Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Dream
By the time I had taken all the money and was about to leave, the knights were already entering.
It must have been because of the commotion. They had likely traced the slave trader’s location.
In any case, it wasn’t something I needed to care about. I had already left while concealed.
It felt strange, walking out so openly while no one recognized me at all.
To test it, I even waved my hand in front of their faces, but they still didn’t react.
Outside, it was still dark. Had the sun not risen yet?
Walking through the dawn, drenched in blood, felt somewhat dreamlike.
Maybe it was because my entire body carried a sweet lingering scent. Or perhaps it was because I wasn’t fully sane right now.
Even after more than a year of being a monster, I still couldn’t fully adapt to how I felt after eating humans.
My breathing was uneven, my face flushed.
It wasn’t that I disliked it. That was the problem.
It felt too good.
Because of that, I couldn’t stay rational while eating, and I often lingered in that aftertaste afterward.
It was probably an instinctual, primal urge being triggered.
But this time, it was especially strong.
Normally I suppressed it by spacing out my meals, but I had eaten humans two days in a row.
“Haa… haa…”
I leaned against a wall and tried to steady my breathing.
My body wasn’t in bad condition. In fact, it was too good.
Energy overflowed to the point where I couldn’t control my strength. Anything I grabbed broke easily.
I needed to calm down.
Just a little more. Please. Maybe one more person. I probably wouldn’t even get caught.
My thoughts were clearly wrong, but my body wanted it.
“Ugh…”
I should sleep.
Erase everything like nothing happened.
But where?
Sleeping outside was dangerous. Not for me, but in this state I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t attack someone who passed by.
And if I ate another person now, I might lose control for real.
I needed somewhere to stay. Somewhere no one would come.
The back alleys came to mind. They were always my favorite place.
Quiet, dark, filled with mana. A place that felt comfortable.
But there might still be knight patrols. Running into them like this would be troublesome.
The hunger was getting worse. I wanted human blood.
I licked the blood on my hand.
Just a small taste sent a jolt through me.
It was sweet. Extremely so.
But that made it worse.
The tiny amount only sharpened the craving instead of satisfying it. My heart beat faster.
So.
Thud!
I stabbed a dagger into my left shoulder.
Pain exploded through my body. Blood soaked through me even more than before.
“…That’s better.”
The pain brought me back to my senses.
The blood mixed with my own dulled my appetite.
I should find a house.
With money, most things could be done. Including buying a house.
In the black market, there were places that sold abandoned homes for cheap.
I had 200 gold coins now. It wasn’t difficult.
“Hello.”
“W-what the hell…”
They didn’t exactly welcome me warmly. Covered in blood as I was.
“…How did you get that blood?”
“Are you curious?”
“N-no! Never mind!”
Maybe it was because of the knife still stuck in my shoulder.
Right. I forgot to pull it out.
I pulled it out casually.
Blood burst out like a fountain.
“AAAAH!! GET OUT!! GET OUT NOW!!”
“…?”
Anyway, I had the house, so I left.
The house I got wasn’t bad.
It was dirty and neglected, but quiet and dark, which I liked.
More importantly, it was close to the back alleys where I originally stayed. The owner said that was why no one wanted it.
Everyone avoided the area because a monster was rumored to appear nearby.
I got it for about 70 gold coins. I even paid 10 extra after accidentally breaking a wall while leaning on it.
“Sorry. I broke it.”
“What even happened…”
“I leaned on it and it broke.”
My condition was strange. Unusually good.
Was this the body’s potential? I hoped it would get worse soon, because daily life like this was inconvenient.
Once inside, I decided to wash.
I stripped off all my clothes and went into the bath.
The first thing I saw was myself in the mirror again.
Red eyes that looked almost blood-soaked, and hair half silver, half red.
The red wasn’t natural. It was dried blood.
Cold water washed it away quickly.
From the outside, I looked no different from a human.
What was I, really?
I thought about it.
Not briefly.
Long.
The water kept falling as I stared.
I didn’t know.
I didn’t want to become a monster.
I hated how excited I felt when I saw blood.
I was becoming something I feared.
“Back then… I wasn’t like this.”
A year ago, I had only just been thrown into this world. I was afraid then.
I turned off the water and lay on the bed.
The sheets were wet, but I didn’t care.
I just wanted to sleep.
And I did.
I dreamed.
He had once lived from the bottom.
At seven, he was abandoned by his parents.
They said they couldn’t afford to raise him.
He was thrown onto the streets before he even understood life.
No money. No home. No food.
Do you know how ugly humans become when they are starving?
He ate discarded food scraps from restaurants. Even that wasn’t enough.
He fought other beggars over scraps.
“I need this to live.”
“Just let me survive.”
He prayed every day.
Please let me survive.
Please let me live tomorrow too.
“Hey! Catch that kid!”
He stole bread to survive.
He ran for his life.
If caught, he would be beaten to death.
The bread was too hard to chew, so he soaked it in water.
He survived another day.
And feared the next.
“…Damn it…”
If he was going to suffer anyway, he wished no one could see him.
He hated their eyes. Their disgust.
He wanted to live somewhere unseen.
And then—
“Beorn.”
One day, his prayers were answered.
He gained the ability to hide himself.
“Become a mercenary.”
And so, he became one.