Suddenly the street grew dark. The visibility hadn't been great earlier either, but the fog that suddenly arrived was so thick that even ten meters ahead appeared hazy. However, the people in the market street carried on with their daily lives as if this fog was familiar. Because the fog was not their enemy, and they believed that those hiding within it would not harm them.
Something appeared through the cracks of that peaceful daily life. Baldamir of the Red Blood Palace, who had brought the fog, approached with a bowed head.
"Progenitor. Excuse me."
"What is it, Baldamir?"
'I told you not to disturb me since I was going out with Hwi.'
Tir answered with a hint of displeasure. But even that was brief. Baldamir produced a pouch thick with coins and a red rod.
"While you were sleeping, a few things have changed. I will explain the details later, so please use this instead of gold coins."
"What is this?"
"A recently introduced currency, Red Blood Coins. They were forged from the allied nations' gold coins mixed with blood."
Even though the coins were inside the pouch, Tir could discern their number and type through Blood Manipulation Art. She also intuitively grasped how valuable they were. It was a coin made solely for vampires, one that only vampires could create. To a vampire with the Blood Manipulation Art, the blood mixed into the coins would feel like their own body.
Tch. Can't even pickpocket a vampire here. While I clicked my tongue at the advancement of technology, Baldamir presented another item.
"This is a Blood Ink Pen given only to those of Ain rank or higher. Should you ever be thirsty or need something, please write with this. Anything written with this ink, whether human or vampire, will do their utmost to fulfill."
Baldamir seemed accustomed to Tir, who had slept for a long time and was unfamiliar with worldly affairs. It was too useful a support for Tir to be displeased. Tir accepted the coins and pen while responding.
"Good work."
"It is merely my duty. Then, please enjoy your first outing in a long while."
Leaving a brief farewell, Baldamir melted into the darkness and vanished in an instant. Tir looked in the direction Baldamir had disappeared with a dissatisfied expression.
'My dominion over blood has weakened, so I failed to notice Baldamir's approach. Regaining my heart is a bit inconvenient at times like this. Since I gave strict orders, Baldamir won't be watching me, but...'
Before reclaiming her heart, Tir's reach extended across the entire Abyss, but now she could only sense the blood near her body. She only just learned that the money they used contained blood.
She gained dominion over her own body but lost dominion beyond it. To gain one thing is to lose another. Just as ordinary humans do, Tir felt a fleeting regret for the dominion she had lost.
But that's not what's important right now. I took Tir's hand. Tir flinched at the sudden contact. Through our touching hands, we could feel the blood moving. Both I and Tir.
Tir felt the blood flow more vividly. All the more precious for its narrowness.
"Our pockets are full now, shall we go? We should indulge in luxury with someone else's money."
Tir asked in return.
"...Am I 'someone else'?"
"Everything in the world is either self or other. What kind of 'other' matters."
"What kind of other?"
There are things lost, but also things gained. Something more precious than anything else to Tir.
Emotion. To Tir, who had desired a stirring she couldn't even control herself, it granted a small wish.
"An other with whom I share a heart."
"...So it is."
"Now then, shall we go? Let's teach the innkeeper a lesson that one shouldn't judge people by money."
"I'm not sure if that can be called a lesson."
The fog had subsided from the street before I knew it. Holding Tir's hand, I headed back to the eatery.
The fog had cleared, and the innkeeper was back to calling out for customers. I discarded my earlier servile attitude and held my head high. The innkeeper recognized me and made a hostile expression.
"That beggar from earlier? What, did you get some money... Gasp! This is! Red Blood Coins...!"
What a materialistic human. His attitude flipped the moment he saw money. Toward him, whose body seemed to have grown heavy, I replied coldly.
"Enough. Food."
"Oh my, certainly! How many servings would you like!"
"Two servings."
"Uh, wait. Then, the change..."
"Keep the rest on your chest. Never again look down on people who look like they have no money."
Overwhelmed by my completely transformed demeanor as I tossed the Red Blood Coins, the innkeeper slumped down on the floor. With a confident yet not arrogant bearing, I collected the plates and turned around. Leaving behind a single Red Blood Coin.
I thought I could hear the sound of an eagle flying away somewhere. I returned to Tir and held out the plates.
"Here. You hold one too, Tir."
"You carry both. I have no need to eat."
"No, I want you to hold it. I'm going to eat both."
Handing it over as if forcing it on her, Tir accepted it with a sullen face. With my free hand, I frantically devoured the food on the plate. The sauce soaked into the piping hot meat spreads throughout my mouth. The desire to savor this taste more clashes with the urge to swallow it immediately and make it part of my body. I wanted to swallow it in one gulp, but considering my body's condition, I chewed as thoroughly as possible.
Humans were originally carnivores. A tremendous sense of satisfaction arose as if asserting that very fact. It feels as though the holes in my body are being filled with the same meat. Even the salty sauce amidst it all gave me a sense of fulfillment. The sensation of filling my body with the flesh and blood of another life. This was a pleasure beyond comparison in itself.
To think such meat was piled up enough to feed everyone. The Principality, perhaps it's a good country?
Seeing me eat so deliciously without saying a word, Tir grumbled with dissatisfaction.
"Maintain some dignity. Who eats so gluttonously while walking through a market street?"
"Ordinary people all eat like this while walking. If we're going incognito, we should act ordinary."
"Why must you follow the example of the lowly ones of all people. With such lack of dignity, how can I boast that you are my honored guest anywhere? One who receives precious treatment should maintain an attitude befitting it..."
Whatever was so dissatisfying made her words grow longer and longer. Having emptied one plate, I considered tossing it casually but felt it would be wrong, so I transformed it into a card and stuffed it into my pocket. Unable to watch, Tir scolded me once more.
"You're putting a food-stained thing in your pocket? Won't your pants get dirty with grease when we return?"
"I handled it quite well. Where else would I throw it away around here?"
"Just throw it by the roadside. Someone will surely clean it up."
Tir grumbled while handing me the remaining plate. But they say putting food in your mouth and after putting it in are different. After emptying one plate, when I actually tried to eat another, my hand suddenly wouldn't move. Perhaps it's because putting food in an empty stomach makes it ache a little.
Ugh, what do I do. Can't just throw it away. If Aji were here, she'd handle the scraps... Oh, as a substitute?
"Eating alone makes me feel self-conscious. Would you like to have some too, Tir?"
"...Are you passing it to me because you can't eat any more?"
"Come on, of course not. Normally you eat somewhat tasty things alone, but truly delicious food makes you want to share it. I want to share this joy with you too, Tir."
"Joy or whatever, I cannot taste anything."
'But they say family is those who share meals together. Even though I have this kind of body, should I at least go through the motions.'
It's known that vampires cannot eat food, but that's not true. Since vampires have teeth and throats, they can mechanically chew food and swallow it down. However, that food doesn't assimilate into the body and only defiles the blood, so they simply avoid putting it in their mouths if possible.
If forced to eat, it's not impossible. Tir said.
"They say even the taste of wine changes depending on who serves it. Very well, let me see if what you offer is somehow different."
"Wait a moment. It feels a bit off to give it by hand, so I'll pick it up with a card."
"Enough, just give it to me directly by hand."
When I stopped taking out the card and looked at her, Tir hastily added.
"You'll need insurance, won't you? If it doesn't taste good, I'll bite your finger instead and take your blood."
"You said my blood tastes bad?"
"Even tasteless blood would be better than this."
I don't want any more blood taken from me. But it can't be helped. Shall I make it taste good?
Tir opened her mouth slightly. It was amusing how she only revealed a small gap, trying to maintain her dignity even in this situation. I carefully rolled a strand of meat as instructed and placed it at Tir's mouth.
She couldn't feel taste. What Tir felt was only the heavy sensation on her tongue. The sensation of knowing something was there, simply because it existed. That was the only sensation permitted to Tir...
Until now.
"Now, become delicious. Become delicious."
"?!"
A thin thread of lightning flowed along my fingers. The magnitude of the power was embarrassingly small. The only thing worth boasting was its minuteness and precision; this weak force could only tickle Tir's body.
So I tickled it. To a body where all sensation had died, I forced it using the power of the Demon God.
"Ugh...!"
'It tickles... It tickles? Me?'
This works. Well, there was a possibility ever since I made the heart beat.
But the difference is, having encountered the Demon God, the current me has gone beyond simply making it "beat."
The thread of lightning forcefully flows along dead nerves. This electrical current, finer than the smallest insect, is too weak to harm the body. Instead, it spreads like a spider web and then converges to a single point. It directly pounds the sensation they hadn't been able to feel until now—'taste'—into the brain.
Tir felt taste. A portion of the sensation she had lost hundreds of years ago.
"How's the taste? You should be able to feel it now."
"Hwi, Hwi-...!"
Tir felt the ticklishness and twisted her body. Among the sensations she had discarded after barely using, the most luxurious sensation had returned to torment her. It wasn't real, just a brief flash I had sent her, but that human part put Tir to the test.
She could feel the taste. Not whether the body accepted it when drinking blood, but a taste purely craved by the tongue. While feeling anxious at the sensation shaking her body, Tir couldn't easily pull away. The sensation she had regained after so long was like a childhood memory—somewhat embarrassing yet hazy, and she didn't want to lose it again.
Having felt the taste, Tir instinctively tried to chew what was in her mouth. But I had no intention of losing more of my already insufficient blood, so I quickly withdrew my finger. The thread of lightning that had stimulated Tir's senses withdrew. The taste that had wrapped around her tongue also lost its color.
Tir hastily covered her mouth. Looking up at me with an expression of disbelief, Tir was bewildered as if someone had stolen her lips.
"Hwi... What is this...?"
"It's the power of the Demon God I obtained from Claudia. I didn't expect it to be this effective, though."
"You, what on earth..."
Confused, Tir belatedly looked around. Passersby had stopped walking and were staring at Tir and me. Some were simply curious, but a sharp-eyed few glanced this way half-believing, half-doubting.
Vampires, whether liked or not, exude a distinctive atmosphere. Furthermore, their numbers were so few that they were easy to identify. Let alone a vampire as beautiful and distinctive as Tir—she was unique, so she couldn't help but attract attention.
"Let us leave this place for now."
"Huh? I haven't finished eating yet."
"We'll eat elsewhere, hurry!"
There was no particular reason to flee, yet Tir unilaterally enveloped us in darkness and led me away.