Keeping It Fresh
Severed limbs are still technically a part of Lucia's body. In other words, even after being detached from her physical form, they remain under the influence of her Super Regeneration for a short while. It wasn't as if they would never rot, or that the severed limbs would regenerate into a brand-new clone of Lucia—thankfully, no such awkward situations occurred.
If left abandoned in their severed state, the Super Regeneration within them would gradually weaken. Eventually, it would vanish entirely, and the severed limbs would rot just like any ordinary flesh.
Normally, the decomposition of a corpse is heavily influenced by its surrounding environment. Heat, light, oxygen, humidity, temperature—various factors dictate the rate of decay. In that sense, since it had already been a day since they were severed, they really should have started rotting by now. It would be only natural for the skin to discolor and emit a foul stench.
Yet, thanks to the lingering effects of Super Regeneration, Lucia's severed limbs showed no signs of decay, aside from being a little pale. The forearms were still soft, and the legs were perfectly squishy. Looking at them like this, they almost resembled well-crafted mannequins.
I neatly arranged the limbs I had chopped up on the desk so I could pack them into my backpack. Originally, I hadn't planned on hacking them into pieces. Since I happened to have a large backpack, I had intended to just stuff them in whole. But you see, human arms and legs are surprisingly long. And bulky. They take up a lot of space. When I tried putting them in, the ankles and wrists poked out awkwardly, creating a rather horrific sight.
I figured a suitcase might fit everything... but bringing a rolling suitcase on a mountain hike is a bit much, isn't it? So, I cleanly chopped them up. Thwack with an axe. Scritch-scratch with a wire saw. After cutting them down to a manageable size, I bagged them in black plastic trash bags and stuffed them into the backpack. Then, in the dead of night, I climbed the mountain to bury them in secret.
...Putting it like that makes me sound like some kind of psycho serial killer who commits dismemberment. Hey, the limbs I chopped up belong to Lucia, okay? And since I am Lucia, I just cut up my own limbs. Nothing weird about that, right? Right? Surely there's at least one girl out there whose hobby is self-dismemberment? What? There isn't? Don't make me laugh. She's right here!
"Um, excuse me, but Lucia is just an ordinary girl with a modest dream of being drawn and quartered! One day, I want to have all my limbs chopped off, my head decapitated, and hung up on a wall. I won't die anyway, so I can just stick them back on later. Actually, you don't even have to put me back together. You can just keep me on display. Or maybe you could just cut off my limbs, put a collar on me, and keep me as a pet..."
Ah, now is not the time for this. I shook my head vigorously to clear my stray thoughts. Lucia's limbs, still imbued with Super Regeneration, weren't rotting yet. But it wouldn't last. Not even a week. They wouldn't make it to the field training before decomposition set in. That simply wouldn't do. If they rotted, they'd be impossible to hide. The stench would be unbearable, and I wouldn't be able to carry them around.
Putting them in the fridge might delay the decay. But then they'd just rot normally once I took them out. I knew the bus ride to the field training site was going to be quite long. It would be a disaster if they started rotting during the trip.
"He-he... I guess I have no choice then."
I just had to keep them from rotting. It was actually quite simple when you thought about it. All I had to do was keep Lucia's Super Regeneration active in them, right? If they stayed detached for too long, the regeneration faded. Conversely, if they weren't detached for too long, the regeneration wouldn't disappear.
"Yep, I'll be counting on you again."
Ta-da! I whipped out my wire saw. It was still stained with blood from when I used it to cut my limbs earlier. First, I stripped completely naked. It was a pain to wash out bloodstains if they got on my clothes. And since I was already naked, I gave my breasts a little squeeze. So soft. Just like pudding. If I stimulate them like this, maybe they'll grow a little?
You see, if your breasts are too big, it makes intense movement really difficult. Especially for Lucia, a future hero whose daily life will be filled with combat, a massive chest is nothing but a useless, heavy burden. Honestly, not just for Lucia, but big breasts are completely unnecessary for anything other than sex appeal, aren't they? Experiencing "breast physics" in real life is just heavy, painful, exhausting, and embarrassing. It just hurts. And tires me out. Plus, all the boys stare. It's so embarrassing.
"He, he-het..." I wiped away the drool pooling at the corner of my lips and began sawing away at my arm. You get used to this after doing it a few times. I ruthlessly sliced through the muscles, which were taut with agony, and hacked through the bone. Leaving only a thin shred of skin, I paused the saw. My arm dangled limply, bubbling with hot, frothy blood. I grabbed it with my other hand and ripped it off with sheer force.
"He-heung..."
It tingled. An electric current surged through my brain, turning my vision completely white. Is this what adrenaline feels like? He-he, it's so white... Spin, spin. The world is spinning. No, wait, am I the one spinning? Is it me? With trembling, shivering hands, I set down my freshly severed, warm left arm and picked up the chopped-up chunks of meat lined up on the desk. Like solving a puzzle, I assembled the pieces that seemed to belong to my left arm and pressed them against the stump, where blood was spurting like a fountain.
I held it there for a moment. I counted the seconds in my head. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds... Heh, ten seconds. I let go. Even without my hand supporting it, my left arm didn't fall off. I wiggled my fingers. The nerves must have already reconnected, because they moved perfectly. As expected of Lucia's Super Regeneration.
"Ngh... this way, pant... it won't rot, right? Right?"
Even after the wound heals, the phantom pain lingers for a long time. Letting out a low groan, I used my left hand—which had been detached for over a day—to lift the other chopped-up limbs. This is how you do it. Simple, right? If they rot because they're left severed for too long, I just have to reattach them like this. Once a day. I must reattach them at least once a day until the day of the field training. That way, Lucia's fresh, un-decayed limbs can be delivered straight into the mouths of the monsters.
I'd love to get a review on the taste if possible, but that's probably asking too much. Monsters can't talk, after all. Well, some high-ranking ones can, but the weak monsters captured for our field training are low-tier specimens that can't comprehend human language. Oh well, I'm sure they'll taste delicious! They say food that looks good tastes good, right? And Lucia is a beautiful girl. Even in this world where the standard of beauty is incredibly high, she's an exceptionally rare beauty! My flesh is bound to be a succulent delicacy dripping with juices. I wonder if they'll go wild and beg for more. If no one gets in my way, I can always give them some more. Let's do our best.
"Now then."
That was just the left arm. There are four limbs in total. I still have two legs and my right arm left. I picked up the wire saw. My fingertips trembled slightly. The phantom pain was still there. Forcing the trembling to stop, I pressed the saw's blade against my right arm and pulled hard. Squelch. The dormitory floor was dyed crimson.
I believe that if you work hard, you deserve a proper reward. I cut off my limbs, reattached the chopped-up pieces, and then cut them off yet again to fit the original limbs back together. Then, I cleaned up the messy floor. Next, I did a deep clean of the bathroom, which had been trashed from yesterday's routine. So exhausting... My hands and feet are trembling. My back hurts, and my neck is stiff. It's the kind of pain that would vanish instantly if I used Super Regeneration... but think of it as the proof of hard labor. Let's keep it.
"I'm feeling a bit peckish, so I'm going to have a late-night snack."
I believe sweet rewards should follow hard labor. Humming a tune, I headed to the kitchen. Where did I put it...? Ah, found it. I had left it on the shelf. The mushrooms in the white paper bag. One of the few achievements of my early morning mountain hike. Grinning foolishly, I pulled the mushrooms out. I gave them a quick rinse to wash off the dirt and dust, then took a deep sniff. Mmm, a decent aroma. It made my nose tingle.
I was planning to grill them in a pan and eat them with sesame oil and salt, but on second thought, wouldn't that ruin the natural flavor of the mushrooms? I believe wild mushrooms should be eaten raw. It would be a shame if cooking them weakened their toxicity, wouldn't it? I opened my mouth wide and took a big bite. Chomp, chew. With every bite, an indescribable taste coated my tongue. Well, if I had to put it into words...
"Blegh."
It tastes awful... Maybe I really should have grilled them? Or cooked them somehow? It is sooooo bad. I've never tasted anything so disastrous. It tastes like rotten fish fins... or a moldy sponge... or a tire boiled in muddy water. A wave of nausea hit me, but I forced it down. The taste isn't what's important here. Taste is just secondary. If I wanted a delicious meal, I would have cooked them. No, before that, I wouldn't have eaten wild mushrooms gathered from the mountains in the first place.
Mushrooms are dangerous. Ordinary people can't easily tell edible mushrooms apart from poisonous ones, so they shouldn't just harvest wild mushrooms. I can't tell them apart either. I did read some books about them in the library after becoming Lucia, but it was just a surface-level skim. So, I just grabbed whatever caught my eye. What kind of mushroom did I just eat? There's a high chance it's not edible. A death cap? A destroying angel? They looked a lot like those highly toxic mushrooms... He-het.
Oh, here it comes. My fingertips are tingling. My stomach is starting to sting slightly too. Bloating? Stomachache? I feel a bit lightheaded... Ah, a little dizzy.
"But... is this it?"
Is it not fast-acting? Why is it only doing this much? Was it not a deadly poisonous mushroom? I pulled out the remaining mushrooms one by one and chewed them. Disgusting... spicy... bitter... They definitely weren't edible. My stomach churned. I felt chills. I started sweating. My muscles spasmed. Nausea welled up. But that was it. Even that subsided within a few minutes, or at most, ten minutes. How strange...? I suppressed my Super Regeneration, didn't I? Was the toxicity of the mushrooms just weak?
"...Ah."
I slapped my knee. Oh right, I'm a Supernatural Ability User, aren't I? My physical capabilities are superhuman. Naturally, I would have a resistance to poison. Even a deadly poison to an ordinary person would only cause some dizziness or nausea to a Supernatural Ability User. I completely forgot... and I was looking forward to it so much... I even read a book on mushrooms... I was even hoping to cough up some blood... For the first time, I resented the physical capabilities of a Supernatural Ability User. Why do I even need poison resistance... I'm so uselessly sturdy...