30 | His First Time

Vi keeps on glancing while Keen handles being the coachman.

This silence continues for the next hours until they reach a mountainside with a signage of a hot spring in a wooden plank. The gated fence where it is attached to is not haphazardly done, which can be seen in the craftsmanship in the sizing of materials and the use of nails.

However, the red-clad has a different source for his excitement.

"In the middle of nowhere?" She does not hide her suspicion.

He then insists for them to make camp right there. "The hot spring is up ahead. Wanna go together?"

He says it so casually that Vi immediately nods without realizing what it meant.

When she does realize, the female assassin quickly draws two bone lances from her quiver and throws one to his direction. "Pervert! Why would I go there with you?"

He removes his hood and looks at her with sincere curiosity. "Because I don't know how long I should stay in a hot spring."

"You don't?"

"Yeah. I'm from a tropical country so we don't have a hot spring culture."

She sighs in disbelief. "So that's why you were excited in seeing a hot spring despite being in this shady location?"

He takes out the map, pointing at a note Rutherford left on it. "According to our dear map-maker, this is one of the few places on this route where monsters don't spawn."

"Was he also the one who made this fence?"

He shakes his head. "According to his note, the signage already exists when he discovered this place."

She nods. If the characteristics of the self-drawing map is true, there is no way the place can have monsters in it. However, it still doesn't mean Keen can soak on the hot spring with her. "I'll go first. Don't you dare peek."

Without the effect of Vi's aphrodisiac, he is relieved for not feeling the urge to follow her secretly and do something similar to what the couple from Sunless Valley did. Instead, he is having a greater feeling that he must pay close attention to. A growing thirst that cannot be satiated by mere water or maybe even juice.

As soon as Vi has gone to the direction of the hot spring, he starts setting up the bonfire. He must keep himself busy. Otherwise…

[ Mission: Drink Blood ]

[ Reward: Advanced Skill <Overwhelm> ]

[ Reward: 1M Gold, 500k Silver, 800k Copper Coins ]

[ Reward: 3,000 EXP ]

[ Reward: Blood vial x2 ]

"Damn, the rewards are tempting," he bites his lip until it bleeds.

However, drinking his own blood does not seem to satisfy the requirements of the Mission. The next thing to try is extracting blood from others. With the absence of monsters nearby, the only blood source in the immediate vicinity is Vi.

Keen punches his own face. "What the heck? Why did I even think about that? I'm not a savage monster."

'But then, why did I accept that mission?' He clenches his teeth.

He remembers his killing intent towards the Petunia Guild when they tried to take Vi away from him.

"Have I…become a monster?"

He remains silent while staring at the bonfire until Vi returns with a freshened up look. Her hair is still slightly wet. She has changed to sleeping clothes although she would still be cooking dinner for them.

Realizing he has been staring blankly at her for too long, she decides to speak up. "Did you peek?"

He doesn't answer as his eyes just follow the movement of her lips, then shifts down to her neck. The scent of bathing herbs are also giving him a strong sensitivity.

Her eyes widen as she recognizes his fangs protruding passively while he keeps his eyes on her. " Hey, snap out of it!"

The guild master gasps. He remains silent as his subordinate overtly shows wariness towards him. In a sad tone, he dismisses, "I'll be on the hot spring while you cook. Just don't use the love mushrooms since they act as aphrodisiac."

With that being said, he disappears in the darkness of the night and remains so for almost half an hour. When he returns, his eyes are evidently tired.

Vi just finishes her roasted Minotaur meat with a special sauce made from her spices.

"Did you add the Love Mushroom?" Keen raises a brow rather weakly. He looks like he will doze off any minute despite being a vampire.

She shakes her head 'no'.

With a dull response, he sits across her and stares at the bonfire. "I may have gone too long in the hot spring. I feel so weak."

"Maybe," she answers briefly.

His eyes quickly try to meet hers although she refuses to concede. "Did I scare you?"

"You don't scare me one bit," she forces a laugh that comes out awkwardly.

He nods silently. This continues until they finish dinner. By that time, the guild master initiates the conversation.

"You should sleep in the carriage. I'll be out here on the lookout," he tries to smile. However, he remembers how he almost thought about biting her neck earlier.

She nods silently as she finishes tending to the dishes.

'Of course she's scared! There are only two of us here and I was staring at her with my fangs displayed.' He clenches a fist.

As agreed, Keen stays up as a lookout while Vi sleeps in the carriage. The horses are fast asleep after eating. Without monsters threatening to spawn randomly in the area, the encampment is too peaceful. Only the sound of crickets and frogs can be heard. The blinking lights of fireflies add up to the beauty of the night sky.

"This is a scene that can hardly be observed in the urban areas," the red-clad crosses his arms before his chest while leaning against the side door of the carriage.

In the middle of the night, Keen hears his subordinate's heavy breathing. His hands reflexively reach for the knob, opening the door as fast as he can.

"No…," Vi raises both hands defensively in the air despite having her eyes closed.

Without realizing, his hands automatically reach for hers. She is trembling. Even with a warm blanket, her body is shivering in an unseen coldness.

He presses her hands gently, then whispers. "You're okay. It's just a nightmare. I'll protect you."

Her body stops shaking, as if acknowledging his presence.

He massages her hands with his thumb, careful not to wake her up. As expected, she has callouses that signify how hard she has been working since being drawn into the memory-eating world of Esprit.

Or perhaps those existed even before she came to this place. He is still not quite certain of the extent of the accuracy in recreating the body of a Transfer. There are non-human and demi-human avatars like elves, beast-kin and vampires. Therefore, it is difficult to ascertain that idea.

Regardless, he continues to slowly massage her palm. It surprisingly makes her relax. Whenever he stops, she would start trembling again.

As morning comes, Vi opens her eyes and blinks a few times before looking around. To her surprise, the guild master is sitting beside her with his eyes closed and hands holding hers.

She instantly regrets her behavior in the preceding night. "He's a vampire, after all. Yet I haven't seen him consuming blood since first meeting him."

She then recalls his odd display of thirst since before entering Sunless Valley. He drank so much water then but still didn't appear satiated.

"Was he…enduring the urge to consume blood all this time?" Her eyes soften as she takes another moment to gaze at his face.

If that is true, then his sudden outbursts of bloodlust must be a side effect of doing so. It would also explain why he consumed the Warmongering Ogre Commander together with its core although he has been insisting that he won't consume Release fragments recklessly.

With the slight twitch of her hand, his eyes finally open.

He pulls away transformed into a shadow, then materializes back to his normal appearance while standing before the carriage door. "I'm sorry if I startled you. Last night, you seemed to be having a nightmare. So I came in to keep you company."

She offers a genuine smile. "It's okay. I was just a bit surprised. For many occasions, I would end up having nightmares in the real world. This is the first time since I came here, though."

He nods, intently listening to her like a doctor trying to give a diagnosis. "Stay here while I prepare our breakfast. Let's also stay for a while here while we train your <Appraisal> skill and work on my memory-keeping equipment."

The latter sparks her curiosity. "A memory-keeping equipment?"

He nods again, this time dismissively. "I'll tell you about it later. For now, have some more rest."

"Before that…," she takes out a bone lance and pierces the tip of her forefinger with it. Droplets of blood start trickling slowly while she presses its side with her thumb. "I think you need this to keep your bloodlust under control."

The red-clad vampire's eyes widen in awe and hidden excitement.