Ch.23Human (2)

I learned something while living at the academy. Cecilly is someone with a mischievous and playful personality. Until she used formal speech with me, she was the model of a polite princess, but after we started speaking casually, she’s been constantly playing pranks.

“You can be honest. I know I’m pretty. That’s why you were staring at my face earlier, right?”

“…I wasn’t.”

“Then why is your face red?”

It was the same after anthropology class ended. Even on our way to the school cafeteria, Cecilly’s teasing didn’t stop. She seemed determined to hear an answer from my own mouth, coaxing me with a flirtatious voice.

I could vividly feel my face getting redder with each word she spoke, but I denied it as much as possible. I had no idea what kind of prank would follow if I admitted it.

When I continued to deny it, Cecilly made a face as if she couldn’t understand.

“You called me ‘noona’ just fine before, so why won’t you answer now? I don’t understand.”

“That time was different from now. And other people are watching.”

True to my words, I could occasionally spot students whispering around us. It wasn’t an overreaction—just a quick glance around showed many students looking directly at us.

Of course, it was because of Cecilly being friendly with me. Not only was her appearance striking, but Cecilly was also the Princess of Helium. She’d been a topic of conversation since the entrance ceremony, so it was natural for many people to be interested in her.

And for such a figure to be friendly with some unknown male student? All sorts of rumors spreading throughout the academy was only natural. It’s been about three weeks since the entrance ceremony, and since there aren’t many literature students compared to the non-academic track, rumors have probably spread as far as they could.

‘There haven’t been any major problems yet, but…’

Since I have ears, I vaguely know what my reputation is like. I’m a person of interest to professors and a detestable redhead to fellow students. I heard all of this by chance in the cafeteria.

For now, they seem to be watching me because of Cecilly and Rina, but I don’t know when things might explode. Students admitted to Halo Academy are emotionally imperfect teenagers, and many are high-nosed aristocrats. Without looking far, there’s a guy named Jackson who clearly dislikes me.

“…You’re right.”

Cecilly seemed to grasp the situation after hearing my words. Judging by her slightly furrowed brow, she didn’t seem very pleased. Still, as Cecilly looked around, the whispering subsided.

I watched carefully and suggested to Cecilly in a cautious voice.

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I can keep my distance.”

“No. This much is fine. It happened all the time in Helium too.”

“Doesn’t Helium have no nobles except for the king?”

“Even without nobles, there are ways to check the king’s power.”

Cecilly answered vaguely with a slight smile. It seemed like something I shouldn’t know about. Of course, I could understand.

When I nodded as if I understood, she gave a faint smile. It was close to meaning “thank you for not prying,” but soon after, her smile deepened, and mischief began to show. Seeing that, I realized my mistake, but it was already too late.

“So about that answer from earlier? When are you going to tell me?”

“… …”

“If you keep your mouth shut, I’ll do something weird?”

In the end, I had to surrender. I covered my face with one hand and spoke with an air of giving up.

“Yes. You’re extremely pretty. You’re the prettiest person I’ve ever seen, Cecilly.”

“You should call me Noona Cecilly, right?”

“…Noona Cecilly.”

“Hehe. Thank you. It feels like I’m receiving a deep bow, but it’s refreshing coming from you, Issac.”

“Sigh…”

Now my face feels like it’s about to explode. I let out a deep sigh to try to release the heat rising from within. Even so, it wouldn’t subside, which was embarrassing.

Regardless, Cecilly giggled like a young girl and tickled my ear. Is teasing me really that fun? It was hard for me to understand.

“I’m sorry. Your reactions are just so entertaining that I can’t stop.”

“…My reactions are entertaining?”

“Yes.”

“Then if I don’t react at all, it wouldn’t be fun, right?”

“Try it.”

“…I’m sorry.”

As expected, I had no control over the situation. When I lowered my tail, Cecilly let out a slight laugh and spoke more gently than before.

“Issac.”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you curious about demons?”

“Why do you ask?”

When I asked back, Cecilly brought up what happened during anthropology class.

“You asked earlier about why elves have such a small population. So I wondered if you weren’t curious about demons.”

“No, I’m extremely curious about many things.”

“Then why don’t you ask?”

Cecilly tilts her head, asking with a tone that suggests she doesn’t understand. I stared at her face steadily and answered quietly.

“Because I might make a mistake.”

“Make a mistake?”

“Yes.”

Demons have been persecuted for hundreds of years regardless of race. So I was a bit cautious about asking Cecilly, of all people, questions related to demons. If I inadvertently touched on a painful subject, it would obviously be awkward for both of us.

You could say I lack courage, but by my standards, it’s a kind of consideration. At the very least, you shouldn’t dig into someone’s wounds to maintain a smooth relationship. That’s why I’m quietly accepting her stubborn pranks instead of playing them back.

“…I see. Issac was always a considerate child.”

Cecilly seemed to understand my feelings, muttering with a pleased smile. Then she spoke to me as if she was doing me a favor.

“It’s okay. You can ask me anything.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Because it’s you, Issac, not someone else. And you have no malice at all.”

“In that case…”

I trailed off, looking around. As we were talking, we had arrived at the cafeteria, but there weren’t many students there. Most of them go outside to eat.

So I picked up an empty bowl and asked Cecilly a question. Since it was something I’d always been curious about, I was a little excited.

“What role do those horns play?”

“Huh? Horns?”

“Yes.”

After hearing my question, Cecilly touched the horns that protruded upward from her temples. The horns became increasingly red toward the tips.

Along with Dark Mana, horns are a characteristic that could be called a symbol of demons. However, demon horns haven’t been properly researched, and all sorts of strange rumors abound.

For instance, that mana is concentrated in demon horns, or that they’re simply a symbol of the devil, and so on. Because of this, even in the Biography of Xenon, there’s hardly anything written about horns.

“Hmm…”

Cecilly seemed to be organizing her thoughts as she began to fill her empty bowl with food one by one. I waited for her to answer while gathering my own food.

Eventually, when we found empty seats and sat down, Cecilly, sitting across from me, gave her answer.

“Should I say it tells you about menstrual cycles?”

“…Pardon?”

Clank-

Her answer was so surprising that I dropped the fork I was using to pick up food. For a moment, I couldn’t tell if she was joking or being serious. But unlike my state of mind, Cecilly’s face remained calm.

This told me it wasn’t a joke but the truth.

Even as I stared at her with a dumbfounded expression, Cecilly continued speaking as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“As you know, demons are descendants of devils. And devils are literally the embodiment of ‘desire.’ Because of this, we demons have certain periods when it’s difficult to control our desires. This phenomenon is called the ‘evil cycle,’ but only men call it that—women just consider it part of their period. Ironically, it coincides with menstruation.”

“… …”

It makes sense to call it a menstrual cycle. Thanks to that, my frozen brain gradually calmed down, and thinking became possible again. However, I couldn’t help the heat rising to my face.

I cleared my throat to shake off all the thoughts in my head and asked another question.

“Then how do you endure it? I’m a human male so I don’t know, but I hear women’s stomachs hurt terribly during their periods.”

“Usually, we calm ourselves through meditation. And recently, medicine has been invented, so there’s no big problem.”

“What if someone provokes you during the evil cycle? Do you become a devil?”

“No. We don’t become devils just because of the evil cycle. Most cases of demons becoming devils happen when they experience terrible tragedies. Like losing a loved one before their eyes, or being betrayed by a trusted friend.”

Cecilly said as she picked up finely chopped meat with her fork and put it in her mouth.

“Well, as you said, we do become as violent as devils. Especially women.”

“That’s the same for humans too.”

“Really? From what I heard earlier, humans have periods once a month? That must be tough. Demons have them once every six months.”

Do long-lived races have longer menstrual cycles? Both elves and demons have incredibly long cycles. Or maybe humans and beastkin have abnormally short ones.

With growing curiosity, I quickly moved on to the next question. Learning about what kind of race demons are was more important than eating.

“So does it mean that as the horns grow, the cycle approaches?”

“No. The horns don’t grow—this red part covers the entire horn.”

Cecilly tapped the upper part of her horn, which was dyed red as if painted over. Currently, about a quarter of it is covered in red.

‘If the horns are completely red, I should definitely not touch them.’

Who knows what disaster would occur if I did. I chewed the food in my mouth and asked consecutively.

“What happens if the horns are cut off?”

“They quickly return to normal. And there’s no sensation even if they’re cut off.”

“So there’s no feeling in the horns themselves?”

“Right.”

“Then, excuse me, but could I touch them once?”

“…Eh? T-touch my horns?”

My question elicited a rather strange reaction from Cecilly. She opened her eyes wide, stammered, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. She was clearly showing embarrassment.

I tilted my head at her unexpected reaction, then belatedly realized it was a sensitive topic. If she’s embarrassed to this extent, there must be a significant meaning behind it. And my guess was exactly right.

“Um… sorry. For demons, touching horns is an act of affection done between people who love each other. It means ‘I can love you even if you become a devil.'”

“Oh… that’s romantic.”

“R-really? Romantic… That’s the first time I’ve heard that from a human who isn’t a demon.”

Cecilly scratched her cheek as if embarrassed. It was completely different from her usual teasing demeanor, so it felt new.

‘Thanks to that, I can add something.’

This was information that could add flesh and bone to the story of Jin and Lily, who have a tender love line in the Biography of Xenon.

Jin is a knight solely for Lily, so when he kneels on one knee to show respect, Lily strokes his horns. Then Jin looks up at Lily in surprise. There’s no sadder story in this world than the love between a demon and a cleric.

Of course, I plan to make Jin appear as the final boss in the latter part. I’m sorry to my mother, but there are too many foreshadowings and hints to change the ending. If it’s too difficult, I plan to release a side story.

Just before the atmosphere could turn awkward, I swallowed all the food in my mouth and said to Cecilly.

“Noona Cecilly, aren’t you curious about humans?”

“U-um? Curious about humans?”

“Yes. It feels one-sided if only I ask questions. If you’re curious about anything, please ask.”

“Humans…”

Fortunately, the awkward atmosphere seems to have passed. I quietly put food in my mouth until Cecilly spoke. Cecilly also started eating as if organizing her thoughts.

Thump- Thump- Thump-

At that moment, a familiar face entered my view. As I chewed my food and shifted my gaze, I saw Leona, a beauty with a rigid impression, walking in the distance.

I hadn’t noticed before because I wasn’t interested, but unlike other female students, Leona was wearing pants. With her pretty face contrasting with her stiff and sharp impression, she looked like a male student from a distance.

‘Does she not have friends? Why is she sitting so far away?’

Despite there being few students in the cafeteria, Leona sat particularly far away. In fact, because there was no one around her, she stood out even more.

As I rested my chin on my hand and chewed, Leona, who seemed to have some worries, let out a deep sigh after sitting down. And then…

Twitch-

Suddenly, something popped up on her head. Not just one, but two things.

Unfortunately, due to my poor eyesight, I couldn’t identify them precisely. But I could tell that something had sprouted on top of her head.

“…!”

Leona seemed to realize that something had sprouted on her head and hurriedly placed her hand on it. Her previously rigid expression disappeared completely, replaced by one of embarrassment, which was quite a sight to see.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes, wondering if I had seen wrong. After rubbing my eyes and looking back at Leona, she was eating as expressionlessly as usual, as if she had never been flustered.

While I was staring intently at Leona, Cecilly seemed to have organized her thoughts and called my name.

“Issac?”

“…Ah. Yes, yes. Noona.”

“You were spacing out for a moment. I thought of a question—can I ask?”

“Yes. You can ask.”

With my permission, Cecilly asked with a genuinely curious tone.

“What do you think is the reason humans could become the center of the world?”

“The reason they could become the center?”

“Yes. We heard it in the lecture, but I’m curious about your opinion.”

“Hmm…”

This is quite a complex question to answer. Even on Earth, where there were only humans, humans were a race that couldn’t be easily defined. That’s because those judging humans were also humans. But ironically, that’s why an objective explanation was possible.

But this much is certain: humans can become incredibly good, but they can also become incredibly evil. Just think about how fiercely the theories of innate goodness and innate evil clashed.

However, that’s the standard on Earth, and this world should be viewed from a slightly different perspective.

I habitually rubbed my pen hook with my thumb and glanced at Cecilly. She was staring at me intently, as if waiting for my answer.

At this, I stopped rubbing the pen hook with my thumb and said quietly.

“I should say in advance that this is just my subjective opinion, so you don’t need to listen carefully. There are many professors who have more world experience than me.”

“It’s okay. You can tell me.”

“Yes. Um…”

I paused mid-sentence and looked behind Cecilly. Leona, who had been eating alone, was looking directly at me.

I wondered if she could hear our conversation even from this distance, but I decided that wasn’t the case. Our voices weren’t loud, and the distance was quite far. So I continued without concern.

“…The reason humans could become the center of this world is simple. It’s because humans are too stupid, reckless, and foolish.”

Twitch-

As soon as I said those words, strange things popped up from Leona’s head once again.