Sandstorm (Sapung), Tiger Mom (Hohuanmama) – (Complete)

What is good and what is evil?

Who defines good and evil?

Good and evil are ultimately concepts derived from human standards.

What benefits humans is good.

What harms humans is evil.

The same applies to yokai.

What benefits yokai is good.

What harms yokai is evil.

Then what about actions that are neither beneficial nor harmful, utterly meaningless?

To which do they belong – good or evil?

The answer is: neither.

They are chaos.

---

“Wh, what is that supposed to mean…”

I responded to the black tiger with a trembling voice.

Ah.

Why am I like this, seriously?

The trembling won’t stop.

Without realizing it, I tightly grasped Yi Haneul’s hand next to me.

The black tiger spoke:

[Exactly as I said.]

[I do not wish to commit meaningful killing.]

[So I shall not kill you.]

[Especially if killing you is somehow linked to that false ascension,]

[I shall absolutely not kill you.]

Hmm.

It seemed this black tiger had no intention of following Duergsini’s and the goblins’ wishes.

Unexpectedly, it appeared to be a negotiable opponent.

The enemy of my enemy was my friend.

For some reason, the black tiger also seemed to dislike Duergsini.

If I handled it well, I might be able to sway it to our side like ‘Grrowl’.

While still trembling in fear before this tiger, having Yi Haneul’s hand in mine gave me the strength to endure.

Yi Haneul looked quite dissatisfied.

“If only you were in your two-tailed form…”

This person was clearly lamenting that the situation would have been quite to her liking had I been in my two-tailed form.

Was now really the time for such frivolous thoughts?

I asked the black tiger:

“You did say you would kill me earlier. Why the sudden change of heart?”

[Death has gained meaning for you and the human beside you.]

“So you understand? I took that to mean you have no intention of obediently following Duergsini’s orders. Am I wrong?”

[No, you are correct.]

“Then there is no need for us to waste further time here.”

[Indeed.]

…What was this?

It was a far more negotiable opponent than I expected.

“Then instead of lingering here, let’s go somewhere I know and…”

[You go do what you must. I shall go commit meaningless acts.]

“…What?”

I felt uneasy.

She hadn’t shown her fangs yet, but I was already uneasy.

“…What do you mean by ‘meaningless acts’?”

As expected:

[Killing.]

The black tiger answered dryly yet with a hint of elation.

“But you already knew ascension was false, right?”

[Not killing for ascension.]

“Then to fulfill yoki…? From what I can see, your yoki is more than sufficient already, so why bother…”

[Not killing for yoki either.]

“Then what for?”

[As I said, meaningless killing.]

“…”

In my view, every evil act had some semblance of a justification.

Granted, most cases involved ludicrous logic and sophistry, but justifications nonetheless existed.

Even the most vicious, man-eating yokai had their own reasons:

For ascension sacrifices.

To sate hunger.

To gain yoki.

Or simply to enjoy human suffering.

But this black tiger openly pursued ‘meaningless killing’ by her own admission.

No reason.

No purpose.

“…So you’re saying you’ll go commit killings without any meaning from now on, and you want me to just watch, is that it?”

[I never asked you to watch me.]

“Don’t play word games. You think I’ll just stand by and let you do as you please?”

[Then what do you intend to do about me?]

Crackle.

Crackle crackle crackle.

I snapped my fingers to create hundreds, thousands of fox fires, then told the black tiger:

“Stop you, of course.”

[…I see.]

There was no need for further conversation.

I shouted at Yi Haneul:

“Lord Yi Haneul!”

“I know without you telling me! Honestly, Miho, I didn’t like you trying to converse with that psycho from the start!”

I didn’t realize this yokai was this deranged either.

Yi Haneul brandished the goblin staff.

Thunk.

Thack.

Thunk thack.

[Cease this at once.]

The true worth of Yi Haneul’s weapon, the ‘Goblin Staff’, lay in supporting combat.

With no conditions, simply swinging the staff could bind the opponent’s feet.

What a cheating weapon.

The black tiger stood still.

The goblin staff worked perfectly.

Without a shred of hesitation, I fired hundreds, thousands of fox fires at the black tiger.

While the fear hadn’t completely left me, my desire to stop the tiger was stronger than that fear.

Kwagwagwagwagwang!

The earth shook.

An ear-splitting shockwave resounded through the city, shattering windows of nearby buildings and vehicles from the impact.

No matter how powerful, no yokai could survive such an attack…

[A contradiction.]

“…”

It was alive.

And unscathed, at that.

Even Yi Haneul seemed perplexed, speaking to me in a somewhat dejected tone:

“You did attack properly, right…?”

“I put everything I had into that attack.”

“Miho, were you perhaps subconsciously holding back against that tiger because you were so scared of it?”

“How should I know? I’m telling you I attacked with all my might, every last ounce.”

“Every last ounce…? Don’t tell me…”

“D, don’t say unnecessary things and focus on the battle!”

This was a dangerous situation.

The opponent’s prowess far exceeded my expectations.

[A contradiction.]

The tiger spoke again.

[It seems]

[For me to commit meaningless killing, I must kill you.]

[But that would be meaningful killing, following Duergsini’s intent.]

[Hence, a contradiction.]

“…”

The black tiger was contemplating.

Despite our preemptive assault, it still did not antagonize me.

The reason, as it had stated earlier:

Antagonizing me would be a meaningful act following Duergsini’s intent.

I dare say this tiger seemed more deranged than any yokai I had ever met.

“Can’t give you what you want, really. If you’re so dissatisfied, just obediently let us kill you.”

When Yi Haneul blurted that out, the black tiger pondered briefly before:

[Very well, I shall do so.]

It acquiesced to Yi Haneul’s words.

---

Why live?

To commit meaningless killing.

What meaning is there in that act?

None whatsoever.

If I must commit meaningful killing to commit meaningless killing, can I commit meaningful killing?

No.

If I cannot commit meaningless killing, is there meaning to life?

No.

Would death be preferable?

Yes.

---

“Nnngh…”

“…”

“Uuuungh…”

“…What are you doing, Miho?”

“Hnnnngh…”

“Going to keep making strange groaning noises? What are you doing right now? Don’t want to do it? Want me to do it instead?”

“W, wait! I’m thinking about it…”

“What’s there to think about? Just blast it with spirit energy. Bam. Done, right?”

Was this really it?

The black tiger silently awaited Yi Haneul and me to execute it.

While Yi Haneul urged me on.

Of course, this black tiger had to die here.

That was the only way to prevent the ‘meaningless killing’ it spoke of.

But…

Somehow, killing it like this left me with an uneasy feeling.

I had started feeling a hint of pity for this black tiger.

Living without any meaning or purpose at all.

How pitiful.

It might be presumptuous of me, but no.

It was undoubtedly presumptuous, yet I felt the urge to directly impart a sense of direction to this black tiger’s life.

I asked it:

“…Don’t you want revenge?”

[Revenge?]

“Yes. If not for Duergsini, you could have continued your so-called meaningless killing from long ago until now, right?”

[You speak true.]

“So don’t you want revenge against Duergsini?”

[Revenge is meaningful. I shall never commit meaningful…]

“No.”

[…?]

“It seems you’ve misunderstood something – revenge is the most meaningless act in this world. There are so many famous quotes explaining just how meaningless revenge is. A renowned philosopher… um… what was his name, Lord Yi Haneul?”

“Why ask me! From a young age, I avoided books and only focused on training…”

“Anyway, revenge is meaningless.”

[…Elaborate.]

The black tiger showed interest.

I began spouting sophistry at it.

“For example, let’s say you killed a woman. Her husband then wants revenge against you. Does that seem meaningful to you?”

[Of course it is…]

The black tiger pondered briefly, then continued in a slightly trembling voice, as if having realized something:

[As you say, it does seem meaningless…]

“Explain why it’s meaningless with your own words.”

[…First, that man can never kill me.]

[Second, even if he kills me, the woman will not come back to life.]

“See? You’ve practically proven revenge is meaningless yourself.”

[…]

“So how about taking revenge against Duergsini? There can be no act more meaningless than that in this world.”

[…Where must I go?]

“To Jirisan, the Black Inner Realm ruled by Lord Beast.”

Instead of answering me, she turned into a sandstorm and flew towards Jirisan.

Watching this, Yi Haneul spoke to me:

“You have quite the silver tongue, Miho. How about becoming a cult leader after rounding up all the goblins? I’ll even give your cult a name: The Adorable Two-Tailed Miho Cult, or Cute-Tails Cult for short. What do you think? The ring is a bit strange, but it could be quite popular…”

“…Let’s go report to the Yokai Extermination Office.”