Ch.298298. Fluffy

The news of death from the hospital was quite shocking.

It wasn’t just one or two people who died, but everyone in an entire hospital room.

Even the doctor who was caring for them died.

While the cause of death had not yet been revealed, the entire hospital was closed due to concerns about possible infection from a contagious disease or other pathogens within the hospital.

Since it happened in the middle of the city, news traveled very quickly, even reaching the academy.

[…..]

[…..]

The two women beside me were deep in thought with their lips tightly sealed. They wanted to go check what had happened to those people but were hesitant to take that step.

[Was it my mistake?]

Stella asked cautiously.

At her question, the Dark Spiritmaster’s gaze also turned toward me.

Sitting in a chair in the laboratory with my chin resting on my hand, I answered.

“No one made any mistakes except those directly involved.”

[But…..]

“Stella, no one could have stopped them. Even if I had forcibly prevented them, they would have made the same choice in the end.”

The desire to survive is human instinct. Even if they had been told it would lead directly to their death.

Those who were already standing at death’s door would have walked that path without hesitation.

[Do you know what happened?]

“I can only make an educated guess.”

I exhaled deeply and slowly rose from my seat.

“I’m going to keep my promise.”

[Ah.]

[…You’re going to the hospital, aren’t you?]

“Yes.”

On the day they closed their eyes.

I promised I would visit them, comfort them, and embrace them.

Now the time had come to keep that promise.

[I want to go see Ppoksil.]

[I’ll go with you.]

Both of them immediately moved to follow me, but I shook my head.

“Today, I’ll go alone.”

They knew very well why I was saying this. Going there would only cause them pain, and they would only confirm with their own eyes how desperate the situation was.

[I’m not a child.]

[I’ve seen many tragedies during my time as a Saintess. I’ll be fine.]

Both insisted they would be fine.

Indeed, these two women had the strength to move forward calmly even after witnessing tragedy.

But.

“There’s no need to deliberately get hurt.”

It was an unnecessary wound.

A pain they didn’t need to voluntarily experience.

[Even so…!]

“I.”

I placed my hands on the heads of the two standing before me. Then, carefully embracing them, I whispered.

As if to comfort them.

“I don’t want to see your pain.”

[Eh…..]

[Ah.]

The faces of the two women I slowly released had turned bright red. They’re always so clingy normally, yet now they’re acting shy.

I calmly bid farewell to both of them.

“I’ll be back.”

* * *

Creeeeak.

As I entered the hospital, the surroundings were so filthy that I wondered if this was the same hospital I had visited a few days ago. The nurses at the desk had their heads down on the table with masks on and exhausted eyes, showing that the quarantine life was not easy.

They showed little reaction to my entrance.

Or rather, they were too exhausted to react. A young nurse who seemed to have some energy left approached me, swaying slightly.

“Wh-what brings you here?”

A tragedy in the heart of the city.

It wasn’t just ending with the deaths of nine people but was leaving deep trauma on those who remained.

“I’ve come to solve the problem.”

“…Pardon? Are you perhaps a doctor sent from the capital?!”

I had heard that doctors in Robern couldn’t identify the disease, so they were preserving the bodies for now.

“No, this isn’t death by disease.”

“What do you mean…?”

I slowly removed the mask they had insisted I wear when entering from outside.

There was no contagious disease here anyway.

Just one black cat.

“I am Deus Verdi, the Spiritmaster.”

“What…? Sp-Sp-Spiritmaster?!”

The young nurse cried out in surprise. Following her reaction, the other nurses behind her also turned their attention toward me and were startled.

They quickly regained their energy as if an electric current had suddenly flowed through their previously drained bodies and approached me, but.

“I’ve come to conduct a funeral.”

I passed by them and headed toward the hospital room.

The door to the room was thoroughly sealed with wooden boards and vinyl wrap.

Even within the hospital, the room was separately quarantined.

“The-the bodies haven’t been removed yet. Since the contagious disease could spread through the corpses…”

“I see.”

Standing in front of the door, the stench of decaying bodies was overwhelming, but I removed the barriers without hesitation.

After pushing all the nurses back and warning them not to approach until I came out.

I opened the door and went inside.

The stench, hot air, and cat fur greeted me.

Inside the dark hospital room.

Dozens of cats were standing still, staring at me intently, though I wasn’t sure where they had come from.

At the center, Martin’s butterfly—the Dark Spiritmaster’s Ppoksil—was leisurely licking itself.

Thud.

I closed the door and sighed.

The stench was so bad I didn’t even want to breathe.

I could tell, even without wanting to know, how so many cats were surviving in this closed space.

They probably weren’t just feeding on the maggots and flies swarming the nine corpses.

The dried blood scattered everywhere and the bloodstains on the cats’ fur painted quite an explicit picture of the situation.

[Meow.]

The black cat greeted me with a long meow, but.

“I’m warning you.”

I drew up mana from my feet and pushed away the cats that were stealthily approaching me.

“If you pretend to be an ordinary cat in front of me, I’ll consider there’s no room for dialogue and.”

[…..]

“I’ll burn you all to death.”

The frightened cats jumped in surprise and quickly moved away from me.

The black cat, still maintaining its composure, licked its front paw and then gazed at me with moon-like eyes.

[Will I survive if I answer?]

“No.”

Now that I’ve arrived here.

The outcome is already determined.

“However, as one who takes lives, I’ll at least listen to your last words.”

[Sigh.]

The cat exhaled a long sigh and then tapped the floor with its paw. Due to the thick pile of cat fur, it wasn’t clearly visible, but it wasn’t the floor but.

Someone wearing a doctor’s gown.

[Martin was a good master. He was always kind to me and made me happy.]

“So that’s why you gave him bones.”

At my words, the butterfly nodded.

[I was surprised too. A fairy tale I had vaguely heard became reality when Martin’s and my hearts aligned.]

“……”

[I sincerely wanted to save Martin’s father. He was kind to me too. I didn’t want to see Martin cry.]

It wasn’t a lie.

The creature was sincerely revealing its true feelings. It knew that the moment it told a lie here, it would burn up and disappear.

This cat is quite perceptive.

[I could give as many ribs as needed. It was fascinating—no pain, no discomfort in movement. When I wished, ribs would protrude from my belly.]

“That’s the content of the fairy tale.”

A part that defies common sense was realized through the wishes of humans and beasts. It wouldn’t have been smooth.

[That’s when it started. The more ribs I gave, the more my mind cleared. I could think and act like a human.]

“It means you were becoming a kind of spiritual being.”

[So that’s what it was. Yes, that’s right.]

Just as Ranhart, who was human, aspired to become a guardian deity after becoming a vampire.

Navi was also in the process of becoming something more than an ordinary cat.

[It would have been good if it had gone like the story. I would have been fine with dying after giving all my bones and having Martin’s father become healthy.]

But reality is different from fairy tales.

[If only Martin hadn’t tried to use other cats.]

The atmosphere began to change rapidly.

Navi, or rather the black cat, slowly rose, and hostility began to calmly fill the hospital room.

[One of me would have been enough. I could have sacrificed myself for Martin. But… I couldn’t watch my other kin being forced to sacrifice.]

“So that’s why you left the last bone.”

[Yes, that’s right. Martin’s father was already cured, but using that bone again would be abusing my sacrifice.]

The reason the cat’s body remained intact after death and could move around like this.

It was because it had become more than an ordinary cat.

[If I hadn’t been caught by the Dark Spiritmaster, I could have quietly disappeared.]

That’s when the Dark Spiritmaster intervened.

[After seeing Martin use my last bone, I would have left with the other cats.]

That would have been the most ideal direction for it, but things got complicated when the Dark Spiritmaster and I appeared.

“You had time before I arrived.”

When I asked why it didn’t run away, the cat seemed to smile bitterly.

[Because I knew I couldn’t escape.]

“……”

[I had one question too.]

The cat slowly approached me.

Its steps were light. Like someone who had already resigned to everything.

[When I stayed in the hospital room. Why did you just leave me be?]

“Is that important?”

When the cat remained in the hospital room.

Its intention wasn’t to protect the patients but to protect the other cats.

[I’ve been curious. You seemed similar to me.]

“Because that was Martin’s choice.”

At my answer, the cat slowly bowed its head. It checked its former master Martin, who was lying on the floor.

“He was a noble man. As a doctor, he had the excessive desire to save everyone, but he was someone who tried to act on it.”

[…..]

“Even if death lay ahead. That’s how he would have acted. I respected his conviction, and that’s why I came here to greet Martin and his patients.”

[Ha.]

The cat exhaled with a hint of irritation. Now it was my turn to ask.

“Let’s continue the questioning. You used the last bone to kill all the patients. But why did you kill Martin, who wouldn’t have drunk it?”

A moment of hesitation.

[…Because if he lived, the same thing would happen again.]

“Correct.”

I nodded slightly.

There was hatred in Navi’s touch as it pierced Martin’s corpse with its sharp claws.

[He would do this again if he saw patients whose lives were in danger. He would want cats to sacrifice for patients. I couldn’t just watch that.]

“Saving people is noble, but he reached for methods he shouldn’t have known.”

[…..]

“In the end, he would have met the same fate one way or another. Even if I had saved him here, it would have been a month at most.”

Why would one walk when they’ve gained the miracle of flight?

If this had succeeded, Martin would have officially established a medical facility using this fairy tale.

Also, when an ordinary person continuously reaches for such miracles, there’s always a backlash.

For example.

[Urrrrrrrgh!]

As if aware that we were talking about him, Martin’s soul—or rather, the evil spirit twisted by his obsession with saving people—screamed from within.

[I’m holding it back. If it gets loose, it will probably go around killing all cats.]

When one becomes an evil spirit, their thought process tends to become distorted.

It’s easy to see from the Setima residents who occupied the academy.

Martin, who had become an evil spirit, probably thought that if he killed all cats, he would save people, since cats were the reason his patients died.

I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“The same goes for you.”

[…..]

“If left alone, you would go around killing humans for the sake of other cats.”

Not just in this case.

People who abuse cats, abandon them, play with them, and so on.

Navi in front of me would kill all those who commit trashy acts toward cats.

[Aren’t you the same? We’re just doing the same thing.]

“I won’t deny it.”

If there’s a monster or beast that killed humans, I kill it immediately. I immediately put evil spirits to rest.

[I’m just saving my kind like you do. If you’re going to weigh the value of lives…]

“No.”

I shook my head.

I had no intention of weighing human lives against cat lives.

“I don’t make judgments like that.”

[…..]

“I don’t distinguish between the good and evil of the dead, nor do I judge their sins. My job is simply to be their grave, listen to their stories, and give them peace.”

[That’s irresponsible!]

“Judging a human’s life is something I cannot do.”

Truly.

Unless one is omniscient and omnipotent, as a god is said to be.

It’s very difficult to scrutinize a person’s entire life and determine whether they are good or evil.

By what standard, with what criteria, from what age, and so on.

If people were to be judged for good and evil in the face of the absolute phenomenon of death.

There would need to be an unshakable law that everyone could accept, but humans cannot create such a thing.

Having clearly recognized this limitation, I simply chose.

To stand here as a tombstone that accepts the dead.

Also.

“There’s no need to weigh lives. Whether humans are heavier or you are heavier, that’s not important to me at all.”

[…..]

“I chose humans.”

That’s all there is to it.

There’s no philosophical value or anything like that.

“Just as you chose cats over Martin.”

To me, humans were more important than cats.

[Why! Why does it have to be this way! Do you know what humans have done to us? What they did to us…!]

“Enough.”

I’m sorry, but.

“I don’t care.”

I’m busy enough caring about human tragedies. I had no intention of listening to and solving all cat tragedies as well.

[Cruel human.]

Navi’s eyes began to turn blood-red. Anger began to boil throughout its body, which had been resigned until just now.

[You are the cruelest human I’ve ever met.]

“That’s why I could be called a Spiritmaster.”

[Meooooooowwwww!]

Blue wildfire spread.

As if fire had caught on the cat fur, the spirit flames blazed vigorously, driving away the foul smell inside the hospital room.

There was no battle.

It could be described as something similar to cleaning.

I thought the surrounding cats might run away, but surprisingly, they stayed in place, accepting the same fate as their guardian who had protected them.

After accepting the souls of nine people into me.

The disappearing cat cried out with resentment.

[It’s not that I didn’t love Martin. It’s just that my kin were more important to me than him.]

Most animal souls harbor hatred toward humans.

Nine out of ten invariably hate humans and reject even their approach, but.

“You were one out of ten.”

Remembering the one that had cried long in the Dark Spiritmaster’s arms.

“Thanks to you, the Dark Spiritmaster laughed a lot. Thank you… Ppoksil.”

[Heh.]

Even as it burned away, it let out a hollow laugh.

[Only now do you call me by name.]