The White Monster of the Back Alleys
In the back alleys of the Central Empire, a white monster that eats people was said to appear. That was the rumor circulating of late.
Of course, it was hardly something that could be dismissed as mere gossip. Far too many people had actually died or vanished there for that.
Some claimed they had seen the monster with their own eyes. Others screamed that something with crimson eyes had looked straight at them.
Whether any of it was true, or simply an exaggerated tale, there was no sure way to know.
The work of a monster, then?
Or perhaps it was tied to some sizable criminal outfit. That was what the man standing at the mouth of the alley thought. Either way, an investigation was required.
His name was Leon—a knight assigned to look into the disappearances in this district.
Before stepping into the rumored alley, he waited at the entrance. Knightly protocol dictated that patrols be conducted in pairs, and his junior was due to arrive shortly. So he waited, drawing a small notebook from his coat.
It held the record of everything he had uncovered in the back alleys so far. He flipped it open and began reviewing his findings one by one.
Nearly a week into the patrol assignment, and still no sighting of the rumored monster. If something were hiding in those alleys, some trace should have remained—yet not a single mark of a white beast could be found.
People had died there all the same.
On the walls and floors of the collapsed rubble, blackened, crusted bloodstains had been discovered. Tests confirmed they belonged to the missing.
As Leon sorted through the notes, his thoughts grew tangled. It was as if the victims existed, yet the perpetrator did not. Blood was present, but no bodies. Following the trails of blood led only to places where the tracks had been deliberately severed, as though someone had carefully erased them.
The traces of the human victims remained clear. Nothing else did. The fact that only its own presence had been wiped away suggested intelligence. He could not rule out the possibility of a mutant monster.
"Um…"
"…?"
"What are you doing there?"
A slender voice brushed his ear. Leon turned toward the sound. A woman in white stood there—skin so pale it bordered on ghostly.
I never sensed a presence…
He watched her warily. First the long silver hair cascading to her waist, then the crimson eyes that glowed faintly even in the dark. She gave off a mysterious air, and Leon kept his guard firmly in place.
"Who are you? Why have you come here at this hour?"
His hand settled on the hilt of his sword. Civilian access was restricted during the patrol period. She was no ordinary passerby—that much was clear.
Yet the words that left her mouth were nothing he expected. Her face remained utterly expressionless as she spoke.
"…I live here."
Leon’s wariness sharpened.
"Here… You mean you live in this alley?"
She confirmed it. His expression grew more troubled.
"This place is no longer fit for human habitation. Roughly a year ago a monster attack brought the buildings down, and residual Magi still clings to every surface."
"But it’s the truth."
"I cannot believe that. Identify yourself."
"Identity…"
She lowered her head as if considering the request. Up close, pale skin aside, she was strikingly beautiful. Those vivid red eyes cut through the darkness with a sharp, almost piercing quality, yet her face itself was so lovely the old phrase “a beauty who could topple a nation” seemed made for her. Had he met her anywhere else, he would have taken her for the daughter of some high house.
While she delayed her answer, Leon studied her more carefully. A pure white shirt that matched her hair, paired with a contrasting black skirt. The uniform looked familiar.
He asked on a hunch.
"That outfit… Are you an Academy student?"
The woman in white simply nodded. The knight’s guard eased a fraction. Perhaps this was one of those courage tests popular among the students lately. In any case, she no longer seemed a threat worth worrying over.
He exhaled a quiet sigh, brow furrowing as though preparing a lecture.
"…I will not hold you accountable for ignoring the knight order’s restrictions. Leave this place at once."
"…"
She remained where she stood, blinking those red eyes. Moonlight caught in the crimson irises made them beautiful and yet so hollow that Leon found he could not meet her gaze.
Unbothered, she pointed in one direction without the slightest change of expression.
"I saw someone dressed the same as you hurry that way."
Toward the deepest stretch of the alley—the very place the monster was said to haunt. Had his junior ignored the order to wait and gone in first? For what reason?
His junior was not the sort to disobey without cause or act recklessly. If the silver-haired woman’s words were true, there had to be a proper reason.
But…
"…"
He had no idea. He clutched at his tangled thoughts, yet nothing came.
"It was a female knight with red hair."
The silver-haired woman spoke again. The description matched his junior perfectly.
"When she arrived, a young boy was being dragged off by a monster. The moment she saw it, she rushed in after them."
"How could you possibly—!"
Leon’s voice rose. He wanted to demand how he was supposed to believe any of it. Yet if it truly was his junior, that was exactly how she would have acted. If a monster beyond the alley had lured a nearby citizen, the woman’s account made a grim kind of sense.
Listening to her alone, it was not impossible to accept.
And that was precisely why it felt wrong.
"…How am I supposed to trust you?"
Leon could not bring himself to believe her. They had never met before, and she had never clearly answered even his questions about her identity. Her manner—almost as if she were coaxing him into that alley—set every instinct on edge.
Worse still, her pure silver hair and crimson eyes overlapped far too closely with the descriptions of the alley’s monster.
He forced down the surge of anger and spoke as calmly as he could manage.
"Answer me. What are you? And why are you here?"
He did not truly expect a reply. She would only evade or fall silent again. Was she the monster itself? Perhaps the Academy uniform was nothing more than a disguise meant to lower his guard.
Steel whispered free of its scabbard. Leon leveled the silver blade at the woman, breathing hard. Every muscle was wound tight. If the figure before him was a monster, she could turn on him at any moment.
Yet even with the sword raised, he hesitated. He claimed not to believe her, but the doubt still showed. Half conviction, half suspicion. Separate from how questionable she seemed, the scenario she described was entirely possible.
If her words were true, he had no time to stand here. Somewhere beyond that darkness his junior was fighting for her life.
So Leon remained where he was a moment longer, eyes moving between the alley and the woman. As a seasoned member of the knight order, he chose first to watch and wait.
And then—
—Kyaaaaaaak!!
A scream tore out of the alley’s depths, sharp enough to split the ears. The voice was familiar. Of course it was. It belonged to his junior knight.
—Le… Leon, Senior!! Aah! Save me—please, save me!!
The cry went beyond desperate; it was pitiful. Leon’s heart plummeted. Cold sweat beaded on his brow, and the hand gripping his sword trembled visibly.
"Aren’t you going to check?"
The silver-haired woman turned her head toward the alley as she asked. Beyond that lightless stretch, the dark was so absolute that nothing could be seen. Leon stared into it as well and saw only blackness. He had no way of knowing what was happening further in.
So he took one step, then another, toward the alley. Drawn forward as if something had seized his will, he moved closer simply to see what lay beyond.
When he reached the mouth of the alley, the faint outline of his junior finally appeared—drenched in blood, face twisted in pure terror.
I have to save her.
That single thought filled his mind. Leon adjusted his grip on the sword and plunged into the darkness.
Like a moth hurling itself into a campfire—foolish, reckless, yet desperately human.
"…"
And someone had watched the entire scene from start to finish.
Her name was Iria.
The back-alley monster who lured humans with crimson eyes, weaving hallucinations and phantom cries to draw them in. Beyond the alley Leon had charged into, there was nothing at all. From beginning to end it had been only an illusion Iria crafted by reading his memories.
As though the routine were long familiar, she followed her snared prey into the dark.
A knight today, is it?
On that clear, full-moon dawn, another victim was added to the same alley.