https://m.munpia.com/novel/detail/503857
Chapter 1: https://rentry.co/3ioosho3
Chapter 2: https://rentry.co/wqfxnhhw
Should Kill (2)
'Weakling.'
That was the greatest insult in the mind of my father, Jepestien.
Weakness. He despised the weak and soft, and valued only the hard and strong.
I certainly did not meet those expectations of my father.
I was never a hard person. I was the type to bend rather than break, and I had no desire to break or dominate others with my own will.
I was like that.
-Starving. I must replenish my demonic energy by eating a fresh heart. The younger and purer the child, the better. Their life force is necessary.-
-You will soon be chosen as a knight of the Empire, so we will help you to procure food at any time. Lexi will be with you shortly. Follow her instructions.-
However, these whispers were by no means human.
Was it as Edmon said, that a subspecies of demon was mixed among us humans? Was it no longer the time for me to question who 'I' was?
Since when had they been here, and where did they come from?
But for now, I had to put aside the question of their existence.
Right now, there was a threat before my eyes.
Do I have to kill him with my own hands?
…There seems to be no need for that.
In any case, under imperial law, the very act of a military academy cadet leaving such a coded message is grounds for execution, for summary judgment.
Yes, at least I don't have to kill him right now.
Just then, the cadets came in. I sat perched on a desk and scanned them in turn. My gaze stopped on the one with the crew cut.
From a while ago, the black fragment inside my body had been reacting solely to this one.
"Was it Jacob?"
"Yes, yes! I'm Jacob!"
The boy with the crew cut answered, startled.
He was fifteen, an age where the baby fat had not yet left his face.
"Everyone but you, get out."
"...What?"
"Get out."
Everyone left, bewildered. The magic professor who was about to enter late was also turned away.
Only Jacob and I remained in the classroom.
"Jacob."
"Yes?"
I picked up the novel. For a moment, his pupils wavered with anxiety.
"You know what I'm about to say, don't you?"
I opened the book and recited the codes written on the page.
"Let's continue to communicate in this way. Tell our comrades the same. It seems I won't be able to return for five years."
"Uh..."
Jacob's eyes widened, and then he bowed his head. A dry laugh escaped me.
How easy must he have thought I was to bring such a thing here. This place is, after all, the heart of the pure-blood aristocracy.
"You're not an Imperial, are you?"
I can no longer claim that only the Isenheim are demons. In the first place, the very method of distinguishing races in the Empire is extremely subjective and unscientific, and the appearance of the Isenheim has only minor features that do not differ much from other races.
The surest way to distinguish human species is to kill them and dissect the corpse.
Even that is impossible for the common person. The significant differences between races stem from the structure of the magic circuit and the minute characteristics of the heart.
In the process of receiving and circulating demonic energy in the body, each race exhibits a unique demonic energy reaction and circuit pattern.
This was the greatest evidence that humans were once divided into elves, dwarves, and beastmen, and it was the logic the Empire used to regard them as inferior races.
"If you were an Imperial, there would be no reason to exchange such coded messages."
The problem is these seditious codes. In a world where one can be tortured for years merely for possessing a subversive book.
If one were to dig into the life Jacob has led, the fact that he is not a pure Imperial would be exposed in no time.
"The intelligence bureau will probably investigate your entire background."
He tried to control his expression, but his face had already turned pale.
I asked him.
"Which side are you on? Isenheim?"
There was no answer. Instead, the black fragment in my body confirmed his identity.
It was reacting to its 'own kind.'
"Speak. As it is, you'll be imprisoned and executed."
"..."
Jacob's mouth remained firmly shut.
Suddenly, a gruesome suspicion crossed my mind.
Is this situation really real?
Perhaps the black fragment in my body, the bizarre language of the Isenheim I just heard, and even the regression I experienced are all just illusions. A kind of psychotic delusion.
I needed to find out.
Whether this guy is really 'one of them,' or if it's just my delusion.
"Do the Isenheim have a hobby of eating children's hearts?"
-The air changed.
Jacob's shoulders flinched. I sensed the change, but so far, it was a normal reaction.
"Who is this 'Lexi' who is coming to offer you a heart?"
In an instant, Jacob snapped his head up. At that moment, I knew for sure.
This is reality.
Jacob lunged at me in one bound and grabbed me by the throat. His pupils dilated bizarrely. A wave-like pulsation of what looked like bloody tears flowed.
[How dare you steal our language? I will tear your heart to shreds and devour it.]
There was language in that cry, and it was translated to me exactly.
Jjeojeojeojeok.
Jacob's mouth opened wide. While maintaining a human form, only the corners of his mouth tore open as if to reach his ears—
Tick.
The sound of a second hand echoed from deep within my heart.
Time slowed down. The movement of the creature thrusting its maw towards me became endlessly sluggish.
I didn't know the reason. It just happened.
There was no time to think. I focused my consciousness. I slowly activated my body.
It was awkward, like being submerged in water, but I kicked the creature hard in the solar plexus. Using the recoil, I rotated my body and snatched the sword next to the desk.
I swung the sword up towards the creature's receding neck.
Tick.
The second tick.
The slowed world returned to normal.
Swish!
The blade sliced through the creature's neck. The head flew to the ceiling. Blood gushed from the severed plane, drenching my body.
The boy who had been Jacob fell lifelessly.
The Isenheim died an ordinary death.
"Hah, hah..."
Wriggle, wriggle.
Just then, something stirred around my collarbone. It was that black fragment.
Wriggle, wriggle.
The thing traveled down the blood vessels of my arm to my palm.
"!"
It pulled me strongly towards Jacob's corpse.
Gulp, gulp, gulp! My palm greedily sucked up the blood flowing from Jacob.
"What the... what the hell is this thing."
Thud.
Meanwhile, Jacob's head rolled on the floor. I looked into his eyes.
I thought as I stepped on the blood spreading on the floor.
Wriggle, wriggle.
The black virus living inside my body. It is just eating something, but this thing is the proof.
The proof that what I just did was 'right.'
Creak!
Just then, the classroom door opened.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
A scream erupted. It was Jacob's friends. The sound of guards running also rushed in.
"Hah..."
I took a deep breath.
I had killed a 15-year-old Isenheim.
The charge for his crime—in truth, it doesn't matter at all.
I am the sole heir of the Ebenholz family, the son of the Imperial Commander-in-Chief, Sebastian von Ebenholz.
My status is one of the highest in the Empire, a pureblood lineage that has continued for half a millennium.
It means I am in a position where killing a single member of a minority race is of no consequence.