A chilling stillness dominated the open space.
Adella seemed to try to make excuses, her fragmented voice escaping in a stammer.
“W-What are you talking about… yes, a gray hair! It seems I have one. I’ve been under so much stress lately!”
“Stress?”
“Well, you know… I have to take my final exams soon, right? But no matter what I do, I can’t catch up. No matter how hard I try, I’m failing, but that girl… why does she have everything I wanted?”
Gasping for breath, Adella’s pupils began to tremble.
I seized the opportunity and whispered once more in her ear.
“‘That girl’?”
“Yes, yes… that girl. I thought she was in the same situation as me, but why does she have everything… everything I wanted?”
Her breath hitched again.
“…everything.”
The tremor in the woman’s body abruptly ceased.
The girl, deprived of movement in an instant, showed no sign of life. Her crimson eyes, as if entranced by a thought, emitted a sinister glow.
What was the nature of the emotion swirling within?
“All of it, taken, seized, possessed, plundered, monopolized… Ah, why is there so much greed? It wouldn’t hurt to give me just one!”
Adella twisted her body, crying out in palpable anguish.
At this point, I slowly began to distance myself from her. My hand subtly moved towards my waist.
A smell lingered.
A putrid stench. A foul fragrance that only creatures of darkness could emit.
It was closing in from all directions. The heavy breathing of something rushing toward us was rough.
Crack, crack.
Adella’s neck twisted grotesquely, releasing a sinister wail.
“So, I… that girl… that girl…!”
Drops of blue paint fell from the woman’s crimson eyes.
In an instant, the reddish hue of her eyes transformed into a blue glow. A blue flame rose in the void, fervently fueled by her dense emotions.
Finally, a cry wrenched from her whole body.
“I’m jealous!”
With a heart-wrenching scream, the woman’s blue eyes fixed on me. Without hesitation, I drew my hand axe.
Crack, and blood painted a rainbow.
Adella’s arm, which had reached out toward my heart, flew through the air. By now, sharp claws had grown from her fingertips.
But that was not all.
Gurgle, gurgle!
Monsters, drooling profusely, began to appear from every direction. Although I had sensed their presence long ago, the sight of their bloodshot eyes and panicked movements was nothing short of a visual shock.
Nothing about them was normal.
Neither Adella nor the monsters.
Even the arm of Adella, writhing on the ground, was not normal.
Kieeeek!
Adella’s arm thrashed, and a scream erupted. Soon, a line was drawn across her palm, revealing another mouth.
It was an extraordinarily grotesque sight.
So, I killed them all.
“…You killed them?”
The first reaction after I finished my tale was this. It was a single phrase that escaped the lips of Princess Iris. I shrugged nonchalantly at the still astonished princess.
“Yes, I did. As you can see.”
“Did you not consider trying to interrogate them?”
“Would you like to try?”
With that, I gestured towards the arm that lay face down on the ground.
It had been the arm that had tried to attack Princess Iris moments before. Although its momentum had been dampened by the embedded axe, by its trembling, it seemed that it was still alive.
It was truly remarkable vitality.
However, Princess Iris’s expression appeared somewhat different from mine. Her gaze, stained with disgust, was fixed on the monster’s arm.
The monster’s arm let out one final pitiful whimper.
“Kieeeee….”
“…That’s enough, get it out of my sight immediately.”
Crack.
As a loyal servant of the Empire, I promptly complied with the princess’s command. The axe soared into the air and once more plummeted, finally putting an end to the creature’s tenacious life.
Such a pity.
I clicked my tongue and raised my hand. The axe, having completed its duty, returned directly to my grip.
Shi-en was now sparkling with excitement.
“Th-That’s amazing… Sir Ian! To achieve such results so quickly, you’re so competent unlike anyone else!”
“I was lucky. After all, it was almost too easy for them to reveal their identities…”
Shi-en sang my praises, while I awkwardly shrugged in modesty.
As I observed this scene for a while, a faint sigh escaped Princess Iris. Perhaps her head was spinning, for the woman who had rested her hand on her forehead took some time before opening her mouth.
“Alright, Ian Fercurus. I recognize your merit.”
It was an unexpected compliment.
Caught off guard by the praise I hadn’t anticipated, I widened my eyes. Regardless of my reaction, Princess Iris continued on as if bestowing a great favor.
“I will give you a special opportunity to work with me. Depending on your future achievements, it may not be impossible for you to become my aide.”
Shi-en and I caught each other’s perplexed gazes in the air.
I was not the only one in confusion. Shi-en also wore a face that didn’t quite grasp what Princess Iris was saying.
In that case, I had only one answer.
“Then, I will do my best from now on….”
“I don’t want that.”
With a firm tone, Princess Iris’s voice came to a halt.
And then, stillness.
The princess, frozen like a statue, showed no signs of movement. It was clear she had never imagined I would respond this way.
So, I had to reiterate.
“I said I don’t want to, Your Highness Iris.”
That was the end.
Princess Iris’s body began to tremble.
*
I strolled along the path while yawning.
Although I had turned down Princess Iris’s offer, I had already gathered a lot of information from Senior Luna. For now, it wouldn’t be a major issue to act alone while seeking leads.
I should start by looking for the ‘missing persons.’
It had become clear that a presence from the Dark Cult had infiltrated the Academy. Given that even the Emperor was staying here, appropriate actions would surely follow as soon as reports came in.
In the meantime, I intended to resolve a few questions.
First, Adella revealed her identity to me far too easily.
That aspect weighed heavily on my mind. If it was that easy for her to show her true nature as a monster, something catastrophic could have happened long ago. The assumption that some plot was lurking became even more reasonable.
Why did she react so sensitively towards me?
Despite pondering for a long time, I couldn’t come up with a plausible hypothesis. Ultimately, I would have no choice but to focus more on the search for the ‘missing persons’ and gradually piece together what was going on.
Also, there was the content scrawled by a man on the back of the letter.
It appeared to be related to some sort of drug formulation. Deciphering it would require consulting an expert in that field.
A face suddenly came to mind.
As I organized my plan for the future and moved forward, I sensed a strange presence near my ear as I walked along the narrow path in the forest. It had been a long time since I failed to detect an opponent until they were this close.
I shot my gaze in surprise. And then something entered my sight.
A small behind.
A faint sound escaped my lips as I exhaled.
A girl with a hooded hat was crouched awkwardly behind a rock. She seemed to want to hide, and in trying to obscure her hood, she had to lower her upper body as much as she could.
There was no room for her to crouch down completely due to the height of the rock, and if she lay flat, the width of the rock was too narrow.
Due to that perfect size, the girl could only stick her small behind up.
As soon as I caught sight of her petite behind, I instantly recognized her identity. Once I confirmed the hooded hat, I could no longer hold back my certainty.
It was Senior Elsi.
She was peeking over the top while grunting, seemingly tailing someone, but my attention lingered too long on the swaying behind before me.
Some instinct began to rise.
Could it be sexual desire or perhaps mischief?
Before my eyes, her chubby behind was swaying. She was even in a state of complete vulnerability.
Didn’t I want to give it a smack?
What’s more, the person was to become my fiancée.
To be precise, it was that she was currently borrowing that flesh from ‘Senior Elsi’ from the future.
But as always, thoughts failed to keep up with instinct.
My palm, unable to resist desire, connected with her rear with a solid smack that echoed loudly.
“Hi, hiiiiiiiick…?! Who the hell is this crazy bastard…? Hey! Are you insane?!”
“Shh.”
I boldly raised a finger.
The flush of indignation coloring the girl’s face testified to the degree of her anger. Even so, Senior Elsi had no choice but to suppress her scream.
If she yelled like that, her tailing would be exposed.
I whispered softly to Senior Elsi.
“You’ll get caught like this. Be careful.”
“You dare… hey! How dare you touch another woman’s behind?! Do you want to die?”
“It’s the body of my future fiancée, so what?”
My nonchalant tone nearly set Senior Elsi off.
What could she do, though?
She had no choice but to remain silent in the face of the overarching argument of ‘tailing.’
At this point, I was left wondering one thing. Who exactly was Senior Elsi tailing?
As my gaze inadvertently drifted towards the narrow path ahead, I heard.
“Are you out of your mind?! I have someone I love! A boyfriend who’s so much cooler, kinder, and purer than you?! Who the hell do you think you are to put your hands on my body…!”
“Be quiet.”
It was a cold remark.
At my sudden seriousness, Senior Elsi frowned. Nevertheless, she merely grumbled and refrained from raising her voice again.
My expression had become noticeably serious.
Ahead, two figures were swaying.
One was a female student listed among the ‘missing persons.’
And the other was someone precious to me.
‘Emma.’
