30. Colony (2)
30. Colony (2)
As soon as I went down to the basement, Maru welcomed me.
Maru, who looked cuter than most of the other kids.
Maru, who just looked like a gigantic puppy, lowered their head and nudged me with it.
I naturally patted Maru's head.
Of course, that's only cute like a puppy from my perspective; Narim, who was seeing Maru for the first time, was trembling in fear as expected.
Leading Narim, I got on Maru's back with Amber and set off for the Colony.
As soon as we arrived at the Colony, Yui and Erina welcomed me.
Erina, as always, felt terrified of me; even though a month had already passed since she started living with me, she still trembled a little whenever she was in front of me.
On the other hand, Yui is different.
Yui has changed a lot recently. When her limbs were being torn off, she was full of hostility toward me, but now she truly looks at me as her Queen.
Amber is becoming a Creature both in mind and body, and her mind is being eroded by the Hive Mind, so that makes sense, but Yui is not.
She hasn't even entered the Hive Mind; it's just that the severed parts of her limbs were slightly eroded by the Creatures.
Let alone the Hive Mind, I didn't even tell her to serve me. Yet, at some point, she changed.
On top of that, Yui's outfit is too lewd.
Starting with Amber, I've bathed with the people here and seen them naked, but Yui's outfit is a bit burdensome to look at.
Ever since she got limbs from the Mimic Creature, she only wears leotard-style clothes.
According to Yui, she made them from the robe she was wearing.
I wondered if she liked exposure, but there was a reason for it.
Right now, Yui's limbs aren't her own; just like my nun outfit, they are in a state where a Mimic Creature has mimicked her limbs.
However, it is definitely a weaker specimen than my Mimic Creature. Plus, it can mimic not only by eating humans but also by using Mana, so it seems to be getting along well with Yui.
Anyway, if she doesn't need to use her limbs, she intentionally separates the Mimic Creature.
Since it's annoying to wear complicated clothes during that process, she wears that bunny girl-like outfit so she can easily take it off and put it on.
"Is this a new livestock?"
As soon as Yui saw Narim, who was fidgeting next to me, she asked if this was a human to be put into the Human Farm.
"Li, livestock...!?"
As soon as she heard that, Narim looked up at me in horror.
Her teary eyes were pleading for me to spare her. As soon as I saw that look, for some reason, I wanted to tease her without realizing it, but I thought that would just lead to her crying her eyes out and wasting time, so I got straight to the point.
"No, she's our cook."
"A cook? Don't we already have a cook?"
Amber had previously selected a human from among the humans who knew how to cook to some extent and made them the cook, but Narim possesses skills that are on a completely different level from that human.
"Narim-i actually has a Unique Ability related to cooking."
"That's something to look forward to."
"Shall we go cook right away?"
"Ye, yes...!"
==
"This is truly amazing. It's so delicious that the food I've eaten until now can't even be called food."
Amber took a bite of the tonkatsu, savored it fully, and as soon as she swallowed, she opened her eyes wide and stared at Narim.
"It's really delicious. This is definitely amazing. It's such a shame that I didn't know there was a cook who could make food like this in Medherun City until now."
Yui showed a happy smile she hadn't shown before and kept eating the tonkatsu.
"Th, that's amazing! It's this delicious, so how did word of it not even reach us when we were adventurers!?"
Despite having the smallest build here, Erina started inhaling the tonkatsu the fastest.
"Hehehe. You all like it so much, it's embarrassing."
Even though Narim had been trembling in fear just a moment ago, knowing she had been kidnapped and that I was a monster from her perspective, her expression changed in an instant as soon as she started cooking, and she served up such a wonderful dish just like that.
I like it very much.
However, that's not the only reason I kidnapped Narim.
I left them to enjoy their meal, took Narim's hand, and came out of my bedroom.
"Now, let's move on to the next dish."
"The next dish?"
"Yes. It's the most important one."
"Sa, Saint-nim?"
As we went deeper underground and she felt the dark, ominous, and sticky wind, Narim clung tightly to me.
As we went down one more floor.
"Hiiiiiiip!"
Countless Creatures, including Ners, emerged from the ceiling, walls, and floor of the large, city-sized cave and stared at Narim.
The moment she saw that, Narim was about to scream, but perhaps thinking it would be a big problem if she provoked the Creatures, she covered her mouth with both hands to stop herself from screaming.
"Hiccup!"
Shiiiii...
I shook my head as she pissed herself again.
I covered Narim's eyes for a moment and walked to where I intended to go. Narim followed me, clinging solely to my hand.
The place we arrived at.
As soon as the delicious smell wafted into my nose, my mouth began to fill with so much saliva that it would start dripping the moment I let my guard down.
However, Narim.
"Uweeeeeegh!"
As soon as she smelled it, she collapsed and started vomiting.
The place we came to now is none other than the Creatures' dining area.
Since there are no Creatures that eat everything at once when they eat something, the surroundings were littered with various scraps left over from the Creatures' meals, and since they were just left there, the smell of rotting corpses did come out.
Small Creatures usually clean up things like that, but since it's a cave, there's no helping the flesh stuck in cracks in the rocks or various other places.
"Keuheuk! Ugh!"
I patted Narim's back.
This place is so overwhelming that even Amber finds it hard to endure.
If you ask why I came here, it's because if I tried to cook a human in my bedroom, it would clearly get dirty, so I came here.
To the dining hall and human execution site.
[ Queen. Here. It is. ]
With good timing, Evolute brought a female human.
It was a woman who looked to be of a certain age.
The reason this woman was caught is simple.
This woman cannot get pregnant. And for over a month at that.
Of course, I know that human pregnancy isn't simple. Since I was human, I know well about it. However, a human woman who cannot easily get pregnant is also a human with no benefit to us.
There is no reason for us to keep her.
"Mmph! Mmph! Mmmph!"
Her mouth is gagged with silk spun by Ners.
"Sa, Saint-nim? Th, that woman, wh, what is...?"
The captured woman was tossed in front of Narim.
And I placed the Butcher Knife, which Evolute had brought, obtained while raiding the village, into Narim's hand.
"Narim-nim. Please make a dish made from a human for Evolute here in front of me."
"Ah..."
"I don't know exactly what your Unique Ability is, but if it's a Unique Ability that can make such delicious dishes, wouldn't it work on a human too? Wouldn't it be even fresher and tastier?"
==
The knife held in her trembling hand feels too heavy.
Why on earth did the situation turn out like this?
Was it like this from the moment the Saint entered her restaurant?
Narim knows she has to kill the woman in front of her. In order to survive herself.
However, Narim, who had never killed a person even once since transmigrating to this world, could not possibly kill the woman who was looking at her pitifully in front of her.
"Huk...!"
Tears flow out.
"Don't worry."
A cold hand that gave her goosebumps just by touching her gently wrapped around Narim's hand, which was holding the Butcher Knife.
Then, she led Narim's hand and brought it to the woman's neck.
Narim, whose body had already lost all its strength, had no choice but to move according to Lea's gestures.
The woman, whose whole body was paralyzed even though a knife was approaching her neck, just let out a pitiful moan.
The Butcher Knife touched the woman's neck.
And the Butcher Knife moved forward.
"Keeeeeeeeugh!!!!"
"Ah..."
In the first place, the Butcher Knife being used right now is not a knife made for slicing.
The Butcher Knife, also called a hammer knife, is a knife intended for applying force with its heavy weight to cut bone.
Since she wasn't striking down with force using such a knife, but rather sawing at it, and it wasn't properly maintained, it took time to cut the woman's neck.
Narim had to feel every sensation of cutting the woman's neck with her own hand, guided by Lea.
The sensation of a person dying, that is.
==
Cutting a person's neck was a much harder task than I thought.
It didn't just slice through like in manga or novels.
If I had done it alone, I would have cut it right away, but the moment I applied force, Narim's hand would have been crushed along with it.
That must absolutely not happen.
Narim's hands must be protected no matter what.
They are hands that make delicious food, so it's only natural to protect them.
I patted the back of Narim, who still hadn't come to her senses, and said.
"The reason I cut off the head is simple. What we like the most is the human brain. The brain is dying right now, so you need to cook it quickly. Okay?"
I picked up the woman's head, which was still dripping blood, and placed it into Narim's hands, which were all scraped up from holding the Butcher Knife while cutting the woman's neck.
Narim opened her eyes, received the head with blood gushing out from the severed neck, and fainted right there.