TN: Thank Llama for the chapter.
TL/PR: Ruminas; ED: novicelily
I saw memories of the past, no different from before. Memories of killing humans, drinking blood, and rolling around in back alleys.
However, there was no headache or stomach-churning disgust like before.
Well, of course. The things that could be considered my personal traumas have already been shown.
The memory that made me lose my emotions, the memory of committing murder for the first time, the memory of killing a friend I made for the first time. They are memories already revisited by the fragments.
Objectively, the time I spent as a monster was short. I didn’t have many memories. If all the painful memories have been pulled out, what will it show now?
I asked myself as I swallowed the fragment. In the void of unconsciousness, surrounded by darkness, I watched another scene from the fragment that was once a part of the Demon King.
And I saw…
“……”
A silver-haired woman lying in a dark basement, with black figures surrounding her.
‘Those are……’
It’s not my memory. The place and scenes were both unfamiliar.
Are those surrounding the woman the executives of the Demon King’s army?
‘Why are they together?’
There were faces I didn’t know and faces I knew, including the woman with silver hair and those I read about in Seir’s memories.
That’s probably Iria. Not me, but Iria before I possessed her body.
“Forgotten monster. And the one who resembles my master.”
The apparent leader of the Demon King’s army addressed the unconscious Iria. An ominous purple spell bloomed, distorting the space around them.
After that, he fed Iria something.
I don’t know what it is. But I could tell it was no ordinary object. It’s similar to the Demon King’s fragment, but the concentration is clearly different.
“If you open your eyes someday, become the new leader.”
With those words, the memory shown by the fragment ended.
What connection did the Demon King’s army have to Iria? Why was the Demon King’s fragment showing me these memories? And more than that, what kind of existence are “I” and “Iria” in this world?
There was too much unknown information, which made my head throb.
I wanted to see more, but consciousness returned, and I found myself staring at a familiar ceiling.
“……”
Morning had come, and an unpleasant one, too.
Harsh sunlight pierced through the window as sweat-soaked hair clung to my skin.
My head hurt as if it would shatter.
The memory earlier must have been Iria’s, preserved in this body.
I didn’t understand how the fragment accessed it, but that wasn’t the crucial point.
The fragment had extracted unknown information from this body. Perhaps it could reveal more.
It might solve the question that has taken root in my mind. I turned my head to the remaining two fragments I hadn’t eaten yet.
If I eat that, can I find out? Can the question haunting my mind for a long time be resolved?
Thinking that, I picked up the fragment to put it in my mouth, but stopped.
“Ah.”
Today is the day I’m supposed to meet Sertia. If I eat this and fall asleep, the plan will go awry.
Because there is something called priority in everything.
My heart was impatient for a moment, but as expected, it quickly subsided. The ability to always maintain composure is an advantage unique to monsters.
I decided to prepare to go out.
But even while drying my hair and changing clothes, the Demon King’s fragment didn’t leave my sight.
As if my body had come to crave the fragment.
Had my constitution changed without my knowledge? I held the Demon King’s fragment in my hand without realizing it.
“Hmm.”
Ultimately, I had no choice but to put the fragment in my pocket.
It might prove necessary if intense combat erupted.
***
From the moment I fell into this world, a question had plagued me.
The current me is a separate entity that fell into an unknown world and possessed Iria’s body.
An existence that is not of this world, but a foreign one.
Then, what kind of existence was Iria before I possessed her?
Was I merely a thief of bodies? If so, where is Iria’s stolen consciousness now?
Who is Iria? What is my true place in this world? And lastly, who trapped me in Iria’s body?
I’ve thought about it a lot, unable to share with anyone.
However, the information I had was always insufficient. When one answer comes, ten questions would follow.
There were always more things I didn’t know than things I did.
Could I uncover the truth in this world?
Though I lived only to die, the thought of perishing without answers felt deeply wrong.
I decided that at least I would not die during my meeting with ‘her.’
***
The place where I promised to meet Albert was in front of the headmaster’s office at the Academy.
Today is the Academy’s official day off, but Albert was on campus.
He stood in front of Sertia’s room, waiting for me.
“You’re here.”
I nodded in response.
He adjusted his glasses and turned, leaving only the instruction to follow.
“……”
I walked following him.
I don’t know how long we walked. My sense of time may differ from ordinary people’s, but even I think we’ve been walking for hours.
Morning light faded towards noon as landscapes shifted around us.
Is this outside the Empire? I rarely went outside the Empire, so I don’t know where this is.
“Is this the right way?”
“It is. Lady Sertia wants to see you underground.”
I shot a sharp glance at Albert.
Inviting the Empire’s enemy, the back alley monster, to an outside space other than the headmaster’s office…
Isn’t the intention too obvious?
Albert walked ahead without minding my gaze. Since he didn’t answer, I decided to read his memories.
Humans with a lot of mana have strong resistance to memory reading, but this is a secluded path with no witnesses.
With enough magic power, I can pierce even Albert’s defenses.
I made eye contact with him, probing his memories from last night.
He had a conversation with a black-haired woman, presumably Sertia.
Though the mana resistance made the memory hazy, I could hear their voices.
‘…I see.’
Just as I harbored suspicions of Sertia, she also clearly distrusted me.
Half of my assumptions were correct. At least it doesn’t seem like she’s plotting an assassination, so I walked quietly.
Because no matter what purpose the other party has, it doesn’t change the fact that I have to meet her.
If it’s her, then she would probably know things I didn’t.
How much time passed like that?
Time stretched on until Albert finally said, “This way.”
“We’ve come further than I thought.”
“She’s a whimsical person. Former Headmaster Sertia is underground.”
“……”
We arrived at the place where Sertia is said to be.
It appeared to be a well-constructed underground facility. The inside was full of countless magic books and such.
Is this Sertia’s exclusive library? As a member of the first hero party, she must have accumulated a lot of wealth.
“Is it that room?”
I asked Albert, pointing to a door with my finger.
He didn’t bother to answer. Silence sometimes means an affirmative answer. If he didn’t deny it, it means yes.
I didn’t need to open the door to sense what lay beyond. The threat was almost instinctual.
Vast power radiated through the entrance.
If you reveal your murderous intent so blatantly like that, it makes me not want to go in.
Enormous hatred and murderous intent were directed at me.
Can’t Albert feel it? The fact that the other monster beyond is very angry.
Humans have extremely few senses. Someone said that humans are an inferior species, which I find quite true.
“Are you not coming?”
Albert, who went down the stairs first, looked back at me and asked.
I don’t want to, but…
I have to go.
“I’ll go even if you don’t tell me.”
I took a deep breath and opened the door.
A huge wave of mana blew.
“Why are you in the Empire?” The black-haired woman – Sertia – demanded before I could even register her appearance.
Even Albert seemed startled by her immediate hostility.
I don’t know what the reason is, but Sertia extremely hated me.
“You won’t say you forgot me, will you?”
Her fierce red eyes turned to me.
And…
“Demon King, Echidna.”
An unfamiliar name came out.