Chapter 41: “Meat sacks.” 

“Where is Lady Floria?”  

Valery, who had already sensed Rita’s presence, pointed toward the rocky hill behind the valley.  

“She wasn’t looking well, so she went to get some fresh air.”  

It was an honest answer, but it surprised Rita slightly. 

The Valery she knew was an inflexible, rigid man. 

For someone like him to show consideration for Floria, who was supposed to be keeping watch, was unexpected.  

Just how unwell did she look?  

This thought made Rita start to worry about Floria. 

Though Floria herself remained tight-lipped and didn’t show it outwardly, it was clear to Rita that she had been struggling ever since absorbing the mana stone from Baal.  

Could it be…?  

For ordinary beings, suddenly taking in mana beyond their limits often overwhelmed their bodies, causing them to break down. 

Of course, Rita, being a natural-born mage, had never experienced such a thing.  

If she’s struggling to adapt, she might have to forcibly expel the mana.  

Mana that the body couldn’t handle was no different from poison.  

Rita hurriedly began to track Floria’s trail.

She headed toward the back of the valley as Valery had indicated, but there was no sign of anyone. 

Doubting herself, she ventured deeper until she found herself in a forest. 

The dim woods, obscured by the rocky hill, stretched out before her as she walked further.  

This area is within the barrier, so it should be safe, but just how far did she go?  

As Rita began to grow suspicious of Floria’s whereabouts, she suddenly froze. 

A faint, peculiar smell of food wafted through the air. 

It wasn’t the aroma of cooking but rather the scent of something being consumed.  

This spice smell… could it be jerky?  

Rita, momentarily flustered by the familiar scent, couldn’t comprehend why the smell of jerky would be emanating from the middle of a forest. 

As she stood there, frowning in confusion, the sound of rustling grass came from nearby.  

It can’t be a beast… could it be a person?  

The wild animals in this area had long been eradicated, and with the barrier in place, it couldn’t be a monster. 

It had to be a person—likely someone from their group.  

“Floria?”  

As she walked closer, she spotted lime-green hair under the faint moonlight, peeking out from the grass. 

Confirming it was Floria, Rita felt a wave of relief. 

However, when Floria turned her head, her face was filled with despair.  

“Lady Rita…”  

Floria, slumped on the ground, trembled as she spoke, her expression distorted.  

“Floria? Are you really unwell? Tell me what’s wrong—”  

Rita’s eyes widened as she rushed toward her in concern. 

Between Floria’s slender, pale fingers was a piece of jerky, riddled with bite marks.  

Rita froze on the spot.  

A Child of the Forest, who adhered to a vegetarian lifestyle—why would she be holding jerky? 

It was a situation Rita’s mind couldn’t process.  

“Lady Rita… something’s wrong with me.”  

As Rita stood in stunned silence, Floria began to sob softly.  

“I keep… feeling hungry.”  

“Floria…?”  

“I keep craving… meat…”  

Tears suddenly streamed down Floria’s face.  

The moment Rita met her guilt-ridden eyes, her thoughts came to a halt.  

“No way.”  

Rita’s mind flashed to Baal, who had been obsessed with gluttony.  

***

A Child of the Forest craving meat?  

Even without deep knowledge of their history, this was undoubtedly unprecedented and unthinkable given their beliefs. 

There was only one thing that could explain this change.  

The mana stone from Baal.  

Floria had mentioned feeling strange after absorbing the mana stone.  

After calming Floria down, Rita thought deeply. 

In her memories, Baal was a creature consumed by gluttony. 

In this life, it had been eradicated before its breeding phase, so its traits had been less apparent.  

Gluttony.  

Baal was a being that hoarded human corpses in its lair, eating until its belly was bloated.

Thinking of this trait, Floria’s change seemed somewhat connected.  

Could the mana stone be influenced by the traits of its source? 

And thus affect those who absorb it…?  

That was the conclusion she reached.  

But if that were true, Rita herself should have experienced some change as well.  

Rita frowned.  

…I don’t know.  

Unless it was a significant change, one might not notice their own transformation. 

No matter how much she thought, nothing came to mind, and she grew frustrated. 

Then, a sudden thought crossed her mind.  

If I had to pick something, maybe it’s the petty desires I’ve been feeling lately. 

But isn’t that a normal change? 

Anyone in a higher position would naturally have such trivial ambitions…  

Unable to be certain, Rita pondered with a troubled expression.  

For now, resolving Floria’s issue was the priority. 

Turning to Floria, who had stopped crying, she whispered,  

“For now, let’s keep this between us.”  

“…What if Lord Eilin notices?”  

“Even if he does, Lord Eilin would likely stay silent until you’re ready to tell him yourself. Don’t worry.”  

Floria nodded with a gloomy expression.  

Rita looked at her with pity. 

Floria had lived her entire life as a proud Child of the Forest. 

This change, which betrayed her people’s beliefs, must feel utterly loathsome and humiliating to her.  

It’s unfortunate, but there’s probably no way to fix this. 

Not unless she loses all her mana or dies.  

Floria, who wielded mana, seemed to vaguely sense this as well, remaining silent.  

Rita sat beside her for a long time, offering silent companionship.  

After the events of that night, Rita secretly gave Floria her share of jerky. 

Since everyone carried their own rations in separate bags, it was possible to do so discreetly.  

It’d be too harsh to tell her to just endure it…  

Floria had said she would try to suppress her urges, but Rita, recalling Baal’s instincts, shook her head. 

Forcing oneself to suppress such instincts could lead to side effects.  

Fortunately, after eating plenty of jerky, Floria’s complexion improved significantly.  

“Grand Mage, have you always liked dried fruit?”  

During an early lunch, Eugène’s sudden question made Rita’s lips twitch.  

The overly perceptive Eugène had noticed her eating habits and commented on them.  

“It’s my way of managing rations.”  

Rita brushed it off casually. 

Having told a few white lies recently, she had grown somewhat accustomed to it.  

Thankfully, Eugène didn’t press further.  

“If we’re done filling our stomachs, let’s move. I’d like to at least confirm the nesting grounds today.”  

Having encountered only a few monsters all morning, Valery, growing bored and impatient, urged the group to move.  

To this, Eugène added a thoughtless remark.  

“It’s the sweet break time after a tough hike, and our elder is rushing us.”  

This sparked Valery’s irritation, and the noisy search resumed with their usual bickering.  

“We’ve seen some lizards, but the problem is they’re all juveniles.”  

By the afternoon, they had encountered five monsters, all lizard-like, as Loen noted, but all were juveniles.  

If they had at least found eggs, they could confirm the nesting grounds and temporarily return to base. 

But with only vague juveniles attacking, Valery was starting to get irritated.  

“Even so, we’ve already passed the expected area. Given the swarms of insects near the camp, it doesn’t make sense that this area only has juveniles,” 

Blena muttered, finding it strange.  

Just then, Felix, who was ahead, waved his hand.  

It was a signal that he’d found something. 

Everyone rushed over. 

It was a deep pit, but the problem was what filled it.  

“It’s full of shed skins.”  

“It’s like a garbage dump.”  

“This must be near the nesting grounds.”  

“Let’s check the surroundings—”  

Valery, Mikael, Sercia.  

Felix’s voice trailed off last.  

Suddenly, a loud bird cry echoed, and the forest and ground began to shake violently, as if an earthquake had struck. 

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.  

“What—what is that?”  

As Eugène, panicking, looked around, a thick darkness suddenly covered the sky above.  

It wasn’t a clear day, but it was definitely daytime with clouds, so Eugène was bewildered.  

But the real problem was the aura that followed.  

“Ugh…!”  

The overwhelming, piercing mana made the supreme-rank mages’ eyes sharpen instantly, while those below supreme rank briefly clutched their chests in pain.  

“It’s that thing.”  

Eilin, who had once faced it and been humiliated, muttered in displeasure.  

Satan.  

Rita, certain it was nearby, looked up at the sky.  

As expected, the darkness covering the sky was a shadow cast by Satan’s wings.  

Eugène, realizing this belatedly, gaped at the creature’s form.  

“Is that… a dragon?”  

Black hexagonal scales, a lizard-like body, and bat-like wings.  

To anyone familiar with legends of dragons, it was an understandable mistake.  

Rita scoffed. 

If such a high-level being truly existed, it would be furious.  

“We’re supposed to catch that? Now?”  

Eugène, who had only ever fought creatures around two meters tall, asked in disbelief. 

He had come to earn merit, not to die.  

“If you’re so scared, why not run away? I don’t want to fight alongside a coward either,” 

Valery, who had been eyeing Eugène, sneered.

But the situation wasn’t calm enough for them to bicker. 

Sercia cut the conversation short with a furrowed brow.

“For now, it seems like that winged lizard is the only thing we see…”

Before Felix could finish, Satan, hovering in the air, suddenly flipped its body.

The moment its broad back came into view, black objects began raining down from it like a storm.

“What the hell!”

The objects falling from its back were monsters.

From juveniles to adults, a diverse group of lizard-like creatures poured down, surrounding Rita’s group like a fence.

Completely isolated with the pit behind them, the group was dumbfounded.

As they were about to raise their voices,

KIEEEK!

Satan, flipping its body again, descended and folded its flapping wings.

Then, miraculously, its bulging body began to slim down. 

Satan’s form gradually transformed into a human shape.

Its short, thick limbs became slender arms and legs, and its blunt snout receded into a refined human face.

“What the…”

“A human?”

The black hexagonal scales covering its skin had only slightly faded, but the body itself was unmistakably human.

Now fully transformed into a perfect human form, Satan, with silver hair tinged with purple, smiled seductively, fluttering its long tail that extended below its hips.

If not for the blood-red eyes, long fangs, and that tail, one could almost mistake it for a strikingly handsome man.

Everyone was speechless at the absurd transformation.

“Did I really just see that?” 

Eugène muttered, rubbing his eyes as if in a dream.

Having seen this humanization in her past life, Rita was relatively calm.

[Origin: Iskis]  

[Name: Satan]  

[Rank: Adult, First-Class]  

[Attribute: Fire]

The information was the same.

Its weak point was the tail. 

Though it had grown faster and reached a higher stage than in her past life, its behavior seemed unchanged on the surface.

Rita focused on Satan’s expression as it licked its lips with a purple tongue.

As expected…

“Humans.”

Rita narrowed her eyes.

Satan raised its right hand, pointing at the group with its index finger. 

But the voice that came from its mouth was what mattered.

“Meat sacks.”

Its voice was low and raspy but clear.

Satan sneered unpleasantly, degrading Rita’s group as “meat sacks.”