Answers

-----Kaede's POV

The day past as our rooms had been decided by Fleur. Sicily, Lillian and Mell will continue to stay in my old room as it would be tedious to move all their stuff out. Yui and I will be taking the room next to it, leaving Olivia with a room to herself next to ours, making our room sandwiched between the two of them. The guild isn't that big like the other guilds and inns, so there aren't any rooms that can hold a lot of people.

Kaede: "Hey, you think you can sort our stuff out for bed?"

Yui: "Hmm? You going to talk with Fleur?"

Kaede: "Y-yeah."

To be honest, it's not that big of a deal if Yui comes along, but I don't know how long it will take so I figured maybe she could keep Olivia company while I sort this out.

Kaede: "I'll be back shortly though. I can talk about it when I get back?"

Yui: "Hmm. Okay! I actually want to talk with Olivia about something as well."

Kaede: "Oh? Sounds good! Then I'll be off~"

Yui: "Mmm!"

I make my way downstairs, with Yui heading into Olivia's room as I take a peek to see how Fleur is going. From the looks of it, she's just finishing up, switching out with Faye. "Perfect."

Fleur: "Oh, Kaede-"

She spots me and meets me at the bottom of the stairs.

Kaede: "You just finished up?"

Fleur: "Yes. Faye just took over. So, what was it you wanted to talk about?

Kaede: "Uhm, about that. Could we talk somewhere more private?"

Fleur: "Sure. Will my room be okay?"

Kaede: "Mhmm."

She leads me out to one of the back rooms of the guild on the first floor. Actually, I think this is the second time I've been in this room, with the last time she gave me some old clothes when she took me in. The room is slightly bigger than the guest rooms as I take a seat at the table, with Fleur taking her seat as well.

Fleur: "It's good to finally have you back with us. I'm glad to see you finally met Yui again after all those years."

Kaede: "I wanted to come back ages ago, but I got caught up with some stuff and now I'm attending the Inasdale Academy."

Fleur: "I see. I'm sure you've been doing well over there, yes?"

Kaede: "Yes, of course."

I can't help but think that if Fleur hadn't done what she did, then I might not have been able to attend that academy, in turn not being able to share that dorm room with Yui... It's all because of her.

Kaede: "Nevermind that, or well, I guess it's something to do with that, but-"

Fleur: "Hmm?"

I take a few moments to make sure there was no other presence besides us in this room before facing her once more. Anxiety crashes through my body, suffocating me from the words at what I'm about to say. If my theory is wrong and I just spill all this to her now, then what will happen? Will I be imprisoned? Then again, Lillian said that they couldn't work as adventurers BECAUSE of their race. But now all of a sudden they're working here? If that's the case then surely-

Kaede: "Fleur."

Fleur: "Yes."

I face her in complete seriousness, as she responds the same way. Our eyes not wavering one bit as I scrounge up the courage to say it.

Kaede: "You know what I am, don't you."

Fleur: "Yes."

Not a shred of hesitation was in her words a she answered immediately, however I still can't bring myself to say that "I'm a vampire" to her, and instead staying silent, hoping that she will continue.

Fleur: "I knew from the very beginning Kaede."

Her expression turned soft as her words had a reassuring tone to it, making the anxiety going crazy inside me calm down.

Fleur: "Ever since you first applied to be an adventurer, I knew."

She still hasn't said anything about me being a vampire. Does that mean she only knows that I'm not human?

Kaede: "That I'm?"

In a desperate attempt, I try to coax her into telling me once more in detail exactly what I am.

Fleur: "Ah~ I see. No, I couldn't make sense of your original guild card. When you put your blood on it, your race said 'unknown'. That only led me to believe that you were most certainly not human, and in most cases yes, I would've of reported it. But I couldn't sense any ill intent from you. You just seemed like a lost kid with no place to call home. So I took the liberty of forging your guild card."

So she doesn't know what I am, figures. From what I learnt from Mai, there was only one other existence of a half vampire, half human breed, but they were immediately killed after the birth. And since the guild is run by humans, they must not have any date pertaining to someone like me. That said, do I just tell her now? She must've been curious all these years on what I am...

Kaede: "I see..."

Fleur: "And when you said that 3 of your friends are coming over all the way from Inasdale, I could only imagine that the place like the city wasn't a place for them. And when they finally arrived through the door wearing hoods, I knew something was up. But like I said earlier, a friend of Kaede's is a friend of ours, right? So I offered them a job, of course forging their guild card as well."

Kaede: "But why? Aren't you just putting yourself at risk for doing that for me? For them?"

I was a little angry to be honest. Sure I felt relived hearing all this, but at the same time I couldn't help but feel mad at her risking her life for us like this. She could be killed for this. However she returns my questions with a smile once more.

Fleur: "You remember the time I gave you that bag my mother past down to me?"

Kaede: "Yes."

Fleur: "She didn't have an easy life after the war. Being a demi-human during those times were terrible. She struggled to find work, and even after giving birth to my sister and I, she still struggled to even get food for us. We didn't know who our father was and our mother never told us, but I can only imagine what might've happened-"

This is unexpected. I came here to tell her my secret, but here I am listening in on Fleur's past.

Fleur: "In regards to the bag, I don't know where she got it, but all I knew is she held it dear to her heart. When asked by us whether it was from father, she neither confirmed or denied it, but she did burst into tears. It was during that time when my sister and I comforted her, that I felt the desire to help other's in need if given the chance."

I could see a single tear start to flow from the corner of her right eye. But she retained her smile and soft expression regardless, as if that tear wasn't even there.

Fleur: "So when I saw you burst into the guild, all cut up and reeking of blood and dirt, of course I'd help, just like how my mother worked so hard for us."

Kaede: "...What happened to your mother?"

Fleur: "Nothing dramatic, haha. She died from age don't worry. She gave birth to us quite late because of the war, but the time we spent with her, despite how tough it was, were some of my most fondest memories."

Fond memories...

Kaede: "The days spent growing up with you two... They're also some of my most fondest memories as well."

Fleur: "Kaede..."

I don't know whether that one tear of hers was contagious, but I too started to feel my eyes tear up in front of her.

Kaede: "Ever since being thrown into this world, it was nothing but scary. Hell, I woke up to find myself amongst many corpses, blood everywhere. It was only when I came here that those scary times came to an end. Thank you... Thank you for putting up with me-"

Fleur: "You've never been a bother Kaede-"

Kaede: "Even at the academy, I used your last name as my own!"

Fleur: "Oh?"

Kaede: "That's how much impact you, and Faye had on my life."

Fleur: "Hehe."

Kaede: "What's so funny?"

I felt a tad bit annoyed as I sit here getting all teary eyed, only for Fleur to start giggling away at me.

Fleur: "Nothing. Just thinking about you being our adopted daughter is all."

Kaede: "You don't mind?"

Fleur: "Not at all. We did raise you so it's only natural, no?"

I felt an overwhelming amount of happiness pour into me at her words, the feeling of being accepted like this. But those feelings quickly turns cold as I remember I still hadn't told her what I truly am yet.

Fleur: "What's wrong? You change your mind about being adopted?"

Kaede: "No, it's not that. I'm really happy about that, but... There's still something I have to talk about."

Fleur: "More? Well I'm all ears. There's nothing to be worried about. My decision will still remain the same."

The nerves come back to me, but I'm not going to let it take over me. I'm just going to say it!

Kaede: "I'm a vampire."

Fleur: "Huh? But then... How can you bl-"

Kaede: "Half vampire... Half human..."

Fleur: "..."

The silence was just as suffocating as the anxiety from before, if not even worse as I wait for her to speak up.

Fleur: "No wonder it showed up as unknown. And actually, that explains a few things."

Kaede: "Like?"

Fleur: "Well for starters, you always ran off at night. And sometimes when it came to dinner, you sometimes didn't eat anything. There was also the Silver incident as well, and I'm fairly certain that vampires have some sort of 'charm' power right? So that solves that little mystery, hehe."

Kaede: "So you're not scared?"

Fleur: "Nope! Like I said my decision is still the same. Kaede is Kaede and that's that. But wow. I don't think there's been a case of someone like you before."

Kaede: "Apparently there's only been one other instance of someone like me, but they were immediately killed by a vampire after the birth."

Fleur: "Then how did you-"

Mai: "From me!"

Out of nowhere, Mai appeared on top of the table between the both of us, her naked body completely visible for all eyes to see.

Fleur: "Huh!?!"

Kaede: "Mai! Get back inside!"

Mai: "But it's too tight in there. Plus this is a private place right?"

Great, now I have even more things to explain... Sorry Yui, this may take a bit longer than expected.