49. Pet Human (2)
49. Pet Human (2)
As soon as Albert disappeared from sight while carrying Gwen through the passage he had guided her through, he placed his hand against the wall and slumped to the floor.
Albert, who had never felt fear even once in his life, finally understood what fear was.
Albert hadn't been particularly interested in eternal life, but the moment he saw Queen Lea before him, he realized that if he gave even the slightest negative answer, he would die right then and there, so he simply nodded.
Albert had made a contract with Lea.
Lea had promised to grant Albert eternal life and lend him powerful strength, and in exchange, he had to kidnap Gwen and handle the aftermath of her disappearance.
Gwen is the most famous knight in Medherun City.
She is a knight of great renown, getting along well with the citizens and maintaining close ties with everyone, from adventurers to guards.
She didn't rise to the position of Knight Commander simply because she was strong.
Such a Gwen has suddenly disappeared? He had no idea how to handle this.
But he had to.
'If I have the Queen, there's a possibility I could make this city independent from the Padix Kingdom.'
Albert began to weigh his options in his head.
He already knew from their conversation that Lea did not intend to destroy this city.
One might ask, 'How can you trust those words!' but he had no choice but to trust them. Because he had no choice but to know that Lea was conveying her sincerity.
Then, how does he know that?
It's not because of a monster in his head, but because of a Creature.
It's because there is a Creature like Amber inside Albert's head right now.
There are plenty of humans that Lea wants. No, to begin with, there are many useless humans in Medherun City.
Albert, who had been worrying about how to clean up such humans, began to formulate a plan to gain Queen Lea's power and make this city he loves independent from the Kingdom.
'That aside, what on earth does she intend to do with Gwen?'
Gwen was quite a headache from Albert's perspective as well. But that didn't mean he hated her.
At the very least, it was true that Gwen had made this city firmer, gentler, and warmer than anyone else. The only problem was that it also extended to useless humans.
'It probably won't be anything normal.'
He had heard terms like slave, pig, female, and Pet Human. But while those felt like mere nicknames, the term Pet Human that Lea used made him feel that she truly thought of humans as animals.
'I should pray for Gwen's soul.'
==
"Hup...!"
As the sleeping potion wore off and she regained consciousness, Gwen snapped her eyes open and sat up.
"Wh-where is this?"
Gwen reached both hands out in front of her. But she couldn't see anything.
"Is this a place where no light enters?"
Gwen, who thought her night vision was better than others, slowly thought about what her current situation was in the sightless darkness.
'I was definitely trying to protect Lea-nim—no. Lea-nim forcibly injected me with a sleeping injection. That's why I fell asleep and woke up now. But why on earth?'
Having remembered why she lost consciousness, Gwen felt around with her hands to figure out where she was.
First, she realized she was on a bed.
It was fluffy, there was something she thought was a blanket, and there was a pillow.
A bed, a blanket, and even a pillow. That meant this was someone's room.
'A room, but there's absolutely no light? If so, there must be a magic tool somewhere that emits light.'
While she was reaching here and there, trying to figure out if there was anything that could emit light and exactly where she was, she heard footsteps.
"Oh? Gwen-nim, are you awake?"
A familiar voice was heard.
"Narim-nim!? Is that you, Narim-nim?"
Upon hearing the voice of Narim, whom she thought had been kidnapped by a new monster, Gwen turned her body toward the direction the voice came from.
"Yes. It's me, Narim."
As footsteps that showed no hesitation approached her, Gwen felt suspicious.
"How is your body, Gwen-nim? Are you in any pain? It's a relief that you aren't seriously hurt, at least."
No matter how she thought about it, Narim's words were directed at her.
"Narim-nim, can you see in front of you right now? There is absolutely no light here, so I can't see anything."
"Ah..."
Seeing Gwen fumbling around with her arms, Narim worried about how to say this.
"Please don't be surprised, but listen...? This place is not dark."
"What? That can't be."
Gwen touched her own eyes.
She could feel her pupils well. But even when she closed and opened her eyes and strained them, she couldn't see anything.
'Blindness?'
Gwen tried to get up, but her legs gave out and she collapsed again.
Gwen, who had fallen hard enough that she would have felt pain if it hadn't been a bed, kept touching her eyes.
"Th-there, please calm down."
"Where is this?"
Although flustered, Gwen asked Narim questions to calmly understand her current situation.
"Um... they call it a bedroom."
"A bedroom?"
If there's a large bed, a blanket, and a pillow, calling it a bedroom is correct, but that wasn't the answer Gwen wanted.
"I mean, it's a bedroom in a place called the Colony, but I don't know how to explain this..."
Colony.
As soon as she heard that word, she guessed that this was a place where Spider Monsters gathered.
'But why would there be a bed, a blanket, and even a pillow in a place like that?'
And besides, Narim, who was thought to be dead even though it was a disappearance, was talking to her perfectly fine, and judging by her voice, she could tell she had been living without any major problems.
'Wait a minute, that means...'
The one who brought her here was none other than The Saint, Lea.
The Saint and Spider Monsters? They didn't match at all.
Her mind was in a jumble when a new voice was heard.
"Oh my, you're awake?"
Lea, who had just finished reorganizing the Colony, saw Gwen wake up and rushed over to her.
"Saint-nim, what on earth is going on?"
Gwen tried to turn her body toward the direction the voice came from, but ended up being hugged by Lea.
Gwen pushed Lea away strongly with her hands and said,
"Saint-nim... no, who on earth are you?"
"There's no need to hide it anymore anyway, so I'll tell you. Nice to meet you. I am Lea, the mother of the Creatures and their Queen."
"Creature...?"
"The meaning is different, but to put it simply, it's easier to think of them as beings similar to Monsters. Of course, they are beings on a different level from Monsters."
"Then that means the Spider Monster that attacked this city..."
"It's not a Spider Monster, but a Ners. It's a Creature called a Ners."
"Ha... was it all an act?"
"An act?"
"I'm talking about the Orphanage."
"It's not an act. I was sincerely taking care of the children."
"Don't lie to me!"
"Why do you think I'm lying?"
In fact, Gwen didn't understand this part either.
Why on earth was she, who introduced herself as the Queen of Creatures, running an orphanage?
She thought that explaining herself as the Queen of Creatures was, when you get down to it, the same as saying she was a Demon King.
Why on earth would such a being run an orphanage?
Furthermore, was she saying that taking care of the children at the orphanage was also sincere?
But she knew that sincerity was a lie.
Because.
"Then what about Niv? If you are the Queen of Creatures, how will you explain that incident at the orphanage?"
"Ah... that is truly a regrettable matter. But since Gwen-nim was gradually approaching my secrets, I had no choice."
"The mana tracking tool... why on earth is that related to you?"
"Because the Creatures are me, and I am the Creature. All Creatures belong to one Hive Mind, and that Hive Mind is me."
As soon as Lea's words ended, Gwen's judgment was made.
That being a Saint was all a lie, and the being in front of her was one that would put countless people in danger.
Gwen looked exactly where Lea was, gathered mana in her hand, and sharpened it.
Gwen is a human at the very top among humans.
Just because she couldn't see didn't mean her combat ability was lost. Among monsters, there are monsters that obstruct vision.
Just because she didn't have a sword in her hand didn't mean her combat ability was lost. A skilled person at Gwen's level could create a sword with sufficient lethality using mana.
It is the epitome of inefficiency to keep using a sword made of mana, but in a moment like this, it is absolutely necessary.
However, Gwen's attack did not succeed.
Before she could reach Lea, she lost her balance and fell onto the bed.
"Wh-what is this."
"Do you think I would have just blinded the eyes of someone in the position of Knight Commander?"
'I can't put strength into my ankles and wrists. But there's no problem with my mana.'
At Lea's words, who seemed to be still letting her guard down, she gathered all of her mana.
Lea worried about how to train Gwen, who was fiercer than expected, due to the mana gathering like a bomb that would explode the moment the slightest stimulus was applied.
If she removed her mana, it would be good solely for the purpose of a pet, but since she intended to conduct various experiments with Gwen, removing her mana was not a good idea.
Since Lea had many things she wanted to try with a female human who possessed a lot of mana, she had to train Gwen, who had mana.
Thinking it would be a quite difficult time, Lea decided to start with discipline.