Chapter 165 Volume IV - Chapter 10: Blood Filled Streets of the City
Lucas's expression changed again when he too saw the dormitory buildings in front of us. A disappointed expression appeared on his face.
"How long do you plan to stay at this academy?"
"I'm leaving tomorrow night. Because I'm extremely busy and there are a few other academies I want to visit. But I still plan to come here periodically, it's just that... the atmosphere is a bit different. And it's an academy that is directly under my responsibility."
"I see..."
I narrowed my eyes slightly and sighed lightly, which Lucas noticed immediately, but this time he didn't let it go without pressing the issue, as he had the previous times.
"What happened?"
And that was exactly what I wanted.
"It's just... I'm going to ask you again, but you came here to find out how the people you're going to rule in the future live, what their situation is, right? I don't think you're here just to have fun. Of course, seeing the new generation of nobles might be one of your goals, but that's the true case, isn't it?"
"Yes?"
"If it's the last thing I said, you're in the right place, but if you're here for the first thing..."
I raised my eyes and met Lucas's. He had a curious expression on his face. And a slight hesitation in his eyes, mixed with a slight fear.
"Then you're in the wrong place."
"W- why?"
"Because this is an academy. It's an academy that the kingdom specifically favors, and it's full of extremely talented people. Of course, it's not perfect. Nowhere on this continent, nowhere in the world is perfect. Still, if you really want to know the condition of your people, this is not the place to come. This is... a place that is completely illusory to anyone who doesn't know the facts."
"The facts?"
"Yes, the facts."
Lucas unconsciously took a slight step back. The hesitation and slight fear in his eyes intensified, yet the curiosity behind these feelings was slowly coming to the surface too.
"What facts?"
I sighed deeply at his question.
This is exactly why the kingdom is ending its golden age at this time.
Before and after Lucas took over, the government was not aware of anything. They were unaware of the dangers that were growing in their blind spots, in the areas of the kingdom that were rotting while they were unaware of anything.
Since the day the kingdom was founded, it was in such a state of peace and power that it forgot to control itself. It did not recognize the cancer cells growing inside it. This eventually led to the people revolting and the kingdom slowly collapsing.
I can't blame Lucas too much for that, though. Yes, he certainly has a part in it, but he was raised from the very beginning not to see such things.
I'm not saying he's a bad manager, it's just... he wasn't raised to be a 'crown prince'. Even giving him a role in the government is something the king decided only recently. So Lucas, although he really worked hard for his responsibility, was inexperienced, too compassionate, and not 'ready'.
And on top of that, his father's early death left him in a bad situation.
I will try to change that, to show him what he really needs to see, and that will be one of the best 'first' steps I can take to save this kingdom.
"You said you were leaving tomorrow night. Then I will show you tomorrow why this kingdom, no... directly why this world is a rotten place. Be prepared Lucas, rest well, and clear your mind. You will not like what you see tomorrow, especially as crown prince. Come to the east gate by ten tomorrow morning."
He was thinking, confused. Lucas, crown prince of the Cevilian Kingdom, didn't say a word as I was leaving him. And I just headed for the building where my room was located.
*******
~thud!
The sound of garbage falling to the ground and the person hitting it echoed through the street. Sweat quickly poured down the forehead of the man who had dropped the garbage in his haste. But he quickly recovered and started running again.
Out of breath, he kept running, not even looking back.
"Aagghh! H- help! Pl- please-"
The sound of the wind being cut by a sharp object filled my ears. A knife, a completely black one, entered the leg of the fleeing man. It pierced the flesh, lodged in the bone, and stuck there.
"AAAARRGGGGGHHH!"
Screaming, the man tried to keep running, but the moment he stepped on the leg pierced by the knife, he lost his balance and collapsed. His reddened eyes, filled with pain and tears, went to the dark knife in his leg and his pupils shrunk with the horror.
"Ah- Aaahhhhhhhhh!"
He screamed once again, literally tearing at his throat, with the hope that someone will come to save him.
But no one heard him. There was no one, to begin with.
"H- HELP!!!"
He begged desperately, but not a single soul paid attention to him. His eyes, like a madman's, scanned the direction he was running in. Each glance was full of fear, and terror.
A smile appeared on my face as I left the darkness and moved to a place where he could see.
The man could finally see the person he was running from again. He saw me, the one who had stabbed him in the leg, and his eyes began to roll with desperation. He turned around quickly, trying to crawl away. The blood oozing from his body left a red stain on the floor as he crawled.
It was cute, and peaceful at the same time.
Another dark blade formed in my hand. Controlling it, I stretched it in the air and threw it once more at the man.
Only a second after the short whistling sound reached both of our ears, the man trembled and looked at his hand. When he saw that his hand had been nailed to the floor by the thrown knife, he stopped crawling helplessly.
His eyes filled with more tears and his expression turned grim. He screamed at the top of his lungs. He buried his head helplessly in his arm, his body trembling.
"Wh- Why... WHY... WHY ME!"
My footsteps echoed in the street. The man must have heard them too, because his voice became even more desperate.
"I- I- I have two daughters... Please-"
His free arm, in which he had buried his head, suddenly disappeared as if it had never existed before. Blood poured like a waterfall out of his shoulder, which seemed to have been perfectly cut, and his whole body trembled with utter pain.
He could no longer endure it. He didn't even have the strength to scream.
The smile on my face widened involuntarily, I leaned in front of him and lifted his chin up with my hand to make eye contact.
The light of life in the man's eyes had faded, almost as if it had completely disappeared. He had cried so much that the white of his eyes had turned completely red.
'Kill...'
A faint whisper echoed in my mind. But I paid no attention to it.
"Scream."
The man tried to open his mouth, but he had screamed so much that his vocal cords were not healthy anymore, and he didn't have the strength to do so.
I frowned, tilted my head slightly to the right, and gripped his chin a little harder.
The man groaned in pain at the sudden force on his jaw, but again... he did not scream.
'Torture...'
I felt my nerves starting to break down.
"Scream."
The man's eyes suddenly shifted upward and then his whole body trembled again. Then all his muscles relaxed, his head fell to the floor and the last gleam in his eyes disappeared completely.
"Boring."
I didn't care about the man. I turned around and went back the way I had come, the way I had chased him.
Along the way, I came across a lot of dead bodies, the bodies of other people I had met.
"Oh, this is the one whose fingernails I ripped out in front of his lover."
A smile reappeared on my face as I remembered that moment. The sound of blood streaming, the feeling of flesh being cut by the sharp darkness, the crunching of bones, the desperate screams, the calls for help, and so on... All of it was like a chaotic orchestra.
It was perfect.
It was flawless.
It was marvelous.
Just then, another body caught my attention, a woman's body with no legs.
'Blood, scream... We want... You want...'
"Hmm. Should I take this with me? It might be a nice souvenir."
I approached her. But then paused.
"Whatever."
I quickly left her and continued on my way.
I thought about it all the while.
Why didn't I... Why didn't I do this before?
If I had known I could get away with my boring, useless life just by listening to whispers... I would have done it in the first place. It's a pity, it's truly a pity.
I shouldn't have taken my mother's words seriously... I should have discovered this fun much earlier. To think that people's pain is so pleasurable...
Does Hannyas always feel this way? If so, I wish I was a hannya...
Hmm... If I hunt someone and replace their parts with my own, will I become a hannya?
No... Hannyas feed on emotions with their horns.
Ah, then I'll have to make myself a horn. I need a hannya.
Although... I'd have to go to where they live first.
Oh, well. I can wait, no problem... After all, I've always waited, all the time. I can wait longer.
I smiled again as the moonlight broke through the clouds and suddenly hit my face. It was a full moon today, what perfect timing...
'Not enough... more...'
I paused once again, raised my hands, and looked at my palms.
I realized I was shaking.
No, it wasn't fear. It was excitement. It was my body's reaction to not having as much fun as it wanted.
Yes... The whispers are right, this is not enough. I must go on until I'm satisfied... I have to keep going until I'm saturated with people's screams and pain... The rest is unimportant.
I climbed up to the nearest building and looked around. When I saw something moving in the distance, again in the darkness, my eyes lit up and an involuntary smile appeared on my face.
There was a mother and a boy who looked like a high school student standing in the street, standing in the darkness and arguing.
Excitement gripped my whole body as I jumped down.
As their screams filled the street, as my darkness enveloped them and their weak, lifeless, and gorgeous bodies collapsed, a deep pleasure spread through my veins.
'Slaughter...'
I need more, I need much more.
I can't stop.
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