Infirmary.
Leaving aside whatever trouble Lilia was dealing with on her end, Su Xinran slowly woke up after an afternoon of deep sleep.
When she came to again, the intense discomfort from before had vanished.
Feeling much better, Su Xinran instinctively tried to stretch—only to be reminded she was restrained when her arms wouldn’t move.
Click.
The infirmary door opened.
Through the bed curtain, Su Xinran spotted the visitor—it was Makima.
She set a boxed meal on the table and then walked over to draw the curtain back.
“You’re awake. How are you feeling? Any better?”
Makima brushed her hair aside as she asked.
Notably, her hair had been tied into a neat ponytail, and the slightly curled tips seemed to be straightened.
She reached out and touched Su Xinran’s forehead.
“Mmm-mm…”
Su Xinran let out a muffled sound of protest, trying to indicate that her mouth was sealed—how was she supposed to answer?
“Oh! Right, right… I forgot about that.”
Makima smacked herself lightly on the forehead and removed the bamboo gag from Su Xinran’s mouth.
The end of the bamboo gag Su Xinran had been biting was pitch black, saturated with the turbid breath she’d exhaled during her infection.
“Ugh—finally, I can breathe again…”
Su Xinran worked her sore jaw back and forth.
“Feeling better now? If you’re still unwell anywhere, just say so.”
“Mm… My body feels much better now. If you’d just untie me, that would be even better.”
Su Xinran paused to assess how she was feeling, then replied.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better physically. But I still can’t let you go just yet…”
“Hm?”
Su Xinran frowned—something wasn’t right.
Makima turned, pulled her office chair over to the bedside, and took a test tube from a nearby cabinet.
“Let’s talk about this.”
Makima sat down and gently shook the test tube in her hand.
The vivid red liquid inside stood out starkly in the glass vial.
“What’s… that?”
Su Xinran asked nervously.
She didn’t know what it was, but her instincts told her nothing good would come from it.
“This?”
Makima swirled the liquid.
A teasing smile crept across her face—under the dim lighting, she looked particularly sinister.
“This… is your blood.”
That sentence hit Su Xinran like a bolt of lightning.
A shiver ran from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.
Goosebumps prickled her skin, and a cold sweat trickled down her spine.
Her legs, restrained beneath the blanket, trembled.
This wicked woman had drawn her blood while she was sleeping!
For someone like Makima—a medical professional—having her blood could mean…
“Ah… haha… so? Any issues? Do I have some infectious disease?”
Su Xinran did her best to sound calm, trying to keep things light.
But the deep-seated fear inside her leaked through.
Her voice trembled no matter how hard she tried to steady it.
“Hehe… No, nothing like that.”
“Oh… that’s good… So, then, is there a problem?”
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong. According to the results, you’re in perfect health.”
“Lucky~”
“What I want to talk about… is your blood type.”
“Oh… is it rare? Like panda blood?”
“No, no… that’s a human term. Why would you have something like that?”
Makima’s smile deepened.
It was starting to look… unhinged.
“How odd. You registered as a ‘Corpse Clan’ member on your enrollment form. So why is it… that when I tested your blood with a Corpse Clan-type card, I couldn’t get any results at all? Hm? Su. Xin. Ran. Classmate.”
Makima smiled as she deliberately pronounced each syllable of Su Xinran’s name.
“Ah… maybe your testing cards are expired? That’d be unfortunate…”
Su Xinran’s voice noticeably faltered.
“Ha?”
Makima was briefly amused by Su Xinran’s dodge, chuckling for a moment—then suddenly, her expression turned cold and deadly serious.
“Then explain this: why was it that after using every kind of magical creature blood-type test card… it wasn’t until I used a human blood-type card that I got a result—AB?”
“Maybe it was rats? Or the cards got damp? Faulty batch?”
BANG!
Before Su Xinran could finish, Makima suddenly stood and slammed her hand hard against the bedframe.
“Are you mocking me, you little shit?!”
Her furious roar echoed through the cramped infirmary.
Su Xinran flinched in terror, heart leaping into her throat.
She instinctively tried to shrink back into the bed’s corner, but the handcuffs held her in place—there was nowhere to run.
“Uuuu… Miss Makima, you’re so scary…”
Su Xinran tried to calm Makima down, but Makima suddenly leaned in and cupped Su Xinran’s face with both hands, cutting her off.
“What made me angry… is you, you little liar.”
“You… you’re actually a human, aren’t you?”
Boom.
It was like Su Xinran had just been struck by lightning on a clear day.
Her whole body went cold, chills shooting through her.
“I… I’m not…”
Su Xinran murmured in a small voice.
“You are!”
Makima suddenly raised her voice.
At that moment, the heavy sound of a bell echoed from outside—it was the school bell signaling the start of class.
“You are, you are, you are, you are, you are, you are!!!”
Makima erupted like a madwoman, repeating the words over and over in a manic chant to drown out any chance of Su Xinran denying it.
Her hands, still holding Su Xinran’s face, began to tighten their grip.
“It hurts…!”
Su Xinran’s face was hurting under Makima’s pressure, and she turned her head away, trying to escape her grasp.
“Hahaha…!”
Makima finally released her, throwing her head back in maniacal laughter.
“Haha… My hands… are touching a human—a species that’s already extinct in this world. Hahaha…!”
Like someone possessed, Makima paced the infirmary back and forth, the click-clack of her heels echoing sharply in the small room, striking at Su Xinran’s already fraying nerves.
What do I do?
What do I do?
What do I do…
The immense pressure weighed down on her.
The terrifying intensity was close to crushing Su Xinran’s psychological defenses.
Before she could even come up with a plan to escape, Makima suddenly turned around.
Her eyes were filled with a twisted madness as she looked at Su Xinran.
As if an idea had struck her, she quickly strode purposefully to the side of the bed.
Whoosh—Makima pulled the blanket off Su Xinran.
In that instant, Su Xinran felt a chill in her lower belly.
Makima was pulling up her sailor uniform, revealing her smooth, shapely waist.
The force she used was so strong that even the high-quality fabric of St. Freya Academy’s uniform let out a ripping sound as it tore at the seams.
“Miss Makima… Wh-What are you doing…”
“What am I doing? Obviously, I’m going to examine the biological structure of this supposedly extinct species—see how it compares to beings from our world!”
Makima licked her lips and pulled a scalpel from the pouch at her waist.
She first used the back of the scalpel, gently sliding it across Su Xinran’s delicate stomach.
The cold steel sent a wave of dread through Su Xinran.
She couldn’t tell from her angle whether Makima was using the back or the edge of the blade.
Fear overwhelmed her. She didn’t dare to move.
Her whole body, paralyzed by terror, went limp like a drugged kitten.
“If I remember correctly, this area corresponds to the intestines in the human anatomy encyclopedia… and this one would be the liver…”
Makima muttered to herself, giving an impromptu lesson as she continued her “examination.”
Under the suffocating pressure, a single tear formed in the corner of Su Xinran’s eye, sliding silently down her cheek…