TPA 15

Chapter 15

The Night of Numbness (2)

“You were alive after all.”

Libido, the black panther, silently looked at his creator.

On the face that had been colder than ice, Libido clearly saw a fleeting trace of warmth pass for just a moment.

The eleven apostles, including Libido, felt an awkward unease at Lena’s expression and held their breath.

“It’s not time yet. Leave him alone.”

“But he killed Epicureal.”

The Third Apostle, Leonhardt the lion, spoke, and the other apostles nodded in agreement.

“So what if he died because he was weak?”

“But, Mother—”

“He’s strong. He’s my greatest masterpiece and the ultimate completed work. He’s on a completely different level from you.”

Lena’s words were undeniably an insult to the eleven apostles gathered there. Yet none of them dared to respond.

Lena was their creator and their mother. To go against her will was itself betrayal—and death.

“Libido, you might be an exception.”

Among the twelve chosen apostles, ranks existed according to strength and degree of completion.

The now-dead Epicureal had been the weakest, ranked twelfth among the Twelve Apostles, while Libido, the black panther praised by Lena, was ranked first—effectively their leader.

“But you still must not touch him yet.”

“Why is that?”

At Libido’s question, Lena smiled kindly as she replied,

“Because it’s not time yet.”

She wasn’t a fool. Whenever she forbade something, there was always a reason.

Libido knew she wouldn’t explain that reason to him. But it didn’t matter. Her personal attention wasn’t that important to him.

The other apostles might be furious about Epicureal’s death, but at least he wasn’t.

Because, just as Lena said, he died because he was weak.

Dying because you’re weak is only natural.

Isn’t it the same in the hunts of beastmen? Humans are pushed down by overwhelming power and become prey. The weak are eaten; the strong do the eating.

“Instead, keep an eye on his surroundings. This matter is important, so I want you, Libido, to handle it entirely.”

“I will do so.”

In truth, even if Lena hadn’t assigned him this task, Libido would have stepped in on his own.

Not out of loyalty to her.

That woman… she knew Epicureal’s vital point exactly.

It was because he had taken an interest in the small human woman who accompanied the silver wolf.

And that scent.

It definitely wasn’t the scent of an ordinary human. Compared to other human women, it was far more alluring—far more delicious.

A strangely captivating fragrance. That meant it was irresistibly attractive.

Her looks clearly weren’t his type, yet she kept catching his attention. That alone convinced him there was something different about her.

Perhaps that woman might be able to soothe the emptiness that had persistently tormented him—his numbness.

A neat smile formed at the corner of his lips.

“Then I’ll be going.”

It had been a very long time.

A woman had piqued his interest.

Desire, long dormant, began to boil.

The desire to strip her piece by piece.

Ul stared at the pile of empty liquor bottles stacked on the table.

Back when she was human, she seemed to live with alcohol constantly at her lips. In her reckless youth, she’d been filled with dissatisfaction toward the world, and to endure life on those rotten streets, staying sober had been impossible.

“Hah! Daaamn it! What did I even do wrong, huh? Huh? Tell me!”

Already drunk beyond saving, her face flushed red, veins bulging on her forehead, she hurled curses at an imaginary opponent.

Sniffling and sobbing with tears and snot streaming down her face, she began shoveling down the food Ul had made.

“It’s good! This is so good!”

Just moments ago she was bawling her eyes out, and now she was grinning foolishly as she swept the food into her mouth.

Clicking his tongue at the sight of her endlessly stuffing herself as if she had a motor in her mouth, Ul went into the kitchen and brought out more of the remaining food.

“Either cry, or laugh, or eat, or shut up—pick one.”

“Hehe, I’m a wanderer. Thanks, white puppy.”

Snap.

At the unbearable insult of being called a puppy, Ul scowled deeply at her, then soon sighed and picked up his glass.

Getting angry at someone this drunk was pointless.

It would only tire him out.

“White dog.”

“You’ll die.”

“Hey! Don’t say scary things like that!”

“……”

“White dog.”

Ul ignored Misa’s needling and turned his head away.

“White dog.”

“……”

“White dog.”

“……”

“White dog, can’t you hear me? Don’t tell me you’re deaf? Huh? Is that it? We need to go to the hospital! Get a shot—”

Drunk and swaying, Misa hurried over with a panicked expression and suddenly grabbed Ul’s hand.

Ul flinched and looked up at her.

“White dog, if you’re sick we need to go to the hospital! Come on, I’ll take you!”

“The one who needs the hospital isn’t me. It’s you.”

“Me? I’m totally fine!”

She was completely gone.

If he’d known she’d be this troublesome, he would’ve stopped her earlier.

But what was the point of regretting it now? The water was already spilled; there was no undoing it.

Ul let out a low sigh and pushed Misa’s face away by the forehead as she leaned in close.

“Still, it’s nice having you around, white dog.”

“……”

“Drinking alone is actually kind of lonely.”

Smiling faintly, Misa sat down, resting her chin on her hand, her eyes half-lidded.

“When I come home, it’s always so quiet. I hate that feeling, so I end up wandering around outside for no reason.”

Unlike the hectic daytime filled with work, the stillness of night always brought loneliness and emptiness.

Ul knew that well.

He had lived alone in the forest for countless years, avoiding contact with others.

There was probably a dark side hidden behind her cheerful exterior—like how she was now.

It was new to him. He’d thought she was just a thoughtless, reckless human, but her pitiful smile overlapped with his own past self.

They say a person’s true self comes out when they drink. Was this her real self?

Ul quietly poured water into a cup and pushed it toward her.

“That’s enough drinking for today. Go to sleep.”

“Tch… I’m not even working tomorrow, so who cares.”

“Think about your stomach.”

Misa blinked blankly, then gulped down the water he handed her.

“I wanna drink more! On a day like this, I should just get drunk and die—”

Before she could finish her sentence, bang!

She slammed her forehead onto the table and went completely still.

She really hit it hard.

After checking that the table wasn’t cracked, Ul lifted her up.

Her wrist felt alarmingly thin in his hand—like it would snap with just a little force. As he wondered why she was so small and frail—

“I said I wanna drink more!”

She squirmed like a spoiled child.

The unexpected struggle threw off his balance, and as he fell backward, her light, small body landed squarely on top of him.

The light weight, the warmth, the soft touch—every nerve in his body went on edge.

Their noses were almost touching, their gazes locked.

Less than three centimeters separated their breaths.

Time seemed to stop as they froze like statues.

The breath and scent brushing against his nose were so sweet it made his head spin.

Why?

He’d smelled her countless times already, and it had never been anything more than the ordinary scent of a human.

How could that same scent suddenly feel this intoxicatingly sweet?

Ul stared blankly at Misa straddling him. Her half-lidded eyes blinked a few times, then slowly closed completely.

“Sleeping at a time like this—how carefree.”

Letting out a dry chuckle, he got up and scooped her into his arms.

A strange smile formed on his lips as he looked at her face, deeply asleep without so much as a twitch.

“You’re a real handful in every way.”

And without hesitation, he headed for the bedroom.

It wasn’t until the sun was high in the sky that Misa finally woke up.

Blinking blankly with a completely wrecked appearance, she grabbed her throbbing head and sat up.

“Ugh… my head.”

It felt like it was going to split open.

Maybe it was because she’d forced herself to drink so much alcohol she couldn’t even handle—her stomach churned, and there wasn’t a single place on her body that didn’t ache.

After struggling to her feet, the first place she went was the mirror.

And there she saw herself—so grotesque she wondered if she even looked human.

Staring at her face plastered with drool and eye gunk, Misa steadied herself—then froze.

“What the hell.”

What is this shitty memory?

She couldn’t recall much from last night, yet one scene flashed vividly through her mind.

Their bodies, so close their lips almost touched.

“What the hell is this crap? What even happened…?”

No way. It couldn’t be.

Surely she didn’t get drunk out of her mind and do something obscene and indecent and—

A wave of dread washed over her, her hands trembling.

She started laughing awkwardly at her reflection.

“No way. That can’t be.”

No matter how much she denied it, the image only grew clearer, and her anxiety spiked.

No way. No way!

Chewing her nails nervously, she dashed out of the room.

In the living room, she saw Ul eating kibble and reading the newspaper.

Ul glanced indifferently at her face as she burst in, then turned away as if he’d seen something he shouldn’t have.

“Good morning.”

“It’s afternoon.”

“Haha… nothing unusual happened last night, right?”

“Oh, a lot happened.”

“…W-what happened?”

“Someone made a huge mess all night long, so I couldn’t sleep cleaning up after them.”

“Haha… that someone isn’t me, is it…?”

“Who else would it be? There’s only you and me here.”

Right. Just me and you. And it obviously wasn’t you causing trouble.

Misa grabbed her hair and screamed internally.

“I was really drunk last night, wasn’t I…?”

“Your drunken antics were something else. You completely lost all dignity.”

“Ha… I’m terrible with alcohol. When something really pisses me off, I drink until I black out…”

She usually drank alone at home, so she had no idea how bad her behavior got when she lost control.

That was why she was so anxious.

If she was going to black out, she wished she’d blacked out completely—why did only that one scene stick in her memory?

“…Nothing happened last night, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You and me… I mean, nothing weird happened, right?”

After a brief pause, he suddenly smirked.

“You were pretty aggressive. I was surprised.”

“…What?”

“Trying to pounce on me using alcohol as an excuse.”

“P-pounce on—what?”

“You clung on like a leech and wouldn’t let go.”

“….”

“So you were pretending to be innocent while harboring dirty thoughts inside?”

Her face went pale, and Misa waved her hands frantically.

“T-that can’t be true!”

“Then how do you explain last night?”

“I-I don’t know! I don’t remember anything!”

“No way. You must remember something to be asking questions like that.”

“…Ugh.”

Her face burned red as she squirmed in embarrassment.

Watching her impassively, Ul turned back to his newspaper.

“Scared, huh.”

“Damn it! You were joking again? You scared me!”

“You did pounce on me, though.”

“…Ah—uh.”

“I had a hard time suppressing your reckless desires.”

In truth, she’d passed out instantly, but seeing her so distressed, Ul felt like teasing her more.

“It wasn’t easy. I’m a healthy male, after all.”

“Wait, not male—man… Don’t tell me we—did we go all the way?”

Had they really crossed the line?

Ul stared at her teary-eyed face for a long moment, then coldly looked away.

“No.”

“What? So you lied?”

“You did pounce on me, but you passed out immediately. Sadly, there wasn’t even time for anything to happen.”

“Why is that ‘sad’—no, seriously? Nothing really happened?”

“Wish it had? If you want, I’m fine with now, too.”

What is this crazy white-dog bastard saying?

Misa recoiled in disgust.

“I refuse. Absolutely.”

“Same here.”

He looked her up and down.

A twisted chuckle escaped his lips.

“I have eyes, you know.”

“What? W-what’s wrong with me?”

“I’m not interested in kids who still smell of milk.”

“What? Milk smell? I’m not a kid! Calling a blossoming, sensual 25-year-old a kid?”

“Sensual?”

Gulp.

“Looks like you’re still drunk.”

“Oh please! You’re the one who crawled in here because you liked me!”

“Watch your words. I didn’t come because I liked you—I had no choice.”

“Same difference. You’re the one who clung on like a leech and begged to stay after threatening someone who said no.”

“That’s because I need you.”

Misa snorted and turned away.

“And when you were begging me to marry you?”

“Marriage is the best form of restraint.”

“I’m going to find my man and tear up this damn contract.”

“Dream on. Looking at you now, that’s impossible.”

“What?”

“What man would crawl into this pigsty?”

“….”

“And there aren’t many men who’d kindly overlook drool and eye gunk all over your face.”

At Ul’s words, Misa hurriedly scrubbed her face with her arms.

“When you’re in love, even eye gunk looks cute! Only someone who loves even my eye gunk can be my true man!”

“Oh, sure.”

Annoying.

How could someone be so irritating? Rude and arrogant—was that his default setting?

Grumbling, Misa washed her face in the bathroom, then went straight to her room to get ready to go out.

It was her day off, and she didn’t have close friends, so she technically had nowhere to go.

Still, she decided to head out because they were running low on Ul’s kibble, she needed medicine to settle her stomach after all that drinking, and most of all, being alone with Ul right now was painfully awkward.

Why did I do something that stupid… you idiot. Absolute idiot!

If only she couldn’t remember at all—why did that scene of all things stick so vividly?

She couldn’t even lift her head from embarrassment.

“Where are you going?”

“Where else? To find my man. What’s the point of staying home on my day off?”

Her words came out sharp from embarrassment and spite.

“He’s right here. What are you looking for?”

“Listen, I have zero intention of living my entire life pitifully shackled to you!”

Yes. Absolutely not.

“Just wait. I’ll bring back the man who’ll break this contract.”

“Bring kibble while you’re at it. We’re out.”

I know!

Grinding her teeth at his carefree response, Misa stormed out of the house.

After she left, Ul lowered the newspaper he’d been holding and glanced toward the door she’d gone through.

After staring for a long while, his brow twitched subtly.

The lingering scent she’d left behind last night bothered him.

Groaning as if deep in thought, he finally stood up.