This is bad.
No joke, this is seriously bad.
Visually, it's definitely just a normal vegetable stir-fry.
But the aftermath of whoever did the cooking is... bad.
Spread across the cutting board and scattered carelessly on the floor are things that look like nothing other than the remains of a dismembered human.
No joke.
Somehow, because I'm a vampire, I instinctively understand that the meat in that stir-fry is *that* meat.
To eat that nonchalantly — impossible.
And the person eating it is someone I know.
*Hey, you.* *You're Wakahimeiro, aren't you?* The girl ignores my question and silently carries the vegetable stir-fry to her mouth.
She's definitely my classmate from my previous life, Wakahimeiro.
Her facial features and atmosphere have shifted a bit, and more importantly her entire body is pure white now, but there's no mistaking it.
Ever since I was reborn into this world, I've had time and I've thought about various things.
Like whether there might be other reincarnators besides me.
Or — I don't even really understand how I myself ended up reincarnated into this world.
Even saying I "died," I don't know the cause.
My body was on the weaker side, but it shouldn't have been weak enough to kill me.
It could have been a heart attack or a cerebral hemorrhage — something that struck suddenly without warning — so I can't say for sure.
But now that another former classmate has appeared right in front of me, I know that's not what happened.
In novels there are stories where an entire class gets transported to another world as a group. Maybe something like group reincarnation exists, too.
Like if our classroom suddenly exploded or something.
I'd vaguely been thinking along those lines, but seeing Wakahimeiro like this makes me think that's not the case.
Wakahimeiro's appearance hasn't changed much from our previous life.
The slight differences in her features and vibe can be explained by over a year of time passing.
The white thing — I don't really get that.
There are some changes, but rather than looking like she was reincarnated, it seems more like she was transported here as-is.
But the fact that she's cannibalizing without batting an eye is what I can't believe.
She was always someone whose thoughts were hard to read, but seriously, what is going through her mind?
"Whiiiiite? Someone's talking to you?"
The girl calling herself
She ignores it and keeps eating.
The shaking intensifies.
She shakes her back and forth — *bun bun* — and a fist buries itself in White's face.
Um, that Demon King introduced herself just a minute ago, but was she serious?
"That's a right straight aimed at the world itself. *Guhck*"
Was she *actually* serious?
"Anyway, let's cut the jokes. If you don't talk seriously, we can't move this conversation forward."
Ariel scrambles to her feet and pleads with Wakahimeiro.
"Too much effort."
"C'mooooon."
Just when she finally opened her mouth, that's what she came out with.
"Hmph. Very well — White's tale of woe, a tear-stained adventure. Allow me to be the one to listen!"
Ariel leaps to her feet without warning, thrusting a fist toward the sky in a dramatic pose.
We've barely just met, but does this woman run entirely on vibes?
"One death and rebirth, as a spider monster. The place she landed — the world's greatest and most terrible labyrinth, the Great Ello Dungeon. She fled cannibal brothers, nearly got killed by a frog, fought a life-or-death battle with a snake, and ultimately fell into a pit. Waiting there was a terrifying Earth Dragon slumbering in the deep underground! She barely escaped with her life — *Gwheh!*"
"Too long."
Wakahimeiro grabs Ariel's hair mid-gesture and flings her aside.
What is this skit?
Anyway, let me sort through what Ariel said.
She said she "died once" — which means Wakahimeiro, just like me, was reincarnated?
The name Great Ello Dungeon — I've seen it in books.
Apparently it's a massive labyrinth so enormous it connects entire continents.
She was born *there*?
"In summary — you're a reincarnator, reborn as a spider monster, and you escaped from the Great Ello Dungeon?"
Melazophis delivers the answer with pinpoint accuracy.
"Yes! That's right!"
Why is she speaking English?
Melazophis has furrowed her brow and is making a bewildered expression.
Wait, hold on.
Why is she actually using English?
*Um, Ariel, you can speak English?* "Hmm? Sure I can. Ah, there's a deep reason for that, but don't worry about it right now."
Saying that makes me *more* curious, but she clearly isn't in the mood to elaborate.
"A spider monster from the Great Ello Dungeon. Could you be... the Divine Beast?"
"Ah, that's White, yes."
Huh?
What?
Huh?
Wait.
What?
Divine Beast — that's the white spider that appeared when I was attacked by bandits, right?
The spider that settled down right near the city, right?
The one that triggered the war, right?
"Just so you know, the war wasn't my fault."
Picking up on what I was about to say from my expression, Wakahimeiro speaks first.
*But if you hadn't been there!* "Whether I was there or not, the war would have happened sooner or later. The Divine Word Church wanted to crush the Goddess Church. If anything, I was just used as a pretext for the war."
"For additional context — the Divine Word Church's goal was to substantially weaken the Goddess Church's power, so they likely had the option of crushing an entire country on the table. The fact that only one city was affected means the damage was actually on the lighter side."
*But, but!* "All you can do is chalk it up to bad luck. The world is full of unjust things."
Even as Ariel speaks with such composure, turbulent emotions churn inside me.
"By the way, the Divine Beast has taken on a human form — is that some kind of illusion?"
"No, White underwent a special Evolution and became humanoid. Her essence is still a spider monster, she's just changed her appearance. By the way, the resemblance to her previous-life form might just be a feature of the Evolution? I'm not entirely sure about that part."
Melazophis redirects the topic.
She's not feeling entirely calm inside either, I imagine.
I glare at Wakahimeiro, who wears a composed expression.
"Shiroori."
*Huh?* "Your current name. So don't call me Wakahimeiro."
I don't really get it, but fine.
I don't much like being called by my previous-life name either, and maybe she feels the same.
I'll go with Shiroori.
Whether I forgive her or not — that's a separate matter.