her hands was the evidence.A mana, different from martial arts or magic— what People of Religion called a blessing.“Far better than the Five Gods. And this One does not discriminate against offerings.”“N-no, d-don’t…!”“Shh.”Seti raised her other hand and covered the shepherd’s mouth.Had the moon turned its gaze as well? At that mont, the light shifted, leaving Seti’s head in shadow.As the shadows of the night grew longer and enveloped the two of them and Seti completed her blessing, sothing squird in the darkness word and made its way into the shepherd’s mind.“Here… I offer my first sacrifice—The shepherd who took my sister.”With the strange sensation filling her mind, the shepherd scread.It was a delayed scream.
* * *After leaving the cleanup to Corvus, the crow Beastfolk, Yeomyeong sprinted through the academy for a while.
Having arrived rather late at the eting spot, he only stopped upon seeing Seti.“…Seti?”She was sitting in the bushes, staring at the moon. Her expression seed to be one of relief.“Oh, you’re here? You’re a bit late. I guess the shepherds were pretty strong?”“No, it’s not that. Sothing unexpected ca up….”Yeomyeong, who had been walking towards Seti, flinched and stopped in his tracks.Was it because of the black blood pooling around the place she was sitting? No, that wasn’t it.What made him stop was the chair she was seated on.To be exact, it was a masked woman on all fours.Judging by her trembling limbs, it didn’t seem like she was dead, but Yeomyeong still couldn’t understand why Seti was using her as a chair.Yeomyeong frowned slightly and asked.“…What’s that?”“Hmm? What are you talking about?”Instead of answering, Yeomyeong gestured to her seat. Seti hesitated for a mont before responding lightly.“Oh, this? It’s nothing important. Just the shepherd who was chasing .”“…And that’s nothing important?”“She’s our shepherd from now on, you know.”Seti stood up after making a U.S. president-like statent.*Rustle—*A faint sound of rustling grass followed.Worried that the shepherd might attack unannounced, Yeomyeong remained alert, but the shepherd didn’t move at all.She was like a well-behaved puppet.“…What did you do to make that shepherd like that?”“Nothing much… I just tampered a bit with the dark magic in her head.”Seti answered as if it were nothing.However, using magic to turn a nearly monstrous shepherd into a slave? What kind of spell did she employ?Sensing that Seti was hiding sothing, Yeomyeong tried to ask her cautiously. Or rather, he was about to ask.However, before his lips could part, Seti had already pulled him into an embrace.“…Huh?”It was an unexpected hug. Unable to push her away or reciprocate the embrace, so he just asked.“…Seti? What’s going on?”Instead of answering, Seti added more strength to the hug and buried her face in Yeomyeong’s chest.Yeomyeong could feel Seti’s breath on his chest. Her breath felt as hot as a dragon’s to him.“Just, for a mont, just a mont…”“…”“Can you stay like this for a while?”Her voice was sorrowful, as if she was forcefully suppressing sothing. Finally, Yeomyeong gave in and embraced Seti, gently stroking her back.However, he still didn’t hold her tightly.After all, he was a young man in the pri of his youth, and his body reacted before his mind could.Looking up at the oblivious moon, Yeomyeong silently recited a Buddhist scripture he didn’t even know.He kept doing that until Seti’s mood improved.
* * *The hug didn’t last long.
Only after Yeomyeong had recited the sa scripture for about five tis did Seti finally speak with a long sigh.“…Yeomyeong, do you rember our plan?”“Of course, I do.”The plan was for Yeomyeong to gather governnt officials in one place after garnering enough fa, and then… take them all down in one sweep.“Do you think… we can still go through with it?”Seti’s question was laced with deep fear—the fear that he might have changed his mind.Yeomyeong understood her fear.When they first made the plan, he was nothing more than Dung beetle, dreaming only of revenge. He had neither the ti nor the heart to consider any other future.But what about now? He had beco Cheon Yeomyeong. There was a news article about him every other day, and everyone’s eyes were on him.And if he wanted to, he could simply abandon Dung Beetle’s revenge and choose a future as Yeomyeong.That was Seti’s biggest fear.What if he no longer desired revenge? Would he abandon it in favor of a brilliant future…?It was a natural, valid concern.However, Yeomyeong dispelled all of her fears with a single answer.“I never planned on stopping until I’ve killed every single one of the bastards I need to kill.”“…”“On the contrary, you’re the one I’m worried about.”“…? Why?”“You’re now freed from the ban. You and your sisters can just run away to another country instead of pursuing revenge.”As soon as he finished speaking, Seti pursued her lips without saying a word, as if asking how he could say such a thing.Her expression was enough for him.Yeomyeong smiled softly and took Seti’s hand, which had been resting on his waist.Though it had a few callouses, her hands were soft and beautiful as always.“You haven’t forgotten our deal, right?”“…Deal?”“You help , and I’ll help you. But we don’t risk our lives for each other.”The words from the mont they first joined hands.The original promise; buried deep within their mories.Like a clam caught with a pearl, Seti fluttered her lips before clenching them shut.A brief silence ensued. And before that silence got too long, Seti cautiously opened her mouth.“Yeomyeong, um, about the plan…”“Hm?”“I found… a way to use the governnt. That’s why I kept that shepherd alive—to use her for that plan….”She hesitated for a mont before continuing, stumbling over her words.“That shepherd ordered to seduce you….”A sigh.“Yeomyeong, the plan is to… uh, make it seem like you’ve fallen for ….”A deep breath.“So that South Korea believes they have control over you… it’s that kind of plan….”Seti couldn’t go on beyond that. Her words trailed off, and her gaze turned awkward.Yeomyeong watched her silently, before responding with a small smile.“So, we’re going to pretend like I’ve fallen for a honey trap?”Hearing the words she uttered with embarrassnt reduced to a single sentence, Seti could no longer hide her expression.It was a strange look, neither a smile nor a frown.Resisting the urge to touch her trembling lips, Yeomyeong released the hand he was holding.“Hmm… let’s just stop here.”“…Huh? Stop what?”“Any more, and we won’t just be breaking curfew; we’ll be staying out all night.”Even if he had the Invisibility Cloak, there’d be no excuse for that.After Yeomyeong added this, Seti’s face turned bright red as she belatedly understood what he ant.It was an expression even her sisters had never seen before.
* * *Fortunately, the two didn’t stay out all night, though they did break curfew by about three hours.
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