Chapter 16
Separate from the horrific situation, the cushion-like feel was amazing. Cynthia’s soft cheek pressed against firm yet yielding muscle—just tense enough to be solid, yet still soft—almost made her cough in embarrassment, despite the subtle awkwardness.
But soon, she had to tense up again as she heard the footsteps approaching from the banquet hall. The faint smile that had crept onto her lips disappeared as she regained awareness of the situation.
The ‘Harvester’. It was the main creature of the first floor and the first enemy the protagonist ever faces… and it had arrived.
The instant that alien presence rushed right up to the front of the mirror, Cynthia held her breath as much as possible.
Krkikik, krgrrrrk…
Grrrk! Grgrrrk…!
Squelch, squelch.
Wet, squishy footsteps and grotesque groans spread in front of the mirror. A few slender tentacles, dripping with black slime, slithered past the mirror and reached behind it. Cynthia, shocked, made a horrified face, and the duke quickly clamped a large hand over her mouth.
If you were caught by the Harvesters, the resulting death scene was of them sucking out your brain and eyeballs through your nose. Cynthia shrank back and held her breath as much as possible, desperately wishing not to be found.
Soon, one of the slimy black tentacles brushed the duke’s hair.
Worried that she might breathe too loudly, Cynthia pressed her face into the duke’s palm, huddling her shoulders and trembling. She felt a sharp gaze stabbing down from above her head, but for now, the Harvester was much more terrifying.
A short while later, the black tentacle slowly withdrew.
Thankfully, it seemed the creatures didn’t realize someone was hiding just because of a stray hair.
Krkrikik, krik.
Grgrrrk…
The squelching footsteps and grotesque moans moved away from the mirror.
Only after all the sounds had faded from the banquet hall did Cynthia finally exhale. She’d held her breath for so long that for a while, only the sound of her desperate gasps filled the air.
The duke peeked out from behind the mirror and spoke.
“They’re gone. There’s nothing there.”
Emerging from behind the mirror with him, Cynthia shuddered at the sight of an unidentifiable black liquid left on the floor.
It was a fluid often used in the game to track the Harvesters’ movements.
But something even more horrifying awaited.
All the corpses that had been hanging everywhere were now completely gone, unlike before they hid behind the mirror.
There was literally nothing left in the banquet hall.
‘They probably… took them away to eat.’
All the creatures in this mansion fed on humans. It was nauseating just to imagine.
The duke frowned at the sight of the bodies—impaled on the spikes just moments ago—having disappeared without a drop of blood left behind. His face was clearly confused.
“What on earth is going on? Why did those things show up in my mansion, and why did all those people…”
At this point, Cynthia began to seriously wonder.
The event where everyone was killed by spikes was, originally, supposed to have been masterminded by the duke himself, and the Harvesters were supposed to act on his will.
But now, he was acting as if he knew nothing, which was growing more and more suspicious.
‘Is he still pretending? But why bother?’
The villain’s pretense was only meant for the very beginning. At that stage, he needed to deceive people and keep them trapped, so it made sense to act like a noble and compassionate grand duke.
But now that all the prey had been lured in and the mansion doors were locked, there was no reason to pretend to be an ignorant victim in front of a powerless noble young lady.
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