Although quite some time had passed since Iria was possessed into a novel, she still hadn’t found a clue to return to her original world.

She had to find and kill the protagonist, whose whereabouts were unknown, but she couldn’t even find a trace of where this protagonist was.

She had to do something else first.

“……”

Iria was afraid of becoming a monster.

That’s why she was trying to return to where she originally was.

But if it was difficult to find the protagonist, she thought she should at least delay the inevitable.

To do that, she judged it necessary to understand monsters and what kind of being she was.

Iria still hadn’t figured out what kind of being she was.

If this world was a novel and a place where the protagonist existed, what kind of character was Iria in the original story?

The Iria before she possessed it, that is.

She decided to find that out, too.

Perhaps that might also be a clue to finding the protagonist.

“Walk faster. It’s too late to try to escape.”

“Ugh……”

His name was Leonard.

He was being dragged somewhere, caught by Iria.

When he first followed her, the atmosphere didn’t seem this scary, but once people disappeared, she pulled out a knife.

She didn’t have any ill feelings toward him, but she did so because she thought he might run away with her money.

It was a dagger from who knows where.

It was an old, worn-out thing, but its killing intent was as sharp as new.

Unlike the bravado he showed earlier, Leonard, whose actual strength was miserable, had to follow obediently.

“So, where are we going now?”

“Your workshop. It’s this way, right?”

“How did you……”

“You don’t need to know.”

The boasting at the bar was indeed an exaggeration. Still, Leonard was a scholar who had researched monsters for a long time.

Iria knew this, so she hired him by giving him a large sum of money.

Regardless of his pathetic personality, he seemed to know a lot.

It was when they entered Leonard’s workshop.

“It’s a humble place.”

“Hey, you… Can’t you do something about that way of speaking?”

“……?”

“No, never mind.”

Iria thought he was talking too much for someone who was being paid.

She sat in an empty seat and stared at Leonard across from her.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, but since she was the one with business, Iria opened her mouth first.

“I heard you know a lot about monsters.”

“Well… I’ve studied in that field. Despite how I look, I’m a biologist.”

Leonard seemed a bit wary of Iria, who had suddenly pointed a knife at him, but he soon sighed and answered.

If she had intended to kill him, she would have done so already.

She was just a slightly violent guest.

Since he received her money, he decided to give her her money’s worth.

Leonard brewed coffee in his humble workshop and handed it to his guest.

“So, what business do you have with me?”

“If you know a lot about monsters, do you know what I am?”

“Huh? How would I know that?”

“I’m a monster.”

“……What?”

Leonard was about to drink coffee from his cup but spilled a little.

It wasn’t something that could be easily dismissed.

“… You’re what?”

“I’m a monster.”

“Are you sick somewhere…? Mentally, perhaps?”

“……”

So it’s that kind of reaction, after all.

Iria didn’t think he would believe it easily.

She released the magical energy in her body and showed it to Leonard.

As a bonus, she opened her mouth to show her fangs, which were slightly different from humans.

“What. Is it real?”

‘Would I lie after paying two gold coins?’

Thinking he was a very cautious man, she nodded.

“That’s interesting. Can I draw some blood?”

“Go ahead.”

Iria wasn’t very willing, but she obediently stretched out her arm.

Leonard seemed to want to analyze something about this.

She was also interested in the results of that examination.

So Leonard tried to draw blood from Iria’s arm with some kind of machine.

More precisely, he tried to.

-Click.

“Huh?”

He stabbed Iria’s arm with a needle several times, but no blood came out.

It seemed that such a mere needle couldn’t pierce her skin.

Iria felt a bit frustrated by his actions, so she slightly cut her skin with the dagger she pulled out from her bosom.

It seemed that weak beings couldn’t even inflict a small wound on her.

Leonard watched this with a sullen expression and took the blood.

Then, he started observing it with various magical tools.

“Hmm… It’s definitely not human blood. I’ve never seen anything like you… I’d have considered myself lucky if I had to pay money to observe you.”

“Did you find out anything?”

Iria asked.

“Hmm~. Nope.”

Leonard shook his head.

“To be honest, it’s to be expected. I’ve been researching monsters for over ten years, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“……”

“What I can say for sure is that you’re a bit different from ordinary monsters. You’re definitely a monster, but should I say you’re closer to a mutant?”

“Tell me more in detail.”

Not human, definitely a monster, but a mutant slightly different from ordinary monsters.

I was curious about which aspects were different.

Leonard continued his explanation.

“I think you know this part too, but usually, monsters don’t have high intelligence. Most of them live irrationally, surrendering only to instinct.”

Certainly, the monsters encountered during the external practicum seemed to have that tendency.

Iria listened to his words.

“Monsters like you who can use human language and suppress instincts with reason are extremely rare. No, it’s safe to say they’re almost non-existent among ordinary monsters. That’s how monsters originally are. You can be called a mutant because communication is possible in the first place.”

“Hmm.”

“But I’m saying they don’t exist among ‘ordinary monsters.’ If we look a bit more broadly, they’re not completely non-existent.”

Beings that have endless irregularity despite being the same monsters.

“You’re probably a Seed of the Demon King. It doesn’t make sense otherwise. Do you know what that is?”

“……?”

Iria rarely changed her expression.

But Leonard could tell by how she blinked on the spot that she didn’t understand well.

Regardless, Leonard continued.

“You must have heard that when a monster eats a fragment of the Demon King, it evolves into some form. It’s such a famous story. Right?”

Iria nodded.

“Sometimes intelligence is gained in that evolution process. It seems there are rare cases where they can use language. And you’re one of them.”

“I don’t remember eating one.”

“You never know. Maybe you forgot the memories from when you were an ordinary monster without intelligence during evolution.”

Hearing that, I fell into rumination.

I fell into this world one day.

I was possessed into the body of a monster.

Then, do I know what kind of being my body was before I possessed it?

“……”

I don’t know.

If I am a Seed of the Demon King, as he says, eating the fragment must have happened before she was possessed.

Thinking like that wasn’t entirely nonsensical.

I knew I was a bit different from the monsters I met during the external practicum.

Perhaps Iria’s ability to show hallucinations might also be a power originating from the Demon King.

At that point, Iria took out the Seed of the Demon King from her bosom.

She became curious if he might know about this too, since he mentioned the seed.

“Can you recognize it?”

“……How in the world did you get that?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“…Wait a moment.”

Leonard carefully lifted the golden fragment and examined it from various angles.

Then he called Iria.

“You said you can handle magical energy, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then can you try flowing some magical energy into this? If it’s genuine, there will be a change.”

Iria did so.

After stretching out her hand, she slowly emitted the magical energy from her body.

It was also difficult to control that, as Leonard would die if she extended too strong an amount of magical energy.

And it was when the extended magical energy touched the fragment.

“……!”

Touched by the magical energy, it reacted violently, emitting a golden light.

Standing next to it, Iria was a bit surprised by this unprecedented phenomenon.

It wasn’t long because the amount of magical energy that flowed in wasn’t much, but it was bright enough to bathe the small room.

“It’s undoubtedly genuine. The Seed of the Demon King reacts when touched by magical energy. That’s the same principle by which monsters evolve when they eat it.”

“Hmm……”

There would be magical energy inside a monster’s body.

Maybe it would cause a reaction inside the body if eaten.

Iria became curious.

So she asked.

“Is the investigation over?”

“I don’t think there’s anything more we can know at this point.”

“What do you think would happen if I ate it?”

“……?”

Leonard doubted his ears for a moment.

Wondering if he had heard wrong, he asked again.

“So, what did you just say?”

“What do you think would happen if I ate it?”

It seemed he hadn’t heard wrong.

Iria confirmed her words with a serious expression.

“Hmm… Are you in your right mind? You’re saying you’ll eat it yourself after seeing that just now?”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“No, that… I am curious, but do you know what kind of side effects there might be?”

“If I was fine after eating one, I don’t think I’d die from eating two.”

Actually, dying wouldn’t be bad either.

Haven’t I already realized to the point of being sick of it that it’s impossible to kill myself with this possessed body?

I used to think I could return to where I originally was if I died.

But I didn’t die.

So probably, I won’t die this time either.

Thinking like that, I put the golden fragment into my mouth.

So this is what the Demon King tastes like.

It wasn’t delicious.