Chapter 2: Su Mengmeng owes rent

I was once a dark mage, or what you’d call a wizard… and, well, I dabbled in summoning on the side.

My name… my name… I can’t recall it… How did I even die? Was it an experiment gone wrong or a duel I lost?

Tch, it’s all so fuzzy. Is it because my soul and memories merged with the original owner of this body?

I smacked my lips, thinking to myself.

The original owner of this body was named Su Mengmeng—based on the few memories I have, she was the daughter of a grand duke, known as the Wolf Duke of the North.

But about a year ago, Su Mengmeng’s father, the duke, passed away from illness, and she herself was tricked by her stepmother one dark, windy night into attending… some kind of banquet?

Then… she was drugged, it seems—and ended up disgraced, supposedly making a fool of herself at the banquet, which got her kicked out of the family.

The details are blurry, even to the original owner. In short, this girl named Su Mengmeng was unceremoniously thrown out with just a bit of money and her belongings.

With zero life skills and no understanding of the ways of the world, she quickly got swindled out of most of her money while living alone, barely scraping by selling the few pieces of jewelry she’d brought with her.

But her belly kept growing bigger by the day.

This naive girl just stayed home alone, waiting to give birth, until last night, when intense abdominal pain hit, and Su Mengmeng began labor in the bathtub… but the pain soon overwhelmed her.

Malnourished and frail, giving birth was basically a death sentence for her.

“Wait, something’s not right.”

I tried to recall the situation, looking down at my blood-stained lower body.

…This self-healing ability—it’s not in Su Mengmeng’s memories.

And…

I turned my head, peering through the grimy window at the outside world.

It’s about afternoon now, and I gave birth last night.

That’s over twelve hours ago. Judging by the blood in the bathtub, it was a massive hemorrhage.

So… this body should’ve died from childbirth complications and its own weakness… at least once.

“And yet, I’m still alive?”

Feeling a chill, I curled up tighter, mumbling to myself in confusion.

And… that voice I heard before passing out… it must’ve been Su Mengmeng herself, the original owner of this body, her soul entrusting her children to me, the newcomer.

“Please… take care of them…”

…Well, technically, they’re my children now too.

Speaking of children… what’s with those two eggs? Are humans in this world not mammals but oviparous? That can’t be right, can it?

My head ached as I thought about it.

As I pondered, more questions popped up, but Su Mengmeng’s memories showed she was just a clueless noble girl who knew next to nothing.

Still, there’s no way this body is ordinary. To survive a hemorrhage and childbirth, then be up and moving like this? No normal person could do that.

I thought as much, just as I finished the last of the black bread.

The bread settled in my stomach, easing the gnawing hunger a bit.

I blinked, scanning the kitchen, my eyes landing on a small knife.

After a moment’s thought, I reached for it and lightly cut my left index finger.

The tender skin gave way easily under the sharp blade.

I squeezed the wound gently. It stung, but only a few drops of blood came out.

I grabbed a tissue, wrapped my finger, and waited a few minutes until the pain was gone before peeling it off.

The small cut on my left index finger had completely healed.

“…As expected?”

I stared at my delicate finger, blinking as I examined it closely. The wound was indeed fully healed.

This isn’t a normal body.

Even trained cultivators wouldn’t heal this fast. This kind of recovery is something only non-human species could have—yet Su Mengmeng was just an ordinary noble girl all along.

I thought to myself, and just then, a loud knocking interrupted.

“Su Mengmeng! Get out here! You owe me rent!”

A man’s voice pierced through the wall, and my lips twitched as I instinctively gripped the knife tighter.

I thought for a moment, then gritted my teeth, jumped off the chair, and grabbed some relatively clean clothes from the couch to cover myself.

As I did, the knocking grew relentless, the flimsy wooden door groaning under the barrage, as if it might collapse any second.

“C-Coming!”

I took a deep breath to calm myself, then called out.

My voice came out in an adorably cute tone, which startled me for a moment, but I quickly shuffled to the door.

I opened it, and a massive figure filled my vision.

The first thing I saw was a huge, round belly—

A man over two meters tall, obese, stood at my doorstep.

His greasy face was dotted with acne, his hairy arms and legs exposed, a sly grin on his fat face, and his narrowed eyes fixed on tiny me.

This… is Su Mengmeng’s—no, my—landlord.

“Su Mengmeng! Pay your rent!”

Pay… pay rent?

My mind went blank for a moment before I slowly processed it.

Rent… rent! Oh no! I’m still renting this place!

Money… money!? Where am I supposed to get it? I don’t have much left to cover rent!

For now… maybe I can stall?

“Uh… um… could you… give me a few days?”

I looked at the fat landlord, biting my lip and pleading softly—not because I wanted to, but because I had no choice but to use this cute voice to beg!

“Hm? Hah, I see, just had a kid, huh?”

The fat landlord glanced at my stomach, squinting as he noticed my once-swollen belly was now flat, instantly piecing it together.

“Y-Yes… so… could you give me a few days?”

I looked at him pitifully, pleading softly—this wasn’t my idea, but I had no choice given the situation!

“Hmph, fine, but I’m gonna need some interest first.”

The landlord snorted, then licked his lips, suddenly reaching out to grab my face.

“!”

Feeling my small face pinched in his hand, I instinctively wanted to pull out the knife hidden in my clothes and slit this fat b*stard’s throat, but I forced myself to hold back the urge.