Necromancer Survival

roaching his Mother, Koo Hui-seo wrapped black strands around her neck at almost invisible speeds.

     “Cough!”

     He then grabbed the strands at both ends and twisted it.
Chairwoman Shin dropped to the ground before she could even shriek–her neck had been broken.

     “W-What….!” I gasped.

     “Lee-kyung-ah, get back.”

     As soon as I shouted in dismay, Seo Dawon and Jung Garam popped in front of me, as if to protect me.

     The familiar, like me, seemed to grasp the situation belatedly.
It remained rigid until it saw Koo Hui-seo hugging Chairwoman Shin’s collapsing body, rushing at him.

     However, Koo Hui-seo, still holding his mother’s corpse, easily avoided the familiar by retreating a few steps.

[Ah—-.] The familiar, knowing that it would soon breathe its last, stared at its mistress before collapsing as well.

     The familiar, after falling to the floor, hardened as if it were affected by rigor mortis.
Soon enough, the body, starting with the tip of its tail, began to crumble into gray ashes.

     Koo Hui-seo peacefully laid Chairwoman Shin’s body on the floor after the familiar disappeared.
He then stood up, looking at me with a casual expression as if he had done nothing particularly significant.
“After talking with Lee-kyung-ssi yesterday, I had a lot of thoughts.
How I should live in the future and so on… And, I gained a bit of courage.” Koo Hui-seo gave an embarrassed smile.

     He seemed to be saying that I gave him the push to do what he did today.
Of course, I couldn’t understand his thought process–I felt like I was going crazy.

     Just when did I tell him to kill his own family?! I only said that his family seemed to be plagued with issues and that he shouldn’t feel beholden to familial ties.

     Of course, what Chairwoman Shin did to her son was horrifying abuse, but that was between the two of them.
I had no intention of inserting myself into their problem.

     However, Koo Hui-seo’s ambiguous words made me reflect back on our conversation.
Even Seo Dawon and Jung Garam stared back at me with a queer look…Eventually, I had no choice but to plead my innocence.
“What are you saying! I never told you to kill Chairwoman Shin!”

     “Ah, of course you never said that.
It’s just…Lee-kyung-ssi inspired me greatly.”

     Inspiration? Did I send him some subliminal message to kill his family without even realizing it?

” ”

     However, Koo Hui-seo continued to talk, paying no attention to my flabbergasted expression.
“If it wasn’t for Lee-kyung-ssi, it would have taken a much longer time for me to work up the courage for this.
Or I may not have done it at all.”

     “……”

     “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.” Koo Hui-seo said, with a bright smile that I had never seen before on his face.

     That expression…it’s exactly like if a crazy guy became even crazier, and his brain was replaced with flowerbeds.
That person would make an expression just like that.

     According to his words, he’s been meaning to kill her for a long time and wasn’t able to pull the trigger until our earlier conversation? I stepped back–I had a hunch that further conversation would not result in meaningful communication.

     However, Koo Hui-seo did not seem to care about my wariness and continued in a cheerful tone, “Also, I thought that this was the best timing for mother to neatly disappear.”

     “……Why do you say that?”

     “I’m going to announce that Kyungman-ie killed mother and is currently on the run.
I’m sure all the guild executives were aware of the invisible hostilities between the two…Wouldn’t it be more convincing for him to run away after committing murder than to disappear for no reason?” He insisted that he didn’t ‘kill on impulse,’ and stared at me, eagerly awaiting my reaction.

     I, on the other hand, stood in place with arms crossed, showing little of what I was truly feeling externally.

TL : Eldritch Horror strikes again.
I sympathize with MC tbh; It’s too much work to deal with far-gone yanderes.

Footnotes

Essentially referring to families that prefer to lock their elders in the inner sanctums of the house, rendering them powerless and docile.