episode_0030

Eliza woke up feeling hungry.

“……”

There was no clock in the room, so she couldn’t confirm the exact time, but it seemed like there was still a while until morning when she looked outside and saw that it was pitch dark.

The night in the streets of Libra was quiet. Apart from lonely perverts looking for prostitutes or undercover individuals trying to sell or buy suspicious drugs to avoid the eyes of the security patrol, there were hardly any people passing by.

Most places, except for late-night bars, had their lights turned off overwhelmingly. Even the few shops with lights on only had dim lighting to save on electricity bills, accentuating the darkness that enveloped the streets even more.

Eliza sat up and looked down at Vina. Vina was sleeping peacefully with a serene expression.

“…I’m hungry.”

Eliza got out of bed wearing only her panties. Taking off her clothes, including her bra, was Vina’s request,

“Sleep without clothes because it’s uncomfortable for me if you wake up in the middle of the night and I have to breastfeed you,” Eliza explained, finding the reason absurd from her perspective.

Of course, Eliza obediently complied.

“Ugh… Looks like you’ve already had your fill of sucking and biting….”

There were clear marks of bites and saliva on both nipples. Eliza got out of bed and put on a bra and clothes from the wardrobe, which was being used as a makeshift closet.

She chose a thin olive green cardigan from the first drawer as she felt slightly embarrassed to go outside in a tank top and shorts where her belly would be visible. It was one of the clothes she received from Cantaloupe.

“I must repay him later. I feel like I’ve received too much.”

Eliza thought proudly as she stepped out of the special room. The second-floor corridor and stairs to the first floor were barely illuminated by a few weak LED lights.

“Darkness resided where light did not reach. Light never discovered the darkness.”

In the dimly lit corridor, Eliza recalled a sinister verse from a poem written by Christina, inspired by the small light shining there.

“Christina….”

Eliza unconsciously muttered the name aloud.

Christina. The illegitimate child of her father. A unfortunate lady who could belong in Cinderella’s story.

Cinderella eventually met the prince, and the wicked stepmother and stepsisters received their just punishment. It was a pitiful sight.

“Liz? What are you up to? Do you know about the amusing fact that after your brother suddenly underwent a sex change and became a woman, he turned into a fairy princess milk dispenser?”

Muttering to herself, Eliza descended alone.

There weren’t many people in the hall, and the bartender she had seen in the evening was wiping glasses with a cloth, keeping an eye on the few remaining customers.

“Good evening. It’s a lovely night.”

Eliza took a seat in front of the bartender.

“It is indeed a good night. May the purity of the night be with you.”

Purity. A word unrelated to Eliza. She chuckled at the bartender’s words.

“Purity, huh. Yes, that’s nice. Bartender, could you bring me a beer and some sausages for snacks? Cantaloupe will pay for it.”

“I’m sorry, but the guest, Cantaloupe, has instructed us to charge guests and their companions from midnight to 7 a.m. However…”

The bartender smiled at Eliza.

“If it’s just a beer and three small frankfurters, I can buy them with my own money. Just a moment.”

Saying so, the bartender went into the kitchen, took out the sausages from the fridge, and started grilling them on a frying pan. Normally, this would be the chef’s job, but the cook who should be grilling the sausages was dozing off on a chair in the kitchen, taking a break.

“…Thank you.”

Eliza said quietly, looking towards the kitchen.

Frank sausages were quickly grilled. The bartender neatly placed the Frank sausages on a white plate and filled a glass of beer by turning the tap on the beer keg.

“Here is today’s special late-night snack.”

“Yes, I will enjoy it.”

Eliza speared a Frank sausage with her fork, took a bite, and chewed. It tasted like cheap sausages that commoners enjoyed in Amehain, but it wasn’t bad.

Seeing Eliza drinking beer, the bartender, with a worried expression, spoke to her.

“Do you have any concerns? You don’t look too well.”

Eliza put down her fork and beer glass, gazing at them without saying anything for a while.

“If my concern seemed intrusive, I apologize. But your face… It looks like someone who has decided to commit suicide right away.”

“…Do I really look that way?”

“Yes. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.”

Eliza raised her head, forced a smile at the bartender, and said, “No, thank you for your concern. There’s nothing special to worry about. Just feeling a bit sleepy and hungry, that’s all.”

After telling a lie, Eliza resumed eating the Frank sausages.

*

After finishing the food and drinks and thanking the bartender, Eliza left the inn.

“I’m still… hungry….”

Eliza muttered weakly as she walked the night streets.

Five Frank sausages and a glass of beer were not a small amount, but they didn’t satisfy the hunger that had awakened Eliza from sleep.

Perhaps due to hunger, Eliza’s mood was quite low. Despite feeling melancholic, she found some joy in wandering aimlessly because of her self-indulgent whims.

Now, she wanted nothing more than to strangle Vina, the one who always did as she pleased.

“Princess or whatever… thinking she’s so great….”

Eliza murmured gossip about Vina with a decadent expression.

Hunger spread throughout Eliza’s body, beginning to dominate her consciousness, and now driven by hunger, she walked endlessly northward.

“I want to eat…. something delicious….”

Eliza recalled her favorite foods. Cottage cheese she used to enjoy when she lived as an Amehain noble, juicy whole hog barbecue, cream of mushroom soup topped with porcini mushrooms….

-They’re all going to die!

Suddenly, she remembered the nightmare she had on the first day of her gender transformation.

-They’re all going to die! Blood, brains, tears, organs spilling out, everything that can be spilled will spill out, and they’ll die! A bloodbath unprecedented in human history will occur! Ahahaha!

In her dream, Lisa split her mother’s body in half and emerged. It was such a horrific sight that Eliza wondered why such a dreadful and cruel scene popped up so abruptly while she was thinking about delicious food.

“No. Don’t focus on the immortal stranger.”

Eliza heeded the voice coming from somewhere.

“See that red thing over there?”

She saw it. The upper body split in half, packed with organs and bones. Adipose tissue, blood vessels, and…

“Meat.”

“It looks delicious.”

“Warm meat oozing blood.”

Her mother’s meat looked truly appetizing. Eliza imagined tearing a bit of chest meat from the split upper body, chewing it with relish, ignoring Lisa’s gaze overflowing with joy, tore off another handful of meat with her cute mouth, and bit into it….

“Eek!”

Eliza vigorously shook her head from side to side, dispelling the impure delusion.

“What… what was that…?”

A tear streamed down Eliza’s right eye. It was a tear filled with a sense of humiliation towards herself.

“This place… seems to be near Mr. Muriann’s house on the hill.”

Eliza had found herself in the northern part of Libreville. To her right, she could see the dead eagle hill with Muriann’s cabin, and the path she was on was lined with lush undergrowth.

“…Hungry. Why am I so hungry? Why?”

Eliza continued to walk weakly until…

“Ah!”

She tripped over something and fell flat on her face.

“Hmm? Hmhm! Huh! Huh huh huh!”

Regaining consciousness, the woman sensed a presence and desperately let out groans.

“Oh? Are you okay?”

Eliza quickly got up and approached the woman. The woman was only wearing underwear, sprawled out with her arms and legs immobilized.

With a bit in her mouth, if Eliza hadn’t noticed, she would have been helpless and at the mercy of wild animals, risking being killed.

“Huh! Hm! Hm!”

The woman looked up at Eliza with hopeful eyes.

“Just a moment, I’ll untie you…okay…?”

Eliza’s words trailed off, her gaze losing its vitality.

As if not understanding English, the woman stared at Eliza, feeling something sticky land on her face.

“Huh? Huh huh!”

What landed on the woman’s face was Eliza’s saliva. Eliza was staring down at the woman with her mouth agape like a fool.

“Huh? Hm? Huh huh huh?”

The woman looked at Eliza, puzzled, making groaning sounds as if in disbelief.

In the deep forest devoid of people, there was one defenseless human and Eliza. Watching them were only beetles and small creatures.

Since her mouth was gagged, there was no need to worry about screams reaching Libreville.

“Huh? Huh huh?”

The woman wore nothing but dirty underwear covered in dust. Without the hassle of removing protective gear and clothes, it was easy to feed by simply opening her mouth.

“Huh? Huh?”

Finding such an easy meal was fortunate. Except for some rare exceptions, humans, always moving in groups, could recklessly attack and end up being hunted in return.

After assessing the situation, Eliza’s eyes regained their vigor, and she leaned in towards the woman’s face as if to kiss or something similar.

“Huh huh? Hm! Hm! Huh huh!”

The woman’s bewildered expression turned to screams as Eliza began to bite and tear at her face.

Biting through tough human skin was challenging, but not impossible. For over thirty seconds, Eliza chewed on the woman’s facial flesh, successfully tearing off chunks of bloody tissue.

Chewing and swallowing the torn flesh, Eliza lay on top of the woman, lifting her upper body to look down at her.

Like the black robe seen during the day, the woman’s face revealed intense agony with flesh torn off, muscles not completely severed, and blood gushing out like a waterfall mingling with the teeth stuck to the gums, creating a grotesque spectacle.

“Huh…. Huh huh huh….”

Entering a state of shock due to pain and bleeding, the woman, though powerless, emitted agonizing groans while staring straight at Eliza. Her eyes contained a mixture of hatred, fear towards Eliza, and perhaps a sludge-like blend of hope for what might come next.

There was no hope; as Eliza began to devour and clear away the flesh from the woman’s chest and abdomen, the woman, shocked by having her neck arteries bitten, bled like a pig and died.

Even as the woman perished, Eliza did not stop her meal. Rather than focusing on one area as if to savor every part of human flesh, she diligently tore and consumed the body.

Her favorite part was the foot; the woman’s feet had almost no flesh left, and the discarded toenails lay scattered on the ground with roots intact.

The hunger that had tormented Elaiza had subsided somewhat, but her body craved even more flesh and blood.

It was strange not to feel excited about consuming human flesh after such a long time.

As she savored the liver she had sliced from the belly, a piece of underchewed liver got stuck in Elaiza’s throat. She spat out the liver she was eating, coughing and retching as she expelled the lodged piece along with blood.

Elaiza stared blankly at the piece of liver that had come out of her throat before turning her head towards the woman’s corpse.

The woman’s body had transformed so drastically that even her family wouldn’t recognize her. Her once simple and beautiful face had been torn apart, revealing bones that formed the foundation of beauty, now covered with red flesh. Her eyes, devoid of eyelids, stared blankly at the sky.

One breast was completely missing, leaving a gaping hole, while between the ribs that Elaiza had forcibly torn apart with a sharp stone to extract the organs, the cold intestines and stomach were visible.

Turning away from the liver piece, Elaiza…

“Ugh! Ugh!”

Vomited what she had eaten.

The vomit contained undigested pieces of flesh, blood that hadn’t lost its red hue, and slimy gastric juices, making it repulsive.

“Ugh…. Ughhh….”

Elaiza looked down at her bloodied hands. As she wiped her mouth with the bloody hand, more blood smeared across her hands.

“Ahhhh!”

Screaming, Elaiza recoiled in horror, backing away from the woman’s corpse where she had just consumed the flesh.

“What is this? What have I done?”

It was horrifying. Truly horrifying.

Not only had she killed an innocent person, but going beyond that to consume the corpse was horrifying. Yet, what Elaiza found most horrifying was the simple fact, the truth, that human flesh was incredibly delicious.

“….”

Elaiza drooled over the remaining meat. Tough as it was, when chewed, warm and flavorful blood flowed out, hiding sweet muscles underneath, rich fatty layers, and thick veins beneath…

What about the organs? While she had only tasted the liver so far, raw liver was less tasty than pig liver Elaiza had tried before. However, the satisfaction that spread through her body with just one bite was something she could never get from cooked liver or animal liver.

Chewing on her appetite, Elaiza slowly approached the meat… only to realize what she was doing and screamed as she backed away.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Apologizing continuously to the meat, Elaiza couldn’t understand herself for apologizing to food, questioning why she was apologizing to the meat she rightfully obtained.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

She rose abruptly, attempting to flee. Suppressing her appetite momentarily with human morals and reason, if no sign of pursuit was felt, she would have run without looking back.

Since wolves and wild dogs often appeared in the area, they could devour the remaining meat, erasing Elaiza’s traces cleanly for possible evidence elimination. Although ropes tying the remaining limbs of the corpse and a muzzle in the mouth might be discovered by the security forces, they would conclude it as a barbaric act by malicious raiders like Radar or Elenis.

Even if the “Great Path” vicinity had become safer, malignant entities like Radar or Elenis had not been eradicated.

Feeling a presence behind her, Elaiza turned around.

It was a girl.

At first glance, she seemed no more than five years old. Her cobalt hair was unusually long and lush for her age, cascading down in thick waves that almost rivaled a coat in thickness, matching the ankle-length camel cashmere coat she wore, as thick as a coat not suited for the season, except for the glowing halo above her head, making her appear utterly ordinary.

With sleepy silver eyes, she alternated between staring at Eliza and the meat, frozen in place.

“Uh…that’s…this is….”

Eliza stammered, trying to justify herself to the girl. Her mouth, clothes, hands covered in blood as if it had nothing to do with the brutally torn-apart corpse.

The girl tilted her head, pointing at the meat with gloved hands.

“Is that what unnie was eating…?”

“…Yeah.”

Eliza gave up on justifying herself.

“Unnie likes meat too… Before I became like this, I really loved meat… Pork, beef, lamb, any kind of meat, I ate them all without discrimination…”

“‘Any kind of meat’?”

Even in a half-panicked state, Eliza found the girl’s words puzzling.

“…If I eat that now, it hurts… My stomach aches all day and I feel sad…”

The girl told Eliza, seeming resigned to her fate, unfair and frustrating as it may be.

“I envy unnie… being able to eat delicious meat without stomachaches…”

Saying so, the girl slowly approached Eliza. Her cute feet, clad in black leather shoes, stepped on a small puddle formed by pooled blood.

“P-please don’t come…”

Feeling terror as the girl approached her, Eliza slowly backed away.

“I’m tired of eating iron and oil… It’s tasty but not as good as meat… the savory smell of meat…”

Ignoring Eliza’s pleas, the girl continued to advance.

Eliza took a step back, glancing up at the night sky.

“Aaah!”

Eliza screamed, dropping to her knees and covering her ears with both hands.

In the horrifying hallucination shown to Eliza by Lisa Plague, the immortal foreigner (for now serving) appeared in the night sky of Libra.

The celestial circulation of the night sky. A grotesque sky crisscrossed with giant mechanical flesh hearts and oozing veins.

Eliza could distinctly hear the heartbeat. The sacred reverberation that had existed since ancient times.

“You should be thankful that you can eat meat…”

Behind the girl approaching Eliza, a blurry figure filled with noise appeared. Twice the size of Bine, it had a torso resembling a human with four arms and a lower body similar to a snake.

And above its head, the shape of a halo and wings. These were the divine organs bestowed upon the Elenises, far superior in holiness compared to other Elenises.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Aaaah!”

Eliza closed her eyes tightly, begging for forgiveness. She believed that the Almighty had finally become angry with her for committing sins, sending her apostles through Satla, the celestial circulation of the night sky and one of the five stars of blasphemy, to punish her.

Listening to the footsteps, Eliza awaited the judgment that would befall her, even thinking that countless arms were pulling her apart to shreds.

“…It’s okay.”

“At first, it might feel that way… It’s okay…”

“You’ll get used to it soon… I did too…”

The girl, gentle and kind, stroked Eliza’s head.

“…”

Tears welled up in Eliza’s eyes as she looked at the girl through blurred vision. The girl, with an affectionate smile, continued to stroke her head.

“Ah…aaa…”

The thumping sound of the mechanical heart dominated everything, but amidst it, there was a small yet powerful sound that cut through.

Another heartbeat. It resembled more the vigorous pumping of a high-pressure pump than a living being’s heartbeat, but to Eliza’s ears, it sounded more beautiful and noble than any other heartbeat.

“Ugh… Aaaaaa….”

Eliza burst into tears due to a sense of relief, while the girl continued to stroke Eliza as if she were a saint smiling.

Eliza Rusta and Isabelle Argento first met in a dark forest permeated with the foul stench of blood and the pungent smell of entrails vibrating in the air.