I Became a Murderer in the Academy. - Chapter 5

I wanted to quietly go outside, but unfortunately, I was clumsy at concealing my presence.

This is because strong demons have an enormous presence regardless of their will.

That’s why I had been doing the troublesome task of slightly modifying people’s memories of me through ‘memory manipulation’ with everyone I met.

Perhaps combat was unavoidable from the moment I broke the restraints and messed with the mercenary group.

Thinking about it now, it’s a bit funny.

All I did was take a room, and when I woke up, I was kidnapped by strangers.

Are these the bad people from the back alleys Rena talked about?

If so, I’d feel a little less guilty if I accidentally killed them.

I couldn’t hide my presence, but I was even less confident in controlling my strength.

If I ended up fighting someone, I couldn’t guarantee their survival.

But.

‘Let’s get out first.’

I didn’t want to stay in this damp, unpleasant place any longer.

Even if I ended up killing a few people, I wanted to get outside first.

That’s when I was walking down the corridor with a knife in hand.

“P-please save me……”

“Hmm?”

I turned my head toward the direction of the voice.

It was the direction where the slaves were tied up.

There was a woman with orange hair and cat ears tied up there.

A beast-person slave brought in from another village?

She was in a terrible state.

Her whole body was covered in blood, as if she had been whipped, and most of her clothes were torn.

She was tied up with both hands raised to the sky, and her arms supporting her entire body weight looked extremely painful.

Do humans do such things to other humans?

I made eye contact with her and briefly read her memory.

They exercised violence and abused her just because she had ears and a tail?

It’s truly despicable behavior.

I was a demon, but I didn’t do such things.

“P-please… I don’t want to die like this.”

The nameless cat girl begged me for help.

Does she know who I am?

It’s a paradoxical situation.

If I open that iron bar and break her restraints, I might eat her.

She is human, and I am a demon.

It’s common sense that demons attack humans, and humans run away from such demons.

Is it because I currently have a human form that she doesn’t recognize me as a demon?

No, she knows I’m a demon.

From the moment I broke the restraints with my hands, I had no intention of hiding my identity.

I was releasing the demonic energy I had hidden while staying at the Academy.

It was easier to use my hallucination ability that way.

Demonic energy is not a power that humans can handle.

So she is aware that I am a demon.

Then why is she begging me?

I was a bit curious, but I didn’t care much.

The emotions humans feel must be different from mine, a demon.

Before opening the iron bars, I asked her first.

“I don’t mind helping, but if I open this now, I might kill you. Is that okay?”

“T-that’s……”

Then I waited for her answer.

The reason I can’t give a definite answer as to whether I’ll kill or save her is because I don’t know myself well enough either.

I might try to save her but then change my mind at any moment.

The urge to chase after fleeing humans is like an instinct for demons.

I wasn’t a demon who lied, so I didn’t readily tell her I would save her.

I just waited quietly.

I decided to give her enough time to organize her thoughts.

“……”

But no matter how long I waited, she didn’t answer my question.

Or rather, she couldn’t answer?

It doesn’t matter.

Breaking the iron bars and restraints confining her wasn’t a difficult task.

I just swung the knife twice.

The first strike cut through the iron bars, and the second cut through the iron chains binding her hands.

“…Eh?”

Freed from her restraints, she made a dumbfounded sound as if she didn’t understand the situation.

I didn’t intend to kill her.

I guess I wasn’t in the mood for that today.

She could run away or not. I didn’t care.

I wasn’t interested in humans who showed no reaction.

So I turned around without any lingering feelings.

Then suddenly, I thought making a grand mess might not be bad since I’d already started causing trouble.

So I broke the restraints of every slave I saw as I passed through the corridor.

This time too, there was no reason.

If they’re upset, they shouldn’t have kidnapped people in the first place.