Chapter 04
I was so shocked that I felt like I might faint at any moment. The amount of trauma I’d experienced just today alone was already several times over, and now my life was being threatened.
“W-why… why are you doing this…?”
“I’ll ask again. Who are you?”
“P-please… save me.”
My voice trembled on its own. I felt a chill at the back of my neck—not a joke.
Through strands of my pale pink hair, I could see the lower half of the man in black pants. If things got dangerous, maybe I could strike him in his most important area with my fist. Then perhaps I wouldn’t die here?
“Answer my question.”
“I-I’m the one who saved you.”
I sniffled and replied.
After going through all that trouble to save a man who was almost dead—spraying him with potion and feeding him porridge—he had the nerve to threaten me the moment he woke up.
Thinking it over, instead of fear, anger began to bubble inside me. Fortunately, the bowl of hot porridge was still beside me.
If he tried to threaten me again, I could just grab that porridge and pour it over him.
While he was writhing in pain, I’d slip away. That was the only way to survive.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to kill you.”
But at that moment, the force pressing down on my neck vanished. The hand gripping my arm let go as well.
The instant I could lift my head, I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Hey, you bastard!”
The man stared at me without blinking, a dagger in hand.
He didn’t look offended, even after being cursed at.
I, on the other hand, glared at him with wide eyes.
“You could’ve just asked! Why pin someone down?”
“I told you I wasn’t going to kill you. But here…”
“Where here? Who am I? If you’re going to say nonsense like that, get lost!”
I had no patience to entertain such nonsense and hurriedly stepped back.
The man slowly opened and closed his blood-red eyes and spoke.
“What… happened to the world?”
What kind of answer was he expecting?
Wouldn’t the original resident here know better than me, who had only just possessed this body?
I glared at him for a long moment. Then, instinctively, my gaze fell on his striking red eyes, which stood out even more against his pale skin. A shiver ran down my spine.
“It’s ruined.”
“I see.”
He calmly agreed, as if he had already known.
I sighed and asked.
“And who exactly are you?”
And why had he been speaking so informally to me earlier? I was angry, but still…
I swallowed the rest of my words. I needed to know who he was and where he came from.
“I’m from Ustiva.”
“Where… oh.”
I didn’t remember the contents of the novel I wrote over ten years ago. I had barely scribbled the beginning and couldn’t possibly know this.
But the moment I heard the word “Ustiva,” something clicked inside me.
Ustiva—the only lawless area and underworld of the Cocoa Empire.
I had set the first meeting between the male lead, Louis de Cocoa, and the female lead there in my story.
The female lead, kidnapped by villains, is rescued by Louis de Cocoa, who happens to visit.
Ustiva was the only location mentioned in the few lines I had written in the story.
“Wait a second…”
And now I realized this man…
Black hair and red eyes. A dangerous aura like a boss of a violent organization…
“…Could you be Killian?”
The character I had roughly set up as the “true villain” in the unfinished beginning? The one I had decided would be a bad guy and whose name had to include “Kill”?
“How do you know my name?”
He narrowed his long eyes, suspicion flickering, his gaze turning cold.
I grabbed the spoon I had left in the porridge bowl. The bowl tipped over from my rough handling, but I didn’t care. My anger, which I had been holding back, was about to explode.
“…Ah.”
Then I lightly struck his messy hair with the spoon as a warning.
“Don’t speak informally! I’m five years older than you!”
For the first time, Killian’s eyes flickered with surprise.
He fell silent, seemingly at a loss for words, then lifted the corners of his thick lips into a smile.
“I didn’t realize you were older than me. I thought you looked quite young.”
“…!”
“See?”
He added, suppressing his laughter.
At that moment, something moved by the window.
“Th-there’s someone there.”
Without a second thought, I shoved Killian away and ran to the window. Could seeing a living being really make someone this happy? I almost cried.
I quickly opened the window and scrutinized the approaching figures in the distance.
All wore black masks. Against the ash-filled landscape beneath the violet sky, they whispered among themselves.
“So far, nothing’s happened here.”
“Let’s hurry and grab whatever money we can!”
Though the distance should have made their words inaudible, it sounded as if they were right next to me.
Something felt off. The masked people began pointing toward the mansion where I was and conversing.
“Hurry! Have you ever seen intruders survive after breaking into the Count’s house?”
“No, but Count Arthur is already dead!”
That was the first time I had heard that.
Had the original owner of this body lost his life somehow?
Suspicious, I eavesdropped while opening the diary at random.
About the magic in the mansion: This place is equipped with numerous attack spells to counter unauthorized intruders. However, your body has a magic seal, so no attack will affect you. Rest assured.
For reference, the types of magic are…
Magic sounded great when I read it in a novel. But being asked to understand it now, I had no idea what it meant.
I shook my head and skimmed the diary, then discovered one sentence:
Simply put, inside the mansion, you are invincible.
So that was why I could hear the voices of people so far away—the magic seal on my body was likely the reason.
“Hey! Look over here!”
I shouted at the increasingly close group. They looked exactly like thieves trying to rob this house, and their conversation confirmed it. Still, I was glad to see them.
Better than being alone with the man named Killian, anyway. Though they were dangerous too, if they rummaged through the mansion and found some money, they might side with me.
But just as I opened my mouth to speak again…
Thwack!
“Ahhh!”
It was like a scene from a splatter movie unfolding right before me.
“Argh! Damn it!”
“No! Zeke! Pim!”
Suddenly, sharp red arrows rained down from empty space, piercing the foreheads and chests of the thieves in the blink of an eye.
Those hit fell helplessly like reeds. The last remaining thief screamed and ran in the opposite direction of the mansion.
But he too was soon struck by arrows and collapsed.
I couldn’t tell if what I had just witnessed was a dream or reality.
“Ugh… what the hell was that?”
My stomach churned, as if seasick. I clutched the curtain and took deep breaths.
Were they unauthorized intruders? Is that why they met such a cruel end?
I had wanted to welcome them! After all, the mansion had plenty of rooms and food!
I could feel Killian’s gaze on me, but I couldn’t move at all.
Wait—how did Killian manage to enter this house?
The bitter taste of emptiness rose in my mouth. I staggered, suppressing the urge to vomit.
Meow.
I sat with my back to the window, eyes tightly shut, trying not to look outside. But now, a faint meow reached my ears.
Could that sound have come from outside too?
No, not the cat.
I didn’t want to see any living being die.
“Kitty! Where are you?”
I grabbed my trembling knees and peered around the window. I tried to avoid the arrows and the fallen thieves, searching for the small cat amidst the blackened ashes.
“What should I do? Kitty, kitty…!”
In my panic, I cupped both hands around my eyes.
Then: Kiiing.
“What now?”
My vision sharpened, as if zooming in with a smartphone camera. Or maybe it felt like looking through a telescope.
Startled, I quickly removed my hands and looked outside. The fallen thieves and arrows planted in the ground began to fade again.
Am I some kind of cyborg? What on earth is built into my body?
