Noel looked at Tamrang with an expression of genuine disgust.
“Asin. When the ones in charge are like that, no wonder the world is in this state.”
-You should watch what you say.
Asin glanced upward.
She was on edge.
“How can I watch what I say when this is so ridiculous? Sitting there all elegant, deciding, ‘Oh, that one should live a life full of happiness,’ and ‘That one should live miserably until they die.’ Isn’t that what you did? But the moment you fall from your high horse, you can’t stand it and start whining for someone to kill you. No matter how you spin it, it’s just disgusting.”
-I do agree he’s whining, to be honest.
Asin narrowed her eyes.
She’d had high hopes for one of the Gods of the Seven Stars, whom she once couldn’t even dare to look up at.
“Right? Meeting another God really makes me appreciate how much more amazing you are, Asin.”
Only then did Noel break into a wide smile.
-Did you say… I was whining?
Tamrang looked shocked.
“Yeah. It’s really bad. Why? Do I need some kind of qualification to say that?”
-I believed I was doing the right thing.
Tamrang’s brow furrowed deeply.
“What? When you were culling fates like you were sexing chicks?”
-It wasn’t like that. When I discovered the fates we had decreed were unjust, I tried to correct them.
Tamrang squeezed his eyes shut, then slowly opened them.
-Why should so many people who had their country stolen from them for no reason have to die? Why must they continue to suffer? Shouldn’t the ones who plundered their nation be punished? But their country was fated to enjoy long-lasting prosperity. Does that make any sense?
“Why are you asking me? You’re the one who decided it.”
Did fate ever flow easily?
It was always unfair.
But for the God who decided that fate to be the one asking was truly laughable.
-Not I, but we. The seven of us.
“But you were part of that decision, weren’t you?”
-Yes. That’s right. But it was unjust. I believed that those who coveted the lives of others deserved to be punished, so I meddled with life and death, fortune and misfortune.
-Is that not also a grave sin?
Asin watched him, still on her guard.
-The law may be so, but I judged that coveting the lives of others was the greater sin.
“Don’t tell me you were the only one who thought that way?”
-…No. I wasn’t the only one. I wasn’t the only one….
Tamrang stopped mid-sentence and swallowed hard.
It was empty.
Why?
-I clearly remember… a seething rage. I remember the voice of the one who stripped me of my qualifications. But after that, my memory… it’s gone.
“Is that so? Then who sealed you?”
-…I don’t know.
At his words, the feeling of anticipation that had been building up inside him cooled.
Noel looked at Asin with a rather dumbfounded expression.
“Asin. Can a former God get amnesia? Is this even possible?”
-It is because he has been steeped in Corruption for too long. It doesn’t just end with becoming a malevolent spirit; it takes many things away. Memory is one of them.
“Can it be recovered?”
-That, I do not know.
Asin wore a troubled expression.
What on earth should they do with him?
That was the look on her face.
“Anyway, you thought you were doing the right thing, but the higher-ups disagreed, and now you’re pissed off that you ended up like this, right?”
He figured they had their own order and laws, so it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
Usually, the side advocating for minimal interference would prevail.
That’s how Gods were.
-Yes. I saved the oppressed and killed the oppressors. With a plague. That was my sin.
‘…Ah, so he killed them with disease.’
Noel stared intently at Tamrang.
For a moment, his irises turned purple.
His gaze shifted upward.
No joke, this was the first time he had ever seen someone carrying such a massive Burden.
Following the cord extending from the heart, he could see a very large scale.
It was tilted limply.
When he erased a Burden, it was that cord he cut.
But this time, even the cord itself was incredibly thick.
‘This is no joke. Just how many did he kill?’
Noel couldn’t hide his astonishment.
-Is that why you became a Plague God?
Asin lowered her sword.
There was something about Tamrang’s words that bothered her.
-I suppose so. I was reborn, covered in all sorts of diseases as punishment.
-Was it the nation itself that you killed with the plague?
-Probably. It would have been difficult for the medicine of that era to handle.
-…I see.
Asin seemed to be deep in thought about something.
“What do you do as a Plague God?”
-What else is there but to be forgotten as one of the Gods of the Seven Stars, to be pointed at, and to die in shame? A being no one wants, a being no one desires.
“I mean besides that.”
-What are you talking about?
“You said you were one of the Gods of the Seven Stars. Can you still see people’s fates?”
-…It won’t be as clear as when I was one of the Seven Stars. I can’t even see your fate right now.
“She said mine is hard to see. Right, Asin?”
-That is correct. It is as if it’s shrouded in mist.
Asin nodded in response to Noel’s question.
“Anyway, you can see things a bit better than other gods, right?”
-Perhaps. I can’t be certain, as it hasn’t been long since I was released from the seal.
“And you can control your power?”
-Do I look that incompetent?
Noel thought for a moment at Tamrang’s defiant retort.
If he could control his power, what did it matter if he was a Plague God or not?
‘Should I put a leash on him?’
That would be safer.
Ah.
Noel remembered the most important thing.
“So, should I kill you?”
Noel asked Tamrang.
His eyes no longer held the same resolve as before, but who cared?
His own intention was what mattered.
-But why would you kill me? Are you not afraid of the heavens?
“I must have my reasons, right? What? Now that I’m offering to kill you, you don’t want to be annihilated?”
-A lingering attachment… has formed.
As Tamrang lowered his gaze, Noel sheathed his sword.
“Then just say you don’t want to be annihilated. What’s so hard about that? It’s not even that embarrassing. Look at people. How many of them die and then whine about not wanting to be dead?”
-I am aware of that much.
Noel found it amusing how he got worked up despite his pathetic state.
Was this the fate of a god no one believed in anymore?
It was a truly miserable thought.
-Whatever we do to you, you have become far too weak. Without a being to depend on, you might even fade away naturally.
Asin looked at Tamrang.
It was due to the long sealing.
-…You see clearly.
-The one who sealed you probably did so in this fan, hoping you would fade away naturally.
-That would make sense. It’s a wonder how you found me. No, how you broke that seal.
“The seal must have weakened.”
It was a seal so frail it could be broken just by waving the fan.
Noel retorted as he took the fan that had held Tamrang in his hand.
It definitely wasn’t a single-use item.
*Fwoosh.*
A strangely pleasant scent wafted from it.
It was a familiar scent, too.
He was sure it wasn’t there when Tamrang was inside.
-That’s impossible. It must have sealed a God.
“Whatever. So what do you want to do?”
-…Why do you ask?
“I’ll let you depend on me for a while. But it’s not for free. I’m going to put a leash on you.”
-What do you mean by that?
“You’re too unstable. Someone has to control you. That’s what it’s for. Nothing else. I swear on my God.”
Noel casually pointed at Asin.
Since she wasn’t a real God, the oath was completely meaningless.
But Tamrang’s eyes were wavering.
It was all because his mind was clouded.
Having just come out of the seal, he was probably in a state akin to being drunk.
This was the right time to press him.
-Why are you… helping him find a host? He is a Plague God.
Asin put on a deliberately anxious expression.
He was like a bomb that could go off at any moment.
“Who knows if he can become one of the Gods of the Seven Stars again?”
-…Do you believe that I can return?
“Of course.”
Noel replied readily to Tamrang’s question.
He didn’t seem to be aware of it himself, but something was already placed on Tamrang.
It was probably what was preventing him from going berserk.
Who would have placed such a thing?
‘The Jade Emperor. Or maybe one of the other Gods of the Seven Stars.’
At the very least, it meant there was no intention to kill him.
There could be many reasons for not killing him, but it was possible it included the hope that he might one day return to his position.
‘So I’ll let him depend on me for a while.’
If he still had the power of the Seven Stars, he could supplement the parts Noel lacked in his readings.
‘I’ll combine it with Kkamangi’s information.’
Noel thought for a moment, expressing his satisfaction internally.
-Noel. Think again. That is a Plague God. Some might even call him an Evil God, and he could interfere with your work.
Asin was worried that even if Noel held the leash, it might hinder what he was trying to do.
“Asin.”
-Speak.
“I’ve been curious for a while, but how exactly can you tell?”
Noel tilted his head.
To him, they were all just ghosts.
It wasn’t like they had “Guardian spirit” or whatever written on their foreheads, so how could she distinguish them?
-I can see a rather unpleasant aura flowing around him. It is different from that of a malevolent spirit.
It was black and dense.
It was a characteristic that often appeared around Evil Gods.
“Aha, so you can see auras.”
-That’s right. If I cannot see the aura, I judge by the feeling.
After getting confirmation from Asin, Noel’s face filled with a mischievous expression.
In other words, didn’t this mean Tamrang couldn’t do anything as he was now?
“So, you want the leash voluntarily? Or do you want to be annihilated? For your information, if you take the leash, no one will know you’re a Plague God until you use your power.”
-Are you saying you can even make his aura disappear?
Asin asked, recalling her own answer to Noel.
To wear a leash meant to serve that being.
Would a servant dare to reveal their presence to their master?
She knew he could suppress the presence.
But to think he could do more than that.
“That’s right. I can.”
Whether it was an aura or something else, the leash would hide it all.
This was Necromancy.
*** -I hate Tamrang!
Kkamangi shouted at Tamrang.
Tamrang glanced impassively at Kkamangi before looking away again, huddled in the corner by the sofa.
Maybe it was because his hair was long and truly black, but he looked incredibly gloomy.
There was writing engraved on his neck.
Simply put, it meant ‘Noel’s guardian ghost’.
Noel yawned as he watched Kkamangi berating Tamrang, then headed for the bathroom.
‘The little pipsqueak never gets tired, does he?’
Yesterday, Kkamangi had come back happy after seeing Sin-hu, ready to chatter away, but he froze the moment he saw Tamrang.
No joke, he stood frozen for a full twenty minutes.
Ever since then, he’d shout whenever he saw Tamrang.
-Noeeel. I'm Kkamangi. Tamrang's hair is super black! Tamrang wants to be Kkamangi!
Upset, Kkamangi flopped down in front of the bathroom Noel had entered, as if trying to hide his head.
Waaah.
Asin came over and patted him.
‘If that’s… the reason, what am I supposed to do about it?’
He didn't understand why Kkamangi kept calling Tamrang by his name so diligently while claiming to hate him.
Noel glanced at Kkamangi, then washed his face.
When Kkamangi was still like that by the time he finished, Noel let out a sigh.
-You just need to say it too.
Asin approached and whispered quietly to Noel.
She had already tried to soothe Kkamangi, but it seemed her words weren't enough.
Noel came out and picked Kkamangi up by the scruff of his neck.
“Kkamangi.”
-...Yeah.
Kkamangi sniffled, looking up at Noel.
“From where I’m standing, you look more like the night sky. You don’t look anything like Tamrang.”
-Really?
“Most importantly, you have a Cross, don’t you? No other cat has one.”
-Oh! That's right!
Kkamangi covered his forehead with his front paw.
It seemed to be a point of pride for him.
As soon as Noel set him down, Kkamangi went right over to Tamrang.
-I have a Cross. You don't, do you?
Tamrang looked at Kkamangi, then rolled his eyes toward Noel.
It was a look that pleaded, *Please get this little thing away from me.*
“You have to live together, even if it’s for a short while, so get used to it. And for your information, if you so much as touch a single hair on Kkamangi, Asin won’t stand for it.”
Noel yawned and started to get ready to eat.
Tamrang, who had been watching him, looked at Kkamangi and slowly extended a finger.
Stab.
Kkamangi bit it without hesitation.
-...That hurts.
Tamrang’s heart ached.
***
“It’s nice to see you again.”
Noel greeted the ghost he had met before at the bakery equipment shop.
He’d figured the ghost would be at the shop again today.
He had called him out to a nearby alley for a moment.
The ghost’s gaze darted around.
The cute cat and the scary being from before were there, and now there was a new, gloomy-looking one as well.
“She’s my God. She’s not scary at all.”
Noel introduced Asin.
-I apologize for last time. You seemed to be in a bit of a bind.
Hearing Asin’s apology, Noel squinted at her.
Back then, she definitely had a kind look in her eyes.
Did she reveal too much of her desire?
“Chef. By any chance, do you remember what you said when we met yesterday?”
Noel put on his most innocent expression.
-That I’d do anything?
“Yes. That. You remember, right?”
-I remember.
The ghost nodded his head repeatedly.
“I’ll grant your request, so please become the chef at the bakery I’m going to open.”
Noel looked at the ghost with a desperate, pleading expression.
End
ⓒ Hwang Siwoo #1axjm
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