Approaching Storm

-----Kaede's POV

Listening to Yui and Mell sleep next to me was quite relaxing. However, my mind was still going over with what Yui had said just before. "You'd out live me as well..." Those words, constantly echoing inside my head, not giving me a proper chance to relax. Well, if I'm not sleeping, I may as well talk with Mai and see what she thinks.

Kaede: "Mai. You there?"

I speak to her through my mind, hoping to find the answers I need while also looking for a distraction through the night.

Mai: "Yes. Don't worry, Lilith is still safe and sound. There's not much work out here right now, so she's finally getting some proper rest."

Kaede: "That's good to hear. Thank you for looking out for her."

Mai: "No problem. How are things with Yui?"

Kaede: "Actually that's what I'm meaning to talk with you about. Or well, it involves her in a way."

I find myself looking away from the ceiling and turning my head to see Yui, who's sleeping soundly beside me.

Kaede: "Do you have any information regarding what I am."

Mai: "You mean information about half vampires?"

Kaede: "Yes."

Mai: "Nope!~ You're essentially the first of it's kind, so I'd only know as much as you."

I feared this might be the case. Maybe if the half vampire before me lived a longer life then maybe I could get some information out of her.

Mai: "Why do you ask?"

Kaede: "You see. You were there when Yui drank a bit of my blood out in that field, right?"

Mai: "Yes."

Kaede: "Well, it's all fine now and it looks like she's fully recovered. But she's- changed... I just wonder if it's something to do with when she drank my blood."

Mai: "Hmmm. Well normally vampires don't bleed."

Kaede: "I know that much."

Mai: "Hmmm. Do you think your blood is some kind of poison?"

Poison? I was thinking more along the lines of my blood slowly turning Yui into a vampire like myself. Or maybe that's also some kind of poison?

Kaede: "What do you mean?"

Mai: "Well. She collapsed right. And her heart stopped several times. It's an obvious observation."

Kaede: "But how does that explain the changes I'm seeing?"

Mai: "What changes?"

Kaede: "Well so far, the only noticeable changes is that her eyes change, but in turn, she also loses consciousness and can't control her body."

Mai: "Like the time when you killed Silas?"

Kaede: "Yes."

Mai: "I see~"

Kaede: "Also the taste of my blood has changed for her, or maybe blood in general."

Mai: "Is that all? Like she can't see in the dark, or smell different things?"

Kaede: "I tested all those things already, along with my observations. She has none of those changes."

Mai: "Hmmm."

Judging from her reactions, she's just as clueless as me. But it's nice to be able to discuss this with her, it's calming me down more than I expected.

Mai: "I think she'll be fine if she's recovered. Just don't give her any of your blood."

Kaede: "Mhmm. I agree."

Mai: "The way I see it is that if she drinks more of your blood, more side effects might occur. Next time, it might be more than just the taste of blood being different."

Kaede: "I won't let that happen."

Mai: "Interesting... Maybe we could experiment further."

Kaede: "I'm not going to subject Yui to-"

Mai: "Not Yui. I was thinking more like feeding animals your blood, or even other people."

Kaede: "That's-"

Mai: "Of course, not healing them as well. In fact, I might have someone to try this on."

Kaede: "We'll talk more about that later."

Mai: "Okay~"

With that, I end my discussion with Mai as I focus back on Yui's sleeping face. If my blood is indeed like a poison, then maybe my healing can't cleanse it. Sure I would love to test out how my blood works, but I'm scared on who this person Mai's talking about. I think starting with animals or even monsters would be a good starting point. And does my blood specifically have to be ingested for it to work?

I recall my fight with Oboris once again. Sure he was practically dead, but he did get rescued by that horned devil. But during my fight with the horned devil, he said that Oboris was in fact killed. So does that mean my blood that I forced inside him finished him off? Maybe I have to experiment both ways, having one test subject somehow drink my blood, and injecting another one and see if there's a difference. But then... Why is Yui fine now? I doubt her body is now immune to my blood. The only thing I can think of is that it's somehow infused itself with hers.

Not wanting to think anymore about it, I close my eyes, hoping to fall asleep to pass time.

-----Mai's POV

Well this has gotten quite interesting. From what Kaede just told me, Yui seems to be dipping her toes in the life of a vampire. I'd love to go back there and see for myself, but I'm stuck babysitting Lilith. Nothing has really happened so maybe I could just leave her? Or I could take her there myself; that could also work. Staring at her sleeping face, this is the first time where I've seen her this relaxed. It would be cruel to just wake her up. I'll wait until morning before I take her to Kaede.

Suddenly, I could hear a horn being raised, disturbing the sleep of everyone in this tent, including Lilith. " Hah~ Just when she finally managed to find rest too..." Soldiers began bursting through the tents where other soldiers and adventurers were resting, making sure everyone was awake. As for the medics like Lilith, they stayed back in the tents to prepare instead.

Soldier: "Lilith. You're needed elsewhere. Come with me."

Lilith: "Yes, understood!"

Unlike that captain, this soldier was more forgiving and wasn't speaking to her like trash. That being said, I still follow her while remaining invisible. But isn't Lilith meant to be a medic? Don't tell me they're sending her out to fight too? I could contact Kaede again, but she might be asleep now.

Sure enough, after 15 minutes of following Lilith and a few other soldiers, we arrived at the wall with the open field behind it. The wall looked a lot more sturdier than before, but still looks to be under construction.

Soldier: "Here, take these."

The soldier handed Lilith a shortsword and a small shield, however she wore no armor like everyone else. Do they expect her to just fight like this? Just looking at the face Lilith is making tells me all I need to know as her face is no longer showing signs of tiredness, but more so frightened.

Lilith: "W-why am I-"

Soldier: "All the injured have been treated. You may return when things get busy again. In the meantime, you're to help defend against this next attack."

Talk about overworking... I want to just grab her and take her away right here and now, but I'll wait and see how things go for now. If things get out of control then I won't hesitate.

Floating up to the top of the walls, I could see off in the distance quite a massive army, much larger than the one Yui and the others participated in. I could also sense that same presence of that horned devil along with other strong auras scattered amongst their force. It's a little difficult to pinpoint exactly, but those auras must be coming from those reanimated ogres and trolls. I can only assume that horned devil is behind this army of undead. However, unlike last time, they aren't clouded in that same invisibility barrier. Probably due to how taxing it would be to cover an army this big.

I look back on the other side of the wall to see how many humans have gathered. I wouldn't like to count, but I'd say the humans are outnumbered by 10:1 so far.

Mai: "Hah~"

A sigh leaks out of me as I can already feel how much work I'm going to have to do in order to protect Lilith. Maybe if she wasn't here then I'd leave these humans to die, but then that might also cause trouble for Kaede and the people she's staying with. Resigning myself to my fate, I turn back to face the army of undead while remaining on top of the wall.

Mai: "Kaede, you owe me."

Actually, this might be a good exercise to see how much mana this body of mine can hold. Sure I've been shrouding myself in invisibility magic, but I regain my mana much faster than how much it costs. I could maybe even cover that entire army if I wanted and I might still have a little bit extra to spare.

The army is moving quite slow, so I find myself waiting by while the humans form their ranks. Lilith seemed to have been placed quite close to the front lines which came as a shock. Are they planning to use her as some kind of meat shield? Humans sure are disgusting...