Chapter 2
Chapter 2
She ate a knight.
It could not be helped. Recently, Iria had not been able to feed at all due to the knight order’s strict access control.
The last limit for her to maintain sanity without eating humans was one week.
Yesterday’s evening marked the seventh day.
So the knight was simply unlucky.
“….”
Iria stood still, as if savoring the aftertaste of her meal.
She wiped the blood from her lips, then licked what remained on her fingers. It was still an unfamiliar sensation.
When she killed and ate a human, her body rejoiced. The moment human blood touched her tongue, a sharp thrill surged through her entire being. In that instant, Iria felt that she was truly alive.
But soon after, she lowered her head.
Guilt tightened around her as if binding her down, the weight of having harmed an innocent person once again for her own desire.
Even if she was now a monster, she had once been human.
It had already been a year since she fell into this world of a novel she did not even know the contents of.
Now she existed here as a monster named Iria.
A half-human, half-demon being. A hybrid of human and monster, she was a manifestation of demonic nature that retained a human form while inheriting the traits of a demon.
Because of that, she could only eat humans. No other food could satisfy her hunger.
In other words.
So this person wasn’t the protagonist either.
If she did not want to kill again, she had to end this story.
Even if it meant killing the protagonist of the novel she did not even know the face of.
The Central Empire Academy was noisy as always.
It was a place filled with young, energetic students learning various combat disciplines such as swordsmanship and magic, so perhaps it was natural.
There were even research papers from mage towers suggesting that constant exposure to real-combat-like training turned normal students more aggressive over time.
In any case, that was the nature of the academy. It trained students to fight against the increasing number of monsters.
“Hey, hey! Listen to this! Another knight went missing during patrol yesterday!”
“A knight?”
Even so, today’s classroom was unusually loud.
Was something serious happening? Iria, who had been trying to sleep in class, turned her head away, uninterested.
“Yeah, it’s a big deal. The knight order is already understaffed.”
“If knights are disappearing, doesn’t that mean something real is there? Not just anyone, but a knight is missing?”
“I know… it’s kind of scary.”
A woman with golden hair named Rena shivered as she spoke.
Knights were on a completely different level compared to academy students.
To join the knight order, one had to graduate from the academy first, which already meant four years of training at the empire’s top institution.
Even within the academy, the difference between first-year and second-year students was significant. Experience and time mattered.
After four years of training and real combat experience, a knight was no longer something a student could compare to.
“Iria, aren’t you scared?”
Rena tapped Iria lightly.
“Huh? Well… I guess it’s scary…”
“You look tired. What were you doing last night?”
“Something came up… I was busy. I couldn’t really sleep.”
Iria yawned softly as she recalled last night.
She had been busy erasing evidence.
By the time she finished everything, dawn had already broken, so she had no choice but to come straight to school.
That was why she was tired. She had basically not slept at all.
As she forced her heavy eyes open, she organized today’s lectures in her mind.
Basic Magic Theory, Application of Elemental Magic, and several swordsmanship-related classes.
Although the subjects did not match at all, there was a reason she enrolled in everything she could.
It was directly tied to why she had entered the academy.
She had come here to find the protagonist of the novel she had been reincarnated into.
Naturally, she assumed someone with the presence of a protagonist would most likely be here.
Of course, she did not know the protagonist’s face or name.
But that was not a problem.
Iria could read a person’s memories by making eye contact.
Surely, someone with a strong background would be the protagonist of the story.
“….”
She did not expect to find them quickly, but doing nothing was worse.
“Rena, can I look into your eyes for a second?”
“Huh? I don’t mind, but why?”
“Just do it quickly.”
“Like this?”
“Hm…”
As expected, Rena was not the one either. Iria turned away with a slightly disappointed expression.
For ordinary students with no resistance to mental influence, simply making eye contact with Iria could cause psychological strain.
“Alright, that’s enough.”
“Huh? What did you just do?”
“Nothing. You just look like you’ve had a hard life.”
“Iria, you don’t have any friends, do you?”
“….”
After that, casual conversation continued.
Most of it was Iria being verbally attacked with undeniable truths about her inability to interact with others.
Still, it did not feel entirely bad.
She was the one being hit with words, but Rena was the only person who talked to her at all.
“You don’t even have anyone to talk to without me.”
“Shut up.”
That was a critical hit.
Iria flinched slightly.
Rena covered her mouth and laughed. Iria was surprisingly easy to tease.
But she stopped before going too far, sensing she might actually get angry.
Instead, she changed the topic.
“Anyway, be careful, Iria. There are rumors that someone is targeting women walking alone. And you’re pretty, so you’d be an easy target.”
“As long as I avoid that area, it’s fine, right?”
“Not exactly. The knight order is already understaffed, and even without the monster rumors, that area is dangerous. There are even reports of women being kidnapped and sold as slaves lately.”
“….”
Iria frowned slightly.
That was not her doing. Was there another resident in her territory?
It felt like her space had been intruded upon.
“Basically, young women walking alone late at night near the back alleys should be careful. Though I doubt anyone that stupid exists.”
Rena laughed as she said it.
From her perspective, the simplest solution was to avoid dangerous places.
That was normal thinking.
But Iria was different.
Wait. That sounds like me.
She matched all three conditions.
Young woman. Walking alone at night. Frequenting back alleys.
She briefly imagined what would happen if she ran into those criminals.
“Hm.”
It sounded like free food.
Strangely enough, the conclusion she reached was that it might actually be beneficial.
Still, she could not look too pleased in front of Rena.
“It really is a dangerous world.”
And she said it with a blank voice.
The irony of being the source of that danger did not occur to her. Or rather, she simply did not care.
Rumors were just rumors. They flared up quickly and disappeared just as fast.
She had no interest in them.
However.
“But the knight order has declared they will respond aggressively.”
“Respond aggressively?”
“If even a knight goes missing, they can’t just treat it as a rumor anymore. I heard they’re planning a large-scale suppression operation soon.”
“….”
This was not something she could ignore.
A large-scale suppression force.
Iria quickly calculated in her mind.
That was something even she could not easily handle after surviving a year in those back alleys.
Her ability worked best when dealing with individuals, not groups.
There was no benefit in clashing with the knight order. Only trouble.
Then I’ll just sleep somewhere else for a while.
She decided to avoid it.
She had eaten yesterday, so she was not particularly hungry anyway.
“Thanks for telling me.”
After finishing school, Iria stopped in front of the city fountain on her way home.
Someone stood in her way.
“Sorry. This area is under restricted access.”
“….”
That’s my way home.
Her gaze shifted beyond them.
There were more armed knights than she had expected.
“Do you have any business here?”
“No.”
Iria had lost her home for today