CH 54

February 18th, 2023

Beta Reader: My_Own_Worst_NPC

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The girl in the air was staring at me blankly, her face devoid of any emotion.

Oh yeah, come to think of it, I was still naked!

I hastily hid my important parts with my hands, which is always a challenge when you have a huge magical boner. It’s a good thing that the girl didn’t seem to mind my state of undress.

As I looked around, I realized my boxers were still wrapped around my ankles, so I quickly turned to the side and pulled them into place.

“You… you saved me?”

The girl only nodded in response.

“Thank you very much. My name is Shirou. Sanada Shirou.”

“Sierra…” The girl muttered her name, and then swooped down and lightly landed on the deck. There was something strange about this girl; it didn’t feel like was real… it was like she wasn’t actually human, or even alive.

“What about… what about the woman…” I said while pointing at the charred figure of Janice, drifting lazily off the starboard side.

“Dead…”

“I… see…” Somehow, knowing that she was dead didn’t leave me with any bad feelings, just a sense of relief. Also, I wouldn’t have to bother with pulling her body out of the water. [1] Before long, she’d just be more fish food.

For a moment, it seemed like Sierra was staring at me, but in truth, her eyes were focused on something much further behind me. I don’t think she knew where to look.

“So, Sierra, what brings you here?”

“Traveling.”

There were no other boats around us, though. I guess she was traveling by flying.

“So, you’re traveling alone?”

“Yes… Sight-seeing.” [2]

Hmm… I see… le touristique, oui ? [3]

Sierra was holding a leather travel bag in her left hand and a white parasol in her right. She had a slight stature, barely 150 cm tall; her hair was a beautiful silver hue, and her pale skin had a blue tinge in places, seeming almost translucent. She was wearing a blue and white dress under her black travelling coat, which made me wonder someone could be okay wearing all those heavy clothes on such a hot weather.

What stood out the most though, were her eyes; they were a dark maroon, almost blood red. [4]

“I’m the innkeeper for that island. If it’s alright with you, would you follow me to my inn? I’d like to properly thank you for saving my life.”

Sierra looked at me for a long moment before finally nodding her head.

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Since I had no idea how to operate a small sailing ship, I crossed back to my own boat and paddled it back to the pier. Through the voyage, Sierra sat perched on the bow of the boat with her hands in the water, absent-mindedly staring into the dark blue water.

As we reached the pier, I quickly gave order to the remaining Cimas, “No. 3 and No. 4, there’s a small sailing ship offshore; go and retrieve it. Also, bring back No.1 and No.2 while you’re at it, I think they’re sunk around there somewhere…” Since Silver had arrived there too, I quickly climbed on and turned to Sierra. “The inn is further into the woods. I’m going to go there by riding this horse-golem; do you want to follow me by flying, or would you rather I call for another?”

Sierra responded by floating up and landing on Silver, sitting in front of me without any reservation. I’m only in my underwear, and she doesn’t seem to mind it at all.

As we were riding through the woods, I heard a soft gurgling, growling sound.

“Sierra, are you hungry?”

“Hungry…”

Guess I’ll cook a meal for her later. For now, I just want to take a bath. The experience with Janice made me feel the need to wash my body thoroughly. I can’t wipe away the bad memory, but I can at least wipe my body clean.

“I’ll make a meal once we get to the inn. What kind of food do you like?”

“Blood…”

Blood?! Err, does she mean something like blood sausage or blood pudding? She can’t mean the thing that’s flowing in my vein, right?

“I like type B…”

“Wait, there’s ABO blood groupings in this world!?”

“Human don’t know. Only vampires know.”

I-I see… It’s like that, huh… I think it’s pretty obvious at this point, but I guess I better make certain now. Let’s see, how should I phrase the question…

“Err… are you a vampire?”

“Yes.”

Yeah, that settles it. So that’s why I feel something is off with her, compared to other people. Well, it doesn’t matter. Whatever she is, she saved my life.

Although, speaking about my life, there’s another question I need to ask now. Which is the crux of the problem.

“So, uhh… I’m just wondering, do you bite people on the neck, or.…?”

“I don’t bite.”

Really?! Well that’s a relief…

“O-ooh… I see…”

“The feeling of breaking skin… disgusting…” Sierra shuddered at the thought.

I see, so that’s why she doesn’t like taking human blood. Not just biting, it seems even slashing someone with a sword, or wounding them with wind magic, is enough to unsettle her stomach.

“W-well, how do you usually drink your blood, then?”

“In a glass… preferably beer mug.”

I see, so she takes it like how someone would have a drink after a long day at work. This means she’s the type of vampire that doesn’t usually attack people.

“I see. Basically, Sierra is a human-friendly vampire, huh.”

“Not really… I don’t mind killing people.”

Huh?

“I don’t like cutting people, but I’m fine with burning or freezing them to death.”

Oh, I see, I see… Hmmm…? This is bad news for me, right?

“You’re not planning to kill me later… right?”

“Why?”

“Maybe you want to take my blood…?”

Sierra shook her head. “Killing is easy, but gathering the blood out afterwards is no good. Nauseating”

Looks like everyone has their own set of problems, huh…

“Besides…

“Besides?”

“…never met a man who can use magic before. Interesting.”

So she saw me using [Repair]. At any rate, it’s good that she doesn’t want to kill me since she’s interested in my magic. I better do my best to entertain her as a guest in Shirou’s inn.

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I quickly cleaned myself up while Sierra was leisurely hanging around at the cave. Janice, that damnable woman, I hope she didn’t have any venereal diseases… I am a bit concerned about it, but the only thing I can do at the moment is wash myself as clean as possible.

Well then, what should I serve Sierra with? I imagine she would love to have blood right now, but I’m not brave enough to cut myself. Oh, maybe I can use my magic to create some?

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Item Production： Blood

Category： Medicine Creation (Lv 3)

MP Consumption : 179

Explanation：Healthy human blood, suitable for transfusion (RH ± any blood type from A, B, AB, O)

Production Time：10 ml/10 minute

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So, it’ll take 1 hour and 40 minutes to make 100 ml, or 1 hour and 25 minutes if I take account of the reduced time ability. I shouldn’t make her wait too long, so let’s just create 50 ml for now, and serve it like an aperitif. [5]

Oh yeah, she said she preferred B type, didn’t she… I haven’t got a beer mug yet. I can’t serve it to her as I might serve a weary office lady who got home tired from work, but she’ll have to put up with it for now. [6]

Also, it’d probably be better to bring out the blood sausage that I have in storage. I made it by mixing ground meat and animal blood, adding flour and other binders, and boiling it. It has a darker color compared to most sausages, and a unique flavor. You could say it is a food born of the desire to use every part of the animal. I also made a paprika sauce to be served alongside the blood sausage.

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When I returned from the kitchen, Sierra was still relaxing on the couch I’d made earlier. Her black coat has been taken off and she was sitting sideways, wearing a dress.

“Thank you for waiting. The food is now ready, so please come this way.”

“Hm.” Sierra’s body floated up without a sound and she landed on the chair I had pulled out for her.

“Well then, please start with the aperitif.”

Sierra’s face, which had been expressionless until now, gave way to surprise as I placed a small glass on the table. The blood looked more like red wine than a cocktail, though.

“This is…”

“Sorry, I could only prepare this much on such a short notice, but it is Type B.”

Sierra looked at me curiously. “Your blood?”

“No, no, it’s not. It’s blood that I created with magic. My magic allows me to create things.”

Sierra looked at my face, and then at the glass, and then at my face again; she did this several times before she finally picked up the glass and took a whiff of it.

“It’s… really blood.”

“It’s not poisoned so you can rest assured and try it.” I said jokingly.

“Hm.”

Sierra slowly tilted the glass and drank deeply, savoring the taste.

“Heavenly…”

“For today’s special, we have prepared a rare RH negative just for you, esteemed customer… Nah, just joking.”

It’s not really rare since I can just make any type of blood I want.

“Fufu… It’s been a long time since…”

Huh? What’s that, her cheeks are blushing? Sierra had been expressionless until she saw the small glass with blood, and now she’s even smiling!

Now she’s made eye contact with me while sticking out her tongue and… huuuh? She’s licking the inside of the glass, while holding it with two fingers?! That’s… that’s a really erotic expression… not to mention the difference between her coldness before and her playfulness now is too big for my mind to comprehend.

“Shirou…”

“Y-yes?”

“Refill, please. ♡ ”

And now Sierra is showing me a really cute smile. I think my body is going to melt with how lovely her expression is.

Château Shirō. Transfusion Blood RH negative. 2019. This brand has received Sierra’s seal of approval.

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1 So basically, if she’s still alive, Shirou would still bother to save her? I kinda have a mixed feeling about it.

2 Jeebus this chick is talking even less than Gram.

3 He was saying ‘sightseeing’ using katakana, so I changed it into French for a similar vibes.

4 Original text was ‘Brown, bordering on red’. So I checked the color palette and Maroon seems to be more apt description instead of brown. Anyway if you’ve read enough manga and watch enough anime, I’m sure y’all know what kind of character type she is.

5  Aperitif: an alcoholic drink taken before a meal to stimulate the appetite.

6 Illustration of office lady who drinks beer after work: