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Shwaaaa–.
Keira woke up only two hours later when she heard the rain outside.
She tried to sleep again, to no avail.
Keira: “I’m thirsty…”
Was the stew she ate too salty? Strangely, she felt parched.
Eventually, she gave up trying to sleep and got up from bed. It was pouring rain outside.
Keira thought about drinking rainwater for a moment but gave up the thought. The thought of drinking rainwater from the Demon Realm was uncomfortable.
‘Ella picked up water from the creek a while ago…’
Even in a small village, finding a small bucket of water wasn’t easy. However, waking a sleeping person to drink a glass of water seemed like too much hassle.
As she was contemplating whether she should just put up with it and go back to sleep or drink rainwater when Keira saw the light from the house she had gotten her stew earlier.
‘It seems they haven’t slept yet.’
She was relieved she could finally quench her thirst. Keira walked over to the place, muffling her steps so the sleeping ones wouldn’t wake up.
When she was about to open the door, she smelled something sweet inside.
‘Cooking at this hour?’
Something was strange. An ominous feeling crept up her back.
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Why did she suddenly remember the brown marks she saw just before she fell asleep?
Instead of knocking, Keira decided to peek inside through the crevice. The first thing she saw was Ben’s back.
‘Didn’t you fall asleep early?’
The child was stirring a large pot. Each time he stirred the spatula, a large ingredient appeared outside the pot.
It was a human foot.
Keira had to cover her mouth with her hand to avoid screaming.
She could also see a woman carrying a colander, a black and red thread hanging from it.
Human hair, Keira guessed. The head must be in the colander.
A couple of thighs were hanging from the wall with a handful of flesh off them. In this unrealistic scene, the villagers smiled brightly.
Just like ordinary country village wives preparing dinner.
‘Then what I ate earlier…’
She remembered there were a few chunks of meat in the stew.
Keira: “Urgh!”
She felt sick and had to shut her mouth to muffle her disgust.
She couldn’t stomach the sight anymore. She had to leave. Keira muffled her footsteps as she took a step back.
As soon as she was about to leave the village, she remembered that the sword was still inside the house.
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‘I don’t know what will happen in the future, so I’ll have to bring my weapon.’
She cautiously made her way to her room. Luckily for her, no one found her while she was outside.
Now, if she could just take her sword and sneak out…
Gulp–.
“Oh my, Miss Kira. Where have you been?”
Keira: “…!”
However, as soon as she opened the door, she saw Ella, the sight giving her goosebumps.
Standing near the bed, she hurriedly hid what she had in her hand behind her back, the item something shiny and silver.
Keira: “W-what’s going on here?”
Ella: “It was raining, so I came to see if you slept well. But why did you go outside at this hour?”
Keira: “Ah… I–I wanted to drink some water…”
Ella: “Was the stew a little overcooked? Did it make your throat sore? Do you want me to bring water to you?”
Talking about the stew almost made Keira nauseous again. She suppressed her repulsion and said.
Keira: “I couldn’t find a bucket of water, so I just took rainwater and drank it.”
Ella: “Oh my, is that so? Rainwater in the Demon Realm is the same as in the human world, so don’t worry. It’s not poisonous.”
Keira: “That’s a relief.”
Ella: “Really, did you have any trouble sleeping?”
Keira: “I’m fine.”
Ella: “Then, I’m glad. I’ll see you then, so get some rest.”
Keira: “Thank you.”
Keira couldn’t tell if rainwater or cold sweat was running down her back.
Ella smiled kindly and went outside, hiding the blade behind her back. Keira desperately pretended not to see it.
Ella: “Sleep well.”
Click–. The door closed behind Keira, and she turned towards the window.
‘I wondered why that window was closed, and I couldn’t open it…’
It must have been to prevent them from escaping through the window. Keeping the doorway would prevent the prey from escaping.
She picked up the sword by the wall, then the brown, dried stain came into her vision again.
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Now that she knew what kind of people those villagers were, she realized why the stain seemed unusual–it must have been dried-up blood marks.
Visitors before Keira probably died while sleeping.
‘It must have been their intention to kill and eat me while I was asleep.’
If Keira hadn’t woken up to the sound of rain, she might be boiling in the pot by now. She shivered at the thought.
‘I have to leave this place quickly.’
With her coat on, she immediately went to the door and tried to push it open but thought Ella might still be watching from outside.
‘There’s nothing wrong with being careful.’
She looked outside through the crack in the door.
She could only see the dim image of the village, but Ella was nowhere to be found.
Keira opened the door cautiously, feeling fortunate despite her misfortune.
Squeak–.
“?”
But something was weird. Something like a brown thread was blocking her view.
It swayed and flowed.
‘Human hair?’
As she slightly raised her gaze, she met Ella’s eyes, with her hanging upside down by the door.
“…!”
Keira couldn’t even scream.
Still hanging upside down, Ella opened her mouth with a smirk.
Ella: “Where are you going again, Kira?”
The corner of her mouth, which had been smiling at her bashfully, soon ripped long down to her ears.
Keira’s body reacted instinctively. Her fists flew straight away when she saw Ella’s bizarre face and gaze.
Smack–![1]
Without controlling her strength, Keira smacked her with all her mana. Smack–, then a sound similar to a water bag bursting.
“Keeeeek!”
Ella was thrown onto the dirt floor. It was so surreal to watch her shift back to normal.
Ella: “Can’t you sleep?”
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All of a sudden, Ella, whose neck shifted back to its original position, approached Keira with a grin.
Ella: “Then I’ll make you sleep!”
Shing–!
Keira reflexively blocked the knife that flew towards her neck. And she immediately struck back and cut off her arm.
“Keeeeek!”
Ella clutched her severed arm and let out a long scream. It was loud enough to resound through the whole village.
F*cking crazy. Keira rarely swore, but those words bubbled in her throat.
Burst–!
Burst–!
The people in the village–although it didn’t feel right to refer to them as ‘people’–appeared simultaneously, opening the door.
It would be impossible to sneak away after this. Having judged that, Keira immediately drew her sword.
“Keeek!”
“Keek! Keek! Keek! Keek!”
The villagers made inhuman noises and approached Keira.
‘First, the one closest to me.’
Starting with Ella, Keira cut them in half.
‘It’s not a strong demon.’
If she were, she would have attacked her the first time they met without going through such a cumbersome method.
She must have judged that she couldn’t defeat Keira in a head-to-head battle because she was about to attack Keira while asleep.
‘Then there’s no need to be afraid.’
This might be easier to handle than the advanced demonic beasts she dealt with in the human world.
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She slowly moved out of the village and fought the demons approaching her.
They were slow and had no special attacks, so it wasn’t hard to kill them.
However, there was another problem…
Keira: “Huff, huff.”
She held her breath as she leaned on her sword like a staff.
‘Am I almost done with this?’
Some of the faces she had seen before did not appear. Maybe they didn’t leave the house when they saw their companions getting cut into pieces.
She didn’t want to kill the demons too afraid to attack her.
Not out of sympathy, of course, but of fear that it would be for nothing.
‘I have to get out of here first.’
As she turned around to leave, she felt an ominous energy behind her back.
Keira: “–!”
Crash–!
Then Keira flung herself to the side just as the tree a few steps away shattered.
[1] the author used ‘퍼억,’ an onomatopoeia used when hitting something. I couldn’t think of anything appropriate to use, so I used ‘smack’ for now.