episode_0097

… … … … …

“By any chance… …Teacher… ….”

I could still see the red marks on the corners of her mouth. I hesitated a few times after seeing it, but I couldn’t help but tell her. I asked cautiously with a hesitant voice.

“The teacher said that we are a distant relative of vampires… … ?

Then, like a vampire drinks blood, the teacher… … so… … .”

The last words did not come out easily.

“Human flesh… … ?”

“Oh, no! That’s right, that’s… … !”

Teacher Wol-hee cut me off and continued speaking hurriedly. Her voice sounded like she was making excuses or trying to rationalize herself.

“I… … tried to keep my beliefs. I didn’t want to covet the body of the intelligent being. But, I couldn’t… … do anything.”

The teacher’s voice cracked as he continued speaking.

“But I never touched the innocent. Only the dead, those who were just living their lives for no reason… … .

That, that was all to protect the boy. He had to be strong to stand up to those women… … !”

“… … … .”

There seemed to be a lot to think about in what Teacher Wol-hee said. I started to pick up her ramblings and slowly think about them.

Ultimately, her essence is similar to that of a vampire. Just as vampires must drink blood, her race must eat human flesh.

If so, it may be inevitable. Just as humans cannot live without eating meat at all. It is not something that ends with rejecting it out of conviction, but rather something like an unavoidable fate that must be avoided in order to continue living.

As for the horrible sight I just saw… … I don’t think I completely misunderstood it.

The teacher is… … a very strict vegetarian, as far as humans are concerned, and he clearly did not eat human flesh for as long as he could endure.

However, even if you suppress your appetite with strong willpower, there must be a limit, so you must have been unable to endure it any longer and sent me to sleep separately before ‘eating’ in this basement.

In other words, her greedy desire for human flesh was merely the result of her long-suppressed instincts exploding.

What I saw was not a scene of a horrible monster preying on humans, but rather… … a starving person, desperately devouring food.

Moreover, the teacher said that at least he did not harm innocent people. He said that he only ate the corpses of those who were already dead. Isn’t this the teacher’s compromise with reality in order to preserve his conscience as much as possible?

I’ve heard that some monks are completely vegetarian, while others eat meat that they didn’t kill for themselves, so it was easy to understand if you thought of it as being similar to that type.

After finishing my thoughts, I looked straight at the teacher and slowly opened my mouth.

“Teacher… … You must have had a hard time.”

The teacher’s red eyes widened in surprise at my words.

“What… … ?”

The teacher’s voice trembled. This time, transparent tears flowed from her red eyes.

“You’ve been putting up with it for a long time, right? That, man… … eating meat.

So… … I understand. I think it can’t be helped if that’s your race, teacher.

Rather, if you had explained it calmly, it might have been a little easier to understand… … .”

“… … You understand me… …? Even this… … ?”

Her voice was a mixture of hope and anxiety. The blood still stained her face and dress, but her expression looked as innocent as a child who had found something lost.

“Really… …Can you accept me… …?”

I nodded to reassure her.

“Teacher, you always thought of me, right?

You also took care of my health checkups every week… … and you always did them yourself, and you never let other doctors or nurses touch or see me.

You even prepared nutritional supplements specially for me, tailored to my constitution… … Even when I had a cold, you prepared medicine in advance before I even knew it. ”

Yes. Teacher Wol-hee really took care of my health obsessively. If it weren’t for the teacher, even when I was shot or seriously injured, I might not have recovered and might have died.

“Anyway, I know that it was all done out of the heart for me. Even if the method was a little special… … .”

The teacher’s eyes sparkled with emotion at my words.

“Boy… ….”

It was a heartwarming and touching scene in its own way, but even so, when I think about it a little calmly, the current situation was a little awkward.

We were still in this underground ‘restaurant’, and the teacher’s hands, face, and entire dress were still stained with blood and flesh.

I’m sorry teacher, but I had to say what I had to say.

“So, uh… …Teacher. I think it would be better for you to wash up first.”

When I said that, the teacher turned around and said, “Hot,” and his already pale face became even paler. The warm atmosphere that had been there before turned into an embarrassing awkwardness in an instant.

And now that I think about it, it seems like the teacher realized that she was still on top of me, in a dress covered in blood and filth.

“Mi, sorry.”

She staggered as she tried to stand up in a hurry. I instinctively grabbed her arm and supported her. I tried to ignore the sticky feeling on my hand.

“Be careful, sir. Let’s go up now.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.”

We climbed the stairs in awkward silence. Teacher Wol-hee was still a little off balance, so I held onto her arm and supported her.

As I climbed the long spiral staircase, I came into view of a restaurant that was mostly lit by candles hanging on the walls. Perhaps the gruff maid had turned the lights on.

Red marks scattered on the floor, blood splattered on the wall, and… … debris that was hard to look at.

Even though I decided to understand Professor Wolhee, it was still a sight that was difficult to accept.

Finally, we reached the top of the stairs, and the teacher stopped for a moment in front of a stone door.

“8.”

The maid, who had appeared like a shadow at her call, bowed her head. Now that I looked at her, I could clearly see that her face resembled mine.

“Here… … organize it.”

The maid nodded without saying anything.

… … … … …

“The boy… …has a lot of blood on his clothes.”

As we left the basement and entered the mansion, Professor Wol-hee spoke.

“Oh, I see… … .”

As the teacher said, there were red stains here and there on my pajamas and hands.

“I can’t help it. Let’s go to the bathroom for a bit.”

“Yes. If you wash first… … .”

“We have to wash together.”

“Yes… …?! Together?!”

The teacher cut me off as I asked again in embarrassment.

“Boy, look. There’s a scar from when you fell down the stairs earlier… ”

The teacher’s voice had become calmer, and I could sense the seriousness and professionalism of a doctor. She carefully lifted my wrist.

“There’s a scratch on the palm. It’s unlikely that the wound came into contact with the body fluids since he fell down the stairs, but… … .

First, wash and disinfect, and then wrap the bandage. Then, do emergency treatment for the palm, and wash it together. ”

“What does washing have to do with first aid――”

“With his palms in this condition, the boy can’t wash them by himself, right?

If your palm gets wet, it could cause infection… … I, as the attending physician, need to help.”

“읏… … .”

I didn’t quite understand why I had to get help washing it, but the teacher had a point.

“… … Okay.”

Somehow, I felt like I was acting according to Teacher Wol-hee’s intentions, but I had no choice but to accept it. The teacher looked relieved and guided me to a room with a large bathroom.

The mansion’s bathroom was much larger than expected, with a marble bathtub big enough for four or five people to soak in, and a gold-trimmed mirror and sink.

Before entering the bathroom, Teacher Wol-hee first carefully examined the wound on my palm. Her fingers carefully traced around the wound.

“Fortunately, it’s not deep. But it definitely needs to be disinfected.”

Although it stung while she was applying the disinfectant, I trusted her as a professional doctor when I saw her disinfecting the scratched area and wrapping a bandage.

“Okay, let’s wash up now.”

The problem was from now on. My face turned red at the words of Teacher Wol-hee, who had already taken off her dirty dress and was now in her underwear. It was only now that I realized what was happening.

“Hehehe. Are you still embarrassed? I’m the boy’s doctor. I’ve given him health checkups and massages many times… … .”

“But, still, washing together… … is a bit… … .”

“I told you earlier. You shouldn’t let the water touch your palms, so I have no choice but to help you. I also have to check closely to see if there are any other injuries.”

“Ugh… … .”

Teacher Wol-hee’s tone was firm. In the end, I had no choice but to bow my head and follow her words.

“Okay, I’ll wrap you up with a towel.”

While I was shaking, the teacher wrapped a towel around my body and wrapped another towel around my lower body. I felt a little bit reassured by her considerate actions.

First, the teacher gently wiped my back with a soapy towel.

“Huh!?”

“Oh, sorry. Am I a little surprised?”

“Oh, no… … .”

When her hand touched my spine, a tingling sensation came over me, but I was too embarrassed to show it.