Letter of Recommendation (8)

Pahar revealed that he enjoys cooking. He especially enjoyed cooking with Erze, and his skills had already reached a professional level, so much so that there was no need for a separate chef. I nodded, listening carefully to Pahar’s words.

Yes. Cooking. An ordinary hobby. But.

He said that he gained pleasure from cooking monsters that resembled humans. And that it was the greatest pleasure he had felt in his life.

I felt a strange sense of relief, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of chills down my neck. It also meant that he hadn’t touched humans yet, but he subtly expressed a desire to ‘try it’. This was the last line that allowed him to be called eccentric.

Wiping his mouth with a prepared handkerchief, he said,

“You’re holding back, aren’t you?”

Britonia didn’t deny it.

“Every time I see the young maids running around, crazy thoughts flood my mind. But it always ends in thought. I’ve decided not to live like my ancestors.”

The heat that had risen from impatience cools down. His listless words contained a hint of regret. I looked into Britonia’s eyes and felt an intense desire. Truly, a madness that was so clearly visible. Within that dark desire, there was even a nasty level of detail that could be understood without being spoken.

To him, ‘young maids’ had the same weight as a heifer. An expensive luxury item. That’s all. He was looking at the maids from the perspective of a very ordinary chef who valued the young. The lives that were yet to be lived. He dared to pay for the future of young lives with money, and he was enjoying the ‘process’ of cutting off the value of the brilliant future that should be given to them, in the name of cooking.

Cooking was a means, and young maids were an unfulfilled, true desire. Cutting off possibilities. That was the stimulation that Britonia desperately wanted.

“…”

Only now did I begin to see the true face of ‘Britonia’.

The meaning of his gaze changes. I could see a chilling obsession in him, who couldn’t take his eyes off me. But as he said, thoughts were just thoughts.

I parted my parched lips and said,

“…May I speak the name of your ancestor?”

“Of course.”

“You could use death row inmates, like the former family head, Kalsein Britonia-ssi.”

His face hardened as he said,

“What’s the point of killing someone who’s already going to die?”

He doesn’t deal with vagrants who offer their hearts for a single gold coin. Likewise, he doesn’t pay attention to those who give up on life and live. They have exhausted all their future. There is no possibility to cut off, so there is no stimulation. That was Pahar Britonia.

“Haa…”

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.

I summarize everything he has said so far and explain it in an organized manner.

“You want to capture a child who is young, talented, and destined to grow up and illuminate the empire in the future, and consume them as mere ingredients.”

“…”

“You want to put them on a cutting board, tie their limbs, and enjoy the dying future, using the screams when you cut off their flesh as music.”

“…”

“That’s how I understood it, but may I dare to affirm this conjecture?”

“Hoo…”

Britonia, who had swallowed his breath, closed his eyes tightly and twisted his lips. Deep anguish can be seen in his dignified beauty. I didn’t rush him and waited patiently for his answer. And, after a long three minutes of silence, Britonia opened his eyes and opened his mouth.

“Accurate.”

Accurate, he says.

He observed me with interesting eyes. How could he know me so well? That’s what it seemed like. It’s not like I understood because I wanted to understand. I’ve met all sorts of crazy bastards, and I’m even crazy myself, so I’ve come to understand it even if I don’t want to.

Haa. I feel self-loathing. I hated myself for empathizing with this crazy talk.

“Heu.”

I chuckled. Memories of being cooked alive come to mind. A crazy Demon who cut off my legs and removed my uterus to create unimaginable dishes. He was busy praising me as the finest ingredient while cooking me. Would humans see it the same way? The evaluation criteria seemed slightly different, but the essence wouldn’t change.

I erased my smile and asked again.

“It may seem presumptuous and arrogant, but I will ask, braving the rudeness.”

“Speak.”

“Do I meet those conditions?”

His eyebrows twitched. Such a question in this situation. He wouldn’t be unaware of the intention of the question. He said with an interesting face.

“…If you do?”

Instead of answering, I reach out my hand on the table.

‘Knife.’

I grabbed the knife I had just bent.

-Kkigigik… I straighten the bent knife. Not only that, but I also modify it to be sharper, thin enough to split flesh even with a graze. Then I raise my hand and bring it to my neck.

The chilling sound of flesh tearing. A drop of blood falls and blooms a rose on the table.

Britonia watched my actions with wide eyes. A slightly flushed face.

I said in a trembling voice.

“If, the savior of Pahelln, called the Red Witch. If the beautiful young girl called the Azure Princess. If she willingly ends her life after hearing the Count-nim’s request.”

“…”

“It would be very exciting, wouldn’t it?”

If a girl who is worth hundreds of times more than you commits suicide with a happy heart, could you get even a little closer to the stimulation you desire? The stimulation he wanted wasn’t something that could only be felt through cooking.

“Haa…”

A little deeper.

I push the knife in.

“Yu, Yujin…!”

Erze tried to step forward with a pale face, but was stopped by the murderous intent emanating from Britonia. He was concentrating. He was concentrating on this incredibly cruel show.

Also, all of this was my own will, so she couldn’t intervene recklessly.

I moved my hand with a captivating smile.

“Watch carefully.”

“…”

“Because this is a drop of blood only for you.”

As is.

I slash.

“Keok, heueuk…”

-Shyaaaak!!!

The sharp sound of metal. A stream of blood falls in an arc. It didn’t splash like in a movie. It just gurgled out in time with the desperate breaths. That’s how the blood flows. The table and clothes were instantly covered in blood. Erze trembled, her face pale blue.

The knife slipped from my powerless hand, making a dull thud. I dropped my head onto the table. A thudding sound. I twitched for a few seconds with blurry eyes.

Britonia stared at me, forgetting to breathe. He intensely admired it, to the point where the blood vessels in his eyes were about to burst.

Eyes that were fading as life was extinguished, a frail body trembling while bleeding. A girl who might be praised as a great archmage in the distant future had ended her life solely for him.

It wasn’t now, but it was clear that she would lose consciousness and die in just a few seconds.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds. And after 5 seconds, the girl’s eyes slowly closed and she became motionless.

It’s a truly unbelievable situation-, but this was a clear reality.

Britonia didn’t doubt his eyes. The terrible smell of blood declared that it was not a lie.

“Heo…”

Five minutes passed like that.

Britonia let out a hollow laugh and wiped away the sweat.

The emotion he felt now was what he so desperately wanted. It was a fleeting moment, but he definitely felt it.

At that moment.

I looked up at the eccentric Count.

“…!”

His body stiffened in an instant. Erze was the same. I chuckled with a playful smile.

“Haa… How was it?”

I won’t reveal that it was a trick using Reconstruction. If I say it, the tension will drop, and my future plans will be disrupted.

Britonia twisted his lips and said.

“…A terrible prank.”

“Would I ever do such a thing in front of the Count-nim? I would never commit suicide.”

“As expected, a witch is a witch…. My senses told me that you were really dead.”

“Hehe. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

I return the words he had spoken. I only played a similar prank because I fed him meat pretending it was human flesh.

“Anyway.”

Putting that aside. I wiped the blood with the towel Erze handed me and said. With this, the initiative has passed to me.

“Do you feel like giving me a recommendation letter now? Ah, don’t worry, I intend to keep the first offer I made, no matter what the Count-nim says. Purification facilities, golems, paved roads, and so on.”

“…With just one time?”

“Pooh. Surely not.”

I know better than anyone that he wouldn’t be satisfied with a trial version. I licked my lips with a sensual smile reminiscent of a succubus.

“You said, an unforgettable stimulation, right?”

“…”

“I’ll give it to you. An unforgettable stimulation. I can give you as much of that as you want.”

Because it’s so easy for me.

“But, I need preparation. Count-nim also knows. How many crazy people are there who want to die, talent aside?”

“…How much time do you need?”

“Three days, no. I’ll come as soon as I’m ready. And don’t worry about unnecessary things. It’s not a shady business. Count-nim just needs to enjoy it without any worries.”

“Trustworthy. Erze!”

Britonia snapped his fingers a few times and called Erze.

“I have welcomed a distinguished guest today, so treat this person with the utmost sincerity. Red Magic Tower’s magician, can you spare some time?”

“I can’t stay long, but about two hours.”

“That’s enough.”

* * *

The dinner party lasted longer than expected, reaching early evening.

I recalled my meeting with Britonia as I left the mountains.

‘That crazy bastard…’

The future of the empire was bleak.

That such a guy is a Count.

‘Still, the recommendation letter is almost confirmed. If he keeps his promise.’

I wanted to just become the cooking ingredient myself, but there were too many things to sacrifice.

It didn’t seem worth it for just one recommendation letter.

I didn’t want to reveal too much.

“Hoo.”

I arrived at the magic tower and took off my robe, saying.

“Pekapolis, I’m here.”

“How was the Count… um, um…?”

Pekapolis tilted her head at the faint smell of blood. She stopped greeting me and glared at me. Inside the robe that her gaze reached was blood-soaked clothing.

Before she could realize it, I infused Mana into my bracelet and created a portal.

“Hey, hey! Wait a minute! What did you do there-“

I shrugged my shoulders and entered the portal.

*

The laboratory was dark. The lights were off. I checked the entry and exit records, but there was no sign of anyone leaving. Clark and Sophia hadn’t left this place.

‘What are they doing with the lights off?’

I erased my scent and footsteps and moved carefully.

“Heumm…?”

However, there was only one place where the lights were on. Orange light was leaking from under the tightly closed door. I smiled faintly and slowly approached.

-Heeuek, hik. Hyaaheut…?!

Cheolbeok, cheolbeok, cheolbeok. The lewd sound of flesh hitting flesh. And the lewd moans of a female that made one cringe. I could picture the situation inside without even seeing it.

-Kkieeik…

I quietly opened the door.

“Euek…”

I reflexively took a step back at the smell of secretions that spread out of the door. It was terrible. How much did they do to make it smell so bad? I covered my nose and took in the pink scene visible through the crack in the door.

“Jyesung, hamnida… Haaheut, hyaaang-?!”

“Say it again!”

“A, Akma, Jyujeheet… Ingan-nimhege… daedeul, haaheut, eoseoheo… Jyesung, hamnidaha… Haaheuek?!”

Sophia was being vigorously pounded by Clark in a doggy position.

Her stomach was swollen like a pregnant woman’s from how much Semen she had been filled with.