Night.
Demeter looked at him in this room.
Candlelight flickered, dyeing the entire room a warm orange.
A moment later, Demeter put away the engraving needle and gently patted his shoulder.
"All done."
Genichi stood up, rolled his shoulders to loosen up, and was about to ask about his updated stats when he saw Demeter's expression turn a little strange.
"Ge…ni…" she started, her voice carrying a hint of barely concealed surprise.
"You've gained a new skill."
Genichi's brow lifted slightly.
A new skill?
He'd been through plenty of battles lately, but compared to before, nothing had changed that dramatically.
So why would a new skill awaken now?
Demeter handed him the parchment.
Genichi took it, his eyes sweeping across the dense lines of divine script, and he quickly found the newly appeared skill at the very bottom.
[You Are the Dragon]
Imposes the concept of "Dragon" on the enemy
Damage dealt to dragon-attribute monsters greatly increases
Greatly reduces healing and regenerative abilities
Greatly increases stat gains from killing dragon-attribute monsters
Genichi's pupils tightened.
You Are the Dragon.
This skill…
He knew exactly what it meant.
Imposes the concept of "Dragon" on the enemy.
In other words, no matter what the target originally was, as long as he wanted to, he could "define" it as a dragon.
Then damage to dragon-attribute monsters would skyrocket, meaning his offensive power would multiply.
Greatly reducing healing meant enemies he wounded would struggle to recover.
And greatly increased stat gains from killing dragon-attribute monsters meant his growth rate would accelerate again.
A skill born specifically to hunt dragons.
Or rather, a skill born to hunt anything he decided counted as a "dragon."
Genichi's gaze flickered.
This skill's appearance was almost too reasonable.
"Hey, hey, hey—"
A voice from the side cut through his thoughts.
Alise had no idea when she'd moved closer. She craned her neck to peek at the parchment.
"Are your stats seriously okay?"
Her voice carried a disbelieving edge.
"Strength S, Endurance S, Dexterity S, Agility S, Magic S—"
She read them off one by one, her expression growing more and more bizarre.
"Everything being S is one thing, but… this is just not right, is it?"
What kind of adventurer had skills and magic like this?
Seven Deadly Sins, Ascension, Demon, Dragon Eater, Index…
And now he had You Are the Dragon on top of it.
This wasn't an adventurer.
This was a monster wearing human skin.
Genichi didn't answer.
He only stared at the parchment in his hand and then brought it to the candle flame.
Fire licked the edge of the parchment and spread quickly.
In moments, the sheet that recorded all his stats turned into ash.
Alise watched, stunned.
"Why'd you burn it?"
"It's useless to keep," Genichi said evenly.
"And something like that can't be left around."
Alise curled her lip.
"Tch. Always acting mysterious."
She turned as if to keep complaining, then suddenly paused.
"Speaking of which—"
She looked at Genichi, a probing glint flashing in her deep blue eyes.
"Today in the Dungeon, when you saw Valletta Grede, your mood got… weird."
Genichi's movement paused for the slightest instant.
His face stayed blank.
"You imagined it."
"It was not my imagination!"
Alise leaned in close, staring into his eyes.
"When you grabbed my chest, you were gripping really hard!"
She hesitated, then said it anyway.
"I felt it!"
Genichi fell silent.
What was he supposed to say?
That when he saw the woman who killed "Lin Genichi," the murderous intent he'd been suppressing surged so violently his hand tightened without him realizing?
That Valletta Grede was the one who truly killed "Lin Genichi"?
He couldn't say it.
At least, not yet.
But before he could decide how to answer, a chilling voice cut in from the side.
"So—"
At some point, Demeter had already walked up behind Alise and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Her amber eyes shone with a light that made one's skin crawl.
"What exactly happened that I don't know about?"
Alise went stiff.
She turned her head and met Demeter's smile, sweet on the surface and not sweet at all underneath.
"Um… well… uh…"
Her voice started to shake.
Demeter's smile widened.
And somehow, that smile felt even more dangerous.
For some reason, when Alise looked at Demeter's hair, that honey-colored beautiful long hair… it looked green to her now.
Green and gleaming.
Green enough to hurt your eyes.
Alise's survival instincts slammed to full throttle.
"I'll talk! I'll tell you!"
She blurted everything out, every detail of what happened in the Dungeon today, from start to finish.
From Genichi ordering her to pick up magic stones, to Valletta Grede appearing, to the two of them hiding in the shadows, and then—
Genichi's hand, accidentally landing on her chest.
And that reflexive squeeze.
Demeter listened quietly, her smile never changing.
But the longer she listened, the more frightening that smile became.
When Alise finished, she was already mentally preparing her last words.
"Th-That… really was an accident…"
Demeter didn't respond.
She simply turned her head and looked at Genichi.
In those amber eyes, something dark churned under the surface.
Genichi met her gaze, still expressionless.
Silence.
A long, heavy silence.
The only sound in the room was the candle flame trembling.
Finally—
Demeter spoke.
Her voice was calm, but there was a faint tremor buried inside it.
"Next time—"
She paused.
"Be more careful."
Genichi nodded slightly.
"Yeah."
Then Demeter looked back at Alise.
"And you—"
Alise's whole body tensed.
"Do your job properly."
"…Yes."
Alise nodded obediently.
Demeter turned and walked toward the door.
At the doorway, she stopped.
She didn't look back.
"Get some rest."
With that, she pushed the door open and left.
The door clicked shut softly behind her.
The room was left with only Genichi and Alise.
Alise let out a long breath and slumped, her whole body going limp.
"That scared me to death…"
She patted her chest, still shaken.
"That look just now… it was like she was going to eat me alive…"
Genichi didn't say anything.
He only stared at the closed door.
In his black eyes, a thread of hidden crimson flickered.
A moment later, he looked away.
"Get some sleep."
He walked to the bed and lay down.
"We keep going tomorrow."
Alise stared at him, completely speechless.
This guy really didn't understand people at all.
But she didn't say anything.
She went back to the room next door.
Only, once she lay down, her mind kept replaying that scene—
Genichi's hand, that unconscious squeeze.
(End of Chapter)
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