093 – Witch
Tigris threw the fainted Morita on the bed in the hotel room.
And the coffin with Levis was placed next to it.
Tigris looked down at Morita with slightly annoyed eyes.
“Things happen in unexpected places.”
It was good to teleport with Morita.
However, there was one thing Tigris hadn’t thought of, Morita’s stamina.
The teleport is a very good space mover, but depending on the distance, it causes instantaneous shock to the whole body.
In technical terms, it is called ‘space shock’, and the principle of teleport magic is to create a very small gap between a specific space and a specific space and push the human body into it to move, so a lot of load is created on the human body.
Of course, magic tricks to protect the human body are included, but since they cannot be completely liberated from the impact of space, blackouts often come in the case of ordinary people like Morita who have low stamina or lack the stamina itself.
‘I should have remembered that Morita passed out when he came to Heiden Forest.’
I made a mistake because there were only one or two things to take care of.
Tigris sat on the bed across from Morita and thought for a moment.
If everything went according to plan, he entered the hotel room and tried to explain to Morita why Tigris cut off Morita’s arm and why Levis was aiming for Morita.
And seeing Morita’s reaction, I tried to give him two options.
One is to entrust Morita to the Inquisitor so that he can live a new life, and the other is to kill him.
If Morita decided that there was room for rebirth and that he no longer wanted or jealous of Tigris, he was going to start a new life in the Baya Islands in the far western part of the continent.
The Baya Archipelago is a remote place that requires almost a month of travel by boat, but it is also a self-sufficient place.
Morita is a four-star knight, so even if she doesn’t have arms, there will be something she can do there, and at least she won’t starve to death.
The other is to just kill him, so if Morita had no room for reincarnation or just asked him to kill him, I wanted to make him feel as comfortable as possible.
Morita was supposed to finish work and move to the mysterious land early tomorrow morning, but Morita showed no sign of getting up.
Seeing that he didn’t get up even when he threw it on the bed, it was highly likely that he wouldn’t get up until tomorrow morning.
‘Let’s think about Morita later.’
After all, all that was left for Tigris was time.
Death of the Marquis Baros and Levis.
Rota and Arphem’s clan will be in trouble just by devising a plan to deal with this problem.
Since Levis’ soul is also tightly sealed with the chains of the heavens, there is no fear that the soul will escape.
Thinking like that, Tigris became more at ease and saw things he couldn’t see.
‘Come to think of it, there was that old woman in Fogwood.’
Before returning, the mysterious old woman who informed Rakan and Tigris where Lota’s Chimera Lab was located.
‘They informed me of the location of the Chimera Lab and the location of Jane properly, so I’m not related to Rota or Arphem’s clan.’
Up until now, I was so busy that I couldn’t afford to pay any attention to the old woman, and I had no reason to come to Fogwood.
Tigris got up.
‘It wouldn’t be bad to meet you once. Anyway, I had to purchase aura compass and amulets.’
Tigris wrapped around the coffin with Levis and went outside.
Of course, he didn’t forget to tie his feet up so Morita wouldn’t get out of bed when he came out.
* * *
It’s not unusual to carry a coffin in Fogwood.
Not because of the image of a ghost magician who deals with death, but because there are many people who work as coffin weavers or undertakers as a side job.
Rather, there are fewer people who sell talismans or spells as effective as the old woman.
So few people found it strange to see Tigris carrying a coffin tied with a golden chain.
Rather, there were more people who were very surprised that he had the strength to carry that heavy coffin with one hand.
[The old woman’s house]
The sun had already set and it was getting dark, but the old woman’s house was still open.
Tigris opened the old woman’s house and entered.
‘You’re still here.’
It was full of bizarre magic tools that made Lenny cry as soon as she saw it.
It was even more bizarre to come in the evening when the sun went down, with animated eyeballs, withered hands trembling with little fingers, and skulls with broken jaws.
The old woman smiled and said.
“Has it been a little over half a year? Did you become quite famous?”
The old woman seemed to immediately recognize who Tigris was.
Tigris dispelled the polymorph magic.
“How did you know me?”
“It is rare to find a soul with a lot of karma like you. Not as much as the guy in that coffin.”
Tigris put the coffin of Levis on the wall in front of the counter.
“Do you know who the guy in this coffin is?”
The old woman wiped away the ashes and opened her mouth.
“Obviously, he introduced me to Rota about 15 years ago.”
“······What?”
Tigris doubted his ears for a moment.
It was surprising that the old woman knew Lota, but even more surprised when Levis said that he was Lota.
“This guy’s name is Levis. Not Rota.”
“It’s okay if you change the name to your liking. Of course, looking at his soul, there is something different about it from 15 years ago.”
The old woman lifted the teddy bear and struck the coffin.
right!
– Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Tigris almost drew out his sword at the sound of the whispers resounding from the coffin.
“The level is so high that it is safe to say that it is the soul of a dragon or a giant, rather than an ordinary human. But it’s very different from before. I downgraded myself on purpose and split it in two. Why did you do this?”
The old woman hit the coffin again.
– Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
“Aha, that’s right. okay. To avoid the cost of the curse. Because the price of the curse is accumulated in the body, not the soul. There are traces of changing the body over and over again. But it’s amazing. Usually, when you switch to another body, your personality will be contaminated by the memories left in your body, so how did you change your body so often?”
When the old woman tried to hit the coffin again, Tigris caught the old woman’s teddy bear.
“Stop stimulating the soul. The seal can be broken.”
“My soul is held tightly in the chains of the heavens, how can I get out of it? He’s not even a dragon.”
The old woman seemed to have grasped the identity of the golden chain surrounding the coffin at once.
“What the hell is your identity?”
The old woman smiled and said.
“Can you believe what I say?”
“Listen and judge.”
The old woman looked into Tigris’ eyes.
As if reading something from Tigris’ eyes, he began to focus and opened his mouth.
“That high-pitched and coercive tone of voice is typical of aristocrats, but unlike half a year ago, he is full of poison. At that time, it was like a sharp sword in a luxurious scabbard… Now, the blade has become dull. So he must have come here without cutting off the lump.”
The old woman nodded and said.
“Is it stupid? Or is it guilt? No, I’m sorry. In order not to repeat the same mistake, it is important to be careful about swinging the sword with the mind beating the stone bridge.”
“okay. The day is not dull. You are trying to take the easy way and the complicated and difficult way. It’s easy to cut out, but once it’s cut out, it’s impossible to revive it. I actually killed a lot of people.”
The old woman abbreviated Tigris’ life with only Tigris’ face.
That was impossible even for Teho.
“You are definitely not human.”
“You didn’t lead an ordinary life either. It’s not the kind of eyes that only a 20-year-old can experience.”
“Who are you?”
“Then who are you? Tigris? Can you tell me your identity?”
“none.”
“okay. I can’t either. We have one secret we cannot tell.”
The old woman put a tobacco leaf in the teddy bear.
“But that doesn’t mean you can’t be friends. Because you and I face a common enemy.”
“Is that Rota?”
“Well, that’s what it is.”
“I must have said that I had met Rota 15 years ago. What the hell happened then?”
“He was trying to steal the demons I control. Those demons, when released, are terrible enough to affect not only Fogwood, but Victory as well. I’m not sure what they’re trying to steal those demons for, but just looking at them doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
The old woman handed Tigris a match.
“Can you light a fire?”
Tigris ignited the match head by flicking it with his thumb.
It was a habit used when lighting a fire on the battlefield.
“Looks like a very seasoned soldier when he lights a fire.”
Tigris silently lit the old woman’s tobacco leaf.
The old woman’s hand touched the back of Tigris’s.
It felt like he was touching a warm, soft feather instead of a wrinkled hand.
The old woman had turned into a seductive young woman with dark hair.
“Is this what you saw?”
“Well, that’s what it is.”
It changed automatically without any change in external mana.
In a word, it is a change of appearance using a magic different from the polymorph magic, but Tigris knew that such a magic was only possible with the ‘disguise magic’ of the beast people.
“I don’t think he’s a beast man, but he uses the beast man’s disguise magic.”
The old woman, no, the woman exhaled smoke.
“There are countless magics that change one’s appearance other than those of the Beast. It just wasn’t inherited.”
When the woman returned to her true form, she spoke to Tigris like a child.
“How many souls have you moved?”
“Do you think I would have lived my life by transferring my soul to another body? I don’t want to do that and it’s impossible.”
“Levis did that many times. Is this guy’s level of spirit magic higher than yours?”
“It seems that the way to provoke is still immature. But you’re cute, so I’ll explain.”
The woman caught a flying fly.
The woman shook her fist several times to stun the fly and placed it on the tabletop.
Then he pulled out a live cricket from the glass bottle and blew out cigarette smoke.
The cricket staggered and passed out just like the fly.
“I’m going to change the souls of these two cute guys from now on. So what will happen?”
“There is no difference as long as the soul contains memories and does not move together.”
“That’s right. But I’m a pretty good psychic. You can change their souls while keeping their memories intact. Take a good look.”
The woman inhaled the cigarette smoke deeply and exhaled it.
Then, smoke enveloped the crickets and flies, creating strange bridges.
As the woman began to chant, she could see the spirits of crickets and flies exchanged on the bridge.
When the souls of flies and crickets were perfectly exchanged, the woman threw smoke with her palms.
‘That gombangdae is not a common magic tool.’
The magic of exchanging souls is one of the very difficult spells.
No matter how much you exchange the souls of the worms, you can’t perform magic in such a simple way.
That teddy bear is most likely a magical relic.
“Now take a good look.”
The woman taps the tabletop! hit
Then the flies and the crickets came to their senses and made strange appearances.
Flies jumped like crickets, and crickets used their wings to fly.
“Let me ask you a question here. Is this fly a cricket? Or is it Paris?”
“Neither a cricket nor a fly.”
“That’s right. When the soul enters another body, the personality becomes corrupted. When the memory of the soul and the memory of the body collide, a completely different personality is born. In a word, he has become a new being, not a fly or a cricket.”
The fly staggered and ran all over the place, unable to control itself.
seemed to be ill.
“And the body structure is completely different, so it takes a very long time to get used to it. If I do this two or three more times, I’ll go crazy.”
“Does that mean that transferring a soul to another body is a very dangerous act?”
“It’s not as easy as risking your life.”
Tigris opened his mouth as he remembered Schwitz’s work.
“Then what if you put your soul into the body of a chimera with less intelligence?”
“It’s better, but it’s dangerous. It may last a little longer, but if you keep repeating it, your personality will be contaminated and you will go crazy?”
Come to think of it, Schwitz, unlike Levis, had become more ferocious as time went on.
His personality changed over and over during the fight, such as chewing raw flesh, talking to himself frequently, or suffering from multiple personality disorder.
Levis is different.
By transferring the soul to a body that has no memory of a homunculus, there is no way that his personality will be damaged.
“understood.”
The woman leaned forward in front of the counter and approached Tigris.
“You seem to know something?”
“It’s like that.”
The woman looked intently into Tigris’ eyes.
“Looking at these confident eyes, you seem to know an interesting secret? Could you please tell me?”
“What is the cost?”
“Until now, I’ve been working hard to teach you about spirit magic. Would that be enough?”
“The balance calculation is not correct. And that was not very important information to me.”
“Because you say that, I get more and more sick of it. Ah, I’m really weak at this kind of curiosity.”
The woman thought for a moment and then opened her mouth.
“great. So how about a three-question answer? I will answer any questions you ask. Instead, the number of questions is three and I do not ask questions about my identity.”
“Where is the guarantee that you won’t lie?”
Tigris can detect lies with facial expressions and vital signs.
However, it is a different story for this bizarre shaman who can change his body at will.
He can change his facial expression or manipulate biosignals with magic so that he can’t tell the truth from the lie.
And, crucially, Tigris did not think that this woman was a mere psychic.
Although it was Tigris’ pure sense, there was a high possibility that it was a high-ranking existence like a dragon.
“You are very careful. Well, if it’s something to do with this guy, you need to be careful. It looks like it was really hard to catch.”
The woman exhaled a long puff of smoke.
Then smoke covered her body, and three gray stripes were formed around her neck.
“It is one of the ancient magics, the shackles of truth. If what I say is true, these shackles will be released; if I tell a lie, it will not. I’ve done this up to this point, but if you don’t believe me… It’s going to be annoying, but it’s okay.”
Tigris thought for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“I want to experience that spell.”
“There’s nothing that can’t be done. You’ll have to tell me the truth anyway.”
The woman exhaled a long puff of cigarette smoke again.
Then a gray string was made around Tigris’ neck.
“Then would you like to answer first? Why is Rota able to freely transfer her soul to a new body without damaging her personality?”
“Because Rota moves into the body of a homunculus, which has neither memory nor personality.”
When Tigris told the truth, the gray tattoo on his neck disappeared.
The woman widened her eyes as if she had heard an unexpected answer.
“That is nonsense. It is impossible for a human to create a homunculus.”
“Isn’t Rota a human being?”
“No, even so, it is impossible to create a human. It is possible to create a soulless human being itself, but a soul cannot enter it. It is as if a human soul enters a piece of meat.”
“I was only telling the truth. I can’t even explain how a homunculus is made.”
“Aren’t you wrong?”
“It’s not going to happen. Because I know a homunculus that is still alive today.”
“It seems that you have been too far away from the affairs of the world.”
The woman thought for a moment and then opened her mouth.
“It’s a little awkward at the back, but you answered the question with all my heart, so I’ll explain it as best as I can. Ask me anything.”
“How is your relationship with Rota and Arfem?”
“Rota was a thief who was trying to steal the demons I was managing. But I missed it because I ran away like a loach.”
“Does that mean it’s not a good relationship?”
“He’s a guy who can’t even tear it apart and kill it. If the evil spirits I control are released, the entire southern part of the continent will be filled with apocalypse, so no one can even set foot in it? Even a blue light won’t be able to put it to sleep. Arpem is the first name I’ve ever heard of, so I don’t know.”
A tattoo on the woman’s neck disappeared.
That meant the truth.
Even in Tigris’ eyes, the woman’s words were true.
At least he didn’t seem to have a good relationship with Rota.
“Then why are you managing such dangerous demons?”
“Is the question sharper than I thought? Second question, right?”
Tigris nodded.
The woman’s eyes deepened slightly.
Tigris seemed to be reminded of a story from a long time ago that he couldn’t even imagine.
“Um… should I call it a curse?”
“curse?”
“It’s not a curse in a magical sense, but I can only explain it like that. I can’t die, and I’m guarded by evil spirits.”
The woman’s face was smiling, but her eyes looked very sad.
“No, just thinking about it, I don’t think it’s a curse.”
“Then what?”
“I guess it’s love.”
Another tattoo on the woman’s neck was broken.
At least she seemed to be telling the truth.
The woman smiled, shaking off her sorrow.
“But aren’t you trying to find out who I really am? Even if you know who I am, there is nothing good about you.”
Tigris suddenly remembered a story that had been kept in the Dwarf’s archives before his return.
Tigris looked carefully at the woman’s face.
“what’s the matter? Did you put anything on my face? Or did you even fall for it?”
“no.”
Tigris has a pretty good memory.
Of course, it was limited to swordsmanship, but it was still not as bad as the brains of ordinary people.
In particular, the records in the archives of the Dwarves were meticulously memorized as each one had a history that would cause a stir in the world.
“It’s like a face that I suddenly saw somewhere.”
“me? where?”
“From the book.”
Tigris suddenly remembered an adventure story containing the biography of Pereira, who defeated the Demon King of Extinction.
Pereira’s adventure story is so famous that no one in the Empire knows about it, but the adventure story has been altered through the hands of many writers over the course of 1,300 years.
Some were exaggerated, some were reduced, and some were deleted.
In particular, a woman’s name was deleted from Pereira’s adventures through the Age of Witches, and her name was obviously…
“Amoris Mia.”
The woman’s shoulders trembled.
“Wait a moment······.”
“The only witch and lover among the warrior Pereira’s companions.”
Tigris looked straight into the woman’s trembling eyes and said.
“Are you Amoris Mia?”
The woman could not speak for a while and finally spoke.
“······right.”
The tattoo on her neck was gone.