Only I Know the War Hero’s Secret Chapter 2

The source of the pungent, sour smell was the residue that the slimes couldn’t digest, which had fermented due to the sugar.

Mona poured in purified water to dilute the sugar, then transferred the slime, which had turned red, back into its glass tube.

Before long, the slime began to regain its original blue color.

However, the sour smell lingering in the air remained, so she opened the curtains and windows to ventilate the room.

Slimes usually inhabited shady places, but it was fine to expose them to sunlight for photosynthesis about once a week to accelerate the regeneration of their core substance, the ‘slime nucleus.’

Rumble.

Perhaps disliking the sunlight streaming through the window, the slime sitting by the windowsill began to tremble inside its glass jar.

“Just bear with it a little longer.”

When she lightly tapped its smooth head with her fingertips, the slime abruptly stopped moving.

Watching it respond to her touch, Mona chuckled.

‘How adorable.’

She would have loved to tease it a little more, but it would be troublesome if anyone caught her doing this.

Monsters and humans were fundamentally hostile toward one another.

And yet, a slime without even a brain was listening to a human?

She’d be lucky if she wasn’t branded a witch and burned at the stake.

‘If things went badly, they might even put me on an experiment table and dissect me down to every last strand of hair.’

The mere thought sent a shiver down her spine.

If she were actually a witch, at least she wouldn’t have any grounds to complain about being burned at the stake.

She had simply developed this unusual constitution as a side effect of experiments she’d been conducting for a long time. But who would believe that?

‘I wouldn’t believe it either.’

Some might call her overly cautious or accuse her of having a distrust of humanity.

However, unlike monsters, whose outward appearances and inner natures were consistent, humans were fickle creatures who could change their attitudes at the drop of a hat depending on the circumstances.

That was why Mona had absolutely no intention of revealing her unusual constitution to anyone.

‘Besides, the best honey is the kind you enjoy in secret.’

As long as no one found out, having a constitution that attracted monsters had its advantages.

For instance, it gave her more time to indulge in her hobby.

After stealing a glance at the time, Mona rolled up her sleeves and took out some slides and a dropper.

Her morning task was to collect the slimes’ nuclei and bring them to the research laboratory by eight o’clock every day.

As soon as Mona held out the dropper, the slime generously offered up its nucleus like a tree that gave without expecting anything in return.

She finished in an instant what would take the other researchers a good hour or two. Deciding that the slimes had had enough time to photosynthesize, Mona drew the curtains.

“Phew.”

Finally, it was time to relax.

With a serious expression, Mona carefully examined the condition of each slime in the laboratory and adjusted the concentration of their culture solutions.

She added moss, their special treat, to the glass jar of a slime that looked unusually weak. Meanwhile, she replaced the food of an excessively large slime with low-calorie mold.

After carefully creating a comfortable environment for the slimes, it was already eight o’clock.

Mona listlessly slung the bag that had been lying on the floor over her shoulder and headed to the laboratory.

‘…Time to return to the real world.’

Ah, I already want to go home.

 

***

 

Only five people, including Mona, showed up for work at the Department of Monster Studies laboratory, which was filled with outdated equipment.

There were originally thirteen researchers pursuing master’s degrees, but fewer than half of them actually wrote papers and continued their research properly.

That was because most of them were the spoiled, dim-witted children of wealthy nobles.

It was the disastrous result of an academy that catered to nobles who wanted to secure an imperial degree for their incompetent children, who had neither magical talent nor martial prowess, and favored noble students who arrived with generous donations.

Ironically, however, all the money those wealthy nobles poured into the academy seemed to go exclusively toward the popular departments.

“Hey, Mona! Hurry up and get in here.”

As usual, Mona entered the laboratory wearing thick-rimmed glasses, her gray hair hanging in a disheveled mess. One of the researchers hurried her along.

“The senior researcher needs slime nuclei right away.”

“Yeah.”

Mona gave a brief reply and approached her senior. The senior researcher, Jake, practically snatched the slide containing the slime nucleus from her hands.

“Wow…”

As he transferred the perfectly smooth, undamaged nucleus with a dropper, Jake let out a brief exclamation of admiration.

“Seriously, Mona, you’re incredibly good with your hands. I can never extract a nucleus this cleanly.”

Since Mona had never interacted with monsters in front of anyone, the people in the laboratory simply assumed she had exceptional manual dexterity.

“You’d be perfect if you just wrote papers that could make money.”

“…”

“All you ever do is conduct rigid research on the origins, ecology, and habits of monsters. Who’s going to be interested in your papers? You need to write practical papers like me, you know?”

“Haha…”

Listening to her senior’s usual barrage of nagging, Mona could only laugh awkwardly.

The money-making research Jake was referring to involved using slime byproducts to develop cosmetics or hair-loss treatments.

‘But if you want to get a hair-loss treatment, shouldn’t you be in the Department of Alchemy? Why are you doing this in Monster Studies…?’

Even alchemists claimed that hair was harder to create than gold, after all…

Mona narrowed her eyes as she looked at Jake’s broad forehead, which was already showing signs of an M-shaped receding hairline.

She found his words ridiculous, but she didn’t bother voicing her thoughts.

Rather than engage in a theoretical discussion about the research field of Monster Studies with a materialistic man like Jake, she would much rather talk to monsters.

“Good grief. What’s the point of even talking to you?”

Jake clicked his tongue at Mona, who merely grinned and scratched her head. Then he irritably jerked his chin toward the corner.

“What are you standing around for? Hurry up and go write the research log.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, and do some manual work removing the fine impurities, too. What was it? I think the solvent ratio needs adjusting as well. The professor asked us to experiment with and record even the minor adjustments he made last month, so don’t do a sloppy job.”

“…Yes.”

Having been saddled with a mountain of tedious tasks that offered neither fulfillment nor enjoyment, Mona trudged toward a corner of the laboratory with a gloomy expression.

“Phew.”

She couldn’t believe she had to waste her time on these stupid experiments.

Her chest felt tight the entire time she spent writing the research log.

‘This department wasn’t always this much of a dump.’

Three years ago, when Mona had chosen to major in Monster Studies, the department had been a place dedicated to the academic exploration of monsters’ ecology and characteristics.

However, two years ago, Professor Emil was injured, and a new professor took his place. From that moment on, Mona’s life in the laboratory had gone completely downhill.

The assignments given by the newly appointed Professor Thomas were less like monster research and more like trendy experiments with monsters hastily thrown into the mix.

Naturally, they didn’t suit her interests at all.

As she continued writing the log, her motivation sank lower and lower. Still, Mona tried her best to encourage herself.

‘Just focus on graduating early.’

But before she could graduate, her first research paper had to be approved…

‘Why haven’t I received any feedback?’

It had been ages since she’d submitted her first paper, yet the end of the semester was approaching and there was still no word.

Mona gradually began to feel anxious.

Even if she wanted to ask about its progress, that scumbag of a professor hadn’t even been showing up at the laboratory lately.

What if her graduation ended up getting delayed?

‘That can’t happen…’

Mona nervously worried about her dry lips.

 

***

 

“Hey, Mona!”

“Yes?”

“We’re going to the pub for a drink today. It’s been a while. Want to come along?”

“I have some things I need to take care of at home…”

When Mona shook her head, one of her fellow researchers chuckled.

“Figured as much. I was just asking out of courtesy.”

Just then, Jake’s voice rang out from behind them.

“See? I told you Mona wouldn’t come.”

“Yeah. I guess she’s hiding a jar of honey at home or something.”

“Honestly, what’s so interesting about that tiny dorm room that you keep crawling back into every day? Mona, stop shutting yourself away in your room and at least attend a party once in a while.”

“…”

“And what’s with that appearance? Make an effort to dress up a little, will you?”

Here we go again.

Feeling a slight wave of irritation, Mona fiddled with the frame of her glasses for no particular reason.

“Your younger sister Olivia is practically renowned as the goddess of high society. Don’t you think the comparison is a little too much?”

“Come on. If I dressed up, people would only compare us even more. Let’s get going, Senior.”

“Kwa-ha-ha! Is that so?”

Mona watched for a moment as Jake and the researcher who constantly acted as his lackey disappeared, laughing and sneering at her. Then she turned away with an exhausted expression.

“Ugh.”

She didn’t even have the energy to waste on those idiots.

After spending the entire day doing nothing but ‘profitable research’ that didn’t suit her interests, she felt completely drained.

‘It’s already nine o’clock.’

Only then did she realize how hungry she was. She bought a baguette sandwich that had gone cold and turned hard, then headed toward her dormitory.

Just then, she spotted a familiar figure near the entrance of the dormitory.

“Lady Mona.”

The man, whose appearance gave off a rigid and old-fashioned impression, was Parnell, the butler of the Veloz family.

The moment she saw the butler, Mona’s eyes turned cold behind her glasses, and her lips pressed into a firm line.