The Immortal Had a Guardian Spirit Chapter 1

“I will never… never raise a disciple again.”

The gray eyes, always so calm, cracked. Cracked, and cracked further, until at last they shattered, spilling tears.

A low, hoarse voice continued, carrying the feeling of plunging to the very bottom of an abyss.

“I will never raise one again….”

Rather betrayal—why did it have to be this? Even if she had driven the very techniques he taught her into the back of his skull, even if she had used him as a test subject, marveling at his deathless body, it would not have been harder than this.

Faced with the truth of his most cherished youngest disciple, Raven declared in a terribly composed manner, despair dripping steadily from his expression.

“I’m tired.”

[…Child.]

“Now I will rest too.”

[….]

“Contracts or whatever… whether the world falls to ruin or not, let it go to hell.”

…So it has come to this, then.

The guardian spirit had known for a long time that he had been weary, but that it had to erupt now, of all times. Watching, it let out a devastated groan.

‘That must not be allowed to happen….’

Raven is a person who must not rest. Even more so because of the immortality contract he had made. The entire world would never permit him to waste his time idly.

Yet despairingly, the guardian spirit had no right to stop him.

Moreover, the fact that even in the midst of collapse, he still did not utter a word about death made it starkly clear that, contrary to his outburst, he was still trying to uphold his convictions.

After a long silence, the guardian spirit, having quietly watched that precarious and dangerous figure, took a lengthy detour to ask another question.

[What about the other disciples?]

“…They’re the sort who’ll soon forget me and live on anyway, once I’m out of sight.”

As always, every single person without exception had done so, so this time would be no different.

He knew they did cute things like keeping diaries and even carving tattoos, vowing they wouldn’t forget him… but it was all futile.

“They’ll manage on their own.”

Since in a life spanning over a hundred years, not a single person had remembered him for long, Raven cast aside all ties without a lingering thought and vanished.

And so, ten years passed.

∞ ∞ ∞

[Imperial Year 1012, April 1st]

[I woke up and Master was gone. I asked the other guys, but far from knowing his whereabouts, they didn’t even know he had gone missing. Useless bunch.

…On the off chance, I asked the youngest one who came most recently, but of course he doesn’t know either. Well, I suppose so. Since he’s the one who followed Master around calling him father, if he knew, there’s no way he’d be here like this. Useless, as expected.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 2nd]

[Master still hasn’t returned. There’s no way a person who usually tried to stay in our sight as much as possible would disappear without a word like this. Just where did he go? Was he kidnapped? …I’m worried for the kidnappers.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 3rd]

[Today too, Master is nowhere to be seen.

I thought about it seriously. What kind of thing would make Master stay away for a long time? From what I remember, there was nothing besides going to collect souls, so it’s probably that. Because Master sometimes ran errands collecting souls instead of death.

Still, it bothers me that he left without a word, so from now on, I’ve decided to find his whereabouts. The other guys agreed too.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 5th]

[Master hasn’t returned yet. When he went to collect souls, it sometimes took as long as two weeks to get back, so that’s understandable. The problem is that even after investigating, we haven’t found a single clue regarding Master’s whereabouts.

I’m anxious. We have to prepare for the worst, but there isn’t much time given to us. Because Master is the sort of person who, once he disappears from sight, is cleanly forgotten at some point. …But it’s still okay. The condition Master absolutely requires when taking in a disciple is the ability to remember him for more than two weeks without seeing him.

It’s okay.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 6th]

[Today Master did not return either. There’s no progress on information regarding his whereabouts either. I’m anxious, as expected. Something feels strange.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 7th]

[Today Master did not return. His whereabouts are also unknown.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 8th]

[Today, too.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 9th]

[Still, he’ll return after two weeks, right? He disappeared on the 1st and today is the 9th, so there’s not much time left. Let’s wait just a little longer.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 10th]

[Incompetent fools who don’t even properly know where their master is. I don’t know why Master took in guys like this. It’s the same that I couldn’t find him either, but still, I’m strong.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 11th]

[It’s okay, three days left. The reason we couldn’t find his whereabouts is probably because Master is a very nimble person. When Master returns, I’ll have to ask him about leaving without a word. If there’s no valid reason, I’ll be angry.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 13th]

[Finally, tomorrow.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 14th]

[…Master did not return. Information on his whereabouts is also clean. As if…—(through the traces of irritated black scribbling, letters are faintly visible)someone deliberately erased it—.

…He’s a person who lives so roughly that he doesn’t even live like a human if we don’t take care of him, I really don’t know where he could have gone.

It’s a serious matter, so we all gathered and held a meeting. We concluded to wait until tomorrow just in case, but… the atmosphere is heavy. As if a piece of ice is lodged in my heart, a chilling, unknown sensation constricts my chest oppressively. Strange, ominous. Just why?]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 15th]

[In the end, Master did not return today either. With this, it’s been over two weeks since Master disappeared.

Everyone’s faces are grave. I probably have the same expression. It’s the first time being apart from Master for this long.

…I’m scared.

I’m scared that at this rate, I might really forget him. They said the longest anyone has remembered him without keeping him in sight is one month. A mere one month. Two weeks have passed, so that means two weeks remain. Can we find Master before then? No, in the first place, can I even not forget Master until then?]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 16th]

[Today too, there’s no progress in the investigation. Everyone was about to go mad with anxiety, so I told them to calm down and instead we had a big fight. Truthfully, I feel like I’m going mad too. Considering the average, remembering Master until now is already enduring for a long time. Because some people forgot him the moment he disappeared from sight.

I don’t want to forget Master. Every time people forgot him, Master pretended not to be, but he was bitter. That was the trace of being too accustomed to hurt, the remnants of expectations abandoned. It was like that even for fleeting connections, so if his disciples, who shared daily life with him, forgot him, Master would be far more pained than then. I don’t want to cause him pain. He’s wholly inadequate as a guardian, but he’s a person more reliable and precious than anyone. That’s why I’m writing this diary to not forget. But….]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 17th]

[Then what’s the use. Even if the record remains, if the memories disappear, the bond and emotions built with him also disappear. The me who has forgotten about Master will have no reason to feel the same bond towards him as before.

Today, Rowina, who has forgotten Master, proved that.

I threw the diary I found under her bed at the face of that wretch who was babbling whether we even had a master and, even if so, why we were so desperately clinging to him.]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 18th]

[Master, don’t tell me. Really?]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 19th]

[Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?]

[Imperial Year 1012, April 20th]

[I am certain. Master left our side of his own will. In the first place, if he had been kidnapped, there’s no way information would be this absent.

Just why? What did we do wrong?

I’m confused. I seem to be sad, and I seem to be angry with a sense of betrayal.

Still, wasn’t the time we built together heavier than others’, Master. You should have at least given a reason before disappearing.

I have no intention of giving up on him until I hear the reason. Therefore, I’ve resolved to search for Master to the ends of the earth. The other guys joined in too. The reason Master raised us was because he wanted the people on the surface to be safe from monsters, so if we fulfill that wish, won’t he show himself someday?

We have to reach the top. I’ll obtain a more solid information network to search for Master, and raise disciples according to his will. If we create an appropriate system like that and strive for humanity’s safety, the day will come when we catch his tail. Since Master doesn’t die, as long as we don’t give up, we’ll find him someday. No matter who he is, he can’t keep hiding until our lifespans run out.

So I leave this diary. So that the future me, who sees the tattoo carved on my body and reads the diary, will search for Master.]

.

.

.

Imperial Year 1022, April 1st.

The diary was closed.

The man who lightly brushed the surface of the diary—already familiar from reading it over and over, yet unfamiliar—raised his head. Displeased eyes swept over the three pairs of eyes directed at him, before soon curving with a sneer.

“Right… so as it turns out, everyone here was searching for Master…?”

“….”

“I’m dumbfounded.”

Weren’t we in a fairly close relationship, in our own way? Separate from personal friendship, still, how long have we known each other.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

If Liv, Master’s second disciple, hadn’t arranged this gathering, they truly might never have known.

Even she only arranged this gathering after catching on that the others were also searching for Master, so that says it all.

I thought I was the only one searching for Master. Altair, Raven’s first disciple and the President of the Awakeners Association, twisted his mouth.

“You should have said. Thanks to that, we wasted manpower.”

“You didn’t say anything either!”

“I thought you all had forgotten Master and were living well.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t, either?”

“Likewise for me.”

…Well, nothing more to say.

Yeah, they were these kinds of guys. Closing his mouth briefly, Altair turned his eyes away from the fruitless argument and brought up another topic.

“Then let’s be frank at this gathering. When did you become aware of Master’s existence? Since when did you start searching for Master?”

For reference, I became aware a week after writing the last diary. I read that diary thoroughly then and started searching for Master again. At his added words, Liv, the President of the Sculpted Soul Orb Association, rolled her eyes and bluntly spoke.

“I became aware of the existence two weeks after writing the last diary. I started searching for Master three weeks ago.”

“I became aware the very next day after writing the last diary. Because someone threw a diary in my face. From then on, I started searching for Master, and even after you all forgot Master, I repeatedly forgot and remembered on my own, quietly conducting the search.”

“I became aware of the existence only after a fortnight had passed since writing the last diary and began investigating, perhaps.”

As if that opened the floodgates, voices poured out all at once.

Liv’s face contorted at the fact that everyone had started searching for Master a long time ago.

“What, everyone except me has been searching for a long time? Then what about the youngest?”

“He didn’t come here, but he’s probably similar, right? The reason a guy with nothing to do disappears almost every day is obvious, isn’t it? He must be out physically searching for Master himself. I’m actually more surprised that you started searching so late.”

“…Because until now, there was no reason to necessarily search.”

Anyway.

She tapped the diary she had brought as if showing it off and spoke.

“The trigger that made me feel a sense of incongruity and find this diary… was probably the tattoo, right?”

A tattoo in the form of an open book with ‘Diary’ written in the middle.

As expected, it seemed to be the same for everyone, as affirmations came back immediately.

“Right. I thought we were maintaining our connection purely out of a desire to serve humanity, but that wasn’t it.”

“Certainly, we aren’t such kind people that we would endure uncomfortable things for humanity.”

“In the first place, we’re not that altruistic, enough to act for complete strangers.”

Everything had been possible because there was a center called Master.

Altair stroked his left chest where the tattoo existed and let out a hollow laugh close to a sneer.

“…It was dumbfounding. I thought I had resolved myself to create a system that could protect humanity, but to think there was a hidden background.”

“However.”

A woman who had been quietly listening raised her hand.

Rowina, Raven’s third disciple and President of the Combatant Association, lowered her raised hand to prop her chin, speaking as if she couldn’t understand.

“Why are you so intent on searching for Master? For me, I’m just idly searching when I have time because I was curious what kind of person he was that my past self clung to him so much. Enough to want to talk a bit and spar once if I find him? So I forgot in between sometimes. But how should I put it… you all don’t seem like that.”

I mean you, you.

A finger full of scars accurately pointed at Altair and Liv.

“You’re too proactive. Especially one of you feels desperate?”

Meeting the gaze like a bird of prey, Liv frowned.

In the uncomfortable silence, Hwan, Raven’s fourth disciple who had been looking back and forth between her, Altair, and Rowina, slowly nodded.

“Indeed. It’s quite suspicious that, while being aware of Master’s existence, you didn’t pay it any mind, then suddenly started searching again three weeks ago. If you grasped that the others were also searching for Master and called them here in such a short time, it means you’ve been investigating that diligently.”

“….”

“As the President of the Shaman Association, my level of interest is about wanting to meet the shaman who taught me, assess his skills, and broaden my knowledge. So I am not actively chasing after this so-called Master. This also means I feel no need to scrape together information and search, even to the point of interacting with you all whom I don’t get along with particularly well.”

Of course, he couldn’t say there were absolutely no illusions held about the ‘Master’ in the diary….

Concealing his disadvantageous inner thoughts completely, the sly old fox pretending to be gentle deliberately used a soft voice.

“Therefore, would you tell us the reason? Then I shall cooperate.”

“….”

Faced with the pointedly direct gaze, Liv quietly averted her eyes.

At the end of the silence that returned, she glanced sideways at Altair, who had his mouth shut. Unable to bear the pressure of the silence, she slowly opened her mouth.

A clear air of reluctance was evident on her face.

“…To live.”

“Ah.”

I see what it is.

The absence of the black jaguar that had accompanied her wherever she went had long been noticed by everyone here. Instead of pressing further, Hwan turned his gaze to the President of the Awakeners Association.

Reading the urging in that gaze, Altair tilted his head crookedly.

“Me too?”

“….”

“Well, yeah. I am—.”

A bloodthirsty smile bloomed across his face.

“Going to kill him.”

“…What?”

This is sincere. He deliberately did not avoid the association presidents’ eyes and grinned fiercely as if showing off.

“Seeing as how all of you seem to have business with Master….”

“….”

“If you promise active cooperation, I will postpone my business to the very last when we face Master.”

Because it would be troublesome if I kill him first before you all resolve your business, right?

The very fact that they had pried into things that didn’t need to be known was provoking. Altair smoothly turned the reason he had put forth into a threat.

A crooked voice befitting his attitude followed.

“Of course, that’s under the premise that you keep Master well secured, so once you find him, you’d better hold onto him tightly.”

He spoke firmly, laden with killing intent as if to engrave it in their minds.

“The moment you let Master slip, whether your business is finished or not, I will kill him.”

“…We’ll have to prepare a windowless room then.”

“A door with a feeding slot too.”