Chapter 189 The day the tail is severed, flesh and blood will be offered as a feast...
"This...this mental state..."
The audience soon noticed something was wrong.
"It's worse than before. Depression? Dissociation? Whatever the reason, it's definitely a serious problem... Sigh, he's still so young..."
Little Mei no longer sleeps in bed because Kuhn. He slowly pulled off the blankets and pillows and crawled under the bed. Although his beast eyes still reflected light at night, the light was far less bright than when he was young, and his master had very stingily hidden them under the bed board.
Goodnight, Mr. Maine.
Little Meinkun didn't answer; he simply lowered his fluffy ears, buried his face in his soft tail fur, and quietly curled up into a ball.
Ah, Maoqiu, he hid under the blankets, under the crib, in the sound of the children's breathing, and didn't want to unfold anymore.
Goodnight, Mainkuhn.
Leosley silently recited this in his mind.
"The situation is not optimistic," Clarinde sighed.
"The situation has never been optimistic," Funina whispered.
The defendant's seat fell silent for a few seconds after hearing this. After a long while, Paimon finally stammered out a message, trying to change the subject.
“But speaking of which…” she pointed to the sleeping Mainkuhn, “his eating habits are so unhealthy! I’ve bumped into him eating a few times before, and it seems like he’s always eating raw or cold things… When I shared some fragrant shrimp balls with him, he just complained.”
“He has been a picky eater since he was little, and there are many foods that he would never touch. I think this is probably because young children’s taste buds are a little sensitive, so I have never forced him to eat anything.”
Leosley smiled as he recalled how he had raised the cat from infancy.
"But he's very well-behaved. If there's nothing he likes to eat, he won't cry or fuss. He'll slowly nibble on some bread or something, like he is now."
The footage was sped up to daytime the next day. Under Kujavina's watchful eye, Mayne, who had been starving for a long time, first ate the meat on her plate, then slowly chewed some pumpkin and carrots and swallowed them. She took a bite of apple and then spat it out.
"acid."
Kujavina said impatiently, "It's already sweet enough, don't nitpick."
"..."
"Mainkuhn is not very sensitive to sweetness, and he can't swallow even slightly sour fruits."
Leosley frowned, wishing he could kick Kujavina aside and feed the kitten himself. "He's honestly admitting he's unwell, Executor!"
"..."
The traveler recalled the appalling living conditions in the human traffickers' hideout and thought that Leosley's care and patience with picky eaters was simply superhuman.
"This is more like a real mother."
After sighing, he looked at Kujavina in his memory with a sense of disgust.
This week, Kujavina distributed the food that was one person short to the children as promised, but she did not stop them from secretly sharing their food with the weakest children who were ranked last.
It doesn't matter. This is an experiment that will last for months. Sooner or later, the children will know what the right choice is.
As for Mainkuhn, who was outside the scope of the experiment...
"Were you even listening to my lecture? What do you mean by 'what happens when water and grass react' and you chose an egg?!"
He's so dull, so incredibly dull! Even one-on-one tutoring can't make him understand a thing or two!
Xiao Mei watched Kuhn's angry expressionlessly, occasionally a dazed smile appearing on her lips, her nails lightly scratching on the desk, her gaze wandering over her neck.
"Get out!"
A chill inexplicably crept up her spine. Kujavina chased Mainkuen away, then grabbed his arm tightly during dinner.
"I'm doing this for your own good, child."
Mainkuen looked at his plate with a vacant stare and found that every dish he had touched had been replaced with something new, while the foods he had never tried and instinctively rejected remained untouched.
"I'm doing this for your own good."
Kujavina repeated herself, her face gentle yet firm, “Eat, Mainkun.”
Mainkuhn's thoughts seemed to drift away for a moment, and it wasn't until a while later that he brought his attention back to the plate in front of him.
"No, Kujavina."
“You’re not doing this for my own good; you just want me to submit.”
The next second, to everyone's astonishment, he suddenly raised his hand—
*Thud!* He used all his strength to flip the plate full of food, the silver plate and food drawing a messy arc in the air before crashing down on Kujavina.
"you!"
Kujavina nimbly dodged, but just as she looked up to rebuke him, she saw a faint yet incredibly stubborn flame burning in the child's empty vertical pupils.
"...!"
The flames reminded her of the dozens of laboratory cycles she had experienced, and of the once arrogant young doctor.
"...Fine! If you don't want to eat, then don't. I'll see how long you can hold out!"
She stormed off, while Clementine looked at her companion with concern.
"Is it alright? How about this, I'll secretly share some of my dinner with you, Mother won't find out..."
Mainkun immediately lowered his ears and instinctively dodged her outstretched hand, saying, "Mind your own business."
"good!"
Kavi clenched his fist tightly. "As expected of the Wise King! That stubborn spirit that wouldn't turn back even when facing death!"
"Wait, is this a compliment?"
Although she said that, Tinari breathed a sigh of relief. "I know what you mean, you're scared..."
“I understand the wise king’s submission.”
A smile appeared in Sino's eyes. "Although his stubbornness has caused him a lot of suffering, the thought of the young wise king bowing to his servants under the oppression of power makes you feel uncomfortable, doesn't it? I understand."
"...His mental imbalance did not extinguish his fighting spirit."
Al-Hysen silently looked at the food scattered all over the ground, and there were indeed many things that were not suitable for cats to eat.
"But the road ahead will not become smooth and easy because of his will."
Are you worried that the young prince will go hungry?
Kavi translated fluently, then, snapping out of his reverie, he began to worry, "Indeed, although the Hearth House has a river and forests, there aren't any large animals like wild boars. They'd probably have trouble even feeding themselves, let alone with the children's food supplies decreasing every week… Ugh, what are we going to do…"
"I have a bad feeling. I hope the children won't kill each other... If they do, Mainkuen will go crazy."
Worrying was useless; it was all in the past. Tina could only look on with trepidation.
Nasita accelerated the images rapidly, memories flashing by, but to everyone's surprise...
"It seems like nothing happened?"
Three months have passed. If the food were divided equally among all the children, each one would probably be hungry by now, but they all seem...
"Radiant?"
Even Mainkuhn's mental state seemed to have improved a lot; he was able to sit on the edge of his bed and feed the pigeons.
"Kujavina shouldn't have broken the contract; she takes the rules very seriously in front of the children."
"Could it be that Mainkun's hunting skills have reached an unparalleled level?"
"Boss Maine!"
Jack called to the little leader, whose eyes were shining brightly as he eagerly ate. "The kitchen smells so good! When are we going to eat?"
"...Don't rush."
He followed his friend's excited footsteps slowly into the kitchen, turned on the pressure cooker, and looked inside at the mushy meat broth.
Give.
"oh!"
Jack cheered as he took it, taking small sips with a mixture of eagerness and fear of burning himself, and then smacked his lips in satisfaction.
"Boss, this tastes even better than last time, it would be perfect if you could add a little more chili!"
Okay, I've got it.
Mainkun watched him eat quietly, his tail occasionally swaying gently.
"Have you eaten beforehand, boss?"
Of course, since I really hate the taste of seasonings, I have to eat separately from you guys.
"Hey, boss, I've told you so many times, we can take care of our own portions. You just need to cook your own food."
No, the prey I catch... lizards and snakes are terrifying, you can't handle them.
Mainkuhn pulled a wriggling lizard tail out of his pocket and showed it off.
look.
"Ugh, disgusting."
Jack looked at the thick, mushy broth in the bowl, its original form unrecognizable, and sighed, "It's amazing how quickly your cooking has improved. If it were still as fishy as before, I really wouldn't be able to eat it..."
Hahaha……
Mainkuhn strung lizard tails together and watched them slowly dry in the sun.
More and more footsteps came from behind. "Jack, you've been sneaking a bite again!"
"What does it matter! You guys eat, I'll go make some wild vegetables to cut the grease."
During these three months, Mainkuhn did not lose a single friend.
He felt joy and happiness for the first time in a long time.
Tap, tap tap tap~ tap~
He hummed a little tune to himself, reveling in the distant past, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would continue to revel in this joy for many more days under Kujavina's bewildered gaze.
Click.
The first cut should go into the joint and create a crack.
Click!
This way, the second cut can follow the crack to sever the muscle and reduce the risk of bone breakage.
Mainkun grabbed the middle of the large tail and, with some effort, removed it from behind his waist by working with his hands behind his back.
Blood soaked through her underwear, sliding down her bare thighs and staining the kitchen floor.
But it's okay, because of the monster's curse, a new tail will grow quickly, how amazing!
Tap...tap tap...
When a very fresh tail is removed from the body, it will twist, regardless of whether it is a lizard or not, but this helps with bleeding.
The fur is dense and fine, and cannot be removed by scalding with boiling water. Mainkun usually peels off the entire fur, then removes the meat and marinates it overnight. If it is not marinated, it will be very sour, tough, and unpalatable.
Ah, the new tail has grown.
Click.
“…Mainkuhn?”
Click!
...Pepe?
In the darkness, Peruvieri turned on the kitchen light, letting it illuminate the small beast inside and the bloody scene.
What are you doing?!
"Uh, ah!"
Under her pained gaze, Mainkuhn was speechless.
[It's just meat, Pepe! It's all the same once it's cooked!]
He put down the knife and gestured frantically, pointing to the piece of skin that had been peeled off, and also to the fresh tail that had just been picked off.
[It will grow back! It's okay!]
"...Boss Maine?"
A faint gasp of surprise suddenly came from behind the dark door.
[！！！]
"I noticed something was off about you a while ago, but Jack couldn't figure it out even after several attempts..."
Peruvieri closed her eyes tightly several times, as if trying to suppress the tears that were about to fall, or as if trying to regain her indifference.
But all her attempts failed, and she finally clutched Mainkuen's collar with tears in her eyes.
“You are dismissed, Mainkuhn. From now on, I am the king of the House of Hearths.”
[...Huh? Wait a minute?]
"No one shall ever accept any favor from you again, for that would be a betrayal of me!"
Peruvelli snatched the tail from Maine's hand and slammed it to the ground. "I will kill the traitor, do you understand, Maine!!"
[It's just a tail, it'll grow back, there's absolutely no need for that—]
Mainkun wanted to grab the new tail behind him to show Peruvieri, which should have grown out by now, but when he grabbed it, he grabbed nothing, and when he twisted his waist, there was no familiar weight swinging behind him.
Why... do I suddenly feel lightheaded?
Where's the tail?
[Didn't it grow?]
Mainkuhn shook off Peruvieri, twisted his head and tried desperately to look back, but it was too short and he couldn't see anything. He could only comically spin around twice and get blood on his hand again.
[etc. ]
His dull mind vaguely analyzed the current situation for him.
[Our food supply has disappeared! What should we do?!]
Perhaps, everyone is going to die again…
"Ugh...no..."
Amidst her sobs of overwhelming terror, Mainkuen did not hear Clévy leaning against the kitchen door, quietly making another wish.
"I don't want to live off Little Maine's flesh and blood."
That blessing came from love, and it was taken back by love.
-----------------------
Author's note: The foreshadowing is almost all resolved... I was so engrossed in writing this that I felt like my soul was about to leave my body.
Try to finish this section as soon as possible. But I guess you all fully understand Mainkuhn's mental state in the previous hundred-plus chapters now, which is good. All I wanted was for the character to be well-developed.
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