Leo’s POV

[Really? What was that!? Doing that to a kid… I mean---I’m not sure what’s going on here, but what did you mean you would save her for dessert!?] I criticized Mia as I tried to drag her away.

Mia growled as she fought for control.

[Do you have to spoil my fun? You’re very aggravating.]

[Well, whatever--call me what you want, but I….. I won’t you let you hurt people!]

I turned around, but as I did so the massacre behind me made me freeze for a second.

Did we do this?

Memories came flooding into my mind.

I remembered the ecstasy and exhilaration we had, not that long ago. The shock of the implication that we might have murdered innocent people, caused me to lose my grip on the body.

Mia took control but was quick to be stunned as well, however for a different reason.

Our eyes moved to an individual in front of us, no two individuals. The pixie from before was there.

"High-ranked spirits," Mia whispered.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well," The woman seemed to be made of plants, said with a smile.

A dryad, I figured out after looking closer at the woman.

“I…. go by the name Flora. Please to meet you…… and this-” she gestured with her hands in the pixie’s direction, “--Is Silva…. A very close friend of mine.”

She spoke in a polite and dignified tone.

The way she spoke and moved gave off a feeling of formalness and confidence. She acted in a way that one might describe as noble.

But who was this person?

Okay, I knew her name was Flora, but I didn't know who she was or why she was talking to us. We were in a strange place, and I couldn't remember how we got there. And what about that girl we met earlier? Silva, was it?

Mia stared at Silva and scowled. She looked at her in a way that made me think she was sizing her up.

Her gaze then moved back to the dryad. She smiled thinly.

“No, the pleasure is all mine.” Mia curtsied. “My name is Mia Charlotte de Ortiz Bourbon, but you may call me Charlotte.”

“Ehjah! (Hello!)” The pixie, Silva exclaimed.

Flora turned her head and looked at Silva with a frown. The pixie looked away as a response almost as if shrinking away.

"Hjahe file ble gghjthewal (please don’t interrupt unnecessarily.)”

Flora reprimanded Silva. They exchanged a few words, and at that time I felt Mia was confused about something.

Mia tilted her head as she looked at the exchange.

[Quite rude] She said. [If they wished to speak in secret they should have done so at a later date. Speaking in another language while we are here is simply just ill-mannered.]

Another language?

[What? you don’t understand them?] I asked.

[…….] She paused, as though trying to understand the underlying context in my words. [You can?]

[Ummm… yeah…... the girl named Silva was just saying hello and Flora seemed to be mad about that.]

[You can speak fey language?] She asked, surprised.

[Ehh….. yeah? Wait, aren’t they speaking English?]

“hjahj (Sorry.)”

“Wjkell jhadlytioo lkjfg (I understand you want to talk to her, but we have to fix what you did first.)”

I realized that something was off. I pondered over the situation. How did everyone here know English? That didn’t make sense if I thought about it logically. I was in a different world, possibly very different from Earth. Why were there people, even fairies, speaking one specific language from my world?

[What is this language called……... E-English…. is that their speech?] Mia questioned.

Well, I was starting to think otherwise.

I felt our mouth curve into a frown, clenching and our eyes narrowing. It was apparent not only from our link that Mia was mad about something, but she didn’t voice it out.

“Miss Charlotte.” The woman named Flora called out to us.

She and the other girl seemed to be done, so we focused on them.

“I would like to offer a heartfelt apology for Silva’s actions. Though she may be a foolish girl, at heart she is a kind individual. I would be more than happy to help you attain the strength you had lost as a result of her thoughtless action.”

Mia frowned, twisting her face, as though she tasted something bitter. Her irritation had now turned to Flora.

"There is no need to apologize," She said flatly. "I lost and it’s as simple as that, there is no need for the victor to feel sorry for the loser. It is a much bigger salt to the wound than being mocked.”

Victor and loser huh? I guessed it wasn’t that much of a stretch to think we lost our fight with the pixie. But what did she do to us that made us lose consciousness?

“I see,” Flora replied. “But what does the other have to say about this?”

The other? Did she know about me? Since when?

“What do you mean?” Mia asked, trying to play dumb, but…

“I’m referring to the divine being residing inside you. Do they not have any thoughts on this matter?”

Divine being? Yep, I was busted.

[Should we switch?] I asked Mia.

[….. I don’t like her…...] She said before switching with me.

What was that all about? Well, whatever. This was my first interaction with a person in this world that wasn't trying to kill us. What should I say? What was I going to start off with? But, curious as to how she knew I was here…

“S-So you knew I was…... here?” I stuttered, my crippling social anxiety trying to show its ugly head, but I didn’t let it!

I coughed slightly. It was just like your usual life, like usual. Put your mask on. I looked into the dryad’s green eyes, making eye contact.

She smiled politely and gave me a slight bow and when she raised her head.

“Yes," She answered. "However, not at first. I only realized when I used my barrier."

“Barrier?”

“Ohh, my mistake. I suppose that an important one wouldn’t know the slang that this world uses. I used my mana to resonate with the surrounding space. It just so happened that the in-flex of your life force shifted differently from your vessel at that moment, thus allowing me to sense of your existence, as different.”

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??? What the hell was she talking about?

“Ehh…. What? I have no idea what you’re talking about…. So did you use like a spell or….”

I didn’t know what she was talking about but I was very interested. It had something to do with magic, so sure, I had to get more elaboration.

[Did you understand any of the things she said?] I asked Mia.

[Whether I understand or not is beside the issue here. You should have gone along with what she said so we could shift the conversation to who they are exactly and what their intentions are with us. Maintaining the misunderstanding should have been your first priority…… Now, we’re at an even more disadvantage than we were already in.]

[I’m—I’m…. I’m sorry? I didn’t know that…]

Flora stood in silence for several seconds as though trying to figure out something. Her eyes narrowed and her head tilted to the right.

“May I ask a question…… important one?”

“S-Sure?”

Mia sighed. It was the type of sigh that went along with clasping your own face while doing it.

"May I ask how old you are?"

“Ummm……... why, do you want to know?”

“Please forgive my curiosity. You’re a very mysterious and intriguing ‘important one’. I’ve encountered a few in my long life, but you’re the most unique out of all of them…… But if you do not wish to say anything, I understand…...”

As she continued speaking, my mind tuned out the rest of what she said. Did she know about other apostles? If so having her as an ally would be really great. I really needed information. But at the same time, Mia was right to not trust people we didn’t know. But they didn’t look that bad. They weren’t attacking us or seemed to be aggressive towards us in any way. Ahh… choices! But life was all about risks right?

“17…... I’m 17 years old I guess,” I interrupted her.

There was silence.

“Pardon?”

“I’m 17 years old.”

Her mouth fell in an 'O' shape and her eyes widened. My revelation appeared to have shocked her, but it was only momentary as she quickly covered up her shock and returned to her composed demeanor. What was that reaction?

“That’s how many years you’ve been as an important one?” She asked after taking a deep breath.

“Ohh… well, counting from when I woke…...and…… I would be about two days old, but I have no idea how long it’s been since Well, we fought…... Silva,” I said looking at the pixie.

Her face was stiff, but. “I-I see…... you’re very…. You’re very young, I might say.” She whispered.

She cupped her chin and stepped closer, looking into my eyes.

Her green eyes made me feel exposed. It was like they were looking through me, and glancing at my soul, at the real me. The soul Leo.

“I am very interested in your case. I wish I could bring you back to the sanctum right now. Figuring out how you can use a vampire as a vessel is a discovery that is too inconceivable. I cannot think of anyone who would be able to replicate what I am witnessing with my eyes. Did the god you serve help you in attaining this vessel? Because that is the only way I can explain what I am seeing.”

She held the side of my cheek and I couldn't help but feel flustered.

Too close!

I stepped away.

“Ohh my, my apologies. I was simply entranced by the intricacies of how your life force and curse merge with each other,” She said with embarrassment.

The pixie flew around us, humming and enjoying herself, completely carefree of the conversation we were having.

“Ahh no…. its-its fine. I was just a bit surprised.”

"Well either way I would really like it if you could stay at our home, well, for the duration till you attain back the life force you lost. Learning more about you would be of great benefit to both of us. I would get to learn about your body while you will get access to all the knowledge I have. I'm sure this would serve as a good enough apology for our mistake?"

Well, it didn’t sound that bad, but this ship was piloted by two people.

I wondered what Mia thought.

[So, what do you think?]

[Well, there aren't really that many options available to us, are there? I don't see any reason not to accept their offer. But aside from this, I would like to bring up another point. Even though the fey had good intentions, things won't always work out the same for every being we encounter. It wouldn’t be very wise to readily reveal your ignorance to strangers and to readily give out information to them.]

Well, I guess we both agreed then.

“The god you serve. Do you mind if I ask to which god you serve under?” Flora suddenly asked.

The god I served? Well, I didn’t see a problem with that, but

“Is giving her title alone, fine?”

“Ohh yes, of course,” her eyes widened, as she playfully exclaimed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way…... Trying to summon a god, out of convenience or by accident is the single most idiotic thing anyone could do. I would like to keep existing so I would especially like, if you reframed from using their true name, important one.”

Umm…. Okay? Good thing I hadn't done it up until now. But was calling a god's name that bad? I mean for me; I'd be annoyed if someone called me out for nothing, but that's all it'll end. I wouldn’t do anything else but warn the person I guess. I didn't think the goddess of chaos would be that upset considering her personality and the fact I would have a reason for calling her out. Namely, the fact that she reincarnated me as a monster.

Maybe I should call her out to complain. But what if she came without minding her presence again?

Yeah, that would be pretty bad.

Now, what were we talking about again? Ohh right! She wanted to know about the goddess.

“The goddess of chaos, that’s my…. Master? I guess, though it feels really weird to say--”

The air changed. A chill suddenly went down my spine. Before I could realize what was going on.

Mia took control. She jumped back. Fear, stress, and other related emotions came from her. Our eyes caught Flora's glowing form. Her body was enveloped in a translucent light green color. A radiation of power that even I could feel.

What caught my attention however was Flora’s face. Her expression. It had drastically changed, so that I couldn’t believe this was the same woman I was talking to not a second ago. It was cold. Bone-chilling and unwavering in animosity. That was the face of someone who was ready to kill.

Mia and Flora stood off, looking at each other. What was going on!? Silva flew in between us.

She said a few words to Flora asking her what was wrong and to calm down. Our eyes looked around, probably Mia looking to escape. But what was seriously happening?

The aura around Flora disappeared, and she changed back to normal almost as if nothing had ever happened. Flora bowed multiple times while stringing words of apology. She didn’t seem to want to fight now, but what was that all about?

“That was terrible of me. I cannot apologize enough–”

“It’s fine you can stop saying sorry,” I interrupted after I had managed to get back control. Mia was reluctant but had eventually agreed.

I was eventually able to stop her from apologizing and asked what had got her so riled up.

“Unpleasant” was what she said.

She didn’t explain more about what she meant, and didn’t seem to want to talk about it, she simply requested to have some time alone with Silva. They moved, leaving us alone.

[That’s the danger of throwing out information aimlessly,] Mia warned but said nothing else.

Looking around the nightmarish scene around would have been one that made one’s stomach turn. It was worse than the one I saw when I came to this world.

However, despite the clearly gruesome sight of body parts spread around everywhere, I still didn’t feel the need to throw up or be disgusted. I felt nothing, as empty as the other sense I used to have. It was still surreal that I didn’t feel temperature or pain like I was numb throughout my whole body.

I looked down and wiped the blood off of my chest with my right hand. Most of the red liquid had dried up and didn’t smell as tantalizing as when it flowed from the target.

The warmth, exhilaration, and indescribable pleasure that came from drinking that red nectar made my mouth water. The simple recollection of drinking blood made me unconsciously lick my hand, but the blood did not bring the feeling I wanted. It did not blast me with stimulations I had taken for granted when I was still alive. It did not make me feel warm, it did not make my heart race, it did not stimulate my tongue, nor did it make me tingle all over.

My head turned to the people that were still chained up behind me.

I was sure that they could provide that blood. They wouldn’t mind, right?

I walked forward looking at a woman that was dressed in dirty rags, but relatively healthy. She wouldn't have minded right? I only wanted a sip, I wasn't going to take that much. A healthy human body could survive even if 40 percent of its blood was taken, or was that the limit?

As I approached, the crowd dispersed and left the woman alone. She was kneeling on the ground, leaning against the wagon. Her body trembled and her face was full of fear. I was about to touch her, but I hesitated. Our eyes met, and I saw my own reflection in her tear-filled eyes.

Red eyes. That was the first thing I noticed about myself. Glowing, feline eyes that unsettled me as much as they did her. A face that would have been stunningly beautiful by my world’s standards, was now distorted and unnatural, consumed by hunger and a predatory gaze.

What was I doing? I asked myself, pulling back my hand. I stood stunned for a few seconds, wondering what had possessed me. Did I really consider taking blood from someone? Come on, Leo, you should have much better self-control than that. I looked at the woman, seeing her as a person and not as a convenient snack. She had long brown hair that was dirty and messy and a face that showed signs of age and experience.

[I suppose that hypocrite is one of the things we can mark off your list, but you should have at least taken a small bite. I wouldn't have said anything,] Mia said with a snicker, but I ignored her.

I crouched and reached for her, making her whimper and shut her eyes. I grabbed the chains and yanked them towards me, and with my other hand, I tore the iron chain apart after some effort of pulling. I did the same for both her wrists and ankles. Looking around, I went on to do the same for everyone that was there.

When I was done I had a group of frightened people staring at me nonstop.

“It’s alright, you’re all safe. I’m not going to hurt you,” I said, but even with my prompting they still looked at me with fear.

It was understandable. I mean, if they saw us massacre a bunch of people who were their friends? Travel companions?

I paused and looked around again, looking at the campfire surrounded by blood stains and dismembered bodies, and back at the people who were chained.

Why were women and children chained up in the first place? Who were these people? Where were we?

I blinked multiple times, confused. Mia, however, seeming to understand the question in my head, Mia cleared it up.

[Their slaves, were most likely acquired through illicit means, considering they belonged to a band of ruffians. Such lowly humans barely had anything of value, I doubted they could afford to purchase slaves. Perhaps these wretches were stolen from somewhere, or rather someone. And for us to be resurrected using bandits. It indicated that it had been a long time since our near-death ordeal. Blast, we ought to consult the spirits about our whereabouts.]

Their slaves? I thought as I looked at them. I guessed we were in another world, so I should have expected something like slavery to still exist.

The sound of footsteps reached my ears and I turned my head towards the direction it was coming from.

The small girl from before, along with a young boy, froze in their tracks. They were approaching me but when I looked at them they seemed to have second thoughts. They started backing away returning to the group. I looked at them confused. Did they want to say something?

Looking at them closely I realized they were shaking, not just from fear but also from the cold. It was a night out, and they were half-naked, they were obviously freezing. My eyes moved to the fire behind me, and it was obvious what they wanted. I moved to the fire and tried to remove as many of the corpses as I could, by throwing them into the woods. Halfway through my clean-up, I realized I was wasting the cloth on the bodies if I just threw them away.

Though I didn’t need the clothes, there were people in desperate of heat.

I recovered what clothes were still intact and didn’t have too much blood on them.

When I was done the two kids were already warming up at the fire while everybody else was still shivering at the wagons.

Were they serious? I wasn’t going to do anything to them if they came to enjoy the fire.

I looked at them with a frown.

Maybe they were still disturbed about the blood? But they’d choose to freeze instead? The was no way I could get rid of the blood that was socked into the ground.

They were probably still afraid of me.

“YO!” I yelled out. “Like I said for the third time. I’m not going to do anything to you guys. You can walk to the fire as well…...”

And the was no response. Okay, what was I going to do to stop them from freezing to death?

As I reasoned away to move them, Mia suddenly took control of the body.

She snarled and fixed her gaze on the group of people.

“Do not provoke my wrath, humans. I have shown you more than enough leniency by repeating myself multiple times. But there is a limit to how much insolence I can endure. Drag yourselves to the fire. If you wish to perish by the cold, you do not have to wait that long. I would gladly tear out, and chew your throat like the sheep you are!”

They moved, almost running as they went to the campfire. I took over as soon as I was able to, trying to prevent Mia from acting good on her promise, but luckily, no one stayed behind.

[You know there was no need to threaten them, right?]

[I do not threaten, I merely warn. I was irritated by their lack of respect for you, despite your generous treatment of them.]

I was stunned by Mia’s words. Did she actually care for me? As if sensing my thoughts, she spoke again.

[Do not misunderstand, I loathe you as much as anyone, but… in the end, you are still a part of me, even if I despise you. I will not tolerate anyone insulting me, even if it is a vexing part of me.]

Ohh… I guessed that made sense.

I looked at the pile of clothes in my hand. There was only a single pair that could fit me, and the rest were too big, or too ruined to use.

When did Flora and Silva say they would come back?

My eyes moved to where I saw them, and they were still there talking. I couldn't hear them for some reason, despite having the ability to hear from miles away. Maybe they were using some kind of magic.

I handed the rest of the clothes to the group and put on the ones I had picked. They were simple brown pants and a white tunic with blood stains as a bonus. How lovely.

I had claimed they would fit me, but I was mistaken. The pants barely reached my knees. Who on earth had worn this before? They were too short for me. I considered going back to the group and looking for something else, but I didn’t want to scare them again.

But, what was I going to do?

As I thought, I ran my fingers over my chin. I folded my arms, deep in thought, but then I noticed my chest. I wasn't accustomed to the extra mass on me. I glanced at the bumps on the tunic. They were not very large, but that was okay. I preferred them to someone else anyway.

Then an idea struck me at that moment.

I had figured out how I was going to deal with the tight, short pants.

I closed my eyes and used the power that felt more natural to me than my own body was.

Like before I did not feel any change, but when I opened my eyes. My point of view was much lower and when I patted my chest, it was as smooth as they come. There were no more claws and my skin was… well, still pale, but compared to before right now I could have been passed off as a really sick human. The pants were still short, but better than what they were before.

I guessed being 5,4 feet tall wasn’t always so bad sometimes.

“My apologies to have kept you waiting,” Flora’s voice came from behind causing me to jump.

[How do they get through our senses so easily?] Mia complained.

I looked back to see her standing there with Silva on her shoulder. The pixie waved at me vigorously with a somewhat stupid grin on her face. From how she spoke the first time I met her, I guessed she had a childish personality if she wasn’t a child that is. I waved back while looking back to Flora.

The dryad had raised an eyebrow, probably at my changed body, but never mentioned anything about it. She instead pointed in a direction down the road.

“Shall we guide you to our home, important one?” She asked, her calm demeanor having returned.