58. Daily Life (1)
58. Daily Life (1)
Oh...
I sat on the edge of the bed, moving my arms and legs to check my current appearance.
The glamorous body was gone, and stubby limbs came into view.
It was a body similar to Stacey's. That didn't mean the hunger had disappeared, though. The thought of wanting to eat humans kept tapping, tapping at my head.
But compared to before, it was much more bearable. Until a little while ago, I wanted to eat every living thing in front of me, but now it had dropped to just, "I'm a bit peckish?"
Amber, who was right in front of me, was watching me.
Amber seemed quite flustered; I could see her hands lost, not knowing where to go.
I took those hands of Amber's and placed them on top of my head.
Seu-euk. Seu-euk.
Amber naturally stroked my hair.
"Hut-!? S-sorry!"
==
Smoking in the form of a 10-year-old isn't exactly great, but since the impulse has only decreased, not disappeared, I have to keep smoking.
I watched Narim cook from the side while smoking.
One might ask if it's bad to smoke while cooking, but since the ingredient being cooked is human, it doesn't matter.
A cigarette burning human flesh and cooking a human are the same thing.
From a human perspective, I'm just smelling the smoke created by grilling pork belly, and Narim is cooking with that pork belly.
Gulp.
Narim's hands were trembling.
"Narim-nim."
"Y-yes!"
"I guess you didn't cook like this before?"
".... Yes. Before, Yui-unni gave it to me as flesh so it would be easier for me..."
It seems she gave it in meat form, like pork belly.
Right now, it wasn't in that form; a woman's right foot was there, exposed.
I can understand how Narim feels.
Even chefs on Earth, who can make great steaks with beef, would mostly be unable to do it if asked to slaughter a live cow first.
Wait a minute.
Thinking about this, I realized that my demand to Narim was a bit too much.
I mean, what kind of chef slaughters the animal when they're just grilling a steak?
"Never mind, Narim-nim."
"Y-yes!?"
Narim, who had been holding a Chinese cleaver and trying to cut the knee area first, jumped in surprise and stepped back.
"I'll bring someone in charge of slaughtering."
"S-slaughtering duty?"
"Yes. Surely there's someone who has slaughtered humans before, right?"
If I tried to find one normally, I wouldn't be able to, but there is one human in Medherun City who has a contract with me.
Albert, the de facto supreme ruler of Medherun City.
"I-it's okay! I can do it!"
"Don't worry. If you have to do things like this, I feel like Narim-nim's stress will pile up, so I'll create an environment where you can cook comfortably."
"Uh... yes..."
==
"Welcome...? Q-Queen?"
"You've been doing well, right?"
"Yes."
Albert hesitated for a moment at my shrunken body, but he quickly adapted and attended to me.
"There's something I want to ask of you, but I heard you had something to tell me first. Is that right?"
"That is correct. However—"
"It's fine. What I want to ask isn't urgent. Speak first."
"Understood. First, the Holy Kingdom's Saintess candidate, Viviant, is coming to Medherun City with her soldiers."
"Huh...?"
I was listening while drinking the tea Albert handed me, and suddenly the Holy Kingdom came up.
"The reason she is coming to our city is to subjugate the Ners that attacked our city."
"Not the Padix Kingdom, but the Holy Kingdom? And a Saintess candidate at that?"
"The Padix Kingdom has abandoned our city."
"Abandoned it?"
"Yes. To protect our city, one of the knight divisions was annihilated, and while one division came to our city, they still suffered heavy losses. Because of that, neighboring countries are said to be targeting the Padix Kingdom."
Countless knights died to protect Medherun City, and as a result, the Padix Kingdom's military power weakened.
Even if wars don't happen often in this world and they have mutual agreements, that's only because fighting causes losses for both sides.
"But what if one side's power drops significantly?"
"If you can take over a country without suffering heavy losses, that could be quite profitable."
"There is only one reason why war hasn't broken out until now."
"Right now, the surrounding countries are just feeling each other out, but the moment a starting point appears..."
It's about caution, just as Albert said. Because declaring war means your own country is at war too. Even if there's a power gap and no major losses, other countries might eye you greedily in the process.
In this tense atmosphere where everyone is watching each other, a Saintess candidate suddenly comes to Medherun City?
It's too out of the blue.
Medherun City is a city of the Padix Kingdom. Yet, a different nation, the Holy Kingdom, is coming for Medherun City?
Shouldn't they be coming from the Padix Kingdom in the first place?
"It seems Saintess candidate Viviant thinks the reason the Saintess selection happened in this era is because of the Ners. People say it's ridiculous that a Saintess would be chosen because of mere monster swarms, but..."
Albert looked at me cautiously.
The Saintess selection hadn't happened for a long time, then suddenly, a few months ago, the Goddess gave a revelation to select a Saintess? I also think it's because of me.
"It's fine. Please continue."
"Viviant is scheduled to arrive in the city in about a week. Viviant is quite capable even among the Saintess candidates. On top of that, I've heard she is an Otherworlder."
"An Otherworlder? A Saintess candidate?"
"Yes. There's a lot of talk because of that, but it seems she's receiving quite a lot of support due to her Holy Power and the Otherworlder's Unique Ability."
"Oh?"
How amazing would a creature made from a human with a lot of Holy Power be?
Stacey, born from Gwen who had trained her mana and body, is certainly not that strong of a creature by creature standards, but Stacey currently possesses power equivalent to an Overlord class.
I had her fight our kids to see how strong Stacey is.
The result was that anything below Overlord class couldn't do anything to Stacey and just died.
I mean, without even any back-and-forth, Stacey just ran over and crushed their heads with her hands.
Stacey is that powerful. I didn't check her regeneration because she looked too young.
Even so, I thought it was too much to cut off the limbs of a child who was born not long ago just to check her regeneration.
That was the extent of the creature born from Gwen, who could fight Gluttony to some extent with a human body. Then what about the Saintess candidate? And she's not just any Saintess candidate.
She is an Otherworlder.
There was an Otherworlder I saw for the first time who I quite liked.
An Otherworlder who I thought had a status window as a Unique Ability.
I tried to steal that Unique Ability once, but unfortunately, I couldn't steal it.
Back when I was a man, I liked games. Manga and anime, too.
I thought it was the golden rule that if you come to another world like me, you get a status window, but since I didn't have one, I felt a little disappointed—
It came to me.
The way for me to see the status window.
"Albert. Are there any Otherworlders in Medherun City?"
"Otherworlders? Unfortunately, I don't know."
"You don't know? You, Albert?"
"It's difficult because the only way to distinguish Otherworlders is by their appearance. Of course, you might find out if you talk to them consistently, but the most reliable standard is appearance, and appearance can be changed."
"Hmm... I suppose it is hard to judge. If there is a human who seems to be an Otherworlder, please let me know. It would be even better if you kidnapped them and brought them to me."
"Understood. I'll have my kids out and check. That's all I had to say. What is the Queen's request?"
"Is there a human who is well-versed in slaughtering humans?"
"Ah, we have a friend at our auction house who does human slaughter performance art. They are quite popular, so before the main auction starts, this friend always comes out and performs in front of many people."
I knew there would be one.
No matter how much they say creatures are evil, evil. We are definitely not evil.
At the very least, we don't rape to get them pregnant; we just use tentacles to impregnate them, provide food that fully satisfies their nutritional needs, give them comfortable sleeping quarters, and take good care of them.
Yui even said that the humans who were in the slum shantytowns are much happier now.
Plus, we don't kill them painfully.
The pain of dying is also very short and concise.
But humans?
Even on Earth, there are many humans from whom even real devils would run away, so how much worse would it be in a medieval fantasy world, which is said to be worse than modern times?
"For what reason are you looking for that friend?"
"It's nothing else, but I want to treat our kids to human cuisine, and I'm looking for someone who can slaughter humans well and turn them into meat."
"If it's that... I'll ask first— ah, no. I will send them right away."
"Thank you."
First, I've secured a slaughterer, I've secured a chef, and now it's time to wait for the Saintess and check the method for me to see the status window.
To do that, I need one more human with a Unique Ability.
Before leaving Albert's room, I said to Albert.
"Can you also send me a human whose Unique Ability is intuitive?"
"Of course, that's possible."
"Thank you."
Albert is the best.
He's a very reliable human.
To think a human could be this likable.
I should give him a reward later.
My body and mind are slowly becoming a creature, so I should treat him to human cuisine once.
No. Albert just wants the city to do well, so should I grant him one thing he wants?