Chapter 24
3.
“Take this.”
Early the next morning, Sophia was dragged into the interrogation room by Yudel before she’d even had a chance to wash her face. He pressed something into her hand.
Startled by its surprising weight, she looked down.
It was a collar.
Made of jet-black leather, it resembled a dog’s collar far more than a necklace. At its center hung a large crimson gemstone, mounted within a thick metal ring. The ring was wide enough that a leash could easily be clipped onto it.
“Starting today, I’ll begin harvesting your life force in earnest,” Yudel explained. “That collar is one of the tools that will help with the process.”
He continued matter-of-factly.
“Whenever you become aroused and experience pleasure, the mana stone set into the collar will detect the change. It will then condense the life essence you’ve produced into liquid form and transfer it into this bottle.”
As he spoke, he picked up a crystal vial from the plain chest of drawers against one wall of the interrogation room and held it out for her to see.
The transparent bottle was adorned with finely embossed patterns, elegant enough to suggest considerable craftsmanship. Small enough to fit comfortably in one hand, it looked for all the world like an expensive potion vial.
‘That’s incredible. So the life essence just collects inside that empty bottle on its own?’
There wasn’t even a tube connecting the two, yet magic would somehow transport it directly into the vial. The mechanism was fascinating enough to make her genuinely curious. It was like watching water flow from a faucet that wasn’t connected to any pipes.
Sophia’s amazement at the seemingly omnipotent power of magic lasted only a moment. After finishing his explanation, Yudel returned the crystal vial to its place.
“And these bottles are today’s quota.”
Sophia’s eyes immediately swept across the row of bottles lined up on top of the dresser. There had to be at least twenty empty vials, arranged in neat rows like bowling pins.
A chill ran down the back of her neck.
‘Don’t tell me…’
Her heart began pounding for an entirely different reason. Unable to believe the reality staring her in the face, she asked cautiously:
“Y-You’re not saying… I have to fill every single bottle there with my life essence, are you?”
Perhaps the dresser had simply run out of room and the rest had been taken out of a storage box. Or maybe it was more convenient to keep several days’ worth ready instead of bringing them out one at a time.
Please… just don’t let it all be for a single day, she prayed silently. But Yudel’s answer shattered that hope without mercy.
A flawless smile spread across his lips as though he were savoring the sweet despair on her face.
“That’s right. By the end of today, you’re going to fill every last bottle on that dresser with your life essence.”
“…”
“Well? Doesn’t the very thought of it excite you already?”
It was the first genuinely delighted smile she had ever seen on his face. He was unmistakably taking pleasure in her misery.
However, Yudel’s mockery barely registered. Sophia was too stunned—much like she had been when she’d first been dragged into the interrogation room and subjected, without warning, to the brush that heightened her sensitivity.
Because…
‘I’m sure the original novel said one bottle per person per day was the standard amount. So why is my quota so ridiculously high?’
She had never expected to escape severe punishment after attempting to flee and helping seven people escape. She had even anticipated, in some small corner of her heart, that the harsher “training” would be more stimulating than before.
But no matter how she looked at it, this was excessive.
‘If I have to fill all of those in a single day, I’ll be dead long before I ever get to enjoy my peaceful retirement.’
They hadn’t even begun yet, and she could already see the River of the Dead shimmering before her eyes. Her face drained of color. After moistening her lips, Sophia spoke with careful hesitation.
“But… wouldn’t it be impossible to produce that much life essence in a single day…?”
“It might be.”
“…?”
The answer came so matter-of-factly that Sophia could only stare at Yudel in bewilderment. Never in her life had she heard such an absurd response.
‘This guy knows I won’t be able to meet the quota, but he’s telling me to do it?’
Demons really were every bit as vicious as people say.
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