It’s been a day since the monster attack on the academy.

Returning as usual, I arrived back home—a decrepit, abandoned house near the back alley, which I now owned. At first, it felt strange, but this place had become as familiar to me as the back alleys themselves. I stepped into the dark house, devoid of any light sources. I still hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights; after becoming this creature, I found the darkness more comforting.

My body’s eyes are naturally suited to the dark. This is a small way in which I differ from humans. Today, I bought a few more academy uniforms. The ones I used to wear…well, they were no longer wearable. I glanced over the uniforms I had tossed aside yesterday—what a mess.

They were covered in the blood of both humans and monsters, torn beyond any hope of repair. This wasn’t something that simple washing could fix. It was annoying to have to keep buying new uniforms every time something like this happened.

Yesterday was eventful, to say the least. Monsters invaded the academy, I killed the Demon King’s seed, tried—and failed—to kill Albert, and witnessed Ariel’s growth firsthand. I felt a bit weary. I had gone back to the academy today without even resting properly.

Even with a body that can’t die, fatigue still builds up. I wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep.

But first, I had some things to take care of.

I needed to take stock of what I’d gained from the attack on the academy.

As I organized my thoughts, I realized I’d obtained more than I expected. The information I gathered was far more useful than anything I could’ve learned by reading books at the academy.

Knowledge about this world is always valuable. Just discovering things I hadn’t known before was a significant gain.

I suspected the woman behind this incident. Seir, the legion commander, I think that was her name. I read her memories. She was a remnant of the Demon King’s army, one of the few survivors of the war. There exists an external force hostile to the Empire. I had anticipated something of the sort, but I hadn’t expected it to be so large in scale.

She was far stronger than any enemy I’d encountered before. The thought of there being more like her darkened the Empire’s future significantly.

This raised a question:

‘Why didn’t they attack all at once?’

If just Seir had such influence, they could’ve brought down the Empire entirely. To be honest, the Empire’s forces aren’t that strong right now. Among humans, they may be powerful, but not when compared to other beings.

If all remnants of the Demon King’s army had attacked, the Empire would have been destroyed. There simply isn’t enough strength here to stop them.

Or am I missing something?

Why was the Demon King’s army hesitant about launching a full-scale war against the Empire?

I pondered this for a while.

“Sertia?”

I muttered the name of someone I didn’t know well.

I have no idea how strong she is. I’d only read about her accomplishments in books; I’d never actually seen her.

Is she truly that powerful? Strong enough to make the Demon King’s army afraid of a single human?

I’d have to meet her to find out. Luckily, I had an appointment with Albert today.

That mystery would be cleared up soon.

I turned my head and looked at the pile of golden shards. They were all fragments of the Demon King.

“…”

What should I do with them?

I kept them, thinking they might be useful later, but eating that many would definitely make me feel full. I was hungry, anyway—I’d used up a lot of energy during this incident.

“Hmm.”

I picked up one of the Demon King’s fragments.

It was clear that a small piece held enormous power. After all, these fragments could turn even a low-level monster into a giant beast.

I remembered how Seir lost her sanity and went berserk after consuming one.

Is that what happens to others who consume the fragments? So why am I unaffected?

Perhaps it had something to do with the voices I’d heard when I used the Demon King’s power. Those with weak self-awareness might be swept away by the Demon King’s influence. Most beings can’t withstand the Demon King’s power and lose their minds.

But I remained fine.

I didn’t know why.

This body I possessed was strangely optimized to accept the Demon King’s power.

As if the fragments had always been a part of me, they fit together inside me.

Maybe I have a unique constitution.

‘If I eat this, will I regain more memories of the past?’

I didn’t know why, but the Demon King’s fragments seemed to act as a catalyst, awakening memories I’d forgotten.

If I ate a fragment now, I’d once again face the phantoms of my past.

That thought made me hesitate. Since I came to this world, there hadn’t been a single good memory.

The phantoms of the past have haunted me like nightmares. They had before, and they would again if I ate this now.

“…”

Holding the fragment, I hesitated briefly.

Should I eat it or not?

My hesitation didn’t last long.

If I did nothing, nothing would change.

Hesitation only leads to stagnation.

For the sake of the future, I needed to confront my past.

After all, even I understood that my forgotten memories might hold clues to the end.

“…”

I placed the fragment in my mouth and swallowed it.

As expected, it didn’t taste good. It was bloody, bitter, and even a little nauseating.

But surprisingly, it was still better than eating human food.

At least it didn’t twist my insides.

After swallowing the fragment, I lay down on my bed.

I’d decided not to back down any longer.

Now, it was time to face the past I feared.

In a back alley, named Dusty Lane.

Overflowing with trash and filth, this was the street of those without homes.

Homeless and criminals roamed this place, so lawless that not even the Empire’s knights would patrol here.

In Dusty Lane, it wasn’t unusual for someone to die.

Here, you could kill without leaving evidence, or die from sickness and starvation.

It wasn’t strange to see the body of someone who starved beneath another who’d been stabbed.

Such was this place.

But even considering that, there had been a big incident recently.

It was so significant that even homeless people, who were too hungry to speak, were talking about it.

The entire back alley was buzzing.

“Did you hear? The gambling den collapsed.”

“It didn’t just collapse. Everyone there was massacred.”

The gambling den in Dusty Lane was controlled by a sizable crime syndicate.

Everyone knew them, as they had long bullied and threatened people in the area—a figure of fear.

They were wiped out in a single night by some being. They had elite combat forces, retired soldiers, and mercenaries.

With that terrifying force gone, the locals felt relief, but a new fear soon crept in.

The rumor was that a single person had eradicated the crime syndicate, which meant they were far more powerful than the mercenaries.

That being was now somewhere in the back alley.

No one knew anything, but there were definitely victims.

Terrified, people started calling this mysterious figure the back-alley monster.

“…”

A lone girl walked through the noisy back alley.

She moved through the center of the rumors, fully aware they were talking about her.

Yes, she knew.

The silver-haired girl, showing extreme anxiety, covered her ears, not wanting to hear the gossip.

Covering her bloodstained hands and mouth, she moved with determination.

She was searching for another girl who had fled.

Iria’s memory of that day was vague. She had lost consciousness for a moment, and when she woke up, everyone around her was dead.

It must’ve been a misunderstanding.

She needed to explain that it wasn’t her doing, that what happened was merely an accident.

But she couldn’t find her.

Iria couldn’t locate the girl.

“It wasn’t me… It wasn’t me…”

Why did she flee?

Iria was the one who wanted to escape reality the most.

“Please…”

Why was she crying?

Iria was the one who wanted to deny this reality and cry the most.

“…”

Iria found herself in hell, a place known as the back alley.