I had no expectations at all when it came to taste.
And I’d already decided I was willing to use a slightly dirty method.
Besides, the crocodile-headed monster I’d eaten last time had been something I’d wolfed down while driven to the brink of starvation.
Objectively speaking, there was no way I’d properly tasted it.
And for some reason... this one looked especially unappetizing.
Still, what else could I do?
I had to eat.
Close my eyes and force it down somehow.
That was what I’d decided.
At least, that was how I felt before I cut off its leg and started crunching through it.
“...What is this taste?”
Maybe it was because the blood was yellow.
Chewing on skin coated in blood felt like dipping meat in curry.
And the quality of the flesh itself was springy and plump, with a nice chew to it.
Every bite made juices burst out in all directions, and the blood splattering everywhere filled my nose with its scent.
At the same time, my mouth was painted over with satisfaction, joy, and delight.
Tear, tear, and tear again.
With sharp teeth, I sliced, cut, and shredded the chunks of meat all around me, then used my tongue to pull them into my mouth, savor them, and swallow them down.
As the meat inside disappeared at a rapid pace, I tore my way upward little by little toward the parts that still had flesh left.
Tear, tear, chew, swallow.
Ah, delicious.
My starving desire was being satisfied, and my stomach was filling up.
What came with it was the creature’s desperate screams, writhing in pain only now beginning to set in.
“Uhhh... uhohuhuhuh...!”
Yes.
Yes.
Wail louder.
Yelp.
Yelp as much as you want!
Wail in despair.
There’s nothing you can do anyway.
You’re just my “food” now.
Give up.
Lost in that feast, before I knew it all the flesh attached to the lower half of its body was gone.
Unlike the crocodile monster from before, its muscles were weak, so I was able to eat everything.
...No, not everything.
Before enjoying the main dish still left in the upper body, I crunched through the remaining leg bones.
That whetted my appetite once more.
Then, crushing the ribs from the bottom up, I finally moved into the upper body.
Ah, just as I thought.
There’s food everywhere!
I could feel the thing outside desperately attacking its own body, determined to crush me along with it.
...If that had hit, I would’ve died.
I flinched, but it didn’t take long to realize it was pointless.
Its belly fat was so thick that its own attacks couldn’t properly reach the inside.
That was great for me, since I got to enjoy the feast one-sidedly.
Really, I was lucky.
A full banquet with no one to interfere!
So I tore into it even more leisurely and unhurriedly.
Maybe because the pain was dragging on longer and slower, its thrashing only grew more frantic.
But.
So what?
The “food” laid out on the table and being eaten couldn’t do anything now, no matter how much it struggled.
So I kept eating.
And eating.
And eating some more.
Then, at last.
After swallowing its intestines, stomach, liver, gallbladder, and everything else.
After tearing out its heart, chewing it, and crushing its spine.
After blasting my way out through its back, emerging from inside its body, and ripping its head off to chew and swallow it whole.
There was one thing I realized, drenched in warm blood.
So that was it.
The reason I’d found the crocodile monster so delicious wasn’t just because I’d been hungry.
Monsters were just that tasty!
...That was the kind of realization it was.
Yes.
This was it.
The way to avoid attacking humans out of hunger.
As much as I felt like killing humans.
I could just eat these things instead.
Killing monsters didn’t make me feel sick at all.
So, tear, smash, crush...
And anyway...
[Daily Quest: Eat one monster within 24 hours (1/1)]
There was even a nasty daily quest like this.
As I finished my meal and stood up to head outside, I realized one more thing.
“...How am I supposed to wash this off?”
My whole body was covered in filth from yesterday and today.
Blood, flesh, bone fragments, brain matter...
It felt unpleasantly strange.
I didn’t know whether that was because I’d always been like this and was only now becoming aware of it, or because I’d gotten even more covered in it this time.
I didn’t care why. It was sticky and slimy and disgusting.
It tasted good, but it was still a problem, like someone had poured thin curry all over my body.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t considered this beforehand.
Even if I was already dirty, it was only natural that tearing my way through something’s insides would make me even dirtier.
Was there a stream or a valley nearby?
I didn’t think I’d heard a single sound of running water.
...Come to think of it, this was a convenience store.
Maybe bottled water...
“...Ah.”
Only then did the scene come into view.
...Half the convenience store had been blown away by the monster thrashing around while being eaten alive.
And the little bottled water they’d had to begin with had apparently been crushed, burst, or sent flying away too.
I hadn’t heard anything like running water on the way here either.
And if I got covered in some other drink instead of water, it would just get even stickier later.
...In the end, I chose the last option.
“...Um, hey.”
“Eek?! Y-yes?!”
“Is there a bathroom or anything nearby?”
“...N-no... um... I’m sorry...?”
So there wasn’t one.
No, well.
I see.
Yeah.
There wasn’t one.
Right.
There could be places without one.
What was there to apologize for?
It would be like a bunch of crazy monsters smashing up a convenience store and then asking where the bathroom was.
All that had happened was that my last shred of hope had been shattered to pieces.
...Deciding it was best to leave quickly, I muttered an apology and ran off.
“...Sorry.”
“Huh? Ah! Wait! There’s no bathroom, but there is a small bath in the basement!”
...I didn’t hear that.
She seemed to say something, but for some reason my instincts warned me not to go back, so I decided to keep moving.
No. Come to think of it, I didn’t really have anywhere to go.
...Still, if I wandered around long enough, I figured I’d find water eventually.
There was no way a mountain wouldn’t have a valley, even if it was a little small.
It was a bit on the small side, though.
Still, it had to be there.
If not, then even if I had to deal with meeting humans, I’d have to go down into the city...
...Yesterday’s events suddenly came back to me.
I’d gone into the mountain making such a fuss because I didn’t want to see humans, and now I was going back down after just one day...
...
......
...There is water to wash with, right?
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