Parasites had laid eggs inside my body.

A cockroach that had burrowed into my ear rubbed its antennae against my eardrum, and a roundworm that had invaded my stomach writhed throughout my entire body. Then, some unidentifiable bug crawled across my skin, trampling all over me. Especially around my lips and chest.

That was the only way I could think about it. Otherwise, there was no explaining why this irritation wouldn’t fade no matter how fiercely I scrubbed my body.

After returning from the Student Council Room, I sprinted straight to the bathroom. Roselia left behind a single word telling me to rest. I didn’t know where she went. I didn’t have the luxury to care right now.

Only after an hour had passed did I put my clothes back on and lie down on the bed. A musty stench rose from the haphazardly arranged sheets. Lying in a place like this would surely invite nightmares.

It wasn’t just my imagination, either. Even now, I was living a nightmare with my eyes wide open. No matter how I looked at it, there was no better word to describe today.

My mood was already at its absolute worst. But today was still far from over.

And this kind of thing probably wouldn’t end with just today, either.

Of course, I knew full well that my life would turn into a nightmare the moment the world collapsed. That was why I hadn’t expected some rosy future when I decided to follow Roselia.

But I thought it would at least be better than my current situation. Roselia acted as though she stood at the center of the Academy’s power. Because it was her—of all people—saying it, I had no choice but to believe her, and the men accompanying her served as proof, so I trusted her blindly. I expected to be treated differently than the Academy’s cheap bitches, at the very least.

And the truth I faced today flatly denied that assumption. The highest value in the Academy now was simple, brute force. A virtue neither Roselia nor I could ever possess. It was sheer barbarism—one we hadn’t even tried to cultivate.

Until that barbaric talent struck my cheek today, I had still thought I had some worth in this world. I believed the knowledge I had accumulated and the prestige I had built would protect me. That belief shattered like broken glass today.

No, perhaps it had crumbled last night. When the magic I cast right before the strangers’ eyes was futilely blocked, and I realized a glass bottle picked up from the floor was far more effective. In that moment, years of accumulated magical knowledge betrayed me bitterly.

And fuck it, anyway. I barely ever actually used combat magic in the first place. Who would learn something like that in this day and age? Only idiots asking to become butchers themselves would learn that. Only those stupid, pathetic morons…

…

If this was how things were going to be.

If this was how things were going to be, it might have been better to follow one of those stupid, pathetic morons.

The thought suddenly crossed my mind.

But the moment I thought of it, I scoffed involuntarily. I wonder. Would it really have been? Staying with a guy who clings to me like a stalker just because we’ve known each other for a while wouldn’t have changed anything.

Right. A stalker. I kept him around because he was useful to boss around, but whenever he looked my way like a dog in heat at the Academy, it genuinely made me sick to my stomach. Did he seriously think he could actually date me?

A pathetic loser who had no one else to talk to but me.

Even if I had followed a bastard like him, I would’ve just ended up raped by him or gang-raped by the other invading morons.

Yeah, that would definitely have been the case.

Perhaps to deny the unappealing options, I spewed an excessive amount of profanity. A baseless wave of disgust washed over me.

“Excuse me, Lena?”

Just then, a familiar man’s voice came from outside. It was one of the guys following Roselia. The man, whose name I didn’t even know, hesitated and knocked once more.

“Lena? I brought your food. Can I come in?”

“Don’t bother opening the door. Just leave it there. I’ll eat it myself.”

“Ah… okay.”

Food, huh. I guess Roselia is still looking out for me. But I felt nothing beyond that. There was no way I’d be so clueless as to get hungry at a time like this. I callously pushed away the favor, whose intent was vague at best.

After expending those emotions, all that washed over me was heavy fatigue and drowsiness. Wanting to sleep after experiencing stress was the physiology of an adult, not a baby.

“Haa…”

I let out a deep sigh and buried my face in the pillow. My nose was now numb, so that damp, musty smell barely registered. My eyes drooped without even a yawn; it felt like I would fall asleep at any moment.

“Pfft…”

A sudden laugh escaped me. Hoping for things after experiencing all that in such a short span of time wasn’t much different from the wish I had made that morning. Then and now, there was only one thing I truly wanted.

To just fall asleep like this and stay asleep until the next day.

And that Roselia wouldn’t force me awake tomorrow.

Holding onto that trivial hope, I slipped into the promised nightmare.

“…Lena.”

“…”

“Lena.”

“…”

“Lena!”

The hope I held yesterday shattered in the light of today. The usual fatigue weighed down my eyes, and my head throbbed with lingering drowsiness. A day had passed, yet nothing had changed for me.

After what happened that morning, I literally slept the entire day away yesterday. Roselia came in the evening and said things like how that guy outside the door would take care of my meals from now on, and that she would come herself if anything happened, but I quickly forgot and fell back asleep. Repeating the cycle of sleeping, eating, sleeping, waking up to cry for a while, and sleeping again, the day just ended.

And yet, I was still so incredibly sleepy. Maybe I just wanted to sleep forever like this. Back when there was no hope of survival, I had genuinely harbored that desire. That was why, right before Roselia came to find me, I had even searched the Annex for a rope to hang myself with.

Anyway, Roselia had come to wake me up yet again. That clear, ringing voice of hers kept pounding at my ears.

“Lena. I’m coming in.”

“…Ah.”

Unlike yesterday, she stepped inside hastily. Looking at me buried in the blankets, she dropped a remark that sounded like a nag.

“I knew you’d still be asleep.”

“…”

“Get up quickly. I have something to tell you.”

“Didn’t I say yesterday that there was no need to go together?”

“That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do at all. Hurry up and get up, Lena.”

Why do people keep ordering me around?

At that familiar tone, the spot where I was hit yesterday flushed with a stinging heat. It felt as if that merciless handprint was still lingering. In her tendency to ignore the other person’s will and force her own, she resembled him.

The only thing I could do against people like that was timid resistance. I deliberately dawdled, sluggishly pushing the blankets aside and getting up.

But as I faced Roselia, my blurry vision instantly sharpened.

“Roselia…?”

“Are you up? Good. We don’t have time, so get dressed first.”

“Why are you sweating so much?”

“Huh?”

A bead of sweat rolled down through the hair clinging to her cheeks. As if she hadn’t even realized she was sweating, she stared at the droplet hanging from her chin with wide eyes. Then, swallowing hard, she replied.

“I had to hurry a bit. More importantly, get ready to go out, Lena.”

“Ready to go out? But yesterday you said…”

“It’s not like that, so just get dressed quickly!”

“What on earth is going on…”

“Haa… shit…”

As I kept dragging my feet, she finally threw off her mask of sweetness. She irritably peeled the clinging hair off her face and grabbed my arm.

“Didn’t you hear me say we need to hurry? Put your clothes on.”

“Ah… alright, I got it. But you have to explain what’s going on.”

“…We need to find Lope right now. Hurry.”

“What?”

I stopped dressing obediently at those words. My expression stiffened involuntarily, and a chill crept into my voice.

“Why on earth? And why do I have to do that?”

“Because we need him. And because you need it too. Can’t you just take my word for it and go?”

“No. I’m not going until I’m convinced. I don’t know why you’re suddenly rushing me when you told me to find him within three days, and I don’t understand why you keep obsessing over a guy like him. And most importantly, I don’t need to go looking for him alone this early in the morning. I don’t want to risk my life in an environment like this.”

“You…”

Roselia frowned as if she had a lot to say. But I didn’t budge this time either. Someone might call it pointless pride, but I couldn’t just let her keep ignoring me like this.

In the end, it was Roselia who lost her nerve first. Even as she made an annoyed expression at me for the first time, she struggled to answer calmly.

“Fine, Lena. First of all, it’s not morning right now, it’s late afternoon. I left you as promised and went to make contact, and there I decided that you needed to go find Lope.”

“So what’s the reason?”

“You don’t need to know that. And most importantly, you staying here is far more dangerous than going to find Lope alone. Are you satisfied? I rushed all the way here for your sake, so stop being so annoying and listen to me. Please!”

She finally shouted, exploding at the last moment. Then she roughly shoved my back, my clothes still haphazardly thrown on.

“If you get it, then go. Just go.”

“I understand, but I’m not convinced. Why on earth Lope…”

“You still don’t get it, Lena! It’s true we need Lope, but what’s really important is that you have to be the one to go find him!”

“What does that mean? I…”

“Stop arguing and just…!”

“Roselia!”

Just then, a new voice interrupted. I raised my head and saw Baron leaning against the doorway, panting for breath. He was also drenched in sweat just like Roselia.

“R-Right now, over there…”

“He’s coming? That’s why I said we need to hurry!”

“He’s… coming?”

“We don’t have time to explain every little detail…!”

“Ah.”

Just as Roselia was about to really heat up, Baron looked back and let out a gasp. Beyond his bulky mass, a heavy set of footsteps began to echo.

It was a sound I had never heard before, yet it was inexplicably familiar. But that déjà vu was far from welcome; instead, it only amplified my anxiety. Even so, the footsteps kept approaching.

Soon, a massive hand clamped down on Baron’s shoulder. The hand casually shoved Baron aside and stepped inside. Then, a slow voice spilled out.

“What’s this.”

“…”

“I knew you’d be in a place like this.”

“Fuck…”

Someone muttered a curse in a low voice. I thought it was Roselia, but it turned out to be me. Only then did I realize why Roselia had been trying to rush me so desperately.

But it was already too late. Yesterday’s wounds flared up once more, and a burning heat spread through my lower body. All a frail victim could do in the presence of their abuser was ruminate on the nightmare and build up a tolerance.

The shadow that had walked up finally bowed its head. Duke’s face was revealed in front of Roselia, who looked unusually small. He made eye contact with each person in the room one by one, then smirked and spoke.

“Why did you lie, Roselia? You said you went to find that guy, Lope.”

“I didn’t lie. I just…”

“And why didn’t you come today, Lena? I told you to come. But when I asked Roselia, she just made some lame excuses. Did you ignore me?”

“I… I…”

“I don’t know why you keep pointlessly resisting.”

Before I could even spit out an excuse, he slung an arm over my shoulder. The crushing weight was so heavy it felt like my shoulder would snap.

“Anyway, I guess you really were talking about Lope. I wanted to see his face anyway. Never had the chance when Heiter was around.”

“…”

“Well, whatever. You didn’t go find him in the end, Lena.”

Duke looked at my expression, then subtly dropped his hand and tapped my chest over my clothes. The nightmare I hadn’t even dreamed of last night was about to unfold before my eyes. He savored the scent of terror scattered in the air and asked nonchalantly.

“I guess you just wanted to play with me some more?”