Return 2
And so, Sia forged her very first connection with the emperor of the other world.
It was a truly fortunate turn of events.
It was a saving grace that the Giant God, Atalid, exuded a far larger and more fragrant scent of human flesh. Had Sia devoured the human knights fighting against the Giant God of Wrath instead of the giant itself, the story would have unfolded quite differently.
She would either be dead by now, or, even if she survived, she would have been captured by humans and subjected to unspeakable horrors.
To Sia, who had lost her sanity at the time, humans and giants were all just meat, but the Giant God Atalid simply happened to look far more appetizing.
"The... Emperor... you say...?"
"Do not worry. I know exactly who you are."
"...?"
Seeing Sia's confusion, Menelapie leaned against the wall and smiled.
"You did well."
"...Pardon?"
She, the Iron-Blooded Empress, was smiling at Sia with genuine warmth.
It wasn't a mocking sneer, nor was it the amused grin of someone who had found an entertaining monkey in a zoo.
With a smile that came from the bottom of her heart, the Empress sat on the edge of the bed where Sia lay.
"Now, let us get straight to the point. In truth, I observed your existence a year ago."
"...?!"
A year ago—that was the exact moment Sia had first transmigrated into this world and woken up in the body of the Deceased Saintess.
She knew about me from the moment I arrived in this world...?
Sia would only learn this later, but her body, and the holy power possessed by the Deceased Saintess, was incredibly potent—a legendary force that would go down in history.
The power of a saintess meant for the living had merged with the deathly energy of the deceased. On top of that, her reason and humanity, which should have vanished, remained intact. Whatever backlash this caused, the day Sia woke up in the body of the Deceased Saintess, the birth of this entity was felt all the way in the imperial palace, far from the forest where Sia hid.
It was said that even the Demon King, the master of monsters, or demons and natural disasters of even higher caliber, would be considered a tier below Sia.
"I watched you for a long time. You had countless opportunities to lose your mind to hunger, yet you never lost your humanity."
"..."
"I must confess now, there were times when the scent of blood lingered near the cabin where you lived, correct?"
"...Yes."
That was when Sia had first begun to feel an appetite for human blood and flesh.
One day, even though no hunters had entered the forest and no battles had taken place, a sweet scent of blood wafted from the depths of the woods, tempting Sia, who had been surviving on venison and mushrooms.
From that moment on, Sia completely abandoned the idea of meeting humans.
Originally, she had wanted to know what kind of world this was, to learn the news and gather information. Since she was strong, she thought it wouldn't be bad to become an adventurer and travel the world. But how could she be an adventurer when just the scent of human blood and flesh made her feel like she would lose her mind?
"That was all by my command. I had human blood smeared throughout the forest where you lived."
"...!"
The moment those words left the Empress's mouth, Sia grabbed Menelapie by the collar.
Sia was beyond angry; she was grinding her teeth.
"Why did you do that?!"
"...Your anger is justified."
"Justified or not, why did you do it?!"
Sia had completely forgotten that Menelapie was the Emperor.
What if she had actually lost her mind?
Every time she thought about it, she was terrified.
It wasn't just once or twice that she had lost consciousness from hunger and stuffed her face with wild beasts.
What if, the next time she lost her mind, the thing in her hands wasn't a wild beast, a rabbit, or a deer, but a human child?
The fear was enough to drive her mad, but unfortunately, the only thing that suffered and withered was Sia's mind.
The body of the Deceased Saintess was incredibly strong and monstrously resilient, leaving Sia with no choice but to isolate herself even further from the outside world.
And yet, that year of hunger and agony was because of this woman?
"What would you have done if I had actually lost my mind and eaten a human? Do you know what I fear the most?! It's the fact that if I had eaten a human and consumed the flesh I feared so much, I might have found it so delicious that I wouldn't feel a single shred of guilt!"
At those words, Menelapie gave a bitter smile.
"If I... if I had actually developed a taste for human flesh... do you have any idea how many people would have died?!"
"I am sorry. But I am a ruler. I have caused you great pain, but an emperor must do the duty of an emperor."
"An emperor?! An emperor!! If you are a leader...!"
"I needed to determine if you were a threat, or if you were a new evil to this land and my subjects."
"...Ugh...!"
"Calm down."
Immediately after, Menelapie spoke to Sia in a gentle, soothing tone, as if comforting a child.
"I acknowledge your anger. Your anger is just, and it should rightfully be directed at me. However, the subordinates who carried out my orders are guiltless. If you wish to vent your anger, why not direct it solely at me?"
"..."
Not only was the Emperor taking such a low posture, but she was also honestly admitting her fault.
Although Sia couldn't fathom how high of a status an emperor held, and knew nothing of imperial law or etiquette, the fact that the ruler of an empire was begging for her forgiveness was enough to soothe her heart to some extent.
"Explain..."
"What?"
"Everything you know about me."
"Fufu, very well. I was just about to tell you."
Menelapie gently caressed Sia's hands, which were still gripping her collar.
As if asking her to let go now.
Sia's anger subsided, and she slowly released her grip.
"The observation that a Deceased Saintess was born was felt not only by the palace mages, but by me as well. A Deceased Saintess is something that should not exist in the first place. No matter how great a saintess is, when she dies, she merely returns to the earth. It is not that there are no pitiful saintesses who fall into undeath once every few centuries, but they are not Deceased Saintesses; they are merely walking corpses. They possess no reason or humanity, nor can they use the holy power that only those chosen by God can wield."
"...And?"
"Your very existence is a miracle."
Menelapie emphasized that word particularly hard.
"And the fact that you, a Deceased Saintess, maintain your humanity, reason, and morality is the greatest miracle of all, and the greatest blessing to me and this empire."
Menelapie pulled a worn piece of parchment from her breast pocket.
Even though the script was foreign, Sia could read it.
It was thanks to the knowledge left behind by the original owner of this body.
"A... prophecy?"
"Yes, a prophecy. An ancient paper predicting the appearance of the Deceased Saintess."
"Are you the type to believe in prophecies?"
"Of course not. No matter how important a prophecy is, isn't human will what truly matters? Just like yours."
Crumpling the precious prophecy in one hand, Menelapie looked at Sia.
"The prophecy always described the Deceased Saintess as a gray existence, neither black nor white. However, the tone warning of danger was much stronger. It spoke of the countless disasters that would occur if someone like you turned against humanity."
"...What does gray mean?"
"It means you can become anything. If dyed by something, you could become even more vicious and terrible, but the opposite is also possible. You are gray, and gray is an existence that cannot be divided by simple binary logic. As the ruler of the empire, I could not unconditionally hostile you, nor could I embrace you without knowing who you were."
Sia could understand that.
As an emperor, as a leader, she had to assume all risks and even the worst-case scenarios.
"What if you were inherently an inhuman piece of trash who felt no guilt about eating humans? Or what if your hunger as the Deceased Saintess had eroded and erased your reason and morality? Therefore, before contacting you, I had to at least know what kind of person you were, and where the limits of your reason and morality lay."
"If... I... no, if I were the trash you spoke of... what were you going to do?"
"Hmm, in the end, you are not trash, so there is no need for you to know, is there? There are many things in this world that are better left unknown, haha!"
Sia would find out later that the Emperor was a superhuman among superhumans, hailed as the strongest of humanity.
Had things gone wrong, they might have fought until one of them died.
And Emperor Menelapie was not wrong.
If the Emperor had approached Sia blindly, focusing only on the positive, and a mishap occurred where Sia devoured a human, Sia would have become a disaster far more malicious and terrifying than a newly born Demon King.
"And you had many opportunities. Opportunities to let go of your humanity and reason at any moment. You could have succumbed to hunger, devoured humans, raided villages, and become a fully realized disaster. You had plenty of opportunities to devour the Imperial Knights I sent, rather than the Giant God of Wrath."
"..."
"Yet, you kicked all those opportunities away."
At the Emperor's words, Sia felt a cold sweat break out at the very plausible scenarios.
Because she had actually imagined those scenarios herself.
"Do you know something?"
"...What."
"When you grabbed my collar just now, I was incredibly happy."
"...Pardon?"
What? Was she a masochist?
"You are thinking of something strange. Well, it does not matter. What I want to say is that by showing righteous and proper anger, you proved that you are still human."
"...!"
"I say it again, you did truly well. Despite how hard it was, you did not try to kill me. You were not angry that I tricked and deceived you, but rather that an innocent human might have died because of it."
At those words, Sia felt a ticklish sensation in a corner of her heart.
"That anger is righteous and just, and I believe that very anger is the proof that you are still human."
"..."
"You have suffered greatly. And you did wonderfully. Thank you. I say it again, you are a great blessing and a miracle to me."
Just moments ago, Sia had hated the Emperor enough to want to kill her.
Yet, in an instant, with just a few words, her heart felt like it was melting away.
Since coming to this world, from the moment she woke up in the body of the Deceased Saintess without knowing why, Sia had not been happy for a single second.
What happened to her parents in the other world?
What happened to her original body?
Could she ever go back?
Even if she did, would she have to live in this body forever?
How long would this hunger last?
Would she have to suffer from hunger for eternity?
Would it only end if she devoured a human?
Would this agony only stop if she ate the fragrant, sweet, ultimate human flesh?
Just as humans slaughter pigs, if it was the natural law of the jungle... wouldn't it be fine to eat them?
No, no. I am human. I want to remain human.
Day after day.
Sia had repeated these thoughts, agonizing and suffering constantly.
And yet...
"You did truly well."
"......Ah..."
At that single sentence, tears spilled from Sia's eyes before she could stop them.
From the body of the deceased, which she had thought was completely dried up, tears poured out like a turned-on faucet.
She didn't know why she was crying.
Did her emotions and feelings become closer to a woman's as she inhabited this female body?
Once the tears started flowing, they wouldn't stop. Sia didn't sob, nor did she say a word; she just let the tears fall for a long time.
"...Ugh... huff... ah..."
"Yes, you have suffered. Yes... it is fine to cry. You have the right to cry. You have the right to be angry, and you deserve to be rewarded."
".........Hic... ugh..."
Menelapie gently embraced Sia.
The ruler of an empire.
The strongest superhuman of mankind, holding a weeping woman in her arms and patting her back—if anyone saw this, they would surely call it an absurd comedy.
"Now, are you finished crying?"
"...Yes."
Sia stopped her long stream of tears and nodded. Menelapie took Sia's hand and stood up.
"Follow me. There is much I want to show you. There is much I want to discuss with you. And if there is anything you want, just speak."
Menelapie's sun-like smile was more than enough to make Sia's face flush.
"Whatever you want, whatever you wish to achieve, whatever you want to do, whatever you want to eat—I shall grant it all."
"...Is that really okay? Can I eat... everything I want to eat?"
"Haha! Of course!"
Heeey... an Emperor big sis who buys me unlimited food...
"I am the Emperor, after all."
Perhaps Sia's affection for Menelapie had already reached its maximum right from the start.
"Ah, I miss Menelapie and Theresa..."
I happened to dream of the past.
Of the days before I returned here.
-Growl...
"...I'm... hungry..."
Should I start the stream...?