[CH.5] The Starving Knight
Originally, at this height, Kieran could easily leap down, but due to the existence of something, coupled with a reduction in size and weight, Kieran temporarily lost balance in mid-air. She had intended for a stylish landing, but unexpectedly, Kieran ended up hitting the ground headfirst in a sprawled-out position.
"Ouch!"
Rubbing her nose, which had intimately met the ground, Kieran awkwardly stood up and brushed off the dirt. Although every part of her body hurt, it seemed like there was nothing serious. That's the resilience of a demon's body, if it were an ordinary person, they would have been knocked out cold long ago.
Or perhaps there was some cushioning effect.
"This cursed body! A knight of the holy temple like me, when did I become so miserable at falling!?"
After muttering quietly, Kieran turned her head to look around. There were guards watching around the hotel where she resided, and she didn't want to encounter them.
Luck seemed to be on her side this time, perhaps due to someone escaping, most of the guards stationed here had been reassigned.
"If I remember correctly, there's a valley fifty miles away from this city, deep and bottomless. After jumping in, there's no doubt there would be no remains. Hmph! Damn succubus, trying to embarrass me? It's not that easy!"
Kieran roughly guessed the succubus's intentions. It was nothing more than an attempt to assimilate her into their filthy and lascivious race, thereby humiliating her noble dignity and the sanctity of the clergy.
Kieran, one of the strongest knights of the Holy See, turning into a succubus was not just an insult to her but also to the church. Therefore, Kieran was determined to bury this secret completely.
"Ah... no time to think too much, I need to leave the city quickly."
Kieran tightened her clothes, slung the holy sword taller than herself on her back, and, following the route from her memory, stealthily headed towards the outskirts of the city.
Not long after, she realized a crucial problem... Kieran seemed to be lost?
"W-which way should I go?"
Looking at the unfamiliar buildings around her, Kieran stood on the street, blindly circling. Kieran was already a bit directionally challenged, and coupled with her unfamiliarity with this country she visited for the first time, she had relied on the group to lead her before. Now, walking alone, she couldn't find the way out of the city.
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle..."
The rumbling sound from her stomach became more and more frequent, and the hunger that had been bothering Kieran since a while ago seemed to intensify. At first, she didn't pay much attention, but as the hunger increased, Kieran gradually lost strength.
"If only... I had eaten something before coming out." At this moment, Kieran seemed unaware of the seriousness of the situation, just thinking that being hungry was normal since she hadn't eaten anything from morning until now.
"Oh, right! The palace is in the middle of the city. As long as I head north, I can leave the city! Why didn't I think of that before? I get it now. It must be the stupid succubus body affecting my intelligence! Hmph, a group of brainless and vulgar creatures. The church will wipe you all out sooner or later!"
After figuring out the direction, Kieran then lowered her head and muttered, "Which way is north? It's troublesome without someone to lead the way." After saying this, she looked at the sun in the sky. "In the morning, facing the sun, the front is east, and the back is west, so... Ah-ha! This side is north!"
Excitedly, Kieran shouted, pointing with delicate and fair fingers in the direction of the north, and then continued toward her goal.
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle..." The sound coming from her stomach grew louder and louder, and the hunger intensified several times in a short period, now beginning to torment Kieran's will.
As a knight, she possessed a strong will, but even if her mental fortitude could endure, her body couldn't keep up. Her limbs felt weak, walking became unsteady, her vision blurred, and even the sword on her back became too heavy to carry.
"It's just because I didn't have breakfast... The body of a demon is really garbage."
Kieran gritted her teeth, wanting to persist in moving forward, but a scent in the air suddenly caught her attention.
"Sniff, sniff... What is this fragrance?"
Although Kieran was smelling it for the first time, this scent immediately captivated all her attention. She didn't know what it was, but instinctively, she felt it was food!
The desire to eat had just entered Kieran's mind, and like a nightmare, it wouldn't go away. No matter how hard she tried to calm down, Kieran couldn't settle her mind. She urgently wanted to get food, and even her nose involuntarily sniffed the air, saliva uncontrollably flowing from the corners of her mouth.
"So fragrant... Even though I'm smelling it for the first time, why does it feel so... familiar... What kind of food is that?"
Unconsciously, Kieran took steps forward, walking faster and faster, and eventually even started running, despite her body lacking strength.
At this moment, her mind was consumed by one thought: to find the source of that fragrance and fill her stomach.
"No! What am I doing!?"
However, after running for a distance, the resilient spirit of the knight suddenly kicked in. She realized her loss of composure, resisted the hunger, calmed herself a bit, and then stopped in her tracks.
"Why... did I lose control like that?" At this point, Kieran came back to her senses, shook her confused head, and then slowly lifted her gaze, observing the building not far away.
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