Daisuke, surrounded by Sylvia, Sheba, Aldrid a few other young adults, spoke quietly in the barn house, their faces reflected a mix of curiosity and hope.

  “I’m not here to stay, and I won’t leave any of you behind,” Daisuke decred, capturing their attention.

  “...You’re not just talking out of your ass, right?” questioned an older male Beastkin. “Do you have an actual pn?”

  “I do,” Daisuke affirmed, and the group leaned in, ready to hear his strategy. “I mao get my hands on the manor’s floor pns a while ago, which is how I’ve avoided getting caught sneaking around.”

  “What? How oh did you...” someoarted, but Daisuke raised a hand, signaling for silence.

  “…”

  He observed Sheba and Sylvia exging looks of shod bewilderment. “What is it? What’s wrong?” he inquired, notig their expressions.

  Sylvia whispered under her breath, “That man… Linald, I mean. At this very moment, I would imagine he should be in his office or b with... someone.”

  Daisuke’s expression hardened. “There... was someone.”

  “Haxks,” Sheba whispered now. “That someone you saw or heard... was one of the girls who was brought here with us by the salve traders.”

  Daisuke paled, his expression crumpling.

  “Ruth and Tina,” Aldric crified, his voice trembling with anguish as tears streamed down his face. “They were both taken away earlier today, even though I promised to protect them!”

  …Ruth and Tina, Daisuke murmured their names inwardly, a mix of disgust and e ing in his veins. One of them is the girl who was sent to my room. B-But they’re just kids! Reginald, that sick bastard!

  Sylvia’s arms ed around herself, a shiver running through her frame, which immediately suggested that she too might have been subjected by the man’s sinister experiments. Though it pained her to discuss it, the girl found her voice, determio uhe profound darkhat had taken root within the walls of the estate.

  Apparently, during the years he spent immersed in research alongside his father, Reginald found himself pelled to cast aside his humanity and forsake all earthly desires in the name of stific pursuit.

  With his family now in ruins, he yearo seize every drop of pleasure he had missed before time’s grip tightened. A voracious hunger arose, dev all in its path, from the fi cuisines and garments to the allure of intoxits and panionship, irrespective of gender.

  And as his desires twisted and evolved, a thirst for the forbidden emerged, reshaping his cravings into a darker form of greed. Acc to Sylvia, the younger girls were used solely for experimentation while those who were of age fell proo both his al desires and his stific musings.

  As Daisuke listeo the frightening tale, he couldn’t help but remember the predatory stare Reginald gave April. He k was only a matter of time before she fell prey to his experiments—a sick amalgamation of sadism and stific pursuit.

  With determination bzing in his eyes, Daisuke abruptly stood up, catg the group off guard. “Time is running out; I o put ao this before more harm is done.”

  “Again,” the same Beastkin asked eagerly. “What’s the pn?”

  Daisuke paused, deep in thought. “I’m still w on it. But for now, I o get back before aices that I’m gone. Sheba,” he turo her with a hint ret, “how do I say this… I’m really sorry about leaving you guys behind.”

  “You’re being too hard on yourself,” the girl said with a small smile, shaking her head. “Your quick thinking is what allowed you to get close enough to steal the floor pns.”

  “She’s right,” Sylvia chimed in, wiping away the st of her tears. “You’ve opened up plenty of options for us now, all because you qui your feet.”

  “Haxks~” Aldric whined, his tears and snot creating a messy masterpie his face as he attempted a glomp. Sheba kept him at arm’s length, gripping the waist of his pants. “Please… please save Ruth and Tina! They both need a hero, and you’re the only one I depend on to do it!”

  Daisuke ged.

  “Aldric, I know how you feel,” Sheba chimed in, fighting the urge to kneel and plead alongside him. “I want Ruth and Tina to be safe too. But don’t you think you’re being just a little bit unreasonable?”

  “I hate to admit it, but she’s got a point,” the male Beastkin added, scratg his head. “Haxks is just one guy; if he acts rashly then fet those two girls, we’re all going to be royally screwed, literally.”

  The girls flinched back scathingly at the pun.

  “Too much?”

  They all nodded, poker-faced.

  Daisuke scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Assuming things go smoothly, I’ll return tomorrow with a well-thought-out pn. But before that, I’ll o get a y of the nd and security, examihe blueprint, aablish a safe off this estate.”

  “Please take care.”

  “And keep an eye on Winston; there’s something about him that doesn’t sit right with me. I just ’t quite put my finger on it.”

  “I’ve been sensing it too.”

  Sheba, Sylvia, and the older male Beastkin, offered words of encement while Aldric, still disheartened, received a pyful hair tousle from Daisuke.

  “Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself,” he reassured. “Just hang tight while I sort things out, alright?”

  “Okay...”

  “By the way,” Daisuke gestured towards the male Beastkin with a questioning look.

  “It’s Feng.”

  “Feng, do you know your way around a sword?”

  “More or less.”

  “Great. You look the most capable, so you’ll be leading the group as the sole vanguard. we t on your seo steer us clear of monsters?” Daisuke Feng with a hopeful expression.

  “Heh. sider it done,” he replied fidently.

  “I don’t think we o worry too much about security,” Sylvia chimed in reassuringly. “After being banished by the kingdom, the Percivals lost most of their wealth. They no longer have the fio hire adequate security or even to cater to the manor’s regur upkeep. As you see, it’s mostly sves who do all the work.”

  Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. “If it’s obviinald doesn’t have suffit security, then why haven’t the sves sparked a rebellion?”

  “Winston,” she respoly. “Since he single-handedly made short work out of a powerful Wolfkin among us who had tried to escape, everyone has beeively docile.”

  “…You really weren’t joking about him being dangerous.”

  “No, I wasn’t. If we ’t find a way to stay off his radar, esg without casualties will be impossible.”

  “Got it,” Daisuke nodded solemnly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  ***

  Daisuke let out a sigh of relief.

  After learning about Winston, it became increasingly nerve-wrag to sneak around the estate. But luckily, he made it safely back to his room and a strained smile touched his lips upon noting that both girls were still fast asleep.

  His features hardened, however, as he pted the i girl who would iably bee a victim inald’s alchemical experiments, or his dark and insatiable desires. Sylvia’s story had made it quite clear that he wasn’t necessarily safe either.

  Daisuke ran his hand through his hair, gripping his head with a grave expression. I need a pn.

  ***

  The aroma of freshly made eggs and sausages didn’t hold much appeal while sitting across from a devil.

  “Julian, how are your studies progressing?” Reginald inquired, peering over the rim of his tea cup.

  “Good so far,” Daisuke replied with forced exuberance. “It’s a lot to take in all at ohough.”

  The man chuckled softly. “…There’s o lie.”

  Daisuke cleverly kept his expression guarded, but he stopped breathing. Dammit! Did he somehow find out about st night?

  “How did you like the gift I prepared? You kept her all night long, so when could you have found the time to suffitly study?”

  Daisuke breathed.

  Reginald smiled, evidently amused. “I must admit, I thought you were too young to appreciate the warmth of a panion, but it seems I was mistaken. I took great care to provide you with someone of purity as a gesture of my resped appreciation for you. I trust this will mark the beginning of a fruitful partnership between us.”

  Daisuke frowned inwardly. So, he did have someog the room, after all. He’s shrewd, I’ll give him that much. I’ll o be extra cautious in my as from now on.

  Fear of monsters & the unknown: 37%