The reader appeared in my hand. Though it was the second summoning, it stuck to my hand as if it were something I’d used for a long time. I did remember using such a device before possession. The familiarity probably originated from there.
“Frankenstein Lizard…”
The novel with a familiar name was currently the only novel I could read with Glutton.
Frankenstein. One of the masterpieces where an experimental subject goes to kill the doctor who is the creator. However, seeing that “lizard” is attached at the end, it probably doesn’t refer to that novel. What kind of content could it be?
Perhaps because of anticipation for the new novel, the negative emotions that had been stirring my heart until just now seemed to settle. However, as I began reading the novel, my calmed heart churned again.
[The lizard was taken in by the hands of humans that his tribe hated. The enormous heat that seemed to set his body on fire robbed him of his will. It was heat for growth, but the timing wasn’t good.]
“…This.”
[The human who picked him up was quite different from the humans he knew. For the first time in his life, the lizard experienced something called warmth. It wasn’t physical warmth. Nor was it body temperature that he could have because he was human. The first warmth was unfamiliar and a kind he couldn’t understand.]
[“But what’s your name?”
The lizard didn’t want to tell him his name. He said bluntly.
“…I have no name to tell humans.”
The human who picked him up, Jack, smiled playfully and said.]
[“Then I’ll call you Belly.”
It was clearly a name given because he was a tiny lizard when picked up. It was like naming a cat “Kitty.” Though it was a name close to a derogatory term for him, the lizard, Belly, liked that name.]
The food I was holding dropped with a thud. The novel I’d opened without much thought was listing completely unexpected content. The protagonist of the novel was Belly, who wasn’t in this room now!
Why is the content of this novel about Belly? With a flustered heart, I ended the use of Glutton for now. The reader in my hand disappeared like dust.
“First… first, right. Let’s wash.”
The food I dropped from my hand fell on my thigh and my pants got dirty. I thought it would be good to just take a bath at this point. I should enter hot water and organize my thoughts.
I gathered clothes to change into and headed to the communal bathhouse. I locked only one lock. Since Belly was gone too, there was no need to lock the door firmly.
* * *
There were a few more people besides me in the communal bathhouse. Since I didn’t have anyone close enough to scrub backs with, I simply showered and then blankly soaked my body in the bath. It was refreshingly cool as if my bones and muscles were melting. Looking at the steam in the air, I naturally fell into contemplation.
What on earth is Glutton? Why did Belly’s story appear?
Glutton appears in the form of a reader. A reader is a tool for reading E-books. Who reads E-books? Readers read them. …My skill might have appeared because I’m a reader of this world.
Thinking that way, it would be the same for Belly’s story appearing in Glutton. Belly is the first main character of this world that I properly recognized. Glutton synchronized to me, the user. Then, if I recognize another character, will a new story appear?
“Then if I meet another main character, will a new novel appear?”
My muttering voice echoed in the bathhouse with a hum. The surrounding gazes that seemed to see a strange person turned toward me and soon disappeared. I should fix this muttering habit too. Since no one says anything, it’s hard to fix.
After washing my body cleanly and dressing, I came outside. Perhaps because my body was fresh and my thoughts were organized to some extent, my mood improved.
I should go back and eat food while finishing reading the novel. Earlier, I was startled even though it wasn’t something to be surprised about and stopped reading the novel midway. The volume didn’t seem to be much, so I should read it quickly.
But there was someone who interfered with me humming and returning with an excited heart.
“…”
It was Carl who blocked my way without saying anything. After nodding as a greeting, I tried to go to my room, but Carl blocked my way several times, interfering with my steps. Seeing how persistent he was, it was certain he had some business.
I sighed inwardly and smiled at Carl.
“What’s the matter?”
Carl tenaciously scrutinized my face. It was an action as if he thought I was hiding something.
When I looked up at him questioningly, cracks appeared in his smile. His strangely distorted lips seemed to represent his twisted mood. But why so suddenly?
“Why?”
“…”
Carl didn’t open his mouth easily. I wanted to escape from this incomprehensible standoff situation. In this time, I wanted to quickly return and see the novel.
“If you have no business, can I go back?”
Carl looked at me smiling with a disgusted face. What on earth is the problem? Did I smile strangely? Or did I do something? No matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to mind.
Carl looked at bewildered me with eyes as if looking at the world’s trash. It was an explicit gaze unlike Carl. I even felt a bit wronged. I really don’t remember doing anything…
A situation where I couldn’t know the reason why he was acting like this. But I didn’t particularly want to know either. We weren’t even originally close, so what would it matter what emotions Carl held toward me? What was important to me now was the novel about Belly.
As I tilted my head and tried to hasten my steps further, Carl’s low voice came from behind my back.
“I guess that wasn’t very important either?”
That? What on earth is he talking about? With a puzzled face, I turned around and looked at Carl. My blank face seemed to provoke irritation in him, and Carl shouted in an angry voice.
“The thing that was stolen!”
The thing that was stolen? Is he saying a thief entered my room now?
But I didn’t have any valuable items. As for money, the money left after buying books was deposited in the bank, and I didn’t have any limited edition books either. Moreover, if Carl saw a thief enter my room, there’s something he should do before snapping at me like this.
“Did a thief enter my room?”
“Ha…”
“If you saw it, you should have at least reported it.”
Unless he’s the culprit himself, there’s no reason not to report it. Well, since nothing was stolen anyway, it doesn’t matter.
Ignoring Carl’s gaze looking at me as if dumbfounded, I returned to my room. Until I turned the corner of the hallway, Carl’s sharp gaze clung persistently.
Was he that kind of guy? Carl’s transformation, who always acted like a good person and had an atmosphere like a kind model student, drew my interest. But even so, it was only a moment’s interest. I had a more important routine now.
I entered the room almost running and activated Glutton to start reading the novel.
<Frankenstein Lizard> was quite interesting. It was so fun that I even forgot to eat food in the middle. Glutton described Belly’s story that I couldn’t see directly as it was.
[Belly was absorbed in the stimulating popular novel he was reading for the first time in his life. In the village where he lived, paper couldn’t be used for such interest-oriented novels. He was helplessly swept away by the tidal wave of intense emotions that weren’t allowed to him.]
“If I knew he’d like books this much, I should have kept some instead of selling them used…”
[Among them, he particularly read <The Lily of Enchantment> diligently.]
The fact that he diligently read the book I liked somehow made me feel good. If he liked it that much, he should have at least talked with me before leaving. The image of Belly quietly listening to the stories I was telling appeared before my eyes.
Regrettably, the volume of the novel wasn’t much, and my reading speed was fast, so I’d already read more than half. And finally, the description of today when Belly disappeared appeared.
[The end of peaceful days arrived before his eyes faster than expected. His body was restrained by black hands. He was carried in a sack to the box of pleasure. It was a den of humans full of aspects he detested.]
At the unexpected content, I erased my smile and read quickly.
[In the underground of the casino where hundreds and thousands of gold coins exchanged hands at once, there was an auction house. All kinds of rare things were traded there, and beastmen were also precious trading targets. Belly, who was sold by the breath of a little devil, was scheduled to be sold at the highest price on the night the full moon rose.]
Full moon. Though the sky outside the window hadn’t darkened yet, I knew what the moon would look like today. Today was the turn for a crescent moon to rise. According to calculations, there was still a period of over ten days.
Suppressing my anxious heart, I read the letters as if glaring.
[In the underground where not even light entered, he was placed together with all kinds of expensive things. Belly was given minimal food. Because it would be troublesome if he regained energy and attempted escape.
What allowed him to endure in such a harsh situation was eating the shed skin from his growth. Without it, he would have long since fallen into a vegetative state from lack of stamina.
With growth finished, the heat that made Belly’s body boil subsided. The urgent fire was somehow put out. Regardless of Belly’s condition, humans were delighted at the beastman after a long time, baring their yellow teeth. The eyes looking at Belly were filled only with low-quality greed.
He curled up his body in the iron cage cold enough to freeze his body and muttered.
“…Traitor.”
It was words directed at the man who had picked him up.]
“Wait! Wait, wait!”
It wasn’t me, Belly!
