Just a little while before the professor was about to have dinner with Eisha…
“Ugh…”
The beastperson male woke up inside the room.
He was the wolf who had passed out for a moment due to the professor’s sudden rampage.
“Damn that lunatic…”
His eyes were filled with burning hatred.
Not only was he forcibly fed some mysterious, most likely abnormal meat, but his whole body was molested.
He could still feel the disgusting breath on the back of his neck.
“Shit! You son of a bitch!”
Even though technically he was closer to being a dog, when it comes to cussing, you don’t split hairs like that.
Since all he could do was vent his anger, his mind encouraged him to go all out with it.
“Grrr… I’ll bite, tear, and shred him to pieces… I will definitely sink my teeth into that neck…”
While venting his rage towards the professor, something caught his eye.
The iron cage door was open.
“…”
He quietly got up and poked it.
Without any resistance, the iron cage slid open, granting him the freedom to walk around outside.
“What the… Why is it open?”
Even the person who didn’t expect it to open wore an expression of slight bewilderment.
But that only lasted for a moment.
His expression darkened again with anger.
He remembered the slave mark.
Thinking that this must be a mockery since he couldn’t escape anyway made his anger boil even more.
“Aaaargh! That damn bastard!”
He envisioned a future where he would be sacrificed day by day, his body ravaged by that guy.
He could still vividly remember the hand stroking his ears and tail.
Recalling those gentle yet brutal hands made him feel nauseous.
But as they say, extremes meet.
As his anger reached its peak, ironically, he was able to calm down.
“Hmm… If I use this situation wisely, maybe I can trick the mark?”
He guessed that the order the professor gave him was “Don’t leave the cage.”
Using the fact that the professor left the cage open,
he thought he could bypass the command by thinking “This outing is allowed by the master, so it’s fine.”
Of course, it might fail,
but it could also be a chance to escape.
“If the escape succeeds, it doesn’t matter, but if it fails…”
The rest of his life would become so miserable and painful that death would be preferable.
Would he flail and die?
Or obediently endure and live miserably a bit longer?
Naturally, he chose to fight.
It’s only a matter of sooner or later, but since he was going to die anyway,
shouldn’t he take the side with even a slim chance of survival?
–Creak–
The iron cage fully opened.
However, this was the important part.
There was no guarantee that the professor hadn’t done anything while he was unconscious.
“I don’t know what will happen the moment I step out of the cage.”
An alarm might go off to the professor.
Or he might die the moment he takes a step, or end up in a fate worse than death.
Still, he was prepared.
-Tap–
Finally, after utmost caution, his foot touched the floor.
“…What? Nothing’s happening?”
Nothing happened at all.
Of course, the professor hadn’t installed anything in the first place, but the wolf didn’t know that.
Thinking that the professor looked down on him,
he reignited his anger towards him.
“So he thought I’d just sit here waiting for him? Hah, don’t make me laugh.”
After briefly checking the room to ensure there were no traps,
he moved towards the only exit.
He didn’t let his guard down.
In fact, he tensed his body even more.
Considering how the mark activated right before opening the door earlier, it was natural.
Carefully grabbing the doorknob,
“Did it work?!’
The plan to bypass the command seemed to have worked as the mark remained silent.
Encouraged by this, he put strength into his arm and opened the door—
“@#…%%#…”
“@%₩#^#”
“…!”
The sound of voices coming through the opened door made his tail stand up.
“Shit, did they notice and set up a guard…!”
Freezing in the posture of opening the door, the wolf
quietly strained his ears to listen.
One voice belonged to a female he’d never heard before.
The other was… that despicable enemy who just humiliated him moments ago.
‘Did I get caught? No.’
At first, he thought they were waiting for him, expecting his escape,
but as time passed, they didn’t approach the door.
They seemed not to care at all.
‘Guess I’m lucky not to be caught, but as long as that guy is around, escaping seems impossible.’
Even so, knowing that the professor was nearby, slipping away unnoticed would be difficult,
so he decided to gather information by eavesdropping on their conversation.
“…I think it’s going to fade…”
The wolf preparing to seriously eavesdrop noticed something strange.
He initially thought it was his imagination, but the sound was definitely odd.
There was no way a beastperson’s ears couldn’t pick up sounds from this distance.
Could his hearing have been damaged from being locked up for so long? He briefly worried.
“This… This is…!”
“Professors… Room… Soundproofing…”
‘Tch, soundproof magic, huh.’
Looking around the room again after hearing their voices, sure enough, he could see the flow of mana enveloping the entire room.
He failed to notice the magic cast on the room itself while focusing only on finding traps.
The reason he could hear anything at all was probably because the door was slightly open.
If he opened it further, they would definitely notice him,
so he decided to fill in the parts he couldn’t hear appropriately while listening.
The fact that they were having a conversation in a soundproofed space meant
that it was something they didn’t want others to overhear.
If he was lucky, he might learn their numbers or weaknesses.
‘That said, professors…’
Dark magicians.
Soundproofed room.
Professors.
Various pieces of information came together in her mind, revealing the outline of their plan.
‘This is indeed an academy, and dark magicians have infiltrated as professors… But why?’
He felt like he was close to uncovering the truth, but one piece was missing.
Searching for that missing piece, he was about to immerse himself in thought
when strange sounds began coming from outside.
-Zzzt!!!
The horrific smell of sizzling flesh accompanied the sound…
It was exactly the same as the meat that had been placed in front of her just moments ago.
‘Why would they eat that themselves… Could it be?’
The word “ritual” came to mind.
Rituals usually require proper setup and execution,
but skilled dark magicians can perform simplified versions.
‘A gathering of dark magicians eating the flesh of humans they’ve killed could be considered a simplified ritual.’
That means the woman participating in this disgusting act is also a dark magician,
and skilled enough to participate in such rituals.
‘No, wait…’
The use of the plural “professors” suggests the possibility
that the entire academy could be a den of dark magicians.
“Now we’re going to… get busy… academy…”
Even as they stuffed the revolting mouths with the blood and flesh of their victims, they kept talking.
Though most of the words were muffled by the soundproofing,
fortunately, all the important keywords were audible,
allowing him to deduce their purpose.
‘The dark magicians are targeting this academy.’
They’re planning to sacrifice me, the cursed child, as the start,
then proceed to sacrifice everyone here in preparation for a massive ritual.
Such a large-scale ritual involving many people from a huge academy
would undoubtedly bring about some catastrophic result that wouldn’t benefit this world.
Though I don’t have much attachment to this world, I don’t want to become a sacrifice for dark magicians.
‘I have to stop them somehow.’
There must already be many dark magicians infiltrated in the academy.
But since they’re preparing such a large-scale ritual,
there must be many people here who aren’t in league with them.
This won’t be easy.
If they find out, there’s no telling what will happen.
Still, it has to be done.
For me to survive…
And frankly, I’d also like to see the face of that damn bastard whose plans I’ve ruined.
‘First, I need to make them let their guard down. If I play along as an innocent sacrifice, an opportunity will surely arise.’
With the slave mark, it shouldn’t be hard to make them lower their guard like last time.
Then, when they’re not watching, I’ll slip away and inform someone who isn’t a dark magician about their plans.
Closing the door and returning to the cage,
he restored it to look exactly like it did before, as if he’d never left.
Quietly steeling his resolve.
‘I’ll definitely repay the humiliation from today. I’ll make you regret not killing me then…’
I’ll strangle you while watching your face filled with despair when your plans come to naught.
How much time passed?
He entered the room, opening the door.
“…”
“Do you smell that? The air is thick with the scent of blood. Did you just deal with someone?”
To avoid raising suspicion, he acted similarly to before.
“…”
“What are you looking at? If it weren’t for the mark—”
“Hwanyang.”
“What?”
“You’re Hwanyang now.”
“What?”
What does that mean, calling me Hwanyang now…
“…Hey, you son of a b—!”
*****
“Hack! Hack!”
-Sway sway
“Figures you’d like it.”
Looking forward to working with you.
Hwanyang.
