When I asked Lucia why she killed monsters during the external practicum, she replied that there wasn’t any particular reason.

 

Monsters would attack humans if left alone, and she killed them because it was necessary for the practicum assignment.

 

Of course, she didn’t seem to feel any guilt about it. This was because, in her mind, it was natural for humans to kill monsters.

 

This time, I asked Amy, as a Seed of the Demon King who had caused many casualties, about her reason for killing humans.

 

She, too, answered that there was no special reason. She just said she killed because she wanted to kill.

 

It’s instinct for monsters to want to kill humans. She had tried to live while suppressing that instinct, but in the end, she couldn’t endure it.

 

So Amy killed humans.

 

She also didn’t seem to feel guilty about it.

 

She thought it was natural for monsters to kill humans.

 

Monsters are beings that cannot live without killing humans. They were made that way from birth.

 

Humans kill monsters.

 

Monsters kill humans.

 

I didn’t think either side was bad.

 

They were just born that way. They were made to have to kill each other from the beginning.

 

The question of who is good and evil was meaningless from the start.

 

They kill and are killed, so only the strong survive.

 

They are classified not as good and evil, but as weak and strong.

 

I wasn’t an evil being; I was just stronger than those I killed.

 

“……”

 

I am the murderer of the back alleys.

 

I’ve killed so many people that I can’t count them anymore, but if asked if I still feel guilty about it now, it would be difficult to answer.

 

Is killing people really such a bad thing?

 

At least, it seemed less bad than capturing and torturing monsters with human-like appearances.

 

I’m not sure.

 

At some point, I found myself thinking differently from the past.

 

***

 

After the academy’s exams ended, right before moving on to the next semester.

 

During that period, a festival is held. It could be seen as taking sufficient rest before moving on to the next semester.

 

Therefore, the atmosphere in the academy was chaotic. Everyone was busy preparing the booths they were operating.

 

Iria seemed unaware of this fact, though.

 

After compiling various opinions, it was decided that the 1st year Class A of the Combat Magic Department’s booth would be a maid cafe.

 

Many thought it would be the most commercially viable option for Class A, which had particularly many beautiful female students.

 

There was frequent talk about Iria especially.

 

At this point, she was undoubtedly the most famous student among the first years.

 

Not only did she pass the entrance exam with top marks, but she also knocked down Lucia in the first semester, and easily took first place in this midterm exam.

 

Therefore, they thought that if such a person wore a maid outfit and worked, it could elicit a great response.

 

Moreover, she was also outstanding in appearance.

 

If asked to choose the prettiest person in the academy, she would always be mentioned as a strong candidate.

 

Iria in a maid outfit is money. It was like a cheat key that couldn’t fail.

 

However, it wasn’t decided after asking her opinion.

 

Rather, it might have been possible to have a comfortable discussion because she wasn’t present.

 

Although Iria’s opinion was the most important thing, Rena didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

 

It was a festival that might only happen a few more times before graduation.

 

Due to internal school circumstances, it could be canceled if something with higher priority came up.

 

Rather, since it was more often canceled, it was lucky that the festival was properly held from the first semester.

 

“Ah, Iria! So you were here? Everyone’s been looking for you.”

 

“……?”

 

Rena, who found Iria in the central park of the academy, spoke to her.

 

Iria tilted her head with a face full of questions.

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes! We just needed you! Come over here for a moment!”

 

“……”

 

Iria had been sitting on the bench, pondering complex thoughts.

 

She felt like resting a bit now.

 

Still, she had received a lot from Rena in many ways, so there was no reason she couldn’t at least listen to what she had to say.

 

Iria was dragged somewhere, led by Rena’s hand. It was the booth operation area rented by the Combat Magic Department’s first-year Class A.

 

While she felt something strange, Rena held out a type of clothes she had never seen before and suggested she try them on.

 

“You want me… to wear this?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“……Me?”

 

“Is that not okay?”

 

“……”

 

It was summer.

 

***

 

It seemed noisier than usual because it was the festival preparation period.

 

Everyone looked busy for some reason. Each class was preparing various things, showcasing their respective strengths.

 

They were as busy now as when preparing for the midterm exams, but the atmosphere was a bit different.

 

Vitality exuded from their appearance of working hard. Although they were moving diligently and sweating, they still looked happy.

 

There’s always a clear difference between what you have to do and what you want to do.

 

This is also an atmosphere that can’t be felt after graduation. Perhaps they were moving so busily to create memories to look back on their school life later.

 

Memories.

 

It was meaningless to Iria.

 

Even if she built them up now, they would just be a handful of memories that might be forgotten at any time.

 

But she wasn’t completely uninterested.

 

She vaguely remembered doing something similar in her original world before falling into this one.

 

When she wasn’t a monster, wouldn’t she have looked like that too?

 

At that time, wouldn’t she have been enjoying everything more honestly, putting everything down?

 

Now she’s just reminiscing.

 

She recalls that she, too, was once like them in the past.

 

Feeling a bitter emotion that now, unlike them, she couldn’t perfectly melt in and mix.

 

She was walking while feeling such emotions when…

 

“So, Iria. Are you really not going to do it?”

 

“No.”

 

Rena and Iria were having an argument.

 

It was about whether Iria would participate in the festival.

 

“I’m just asking this once! I made a bet with Class B about who would be more successful!”

 

“……”

 

“If you help, I think we’ll definitely win! Don’t you think it’s better to try your best in the few festivals we have left?”

 

“By Class B, do you mean the class with that blue-haired girl?”

 

Did those two have any connection? Rena was puzzled for a moment but answered anyway.

 

“Huh? Um, yes, but why?”

 

“I just don’t like that person.”

 

“It’s okay. I don’t like her much either.”

 

Although it was called a bet, they hadn’t even set the conditions yet, but this was a matter of pride.

 

Iria stood there for a moment, pondering.

 

She didn’t want to get involved in their past issues, but she was a bit concerned about having killed Rena’s friend.

 

Let’s just call it atonement for the past for now.

 

She could only do this while she still had some human emotions left.

 

She thought it wouldn’t hurt to go along with it once.

 

“How about the losing side licks the winning side’s feet?”

 

Coincidentally, Iria knew how to make the losing side feel bad.

 

That day, Lucia’s expression was quite something to see. Wouldn’t it be fun to make Wendy look like that too?

 

After hearing this, Rena thought for a moment, then grabbed Iria’s hand.

 

“Really?! You’ll do it?!”

 

Iria nodded.

 

***

 

About two days before the festival started.

 

Having successfully recruited Iria, Rena was teaching her a simple customer service manual.

 

“Now, you draw on top of the dish with ketchup like this. Can you do it?”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Iria squeezed the ketchup bottle she was handed.

 

-Pop!

 

She squeezed too hard, causing ketchup to burst out all at once and splatter everywhere.

 

Red stains covered both Rena’s and Iria’s bodies and faces.

 

A moment of silence passed. For a while, they exchanged glances.

 

“Is this right?”

 

“No, um, well……”

 

Rena paused for a moment and then suggested something else.

 

“How about peeling fruit in front of the customers? As cutely as possible.”

 

This time, she handed Iria a fruit and a fruit knife.

 

Iria cut the fruit without a word. Unlike when drawing, her skill was proficient.

 

“Oh… You’re good at this?”

 

However, it didn’t take long for Rena’s expression, which had been purely admiring, to change.

 

-Swish swish swish!!

 

Iria was good at handling knives, but it was too much.

 

Her appearance of slaughtering the fruit with a knife in the blink of an eye looked more like a killing machine than a maid.

 

Iria’s form holding the knife was unusual. Somehow, Rena thought it might be better not to give her a knife.

 

“Wait, stop! That’s enough! You’ll scare all the customers away!”

 

“……”

 

“I’m sorry for asking first, but… I think it’s better for Iria to just gather customers outside.”

 

“I can show this trick too.”

 

Iria threw the apple in her hand into the air and then demonstrated the trick of peeling the fruit in midair.

 

The fruit that had risen into the air fell onto the plate, neatly arranged and appetizing.

 

Afterward, she was scolded harshly by the chef for doing something so dangerous inside the kitchen.

 

Translator’s Corner

 

I misread the comments talking about Eve’s death. I’ve mistaken that as the seed of the blah blah. Eve is probably alive, so I’m removing her from the dead list.

 

-Ruminas