My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The way she regarded people as playthings—it was exactly like her five-year-old self. Had she forgotten everything I’d taught her back then?
Just as Jenia shifted into a combat stance and rushed toward me again, a bell chimed softly from the village below.
Ding, ding……
At the sound, Jenia’s head snapped toward it. The curiosity and competitive fire that had filled her eyes moments before vanished without a trace.
“……Ah. I have to go.”
Jenia murmured like a hollow doll, then leaped down the hillside.
She caught branches with her tentacles, moving swiftly away. I called out urgently to Chejare.
“Chejare. Come with me!”
“Ah, let me just get some clothes on!”
Together with a disheveled Chejare, I rushed after Jenia. She was disappearing deeper into the forest. The trees obscured my view of her.
“Master, there are tracks here.”
Chejare pointed to trampled grass. Had he learned Tracking? I’d never taught him that.
So we chased Jenia’s trail through the woods. The forest path sloped steeply—almost like climbing a mountain. After running for some time, the trees suddenly ended and the view opened wide.
Beyond a cliff, I could see the sea. A single house stood there—a wooden structure. The smell of human habitation drifted from the clothesline and stacked firewood.
And there before the house stood Jenia, alongside an elderly man with a thick gray beard.
The old man regarded me with kind eyes.
“Who might you be? I don’t recognize your faces. What brings you to our Domus?”
This was Jenia’s Domus? Was this man her new teacher? Was his name Gaynack?
At first glance, it seemed a cozy place, and he appeared a gentle elder—yet something about it troubled me. I bowed respectfully and spoke.
“My name is Dein. I once lived in the same Domus as Jenia. Since she went to the Orphanage, I’ve been following her trail.”
The old man’s eyes widened in surprise, then his expression grew complicated. After a long silence, as if lost in thought, he finally spoke.
“You’ve gone to great trouble to find us. I am Gaynack. Come inside and have some tea.”
He didn’t seem welcoming, but at least he wasn’t turning me away—that was a relief. I glanced at Jenia and said,
“I’d like Jenia to join us for this conversation.”
“Let’s talk between ourselves first.”
I sensed he was wary of me. Chejare glanced back and forth between Gaynack and Jenia, then leaned close to whisper,
“I’ll talk to Jenia outside for a bit. Maybe she’ll remember me.”
“Thank you.”
I followed Gaynack inside. Once seated at the large table, he poured me a cup of tea.
“How delightful that one of this child’s acquaintances has come to find us. Though I must say, her condition has been quite troubling……”
Gaynack’s expression was rather bitter. Did he mean her memory? I studied him silently across the table and asked,
“How did you come to take Jenia in?”
“Fifteen years ago, I met Jenia at the Orphanage by chance. She seemed grief-stricken from losing her family, and the sight of her stayed with me. So I brought her to our Domus.”
“You weren’t aware that Jenia wasn’t an ordinary person?”
“I had no idea. When I first adopted her, she never displayed her tentacles.”
Ah, so she’d been hiding her true nature back then. She must have remembered my instruction to conceal her tentacles as much as possible.
“For several years after taking her in, she lived as a normal child. But then, at some point, strange symptoms emerged. She’d suddenly unleash her tentacles and attack people, or gradually lose her memories……”
……
“I suspect she’s a hybrid, and as she’s grown, the demon beast’s instincts have grown stronger. It’s a tragic situation.”
The way Gaynack spoke made him seem like a genuinely kind man. Yet his kindness felt false to me.
“Thank you for caring for Jenia. Since she’s been a burden to you, I’d like to take her with us now, if you’d allow it.”
“What are you saying?”
The air in the room chilled in an instant. His eyes grew sharp with displeasure and wariness.
“You may have been her family in the past, but she is also my student now. I’ve raised her for fifteen years—she’s my daughter in all but name.”
He spoke with absolute firmness.
“Furthermore, judging by Jenia’s reaction, she doesn’t seem to remember you at all. It’s unclear whether you’re truly her family.”
His words were entirely reasonable. For now, I had no counter to them, so I nodded.
“I understand. Would it be acceptable if we came to visit Jenia from time to time?”
“……How could I stop someone from visiting family?”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
It seemed our business here was concluded. As I finished the conversation and stepped outside, I heard Chejare cry out.
“Hey! I’m only letting you do this because I haven’t been drinking! You understand?!”
Looking toward the sound, I found Chejare bound once more by tentacles—quite an inventive knot, actually.
With his skill, he could have escaped easily, yet he allowed himself to be bound. He’d always been reliable, even as a boy. The memory of their childhood together came back to me.
“Master! You’re reminiscing again, aren’t you? Stop that and help me!”
Chejare called out in desperation. As I moved to untangle Jenia’s restraints, Gaynack’s voice came from behind.
“Jenia, come here.”
At his word, Jenia immediately released the bindings. She spoke with deference.
“Yes, Master.”
Jenia passed by me and approached Gaynack.
Master and disciple—the two of them looked very much like a fond grandfather and granddaughter. Gaynack smiled as he glanced toward me.
“Perhaps it’s time you took your leave.”
It was a polite dismissal. I had no choice but to withdraw. I smiled and waved toward Jenia.
“Then I’ll be going. Jenia, see you again soon.”
No farewell came in return. As Chejare and I walked back through the forest path to the center of the village, he muttered his complaint.
“I went through all the trouble of binding her so she’d remember, but it had no effect at all. What do we do now?”
“Let’s return to the inn and sort through our thoughts for a moment.”
When we arrived back at the inn, the proprietress greeted us warmly. She asked in a curious tone.
“Did you manage to meet Jenia?”
“Yes, I did. I also met a man named Gaynack.”
“Ah, Gaynack.”
There was clear affection in the innkeeper’s voice when she spoke his name.
“What sort of man is Gaynack?”
“A good and strong man. He took in orphans, raised them, educated them, and found them good homes to be adopted into. These days he’s stopped doing that and keeps only Jenia with him.”
A good and strong man. An ideal mentor. The innkeeper continued.
“He’s kindhearted enough to raise a wild child like Jenia. Goodness, such a reckless little thing…….”
“Reckless?”
“Yes. She breaks other people’s stables out of curiosity about how they’re built, chases away all the chickens. By now she’s become quite the notorious troublemaker in the neighborhood. And she’s got those repulsive tentacles besides.”
It sounded similar to the situation when we first brought Jenia in. Chejare listened quietly before asking.
“But is that old man really strong? How strong? He looked kind of frail to me.”
“He may look ordinary on the surface, but he’s a High Mage. He’s stopped the demon beasts that appeared in the village, and three years ago or so when a forest fire broke out, he made it rain.”
To summon rain like that. Even as I continued hearing praise for Gaynack, a new customer entered the inn.
The proprietress excused herself to attend to the guest. Chejare scratched the back of his head and spoke.
“So what do we do? You said we’d take her with us if she wasn’t living well.”
“That’s right.”
“But Jenia’s already found a new master and is living well, isn’t she?”
That was true. Jenia had found a new master, a new Domus. We spent only a few years together, while she’s spent fifteen years with Gaynack. And yet…….
“No. We’re taking her with us. Right now Jenia seems to be under a curse.”
“A curse? On Jenia?”
“A Geis would be more accurate. I noticed several signs. When the bell rang, and when Gaynack called for Jenia.”
I gripped the cold cup tightly as I spoke.
“Each time, Jenia’s expression went blank.”
Jenia’s expressions are always faint. But having watched that girl for so long, I could see it. The way emotion suddenly vanished from her eyes.
“What bastard cursed her? What kind of Geis is it?”
“It seems to relate to obedience, but I can’t be certain.”
“Could it be causing memory loss too?”
“I’m not sure.”
I don’t know of any magic that induces amnesia yet……. Still, it wasn’t entirely unrelated. Meanwhile, Chejare’s eyes turned sharp.
“Then should we beat that old man and take Jenia?”
“Not yet. Jenia has no memories, and I’m not certain the Geis is even there. Let’s observe more carefully for now.”
It seemed I needed to approach this more cautiously. In the meantime, I felt bothered because I thought I’d seen Gaynack somewhere before.
Where on earth had I seen that face?
* * *
“I’d like ten sets of High-Grade Recovery Potions, please. It’s for a gift, so gift wrapping too.”
“Just a moment. The high-grade ones don’t move quickly.”
After saying that, the general store owner disappeared into a back room. I heard rustling sounds as if he were searching for something inside.
Chejare stood among scattered miscellaneous goods, grinning slyly.
“Master, you’re buying those for me? I’m a bit tired from playing with Jenia and that old man, but I’m not exactly exhausted…….”
“They’re for Gaynack. If we want to see Jenia, we’ll need to go to his home, so I thought of it as a gift.”
Yesterday I retreated for the time being, but I couldn’t give up like this. I had to confirm Jenia’s condition more thoroughly somehow.
Chejare had suggested kidnapping her, but I rejected the idea. Since she has no memory of us, taking her would only make things worse.
“Ah, of course I understood it was a gift! I wasn’t particularly hoping for one myself.”
He’d been secretly hopeful after all. After buying one bottle for Chejare as well, we left the shop. Chejare drank his recovery potion immediately and spoke.
“We’re going to that old man’s Domus, right? Why’d he build his house on the edge of a cliff anyway.”
The sea was right beside it, so the view was beautiful, but it wasn’t an easy place to reach. Still, there was nothing for it but to go.
As Chejare and I were making our way there, I heard someone shouting from nearby.
“Good grief, this troublemaker again! What in the world is she doing!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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