No matter how many times the name was called, the door offered no response. Perhaps because its own name hadn’t been called. Or perhaps because the key hadn’t been inserted.

Everything was still shrouded in doubt. We stood foolishly before it, vaguely imagining what might be unfolding inside. As time dragged on, the fear only swelled, our anxiety amplifying with every passing second.

Standing before it, there was still only one thing Roselia could do: call out the name. My job was to pray that if she kept calling, the door would mistake it for its own and spread its legs open.

“Erika.”

“…”

“Erika!”

Just as the count of calling her name was about to pass five, footsteps finally echoed from within. Despite the presence she had so desperately longed for, Roselia took a slight step backward. I, too, retreated a pace.

The door creaked open, and a face crawled out. Naturally, it wasn’t Erika.

“…What is it. Roselia.”

“…”

“Here to sell your body?”

With a single sentence, the man who stepped outside proved his identity. But Roselia, without a hint of fluster, replied with haughty composure.

“No. I’m here about the Supply Ship we discussed before.”

“Don’t know anything about that.”

“Of course you don’t. I told Heiter about it. But it doesn’t matter, since Erika will know. Where is Erika?”

“Erika?”

He cast his gaze deep into the room before offering the most ambiguous answer possible in this situation.

“She’s busy right now.”

“Of course she is. It’s always been like that. But I need to see Erika right this instant.”

“You wouldn’t want to.”

“That’s for me to decide.”

“Haha…”

The man let out a dismissive chuckle at Roselia’s bold declaration. Then, as if offering a final courtesy, he warned her in a soft, quiet voice.

“You won’t see a pretty sight. Roselia.”

“I don’t care.”

“Well… not really my concern, anyway.”

With a brusque attitude, he shoved the door open wider and disappeared back into the room. It was the moment we had so eagerly awaited, yet Roselia couldn’t easily step inside. Despite feigning composure on the outside, she must have felt the same way I did.

But she knew full well she shouldn’t reveal such inner thoughts to the outside world. Thus, she deliberately scolded me, maintaining a cold expression.

“What are you doing. Aren’t you coming in?”

“No… just…”

“I told you it’ll be fine. Come on, let’s hurry inside. We have more than a few things to take care of.”

A light sigh mingled at the edge of her feigned confidence. Roselia secretly steadied her breath before stepping inside first. I waited until the two men standing beside her entered, then slowly moved my feet.

“Hu…”

Regret was already washing over me. But I couldn’t back down now, just like Roselia. From the moment I followed her instead of that guy last night, the two of us had been shackled by invisible handcuffs. It was already too late to run.

Soon, a strange scent wafted from deep within the room, a mix of sweat and the metallic tang of iron. Roselia frowned, yet called her name once more.

“Erika!”

“…!”

Then, for the first time, a familiar noise responded to Roselia’s voice. Contrary to our expectations, we spotted Erika the moment we entered the room.

For the first time, I harbored a spark of hope. Perhaps this new life at the Academy wouldn’t be so bad after all. For a fleeting moment, I entertained that dream.

But hope was a flower that withered fastest in the season of the apocalypse.

“Heu… heu…”

Hearing Roselia’s voice, Erika quickly met our eyes. Her signature blue eyes were tinged with unmistakable gladness.

But she couldn’t offer a greeting for the reunion. Because her own underwear was stuffed in her mouth as a gag.

“Heueu… heueu… heu…”

“Erika?”

“Eu… heueueu… heu…”

The underwear in her mouth was thoroughly soaked, taking on a grayish hue. No, perhaps it wasn’t saliva. Such a suspicion crossed my mind, but I absolutely didn’t want to exercise that kind of imagination. Either way, I just wanted to escape this vulgar sight as quickly as possible.

Of course, Erika lacked the ability to free herself. Her hands and feet were tightly bound to something.

Only then did I realize the whereabouts of the mop handles that had been missing from outside. As expected, they were all inside this room.

To be more precise, they were placed right beneath Erika’s legs.

“Heu… eu…!”

“…”

Both of Erika’s ankles were firmly tied to a long wooden pole. It crossed precisely over her Achilles tendons, meaning any careless movement would surely injure her ankles. Because of this, she had no choice but to keep her legs spread wide open, exactly as she was bound to the pole. Countless bodily fluids had already dripped onto the wooden pole, staining it brown rather than its original color.

Moreover, Erika wasn’t alone. Beside her were other wooden poles, and other women with their ankles bound to them, standing and facing the wall.

“Heu… heueu…!”

“Eubeu… eugeuk…”

“Heueup… heup…”

The faces of the girls crying out in different voices were all pretty and beautiful. Most were students who had been rumored at the Academy for their outstanding looks. For me, who remembered their original appearances, it was an inevitably shocking sight.

Just how many hours had they been standing here? I couldn’t know for sure, but I could roughly guess from the sweat pouring down like rain and the tears brimming in their eyes. The sight of the girls being punished for the crime of being pretty for long hours was like livestock locked in a ranch.

As I observed them, I suddenly realized that everyone’s gaze was focused on one spot. And that fear was mixed within their eyes. Naturally, I followed them and turned my own eyes toward the dark, gloomy corner.

There was another girl there. She, too, was bound to a pole with her underwear stuffed in her mouth. But unlike the others, she wasn’t alone.

The moment I realized that fact, I lowered my gaze a little. Over that, the mating sounds of the crushed girl echoed vulgarly.

“Heuik…! heueuik…!”

“Euk… eu…”

“Heuheuk… heuk… heueu…”

“Oo… ahu…”

The screams of the crushed girl. And the sighs of the heavy-set man. The thudding sounds of their skin slapping together echoed heavily. As time passed, their sweat mingled and stuck together, making the sounds even thicker.

I had lowered my gaze because I didn’t want to see that sight, but the remnants of the act were laid bare. Whenever the naked man’s waist pressed down heavily on the girl’s pure white buttocks, her flushed thighs would quiver and helplessly spew fluids, which then flowed down her calves to create a bruised shadow on the floor. It seemed a fair amount of time had already passed, as a puddle had formed on the floor.

The other girls watching that sight also flinched their buttocks in unison every time the man vigorously swung his hips. In a way, it was natural. That would be their future, after all. Having realized that fact, their instincts were wetting their bodies with fluids to make it easier to accept the man.

Even I instinctively flinched my thighs as I listened to the thudding sounds. The instincts of a female stirred in my unknowingly shriveled lower body. Shame and fear slipped out of my mind and flowed out as damp sweat.

While everyone’s gaze was directed at the scene of mating, only Erika was looking at us. Even as she trembled like the other girls, she looked at Roselia with a sliver of hope. She seemed to be under the delusion that she, at least, might be saved.

Of course, a delusion was nothing more than a delusion. Soon, a slow, drawling voice crawled out from the deepest part of the dark shadows.

“What… someone’s here?”

“…”

“Smells like a woman. Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

Roselia walked carefully toward the center of it all. Then, as if trying to maintain her composure, she crossed her arms haughtily and opened her mouth.

“Hmm… It seems you’ve become the new master of the Student Council Room. Is that right?”

“It’s Roselia. What did you come here for. To get fucked?”

“Don’t say such terrible things in the morning. I’m scared, Duke.”

A slightly coquettish voice flowed out. It was the tone she used to use back in her school days when she acted cute to Erika. But the man called Duke was completely unswayed and replied with a nonchalant attitude.

“Whatever, since you’re here, suck me off a bit. Watching this is getting kinda boring for me too.”

“Then why were you just watching. Did you lose at rock-paper-scissors?”

“I told him to do it. Told him to pick the girls with nice bodies and fuck them.”

“Why? Is that your taste?”

“No. I just felt like having some milk.”

“…Huh?”

For the first time, Roselia was at a loss for words. She couldn’t smoothly continue her sentence and stupidly asked back.

“What does that mean…?”

“I said I want to drink milk. If they get pregnant, they’ll produce milk, won’t they?”

“But… you do know the world is ending in 200 days, right? No matter how fast breast milk comes in…”

“That’s exactly why we need to hurry up from now on.”

“…”

Roselia shut her mouth entirely. Then, Duke slowly rose from his seat. When his hazy shadow rose as if it would touch the ceiling, I bit my lip without realizing it. But it wasn’t because I felt intimidated by his size.

Rather, an overwhelming sense of anxiety rushed over me from seeing Roselia biting her lip just like I was.

“That… might be true. Haha… More importantly, Duke. I came because of the Supply Ship…”

“Supply Ship? What’s that?”

“You know, food is running low at the Academy, and we need various daily necessities, so the Empire agreed to send a ship.”

“Ah. I know about that. Heiter mentioned something like that.”

“You remember, right? That’s why I’m here. There’s equipment inside, so I need to go in and…”

“But do we really need that?”

“What?”

At Duke’s confident question, Roselia spoke stupidly. No, maybe the stupid one was over there. But right now, such a distinction was meaningless.

“Food isn’t running low. The warehouse is full of it.”

“But the number of people in the main building has increased. If we keep going like this, we might run out.”

“So what. We’ll survive with what we have.”

“We’re short on other necessities, too. There must be a lot of things we need?”

“I think food is all we need.”

“And… and we’re short on gloves. We’re going to need a ton of condoms, aren’t we?”

“I never use them anyway.”

“Then you could catch an STD…”

“But your lips are surprisingly thick.”

With that single remark, the flow of conversation snapped to a halt. Duke scanned Roselia up and down in the darkness before opening his mouth dryly.

“Hey, guys.”

“Huh?”

“Hand me one of those poles.”

“Wait a minute…!”

At that moment, a massive hand grabbed Roselia’s thin wrist. Even though she was only grabbed slightly, she gasped for breath as if her arm had been broken.

“Wait! Just wait a minute, Duke!”

“Move and you’ll hurt your ankle. Stay still.”

“I said wait! Huh? Stop joking around!”

“You’re the one who needs to stop moving. Hey, make some space next to Erika over there.”

Roselia screamed, laced with terror, but Duke didn’t even pretend to hear her. He just impassively took the pole and brought it toward Roselia.

“Please, Duke! I’ll… I’ll do something else for you… something else!”

“I said don’t move. Ah, should I strip off your underwear first.”

“Wait, Duke. You must have something you want, too…”

“I’m doing what I want. Shut up and spread your legs.”

“Right, milk! I can ask them to bring that on the Supply Ship, too! Milk!”

“Huh?”

Only then did the hand pulling at her underwear stop. Roselia panted heavily, yet tried her best to speak calmly.

“Right… milk. I can ask them to bring that, too. And if we think of anything else, we can request it then. Right?”

“Uh…”

“There’ll be more things you want. And aside from preserved food, there’s nothing left but tasteless stuff.”

“Now that you mention it, yeah.”

“So let me go… okay?”

“Hmm…”

A voice that sounded like he was pondering it was heard. But that time was certainly not long. Duke immediately tossed the pole away and released his grip.

“I guess so. Then hurry up and go do that. Roselia.”

“Ah… yeah.”

“When you’re done, let me know what you talked about. Got it?”

“Got it. Thank you, Duke.”

Roselia offered her thanks as she pulled up her half-removed underwear. Her back was turned so it wasn’t clearly visible, but her face was undoubtedly burning red with shame.

Even so, she still walked toward the back room with a confident stride. She had been cursing inwardly the whole time, but I couldn’t help but admire this aspect of her. For the first time, I thought it was a good idea to have followed her.

Of course, the premonition that the road ahead would be arduous also crossed my mind simultaneously.

“…”

I quietly swallowed a sigh and followed behind Roselia. Roselia’s men, who had been standing still out of fear until now, also belatedly moved. With every step I took, my breath unknowingly grew shorter.

Was it because of the tension? I kept breathing in too much, causing me to dry heave. As I barely managed to walk step by step, the door to the room Roselia had entered came into view. Wanting to get inside quickly, my hand immediately reached for the doorknob.

“Hold on.”

But then, that massive hand from earlier grabbed my shoulder. I couldn’t even muster the courage to turn my head and flinched my shoulder. Over that, Duke’s ruthless voice flowed out.

“You don’t need to go in too, do you?”