Necromancer Survival

    Seo Dawon grabbed my arm to stop me, red-faced from embarrassment, from running away.
Then he spoke in a sarcastic tone, “You followed such nice reasoning for everything in the middle and then suddenly had a logical leap for the kiss…Is that because you can’t stop thinking about kissing me?”

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     “No, you just suddenly scared me and…Damn it, release my arm!”

     “If I just had a little less conscience, I would be the world’s first kissing treatment patient…”

     “Eek!”

     Shamelessly, he rested his head in my embrace.
Then, as if to sort out all that had happened, he whispered, “Anyway, since I’ve been a bit capricious lately, don’t approach me if I seem suspicious.  That’s all I wanted to say.”

     “……” I was still rendered speechless from the lingering uncomfortable feeling that would not subside.

     Even though I did not reply, Seo Dawon still released my two arms that he was holding; he still leaned his body into my embrace, however.
If I were to push him away, I could stand up chicly; instead, I simply hugged him after hesitating.

     I felt a low vibration near my heart; Seo Dawon laughed and looked up at me, “Lee-kyung-ie definitely doesn’t miss any opportunity.”

     “…Shut up.
You…you also did whatever you wanted.” Even as I said that, I was afraid he’d remove his hands from me and stand up.
However, Seo Dawon peacefully remained in my arms.

     I thought, ‘Well, now that I think about it, It’s been far too easy…’

     Even now, when Seo Dawon couldn’t show off all of his abilities and is restrained, I couldn’t feel any of his limitations.

     When something inexplicably goes smoothly, rather than feeling satisfied with your good luck, you may start to feel anxious.
As if there’s a ticking time bomb that may explode at any moment.
So, now that the cause of my anxiety had been vaguely pinpointed, I actually felt more relieved.
Furthermore, I became more confident about a contradiction I had been pondering for a while now.

     ‘For servants…their master must be an essential existence.’

     That must be the reason why such a cumbersome contract method was needed.

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     After signing a contract with these servants, I had often fallen deep into thought about the significance of my existence.
After all, I was being dragged around by those who were worlds apart in ability from me.

     It was a bit frustrating, but things tended to work out only when I listened to their orders; even if they were to elaborate beyond the bare skeleton of information, they might take the attitude, ‘what good would it do for you to know?

     The fact that all this was unintentional made the situation more miserable.
Just as how parents may not tell their children how much they make–even though making a living was important for their livelihoods–it was natural for the servants to act this way since what would change if ‘Choi Lee-kyung’ knew anything…what could he do for them?

     As a result, even if we shared the same home, we didn’t feel quite like a team.
It felt like we were divided into two: me and them.

     However, their selfish arbitrariness had led to Seo Dawon handing me some strange self-destruct device.
If so, though he may not like to admit it, couldn’t it be said that Seo Dawon’s current method had failed?

     “Seo Dawon.”

     “Yeah.”

     “Before…When you asked me to ‘command’ you, what did you mean?”

    Of course, it wasn’t like I was happy at Seo Dawon’s failure, nor did I think ‘You reap what you sow.’ Actually, wasn’t it more weird to think that I would become a necessary existence to someone like Seo Dawon? If I were the Mage, I would’ve desperately searched for another way besides relying on Choi Lee-kyung.

     However, in another sense, I felt refreshed.

     I may be able to finally know why it ‘had to be me.’

      Through a series of serendipitous coincidences, I was able to meet and contract with Seo Dawon.
But there were days where I wondered why, except for the contract, I needed to be in this team.
I had thought, ‘It didn’t have to be me, they could have had a more talented Necromancer.’

     That’s why I tried in any way I could to contribute to the team, but my power was so utterly weak that there was no benefit.
In addition, I hated to see Seo Dawon, Jung Garam, or Kim Olim taking risks–leading the front, so I may not fall into danger.
In the end, I naturally thought that ‘sitting around patiently, doing nothing’ was all I could do to help.

     However, I felt like I could finally grasp at my purpose–something I’ve questioned even as I adjusted my behavior to accommodate them.
Seo Dawon was shaking.
Now, he looked confused; the distance, which he had stubbornly maintained yesterday, between us had narrowed.

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     So, I brought up the question I should have asked then.
At that time, I didn’t want to think deeper because I had simply passed his comment off as mere rejection, but, once you dug deeper, the words he chose were quite strange.

     Why did he use the word, ‘command?’ There were many other gentle methods to reject me.
It’s not as if he wasn’t the type of person who would be smooth enough to reject me kindly.

     However, that’s what Seo Dawon said.

     If so, did that ‘command’ contain another meaning?

     “I meant it literally.
Since you’re the master, there’s no need to walk on eggshells around me.”

       “……” I couldn’t really tell what he was thinking just through his expression.
I couldn’t tell if I was dense, or if Seo Dawon was deliberately hiding his emotions, but…

     I gripped onto Seo Dawon’s arms when he tried to stop leaning his head on me, sit up, and straighten his back.
If not this time, I don’t know when this distance between us would narrow again.
Fortunately, Seo Dawon did not remove my hold and gently downcast his red eyes.

     “T-then, if it’s my command…… Are you saying that you would like me?”

    “The command has to be specific.
‘Like me…’ It’s not clear what kind of behavior you want me to showcase.” Seo Dawon naturally continued.

     I realized he was giving me advice: a reminder that when a Master gives a command, he must give specific instructions that a Servant could comprehend and act upon straight away.

     So, I took his advice and ‘commanded’ him.
“Answer the questions I ask.
Don’t lie, either.”

     Seo Dawon, knowing that he was given a ‘command,’ raised his head as soon as I spoke.
Normally, his eyes were like transparent glass, but somehow they looked hazy and decadent now.
I hesitated, feeling a hint of resistance from him, but Dawon soon slowly lowered his head.

     “Yes,” he responded, quietly.
He adopted an attitude of total obedience–enough that I suspected it was a prank to ridicule me.

 

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* * *

 

     A few minutes passed by; I couldn’t find the words to speak easily.
I was flustered by the completely transformed atmosphere, and Seo Dawon was still utterly tranquil.
And then, right before my eyes, a system message popped up.

 

[Conditions have been met to expand or transform certain skills unique to your class.]

 

      “Skills unique to the class……?”

     “…..” Seo Dawon continued to look at me with that placid expression.
It was as if he was paying great attention to the words that came out of my mouth.

     I reminded myself that I was in the middle of “commanding” him and subconsciously covered my mouth with one hand and hastily closed the system message with the other.
After all, I can check the contents of this message later…

     “Hmmm…I mean, s-so…you can’t answer the questions I ask from this point on by lying, right?”

     “Yes.”

     “I can’t get used to him using such formal language…Ah, n-no.” I stuttered.

     When I saw Seo Dawon with a face devoid of any expressions, I felt like I was doing something malicious to him.

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     I cleared my throat and once again asked the question I wanted to ask, “Why did you suddenly place such a strange taboo on me?”

     The thing that bothered me the most was the unknown skill that Seo Dawon applied to me just recently.

    And, as soon as I closed my mouth, he answered straight away without any hesitation.
“That’s a taboo placed just in case I attempted to murder you.”

    Murder…

      Goosebumps raised along my arms at his word choice, and I felt slightly depressed that Seo Dawon would dislike me enough to kill me.
Further, it felt unfair–why would he hold those sorts of feelings for me?

     “Why do you want to kill me?” I asked

     “I’ve never wanted to kill you.
I’ve told you earlier that the taboo was placed in order to stop me from murdering you.”

      Again, another strange response.

     No, that’s what I’m asking–you said you placed a restriction just in case you’d murder me.
There must be a reason, then, right? Only his speech was formal, his speaking style still left an unpleasant aftertaste…

I judged Seo Dawon’s expressionless face as one of contempt, and, rage rising, I continued to question him, voice wheezing.
“So! That’s why I’m asking…Why you might want to murder me!? What I wanted to know was the reason behind it all!”

     “It’s because of your blood.” 

 

 

TL: It’s been a while hasn’t it? I’ve been swamped with IRL work (grading papers T_T).
I’ve informed the discord server people that this break would happen–if you haven’t joined, that’s alright! I do update about any potential breaks there, though.
As promised, I’ll do 4 chapters–2 today, 2 tomorrow!

Also I do know that there’s a webtoon that’s out! Although, I have no idea if that’ll divert more or less people to this, haha.