Chapter 49
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: 11. Inducement
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A pungent smell of blood wafted from the box.
The bottom of the box was soaked red. Something leaking from the contents had stained the floor.
Over the thick, numbing fishy stench, a faint perfume scent caught her nose.
It was the perfume her tutor wore. Cheap and sweet, lilac-scented.
"...!"
Ella recoiled without thinking. Her legs buckled, nearly sending her tumbling.
Nausea surged up her throat.
"Wh-what... what is this... what the hell is this...!!"
Her voice cracked. She could barely recognize it as her own.
Overcome by the unbearable urge to vomit, Ella kicked off the floor and bolted.
She burst through the front door and ran blindly down the snow-covered street.
She had no idea where she was headed.
Ella just wanted to flee. From that smell, that laughter, that box.
"U-uwweeeek...!!"
She collapsed into a corner of the alley and heaved up her guts.
Stomach acid clawed up her esophagus, leaving a bitter tang in her mouth.
"Ugh... ugh......"
Tears streamed blankly down her face.
Her face a mess of vomit, tears, and snot, Ella stared down at her hands.
These hands.
Just moments ago, these hands had clasped her tutor's.
[Ella. Take care of yourself.]
Her final smile resurfaced. That gentle gaze. The voice full of concern for Ella.
Her breath hitched. Her heart hammered like it might explode.
The pounding drowned out the world around her, the throbbing itself a sharp pain.
"Didn't even check what it was before running off?"
He stood at the alley mouth, the one who'd followed her.
His faint shadow draped over the snow.
Bathed in moonlight, he gazed down at Ella with faint amusement.
"You... you...!!"
Ella lurched to her feet. Her legs nearly gave out again, but she held firm through sheer will.
Hatred. Rage. Revulsion. Betrayal.
The emotions crashed over her all at once.
But in a corner of her mind, she understood his actions.
Of course she did.
She'd always known he was that kind of man.
A monster who'd betray allies and torment people, all for a thrill.
What had she been hoping for?
[Maybe it's time to make up with him?]
'Bullshit...!!'
What an idiotic thought.
To reconcile, your opponent has to be human first.
He's just a monster.
"Why... why...!!"
Instead of replying, he drew the box from subspace.
The bottom was sodden from the leaking fluids.
"You should save your questions until after you've seen this."
The box slipped from his hand and thudded right under her nose.
Ella dropped to her knees before it, the snow mound cushioning her fall.
Her hands shook. Her fingers wouldn't obey.
A gut instinct told her opening it would end everything.
Everything?
She didn't know.
But end it would.
Fear and loathing, nausea and hatred—every negative emotion shredded her mind.
Click. The box sprang open, its contents slowly revealing themselves.
"...!!!"
Her tutor's head lay inside.
Eyes half-lidded, lips flecked with blood.
Her face looked strangely serene. Probably killed in an instant, no time for pain.
The lilac perfume stabbed her nose, mingled with the blood reek.
"..."
Her lips quivered. Tears trickled silently.
Ella stared blankly at the face, not even registering her own sobs.
Her mind blanked out.
No thoughts surfaced.
"......Is it... because of me?"
After an endless silence, the words slipped out—tiny, frail, startling even her.
But it made no sense.
The tutor's death wasn't her fault.
The blame rested squarely with her killer.
So why couldn't she shake the conviction that it was all her doing?
"Why, why, why......"
He drew close and sat right before her.
Locking eyes with the dazed Ella, he mouthed the words slowly, deliberately.
"You already know why."
"...!!"
"Because I could. Because it seemed fun. Because I'm strong enough."
"Ah, aaaa... aaaaaa!!"
He jabbed a finger at the box. At her tutor's head inside.
"No need to grieve now. You two will never part again."
Ella gnawed her lip until it bled. Iron flooded her mouth.
"Why... why go this far...? What did I... what did I do wrong......"
She'd lost count of how many times she'd asked. But she sought no answer.
It was just a reflex, spilling out.
"Because I like your story."
Your story appealed to me.
She couldn't comprehend it. No clue what he meant.
What the fuck was this lunatic rambling about?
Her body shuddered violently. Rage, hatred, revulsion, terror intertwined, jolting her mind fully awake.
The emotions coalesced, searing one truth into her brain.
This man would never change.
This was his true nature.
The realization brought a hollow emptiness. Her rage ebbed, giving way to crushing self-disgust.
'Did I want to believe in him?'
'Did I hold out hope, just maybe?'
'That he might turn out different someday?'
Pathetic.
Utterly pathetic.
Tears kept coming. For the tutor? For her own foolish hopes? She couldn't tell anymore.
"You're..."
Ella lifted her gaze to him.
"...a monster."
He went quiet at that.
The familiar deflating wheeze began anew, soon morphing into laughter.
"Mere condemnation. Nothing more, nothing less."
With a smirk, he snatched up the tutor's head.
Ella lunged forward in panic, but she was too slow.
Crunch!
'...Crunch?'
He dusted off his hands and rose, leaving Ella to gape at the powdery remnants crumbling away.
"Hey. What do you think I've been up to this past year?"
His words fell on deaf ears.
Enthralled, Ella inspected the debris he'd crushed.
"Th-this is......"
Not bone.
Ella whipped her head up to him.
"Always taking the easy path gets boring, you know?"
Footsteps echoed from the distance.
"Ella! Running out like that so desperately..."
"Ah, Teacher. Sorry. A bit of family trouble."
"...Family trouble? No idea what that means, but... we'll talk later. Ella! You okay?"
The tutor, who'd chased her from the house, swept Ella into a hug.
"H-how......"
How? She wanted to demand, but no words came.
Ella couldn't process the whirlwind shift and simply clung to her tutor.
Her head stayed raised, letting her catch his expression.
He nodded, looking oddly pleased.
"We were all set for a group celebration party, but you bolting out like that—you have no idea how shocked I was."
Her tutor's worried words made Ella's emotions boil over.
The party wrapped up.
Once the tutor left, the house fell eerily silent.
Party remnants lingered on the living room floor.
Cake crumbs, long-drained teacups, and the congratulatory card from her tutor.
[Congrats, Ella! Never dreamed you'd blaze through the intermediate course so fast. I'll keep rooting for you.]
Plain words. Plain well-wishes.
But that very plainness pierced Ella's heart.
She had no clue she'd been written off as dead.
She'd never know her own severed head—in a fake sense—had been presented to Ella.
And that ignorance brought Ella a bizarre comfort.
"..."
He sat on the sofa, gazing blankly out the window like always.
Ella drew a deep breath.
It didn't take long to piece it together.
The past year. His frequent vanishings. The odd materials he'd fetch.
He'd been crafting a replica head.
Given time, he could've mimicked the blood stench, the perfume, the face perfectly.
He'd had endless chances to study her up close.
Her tutor hadn't died. She'd even helped him prep the farewell bash.
Ella pictured her glee at the thought of Ella's shock.
'...Played for a fool again. Spectacularly.'
Rage bubbled up. Her fists clenched, nails biting flesh.
What was so damn amusing about jerking people around like this?
Yet alongside it came undeniable relief.
'...Psycho bastard.'
Rage and relief. Betrayal and gratitude. Revulsion and comprehension.
The torrent plunged her mind into chaos.
He turned to face her.
"How long you gonna stand there? Party fun?"
Ella sank into the seat opposite.
Her emotions roiled.
Thoughts scattered, but one burned clear—she had to voice it.
"It was awful."
"...? Party suck? Or my gift?"
"All of it."
His feigned shock was infuriating.
Loathing and bloodlust flared, yet beneath lurked something indefinable, even to her.
Hard to pin down, but she'd say it anyway.
"...—"
One syllable escaped, then silence.
The words just wouldn't come.
"..."
Ella sighed and locked eyes with him squarely.
Staring straight into his gaze, she forced out the words, deliberate and clear.
"―――"