Chapter 30: Indoctrination and Strawberry Cake

It was a rather spacious private room.

Though they called it a prison, the accommodations for a Caution-level Outsider were actually quite nice. To be honest, it wasn’t much different from a hotel suite.

It had several rooms, and it seemed my special requests had been fulfilled. The bed looked incredibly plush.

I’d heard the high-quality lodging was meant to increase the chances of rehabilitating an Outsider, helping them experience the culture of this world in a more positive light.

I wholeheartedly agreed with that humanitarian approach.

When I opened the door to the observation room, the view of the large cell flooded in. The room was now separated from me by a thick, transparent pane of reinforced glass.

I had expected Seol Yu-wol to rush at me the moment I opened the door, but there was no reaction.

I approached the glass and slowly scanned the interior, not letting my guard down. She could still lunge forward and startle me by banging on the glass, just like before.

Then I found her.

She was curled up in a corner of the room, her face buried in her knees.

“…?”

Her mood was completely different from before…

With her keen senses, she should have noticed someone had arrived. After all, sound passed through freely to allow for communication.

I used my ability.

[Seol Yu-wol]

[Main Stance]

[After being knocked unconscious by the Heavenly Demon’s strike, she has come to the conclusion that she was captured by the Demonic Cult. She feels utterly pathetic and is overcome with extreme lethargy and self-loathing.]

[Optimal Response] [Satisfaction Compatibility 60%]

[Calm yourself, Young Lady. This is not the Central Plains you know.]

The initial compatibility was extremely low, proof of just how unstable her psychological state was.

Still, I had to do it.

“Calm yourself, Young Lady. This is not the Central Plains you know.”

At my low voice, Seol Yu-wol slowly lifted her head. Through her messy, tangled black-and-white hair, her cold, blue eyes were revealed.

Her blue eyes scanned me from top to bottom.

“…”

She stared at me for a long moment before her dry lips parted.

“Is this the Western Regions?”

“………”

“Or perhaps, the Southern Barbarians?”

Right. This reaction was a perfectly natural step.

Since I told her this wasn’t the Central Plains, she believed she had been defeated by the Demonic Cult and dragged off to a prison in some other region.

There were protocols for explaining this world to an Outsider, and it was best to start with those. I would get through it quickly.

“Young Lady. Would you please look over here for a moment?”

I turned on the wall-mounted monitor in her room.

“…!”

As dazzling light and sound suddenly poured from the large, black panel, Seol Yu-wol flinched back in shock. She regarded the suspicious object—something she had never seen before—with open hostility.

Paying her wariness no mind, I spoke in a low voice.

“We will now begin the indoctrination.”

I had to start with this.

[Excellent!]

Only then, I felt, could we finally begin to have a proper conversation.

*

“Hmm-hmm~”

Humming a tune, Elice headed toward the Counselor’s office, her short tail swaying happily.

The protection detail for the Counselor, which she had been so worried about, had ended without a hitch. Today, she could just head home.

On top of that, she had received a completely unexpected gift, so she was in a very good mood.

‘The vanilla cake next to it is for you, Elice.’

The fact that the Counselor had made a cake just for her, not just the strawberry one for her sister Luna, was a joyous thing in itself. It seemed the sense of closeness she’d felt at the orphanage hadn’t been her imagination after all.

Outwardly, she projected an open-minded persona, playing into the stereotypes of her beast-human race. But in truth, she had never once been in a relationship. All of Elice’s provocative actions were merely the clumsy defense mechanism of a young animal terrified of being ignored.

Click.

“Oh.”

The Counselor had given her a key ring, and luckily, she found the right key for the office on the first try. It seemed everything went your way on a good day.

Elice smiled happily and stepped inside.

The counseling office was quiet. No one was there.

The sweet scent of bread baked that morning and the bitter aroma of the coffee he must have drunk lingered faintly, filling the space. If she weren’t a beast-human, she wouldn’t have been able to smell it at all.

Recalling the Counselor’s gesture… the kitchen was over there.

She headed for the small room inside the office. There was a cozy kitchen, and in it, a white refrigerator.

Elice grabbed the refrigerator door handle.

“Wow…”

She marveled at the two beautifully packaged cake boxes sitting inside. Elice carefully lifted them out as if they were treasure.

She was heading cautiously toward the door when it happened.

“Gasp…”

Elice froze in her tracks.

She hadn’t noticed it so strongly in the lobby outside the office. And once inside, she had been too distracted by the cakes to smell it properly.

But now, her sensitive nose was picking up the Counselor’s scent, and it was very strong.

“Why… am I like this?”

This had never happened before. She had smelled the scents of countless men before; it was a familiar sensation.

But this… this was a little different.

A little more… sweet, and soft, like vanilla…

Elice stood frozen, beginning to search for the source of the smell—no, the scent.

And then she found it.

[Counselor Yoo Seon-woo]

Hanging on the back of the chair was the white doctor’s gown he had taken off and left behind.

Now that she had identified the source, the scent seemed to grow even deeper.

Just then, without any warning, a strange impulse began to dominate Elice’s mind.

As if possessed, she took a step toward it… then suddenly snapped back to her senses.

“?!”

What was I about to do…?

Her face beet red, Elice turned, clutched the cakes, and bolted out of the room. She felt a wave of relief that no one else had been in the office.

*

Luna was watching the news broadcast about the Outsider situation on TV.

When the Counselor suddenly vanished due to the Transfer Erosion, she had shot up from her seat before she even realized it.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay, Luna.’

If Lily hadn’t been there to calm her down, she might have dashed out right then and there and run all the way to Seoul Forest.

After what felt like an agonizingly long wait, the Counselor emerged. Thankfully, it seemed everything had been resolved.

The broadcast ended there.

She figured it would be difficult for the Counselor to visit today. So she returned to her private quarters and picked up a book that had gathered a fine layer of dust.

It was her first moment of leisure in a long time. Lately, she had been so on edge, constantly feeling as if she were being chased, that an act as simple as reading had been unimaginable.

But now, her mind was much, much more at ease.

“…”

She turned the pages one by one. The noise in her head was gone, replaced by silence.

Luna couldn’t help but feel grateful to the Counselor for making it possible to experience such ordinary peace again.

How long had she been reading?

“Wow, that looks delicious!”

“Wait!”

The lounge outside her quarters suddenly grew noisy.

“Elice must be back.”

It seemed her beloved sister had returned from her mission. She had just finished her book, too.

Luna opened the door and went out to praise Elice for protecting the Counselor and to offer her thanks.

“No! It’s mine!”

But upon seeing the scene in the lounge, Luna froze on the spot.

Elice was surrounded by other hunters, clutching a white cake box tightly to her chest.

Sniff, sniff.

The scent of vanilla tickled her nose.

The shape and detail of the cake visible through the box were flawless, perfect in every way. Luna knew instantly who had made that cake. That level of detail was something she had only seen in the Counselor’s cookies and sandwiches.

‘Counselor…’

A cake? Why? As thanks for Elice doing a good job with the protection detail?

No, that doesn’t make sense… He wouldn’t have had time to bake a cake, would he?

Just as her mind was racing, Elice spotted her from a distance and waved brightly.

“Sis!”

Luna didn’t have the energy to wave back, but she managed a small lift of her hand in return.

Elice smiled and walked over to her.

I’m envious.

I can smile brightly, too.

Oblivious to Luna’s inner turmoil, Elice thrust a cake box decorated with a strawberry toward her.

“…Huh?”

When she came to, Luna found a box identical to the one Elice was holding, now in her own hands.

“Ta-da! The Counselor made this for you this morning!” Elice added, “And while he was making yours, he made one for me too. Teehee.”

So… that’s what it was.

Luna understood. The Counselor, being so considerate, had prepared one not only for her but for Elice as well. The cake had been meant for Luna from the start.

Luna carefully opened the box.

Inside was the most beautiful cake she had ever seen. Pure white fresh cream was piled up like fluffy winter snow, and on top, several glistening red strawberries bloomed like flowers.

Without thinking, Luna reached out and poked the white cream with her index finger.

And then.

Lick.

She brought the finger to her lips and licked the cream away. Her red tongue slowly, gently swept up the dollop of white. She ran her tongue lightly over her lips, savoring the taste.

‘Sweet…’

The sweet taste of the cream melting in her mouth sent a jolt through her entire body.

Without realizing it, she let out a deep, languid smile.

It was the sweetest, most dangerous taste in the world.

“…”

Luna suddenly noticed how quiet it had become. All the noise that had filled the lounge just a moment ago had vanished as if it were a lie.

When she turned her head, most of the guild members in the lounge were, as if on cue, staring at her with entranced expressions.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Luna asked with innocent eyes.

Lily, who was standing close to her, barely managed to speak. “Well… I mean, just now…”

But Lily couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

The sight of Luna just now. Her half-lidded eyes, her breathy sigh, and the movement of her tongue as she licked the cream.

She couldn’t bring herself to say it—that the sight had been far more sensual than any of her own practiced, foxy temptations.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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