Knowing that I'm moments away from losing my mind over my hunger for flesh, I commanded Clyde to gather some firewood and cut the wolf, if anything I don't want to feast like a wild animal, that's just unethical. I know deep down that I'm still human, I still have my sanity even though I have an unhealthy obsession with any kind of meat now.

Clyde soon gathers the firewood we need to start a fire, he then cleanly cuts the wolf into pieces with a dagger in his side belt, separating the leather, bones, and meat as if he's a professional chef. I remembered that Clyde has a skill called 『Spark』, the most basic Fire Magic that you can learn in the game. This skill has little to no offensive capability, but I personally just use it to conveniently set something on fire, including firewood to make an emergency camp in the middle of a dungeon back when I played the game. In short, utility-type magic.

The moment I tried to command Clyde to use 『Spark』to set the fire, I noticed that Clyde is violently gritting his teeth, looking straight at the meats that he cut as if he just wants to lunge and devour it, but held back so hard he foams from his mouth. I commanded him to set the firewood with his 『Spark』, and he did it. I stabbed a couple of the meat and let it cook. Feeling kind of bad for Clyde, I let him eat a quarter of the meat and he immediately starts feasting sloppily like a wild and hungry beast as if his life depends on it.

The feeling of unrelenting uneasiness waiting for the meat to cook made me almost lost my mind, but fortunately the meat cooked as soon as I was starting to lost it. I took the cooked meat and eat it. It's delicious but unsatisfactory. I've eaten all of the grilled ones and it still doesn't satisfy me, it tastes dry, not the same as eating the meat raw. What I seek wasn't just the meat... but turns out to be blood, sweet and delicious blood.

There were a few portions of raw meat that haven't been skewered yet and it started to look more appealing than the cooked ones that I ate. The smell of blood still resides within the meat and the redness of it makes me want to go and lunge at it just like Clyde. I tried so hard to resist the temptation of eating it raw, constantly remind myself that I'm still a sane human being. But it's no use. My body can't be shackled anymore and my mind soon followed suit.

I Ate It Raw

The taste and juiciness were unimaginable, I started devouring the rest of the meat like an animal with no ethics, mindlessly chomping and gulping, all I could feel is the feeling of euphoria filling my head. As soon as I'm feeling full, my mind lighted up, I'm in control again. I looked at both of my hands, covered in red blood. A similar thought came to me like the one back when I looked at my own reflections and I started tearing up from my one eye. It's no use fooling myself.

I am no longer a human, both mind and body.

I Am a Monster

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Back at the village, it was already night and it was very quiet and peaceful. Elder Lars and a village woman are tending the sleeping Melanthia, then Allan came into the room by himself, looking exhausted.

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"Aah, you're back, Allan. Where's the other two?" Elder Lars asked with concern.

"They went to their sheds, catching some z's."

"Oh... so I reckon' you didn't find Clyde?"

Allan silently nods with his tired face, then he grabs a wooden stool and sat beside the bed Melanthia is sleeping in. The village woman took a bucket of the warm bucket and a rag used to wipe and compress Melanthia, then excuses herself out.

"We... checked around the cave that she mentioned, but there's no sign of him anywhere..." Allan said while he looks at Melanthia, his face covered in worries and uneasiness. "The only thing we discovered was lots of zombie bodies scattered around the marsh near the cave, and the cave itself... there's nothing but a dried pool of blood on the ground."

"Dried pool of blood?"

"Yes... it was strange. It's just a pool of dried blood, no trails, nothing. The cave is so small as well, so there couldn't possibly be a hidden space or anything. Livia even used her tracking ability, but it's useless, the marsh wiped the tracks. That leads us to believe that Clyde killed the zombie that bit him and he ran away god knows where to."

"..." Elder Lars grows concerned as he slowly strokes his mustache.

"So.. what do you think, old man?"

"It doesn't make sense, that's what I think. If Clyde did kill the zombie, wouldn't its dead body be inside the cave? He has no reason to drag its dead body, right? And no trail as well."

Allan paused for a second, then he blankly stares at the wooden floor below him.

"That's... right... w- what the hell! What is going on here?!" Allan said in frustration, filled with confusion.

"Shh! Quiet! Young Melanthia is still sleeping!" Elder Lars whispers.

"O- oh... sorry... by the way, how is Mel doing?"

"She's still doing fine. This is what severe fatigue does to you, but she'll be fine and dandy by the next morning." Elder Lars said as he puts his hand on Melanthia's forehead, checking her temperature.

"Oh... T- that's great... thank goodness." Allan said with a relieved smile on his face as he looks at Melanthia.

Elder Lars smirked and pats Allan on the back.

"You like her, don't you?" Elder Lars said to the startled Allan, holding back his laughter.

"Wha- huh?! N- no! I was just happy that she's not sick or anything!" Allan said in a panic and with a red face as he looks away from Melanthia.

"Pfft! Khahahaha! A snotty brat like you finally found a girl you like? What a surprise!" Elder Lars said as he slaps his thighs along with laughing satisfyingly.

"Sh- Shut up, old man! Or I'll make you shut it!" Allan said, now fully exposed, holding back his extreme embarrassment and lightly grabs the Elder by his plain shirt, threatening him.

"Ahahaha! You're finally in a bright mood again. Don't think too much about what happened to Clyde, alright? I'm sure everything will sort themselves back." Elder Lars said with a comforting smile on his face as he puts his hand on Allan's shoulder.

"It's... ugh, okay, old man." Allan sighs as he lets go of the Elder.

"Now, why don't you sleep? All that time searching around the forest must be tiresome."

"I just want to flop down to my bed and sleep right now... but I forgot to mention one thing."

"What is it, Allan?"

Allan then pauses for a while and think.

"We... encountered a zombie in the forest before we arrived at the cave. The zombie... was waving at us at a distance and it seems friendly..?" Allan said with an unsure look on his face.

"What..? a zombie waved at you..? are you sure that wasn't a person?"

"No, it was a zombie for sure... the zombie looks like a teenage boy with an empty eye socket. Anyways, long story short, Livia tried to shoot it, but it dodged and started running away."

"What?!" Elder Lars responded with a shocked look on his face.

"It was bizarre... even when Livia shoot at it while we ran after it, it keeps dodging the arrows... it soon fell down a sharp slope to the deep forest and we can't see it anymore."

"A zombie waved at you, can dodge arrows, and actually ran away..? never in my life and the history of this world has that ever happened... maybe a new type of monster..?" Elder Lars said with a terrified expression on his face as he looks down on the wooden floor.

"I'm worried that something bad is going to happen... with all of this weird ordeal..." Allan grows more scared as he contemplates the whole situation.

"It's... it's probably just those weird phenomena, hahaha! Now come on, just get some rest, you really need one, you brat!" Elder Lars said with a smile and a cheerful expression, trying to comfort Allan.

Allan then nods and says his goodbyes to the Elder, then he went back to his resting place. The Elder starts to put back his terrified expression.

"It's... so it's true... this is a bad omen. A disaster will strike this village."