“Obtained it?”
Camilla frowned, sensing her own body; aside from weakness, a headache, and a slight sense of spiritual fatigue, she didn’t feel any obvious abnormalities or traces of being possessed.
“Didn’t you say before that you wanted my body?”
She remembered the core clause of that contract was ultimately to sacrifice her physical body to this Abyss Lord.
“Yes.”
Lilith nodded, her illusory form straddling Camilla, reaching out a finger to gently brush across Camilla’s cheek as a faint, sweet scent filled the air.
“It’s just that, it’s not right now.”
As she spoke, the mirth in her blood-red eyes deepened, her face wearing a flush that Camilla completely failed to understand.
“After all, compared to directly injecting Abyssal Mana and turning you into my servant, it’s far more interesting to let you slowly sink into desire, don’t you think? My little darling～”
She spoke words that Camilla didn’t quite understand, her figure beginning to fade gradually, like melting ink.
“Wait!”
Camilla couldn’t help but press for answers.
“What exactly did you do to me? What is going to happen to my body?”
“Hehe… don’t be in a hurry, when the time comes, you will naturally know, enjoy your ‘academy life’ well, my little darling, we… have a long time ahead of us.”
Lilith whispered into Camilla’s ear, and then her figure gradually dissipated, leaving only the red-faced Camilla who had been teased by her.
The ward returned to silence, and the sunlight remained bright, as if everything just now had been a hallucination.
Camilla lay on the hospital bed, staring at the spot where Lilith had vanished, her mind filled with question marks.
The behavioral logic and words of this Abyss Lord were simply harder to understand than a broken plot; the price had already been paid? Paid what? What exactly had been done to her body?
Sigh, riddlers, damn riddlers!
—
Just as Camilla was thinking this, familiar footsteps sounded outside the door again, the door was pushed open, and Ophelia walked in carrying a large tray; the aroma of food permeated the room, overpowering the original chilly atmosphere.
“I’m back.”
Ophelia had a soft smile on her face as she placed the tray on the cabinet beside the bed.
On it sat a bowl of golden, thick porridge that emitted an inviting grain aroma, several exquisite and light side dishes, and a glass of milk at just the right temperature.
“The Medical Room’s cook made it specifically for you, saying it’s suitable for patients who have just woken up.”
She carefully helped Camilla sit up a bit, propping a pillow behind her back, then picked up the bowl of porridge, scooped up a spoonful, blew on it carefully, and held it to Camilla’s lips.
“Come, be careful, it’s hot.”
The sweet and warm aroma wafted toward her, instantly triggering an even stronger craving in her stomach.
Camilla temporarily suppressed her full belly of doubts and unease, opened her mouth, and took the spoonful of porridge.
The mild, sweet, and sticky taste dissolved on the tip of her tongue, sliding down her esophagus with a warm feeling; the porridge was very fragrant, boiled until soft, and the temperature was just right, but as Camilla swallowed small mouthfuls, her brow unconsciously furrowed.
There was no helping it; her mouth felt incredibly bland, and aside from the slight sweetness of the grains themselves and a tiny bit of salt, she could hardly taste anything else.
She couldn’t help but look up at the side dishes on the tray—stir-fried seasonal vegetables and tenderly dressed tofu, with hardly a speck of oil to be seen.
“Sister…”
She swallowed the porridge in her mouth, her voice still carrying a bit of post-illness hoarseness as she looked expectantly at Ophelia.
“Isn’t this… a bit too light?”
“Hmm?”
Ophelia was focused on scooping the next spoonful; hearing this, she looked up, her ice-blue eyes full of natural reason.
“You have been unconscious for three days, your body is weak, and your stomach needs to adapt; the Medical Room’s nutritionist specifically instructed that it must be light at the beginning.”
“But…”
Camilla tried to struggle, her gaze flickering toward the bottom of the bedside cabinet—Rimuru was holding a small piece of mana gel fed by the Medical Room personnel, happily eating with “puji puji” sounds.
“I feel like Rimuru is eating better than I am…”
She grumbled as such.
Ophelia glanced at Rimuru following her gaze, the corner of her lips seeming to curve extremely slightly, but they quickly tightened again.
“Its situation is different from yours; perhaps because it hid in the satchel during the battle, it was hardly injured.”
She held the spoon of porridge to Camilla’s lips again, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.
“And you are a patient, so be obedient and finish these first.”
Camilla opened her mouth in resignation, but she couldn’t help but mutter in her heart; she clearly felt that aside from fatigue and a headache, her body didn’t seem that bad, especially her stomach, which was so empty she could swallow a whole cow, yet she could only gulp down these liquids.
She complained in a low voice while being fed.
“At least… give me some minced meat… or even egg drops would be fine… what’s the difference between this and drinking water…”
Whether it was an illusion or not, Camilla now craved meat intensely, almost to the point of wanting to take a bite out of her sister.
In order to get rid of the strange thoughts popping up in her mind, Camilla focused her attention on Rimuru.
The little fellow finished the gel and hopped over contentedly, rubbing against her finger in passing.
From its appearance, Rimuru indeed looked no different than before, still that round, translucent blue jelly-like form.
But through the link between them, Camilla could sense deeper changes; after devouring the Dark Chimera, it seemed to have evolved once again.
How large was the increase?
If it were assumed that Rimuru’s original stat was one hundred, then its current stat was at least two hundred and fifty, reaching a level where it didn’t need to “Resonate” with Camilla to fight a certain Dragonblood head-on without falling into a disadvantage.
It seemed the digestion went smoothly and the harvest was significant; Camilla felt slightly relieved and reached out to touch its cool, bouncy body.
“Puji?”
Seemingly sensing its master’s scrutiny, Rimuru lifted its “head,” blinked its non-existent eyes, and transmitted a confused thought of 【Master?】, then rubbed against her affectionately again.
If it were in a game, Camilla could directly open the panel to check Rimuru’s current status, but now, she had to go to a professional venue to test and confirm Rimuru’s various information.
She wondered how Ms. Victoria was doing now; compared to Korova, Camilla wanted this Eighth-tier professor, who had mastered Bond Transformation, to help her check Rimuru’s physical condition.
Because Camilla was worried that if something was actually discovered, it might trigger Korova’s unpleasant associations, but if it were Victoria… well, she was an upright teacher and would never leak a student’s secrets.
While thinking this, Camilla had finished the porridge; after watching Camilla finish half a cup of milk, Ophelia packed up the tray as the sky outside had already turned orange-red, and the twilight deepened.
“I’m leaving.”
Ophelia tucked in the corner of the quilt for Camilla, her fingers brushing past the slightly sweat-damp stray hairs on her forehead.
“Originally, I wanted to stay here to accompany you, but the doctor wouldn’t allow it… anyway, rest well and don’t overthink things; I will come back to see you tomorrow morning.”
Camilla nodded, watching her sister turn and leave the ward.
—
The room fell completely silent, leaving only the faint, subtle sounds of the academy’s repair construction coming from outside the window.
After lying down for a while and being alone in the ward, Camilla took a deep breath, placed Rimuru by the bedside, and endured the headache to circulate her mana, beginning to investigate her physical condition.
The injuries on her body had been completely healed, it was just that her body was still somewhat weak because it had carried an excessive amount of Abyssal Mana in a short period of time.
Other than that, Camilla’s body seemed to have no changes compared to before the contract, but she knew the corrosive nature of Abyssal Mana and was certain that Lilith would never leave without leaving something behind.
Sure enough, when she brushed over her flat lower abdomen, the area covered by clean bandages did not transmit any pain or abnormality, but an unpleasant sensation immediately crawled up her spine.
Camilla tore open the bandage, and a shimmering Heart-shaped Pink Mark came into view.