Aina's body continued to walk forward completely out of her control. Before she could even grasp what was happening, she was sitting to the right of the man, her body trembling uncontrollably. No matter how hard she fought back, she couldn't seem to break free.
Aina clenched her jaw, her head raising to look the man in the eye.
The situation was far outside of her expectations. She sat no more than a meter and a half from a man she was certain could take her life with a thought. But, what was even more astonishing was the fact this… wasn't a man at all.
When Aina met the man's gaze, she finally noticed the familiar white irises, flickering with indifference.
There was no doubt, this was an Invalid, a true Invalid, a Variant Invalid.
Aina's heart lost control of any sense of rhythm, accelerating to the point it seemed it might fly from her chest at any moment.
The man's wrists never stopped, slowly cutting the head before it in half. Grotesque white and red liquids spilled outward, pooling around the severed neck and almost overflowing the plate.
Aina's stomach rolled as the Invalid brought the fork to its mouth. Somehow, the immaculate table manners it displayed made the scene several times more difficult to watch. The dichotomy of stateliness and stomach churning sights made one's head spin.
"No comment?" The Invalid finished chewing and spoke these words.
It wiped its lips with a pristine white cloth despite the fact there wasn't a speck of impurity on its face. It seemed completely at ease.
"When I sensed that there was someone who had actually chosen to come to me after all these years, I assumed that you would be powerful. But, I didn't think that you would be such a fledgling. I guess as the saying goes, the ignorant fear nothing, hm?"
The Invalid smiled lightly.
To anyone who didn't know better, it was quite the dazzling smile. All the practice Leonel put in couldn't match to even half the charm the male Invalid was currently projecting. Yet, Aina only felt more disgust. Unfortunately, as much as she wanted to look away, she couldn't.
As for the words the Invalid was speaking, Aina didn't spare them much of a thought. She wasn't aware of how dangerous this region was before she entered. Had she, she would likely understand more of the male Invalid's surprise.
It had quite literally been centuries since the last time anyone had come to this mountain range willingly, let alone to the point of entering its home and travelling so deeply into its lion's den.
The Invalid's word suddenly paused, its strong bridged nose tilting up in the air. It took a deep sniff, its gaze stirring with the first hint of emotion Aina had seen from it.
"This smell…"
The male Invalid leaned forward.
Aina fidgeted in her seat, trying to maintain distance, but her movements were completely out of her control. Her body trembled violently even to the point where the chair she sat on almost collapsed. However, it was all meaningless.
The nose of the male Invalid brushed by Aina's hair and almost touched her neck.
It took a pause as though it was appreciating the scent of roses, completely unbothered by Aina's near breakdown.
Having an Invalid so close, Aina, too, could smell it. One would have thought that the sensation was akin to being near a rotting corpse, but in Aina's opinion, it was far worse than that.
It felt as though she was standing next to a pile of shit. But, upon that pile of shit, one had poured the strongest and most invasive perfumes all over the top of it. It was far worse than just a rotting corpse, far worse than someone trying to replace a shower with deodorant, far worse than any olfactory assault Aina had ever faced before.
"… What a nice scent…"
The male Invalid didn't move from Aina's hair for a long time. It was as though it couldn't sense her squirming in the slightest.
"… It's the scent of a delicacy, the kind of scent that shouldn't appear on this forsaken world. I understand now, you aren't from Terrain, no wonder, no wonder."
The male Invalid pulled back, but at that moment, Aina's hands began to move against her will. From her sides, they were pulled up until they were pressed palm side down on either side of the plate before her.
It was only at that moment that Aina saw what sat in front of her.
The brain sat there, its numerous folds slowly collapsing on its own weight. After being exposed to the air for so long, it started to experience some discoloration, turning into a deeper purple-black. A pungent smell of blood and gore hung in the air as though trying to suffocate Aina.
All the effort she was putting in toward trying to escape made her head swim. The foggier her mind grew, the more the scents seemed to hook into her body, dragging her down toward a bloody abyss.
But, it was at that moment that Aina's body froze. All her trembling ceased and even her heart seemed to stop beating completely.
All of her senses focused on the subtle, soft feeling gliding across her fingers.
Aina looked down her hands, her breathing hitching as she watched the male Invalid slowly run the flat of its knife against her long, slender fingers.
Fear gripped Aina's heart, her teeth rattling out of her control.
"… I've never tasted an other worlder before… I'm sure you understand. My kind isn't very well accepted, it's a bit sad, if you ask me.
"It's quite amusing, though. In every instance of human history, it was the majority that dictated the rules and wielded the power. So, have you ever asked yourself why it was that despite the fact the majority became like us… that we would still have to run and hide like this?
"It's interesting, don't you think?"
The male Invalid continued to run its knife across Aina's fingers, seemingly enjoying the elasticity her youthful skin showed. Something about the way her skin bent beneath the weight of its knife and rebounded back once the blade moved away was quite mesmerizing to the Variant Invalid…
But, it was even more eager to know just what Aina might taste like.