NOVPUBShe’s not going to let me go!
But even so, I can’t just sit here and do nothing!
I shook my arms violently, twisting my body as I struggled, shouting her name with all the force I could muster.
“Kan Tsukiyo! Let go of me!”
“I don’t wanna~”
“Kan Tsukiyo! Kan! Tsukiyo! Let go of me!”
I wasn’t begging for mercy, nor was I losing my mind and screaming out of desperation.
I was calling her name over and over again because I was hoping it would work like it did last time in the cemetery. Just like when I commanded that zombie, Simon Ko, to obey me. If it worked on him, maybe it would work on her too.
But this time, it wasn’t that simple.
After I shouted her name, she didn’t let go. Instead, she just paused, her eyes going blank for half a second before snapping back into focus. She looked at me with renewed interest, a curious smile playing on her lips.
“Huh? Your voice actually had that much of an effect on me? How is your mental power so strong?”
Damn it. All I did was make her more interested in me!
This ghoul wasn’t simple. Was there really no way out of this?
Calm down. Think.
Since she seemed so intrigued by me, maybe I could use that to start a conversation.
“Is my mental power really that strong? Why don’t I feel anything different?”
“Hehe, well, it’s not that useful, really. At most, it just means you can withstand more pain than the average person, stay focused for longer periods, maintain your sense of self more easily, and wake up from unconsciousness faster,” she said, twirling a lock of her blood-soaked hair.
I see. That did sound pretty ordinary.
Now that she mentioned it, I did sleep unusually well lately, with no dreams at all. And during class, I didn’t feel drowsy anymore. That must’ve been because Lily split her mental power with me.
“And it also means your ‘words’ carry more weight. Like just now.”
Kan Tsukiyo finally released her tight grip on my waist and instead grabbed my hand, tilting her head as she smiled sweetly.
“Let’s go sit on that bench over there and talk, okay? Standing here is such a pain. I have to keep looking up at you, and it’s making my neck sore~”
“...Alright, let’s go... ugh!”
What the hell did I just say?
I didn’t even think before agreeing to her request. What the hell was that? Did her words just... control me?
Was this what she meant by the “weight” of words? Did she just give me a live demonstration of how a person with strong mental power could influence others?
Her soft, delicate hand held mine as she led me toward the bench. She wasn’t gripping me too tightly, but I didn’t dare pull away.
Besides, even if I did manage to shake her off, she’d catch me in seconds. She’d just crossed twenty meters in the blink of an eye to grab me. What chance did I have of escaping?
For now... I had to go along with her.
When we got close to the bench, Kan Tsukiyo released my hand and leaped onto it with a single hop, patting the empty space beside her as she grinned at me.
I hesitated for a moment, my brows furrowing, but in the end, I walked over and sat down beside her.
The stench of blood was overwhelming. It was the metallic, rusty scent of wet iron pipes, a smell that made my stomach churn.
I felt sick. My gut twisted, and my throat tightened as I struggled to keep myself from vomiting.
That pool of blood and the scattered chunks of flesh and viscera were still lying beside the vending machine. It was an absolutely revolting sight.
My legs wobbled as I approached the bench. My shoe squished into a puddle of blood, and the unpleasantly soft sensation made my skin crawl.
I quickly rubbed my shoe against the dry ground, but that only made it worse.
“Oh, sorry about that,” Kan Tsukiyo said casually, swinging her legs back and forth as she lay sprawled across the bench, her head resting on my lap. “You’re a human, after all. Seeing the parts I didn’t finish eating must be pretty gross. But hey, at least you didn’t puke right ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) away. That means your mental power really is strong~”
“Is that so...”
I muttered, forcing myself to sit down, even as my insides continued to roil.
Kan Tsukiyo immediately snuggled closer, lying flat against my thighs as she kicked her legs lazily.
“Normally, only old monks who’ve meditated for decades, or extremely devout priests, or natural-born leaders would have mental power this strong,” she said, gazing up at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “You, though? Just an ordinary guy? You must’ve had some kind of lucky encounter, huh~?”
“If my mental power is so strong, why didn’t you obey me when I called your name? Isn’t Kan Tsukiyo your true name?”
It couldn’t be. The name under her title had to be her real name. That was a rule that couldn’t be broken.
Kan Tsukiyo flipped over, her head still resting on my lap as she stared up at me, her dark eyes glinting.
“Oh? You know about ‘true names’ too? Ahhh, I get it. You were trying to use my true name to control me, huh?”
She took my right hand and pressed it against her small chest, her smile turning wicked as she rubbed her cheek against my palm.
“Too bad, too bad. I’m a ghoul, you know? We don’t have things like ‘true names.’ Think about it. Even if I did, why would I go around using it in everyday life? You can shout ‘Kan Tsukiyo’ all you want, but it’s not going to work~”
She didn’t know about my ability to see true names. I’d only called her Kan Tsukiyo because that was the name displayed above her head. But if she said she didn’t have another name, then I had to take her word for it.
Kan Tsukiyo continued playing with my hand, running her fingers over every ridge and crevice, tracing the lines of my palm like she was studying a map. Then, out of nowhere, she leaned forward and licked my wrist.
Not just a quick lick.
She stuck out her tongue like a lizard and pressed it flat against my skin, trailing it along the veins of my wrist before sucking my middle finger into her mouth.
She frowned suddenly, her brow furrowing deeply.
“Mmm... someone else’s scent... Someone tasted you before I did... I thought I was the first...”
She muttered, her small nose twitching as she sniffed me like a bloodhound. Then, looking thoroughly annoyed, she switched to my index finger, slipping it into her mouth and sucking on it.
Cold sweat dripped down my back.
Was she... tasting me in advance?
And she could even tell that someone had already bitten my middle finger?
That was... what, yesterday? No, the day before yesterday. And I’d washed my hands at least eight or nine times since then.
Yet she could still detect it.
Just how freakishly powerful was her sense of taste...?
Who would’ve thought that in just two days, I’d experience the sensation of a beautiful girl sucking on my fingers twice? At this rate, are all my fingers going to go through this one by one?
Sure, the feeling of her tongue on my skin was... well, incredible. But that didn’t do a damn thing to ease the fear clawing at my insides.
Because the one sucking on my finger right now was a ghoul.
A ghoul who could easily bite off my finger without a second thought.
Please, please, could you at least switch to another finger? I’m right-handed, and losing my right index finger would seriously mess up my life...
And who’s to say one finger would be enough to satisfy her appetite?
Maybe I could offer her a toe instead? I mean, toes aren’t that important, right? If I fed her a toe, maybe she’d let me keep the rest of my body intact...
Wait, what the hell am I thinking? Offering a girl my toe to eat? That’s disgusting. Even if she’s a ghoul, that’s still...
Fortunately, after ‘sampling’ my finger for a while, Kan Tsukiyo finally pulled it out of her mouth, reluctantly.
She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and continued,
“Among the four major categories of supernatural beings—Demons, Monsters, Ghosts, and Ghouls—only the first two have ‘true names.’ And even then, only high-ranking demons or monsters have true names. It’s a mark of identity, you know? Ordinary run-of-the-mill monsters or lesser demons don’t have anything like that.”
Four categories of supernatural beings... they all really exist?
“And we ghouls,” Kan Tsukiyo said, her expression oddly solemn, “we’re from the Underworld. Our names aren’t recorded in the Book of Life and Death. We’re the ‘Forgotten Ones,’ so we don’t have ‘true names.’ In other words, it doesn’t matter what we’re called. I go by Kan Tsukiyo because that was the name my first friend gave me when I first arrived in the mortal realm in Japan.”
“...”
So, the Underworld is real... Does that mean ox-headed and horse-faced demons, black-and-white guardians, the Ten Kings of Hell—they all exist too?
No. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. The Underworld she’s talking about might be completely different from the legends.
At the very least, the ghoul in front of me looked nothing like the ghouls from folklore.
“Anyway,” she said, twirling a strand of her dark hair, “since your mental power is so strong, you can probably command some weaker ghosts just by calling their names. But me? Hehe, I’m not that easy. Among ghouls, I’m pretty old and experienced, you know?”
...If anything, she looked just like a human. A stunningly beautiful human.
In the moonlight, her long black hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall of ink. Her alabaster skin was smooth like jade, her crimson eyes glimmered like rubies, and her slender waist curved enticingly beneath her slightly exposed belly. Those legs would look amazing in thigh-high socks.
Wait... she’s still naked.
“Um... could you put some clothes on?” I asked, feeling my cheeks heat up.
“Aww, don’t look at me like that~ You’re making me blush~”
If you were really that shy, you wouldn’t have thrown off the raincoat in front of me!
Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling more than a little helpless. After a moment of deliberation, I pulled off my jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
Kan Tsukiyo blinked, clearly surprised, but then a wide smile spread across her face. She pulled the jacket tighter around herself and said,
“Hehe~ How sweet of you! I’ll borrow it for now, okay? There’ll be ‘staff’ coming to clean up the scene soon, and they’ll bring me some clothes. I’ll return your jacket then.”
“Staff?”
“Yep! This is all just part of my job, you know? Basically, I’m just here to help people dispose of bodies. You get it, right? After all, the safest place to hide a body is in my stomach~”
“...”
Dispose of bodies, huh...?
I suppose, if you think about it, eating the evidence would be the most effective way to cover up a murder.
Even if she didn’t eat everything, leaving some organs behind wouldn’t be a big deal. You can’t identify a corpse just from intestines, after all.
In the end, it would just become another unsolved case. The killer would get off scot-free.
Wait... does that mean...
“So, you didn’t kill that person? You weren’t eating him just because you wanted to?”
Kan Tsukiyo puffed out her cheeks in an exaggerated pout, looking genuinely annoyed.
“Of course not! That guy tasted awful! If it weren’t for the ‘job fee,’ I wouldn’t have touched him. People who’ve been possessed taste terrible, you know?”
...Possessed?
So, she didn’t kill him. But what did she mean by ‘possessed’?
There was something much bigger going on here...
“And yeah,” she continued, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back, “I don’t even like eating people. Humans aren’t that tasty, you know? Not as good as Michelin desserts, anyway. Sure, most of my kind love eating humans to get stronger, but I’m done with that.”
Kan Tsukiyo closed her eyes, as if lost in thought. When she opened them again, her expression had darkened.
“I’m already... strong enough,” she said softly.
The more people a ghoul consumes, the stronger they become. That was how the legends went. But hearing it from her...
Just how many people had she eaten...?
As if trying to shake off a bad memory, Kan Tsukiyo shook her head rapidly and then plastered a cheerful smile back on her face.
“Hehe, you should feel lucky you met me,” she said, giggling as she poked my cheek with a cold finger. “If it had been any other ghoul, you’d be dead by now~”
So, what she was really saying was...
“You’re not going to eat me?” I asked, eyes wide.
“Of course not~ I never intended to eat you in the first place. We’re classmates, remember? Why would I eat you?”
“Then why the hell did you—”
“Hehe~ I was just messing with you~ April Fool’s joke~! You totally fell for it! Pffft... Your reaction was priceless~”
“...”
Oh, for the love of... 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
You do realize April Fool’s Day is over, right?!
Can you people stop playing these terrifying jokes?!
None of this is funny! Not one bit!
