Chick 194
by CristaeHunter of the Chick Class Does His Duty! Episode 194
“Disciple-chan, don’t you know yet? Master still has a lot to teach you.”
“Hmm…”
“Hand.”
Gru took hold of the large hand extended before her.
‘Hmm?’
Through the tattoos on his knuckles, a red, chain-like pattern briefly appeared before fading away.
‘I feel like I’ve seen that before.’
But as Kazuki started walking, the thought slipped from her mind.
“Disciple-chan, let’s have a race. If you win, I’ll give you this. It’s something Master cherishes.”
Kazuki waved a plain, rough-looking ring among the many things on his fingers.
What’s that?
Gru’s mouth fell open as she gawked, and Kazuki explained,
“It’s the very first S-class I ever made. A double-proficiency buff. It’s a continuous effect.”
“…!”
A continuous buff—an unbelievable item that never runs out!
“All right, then. Master’s going ahead!”
“Ah!”
No! I can’t lose!
“Eeeesss—!”
Gru yelled loudly, arms wide, and took off running as fast as her legs would carry her.
Kazuki, trailing behind the nimble, squirrel-like child, exhaled the breath he’d been holding.
“Hoo…!”
His breath came short and ragged. He forced himself to swallow the pain.
It felt as though glowing chains were wrapping his body, burning it alive.
Amakusa Kazuki was dying, bearing the sins of his father.
Debuff ‘paternal karma,’ otherwise known as paternal sin.
Those afflicted by this curse are bound by blood-stained chains representing their father’s sins.
These chains tighten around the heart, ultimately leading to death.
Above the tattoos covering his body, the image of red chains appeared.
The entangled vines of karma grew like ivy, spreading beyond what his tattoos could cover.
He’d been afflicted with the debuff not long after creating the first generation Amakusa series.
[“It’s called paternal karma. A kind of curse.”]
One day, he’d been seized with unexplained pain.
When Prime Minister Takahashi told him it was a curse, he could only laugh hollowly.
In a way, he’d always expected something like this.
His father had brutally murdered his own family.
And elsewhere, even now, he was surely killing yet more people.
If a contract came, he’d kill strangers without blinking. That was his father’s work.
It was no wonder someone had cast a curse like this; Kazuki had simply accepted it.
Even before the curse, Kazuki had always felt burdened by his father’s sins.
That was why he strove so hard to live righteously.
One time, he’d joined Doctors Without Borders, converting their supply trucks into amphibious off-roaders with tank-like power.
Another day, he’d built wells to draw water from 500 kilometers away for a refugee camp.
The next week, he constructed orphanages and schools that wouldn’t collapse even in missile strikes, in the middle of civil wars.
[“Complete cure is impossible, but it can be postponed. You just need to meet someone I send, once in a while.”]
So, after roaming free as a weed on the water, he’d end up chained again.
It wasn’t too much to say that only his awakening as an S-class crafter had kept him alive.
Takahashi, as Japan’s prime minister, couldn’t afford to lose an S-class crafter; he’d found a way, somehow.
Every several months, Kazuki would meet an onmyoji Takahashi sent him and extend his life for a few more months, and afterward Takahashi would always ask,
[“When can we expect the next Amakusa series?”]
Thus, Amakusa Kazuki, who detested violence more than anyone, was forced to become a craftsman for Japan—for Takahashi, really.
Perhaps because of his stifling childhood in the orphanage, Kazuki always loved travel and freedom.
He’d gone as far as Kenya in search of a curse-breaker who could dispel the debuff for good, but to no avail.
Some days, simply living was enough. But being forced to make weapons for Takahashi, being tormented by his father’s karma—day after day, it grew disgusting.
That was why he’d come to Korea.
Now he had little more than a week left.
Two choices remained.
To kill his father and regain his freedom.
Or to seek freedom by dying.
Kazuki quietly slid open the paper door to the room, where the light was already out.
The child had curled up like a shrimp, soundly asleep.
Kazuki sat at her bedside, took her hand, and slipped the ring onto her middle finger. The ring, loose before, shrank to fit her tiny, slender finger.
Smiling, he gently stroked the sprout at the crown of her head.
This place, heavy with mana, might be ideal for a monster to grow—
‘She’s actually planted a sprout-type monster on her own head.’
He let out a soft, leaking chuckle.
Everything about this kid’s actions was odd and adorable.
Kazuki kissed Gru softly on the forehead and left the room, where the monk was waiting outside the door.
The monk spoke in a low voice.
“Let’s go talk over there.”
Moonlight poured down in front of the main hall.
Monk Hyungak, after holding Kazuki’s wrist and checking his pulse for some time, finally spoke.
“I’m sorry to say this, especially after you came so far… but this curse is beyond my power to break.”
The A-rank support-class Awakened, Monk Hyungak, continued with a somber tone after confirming Kazuki’s debuff.
“…I can, however, slow its progress.”
Kazuki shook his head.
“I’ve lived like this long enough. I’m tired of it now.”
“It may not be much comfort, but according to Buddhist teaching, the end is not the end. Life continues in another form.”
The monk drew a circle with his hand.
Kazuki, knowing a little of the doctrine of reincarnation, grinned broadly, showing his pointed fangs.
“Thanks for the comfort, Monk-san.”
He gazed at the moon for a moment, then glanced toward the room where Gru was sleeping.
Noticing this, Monk Hyungak spoke softly.
“Even knowing it’s not the end, it’s hard to let go. No matter how long you practice—emptying yourself is always harder than filling up.”
“Hmm.”
Brows drawn in a tired arch, Kazuki spoke with resignation.
“You’re right. I came here to empty myself, but I ended up full instead.”
“‘When Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva practiced the profound Prajñāpāramitā, he saw that the five skandhas are all empty and thus overcame all suffering and distress.’”
“I don’t get any of that, Monk-san. Even after learning so much Korean, it’s still hard.”
“Guan Yin watches over all the suffering of this Saha World—rest easy, my son.”
Just as Kazuki was thinking he didn’t understand a word, he abruptly straightened and lifted his head skyward.
Seeing this, the monk too glanced upward—something was hovering in the air above, descending toward the main hall.
Gru woke half-asleep, bleary-eyed.
Her crown itched so much she couldn’t go back to sleep.
“Mmm, sleepy…”
Yaaawn!
She brushed away a status window flickering before her eyes and yawned deeply—
“…?”
Her head felt heavy for some reason.
It was nothing like the usual dullness after sleep.
This felt as if something was literally weighing on her head.
“…Huu?”
She tilted her head, puzzled.
Gru crawled over to the vanity and looked in the mirror.
“Gasp!”
At the same moment, Mephisto woke at the sound of her voice and sleepily flew over with a flutter, while Beilach wriggled out of her bag, yawning as he came over…
“Mepi… hiccup! Beii…”
Gru turned to them, her face streaked with tears and mucus.
“Piit!”
“Myuut!”
Startled, Mephisto and Beilach hurried to stroke and comfort her.
“What is Gru going to do?”
She was clearly so startled, her shoulders trembled as she sniffled.
Sniff!
Come to think of it, everyone lately had been saying her sprout looked fresh and green, and she’d found that odd.
Gru buried her face in her hands.
From amidst the sprout at the crown of her head, a stem was growing, and at its tip, a bud had appeared.
It had grown.
No matter how she checked, the sprout was definitely growing. And now, even a bud had formed.
On top of Gru’s head!
Didn’t she revert back to the snow rabbit when her power returned?
What if it never separated, and the sprout just kept growing there forever?
Gru, feeling as if her world was spinning, wailed in panic.
“I turned into a tree! Gru’s really become Groot!”