The news that Iria defeated Lucia shocked many students.
After all, a commoner with no background had beaten the second daughter of a swordsmanship family in a duel.
And to top it off, Iria was known as the weakest in terms of mana in the academy. While mana amount isn’t the absolute measure of power, it’s true that a higher amount greatly influences one’s strength.
Lucia was the one with the highest mana amount at the academy, which only gathers geniuses. Who would have thought Iria could overcome that difference and win?
“See? What did I tell you? I got punched by Iria during the entrance exam and my ribs are still aching.”
“Well, I knew she wasn’t weak since I saw her during the entrance exam. But the mana difference was just too huge!”
In fact, those who took the entrance exam had a rough idea of Iria’s strength. Her matches, although brief, were intensely impactful.
However, many believed that no matter how strong you were physically, bridging the gap of overwhelming mana difference was impossible.
Thanks to this, the legendary underdog fighter, A, who got hit by Iria’s punch, made a fortune. Now, that incident is referred to as “Underdog Ribs.”
While the students were fervently discussing the recent duel between Iria and Lucia, Underdog Ribs spoke up.
“That’s not what’s important right now.”
“Hey, did you hear? Lucia licked Iria’s feet.”
“Ugh, that guy. So, so envious.”
“Whoa. If you lose a duel, you get to lick the feet of a top-tier beauty in the region? Let’s go immediately!”
After beating Lucia, Iria thought requests for duels would decrease, but for some reason, they actually increased.
Iria wondered about that.
*
Having safely completed the duel, I was on my way home.
“Ugh…”
I felt my physical condition plummeting suddenly and clutched my throbbing head.
I knew the reason. I was hungry. Now that I thought about it, it had been a while since I last ate.
Recently, I had been living in a newly acquired house. Unlike when I lived in the back alley, no humans came to me on their own.
My vision of the world had turned slightly red. If I looked in the mirror right now, there was a high chance my eyes were shining.
After leaving the academy and being alone, my stomach growled. Today, it seemed I wouldn’t be waiting for a human to come but would have to go find one myself.
“Hunting feels like it’s been a while.”
I passed by the fountain in Central City and moved toward a slightly more dangerous area. I was hoping for some luck.
As I stepped into the familiar back alley, I used my stealth ability. As expected, the knights didn’t recognize me.
If I ate another knight, there would surely be chaos in the Knights Order. So, I needed to target a different human.
There were surprisingly many criminals in such dark alleys. Some had made it their base due to being wanted, while others committed crimes there.
Generally, I preferred to prey on that sort of person rather than innocent folks, but there were still certain types I needed to filter out.
“Ugh… How much is all this? Hehe.”
“Hey, hand over the money before you get anything.”
“Tonight is going to be a blast.”
I walked past a light-hearted drug deal, ignoring the shady characters. Those humans were toxic, not worth consuming.
Their accumulated drug-like substances could affect me too.
Though I generally had high resistance, inconsistently applied effects just made me feel uneasy.
For now, I decided not to eat those.
“…”
Stepping out of the stuffy academy and walking down a quiet back alley felt refreshing.
There were few people and it was quiet, so it had a completely different atmosphere from the unnecessarily loud academy.
In the morning, I bothered Lucia, and in the afternoon, I dealt with strange perverts, leaving me mentally exhausted.
In the dark back alley, only moonlight served as the sole illumination. I walked quietly under the moonlight.
There were no people, and even if there were, they wouldn’t recognize me. It felt like I had fallen into a different world.
Today happened to be a full moon day. For some reason, I felt more energized and my appetite seemed to soar on full moon nights.
Perhaps it was the instincts of a monster.
How unfortunate.
If I weren’t so hungry, I could have enjoyed the dreamy atmosphere of the back alley a bit longer.
I walked, feeling the cool night breeze.
This was the alley where monsters appeared. Scaring humans with hallucinations and swallowing them whole.
But I didn’t feel much fear walking in that alley right now.
Because I was the back alley monster.
In a dangerous place like this, I had always been the chaser. So, I couldn’t understand the feelings of those who feared me and ran away.
What was it like?
Was this space that felt like home terrifying to them? Or were they simply afraid of me?
Honestly, I didn’t care.
As the chaser once again today, I merely pursued humans.
*
Truthfully, the back alley wasn’t a completely safe place, even if Iria was absent.
Since rumors of a monster roaming around surfaced, other murderers took to operating in that area.
They could easily pin any killings on the back alley monster, making it a prime stage for them to act.
They weren’t doing it out of survival like Iria, who killed for food; they genuinely enjoyed killing.
Pointless murders. The thrill they derived from that sinful pleasure. The pseudo-back alley monster, the murderer Asha, was half-addicted to that ecstasy.
The sensation of piercing a knife through human skin couldn’t be expressed in words; it felt that good.
If she intentionally missed vital spots, the beautiful screams they made only excited her further.
“Haah, haah…”
Ultimately, Asha began to masturbate while gripping a blood-stained knife.
The splashing sound echoed quietly through the back alley.
She had already killed one human, yet her body was burning with a need for more, so she wouldn’t be satisfied with just one tonight.
Thus, she walked through the back alley, looking for a new victim. Was she scared of monsters? That was merely a rumor someone had cooked up.
She thought all those who had died here had been killed by murderers just like herself.
Besides, despite appearances, Asha was stronger than most A-rank mercenaries. If monsters existed, she believed she could handle them with ease.
So Asha roamed the back alley without worry.
Who would be the unfortunate person to fall prey to her tonight? Preferably, a woman. After all, Asha was a crazy lesbian.
It would be perfect if a cool beauty with pure white hair happened to pass by this area. She could stab and pamper her all night long.
But such a thing was unlikely.
Someone who matched her preferences wouldn’t set foot in such a dangerous place.
That’s what she thought.
“Oh?”
Surprisingly, there was one.
A woman with flowing silver hair and gem-like red eyes.
Her beauty was so overwhelming that it took Asha’s breath away. Just looking at her made Asha’s mouth water.
She couldn’t help but indulge in inappropriate thoughts. She wanted to lay her down and do all sorts of things right away.
“Hehe, I’m so lucky!”
Asha immediately gripped her knife and charged. First, she would cut the girl’s ankles so she couldn’t escape.
Afterward, she would think about the rest slowly.
But then…
Swish.
Asha couldn’t reach her. The moment she charged, her own ankles were severed.
Her center of gravity collapsed, and she crashed to the ground. Asha couldn’t understand what had happened until the very last moment before falling.
“KYAAAA! My legs! HIIIIYAAA!!”
“…?”
Overwhelmed by the delayed piercing pain, Asha screamed. The girl she had tried to ambush was now looking down at her from above.
Her gaze was chilling. As Asha groaned in pain on the ground, a cold voice descended upon her.
“Asha, did you enjoy your little murder game?”
“Ugh, wait, wait! Hoo, haah!”
“You’ve been having some unhealthy thoughts. You tried to cut off my ankles.”
“Wha—? What are you?! How?!”
Iria sighed as if to say there was no end to these things.
The back alley monster had become too famous, and now even copycat crimes were happening.
She lifted Asha’s head, forcing their eyes to meet. Seeing Asha’s severed ankles in pain, she decided to put her to sleep quickly.
Unlike Asha, who relished the screams of others, Iria didn’t care much for noise.
“Well then, sweet dreams, Asha. If you’re reborn in the next life, you might want to stay away from alleys where I go.”
Was she now the murderer?
Another victim had fallen in the back alley.
