I Became a M*rderer in the Academy

In the deep of night, a mercenary group was having a party at the Red Moon Inn.

Their business in the Central City had been smoother than expected, allowing them to rake in some serious cha-ching.

Since they were about to leave the Central Empire for the next town, they thought they should enjoy themselves before the rough journey ahead.

Who knows when the chance will come again? A good rest helps boost morale, after all.

Beorn, the head of the mercenary group, smiled and asked the newbie sitting next to him.

“Not bad. What kind of drink is this?”

“Ah, that’s beer.”

“You stupid idiot! That’s not what I asked!”

“Ugh!”

Looks like the newbie was still lacking in situational awareness. The guy next to him smacked the newbie on the head.

Beorn’s expression remained unfazed. With a relaxed smile as if it was nothing, he glanced at his subordinates.

“Heh, it’s my fault for not training the newbie properly! Let me take a shot at answering!”

“Alright then. Go ahead.”

“This is the victory drink that reflects our hard work in the Central City!”

“Oh, a victory drink.”

Beorn swirled the golden liquid in the wooden cup.

The answer from the seasoned one was, indeed, a bit different. Seeming satisfied with this answer, he raised his cup high.

Clearly, he was signaling a toast.

“That makes sense. After all, we’re celebrating our achievements in the Central City. Right?”

“Absolutely!”

As he lifted his cup, everyone there slowly raised theirs in unison.

With a thud, many wooden cups clinked together. After a brief toast, Beorn downed the drink to the last drop.

A bold way to drink, befitting the leader of a mercenary group.

“Ahh!”

He set the cup down and wiped his mouth. With slightly tipsy eyes, he looked over everyone gathered.

He seemed half-relaxed, but still bore a sharp gaze. Was there something he found displeasing? He was definitely smiling, but it looked a bit off.

“Speaking of which, I see some empty seats. Is something going on?”

“It seems some mercenaries, including Edwin, brought women to their rooms.”

“Women?”

Beorn’s expression changed in an instant. He seemed to be running some serious calculations in his head.

And then…

“Should we call them in for a special training session?”

“No, that’s fine.”

Having finished his mental calculations, Beorn waved his hand with a sly smile.

“Talis. We’re leaving the Central City tomorrow morning, right?”

“Yes.”

“Grab all those women brought into their rooms and sell them off at the slave market.”

*

I had a dream.

Or maybe it was reality.

That day, I had killed an innocent person and ate them. The reason for killing? There wasn’t one. I was just hungry.

Just like they didn’t want to die, I wanted to live. In truth, I didn’t really want to kill anyone. It’s something I can’t admit to anyone.

In the dream, I wandered through back alleys stained with blood. Blood spilled from the people I had killed, screaming.

My reflection shimmered faintly in a puddle made of blood.

A white monster with blood on its lips.

Yesterday, I had mimicked someone’s voice to lure in a human.

Ravaged by extreme hunger, I sang about someone’s weaknesses.

This voice, they couldn’t possibly ignore. This appearance wouldn’t let them walk away.

I showed those approaching the back alleys only their most painful memories. My reflection in the dream mirrored that.

The white monster lured a human deep into the back alley, and the entranced human stepped deeper into the darkness.

I grabbed someone walking deeper into the back alley.

“Going that way will get you killed. The person ahead isn’t someone you know.”

But they shook off my hand and walked beyond. Perhaps they already knew deep down. Trying hard to deny it.

Maybe they wanted to meet that person from their memories, even if it meant death.

And what happened next was what I expected.

The white monster brutally killed the man who approached.

That was all I remembered from the dream.

I woke up feeling the cold floor beneath me.

Wait a minute, cold floor?

“……”

An unfamiliar ceiling.

I wasn’t in a place with a warm ceiling or soft blankets.

It was much darker and damp.

The cold stone floor sent chills through my bare skin. Given the utter silence, it must be underground? I decided to glance around.

“Um… Boss. Is this really okay? What if we get chased by the Knights Order…?”

“It’s fine, buddy. As long as we don’t get caught, everything’s legal. What are they going to do if they do catch us? We’ll be out of the Central City before the sun rises.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. We need to pull off a big score before we leave. The Knights are too busy investigating the recent disappearances in the alleys. It’s the perfect timing to stir things up.”

The place was damp and slightly unpleasant. The mossy stone walls and the iron bars imprisoning me stood out.

Not much I could do, so I listened closely to the voices from outside.

“So, what did you feed that girl that she didn’t even know she was carried here? The one with the white hair.”

“Huh? I didn’t feed her anything, she was just sleeping. On a bed.”

“Sleeping on a bed? Ha! Crazy woman we got here.”

Hmm.

That doesn’t sound like me.

Regardless, I had a rough idea of what was going on. Looks like I was kidnapped while sleeping in the room I took from someone last night.

Peering through the iron bars, I saw many others tied up besides me. Some had slave tattoos.

‘A slave market, huh?’

A pretty reasonable deduction. If I were abducted for monetary gain, this would be the only place that made sense.

Feeling the bindings on my hands and feet, I started to sit up.

In the prison I was in, there were others sprawled out, tied just like me. I seemed to be the only one conscious among them; they had probably been drugged or something.

Turning my head a bit further, I locked eyes with a man. He didn’t have a bald head; just an unfamiliar face.

“What’s up? You awake? You probably would have been better off sleeping a bit longer.”

“……”

“You know you’ve been kidnapped, right?”

I nodded.

If you wake up in an unknown place with your hands and feet bound, I think anyone would figure it out.

“What the heck. You’re pretty chill for being kidnapped.”

“……?”

“Hey. Are you ignoring me?”

I really had no idea what reaction he wanted. Should I act scared? I wasn’t good at acting, so I didn’t bother to.

I looked up and studied his face. He seemed really displeased about something, his expression all scrunched up.

“Guess you still don’t get it. You’re going to be sold at a slave auction from now on. Got it?”

He pulled out a dagger from his waist and pointed it toward my face. He probably didn’t actually want to stab me; that would ruin my value as a product.

So he didn’t look very threatening. After all, I wouldn’t die from being stabbed with a knife.

But I figured I should react somehow; otherwise, it might bruise his ego, so I decided to indulge him.

“I’m scared.”

I heard that regular humans get frightened when a knife is held to their face. The guy in front of me probably expected such a reaction from me.

To add a touch of realism, I began to tremble my body slightly. They say normal frightened humans shake.

Shake shake.

Not wanting to raise any unnecessary suspicion, I shook even more vigorously.

But was that really the right approach? The mercenary guy’s face turned beet red.

“You little bastard! This isn’t the time for jokes—”

“Hey, cut it out.”

In the end, the furious guy nearly swung his knife at me but was stopped by someone who seemed to be his superior.

“Do you even know how much a girl just twenty can go for? What do you think the boss will say if he finds out?”

“Damn girl.”

The scrawny dude sheathed his knife, cursing under his breath.

So they weren’t going to stab me after all. If he had, I’d have thought about killing him. The cleaning up would be bothersome; escaping with everyone here wouldn’t be hard anyway.

I was glad it didn’t go that way. Blood stains don’t wash out easily, especially on a white uniform.

So I didn’t particularly want to kill anyone.

“You, you bastard. We’ll meet again.”

“……”

As the scrawny dude walked away, he continued to threaten me.

I shook my body again, pretending to be scared, as a response to his threat.

Of course, he wasn’t really intimidating, but I found his reactions amusing.

Seeing his big reaction from such simple movements, I couldn’t stop myself.

“That bastard to the end… Sigh, whatever.”

He turned around to come back, but then ultimately decided against it. He probably wanted to avoid pointless emotional conflict.

After the scrawny guy left, only his superior remained in the room.

With a sharp expression, he had been watching me in silence, which was getting boring.

As the heavy silence loomed, I started thinking about getting out of here.

‘With just a bit of force, I could probably break free.’

I glanced at the bindings on my hands and feet. I had to think of how to free myself and escape.

I applied a little pressure to my bound hands.

CRACK!

And the bindings snapped.

Wow, that broke easier than I thought!

With a loud bang, the chains gave way, and the expression on the man’s face who had been watching me changed.

“You, wh-what are you?!”

He had been overly serious, which was a bore, but now he looked quite entertaining with his shocked expression.

I swiftly broke free from the bindings on my feet and stood up.

He had his eyes locked on mine.

“Adrian.”

I called out his name.

From the look on his face, he seemed keen to ask how I knew his name.

Of course, I had no intention of telling him. After all, he wouldn’t remember today.

“Poor guy, lost your lover two years ago. Looks like you still haven’t moved on.”

“Wha- how do you know that…?”

I bent the iron bars of the underground prison with my hands and slipped out. Adrian took a shuffling step back, startled by my actions.

I approached him, but he was too busy trying to flee, hardly keeping up with me.

“What the—! My body won’t move!”

Thus, I had no choice but to restrain him.

I was trying to let him go easily, but he made it difficult by trying to run away.

I slowly approached the bound Adrian. With every step, his face lit up with fear.

This might actually be more fun than I thought.

“AAAH! Don’t come any closer!!”

Adrian, unable to handle the terror, shook up and down.

His panic seemed far more natural than my earlier trembling. Was this really what seasoned acting looked like?

As I reached Adrian, I caressed his cheek, holding his face so our eyes met.

“You’re quite lucky. I’m not hungry today.”

As my gaze locked onto his, the tension gradually drained from his body.

I had shown him an illusion. Soon, he would forget about me completely.

I gently closed his eyes with my hands. He would probably be dreaming sweet dreams.

What kind of conversation would he have with his deceased lover in his dreams?

I was a little curious, but I had no plans to snoop into someone else’s private life.

Turning away without a second thought, Adrian collapsed helplessly in place.

“Then, sweet dreams.”

I wondered when he’d open his eyes again.

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