Since Iria had possessed the character in the novel, quite some time had passed, but she still hadn’t found any clues to return to her original world.
She had to find and kill the protagonist, but she couldn’t even find a hint of where that protagonist was!
Then she had to do something else first.
“······.”
Iria was afraid of becoming a monster.
So she hurried to return to the place she originally was.
But if it was difficult to find the protagonist, at least she thought she should delay becoming a monster.
To do so, she judged it necessary to understand the monsters and what kind of being she was.
Iria still hadn’t figured out what kind of being she was.
If this world was a novel and the protagonist existed somewhere, what kind of character was Iria in the original novel?
The Iria before she possessed the body, that is.
She decided to find that out too. Perhaps it could also be a clue to finding the protagonist.
“Hurry up and walk. It’s too late to try to run.”
“Ugh······.”
His name was Leonard. He was being dragged somewhere by Iria.
At first, it didn’t seem that scary, but as people disappeared, she pulled out a knife.
It wasn’t that she had any ill feelings toward him, but she thought he might run away with just the money if she left him be.
A dagger she didn’t even know where it was from. It was old and worn, but the murderous aura emanating from her was sharp as new.
Unlike the bravado she had shown back in the tavern, weak Leonard could only follow along obediently.
“B-but where are we going right now?”
“Your workshop. It’s this way.”
“How do you know that······.”
“You don’t need to know.”
It was true that she had been boasting in the tavern, but Leonard was a scholar who had studied monsters for a long time.
Iria knew this, which is why she paid him a hefty sum to hire him. He looked knowledgeable despite his laughable character, after all.
Just then, when they entered Leonard’s workshop.
“It’s a shabby place.”
“Hey, can you change your tone?”
“······?”
“Forget it. It’s fine.”
She thought he was talking too much for someone in a situation like his.
Anyway, Iria sat in an empty seat and stared across at Leonard.
After a brief awkward silence fell, it was her with the task, so she spoke first.
“I hear you know a lot about monsters.”
“Well······. I did study that. Though I’m a biologist, you see.”
Leonard seemed to look at Iria a bit warily, who had suddenly shoved a knife at him, but he soon sighed and answered.
If he’d meant to kill her, he would have done it long ago. She was just a slightly aggressive customer. If he was being paid, he decided to give her her money’s worth.
After brewing some coffee in his shabby workshop, Leonard handed it to the guest.
“So, what do you need from me?”
“If you know a lot about monsters, do you know what I am?”
“Um? How would I know that?”
“I’m a monster.”
“······What?”
Leonard, about to take a sip of coffee, almost spilled it. It was hard to brush off such a statement.
“So you’re saying···. What do you mean?”
“I’m a monster.”
“Are you feeling okay···? In your mind, I mean.”
“······.”
As expected, that kind of reaction. She didn’t expect him to believe it easily.
Iria took out a bit of magic energy from her body to show Leonard. Along with that, she bared her slightly different canine teeth.
“What the hell? Is this real?”
Logically, who would lie after paying a hefty sum of gold? He thought it was an overly suspicious man and nodded.
“Well, that’s interesting. Mind if I take a small blood sample?”
“Go ahead.”
Although Iria didn’t really like the idea, she stretched out her arm willingly. Leonard seemed to want to analyze something about her. She was curious about that inspection.
So Leonard attempted to draw blood from Iria’s arm with some kind of device.
Or rather, he was about to.
Click.
“Huh?”
He poked Iria’s arm with the needle several times, but no blood came out.
It seemed that such a trivial needle couldn’t pierce her skin.
Iria felt a bit frustrated at his behavior and lightly cut her skin with the dagger she had pulled out. A weak being seemed unable to inflict even a small wound on her.
Leonard watched that display with a bewildered expression before taking the blood. Then he began to observe it with various magical tools.
“Hmm······. It’s definitely not human blood. I’ve never seen anything like you, so I almost want to pay to study you myself.”
“Did you find out anything?”
“Hmm~. No.”
Leonard shook his head.
“Honestly, that’s true. I’ve been researching monsters for over a decade, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“······.”
“What I can say for sure is, you’re a bit different from an ordinary monster. You’re definitely a monster, but it’s like you’re a bit of a mutation.”
“Can you tell me more about that?”
So she wasn’t human but clearly a monster, yet she was a mutation that was a little different from ordinary monsters. She wondered how she differed.
Leonard continued explaining.
“I think you’ll know this part, but usually, monsters don’t have that high of intelligence. They live primarily by simply acting on their instincts.”
The monsters Iria had encountered during the external practicum had mostly shown that tendency too. She listened attentively to his words.
“A monster like you, who can use human language and suppress instincts with reasoning, is extremely rare. I’d say there are virtually none among ordinary monsters. Monsters are just like that. Being able to communicate puts you in the mutation category.”
“Hmm.”
“But what I mean is, within the ‘ordinary monsters’, one could say there are none. If you take a broader view, there might be some, but not many.”
Despite being monsters, they were beings with endless variability. Leonard mentioned that.
“You, you’re probably the Seed of the Demon King. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise. You know what the Seed of the Demon King is, right?”
“······?”
Iria changed her expression rarely. She wondered if she had understood correctly.
She blinked as if to say she didn’t quite understand.
But whether she did or not, Leonard continued talking.
“You’ve heard that monsters evolve into a certain form when they consume the Fragment of the Demon King, right? It’s a very famous story.”
Iria nodded heavily.
“Sometimes, during that evolutionary process, intelligence emerges. There are rumors that there are cases where language is spoken. You are one of those.”
“I don’t remember eating a Demon King.”
“Perhaps you forgot during the evolutionary process when you were still a typical, mindless monster.”
Upon hearing those words, Iria slowly and deeply contemplated.
One day, she had fallen into this world. She had possessed the body of a monster.
So, did she know what the being she possessed before her possession was?
“······.”
No, she didn’t.
If, as he said, she was the Seed of the Demon King, then it would be when she had devoured the Fragment prior to her possession.
Thinking like that, it wasn’t completely nonsensical. After all, she had known that the monsters she met during the external practicum were slightly different.
Perhaps it was also the power originating from the Demon King that caused Iria to show hallucinations.
At that point, Iria took the Fragment of the Demon King out from her belongings. If she was mentioning the Seed, he might know this too.
“This is the Fragment of the Demon King. Do you recognize it?”
“······How on Earth did you get that?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Wait a moment.”
Leonard carefully picked up the golden fragment and examined it closely. Then he called out to Iria.
“You said you can manipulate magical energy, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then can you pour some magical energy into this? If it’s genuine, there should be a reaction.”
Iria did just that.
Stretching out her hand, she slowly released the magical energy from her body. She had to control it, too, as pouring too much would cause Leonard to die.
And the moment the magical energy touched the fragment.
“······!”
The fragment reacted violently, emitting a golden light. Iria, standing next to it, was a little shocked by this unprecedented phenomenon.
Since the amount of magical energy she sent wasn’t much, it was brief, but it was strong enough to light up the small room.
“It’s definitely genuine. The Fragment of the Demon King reacts upon contact with magical energy. That’s the principle by which monsters evolve upon consumption.”
“Hmm······.”
Monsters would have magical energy in their body. If they consumed it, it would likely cause a reaction within them.
Iria was curious. So she asked.
“Is your investigation done?”
“I don’t think there’s more I can learn at this point.”
“If I eat it, what do you think will happen?”
“······?”
Leonard momentarily doubted his ears. Did he hear wrong? He asked again.
“So, what did you just say?”
“If I eat it, what do you think will happen?”
Apparently, it wasn’t a misunderstanding. Iria confirmed her statement with a serious expression.
“Um······. Are you out of your mind? After seeing what just happened, are you really saying you want to eat it?”
“Aren’t you curious?”
“Not that······. I mean, I’m curious, but do you think there won’t be any side effects?”
“If one won’t die after eating one, I don’t think eating two will kill me.”
In fact, dying wouldn’t be bad.
After all, hadn’t she already realized it was impossible to die in the body she possessed?
Back then, she thought if she died, she could return to where she originally came from.
But she didn’t die. So probably, she wouldn’t die this time either.
Thinking that way, Iria placed the golden fragment into her mouth.
So this is how the Demon King tastes.
Not that it was delicious.
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