Jack just told me that 'someone' waits for me at the front of the church but not who or when they expect me there. I take this opportunity to make a detour to the library to return some old books and borrow new ones. I want to borrow some more books than before but the librarian tells me each customer is only allowed to borrow 10 books at the same time. Pity, but I'm not arguing about that.

I arrive at the church and one nun is standing in front of it. She approaches me, "am I right to presume that you are Jared?"

"That I am. I was told someone wanted to see me, would that be you?"

"Oh, no, the sister awaiting you is a very busy person. I'm just here to welcome you. Please wait a moment. I'll get her."

"Alright. Though I've no idea why this person asked for me specifically. I'm no one special."

"I'm sorry, I was not informed of the reason. It is best if you ask her yourself. Excuse me, it'll only be a moment."

"Certainly."

The nun goes into the church. I hide myself in the shade of a nearby tree. After a few minutes, a familiar face comes back for me, "Ah, Jared! Couldn't get enough of me so you had to come and see me? Hehe~"

"Hi, Lucia. Are you the 'important' person that wanted to meet me?"

"Yes. Well, actually there's a different person I want you to meet."

"And here I thought you had come around to my charms. Mind telling me who this person is?"

"Someone who is not long for this world..."

"Ah, so you want to introduce me to one of your parents before they pass on."

"...please don't make such a joke. You know that we commoners aren't allowed to have a family. Now come, it is quite a distance to there."

We start walking and continue talking on the way, "Sorry I was not aware of that. Where does that restriction on 'family' come from?"

"Powerhungry nobles. Some of them even made a sport of hunting down commoners that formed a proper family. Because of that most grow up in an orphanage and do not learn what parents or a family are until they are at least 12 years."

"That... would explain a thing or two. Is that a widespread problem?"

"Basically everywhere. Some areas like this one are technically spared by not having any noble in charge but it has been so ingrained into our culture that couples break up once the woman gets pregnant."

"What a loveless world..."

"Tell me about it..."

"So who are we meeting then?"

"One of our church's biggest donors. She's sick and we can't cure her no matter what we try."

"I don't see how that relates to me. You know that I can't use cure because of... my condition."

"Not specifically you. She was just always very curious about myths and legends, and here we have a live silver elf, supposed to be extinct or never have been real in the first place."

"As long as you keep silent about the mythical vampire part."

"Why would vampires be mythical? There are several of them around. Too many of them, if you ask me."

"There were none where I'm from. Not that we didn't have other 'monsters' instead. But seriously, do you really think this is a good idea? You know what effect your... skill has on me and I'm not too keen on finding out what the unreadable part of it is."

"I'm confident you can deal with that. But if not, well, it would just mean my oracle came true. So, uh, win-win?"

"What did I tell you just a couple of days ago?"

"Right, sorry. It is just... as long as I have my divine class I will get pressured into following the path set out for me..."

(I doubt this is something I can change even if I make her a familiar.)

(I hate to tell you this, Jared, but you can't save everyone. Not even your sweetheart.)

(Drop it!)

"So if you don't see a way to avoid the fatal outcome why not say 'screw it' and live your remaining days to the fullest?"

"That's not that easy. I can't just abandon those that rely on me."

"So duty-bound to the bitter end?"

"Pretty much."

"You really need to learn to live a little."

"Says the walking corpse."

"Touché."

After that, we just have some more small talk until we arrive at our destination, a collective accommodation. The woman we are to visit lives in a small two-room apartment or whatever the medieval equivalent is called.

"Hi, it's me, Lucia, I brought our guest. Can we come in?"

"Yes, please."

"Hello", I greet her as well.

"So it was true, you have actually found a silver elf."

"What?", Lucia pouts, "you didn't believe me?"

"So what am I to do now?"

"Nothing much *cough* I just wanted to see a silver elf before I leave this mortal coil."

Name Maude Status sick: reaper plague (TTL: ~4 days) Age 31 Classes Merchant 18, Smith 17 Race Grey Dwarf 17 Extra none HP 1298/1298 [2596] MP 0/0 SP 0/1402 [2804] STR 218 [437] DEX 221 [442] VIT 210 [420] MAG 27 [54] FTH 18 [37] WIL 119 [239] CHA 206 [413] Equipment none Skills Earth Resistance 17, Hard Worker 17, Physical Resistance 17 Weakness Wind

It says she's a dwarf but I can just see a sickly old grandma in front of me.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

She does look very old for a supposed thirty-one years... is that a side effect of the illness?

"May I ask what this illness is you have? I've never heard of that one."

Lucia scolds me, "are you peeking again?!"

"...maybe."

"Hoho, to be young", the old woman is seemingly amused.

You received a party invitation from Lucia.

Accept?

"Can you please accept the invitation and then appraise her again? That way I can look as well. Appraisal windows are shared between party members."

"So much for no peeking."

"Just do it, please?"

(Good to know that I SHOULDN'T appraise monsters willy-nilly during the weekly dungeon visit. Wait, shouldn't they have gotten a flood of appraisals after I left the dungeon?)

(Maybe it is limited by range? Or just some weird interaction that blocks it for them while they were frozen in time from our point of view.)

(This world gives me a headache...)

You've entered a party with Lucia.

Party size: 2/7

I use [Appraisal] again.

"Reaper plague, I know that one. There's... no known cure for it."

"But aren't plagues highly contagious?"

"What are you talking about? It is just a name. It doesn't mean anything."

(What.)

(Don't ask me. I've given up on making sense of this world.)

(Same. At least I now know that illnesses are not just mundane versions of status effects, meaning they can't be cured by regular cure magic.)

(And it only took one incoming death of a random person we never met before.)

(Too soon, Elly. Too. Soon.)

Lucia goes to the old lady, "Maude can I speak with you in private for a moment?"

"Alright, alright, I'm going. I'll wait outside for you. Okay?"

"Yes, please do that."

"What do you want to talk about, Lucia, dear?"

And I've already left the room before their private conversation goes anywhere.

(I still don't get what the point of this trip was. Lucia should've known that I can't cast cure magic.)

(It probably just is as she said. You're a silver elf, a race said to be extinct, and the old lady wanted to see one before she buys the farm.)

(Maybe that's enough for her but it only makes me depressed. If I hadn't insisted on immortality I might've been able to do something.)

(I doubt it. You said it yourself regular cure magic doesn't seem to suffice for illnesses, at least for this one. You wouldn't have made a difference here. And it is more important what long-term differences you can make.)

(And the situation with Chloe tells me the changes I've made aren't necessarily for the better.)

(...see it as an investment?)

(Investment? So you mean a price that other people have to pay? Yeah, that fits.)

The door to Maude's house opens again, Lucia comes out, "can you go and talk with Maude a bit? It seems... those are her last minutes, so can you do her this favor, please? It would mean a lot to me."

"Right, I can do at least this much."

Lucia smiles for some reason. With her, I can't tell if it is because she's happy that I do the old lady this favor or because Lucia has tricked me again.

I go back in to Maude and close the door behind me, "You wanted to talk with me?"

"Lucia has told me what you really are."

"...and you're not afraid?"

"Why would I be? I'll be dead in a few days anyway."

"Ok, now what?"

"I want you to drink my blood. As I said I'm not long for this world anyway and if my sacrifice can go to some good use it is something I'm willing to do."

"That's... quite sudden."

"Hmpf, let me tell you. Life rarely goes like we want. If it did I would've had a child with the man I loved but it wasn't meant to be. Anyway, there's one final thing I want to ask of you. Please take good care of Lucia. She's... like a child to me. If we were allowed to have those... argh, you know what I mean."

"I think she doesn't need my help. But if she wants it I won't say no. Any final goodbyes?"

She shakes her head, "no. Just get it over with before I change my mind."

"Alright. Then... good night and have a safe journey on the other side."

I do as she asked and bite her, drink her blood until it stops flowing. After that, I lie her on her bed. If it wasn't for the bite wounds you could think she had peacefully passed away in her sleep.

I hear a whisper behind the door, "...with that, I guess he passes."

I wipe away the tears from my eyes and open the door, "and what would you mean by that?"

"Eep, don't surprise me like that!"

"You weren't exactly silent with your eavesdropping."

"..."

"So what exactly have I 'passed'?"

"...I wanted to know what you really are. I had a suspicion but I wasn't sure."

"We had already established that I'm a vampire on our first meeting."

"I mean aside from hungry."

"Strange I thought you were some variant of human. Didn't know I was talking to a Sass Elemental the whole time."

"I think that you are more than 'just another vampire'. If I had to bet my money would be on 'Lost Child'."

"Don't be ridiculous. My sense of direction isn't that bad."

"I'm serious."

"Ok, I bite. Well, in the figurative sense this time. What gives you that idea?"

"Several things actually."

"This better be good."

"First you should've instinctively known that undead never get their prayers answered, yet you went and tried anyway."

"...I'm not the smartest person?"

"You knew the name of our god just from seeing the statue, hardly anyone not in the upper ranks knows it, pronunciation notwithstanding. Or you know that there's not only one god but two and you knew the name of the second as well."

"Maybe I was a cleric before I got turned?"

"I think you have the wrong class for that. How about Maude didn't scream from the pain of you biting her? To my knowledge, the bite of a regular vampire is highly painful. The skill needed to change that is only available with a higher vampire rank."

"That seems unrelated to your main point."

"Not if we add that you are too 'sane'. You try and understand how this 'Holy Maiden' business affects me, you try to help me, encourage me. As futile as it is."

"And if I was just trying to trick you?"

"Also you used appraisal without having enough MP", she says dismissively, "and saw my divine class with it, which is impossible without a title only the gods can personally grant. So there's that."

"...fine, you win. Now what?"

"I honestly didn't think I'd get this far. I expected you to try harder to keep it a secret."

"Emphasis on try. Your [Undead Bait] skill still messes too much with my head."

"Upper or lower?"

Embarrassed I have to admit, "...both."

"What I don't get is why are you a monster? According to the records of the churches, the previous thirty 'Lost Ones' were either variations of humans or elves. Some theorize there were also dwarves among them but no proof either way."

"Did you just say thirty?"

"Yes, why?"

"...when I talked with Jeff he hinted that I'd be number sixty coming here."

"You talked with a god personally!?", she starts fangirling, "What was he like!!?"

"Honestly? Relatively normal just plenty overworked."

"Huh, not what I expected."

"Was the same for me. Who would have thought that the guys in charge of the entire universe are just people like you and me. Now, could you please promise me that this whole thing stays between us?"

"Yeah, if word got out that even gods can suffer from overwork -"

"I meant the 'Lost One' business."

"...right, if I have to. But think about it. People would be way more willing to help you if they knew about it."

(I agree with her, 'Seiya'. Now that the secret is out can you PLEASE tell at least Chloe as well?)

"Yeah, sure. It's not like you've already tricked me two or three times."

"Hmm... should be at least four times now?"

"See? Between you being that unreliable and the missing twenty-nine former 'Lost Ones' this... is not a risk I'm willing to take."

"Fine, fine. Under one condition. Can you please show me the holy symbol that comes with being a 'Lost One'? I've always wanted to see the real deal once in my life."

"I guess that can't hurt."

I stretch out my hand and will the signal into existence. In the air above my hand appears a blue glow with a few symbols in it dancing around.

(Did those symbols just read '1337%π=w'?)

(That is the question and you know the answer.)

(42? And what is that supposed to MEAN?)

(Dunno, ask Gzeph when they get the phone line fixed.)

(Well, if you get the question that easily it would explain why everything is so utterly bizarre around here...)

She grins, "and that's five."

"Ok, how this time?"

"Oh, nothing big. Only that a head priest or something should receive an oracle about the arrival of a 'Lost Child' soonish? Nothing to worry about for you."

"I swear I'll get you back for this..."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I swear I will keep silent about you. I'm just... happy that I got to meet a living legend before my time is up."

"Keep talking like this up and I'll personally send you to the afterlife."

"There are certainly worse ways to go, I'll... keep that offer in mind."

"I'd rather keep you around alive. You're only like the fifth-worst girl to have around from those that I've talked to since I got here."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Okay, but seriously, keep the whole 'Lost One' business to yourself. If people found out... well, best case they'd force us two to be in the same party as the hero eventually. You know how risky your skill is with undead like me around."

"Yeah, I'll... take it with me to the grave."

"I don't like that phrasing, Lucia."

We chat a bit more on the way back to the church and after bringing her home I go home as well.