Chapter 29

“Why? Got more business?”

The snake-shaped goblin stopped abruptly and asked. Al Terua shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. They’ll handle it themselves.”

The snake flicked its tongue, then pressed its belly to the ground again and slithered forward.

Al Terua looked at the distant dormitories.

Quilbion, Drich.

If they were supporting characters chosen by fate, they would survive. If not, they would die.

Guilt and pity briefly touched his mind, but that was all.

Who was in a position to worry about whom?

As time passed, hypothesis was transforming into fact. The contradictions and flaws in his memories had become frightening to examine.

Just who am I?

No, before who—what am I?

A poor human indoctrinated by goblins. Or a goblin mistaken about being human.

Or perhaps…

He turned his head at the movement of nark he felt in the distance. Children wearing black robes had gathered together and were forming seals.

The swirling nark became entangled in an instant and created the form of a massive lion.

Mana in its natural state responded. Thorn vines sprouted from the lion’s body and swept across the entire surrounding area.

“They’re delicious material.”

The snake said while looking at the children practicing sorcery.

“I want to eat them, but if I ate those, it would kill me, so I have to hold back for now.”

“You’ll have to hold back forever.”

Al Terua said dryly.

“If I keep receiving Lady Hyodan’s grace, someday my sorcery power will surpass Lady Hyodan’s. Then I’ll devour Lady Hyodan and manage those children myself.”

“You dream big.”

“Dream?”

“It’s a thing that exists.”

He walked away, leaving behind the sounds of striking the ground.

The special livestock pen appeared in the distance.

Unlike the general livestock pen in the east, the special livestock pen had no set schedule besides education.

Because of this, the students were freely wandering about the grounds.

The powerful brainwashing was loosened somewhat. The students here were living while having obtained ‘a certain degree’ of freedom.

“That one doesn’t look like it’s in good condition.”

Al Terua pointed at a student who was banging his head against a tree while muttering ceaselessly.

“It’s material whose mental world has broken. It became like that when its memories got tangled. It’s also the price of loosening the prohibitions for the sake of material quality.”

“Won’t it be troublesome if there’s too much material like that?”

“It’s fine since Lady Hyodan is handling it. If they break beyond recovery, we just send them to the management building, detonate their nark, and consume them.”

Almost before the snake finished speaking, a Yellow Form goblin approached the student.

“Aaaaaah! Let go of this! Everyone, snap out of it! This place is strange. We need to get out of here! No, no. That’s not it. I… I…”

It was a child who cried one moment and laughed the next.

The other students looked at the crazed child with displeasure.

He watched the child being dragged away by the goblin and asked.

“The other material has had quite a bit of brainwashing loosened too. It’s interesting that they condone this even while watching this situation.”

“They believe they’re special. So they actually welcome the disappearance of inferior specimens. Human temperament is truly vile.”

“You didn’t guide them to be that way?”

The snake’s vertically slit eyes turned toward Al Terua.

“What does that matter? The key point is that everything is being maintained well under Lady Hyodan’s rule. That’s why I covet Lady Hyodan’s secret transmission. If used well, I could manage the humans who’ve fallen here even more efficiently.”

The snake led the way, telling him to follow.

It was truly a peaceful place if you excluded the one unconscious human being dragged away. A garden full of laughter and full of sounds of nark exploding.

Watching such a scene, Al Terua exhaled a languid breath.

It seems I’m closer to a goblin than a human after all.

Even watching children dying, even watching a student being toyed with in a goblin’s hands, he felt no emotion.

Rather, he only felt drowsy.

Light only entered his hazy mind when seeing Twella.

Only that child was truth, and only that child would bring answers.

The child who would sweep away the fog of ignorance and make everything clear.

“You’ll live here. And your assigned material is—”

Crunch.

Al Terua grabbed the snake’s body with his left hand. When he put strength into his grip, the snake screamed.

“What are you doing! Let go, let go!”

The captured snake’s body began growing slowly. He could clearly see the nark whirling.

Al Terua wrapped his right hand around the snake’s head, which had grown to the size of a fist.

“Form.”

Whoosh!

Flames flowing from his palm entered through the snake’s snout.

There was no noise. The snake writhed and turned black, burning away until it soon became ash.

He dusted off the ash on his hands and turned around.

Twella was behind him.

Could he call this person—no, this existence—Twella?

The outward appearance was the same, but he couldn’t recognize what was inside. He couldn’t read the nark either.

She had changed again in just a few days.

She had reached a realm he couldn’t dare look up to.

One who had gone far beyond the bounds of comprehension.

Al Terua was moved.

He didn’t know why, but the incomprehensible being before his eyes was unbearably welcome.

He wanted to shout in delight from the excitement.

It was strange.

Why did he feel joy seeing Twella, who had become an incomprehensible existence?

“You always speak of fate.”

Twella opened her mouth.

“You act as if you’re enthusiastic about and bound by fate, but in truth, you probably don’t care about fate at all.”

“What do you see in me?”

It was words that came through Al Terua’s mouth, but they weren’t words Al Terua had spoken.

His self-awareness sank into confusion.

Al Terua became in a state of seeing but unable to see, hearing but unable to hear.

Ah.

That’s right.

‘That thing’ was coming to the forefront.

Al Terua released his consciousness.

This conversation would not be remembered.

When he opened his eyes, he would return to the moment he encountered Twella, and he would forget everything while feeling a slight headache.

Because I’m an existence designed that way.

It was somewhat sad, but he thought it was unavoidable.

Because there are rules that must be followed for the sake of enjoyment.

In the last moment of sinking into vast consciousness, Twella’s voice reached him.

“I’ll show you an interesting scene, so please listen to my story.”

*

He closed his sticky eyes and opened them.

Al Terua stared blankly ahead.

Twella was standing there.

“You seem tired.”

“A bit.”

He held his throbbing head and opened his mouth.

“Another kid besides Quilbion has opened their eyes.”

“It would be Drich.”

“As expected, you knew.”

“I’ve seen countless futures where Drich joins. Though there were many cases where he didn’t.”

“A kid who doesn’t matter much whether he’s there or not, then.”

“That’s right.”

“Quilbion is…”

“It’s fine. That side will work out well on its own. Though it can’t be helped if it doesn’t.”

Did it mean that even Quilbion, who possessed special nark, was a supporting character who would futilely disappear?

I wouldn’t be much different either.

Because I wouldn’t be able to escape the gravitational pull of fate that Twella had caused.

“You’ve changed completely in just a few days. I can’t even read you now. In your eyes, I must look like a lowly insect.”

“There’s no insect that speaks that well.”

Al Terua laughed self-deprecatingly.

“How do I look in your eyes right now? You would be able to see through me. Am I human? Or a goblin? Were my memories manipulated by another’s will? Or did I impose it on myself?”

“Do you want to know the truth?”

“I have to know. It’s hard to endure anymore. The existence called ‘me’ is gradually turning colorless. I’m not afraid of disappearing. But staying stupidly unaware of everything is unbearable.”

Twella approached.

Her thin index finger moved toward Al Terua’s forehead.

He swallowed dry saliva while staring at the finger.

“Hurry and tell me the truth.”

His entire body trembled with anticipation that had sprouted from fear.

The finger touched his forehead.

What dramatic change would come?

He closed his eyes for a long while.

Had something changed?

When he gently opened his eyes, he saw Twella, who had stepped back.

“It’s not time yet.”

“What?”

“One week. Just live like this for one week.”

“…Whose will is that?”

“Let’s say it’s fate’s will.”

It wasn’t the answer he’d wanted. Yet strangely, his thirst for truth had disappeared.

“You reached an agreement with something inside me, didn’t you? Right?”

“Who knows.”

“Am I human? Or a goblin?”

“Is that an important problem?”

Al Terua smiled crookedly.

“No, that’s not important.”

He just needed to follow Twella’s words.

What should be called a soul—no, something of a higher concept than that—was whispering to him.

“What should I do?”

“Do as you want.”

“Those kids in the general livestock pen. Should I help those kids?”

“Do that however you wish too.”

“However I wish.”

Al Terua decided.

“I’ll remain by your side and watch. That’s my choice. I don’t know if this decision is by my own self-awareness, but my interest is directed only at you, so it wouldn’t be the wrong answer.”

“Then do that.”

Twella turned around. He asked toward her departing back.

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’ll wait.”

“For what?”

“For time.”

Tick-tock, she said playfully, but there was no change in her expression.

It was an appearance as if all human emotional domains had been removed. Swept endlessly by the waves called fate, it seemed nothing that could be called humanity remained.

“I feel like you’d answer if it’s now, but am I going to die?”

“No. You cannot die.”

“Cannot die?”

Not ‘won’t die’ but ‘cannot die.’ Why did those words feel so deflating?

“See you next time. If we can meet.”

Twella left, leaving behind a light farewell.

*

“Should I eat him?”

At the words coming from behind his head, Quilbion wiggled his left hand, which he’d lowered under the table.

Ascetic Big.

He pretended not to hear and glanced behind him. Saliva was dripping from the gaping jaw. It was a grotesque sight, but no one in the cafeteria paid any attention.

Ah, Drich spat out a small curse.

“Quil.”

“Not yet.”

It was the second day since Al Terua had disappeared without leaving even a message.

The Ascetics had started watching Quilbion and Drich one by one.

It must be because the sorcery for changing taste, along with the camouflage sorcery Al Terua had placed on them, had come undone.

“Why didn’t we notice such well-ripened ones?”

“Must have used sorcery.”

“Should I devour them right now?”

It was Ascetic Dohanna having a conversation with Ascetic Big.

Quilbion forced a smile while eating his porridge.

“The amount of nark is small, but the smell is different. If I eat this, my sorcery power might increase.”

Dohanna’s hand landed on Quilbion’s shoulder. Something like sticky slime got on his shoulder.

It was unbearably unpleasant.

If he stabbed the head with the spoon he was holding, wouldn’t it feel completely refreshing?

“Lady Hyodan hasn’t given word yet. So you still can’t touch Al Terua’s belongings.”

The Ascetic who appeared opposite them opened his mouth. A massive goblin. His name was Dunvel, wasn’t it?

Unlike Big and Dohanna who were drooling, Dunvel seemed to maintain order to some degree.

“But after a week, we can dispose of them according to regulations…”

Dunvel stuck out his long tongue and smiled broadly.

“Let’s all consume them together then.”

Damn it.

It seemed the day of sacrifice had been decided.