"Predation? Of me...?"
Gwen’s words were not something I could simply ignore.
What exactly had she said?
I couldn't have misheard her.
Gwen was nodding repeatedly, looking positively delighted.
"Yes! Strictly speaking, everyone has their own individual goals, but there’s no doubt that we all want to eat you."
"Why target me?"
"Why do you think? Since we're here, why don't you take a guess?"
Gwen pressed a finger to her lips.
She waited for my answer, clearly relishing the game.
I turned the riddle over in my mind.
I thought deeply, piecing together the biology of the beasts, my own unique nature, and everything I had witnessed or heard up until now.
Then, I arrived at a single answer.
"—The miasma?"
"Bingo! You're absolutely right! As expected of the Sage. Are you a pro at quizzes too?"
Gwen gave an exaggerated round of applause.
She broke into a fit of high-pitched giggling.
After she finally caught her breath, Gwen began her explanation.
"As you seem to suspect, the source of our power is dark matter—an energy virtually identical to miasma. We survive by consuming it. While we’re at it, I might as well tell you more about ourselves."
Gwen spoke candidly, offering a general overview of the beasts.
As a premise, the Beasts of the Outside World were entities that lived beyond the sky—in the realm known as outer space.
They survived by feeding on the dark matter drifting through the void.
The beasts had spent their lives attacking various worlds, but in recent years, an abnormality had occurred in outer space.
They had fallen into a state of chronic miasma deficiency.
Suddenly, the beasts found themselves in dire straits.
While the more powerful individuals wouldn't die immediately, they were steadily growing weaker.
"A depletion of dark matter. Faced with this emergency, we searched for a solution. And then, we found a single ray of hope."
"And that hope was me, I take it."
During her explorations of space, Gwen had discovered me.
She had decided to devour me—a being possessing an inexhaustible supply of miasma—to restore her fading strength.
As a preliminary step, she had apparently spread information about me to the other beasts.
That was what triggered the invasion of this world.
According to Gwen, the beasts all had different agendas.
Some wanted to secure a new habitat, others craved even greater power, and some apparently wanted to gather 'seedbeds.'
Despite their varying motives, every beast was focused on me.
Eating me would make achieving their goals effortless.
Gwen was no exception.
She had dispatched agents she'd subjected to mental contamination to the Royal Capital to gauge my strength.
If the opportunity had presented itself, she had intended to predate me right then and there.
"Harvelt-san, your miasma is magnificent. It’s the highest quality, and it wells up almost endlessly. No amount of gold or silver treasures could ever match your rarity. That’s why... it stimulates my appetite so."
Gwen’s eyes took on a predatory glint.
For a moment, her form nearly lost its three-dimensionality, turning flat, before snapping back to normal at the last second.
It seemed the manifestation had failed because I had stripped her of her power.
Gwen let out a sneeze and sniffled, giving me a thin smile.
"Well, that’s the gist of it. Do you understand your own value now?"
"Yes. I understand."
The full picture was finally coming into focus.
Gwen’s information was sound, and what I needed to do next followed naturally.
Facing this untrustworthy beast, I was beginning to grasp the key to a solution.