Chapter 91
Chapter 91
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: A Doctor's Amusement
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"...But I don't recommend going to see Camilla right now."
"Why not?"
"She hates having her alone time interrupted. She'll get angry."
"No way, what could she possibly be doing holed up alone in a dump like this?"
"...She's got her thing."
Han trailed off awkwardly, as if it was hard to explain.
She's got her thing, huh? What's that supposed to mean? I tilted my head.
'...Hmm.'
In a rundown shack in a slum with no internet or electricity, something an adult woman might do alone...
'...A mature lady's alone time at home...!'
Suddenly, I was dying to know what Camilla was up to.
"I-I have to find out what it is!"
"Why are you getting so worked up all of a sudden?"
"Shut up and lead the way!"
Han shot me a look of utter disbelief as I yelled in excitement.
"Uh... Anis? Maybe we shouldn't go... I really don't wanna."
Betty, who always smiled and agreed to everything, was actually voicing opposition for once. I knew she didn't like Camilla, but I hadn't realized she hated her this much.
Why does she hate her so bad? On the surface, Camilla seemed way more put-together and friendly than Han...
'...Maybe we should just skip it?'
But seeing Betty's reaction only made me more curious.
"Um... Seriously, seriously, we should just not go..."
"Why?"
"She's a psycho bitch."
Crazy psycho lesbian? What a lovely big sis.
"If you're still going, I'm coming with."
Betty said that and trailed after me like a scared puppy. Her reluctance made me consider just heading back with her, but I couldn't hold back my curiosity. I had to see how intensely Camilla was indulging in her alone time to make Betty recoil like this.
"Anis! If Camilla tries anything, blast her right away! Just enough not to kill her!"
Does that mean she might not be satisfied with alone time and come after me? In that instant, my image of Camilla solidified as a crazy psycho lesbian.
To think cool, ethereal Camilla was some sex-crazed maniac who pounced without a second thought! It didn't fit her image at all, and I quietly marveled to myself.
If my guess was right and she really was a hardcore crazy lesbian, it explained why Betty despised her so much.
"Lead the way! Hurry!"
"Fine, just calm down a bit."
Brimming with uncontrollable curiosity, my eyes sparkling, I followed Han.
"Here it is."
Camilla's house wasn't far from where I was staying. Like all the other slum shacks, it looked ready to collapse any second.
At the door, I pressed my ear against the rusty metal gate to eavesdrop.
"...What are you doing?"
"Anis, what's up?"
"Shh."
From inside came clinking sounds. Nothing but that. Occasionally, a light exhale like she was straining a bit, but mostly silence or clinks.
This wasn't the sound I was hoping for... She must be the calm and composed type.
"Camilla, you in there? It's Han."
As I mulled that over with my ear glued to the door, Han knocked politely.
Th-this idiot! Knocking like that so boldly? I jumped in shock.
──...What is it? In the middle of something important.
A voice thick with irritation leaked from inside. The penalty for disturbing a lady's time was a voice cold as frost.
"Anis here has something she's curious about and wants to ask you."
No, I just wanted to eavesdrop! This clueless jerk.
──...Really?
Camilla's voice came again from inside, the sharp edge softened a bit unlike before.
After a moment, footsteps approached the door. With a creak, the rusty gate opened, revealing Camilla.
"Perfect timing. I had a couple questions for you too, Anis."
She swung the door open casually. Her outer clothes were soaked in blood, stained deep red.
It wasn't hers. Her body bore no wounds.
"Come in."
She smiled at me with evident interest. Betty scowled deeply beside me.
And as Camilla opened the door, a thick, heavy stench of blood wafted out.
...Something felt off.
The narrow room reeked of sticky, fishy blood. Red stains, left untouched without ventilation, clung damply to every surface.
And on the operating tables: two corpses.
One table held an ogre corpse, the other a human one.
As if it were the dumbest question ever, Camilla wiped the blood from her face with a handkerchief.
"Even after magic beasts sweep through, a few survivors always cling on desperately, hiding away. I grabbed some and had my fun."
"It's fun~"
Camilla shrugged with a playful lilt.
"You know what? Transplanting ogre organs into humans—they die right away. Even picked a young one with a similar build, but no dice. Guess species differences are insurmountable, even if the structures are close."
Camilla's life revolved around amusement and interest. Fun was her ultimate pursuit, the criterion for everything. Her eyes always focused on it.
She was a doctor. More precisely, a researcher in a lab doing live experiments on magic beasts—handling recovery and observation.
Humanoid magic beasts like goblins and ogres had body structures very similar to humans, with drug effects manifesting quickly, so pharma companies often used them for testing.
No ethical issues since they were beasts. Radical experiments were fair game, yielding solid, swift results.
But for Camilla, it was dull days.
At first, the freedom to do anything to magic beasts thrilled her. But that thrill faded fast.
She could run any experiment, but it wasn't fun.
The decisive kind of fun.
It was weird. Even small experiments used to bring joy back then.
Like vivisecting frogs, rats, or rabbits.
──No fun. Would be better if the beasts screamed and thrashed more. Their reactions are too tepid.
Fed up with the boredom, she vented to a colleague over drinks one day. He stared like she was a freak.
A gaze as if she were an incomprehensible lunatic. She didn't like it.
To her, he seemed the lunatic, trapped in a hamster wheel of pointless routine.
One life only—was pursuing fun in it so strange?
Craving a sharp thrill in a dead routine—so weird?
"Why can't they get it?"
So boring.
The endless routine was dull and irritating.
Dull from the beasts' boring reactions.
Irritating from colleagues eyeing her warily since that drink.
It grated. Life already joyless, and now they saw her as some irredeemable psycho.
Didn't they know about respecting tastes? Weirder, harder-to-get hobbies existed!
Respect them all!!
As months passed, boredom piled like frustration. Rumors spread at work; stares multiplied, irritation doubled.
...Boring.
Annoying.
Anything fun out there?
Something to dynamite the dull routine.
Like, say,
killing that guy still giving her the side-eye.
Hmm...
Hmmm...
Hmmmmm...
That might be fun?
──Kuaaaaaagh!!!
So she killed him!
Because it seemed like it'd be fun!
After a company dinner, she dragged the blackout-drunk guy home, tied him to the bed, dosed him with an experimental drug from the lab.
Then sliced his gut open to peek inside. No anesthesia, of course.
Her ex-colleague writhed and screamed in agony. Watching, Camilla felt electric pleasure for the first time.
Tamed by angels, beasts never reacted to experiments. No screams, no thrashing, not even a groan.
But he was different. He splattered tepid blood across her skin, her gown, the pristine walls—marking his presence.
Proclaiming I was here, I suffered here in vivid red footprints.
Gazing at her cooling ex-colleague, Camilla realized.
Ah, so that's why. No fun before.
She'd never cared about 'achievements' from research.
Just watching subjects writhe in pain under her hands—that was the fun.
That was the amusement Camilla craved.
"We're comrades now, right? Don't look at a comrade like that."
She said with a small laugh.
Blood-soaked, but her smile stayed light.
I could vaguely see why Betty hated Camilla so much.
The corpse on the table, gutted and eyes closed. It had to remind Betty of the past.
And Camilla standing there casually beside it. Her father must have flashed in her mind.
"We're comrades now, right?"
A fishy, light laugh. The smile of those who disregard others, indifferent to inflicting pain.
Seeing Camilla drove it home: I was deep in the demons' camp.
Had I deluded myself, around folks like Han and Betty, that Camilla wasn't so bad?
Forgotten this was a demons-led evil organization.
And that I'd clearly stepped into it.
"...I see. I'm going."
The vibrating stench of blood and corpse turned my stomach. Bad mood rising, I turned for the door.
"Oh, right. I had something to ask."
"...What?"
Hand on the knob, about to leave, I turned back at her question.
"Mind if I dissect you? Probably not much different from a normal human, but you're such a spe-cial case, it piques my interest. Won't do a full one, and I'll anesthetize! Sew you up neat, no scars..."
"You crazy bitch!"
Smack!
"Ow!"
Before I could reply, Betty lunged and smacked Camilla's head.
"What the hell!"
"Touch one finger to Anis and you're done—get lost!"
"F-Fine, at least some blood sampl—"
"You slut!"
"Okay, okay!"
Betty's fiery rage made Camilla back down. Despite calling me comrade earlier, she knew she had no shame asking for a dissection out of nowhere.
Betty yanked the door open.
"Anis, let's go!"
She grabbed my hand and pulled me out. Once Betty, me, and Han were outside, the door began closing slowly.
Through the narrowing gap, Camilla muttered softly.
"Kinda disappointing. Thought with that crime syndicate organ party in X District, we shared tastes. Guess not."
My mood sank again. That memory wasn't a good one for me.
"...Sorry, but I'm not like you."
Painful past resurfaced, but I shook my head, denying her words.
It was all the corrupted magic's influence. I wasn't like that psycho.
With a click, the door shut. Exhausted, I sighed deeply.
Came for nothing, left in a worse mood. Thought she was a crazy psycho lesbian—turns out just a crazy psycho.
"...Sorry, shouldn't have suggested coming."
"I'm fine!"
Betty beamed. Seeing that lifted my spirits a bit.
"...Let's head back."
"Yeah."
Witnessing that grotesque scene out of nowhere stressed me out. Just wanted to crash in bed.
'...Gonna avoid talking to that woman from now on.'
With that thought, Betty and I headed to our place.
"So, is my Q&A really over just like that?"
"Ugh, whatever. Not in the mood for Q&A."
"...I see. Rest well."
Han saw me and Betty to our door before leaving.