32. Gwen (2)
32. Gwen (2)
As I opened my eyes, warm sunlight illuminated the room, and Amber's soft body welcomed me.
For a while, I touched Amber's body here and there, kneading it like toy slime to wake myself up, but Amber woke up before I did.
I stood up with Amber's help.
Back when I was a man, waking up would have brought a wave of annoyance—a heavy body, a headache, and so on. But since waking up as the Queen, I haven't felt anything like that.
It's probably because of this sturdy body. It's a body that doesn't need sleep in the first place, so it feels like my stamina is unconditionally restored whenever I sleep.
As Amber massaged my shoulders to wake me up, a refreshing sensation spread throughout my body, and the sleepiness vanished in an instant.
I shivered all over and got out of bed.
As soon as I got up, Amber started helping me change. While the nun outfit in its Mimicry state was being put on over my pajamas, I thought about what I had to do today.
"Finished."
"Thank you again today."
Perhaps happy to be back with me, the nun outfit softly embraced my body.
As I walked down the creaky wooden stairs, the first floor of the orphanage came into view.
It was still early, so there were no children to be seen.
I came down to the first floor and stood in front of the Goddess statue.
A statue where you can feel the traces of time here and there. People suggested it would be better to replace it, but I opposed it.
Actually, the fact that you can feel the passage of time makes it look more impressive. It's the kind of Goddess statue where you'd expect to find a hidden item or a hidden job in a place like this.
As always, I knelt before the Goddess statue, clasped my hands together as if praying, and bowed my head, closing my eyes.
It's a behavior I do often at the orphanage.
There's no special reason for doing this.
I'm not a real Saint, but I do it to imprint upon everyone that I am the most holy, beautiful, and kind person possible.
The sight of a beautiful nun praying before a Goddess statue that bears the marks of time would make anyone think that nun is holy.
As each of these actions adds up, the chances of anyone doubting me will decrease.
That said, I'm not wasting time just by praying.
The main reason is to manage my Colony via the Hive Mind while pretending to pray.
When I enter the consciousness of another creature through the Hive Mind, my main body stops moving. Just like a corpse.
Since my main body stops anyway, entering the Hive Mind in this praying posture allows me to build favor with the humans around me while also managing the Colony, so it's killing two birds with one stone.
My consciousness drifted away and entered Evolute's vision.
[ Please enter the bedroom. ]
[ Understood. ]
Evolute entered my bedroom as I commanded.
My bedroom, which rivals any palace, came into view. It's a room so large that it's ambiguous to even call it a bedroom.
It's big enough to be called a house in its own right, but compared to the total size of the Colony, it's truly the size of a pinky fingernail, so I just call it a bedroom.
As I entered the bedroom to some extent, Yui and Erina, who were still sleeping, came into view.
Erina was sleeping while hugging Yui, who had no limbs, like a pillow. Yui looked quite uncomfortable.
But one person was missing. Where did she go?
I ordered Evolute to find the one who wasn't visible.
[ Understood. ]
Narim was huddled in a corner of the bedroom where almost no light reached, wrapped in a blanket and hugging her own knees.
She looked quite mentally exhausted.
"Huh? Hiiiik!"
Narim looked up at the presence felt in front of her, made eye contact with Evolute, and fainted on the spot.
I picked up the fainted Narim and placed her on the bed where Yui and Erina were.
I can't gauge when Narim will cook human food. For now, since I've already kidnapped her, I plan to take proper care of her and wait until she grows.
First, I think I should put off the human food for later and start training her to cook human food step by step.
If she breaks down mentally, I'll have no choice but to use her as food, but that's too much of a waste of power.
I don't know Narim's exact Unique Ability yet, but seeing as the emotion I felt after eating the tonkatsu still lingers on the tip of my tongue, it's definitely a very good Unique Ability.
I can absorb all powers like Mana, Holy Power, and Strength, but the only thing I can't do is absorb Unique Abilities.
The fact that I couldn't eat the Status Window last time still lingers in my mind.
Anyway, I think Narim's Unique Ability is absolutely necessary, so unlike the others, I plan to take care of her for a long time.
==
I set things up so Narim could sleep well and was about to head to the Human Farm, but Evolute brought up a different topic first.
[ Queen-nim. ]
[ Yes. ]
[ I have. Something to tell you. ]
[ What is it? ]
[ Finally. Completed. It. ]
[ What— oh, no way? ]
[ Correct. It is. A creature. Made. From. A human. Brain. ]
[ Let's go see— ]
While I was talking to Evolute, I felt someone carefully tapping my shoulder.
[ I will check on the completed child myself later. ]
[ Understood. ]
Since no one but Amber ever touches me when I'm praying, I disconnected from the Hive Mind, opened my eyes, and looked to the side.
"Ugh!?"
Contrary to my expectations, there was a pure white woman.
And not just any woman, but one in full armor with a sword visible at her waist.
It was Gwen.
I was slightly surprised to see someone different from my expectations in front of me, so I fell backward.
"Saint-nim!"
As I fell on my butt in surprise, Gwen hurriedly reached out to help me up. At the same time, she bowed her waist to me again.
"I apologize for startling you. Amber-nim was not here, so I interrupted your prayer in my haste."
She is incredibly polite.
Even though she is the Knight Commander who leads the strongest force and knights in the city, she bowed her waist to me and lowered herself, and the act of bowing itself had grace.
She didn't just bow; she moved with military precision, placing one hand on the sword at her waist and the other firmly against her thigh as she bowed, which was so disciplined that even I thought it looked cool.
I first guided Gwen to the table behind me and sat down.
"What brings you here? And at such an early hour, too."
Honestly, I was very surprised.
I've met Gwen a few times while running the orphanage for the past month.
Knowing that an orphanage had been established here, she patrolled the surroundings every dawn and occasionally brought children who needed help.
And those were children who had no parents, so even if they disappeared later, no one would look for them.
From Gwen's perspective, it seems she leaves them at the orphanage because it's hard for them to live alone in this harsh world without parents, but from my perspective, she was bringing me children who wouldn't be a problem to use as food at any time.
But this was the first time she had visited so suddenly.
"It's nothing else, but I came because there is something I must tell you. I came because I thought you, Saint-nim, needed to be clearly aware of this information."
Right now, Gwen's face was so beautiful and cool that if I were a man, I would have confessed to her immediately.
Such strength with such looks is honestly a foul play.
I haven't seen her many times, but even her personality is perfect.
"Would it be alright if I used a little magic?"
"It's fine. Is it a story that others shouldn't hear?"
"Yes."
She took out a small magic wand and waved it a few times, and a transparent barrier appeared, blocking off the area around Gwen.
"I also debated a lot whether or not to tell you this, Saint-nim, but I came because I thought you should know."
"What is it?"
"Have you noticed anything suspicious, or have you heard of anyone suddenly disappearing while going about your recent activities?"
At Gwen's words, I was slightly surprised in my heart.
That statement clearly means she has recognized the problems occurring around here.
I don't remember how many humans I've killed while living here.
Did I kill about 50?
To be honest, it wasn't me who killed them, but all my cute Mimic Creatures, but if you look at it closely, it was me who killed them.
However, I have a lot to say on this matter. I didn't kill innocent humans.
I only killed the trash-like humans filled with greed and lust who approached me to kidnap, rape, or murder me.
"I'm not sure, but I do know that corpses have been disappearing strangely in the vicinity."
First of all, it wouldn't make sense to say I don't know at all. Even to me, it has changed too much in the month since this orphanage was established.
But I can't honestly say, "I killed the criminals who were targeting me nearby."
"That part is not strange."
"Pardon?"
While I was thinking about what to do, Gwen spoke first. For a moment, I wondered what she meant, but Gwen kindly explained first.
"Most of the organizations in the slums have said they respect you, Saint-nim, and will not create disputes around the orphanage. This is certain because our informants told us so."
"Ah..."
So that's what happened. No wonder there haven't been any decent humans to eat lately.
Picking up corpses while wandering around and pretending to hold funerals while sending the bodies underground to use as food had been very helpful in maintaining our Colony.
But recently, there have been fewer fights or dead bodies appearing nearby, so I wondered what was going on.
It's a bit of a shame.
It's fine to just fight, though.
"Then what is the information I need to know?"
"The number of missing persons has increased too much recently."
"Is that so?"
"I believe the reason for that is that one of the monsters that recently attacked several villages has secretly infiltrated our city and is causing this."
"...!"
I was surprised inwardly at Gwen's unexpected words.
How on earth did she think the disappearances happening in this city were related to our creatures?
"I suspect that monster is near this orphanage."
It's right in front of you.
"No matter how much the adventurers, Amber-nim, and our knights are patrolling here, that monster is a very dangerous monster, so the orphanage is quite at risk."
Wow...
What is this human?