-That contract still holds.
“You....”
-Follow that manufactured spirit’s words.
Borjin said that out of nowhere.
I could only stare blankly at his face.
-...There were times when, in my old man’s vanity, I may have seemed to treat you lightly.
How had he understood my gaze?
-Even so, I would ask that you not doubt the promise. I am prepared—whatever the sacrifice!—to fulfill the Contract of Loyalty.
Eyes screwed shut.
He was telling me to devour his own spirit.
The reason...
It wasn’t as if I couldn’t understand.
After he joined the unit,
I often called him up to high places, and he grumbled that it was hard,
and we did have somewhat ordinary conversations.
‘Among the soldiers, the number who talk with Borjin... is almost none.’
Jung Sua is just about the only one.
And even Jung Sua only when learning techniques about spirits and the like.
Most soldiers kept a wide berth from Borjin.
The reason he could even talk comfortably with me at all was likely
because I might be about the only one who talked comfortably with him.
The reason for that was the same as with Ariella.
Even if Borjin himself said he had never killed a human,
‘he’s a monster from a force that waged war against us.’
In truth,
he was no different from a prisoner from a hostile force.
His position was already unstable.
On top of that, on such an unstable man’s actions hung the future of his species.
‘In his heart he’d want to save his spirit somehow.’
But when he tried to do that,
he feared he’d be suspected of trying to break his contract.
-Take Ozrok away.
“...”
-In exchange... please remember that I tried to fulfill my promise as faithfully as possible.
If he were judged to have tried to break the promise,
the Green Manes’ children who had not even hatched yet—
their future would grow endlessly dark.
****
=Lord of the Fortress.
When Borjin knelt,
Vimanar spoke to me confidently, saying things had gone as it said they would.
=As you saw, even if we lose that Earth Spirit, there will be no loss to the unit’s combat power.
“...”
=From the start, the use of that shaman is judged to lie mostly in his knowledge, not his abilities. We can gain the maximum benefit for the minimum cost.
I didn’t answer that.
I calmly reviewed the situation.
-Guu-ung....
-...I’m sorry, Ozrok.
The Earth Spirit, Ozrok, looked at Borjin with an uneasy gaze.
Borjin avoided that gaze and spoke.
-Even if I lose everything I have... even if I end up losing you, who are more important than everything I have...! I must save this tribe that has been ruined because of me.
-...Guu-ung.
At those words,
perhaps he thought there was no hope left.
The Earth Spirit bowed his head as if he had set everything down.
=A wise choice, shaman. Then... Ozrok.
At the sight of the Earth Spirit bowing his head,
Vimanar’s core moved to act again.
“Hey.”
At that moment,
I opened my mouth.
=Yes, Lord of the Fortress.
“Aren’t you supposed to obey my orders absolutely?”
=As stated, I am designed to absolutely obey the Lord of the Fortress’s orders under any circumstances.
“Then follow the order, right?”
Arms folded,
I glared at the Spirit Core and gave the order.
“Shut your mouth and stay put.”
=....
“The order to stop is still in effect.”
=...I will obey the order.
At that order,
the core halted without a word and returned to its place.
“Borjin. Stand up.”
Only after confirming that
did I speak toward Borjin.
“I’m sorry to have dragged you into something sudden.”
-...Krk?
“Your relationship with your spirit has probably gotten a little twisted as well. That wasn’t my intention... but I’m the one who called you here, so I should take responsibility.”
The Earth Spirit, hunched and withdrawn.
I went up to Ozrok and knelt before him.
“You said your name was Ozrok? Can you understand my words?”
-...Goo-ong.
When I spoke to him,
he slightly lifted his head and looked at me.
He could apparently understand speech.
“I know this is a situation where you can’t help but feel hurt. But Borjin is being threatened by me.”
-Goo-ooong....
“He’s in a position where he has no choice but to make a choice he doesn’t want. It’s not that he sincerely wanted to cast you off, so could you please let it go just this once.”
-....
At my apology,
Ozrok tilted his head for a moment.
...Nod.
He nodded.
-Ozrok...!
A gesture saying he would forgive it once.
Borjin trembled, overcome with emotion.
“Thank you.”
Only then
did I rise to my feet and speak.
“Sorry for the scare. You can go back now.”
...Nod.
With a soft slither—
he sank into the earth and vanished.
Now that his soul-and-flesh had left this place,
I could judge there was no longer a risk of Vimanar attacking again.
=....
I didn’t know what Vimanar, who had watched that scene, was thinking,
but as ordered,
it simply watched the scene in silence.
-...Why?
Instead,
the one who spoke to me was Borjin, not Vimanar.
-If that spirit’s words are true, sacrificing Ozrok would bring great gains.
“Mm, that’s true.”
-I am one who was your enemy. By sacrificing a portion of such an internal force, you could have profited. You could even have reduced the risk I pose as a danger factor inside your ranks by reducing my power.
Ah, you can think of it that way too?
Indeed.
If you include the possibility that this guy could cause problems from within, maybe it would have been better to take his spirit.
-There was no reason to refuse, was there? Then ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) why...
“Mm? What, you. Do you have a complaint about my choice?”
He asked in a fluster.
I looked at him, a faint smile on my lips, and asked:
“You said earlier you’d fulfill the contract faithfully—was that all a lie? You’re showing dissatisfaction with my choice right away?”
-N-no, it isn’t that! If there was a misunderstanding, I apologize...
“I’m joking, man.”
Why didn’t I follow Vimanar’s proposal...
Well, sure.
I could tell there would be profit if I took that proposal.
How to put it.
It’s a simple reason.
“I just don’t like it.”
-Grrk?
If he’d at least talked to me first, that would be different.
He hid the important parts and acted on his own.
‘I’ve got a pretty twisted personality, you know.’
No matter how much it was for my sake,
I couldn’t sweetly accept
a proposal from someone like that.
That’s the first reason.
And
the second reason is...
“I don’t want to create a bad precedent.”
-What?
“You, for now, are someone who joined from a [hostile force]... can I even call you a ‘someone’? Anyway, you’re the official first.”
In Ariella’s case, it’s hidden from the unit, so that’s unofficial.
Seohwan and Miho weren’t hostile to begin with.
Kkamang’s case is honestly a bit subtle too.
There was a fight, but it didn’t get intense.
This guy, on the other hand,
is the very first monster from a hostile force to have joined up.
And
as the world stands now, with what little humanity remains, it’s too much to win through with just humans.
It’s become a world that needs other forces as well.
“If they’re usable, I plan to use them.”
-I heard that last time too.
“The problem is, to do that we have to build an environment where those usable ones can think it’s okay to defect. If defecting only gets them treated worse than death, who would defect to us?”
The easiest way to deal with an enemy isn’t to kill them.
Getting them to defect is the best method.
To do that, we have to create an environment favorable to defection.
“After they finally defect, if we force a sacrifice like ‘hand over the spirit you’ve communed with all your life’? Then no one will want to enter our unit.”
-....
“If fighting and winning is backbreaking labor, then getting a defection is a free win. So why would I throw away that free win for nothing?”
I was speaking half in jest,
but the content was dead serious.
“There was a process of contract and such, but you did join our unit.”
“...”
“That means that from that moment, you’re part of our unit.”
I looked him straight in the eye and continued.
“As long as you don’t betray the unit, I’ll treat you as a member of the unit.”
-Grrk....
“And I don’t intend to force one-sided sacrifice on our members. That’s my judgment.”
That was the second reason.
‘Truth is, there’s also a third reason...’
But there was no need to tell Borjin that.
It wasn’t confirmed yet anyway.
“Still dissatisfied?”
-...No.
After thinking for a moment at my words,
soon he said:
-Thank you, Commander.
“Hm?”
He bowed his head to me,
and spoke with an utterly courteous attitude.
“Raise your head, man. All I said is that as a member you’ll be treated the same—what’s there to thank. I won’t force sacrifice, sure, but you’re going to get worked like a dog.”
-Worked... You mean you’ll assign me tasks. I look forward to it. You may work me to your heart’s content.
“Enough—good work. You can go.”
Only then did he leave the Command-and-Control Room with tired steps.
Watching his back, I found it puzzling.
‘I definitely said I’d work him like a dog, so why does he seem pleased?’
Even with grueling duty foreshadowed,
he was smiling in good spirits as he went down the Inner Keep stairs.
****
-I’m sorry, Ozrok.
As he went down the Command-and-Control Room stairs,
Borjin murmured in a small voice.
And then,
to those words...
{I understand it was a circumstance beyond your control, brother of the steppe. It was very startling... but you had no other choice.}
-Thank you, truly.
someone answered.
{The Steppe God asked me to look after your people well. I won’t sever that relationship over something of this degree.}
Ozrok’s words, which had reached Sergeant Shin Youngjun’s ears as no more than goo-ong,
naturally
were communicated normally with Borjin, the one who had made a contract with him.
{By the way, brother.}
-Hm?
{For someone who’s just gone through an unpleasant affair, you look to be in a good mood.}
-Ah.
As he said.
Borjin had been suddenly discovered by the natives, dragged off almost like a kidnapping...
even the children’s eggs had been exposed. It wasn’t so much that he wanted it as that at the time there was no other way but to make a contract with these people.
{That is so indeed.}
-I was certainly flustered... but I also felt rather relieved, you see.
{Hm?}
-The natives suddenly discovered us, dragged us away... even the children’s eggs were found. Even if I said I would faithfully follow the contract, I was anxious that they might, like those demons, just use the children.
A faint smile
spread over the old shaman’s face.
-A member of the unit, he said.
{Did that wording please you?}
-Even warriors of my own tribe treated us as enemies... yet that man identified me with himself.
He had experienced something bewildering,
but truly,
he could only call it a relief.
-It seems I won’t have to worry too much about the children’s future.
{It’s not exactly wrong to say so, but...}
-Hm?
At Borjin’s words,
Ozrok spoke with a slight hesitation.
{That human said he would work you.}
-That’s a kind of idiom among humans. It means he’ll give me work. Since I’ve decided to belong to this force, doing the work they assign is only natural. It’s nothing to be burdened about.
At that,
Ozrok only thought to himself.
‘Somehow, I don’t think that’s all it means...’
This shaman, going forward,
seemed to have a subtle premonition he really would be worked like a dog...
‘Though he did tell him to abandon me, so it’s true I’m a little hurt.’
But he decided
not to mention that fact.
