Ch.25Human (4)

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Leona grabbed me by the collar and dragged me along without me being able to resist at all. When I tried to speak, she growled like a beast, and when I tried to break free by force, she didn’t budge. Instead, she gripped me tighter to prevent any rash resistance.

Eventually, I half gave up, fearing my clothes would tear, and just followed wherever she went. Fortunately or not, there was no one passing through the corridor.

Halt-

Finally, Leona stopped walking when we reached a secluded edge of the building. At the same time, I could feel the grip on my collar gradually loosening.

When she released my collar, I stepped back a couple of paces and straightened my clothes. Her grip had been so strong that the area around my neck was completely wrinkled.

“…Hey.”

While I was still adjusting my clothes, Leona called out to me in a low voice. It wasn’t the rigid tone I’d heard during lectures, but one filled with threat. I couldn’t help but freeze in the middle of fixing my appearance.

When I forced myself to raise my stiffened head, I found myself staring directly into her predatory golden eyes. They had been blue until just a moment ago, but now they were gold like mine.

As soon as Leona faced me directly, she spoke with a voice full of certainty.

“You saw it, didn’t you?”

“… …”

“If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have acted that way. Be honest. You saw it, right?”

There was no reason to deny it. I did it to confirm my suspicions in the first place. But the pressure emanating from Leona was no joke.

I barely managed to calm my trembling heart and squeezed out an answer. But I couldn’t help my voice from shaking slightly.

“I, I saw it. Something popping out of your head…”

“… …”

“…Are those ears?”

Curiosity is curiosity. In response to my cautious question, Leona raised one corner of her mouth and snickered. Then she answered with action rather than words.

Twitch-

Triangular ears popped up from Leona’s auburn hair. Anyone could see they weren’t human ears but animal ones.

As I suspected, Leona isn’t human but a beastkin.

‘So is she wearing pants to hide her tail?’

I was thinking about this plausible hypothesis when Leona hid her ears again and spoke cynically.

“Has your curiosity been satisfied now? What, do you want to see my tail too?”

“Uh… no. That’s fine.”

Her manner of speaking still feels unfamiliar. The Leona I knew was a stoic student with hardly any emotional changes, but now she’s just like… a delinquent, a bully.

It created a sense of disconnect to see her impression change 180 degrees just because her speech became a bit rougher.

“Haaah…”

As if her mind was complicated, Leona roughly ran her fingers through her hair and let out a deep sigh. I waited silently while she organized her thoughts.

She must have had her reasons for hiding her identity, but now I’ve discovered her secret. For her, the situation must be completely messed up. If I had known this would happen, I would have just pretended not to notice, but my curiosity got the better of me.

“What should I do? Getting rid of you without a trace is too risky… Should I threaten you? This is driving me crazy…”

“… …”

Leona’s mutterings reached my ears one by one. It was even more frightening because they all seemed sincere, not empty threats.

With a strong premonition that my safety might be in serious danger, I cautiously called out to her.

“Um…”

“What? Do you have something to say?”

As soon as I called her, Leona asked me with a cynical expression and tone. I flinched for a moment before speaking what I wanted to say.

“I… I won’t tell anyone about your identity, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

“If you were me, would you easily believe those words?”

“Well… who knows? I don’t know what circumstances you’re in.”

A straightforward answer without any lies mixed in.

As soon as Leona heard my answer, she exhaled with a “Ha!” and spoke as if grinding her teeth.

“This bastard, are you trying to joke around or what…”

“… …”

I shouldn’t have said anything. I swallowed hard, feeling my knees weaken just from her simple threat.

Normally, I would have maintained my composure as much as possible, but for some reason, rational thinking is difficult right now. Is it because of the pressure emanating from Leona?

“Haaah… No. Forget it. Anyway, don’t ever reveal that I’m a beastkin. Got it?”

“…And if I do?”

“I’ll tear your limbs apart.”

Leona growled just like before. It was truly frightening because she seemed like she would really do it, but one question still remained.

Why is Leona living at the academy while hiding her identity? She might get irritated if I ask this too, but it’s worth asking.

After calming my uncontrollably trembling heart as much as possible, I gathered my courage and asked Leona a question.

“…I have one thing I want to ask, can I?”

“You still have something to ask in this situation?”

“Curiosity is curiosity.”

“Sigh. Not even a cat tribe, yet so curious. Fine. I’ll be generous. Ask.”

Leona crossed her arms and nodded her head. As she crossed her arms, her voluptuous figure was clearly visible through her uniform.

I tried my best to prevent my gaze from wandering to inappropriate places as I opened my mouth.

“Why did you enroll in the academy while hiding your identity?”

“I don’t think I’m obligated to answer that far.”

“Hmm… Okay. That stiff attitude all this time was just an act, right?”

“I had to avoid being suspected as a beastkin. You humans think of us beastkin as aggressive and barbaric, don’t you? I used that to my advantage.”

I nodded at her answer.

As I mentioned before, humans treat beastkin as barbarians or primitives. Furthermore, quite a few humans even consider beastkin as slaves.

Also, due to their typically aggressive temperament, beastkin are widely perceived as fierce. Because of this, people believe there could never be a rational and rigid beastkin like Leona. She definitely used this to her advantage.

“Will you keep doing that?”

“Of course. It’s something I have to endure to graduate safely without revealing my identity.”

“Is it worth it?”

Beastkin are a race with particularly strong “instincts” compared to other races. Unlike demons who fiercely fight against their inner evil, beastkin don’t try to suppress their instincts. More accurately, they can’t.

Anyway, instincts are inseparable from beastkin. No matter how excellent Leona’s self-control is, she can’t suppress her innate instincts. You don’t have to look far—just seeing how her ears popped out as soon as I provoked her proves it.

Leona seemed to be mindful of this aspect as she gave a bitter smile. It was a completely different expression from before.

“…I endure it because it’s worth it. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have enrolled here.”

“It must be hard.”

“Of course it’s har… No, hey, can you stop prying? How long do I have to keep answering you?”

What a shame. Just a little more and I would have gotten it.

My disappointment must have been evident on my face because Leona narrowed her brows sharply.

“Why are you making that disappointed face? Do you want to die?”

“Sorry.”

“Haaah… Anyway. Don’t tell anyone that I’m a beastkin. Got it?”

“Got it. And one more thing.”

“What else do you want to ask?”

Now she’s showing irritation with an expression of complete weariness. But I didn’t back down and spoke what I wanted to say.

“Did you hear everything I said in the cafeteria earlier?”

“Yes. I heard it all. Why?”

“I’m curious about your thoughts.”

“Huh?”

Leona looked at me with an incredulous face at my question. Her expression clearly conveyed, “What’s with this guy?”

“You’re a beastkin. You probably don’t have a good view of humans. So I became curious. What would a beastkin think after hearing my story?”

“You really… Ha. You’re worse than the cat tribe. Are all humans like this?”

“I’m just very curious. Especially about other races.”

“Seriously…”

In the end, Leona shook her head as if she had lost to my endless curiosity. She seemed to have given up. I inwardly rejoiced but tried my best to manage my expression.

Eventually, Leona stared at me intently with her arms crossed. I also waited silently until she opened her mouth. During that time, her eyes, which had been glowing gold, returned to their blue color, as if she had calmed herself.

How much time had passed like that? The tightly closed lips of Leona opened, and her characteristically cynical voice flowed out.

“I’m not going to tell you.”

“What?”

“I said I’m not going to tell you. Did you really think I would answer?”

While I was taken aback, Leona grinned and walked toward me with determined steps. I hadn’t realized until now, but as she came closer, I could tell she was quite tall. I had to look up slightly at her, so she must be at least 175cm.

Anyway, Leona stood proudly in front of me and slowly raised her hand. Then she pressed my cheeks firmly, making my lips protrude.

“Wha awe you dooing…”

“By the way, why is our red cat so curious about everything?”

Maybe she called me a red cat because of my red hair color. But right now, my priority is to break free from Leona’s grip on my lips.

Of course, no matter how much I struggled, she didn’t budge at all. The basic physical abilities of beastkin are superior across all races, and it’s unreasonable—no, impossible—for me to overcome Leona’s strength.

While I was resisting, Leona maintained her grinning face and issued another warning.

“I’m warning you again, the moment you mention that I’m a beastkin, I’ll rip out your tongue. I’ll spare you from tearing your limbs apart because that would be troublesome for me too. Got it?”

“Yesh…”

That’s basically the same thing. But I was too scared not to agree.

When I agreed, Leona nodded with a satisfied expression and released my cheeks. They were stinging even though she had only held them for a moment.

“I hope your mouth stays shut. Before that…”

Swish-

While I was rubbing my stinging cheeks, Leona extended her head and brought it close to my neck. I was startled and tried to step back, but she grabbed my wrist, thwarting my attempt.

“Sniff. Sniff sniff. Sniff.”

After that, Leona began to smell my neck with her nose buried in it. Feeling my face flush at the strange sensation, I hurriedly tried to escape, but it was futile. All I could do was push her head away.

But she didn’t budge at all, so I had no choice but to shout. I even stammered in my confusion.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“What do you think? I’m trying to remember your scent. And you reek of musty books.”

After sniffing for a while as if trying to memorize my scent, Leona pulled her face away. And shortly after, she released my wrist as well. As soon as she let go, I hurriedly checked it.

Looking at my wrist, I could see a deep red bruise. I rubbed my wrist with a pained expression and asked with an incomprehensible nuance.

“Why do you need to remember my scent?”

“To check on you from time to time, to see if you’re doing anything unnecessary. How can I trust you?”

“… …”

“Are we done here? I’m leaving now.”

Leona patted my head a couple of times and then walked away with vigorous steps. While rubbing my wrist, I watched her departing figure and called out her name.

“Leona!”

“Ah, really… what?”

As soon as I called her, she roughly ran her fingers through her hair, turned around, and looked at me. Judging by her face, she seemed ready to do something if I said anything unnecessary.

I somewhat regretted calling her, but I wanted to ask one last question that had been on my mind.

“Do you read the Biography of Xenon too?”

“What? Biography of Xenon?”

“Yeah.”

“Ha.”

Leona exhaled upon hearing my question. Then she waved her hand and answered in an annoyed voice.

“I don’t know. That stuff. I don’t care about Xenon or whatever because it’s not interesting at all.”

“…I see.”

“Then I’m going. From now on, I’ll ignore whatever you ask, so don’t ask. Got it?”

Leona left with just those words and gradually disappeared from my sight.

As I held my bruised wrist and stared blankly, I suddenly recalled something puzzling.

“…Not interesting? Does that mean she does read it?”

Just as I muttered that.

Pop-

Whether she heard my muttering or not, a pair of ears popped up on Leona’s head.