“You. The curse caster I saw on the train.”
“Ah, no way?”
Uh-oh.
Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh!!!
Sweat trickled down my back, and my pupils were shaking like crazy.
I came here thinking I could pull a scam because some senile old man needed an exorcist!
Why is that human I saw on the train here?!
“Are you serious?”
“Y-yes! What are you talking about? I don’t really…? know?”
That human was staring at me suspiciously.
But they didn’t seem completely certain yet.
Back then, my avatar was in adult form, and now I’ve lost my power and turned into a kid…
Even if my clothes and atmosphere are similar, if the age difference is too big, they might not get fooled after all?
“Then that totem wasn’t yours, right?”
“Yes! Of course! I don’t do curses or anything…”
“I didn’t say anything about curses.”
“Ah.”
Caught red-handed.
A smile spread across the human man’s face.
Without hesitating, I turned around and started to run.
‘That’s dangerous! It’s dangerous!’
Instinct within me was thumping and screaming.
That human was an out-of-standard monster.
Why didn’t I realize it when I first met him?
Maybe it was because I was overwhelmed by the smell of blood ghouls all over his body.
The smell of countless monsters’ blood.
‘There was even Kali’s scent!’
I could even faintly catch a whiff of the Great Druid’s scent in between.
Now it’s clear why the Great Druid suddenly vanished and the unique dungeon collapsed.
The Great Druid was killed by that human!
The Great Druid is favored by the esteemed Draken.
What are my chances of surviving against someone who killed the Great Druid?
Zero, obviously!
‘I want to live! I want to live! I want to live!’
I don’t want to die.
How did I survive in a collapsing dungeon?
I’m way smarter than my kin!
If I die, it’s a loss for the world!
“Mi Jeong. Grab her.”
“Uh… eh? Did they multiply?”
Division.
I immediately split into five bodies, each fleeing in a different direction.
Sure, if four out of five avatars get destroyed, I’ll lose most of my power, but I have no choice to survive.
Could they really manipulate five objects with telekinesis?
This is the method with the highest survival rate.
Just a measly twenty percent chance!
This might let me escape alive…
“Eh? Huh?”
I should be there.
Why am I floating?
When I turned back, my other four avatars had dashed off without any control, already far away.
Did they only catch the original?
Visually, there shouldn’t be any difference!
How the heck…?
“No way. Where do you think you’re running off to like an eel?”
“Uwaaa!”
I tried to transform into a centipede to escape, but I couldn’t even take a step before being dragged back by telekinesis.
“I got you, cute little pest.”
“Ahhh…”
Being dragged to the human, the smell of monster corpses was even stronger.
This won’t do.
I lost all the remaining energy and felt weak.
Calling back the escaping avatars and absorbing them, I returned to my human form and knelt down.
Being in centipede form seemed to increase my chances of dying…
‘I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead!!!’
I know well how the people in this world think about monsters.
Loot or medicinal ingredients left behind by hunting targets.
Or pests to exterminate.
People only categorize monsters into these two types.
What type do I seem to be to this man?
It’s obvious.
I tried to make the whole train faint, so of course, they’d view me as a harmful pest that deserves to die…
“The spell I used on the train wasn’t meant to harm people! It’s really just a curse to make them faint! I have to supplement my life force regularly to survive! So I thought, why not absorb energy from hundreds of people at once? But I couldn’t resist the temptation…”
“I’m not curious about that.”
“Yup…”
While I was pouring out excuses…
The man interrupted me with a cold voice.
I waited quietly, kneeling, and the man grabbed my head and forced me to look him in the eye.
‘What a cold-blooded…’
The eyes of a monster that had hunted countless beings.
The gaze of someone who killed the Great Druid, devoid of fear.
I trembled in terror as his eyes were so frightening.
“Let’s start with your name-”
“I’ll burn it all! I’ve been living in the unique dungeon of Great Druid Kali! My trait is division! I can split my body into many…!”
If I get found out, I’ll die.
Hiding won’t save me either.
Desperate, I spilled every bit of information about myself.
…
…
“And! I learned the spell from a wandering old man! Transformation is…!”
I thought there would be some resistance, but…
He kept spilling out information, even without me asking.
Is his brain working too well?
If he’s cooperating this much, my chance of dying must be significantly lowered.
‘By the way, it turns out to be a monster.’
His identity was quite shocking.
So he was a giant centipede monster living in Kali’s dungeon.
Most monsters have low intelligence, except for the Four Heavenly Kings.
Occasionally, mutants appear, and I guess that’s him.
Anyway, Mi Jeong’s case isn’t that rare.
“He looks like a weak mob, but has so many tricks. How many have you killed?”
“Not a single one! I swear!”
“After making people faint on the train, you expect me to believe that?”
“I just planned to make them faint briefly and take a little life force. I swear, it’s true!”
“Would you believe you?”
“Ahhh, but it’s true! It’s really true…!”
The centipede nun whimpered, looking unjust.
Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me whether this thing has harmed anyone.
What only matters is whether it helps me or not.
“If you want to live, awaken that senile old man.”
“Are you talking about the awakening spell? It does improve dementia symptoms, but it doesn’t last long…”
“How long does it last?”
“About a week.”
“That’s enough. Go ahead.”
“Really? Just one awakening spell will let me go…?”
“It’s true.”
Did I get tricked all this time?
The biggest reason I came to the Clockwork City was Cern.
If I can just awaken Cern, I can easily forgive the trivial matter from the train.
But the centipede nun still twisted her body, seemingly not trusting me, and slowly approached Cern’s bed to prepare the spell.
“Don’t do anything foolish or you’re dead.”
“I won’t! What do you take me for!”
For sure.
If she were trying to escape, she might give it a shot, but she doesn’t look like she’d backstab me.
She seems pretty scared.
‘What do I smell like?’
She sniffed at me and her face went pale.
Did something get on me?
“Mi Jeong. Do I smell like something?”
“Delicious… smell.”
“No, not that.”
“I… don’t know.”
This brat sees me as nothing but a blood bag.
Not helpful at all.
“Then I’ll start the spell…”
The centipede nun prepared the spell while watching me.
Closing her eyes, she raised her right hand, and a dark energy began to seep from her fingertips.
Demonic energy.
Though it’s made of mana, it’s a different energy slowly taking shape.
“This spell is usually very expensive… It consumes a lot of demonic energy. Many nobles in the South try to bribe their parents to use this spell.”
“Hey, bug. Stop babbling and cast the spell.”
“…!”
This little one.
Is she still so dim-witted?
While muttering in a faltering voice, she didn’t stop her hands from manipulating the demonic energy.
She switched from her right hand to her left.
And back to her right, shaping the demonic energy like crafting pottery, the centipede nun brought out a talisman from her bosom.
She pressed the solidified demonic energy ball against the talisman, and the energy seeped into it.
In an instant, the talisman began to inscribe unknown hieroglyphs.
I could follow the movement of the demonic energy only up to this point.
I could sense the energy that flowed out, but it’s hard to feel what’s merged into a totem or talisman.
“I beseech you. Please, drive away the evil that disrupts this old man’s mind.”
The centipede nun chanted a fairly convincing spell, then hi-yah!
She slapped the talisman onto Cern’s forehead.
Suddenly, Cern’s eyes bulged open, and he started to cough repeatedly.
“Cough! Cough! Gah! Linda! Bring water!”
[Understood.]
Just then, a Clockwork Doll appeared at the door, bringing a cup filled with cold water.
I thought there was no voice recognition, but it seems it’s set to respond only to the master’s voice.
After gulping down the cup of water that Linda brought, Cern rose from the bed.
His gaze was sincere and firm.
His body was quite emaciated, but remnants of muscle hinted at a rough life.
He leaned on a staff and stood up, surveying us before saying, “Did you wake me up?”
“Yes. I want to commission you.”
“Strange. I thought no one would come to find me once I went mad. To think I’ve had visitors twice recently. Should I install a guest reception mode for Linda?”
“Huh? Twice? Who else came before?”
That can’t be!
Cern was a long-lost soul, abandoned by his wife, child, and comrades.
Who would come to see Cern?
“A beast girl came. Someone with a handsome face, black hair, and brown pupils. Did a man like that come here?”
That’s Yerina!
A chill ran down my spine.
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