Blood 19: Danger both inside and out
The duration of our stay in the town had ended.
In the end, I left the town without stepping a single foot outside the inn.
A newborn cannot walk through the streets. I had no desire to go out myself.
Ariel and Shiro occasionally ventured out, but each time, Shiro summoned a white spider and left it behind.
The white spider activates the magic.
This was a command from Shiro. I was told to learn the magic while staying at the inn.
Observe the spider's activation of the magic and memorize it.
An unreasonable demand.
The magic activated is darkness magic.
Apparently, my affinity is highest for ice and water, followed by darkness magic.
Perhaps she should learn ice or water magic. However, Shiro cannot use either ice or water, so she was assigned darkness magic, the next most suitable affinity.
Shiro, despite appearing entirely white, reportedly has the highest affinity for darkness.
Feels like a contradiction, but if I point that out, it’s just as inconsistent that I’m supposed to dislike water yet have high affinity for it. Best not to dwell on it too much.
I stayed in the city for four days, including the first, but ultimately failed to master the dark magic.
Even if mastered, the skill acquired would only be a lower-tier equivalent of Dark Magic—Shadow Magic.
Not a lower-tier replacement, but according to Ariel, useless trash magic.
However, it is said that as the skill level increases, it will become usable in conjunction with dark magic.
Why are you trying to force me to learn such useless trash magic? I can't stop wondering.
You can't possibly cast magic by mimicking someone else without any skill at all.
It was impossible from the start. Making me do it seems like nothing but wasted effort.
And yet, if I try to slack off, the spider mercilessly pushes me forward, leaving me no choice but to keep going.
That spider fires weak spells at me the moment it detects even the slightest sign of reluctance.
My magic perception and magic manipulation skill levels have increased, so it's not entirely pointless.
I've also acquired new skills: Artificer and Guardian.
Still, I believe there must be more efficient ways to develop skills.
By day, I'm tormented by the spider. By night, I suffer in other ways.
After finishing dinner, I am always approached by the drunk Shiro.
He has an exceptionally poor drinking habit.
And when he is drunk, his personality shifts entirely—there is no managing him.
Most aggravating is the perverted, sexually harassing behavior.
He licks my body.
It would be tolerable if the inn had a bath, but being covered in saliva and left sticky is something I would rather avoid.
Why he does this is unknown.
When drunk, Shiro cannot hold a coherent conversation, so asking yields only foolish answers like "It looks tasty."
Each time, a strange chill runs through me—but it must just be in my head.
I had been having no good days, but during my stay in the town, Melazofis seemed to have cleared up.
Perhaps Ariel offered advice while I was asleep.
Color still not fully returned, but vitality in the eyes.
I should have been the one to resolve this, I suppose. But I did not know how. So it is honestly pleasing that she recovered like this.
Other than that, the meals were unusually delicious each time.
Later, I learned she had prepared all of them herself.
One might suspect the same person who served the poisoned dishes, but since they were genuinely tasty, there was nothing to be done.
What awaited me upon leaving the town was, as expected, a journey of hellish hardship.
Yes.
I had vaguely anticipated as much.
Shiro would not choose a proper path.
She deliberately veered off the main road and forged ahead on an unmarked trail.
Naturally, we had no choice but to follow, and so we traversed grasslands, then forests, then mountains—enduring treacherous terrain.
Even as they passed through such a place, the monsters did not approach, held at bay by Ariel’s power.
It is said that he is using a suppressive skill to驱赶 monsters.
However, I thought I was unaffected by it—apparently, I succeeded in resisting due to Fear Resistance.
When asked, Melazofis confirmed that his Fear Resistance had increased during this journey.
Still, they reportedly failed to resist, and have been spending the journey fearful of Ariel.
The lack of such behavior had been unexpected—slightly surprising.
It would not do to cause the young lady concern.
And said, half-laughing, half-sighing.
I have caused you unnecessary concern, but I am well now. I apologize for the trouble.
She spoke as if she had finally made up her mind.
How Melazofis managed to sort through her emotions was unclear. Details were left unasked.
Perhaps she thought it was not something I should hear.
A beloved person’s heirloom, revealed to be a reincarnated being, a vampire—something incomprehensible. And myself, potentially becoming a vampire too.
How could anyone understand such feelings without experiencing them firsthand?
Certainly, a deeply complex array of emotions must have been swirling within her.
I am not someone with a noble spirit capable of speaking to others with ease.
On the contrary, I believe my inner weakness surpasses that of anyone else.
Therefore, I will listen only when she speaks it herself someday. I will not ask Melazofis about it.
Rather, I am more interested in the reason why we must journey through the dense, overgrown forest.