Chapter 6
What were the chances that the Named monster inside, currently devouring a human, hadn’t noticed the two people standing outside?
Zero.
What were the chances that two ordinary people with no special abilities could escape a monster, call for reinforcements, and survive?
Also zero.
And what were the chances that she could skip the aptitude test, forcibly awaken her Od immediatelyāregardless of the side effects or rejection her body might sufferāand then, as a Magi-Gunslinger, defeat a Named monster barehanded without even having a gun?
That depends on what kind of monster it is… but it isn’t zero.
It took Rita exactly three seconds to reach that conclusion.
She decided to force an awakening of her Od and fight.
If this body has no aptitude for Od, I could go into convulsions and die. Or maybe this really is another world, and awakening isn’t even possible…
Even so, she had to try.
There was no other chance of survival.
Cold sweat instantly drenched her entire body.
Damn it. They said there weren’t any monsters in this world!
Just as she cursed Leonhardt inwardly and prepared to awaken her Odā
“Miss? What’s wrong? Is there a mouse or something?”
Hannah suddenly leaned past her from behind and peeked into the dressing room.
“…!”
If this had been the body of the battle-hardened Rita Pascal, she never would have let a civilian slip past her.
But Lilietta’s frail body was weaker even than Hannah’s, whose strength came from years of working as a maid.
In other words, before Rita could reactā
Hannah had already stepped into the dressing room.
“It doesn’t look like there’s anything in here…”
“Don’t!”
Rita shouted urgently.
“The smell! Can’t you smell it?! Get back! Get away!”
“The smell?”
The maid, whom Rita had expected to be torn apart by a monster at any moment, calmly poked her head back out of the dressing room and held up a small pouch.
“Do you mean this smell?”
A strong, sharp fragrance drifted from the tiny sachet.
The exact scent of a Named monster digesting human flesh.
…What is that?
For a moment, Rita couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing.
As she stood there frozen, Hannah opened the pouch and showed her the dried leaves inside.
“It’s patchouli. We hang these sachets in the dressing room because they’re supposed to repel insects.”
“…Patchouli?”
Rita blinked blankly.
“A scented sachet? Not… a monster?”
“Huh? What’s a monster?”
“…”
Without lowering her guard, Rita cautiously approached Hannah.
She took the pouch and carefully searched its contents.
Inside the pretty embroidered bag were nothing but dried leaves.
The moment she picked one up and smelled it, a chill instinctively ran down her spine.
Every nerve in her body screamed for her to draw a gun she wasn’t even carrying.
Suppressing every instinct warning her of imminent danger, she forced herself to think.
Is this… really a patchouli leaf?
Even in her own world, people called this scent patchouli.
The plant existed there as well.
No one ever used it, though.
It smelled far too much like the odor released when a Named monster devoured people, bringing back horrific memories.
This really is another world. They’re putting this horrifying smell into perfume sachets…
Touching the leaves only with her fingertips, Rita carefully placed them back into the pouch before handing it back to Hannah the same way.
The smell made her feel as though she were reaching into a monster’s stomach.
She couldn’t bear to touch it.
Too many gruesome memories resurfaced.
With difficulty, she spoke.
“…Please get rid of it.
Somewhere far away.
Where I can’t smell it.”
Looking bewildered, Hannah accepted the pouch.
“Miss… do you dislike this scent?”
“Yes.
I hate it.
I never want to smell it again.”
“But it’s a rare and popular fragrance…”
She sounded genuinely disappointed.
“We hang them in dressing rooms to keep insects away, and lately it’s fashionable for clothes to absorb the scent. Wait a momentāthere are more inside.”
“…There are more?”
“Well, this is House Laskail. We can afford to hang lots of them. Patchouli has to be imported from distant lands, so it’s not easy to obtain. It’s such a shame you don’t like it.”
Sighing softly, Hannah disappeared into the dressing room.
Moments later she emerged carrying several identical sachets.
The patchouli scent immediately grew much stronger.
Strong enough that even an ordinary person would find it overpowering.
“…!”
Rita couldn’t calm herself.
The smell is too strong…
Is she really human?
What if she’s actually a monster disguised as one?
No… this is another world. There are no monsters here… right?
Right…?
Out of habit, she tried to sense her surroundings with Od.
Nothing happened.
Her Od didn’t move.
It didn’t respond at all.
She wasn’t awakened.
She had no way of telling whether the figure before her was human…
…or a monster.
It felt like being an ant whose antennae had been torn off.
Like a hunting dog that had lost its sense of smell.
Like a blind person with open eyes.
She couldn’t identify what stood before her.
She felt as though she were losing her mind.
What if this civilian… isn’t human at all?
What if she’s actually a Named monster pretending to be one?
Blood.
Screams.
Hideous roars.
The suffocating smell of patchouli.
Cries of despair.
People fleeing.
A child’s desperate sobbing.
One of her squadmates returned after investigating beyond a wall.
Suddenlyā
That unfamiliar scent of patchouli clung to him.
A familiar face.
Someone she knew.
But he smelled like a monster.
The closer he came…
The stronger the patchouli became.
Rita already knew what happened next.
One of her friends walked toward the returning squadmate.
“Why do you smell like a monster?”
The squadmate reeking of patchouli smiled.
His mouth stretched wider.
And wider.
Until it split from ear to ear.
In a single instantā
He swallowed her friend whole.
The skin of the squadmate’s body tore apart.
The monster burst out from inside.
Codename:
Mimic.
The monster, chewing on her friend’s head like it was candy, slowly turned toward Rita.
The nauseating smell of patchouli became even stronger.
So strong it made her dizzy.
No…
“No…!”
“Aaaah! Ghhk! Please save me! I’m sorry! Pleaseā!”
“Lilietta! Stop!”
A woman’s desperate screams.
A horrified man’s voice.
Only then did Rita’s reason return.
The world filled with blood and patchouli vanished.
Instead, warm sunlight poured across the mansion hallway.
Someone grabbed her wrist with surprising strength and forced her hand away.
Only then did Rita realizeā
She had nearly snapped Hannah’s neck.
If she had possessed Rita Pascal’s original body instead of Lilietta’s frail one…
She might actually have killed her.
Damn it… Get a grip, Rita Pascal. Pull yourself together…
The smell of monsters was gone.
Gone…
No.
It wasn’t.
The monster opened its jaws.
Insideā
Her friend’s severed head rolled across its tongue.
“…Get rid of it.”
“What?”
“Get rid of that thing! Right now!”
Covering her face with both hands, Rita screamed.
“Get rid of what? What’s wrong, Rita?”
It was Leonhardt.
His voice was filled with alarm.
Hannah, still gasping for breath, hurriedly answered him.
“I-I-I think it’s the patchouli! It must be this!”
A flurry of footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Someone asking questions.
Someone on the verge of tears.
Then, at last…
The smell drifted away.
Still covering her face, Rita collapsed into a corner of the corridor.
Her shoulders rose and fell violently, as though she’d just sprinted for miles.
She clutched herself tightly, struggling to regulate her breathing.
“Rita.
Easy now.
You’re okay.”
“The monster’s gone.
We’re all safe.”
“You killed it.
You won.
So you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
The voice of one of her old comrades echoed in her memory.
“Take a deep breath.
Now let it out slowly…
Good.
That’s it.”
Following the remembered instructions, Rita slowly inhaled…
…and exhaled.
Little by little, she regained control.
As her reason returned, anger toward herself surged up.
Pressing a hand against her forehead, she gritted her teeth.
Damn it.
What a pathetic mess you’ve made of yourself, Rita Pascal.
The moment her thoughts cleared, she immediately identified the problem.
Od.
If she had been able to sense her surroundings with Od as usual, the smell alone never would have driven her into such a panic.
Every Pascal child who had spent their youth fighting on battlefields carried deep psychological scars.
Among themselves, they understood one another.
If one of them overreacted or behaved strangely, the others simply accepted it.
But among ordinary people…
Those same reactions became dangerous.
It was one of the reasons Beacon Squad consisted entirely of Pascal children.
Wiping the cold sweat from her face, Rita made up her mind.
Forget mapping the mansion.
My first priority is awakening my Od.
“Lilietta.”
She slowly looked up.
Leonhardt had returned.
His face was rigid with concern as he looked down at her.
“…Are you all right?”
He seemed ready to ask something else, but the moment he saw her pale expression, he swallowed the words.
Quickly kneeling to meet her eye level, he brushed the sweat-soaked hair away from her face.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Your face is completely pale. Tell your big brother what’s happened, all right?”
His anxious hand reached toward her.
Out of reflex, Rita tried to slap it away.
But she had no strength left.
Instead, she answered weakly,
“…Do I still have to keep pretending to be ‘Lilietta’ even in a situation like this?”
“Just ask me.”
“Ask me what kind of insane joke this is.”
