104. Academy (17)
104. Academy (17)
"Charlotta."
Lambert called Charlotta's name in a voice so small that Leah couldn't hear it.
"That bastard has no intention of killing me. So you must actively use me."
"What? Are you crazy?"
"Is there any other good method besides this one? I don't think so."
Lambert and Charlotta spoke without looking at each other, only staring at Leah in front of them.
Because the moment they took their eyes off her even slightly, it felt like an attack would fly at them.
Lambert slowly moved forward without taking his eyes off Leah, making Charlotta move behind him.
"Oh ho... That's an interesting thing to say? Just because I won't kill you doesn't mean I won't touch you, you know?"
"That alone is enough. And why did you come here while disguising yourself as a human?"
Anyone could see he was asking questions to buy time, but Leah decided to play along.
"Actually, I was curious about what kind of place the Academy was, so I came to see... but it's not fun. The only thing I've gained so far is one human named Abe."
"Was it you who kidnapped Abe?"
When the name Abe came up, Lambert immediately recalled it as the name of a recently missing student.
"Yes. But don't worry. He's alive and well, and rather, right now he will only be waiting for me to come."
"Communication isn't working. Then was the Dark Mage's attack also your doing? Were you comrades with the Dark Mage?"
"Ah, I was surprised by that too. I was in the middle of taking the exam when suddenly a huge explosion happened—you have no idea how startled I was. Even now, thinking about it makes my heart pound. And... I don't deal with such vulgar humans."
Leah recalled in her mind the brain of the Dark Mage she had consumed for the first time.
The taste was certainly there, but it left an unpleasant feeling.
Leah knew why.
It was because the Dark Mage was dirty.
It's like two dishes made from the same ingredients, identical in taste, but one is placed on a plate in a completely filthy manner while the other is clean, neatly plated to perfection—which one would you eat?
Of course, everyone would choose the clean, neat, and visually appealing dish.
Leah is the same.
Eating a human who is dirty, ugly, with oil flowing through their hair, filthy skin, yellow teeth, and someone who is described as repulsive to look at—it's quite irritating.
She already hates dirty food, and now she's supposed to call that food her comrade?
Leah squinted her eyes and clearly expressed irritation.
"If you have nothing to do with the Dark Mage, then why are you doing something like this?"
"What do you mean by 'something like this'?"
"You've kidnapped a student and are now even trying to kill."
"Is killing a human a bad thing?"
"What an obvious thing to say!"
"Isn't that only bad when humans kill humans? Does a human who butchers a pig have a murder charge?"
"What does tha—"
"It's the same for me. I am not human. I am a being that treats humans as a staple food. Just as humans eat pigs, I eat humans. And if I find a pretty pig, I raise it."
Lambert was dumbfounded by Leah's words.
Lambert thought he needed to get Charlotta out of here as quickly as possible, even one second faster.
'I need to get Charlotta away from that existence quickly. I've bought enough time. All that's left is to throw Charlotta outside the barrier.'
The reason Lambert had tried to buy time was none other than to break the magic that isolated this place.
The problem was that it took longer than expected.
It was enough to tell that the being who created this barrier was extremely formidable.
But no matter how powerful a spell is, there is always a way to break it.
Normally, breaking it would require countless trial and error, and breaking this kind of barrier magic could take months—but Lambert is different.
Through his unique ability, Visualization, he could even identify the weaknesses of magic.
Because he could visualize the essence of magic and see the weakest part with his own eyes, Lambert barely managed to complete a spell that could forcibly send out at least one person.
Using this spell required an enormous amount of mana, which Lambert's mana alone couldn't provide.
It was to the extent that he would need to sacrifice all of his own life force as a price.
However, Lambert had already been prepared to throw away his own life earlier to save Charlotta.
A body that had already accepted death doesn't take long to accept death again.
It just moves once more.
"Puhah!"
Then Leah laughed.
"What's so funny?"
Lambert replied to Leah's words while sending one hand behind his back, spreading his fingers.
It was to grab Charlotta's hand and send her out.
He hadn't said anything, exchanged any words, or discussed any plan, but he was certain that Charlotta would understand the meaning.
"No, it's just that seeing you putting in so much effort to get Seonbaenim Charlotta out of here right now is so impressive."
'Did she know!?'
Although something that absolutely must not be discovered had been discovered, Lambert didn't change his expression.
"I don't know what you mean."
'Charlotta. Please grab my hand!'
He urgently clenched and unclenched his hand to signal Charlotta to grab it, but Charlotta didn't take his hand.
"Seonbaenim Lambert. Aren't you being too inconsiderate toward Seonbaenim Charlotta?"
At those words, Lambert stopped abruptly.
Come to think of it, it was strange.
Originally, Charlotta talks a lot.
But right now, she wasn't saying anything at all, which was strange.
With a tremendous monster in front of them and an atmosphere where even blinking might trigger an attack, he couldn't help but pay less attention to Charlotta, who was behind him.
No, he paid no attention.
Even while thinking this, Charlotta gave no response.
Lambert took his eyes off Leah and turned his head to look at Charlotta behind him.
Fortunately, Charlotta was standing as before.
But something was off about her condition.
She wasn't blinking, her eyes were unfocused, her mouth was hanging open, and drool was dripping down between her lips.
In short, no strength could be felt in her face at all.
The rapier she had been holding was also dangling limply, not pointing at Leah.
There was no strength to be found in her arms, legs, or anywhere else.
As if she had been hypnotized.
"What did you do!!!"
Lambert shook Charlotta and shouted.
"Hold on, don't shake her! It would be a waste if the brain spills out!"
"Wha, what?"
"I melted Seonbaenim Charlotta's brain. So if you shake her head, the brain might flow out through her nose or ears, so don't shake her."
"Th, that's what—"
Lambert used his unique ability on Charlotta.
"Ah... ah... ah, no..."
The figure of a knight that represented Charlotta's essence, once strong and beautiful, was horribly distorted.
To the point where she could no longer be seen as human.
It was as if a Slime was wearing knight armor.
"Ho, how, how..."
"From the beginning?"
Leah had attached a Creature to Charlotta. More precisely, she had parasitized her.
At first, it was just for surveillance.
Since Charlotta was a fairly famous human at the Academy, Leah had attached it to monitor her.
But the reason she suddenly melted Charlotta's brain was simple.
She wanted to see Lambert in despair.
Anyone could see that the two seemed to like each other.
So she wanted to plunge them both into despair.
"Ah, the brain fluid is overflowing. I only intended to melt the brain, but was the component too strong? Did the meninges partially melt too?"
The membrane weakened by the impact of Lambert's shaking tore, and from Charlotta's ears and nose, a liquid clearer than water began to leak out.
Being in that state meant there wasn't much time left before death.
"I'd better eat her quickly."
Leah approached Charlotta to eat her.
Lambert ignored Leah and examined Charlotta's condition.
'She's not completely dead yet...! I can save her...!'
This place is not Earth.
It's a fantasy world where beings called Goddesses exist.
Goddesses who can even revive the dead.
Though her brain had melted, the body itself was still alive. It would be correct to say that her mind had already collapsed at the point the brain dissolved, but Lambert wasn't thinking about that.
He only had the single thought of saving Charlotta.
'The Saint. If I go to the Saint. If it's the Saint—"
"If you're looking for the Saint, she's right here."
Leah smiled as she looked at Lambert, who was gradually going mad, through the status window.
Her smile was like the pure smile of a child.
"Aaaaaaarrrgh!!!"
Lambert finally lost his reason and swung his sword at Leah, but it was blocked by the Creature.
Ignoring Lambert, whose limbs were tightly bound, Leah approached Charlotta, who was on the verge of death.
"Don't touch Charlotta!!!"
Ignoring Lambert's desperate cry, Leah burrowed into Charlotta's ear and began to suck out the sticky, melted brain.
"Ah... ah... ugh... eht..."
As the brain was sucked out, the little soul that remained in Charlotta let out a faint moan and disappeared.
Thud.
Charlotta, with nothing left inside her skull, collapsed onto the cold club floor.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
"Hmm~"
Leah's body trembled with the happiness that came from eating a beautiful and pretty dish.
'As expected, when it comes to food, a dish with pretty plating is delicious.'
Now having no resistance whatsoever to eating humans, and rather starting to feel a desire to eat pretty and beautiful humans, Leah was beginning to think about leaving the Academy, where it was becoming difficult to comfortably smoke and eat humans, and she started picturing in her mind kidnapping a few pretty humans in the process.