TN: Thank Llama for the chapter.
TL/PR: Ruminas; ED: novicelily
Iria’s POV
I was heading home after another day at the Academy.
The home was a run-down, empty house near the back alley that I had received ownership of.
It felt awkward at first, but over time, the space became as comfortable as the back alley.
I stepped into the dark, lightless house. I still haven’t turned on the lights. Ever since I became this… monster, I preferred darkness over brightness.
My eyes were now specialized for seeing in the dark, different from a human’s. Light felt unnecessary now.
Today, I bought a few more school uniforms from the Academy.
The ones I wore before were beyond repair. I glanced at the uniform I discarded yesterday. It was in terrible condition—stained with human and monster blood, shredded, and too tattered to wear.
This wasn’t something that could be fixed by simply washing.
Buying new uniforms every time this happened was getting annoying.
Come to think of it, a lot happened yesterday.
Monsters invaded the Academy, I killed a Seed of the Demon King, failed to kill Albert, and even witnessed Ariel’s growth with my own eyes.
It had been a lot.
I went to the Academy without properly resting.
Even with an immortal body, fatigue will still accumulate. Right now, I just wanted to lie down and sleep.
But before that, there was something I needed to take care of.
After the attack on the Academy, I needed to process what I had gained from all of it.
I sat down, slowly organizing my thoughts.
I gained more than I expected from this incident—far more useful information than I could ever have gotten from reading books at the Academy.
The more information about this world, the better. Discovering things I hadn’t known before felt like a victory in itself.
The mastermind behind the attack was likely that woman.
Legion Commander Seir. That was certainly her name.
I read her memories. Seir was part of the Demon King’s army remnant who survived the war.
An external force opposed the Empire. I had expected it to some extent, but I was surprised that the scale was larger than I thought.
They were incomparably stronger than any enemies I had fought so far.
Thinking that there were several of them, the Empire’s future looked very bleak.
So I became curious.
‘Why didn’t they attack all at once?’
If Seir alone had that much power and influence, they could have easily destroyed the Empire.
To be honest, the Empire’s current power isn’t that strong.
Sure, it’s powerful compared to humans, but against beings like Seir…
If the remnants of the Demon King’s army had attacked in full force, the Empire wouldn’t stand a chance. It would have already fallen.
Am I missing something?
What was the Demon King’s army waiting for? What was stopping them from waging an all-out war on the Empire?
I thought about it for a while.
“Sertia?”
I murmured the name of someone I barely knew.
I don’t know how strong she is, and I’ve only heard of her achievements in books, never seeing her in person.
Is that woman truly so strong? Strong enough to make the Demon King’s army fear a single human?
It seemed I could only answer that by meeting her in person. Fortunately, I had an appointment with Albert today.
This answer would come soon enough.
At that point, I turned my head.
In the corner of the room were piles of golden fragments. They were all fragments of the Demon King.
“……”
What should I do with these?
I collected them, thinking they might be useful later, but eating this much might overwhelm me.
Still, I was beginning to feel hungry. The recent events had drained much of my energy.
“Hmm.”
I picked up one of the fragments.
This small shard radiated an enormous power. It was the reason why even low-grade monsters could turn into towering beasts.
The scene of Seir losing her mind and going berserk after eating a fragment flashed through my mind.
If that’s what happens when other beings eat the fragments, then why am I fine?
Perhaps it’s related to the auditory hallucinations I heard when using the Demon King’s power. The fragment could overpower those with weak self-awareness, breaking their minds.
Most beings can’t handle the Demon King’s power. Their minds would collapse under its weight.
But I was different.
I still didn’t understand why.
The body I possessed seemed uniquely suited to absorb the Demon King’s power.
The shards fit seamlessly inside me as if they were meant to be one from the start.
Maybe it’s something about my constitution.
‘Will eating this bring back memories of the past?’
I didn’t know how it worked, but each fragment was key to unlocking forgotten memories.
Every time I ate one, I would have to face the illusions of the past again.
I hesitated.
I was afraid to eat it after all. The memories I’d recovered so far were anything but pleasant. This world has given me nothing but torment since I arrived.
Those visions had always been more like nightmares. They would be no different now.
“……”
I stood there, holding a fragment in my hand.
To eat or not to eat, that is the question.
The hesitation didn’t last long.
If you do nothing, nothing happens.
If you hesitate, you’ll only end up stagnating.
For the future ahead, I had to confront my past.
The memories locked away might be the key to finding the answers I sought.
“……”
I immediately swallowed the fragment I was holding into my mouth.
As expected, it wasn’t very tasty. It was fishy, bitter, and even nauseating.
But surprisingly, the Demon King’s fragment was better than eating human food.
At least, it didn’t make my stomach churn.
After swallowing the fragment, I lay down on the bed.
I decided not to retreat any further.
It was time to face the past I had been afraid of.
***
Dusty Lane, an ordinary back alley.
Overflowing with garbage and filth, this street was home to those with nowhere else to go.
Homeless people, criminals; it was a place where even the Empire’s knights didn’t bother to patrol.
Here, death was so commonplace that it hardly caused concern.
People were killed without leaving a trace or simply wasted away from disease and starvation.
Bodies of the stabbed piled up alongside those who had starved.
It was that kind of place.
But even considering that, something recently shook its grim status quo.
It was such a big incident that even the starving, silent homeless were buzzing about it.
The entire back alley was in an uproar.
“…Did you hear? They say the gambling den collapsed.”
“That’s not all. I heard everyone there was massacred. No survivors.”
The gambling den had been run by a powerful criminal syndicate.
Since they always oppressed and threatened the people there, everyone knew them.
They were objects of fear.
They were supposedly well-protected by a group of retired soldiers and mercenaries.
Now, overnight, they were all dead.
Initially, people might have rejoiced at the fall of their oppressors, but this victory came at a cost. Fear lingered.
A being capable of wiping out an entire den of hardened criminals was now lurking in the back alley.
Nothing was known, but there were clearly victims. Victims lay strewn across the den like discarded refuse.
People frightened called it the back alley monster.
“……”
A girl walked through the chaotic, noisy alley.
She moved through the heart of the rumors, her presence unnoticed, or perhaps ignored. Did she know she was the subject of their gossip?
Of course, she did.
The silver-haired girl, visibly trembling with anxiety, pressed her hands to her ears, trying to block out their voices.
Her hands and mouth were stained with blood, but she hid them as best she could, keeping her head down as she moved purposefully through the narrow streets.
She was searching for the girl who had run away from her.
Iria’s memory of that day was vague. She had blacked out for a moment, and when she opened her eyes, everyone around her was dead.
It was a misunderstanding.
She had to explain. It wasn’t her fault. What had happened that day had been an accident.
But no one would listen. And the girl she was trying to find had vanished.
Iria couldn’t find her.
“It wasn’t me… It wasn’t…”
Why are you running away?
The one who wants to escape reality the most is me.
“Please……”
Why are you crying?
The one who should be crying, the one who wants to deny all of this, is me.
“……”
Silent and helpless, Iria wandered through the hell that was Dusty Lane.