episode_0005

After realizing that I would have a lifespan of hundreds of years, I decided to take the talent test for a warlock.

Of course, I was a little worried that the testing method was not meant to withstand the curse. This was because it was a way to determine whether a warlock had talent, so it seemed unlikely to be ordinary.

But my worries were completely useless.

“To become a warlock, you must be a person who is friendly with death from the beginning. Therefore, those who can approach the pure energy of death that a warlock can create have that much talent. Can you understand?”

“… … Is that really the end? Just getting closer to the energy?”

When it comes to judging talent simply by getting close to them, trust has begun to decline rapidly.

But, whether she knew what I was thinking or not, my grandmother was smiling softly.

“You think it will be simple?”

“Is it difficult?”

“The pure energy of death means that the closer you get to it, the closer you get to death. The primal fear of dying, the feeling that I am dying. Are you still young, can you endure it?”

I swallowed my saliva reflexively at the sound of my grandmother’s threatening voice.

“Why do you think so many warlocks are crazy or criminals? These are people who are so close to death that they are consumed by such fear and eventually go crazy. People without talent can’t live a decent life even if they become a warlock, but if you still want to try, I’d like to tell you.”

I hesitated for a moment when I heard the grandmother speak very seriously as if giving advice.

But that hesitation was short-lived. Even if it meant running away, I wanted to at least test it. The fact that people without talent had a hard time when they became warlocks made it sound like there would be no problem if they knew they had no talent and gave up.

So wouldn’t it be enough to just check whether there is talent or not? That was my idea. If you were judged to have talent, you could take the path of becoming a warlock. If you did not have talent, you could just work hard to take over the family business like you are doing now.

Still, I asked one question just in case.

“By any chance, just checking won’t cause problems later, right? Become a crazy person… … .”

“That won’t happen, so just rest assured.”

After hearing my question, the grandmother shook her head with a smile.

“As long as you feel fear and stop on the spot, no harm will come to you.”

“Uh… … . Then what if you don’t stop?”

“You will stop even if you don’t want to.”

I swallowed my saliva without knowing when I saw the grandmother talking as if she was trying to scare me. When I heard that, I got nervous for no reason. The sound of primal fear and all that I had heard a while ago came back to me again.

But I had no intention of saying I wouldn’t do it now. They said there was no harm in it, so I thought I would give it a try.

“Grandma, what should I do now?”

“Wait here.”

“Just wait?”

“When I give you a signal, you can approach slowly.”

The grandmother, who told me to just approach her, gradually moved away from me until she was about a hundred steps away.

The old woman, who was quite a distance away from me, put her hands out in front of her. I wondered if that was a signal, but it wasn’t. A black, cigarette-like smoke billowed out from the grandmother’s outstretched palms. But unlike ordinary cigarette smoke, it clumps up in one place and turns into a sticky lump.

Food deud deuk!

The smoke became a lump, and its shape continued to change, like writhing slime. It felt as if the shape had been completed, and as soon as it was completed, the birds around me took off all at once. Like a prey that senses the energy of a predator and runs away.

“Slowly approach here. step! If you feel fear strongly, remember to stop on the spot.”

As I was watching the birds fleeing, my grandmother called me to come.

The birds running away at once aroused my fear, but I tried to calm my mind and took one step at a time towards my grandmother.

As I slowly approached my grandmother, I didn’t feel anything special. Is this correct? I started having thoughts. But that thought disappeared in an instant.

From the moment I got closer to the old woman who was emitting slime-like smoke from her hands, I felt something. At first it was just a slight tickling sensation, but it soon changed into something else.

The closer I got to my grandmother, the more fear I felt. Contrary to my thoughts that I should move forward, my body was sending a signal to stop here.

But it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t hold on, so I slowly approached my grandmother.

Step by step. As I got closer, the feeling that I had to stop became stronger. At first, it was just a simple feeling of rejection, but when I left the distance between me and my grandmother by two or three steps, what I felt was literally ‘fear.’

The fear that I might die if I continue like this consumed my whole body, and one memory came to mind.

The memory of the moment I was dying in my past life. Memories of the moment when my whole body felt cold and I felt a longing for life filled my mind.

“Kid!”

But those memories disappeared thanks to my grandmother’s shouts.

“Trigram, are you okay? Oh my, I was so careless! I should have thought that you could be such a cruel person!”

The grandmother, who had already gotten rid of the slime-like smoke, grabbed both of my arms and shook me gently. Thanks to you, I was able to come to my senses.

“Uh… … . Is it over?”

“Isn’t it strange? If your body or head hurts, or you feel a strange urge… … .”

After hearing what my grandmother said, I looked at places like my shoulders and waist. I checked my forehead to see if I had a fever, but I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t feel any urge or anything.

The only impulse that arose was the urge to rest, to sit or lie down and rest my slightly exhausted body.

“There is nothing in particular?”

“Huh… … .”

My grandmother looked very surprised at my words. But something seemed suspicious.

“Kid. Do you by any chance have an item with divine blessings?”

“A blessing? How can I carry that expensive thing?”

Items that received divine blessings were items of extremely high value. Even though our family was making a lot of money by running a blacksmith shop in the village, it was not at the level where we could carry blessed items.

And, after hearing what I said, my grandmother grabbed both of my arms and started looking intently into my eyes.

“Kid!”

“Yes, yes? Why, why are you like this?”

“Kid, don’t you want to try being a warlock? That’s because this old lady wants to make you a great warlock!”

“… … Yes?”

I was momentarily taken aback by the sight of the grandmother holding me and speaking seriously. However, I soon realized its meaning and was very surprised.

“Are you saying I have the talent of a warlock?”

“That’s right! Very outstanding… … . No. no! He’s a talent better than anyone I’ve ever seen!”

“… … But I couldn’t get right in front of grandma, right?”

I remembered that I stopped with two or three steps left. I thought that if I couldn’t get completely close, I might be less talented than I thought.

However, my grandmother looked as if she was dumbfounded by my question.

“When I symbolized death, what happened around me?”

“There was smoke, right?”

“Not that, I’m talking about what happened around here.”

“Uh… … . I think the birds ran away.”

I remembered the birds in the forest taking off all at once and running away as smoke rose from my grandmother’s hand.

“Death is something that causes fear even in living things that are far away. But since you have overcome such a death and come so close to me, how could you not have talent? What’s more, you haven’t even gone through the process of adjusting to death. Would it be easy to understand if I told you that even those who had talent and wanted to become a warlock had to work hard for three years to reach that level?”

When I heard that it took a talented aspirant to work hard for three years, I started to shrug my shoulders a little.

Although he is not a warrior, an archmage, or a legendary blacksmith, he has the talent of an incredibly strong warlock!

Even the corners of my mouth and nostrils twitched for no reason.

“Are you really not interested in becoming a warlock? It is true that warlocks are ostracized by people, but they are not just people who have a hard time.”

The grandmother told me about the advantages of becoming a warlock. There were many advantages, starting with being recognized as a certified warlock and being treated like a semi-nobleman.

“And, warlocks can make quite a lot of money? It’s not difficult to live a life of pride and not be envious of others!”

“Oh? What do you do so you can make a lot of money?”

“There are many ways for a warlock to make money… … . The easiest, fastest, and easiest way to make a lot of money is a funeral ceremony. Royalty and high-ranking nobles always call in certified warlocks when they hold a funeral.”

“You’re calling a warlock to the funeral?”

It was a warlock who could control the undead, so I couldn’t understand why they would invite such a warlock to a funeral. I wondered if the nobles were dreaming of eternal life and asking to be resurrected as undead.

However, the story that came out of my grandmother’s mouth was quite different from what I expected.

“This is to prevent the body of the deceased from being manipulated by black magicians. With the power of the warlock, prevent the body of the deceased from rising again.”

To put it simply, they were paid to prevent the undead from being humiliated by other warlocks. The nobles had to pay a considerable amount of money because their honor was at stake.

“How much do you usually get?”

“Hmm… … . It varies depending on the status of the nobles. Just know that the amount received from a royal family was 20 million med.”

“20 million med!”

My eyes widened at my grandmother’s words.

The med was the unit of currency in this world, and the amount of money earned per month by working as a waiter at an inn or restaurant was about 7,000 med. Even in our blacksmith shop, run by my father alone, the net profit was about 30,000 Med per month, so 20 million Med is an incredibly large amount of money.

It was said that our blacksmith shop had made in one go the amount of money that would have taken almost 55 years of steady income.

“I want to do it! I want to be a warlock! No, I really want to!”

And, that fact made my eyes roll.