Late night.
Elisa, wearing Silas's coat, had snuck into a certain female student's home.
The first thing she did was rinse her mouth, then repeatedly scrub the area around her navel.
"...Scum."
She never imagined that while she was drinking blood, that part of a man would be pressing against her stomach.
For someone who had never tasted male blood in her life, she had taken the initiative... all to regain her strength.
Damn it.
What on earth was he made of? Even though she only drank for a short while, the sense of fullness was stronger than ever before. She felt terrifyingly powerful now.
Splash.
She stole a set of conservative, dark-colored plain clothes from the student's wardrobe and put them on. Without hesitation, she leaped out the window.
She vanished into the night.
There were several patrols of knights, but having been in the Holy City for a while, Elisa was confident she could evade them.
She arrived at the massive Duke's manor.
She waited nearby until the lights were completely extinguished before moving in.
Was she afraid, knowing she might be walking to her death?
Yes.
But she bit her lip until it bled and clenched her fists.
She thought that dying here would be better than fleeing the Holy City like a beaten dog again, living as a sewer rat in a cave.
She would kill her.
Even if it meant taking her down with her.
She hadn't just taken Silas's coat; she had taken his flintlock pistol as well. Although she had never used one, she had seen her parents hunt with them many times long ago.
"..."
She didn't use the front entrance.
She found a secluded window and climbed inside.
She recalled the layout of the rooms she had seen in the hall the previous night.
It was strange.
Not a single servant could be seen in the manor.
Thinking back, she had a pathetic, dark past... when she first started wandering, she used to hide in the outskirts alone and cry herself to sleep because the shadows of the trees at night terrified her.
The pitch-black manor gave her that exact same feeling now.
"..."
Elisa gripped the flintlock, pushing aside her messy thoughts.
Squelch.
Listening closely, she could hear a wet, slurping sound.
Auntie... she just did it with that lecherous man yesterday, and today she has someone new? Disgusting.
But it ends here.
She didn't know how the woman survived yesterday; perhaps she gained some healing through her collusion with the Church. The thought only fueled Elisa's disgust and rage.
It was this kind of person, this relative, who turned her proud mother and the Elisa family into notorious outcasts.
"..."
She moved toward the sound with extreme caution.
In the gloom, her eyes could make out shapes. That was her advantage.
This time she was fully prepared. No matter how the woman survived, she would make sure her aunt stayed dead this time to avenge her mother.
Click.
The door was not closed. The bedroom, filled with luxurious furniture, was vast.
Her aunt had her back to Elisa, her head bowed and her jaw working.
Squelch, crunch, crunch.
That sound—up close, it wasn't the sound of lovers. It was the sound of something feeding.
"..."
Elisa smelled it too—the thick stench of rot and blood filling the air.
"Do we have a guest?"
The Duchess turned her head. Her face was covered in blood. Yellowish-white fluids stained the corners of her mouth.
"Ah... I remember now. I couldn't remember anything without eating the brain. You came to the manor yesterday, too. Are you the one who killed me?"
"..."
Elisa began to tremble, even with the flintlock in her hand.
What on earth was this thing?
It wasn't a mouth; tentacles were protruding from the oral cavity. They split into several lobes, devouring... the brain of the aunt who died yesterday.
"It's a bit of a bother. I only just ate a little to barely look human, and I was caught."
"But if I eat you, I should know more. You smell delicious."
"...BANG!"
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
The flintlock had only four rounds, and Elisa fired them all. At such close range, it went more smoothly than she imagined.
"...It hurts."
"Shouldn't you call me Auntie? Why would you do this to your aunt? It hurts, it hurts so much."
"...What... what are you?"
Elisa's pupils flared with a brilliant emerald light, but it was useless.
She collapsed on the floor, staring at the headless corpse of her aunt and the approaching monstrosity, overcome with horror.
Was this the Church's handiwork?
The true reason the Elisa family was destroyed?
Sniff, sniff~
The Duchess tilted her head and sniffed the air.
"Mmm... is the Teacher here too? Is the Teacher also my killer? Even though in the memories I ate, it felt really good."
"..."
Elisa didn't register the words at first, not knowing what the thing was talking about.
"You are not the Duchess."
A tall figure holding a sword stepped in front of her, and only then did she understand.
"Why not? The Teacher can find out by coming inside. Mmm... it might be colder than before. But maybe it will feel even better."
The Duchess's expression was vacant, but her hand lifted her skirt, revealing she wore no underwear. "I want to know the memories of pleasure. Let me experience them, and I might let you go."
"..."
Silas was in no mood to flirt with a monster whose mouth split into three serrated lobes.
[Skill Hypnosis Master Activated]
As per usual, he checked the skill first.
[...]
[Ineffective against targets without autonomous thought.]
Damn it, I was scared for nothing. It's just a man-eating monster? What's so scary about that! Silas had seen plenty of living dead; he'd never seen one that could talk, but it wasn't enough to make him break into a cold sweat like a ghost from a horror movie.
After all, you can hack a zombie to pieces, but ghosts don't take physical damage.
Schwing!
Silas didn't hesitate, swinging his sword at her neck. But he failed to take her head off.
"Teacher is also my killer."
"A pity. I really intended to let my daughter enjoy the pleasure with me."
"..."
The barbed appendages growing from the Duchess's mouth suddenly elongated. Even though Silas tried to dodge, he was grazed.
He had landed several hits, and the wounds were considerable.
But this thing was like a perpetual motion machine, tireless and feeling no pain.
If it was like the rabbit from last time... fire?
No.
Not that complicated.
He cut off her hands, then hacked away the growths from her mouth, handling the fight with increasing ease. It was nowhere near as difficult as the infinitely splitting rabbit in the fog.
"...Are you going to kill me?"
"Niece, I am your aunt, right? I am dying."
Losing her limbs and with the three lobes of her mouth shredded, the Duchess lay on the floor. She felt no fear, only staring plainly at Elisa, who was still on the ground.
"...You are not her."
Elisa answered through gritted teeth, staring at the mangled corpse behind the creature.
"True. I haven't fully become your aunt yet. Mmm... eating is too slow, absorbing is too slow. So, I cannot understand why you cry, why you are angry, or why you seem to have other expectations. But once I finish eating her, I will understand."
"Could you... let me... kill her?"
Elisa managed to crawl to her feet.
"..."
Silas didn't care who dealt the blow. He was just wondering if the Duchess had anything to do with the living dead. He wondered if there was any point in trying to link things from the previous game session.
He couldn't figure it out.
Whatever. It's just a game; no need to rack his brain over it. As long as it isn't a ghost movie script, it's fine. Worst case, he'd just fight more zombies.
"Mmm, but I ate her brain. I know things. I was so jealous... that your mother could live such a perfect life. To have a lovely daughter like you. While I had to marry a Duke who wasn't even a man, enduring the mockery. It seems I liked you very much, once."
The Duchess was still in a semi-human state, a smile fixed on her face.
"Why... why did it turn into this?"
Elisa took Silas's sword and slammed it into the floor next to the creature's head, her face contorted.
"Are you going to let me go? How should I keep lying to you so I don't die?"
The Duchess tilted her head.
"...You were Mother's most trusted sister! Why did you betray her?!"
"...I don't know. Auntie hurts so much now. Niece, can you help Auntie?"
Her eyes flashed with a look of pleading.
"...Die!!!"
Elisa screamed, plunging the sword into the Duchess's high bosom. Blood sprayed onto Silas's cheek.
In that moment, she remembered being nursed by her aunt when she was a baby. How did it come to this? What was her mother thinking when her head fell from the guillotine?
She had her revenge, but she felt no joy. Instead, a hollow void opened up, and her strength left her.
At dawn.
A great fire broke out at the Duke's manor.
Patrolling knights rushed to extinguish the flames, trying to save those inside. In the end, they confirmed only two charred corpses, similar in stature. One was identified as the Duchess by her jewelry; the other, more thoroughly burned, was suspected to be the culprit.
Of course, Silas had staged all of this.
Back in his room, he was already packing his bags. God knows how many days his clumsy crime scene would keep him in the clear.
The Princess had her revenge, and he had helped her. The task should be considered complete, right? Regardless, he had to lay low. As for what exactly happened to the Duchess and what else was involved, he'd wait until the first task was officially over.
There was a lot of money in the wooden box. Had he really accumulated this much wealth over ten years? Whatever, it was too heavy; taking one bag of gold was enough.
"..."
Having packed his gear, Silas washed his face. It was still noisy outside.
Everyone's attention was on the manor; now was the easiest time to run.
Scratch, scratch...
Before he could leave the bathroom, he heard the sound of a pen sliding on paper.
Stepping out, he saw the oil lamp was still lit. Elisa was sitting at the table, handing him a note she had written.
"You were right. I have treasure, but it is far away. I don't even know if I can stay alive. Not being able to give it to you immediately means I have no leverage."
"As my mother said, one cannot promise what one cannot do."
"This is the detailed location of my buried treasure. I grant it all to you. It should be enough of a reward. Whether you flee or continue being a teacher is your business, and what I do is mine. We are even."
"..."
The note was a map.
It showed how to get to the cave she mentioned after leaving the Holy City, through various twists and turns. It was so damn crude; it looked less like a map and more like a diagram of an amoeba.
[You discovered that Elisa plans to repay you with a large amount of money hidden somewhere, intending for both of you to owe each other nothing.]
[Perhaps she plans to continue her revenge with her weak strength, or perhaps she just intends to leave after repaying you.]
[You decided to...]
[Important Choice Triggered]
[Option 1: Tell her money can't settle this. if she wants to pay her debts, she should use her body.]
[Option 2: Tell her you have no interest in money, let her go wherever she wants, and stay away from you. Wait and see again.]
[Proceeding with Free Simulation]
One trouble was just resolved, and now this girl wants to cut ties with "justice" and money? A debt for killing the Duchess can be paid off with a map to a treasure that might not even exist? And she calls it a "grant" from her high horse.
When she acts, she never considers if she can succeed. In short: Silas keeps saving her, while she keeps finding ways to throw her life away.
[You chose Option 1]
Silas didn't give a damn about any of that.
He had to deal with the Duchess because it involved him too, so he had pretended to sleep to give her a chance to run. But things were different now.
"I don't think money can settle this. Since you want to pay me back, be more sincere and use your body instead."
"Eek?!"
Under her shocked gaze, Silas unhesitatingly cupped the curves beneath her plain clothes, his fingers sinking in as he did so quite naturally.
He wasn't short on money at all; he was planning to throw most of it away.
It would have been one thing if she offered herself. Even if it was just "simulation money," it was still hard-earned wealth accumulated through professional dedication.
Furthermore, the perk of being able to rub against young female students was gone too. Thinking of this made Silas even angrier. Was this something that could be settled by a promise of hidden gold?
If it weren't for the fact that he needed her to complete the task, he wouldn't bother with her at all. She wasn't nearly as cute as the Sister who wanted to eat him.