MPBAGS Chapter 13

Before Daisy could say anything, the monk grabbed her arm with brutal force and dragged her forward.

Daisy tried to shake him off, but the monk's strength was unexpectedly overwhelming. She'd heard plenty of rumors about Father Berga, but nothing about him being this forceful.

No matter how much power Father Berga wielded in the convent, there were still public eyes to consider. Did he think it didn't matter because Daisy had no one backing her?

They'd already reached Father Berga's door. One of the monks standing guard outside saw Daisy and grinned nastily.

"You actually brought her."

"Where's the Father?"

"Still out of his mind. Keeps muttering to himself—I think he's gone crazy."

"Don't talk like that, it's blasphemous."

"You're the blasphemous one, you bastard. Always horny. You think the Father'll snap back to normal just from seeing her?"

"He might."

From their conversation, Daisy realized that Father Berga had never actually called for her.

The monk opened the door and shoved Daisy inside. She frantically tried the doorknob, but it wouldn't open—someone was holding it from outside.

"We'll let you out once the Father's condition improves."

The monk's voice came through the door. Daisy released the doorknob. Helplessness flooded through her entire body. Tears threatened to spill over, but she bit her lip.

If Father Berga hadn't called for her, maybe she'd be lucky enough to just leave.

But what was Father Berga doing? Why would someone who insisted so much on his authority allow the monks to act so freely while he was in this state?

Daisy moved further into the room. Father Berga's quarters appeared twice as large as the rooms other monastics used. She could hear groaning from inside. Or was it panting?

The moment Daisy saw Father Berga, she found herself stumbling backward without thinking.

This was a situation she'd never anticipated.

Father Berga was on the floor with his head down, drawing. Several sheets of paper lay crumpled around him, inkwells had toppled over, and the floor was stained black.

He wasn't even dipping the pen properly, so the drawings on the paper looked like mere impressions pressed into the surface.

The shapes weren't clear, but Daisy recognized what was drawn in an instant. How could she not? That was the pattern it had been drawing—the thing wearing Lady Evangeline's skin.

"I need to complete the covered part. Is it this? I think this is right..."

Despite all the commotion, Father Berga seemed completely unaware that Daisy had entered the room.

Father Berga's hand moved frantically. Daisy stood behind him, staring down. Her breathing grew labored. It felt like she'd been transported back to the fourth-floor storage room in the Rohanson estate, secretly peering inside. At any moment, something indescribable would emerge from the summoning circle on the floor, just like that day.

If I leave him like this, he'll really summon those eyes again.

No. He can't complete that. Not after I escaped. I can't see those eyes again. I have to stop him... I have to stop him.

Daisy searched for a way and grabbed the statue of Rahel sitting nearby. The stone carved to depict the god was remarkably heavy. Daisy raised it high with both hands and brought it down.

A dull vibration traveled through her fingertips.

The priest collapsed forward. When Daisy released her grip, the statue of sun god Rahel fell to the floor and split in half. Red liquid stained the white robes of the bisected Rahel.

Blood flowing from the priest's head began soaking into the drawing. Before Daisy could even register what was happening, the blood followed the grooves pressed by the pen like water channels, filling in color on the drawing.

"What have I... what have I done..."

Daisy gasped, becoming aware of the horror she'd created. I—I only meant to stop him.

What if someone finds out? Killing a priest was a far graver sin than killing anyone else. Because you'd dared to kill someone beloved by God. If caught, she'd face execution.

"I need to run..."

But this was the fourth floor—she couldn't jump. Two monks were guarding the door outside. There was nowhere to escape. Unless someone helped her.

"Should I help you?"

A voice suddenly whispered in her ear.

Daisy trembled and turned her eyes to find an impossible man right beside her, eyes gleaming. A red tongue flickered between sharp teeth. Tar-black hair filled Daisy's vision like a swamp.

"Shh. Quiet now."

The man covered Daisy's mouth with his hand. She stopped breathing entirely.

"Hey, I heard a noise—what happened?"

"Why are you asking? Just pretend you didn't hear and leave it alone."

"Ahh..."

Having apparently reached their own understanding about the sound, the door didn't open. When the man's hand fell away, Daisy exhaled the breath she'd been holding. Oxygen filled her lungs and her swimming consciousness returned. The man stared down at Daisy, then tilted his head.

"I came because I smelled that guy, but why are you alone?"

"That... guy?"

"Don't you know? The one with all the eyes. Goes by Flauros."

Daisy's body shook at the word eyes. Was the eyes this man was talking about the same thing she'd seen at the Rohanson estate?

"I guess not? I've got business with him. You're going to have to take me to him."

Daisy shook her head. Go back there? Absolutely not.

"You don't have a choice. You already made a wish, didn't you? I came out cheap, so you at least have to do that much to make it worth my while."

A wish? When Daisy looked confused, the man flicked his finger. Simultaneously, the dead priest began to rise.

The scene reminded her of Evangeline coming back to life. That day's nightmare was repeating itself, grown more terrible.

"Ugh. Anyway, you offered that as a sacrifice? Nobody but a starving bastard like me would even look at it."

The man gagged at the sight of the priest's corpse. His casual attitude made the spectacle of a moving corpse seem almost comical.

"There. Now that I've made that thing move, it's your turn to escape."

Before Daisy could resist, the man snapped his fingers.

When she came to her senses, Daisy was standing in the forest outside the convent. In the spot where Daisy and the man had vanished, inside the room smeared with blood and ink, the priest sat blankly in place. If you looked inside it, the shell would certainly be empty.

"Oops. Almost forgot the after-service."

Like someone who'd forgotten an item while going out, the man returned and walked past the priest to open the door. Before the two monks standing guard outside could even register their confusion at the unfamiliar figure, lines appeared on their necks and their heads fell off.

The strange thing was that the headless bodies didn't collapse—instead, they picked up their severed heads rolling on the floor and placed them back on each other's necks.

"Perfect. Yes, very nice."

The man disappeared, satisfied. The fact that the two heads had been reattached to the wrong bodies wasn't particularly important.

"...What you're looking for should be in there."

Daisy pointed at the Rohanson estate. The man checked the mansion through the carriage window, studied Daisy as if measuring her, then nodded. Since she'd been told to guide him to the destination, it seemed he'd acknowledged that Daisy didn't need to actually go inside the Rohanson estate with him.

"Right. I can smell it from here. Did he set up house in there?"

"...Probably."

If the eyes the man was talking about hadn't left the Rohanson estate, then yes, that was correct.

Daisy wanted to get away from here immediately. She wanted to distance herself from the Rohanson estate as quickly as possible in case those eyes started watching her again, and she wanted to escape from this man who looked fresh and friendly on the surface.

That thing was a monster Daisy had summoned. The fact that the mistake she'd made was walking around alive choked the breath from her.

Her deal with the man ended here. He said he had business with those eyes, so once that was finished, he'd leave on his own.

He wouldn't stay here permanently, would he?

She had no idea how many people he'd killed on the way here. Calling it a feast after a long fast, he'd sliced people's throats and killed them, then—in some grotesque hobby—reattached their heads.

People who should have died rose again like Father Berga and walked around normally. If not for the red lines across their throats, they'd have been indistinguishable from ordinary people.

Looking for those eyes, and maybe... had this man also revived Lady Evangeline? No, the man hadn't known about the Rohanson estate.

"Call me again if you need help. Though next time I'll charge full price."

The man waved his hand lazily and descended from the carriage. Through the small window, Daisy could see his retreating figure. Where the man was headed stood a cherry tree in full bloom. That tree—it hadn't dropped its blossoms since the lady had hanged herself and died there.

"Where shall I take you?"

The coachman asked.

"Where shall I take you?"

The coachman twisted his neck to look at Daisy. The sight was unsettling enough that Daisy swallowed dryly.

"Where shall I take you?"

When Daisy didn't answer, the question repeated with no change in tone or speed. Was he planning to keep asking until he got an answer? Daisy glanced at the red line across the coachman's throat.

Daisy reflected on that nightmare day and today, then decided on a destination.

"To the temple."

"Help me!"

I encountered a talking black wolf. I should throw a Poké Ball to capture it...just kidding, that’s not how it works.

Is it injured? If it hadn't been talking, I would have thought it was a wild animal being hunted.

But it talked, didn't it?

All the romance fantasy novels I'd read flashed through my mind. I had my suspicions from the spirits appearing and the strangely desolate setting, but this novel seemed to be a somewhat older work. Why?

Because that's a werewolf... A talking black wolf? No need to think about anything else. It's like a math formula.

The male lead is probably Gabriel, so then is this guy a secondary male lead? Suspicions bubbled up like a fountain.

I can roughly guess the plot...