Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Rabbit and Pigeon - 2
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I spread out the map together with Angela, who had slipped in through the window.
"Could you tell me which one it was, by any chance?"
This wasn't the old map, of course. It was based on observations from the Lord's army and outsourced Climbers. We'd always needed precise surveys to lay down roads.
Angela's eyes widened as she looked at the recently made map.
"Wow...! The surrounding terrain is marked in such detail."
"Now that this area's under my management too."
"So that's why the Climbers and the Savior's army kept going back and forth to scout it out."
Angela nodded.
She still hadn't mastered reading maps, so she hesitated for a moment, tracing the paper with her finger. But soon enough, she oriented herself around the familiar holy site and pinpointed each village's location. Then she pointed to the one farthest out.
"Here. This is the Plate Village, the closest of the seven villages to the Valley of Wailing."
"Plate Village?"
"Yeah. The soil around here makes the best plates."
"What's the Valley of Wailing like?"
Angela pursed her lips into a cave-like shape and let out an "Ooooh."
"Just getting near it, you hear wind that sounds like people wailing like this. Damp air blows through too. Even the patrols from the Pilgrimage Office and Heresy Inquisition call it the 'Boundary of the Earth' and won't go any closer."
"..."
The soil changes abruptly,
a land untouched by the layer's civilization.
The border where everyone lives without paying it much mind.
It felt strangely familiar.
'They call this the Boundary of the Earth too.'
I marked the Watermill Village and the spot with a small check.
They even lined up in a straight shot from Watermill Village to Plate Village. No matter how I looked at it, this screamed early-game and late-game quest lines.
"..."
'The start and end of the layer, snake statues starting to appear recently. First found in Watermill Village when the King of Storms withdrew. Reappeared in Plate Village when his forces returned...'
No matter how I sliced it,
this was plenty to qualify as a key quest clue for the layer.
'I've cleared the main quest on easy mode, so now's the time to leverage a world quest. Might as well take a quick peek.'
"..."
That was as far as my thoughts went.
I pondered for a bit.
Should I rally and go with the Climbers, or not?
Going together was overwhelmingly safer, of course. But more people meant more noise. I worried some shady faction might catch wind of it.
'Black robes spotted near the holy site—Black Church grunts might be lurking in one of the villages. With the snake statue just discovered, they could be near Plate Village.'
Which meant, without Niva, the obvious choice to cover this distance was...
I looked at Angela.
"..."
"?"
*
Angela, who'd just come back from patrol and should have been exhausted, surprisingly agreed without much fuss. She just had one condition: she wanted my blood.
'But carving with a knife to collect a bottle's worth would take time—'
That's when she suggested a pretty simple alternative.
"There's a method for emergencies. It's just... a bit wasteful on precious grain." -!
'I've got grain overflowing, so let's do it now.'
Following her instructions,
I was in a corner of the Climber's Hall kitchen, kneading boiled barley.
My hand had a gash about an inch long, soaked in blood. Naturally, the barley mixed right in, turning into a gruesome mess of bloody rice balls.
Squish.
Squish.
"..."
With grateful feelings,
pouring in my thanks to Angela...
'Thanks for always helping, thanks for the late-night taxi with Abel, thanks for showing me your avant-garde wings, thanks for being born a pink chick.'
For the record, I liked pink chicks in mobile games too, so that last one was sincere.
Thanks,
thanks,
thanks—.
Squish.
Squish.
And so I made Angela her quick meal. But maybe I put too much heart into it? The stinging pain from the wound made a groan slip out before I knew it.
"Tch..."
"..."
Angela, watching from the side, looked apologetic. But she needed to eat fast and head out for overtime, so I held out the rice ball.
"Like this?"
"Ah, yes! Thank you!"
Bloody barley rice balls.
They looked like something a yandere high school girl would hand her crush—a food from hell.
'I'd call the cops on the spot if I got one of these.'
Well...
I was the cop in my past life.
Anyway.
But Angela nibbled away at the monstrous-looking rice ball. Her eyes even went wide as she nodded eagerly, like a college girl devouring tasty mala tang.
"Mmm...!"
"Sit and eat it slowly."
We took a break in a quiet corner of the Climber's Hall at midnight. I never thought I'd experience being a yandere high school girl for a day—my SAN value was dropping, and I felt drained.
'Who knew mixing in blood would let her eat grain too.'
Not as efficient as pure blood, of course.
But great as a cup-rice-style quick meal, she said.
'Probably because she still has human digestive organs. Though the gratitude aspect feels religious too...'
While I spaced out pondering vampires, the legendary-blood-infused yandere rice ball must've been a delicacy—Angela polished it off and eyed my hand, swallowing hard.
"Gulp—."
"..."
I held out both hands.
"This okay too?"
"Yes! If you offer it, gladly!"
I hadn't even said to eat it.
But like a street pigeon, Angela shoved her face into my hands and lapped at them greedily with her tongue.
-Slurp
-Smooch smooch
-Hng! Heeng—.
"..."
'Guess that means it's that good.'
Very refined sounds.
But weirdly, no lewd thoughts crossed my mind. Probably similar to feeding pigeons in the park after failing the civil service exam.
'Her fangs are long, so it scrapes a bit painfully.'
Come to think of it, both Abel and Angela had those movie-vampire fangs, but I'd never seen them used right.
'They prefer drinking from plates or cups.'
So I absentmindedly asked.
"Angela."
She answered in her squatting, embarrassed pose, still licking my palm.
"Nyeng...?"
"Can't you just sink your fangs into the neck and suck directly? Seems more efficient."
"!"
Thud—!
My casual question made her topple backward. She stared at me with a flushed face, her crimson eyes glowing faintly as she asked back.
"M-my... my fangs!?"
"Yeah."
"Th-that, that's..."
"What's wrong?"
"Y-you, it's too... too—."
She covered her face with both hands.
"It's too lewd."
"..."
"Sucking blood directly from someone's vein with your own teeth, when it's not offered in good faith...! That's not a meal—it's just indulgence in physical pleasure."
"..."
Ah.
Um.
Okay.
'Vampire sensibilities are beyond me.'
I gave up trying to understand. As I nodded and went to wipe my hands on my pants, Angela grabbed them and prayed.
"Ah, hold on. Blessing of Life."
Fwaaah!
Light burst out, and the inch-long gash healed rapidly.
'Right, she's a priest too.'
A saint using heals felt so off.
Regardless of my sense of dissonance,
Angela wiped the saliva and residual blood from my palm with her white sleeve. The red stains on her own sleeve faded away too.
'She can absorb through skin to some extent.'
Vampires were a fascinating race the more I learned.
'But why blood specifically?'
Blood was just bodily fluid, after all.
Minus platelets and cells, it was plain fluid. If those weren't essential...
Could other fluids or proteins work? Like hair, dead skin, saliva. Or sem—.
My thoughts stopped there.
The curious pink girl smiled brightly and suggested.
"All clean now. Shall we head out?"
"Yeah, let's."
I halted my rude curiosity. Any further, and I'd turn into a yandere influencer high school girl.
*
Whoosh—!
Under the moonlight,
the avant-garde wings with hundreds of eyes flapped.
Angela asked from behind.
"Anywhere uncomfortable, Savior?"
"I'm good. Keep focused like this."
"Yes!"
Feeling the wind by my ears and the warm softness against my back, we'd soon covered dozens of kilometers to near Plate Village.
Plate Village sat between forest and valley. A few roofs glinted faintly in the moonlight, but the whole place was buried in darkness.
"It's pitch black."
"Everyone's asleep by now. Only Earth's Angels and warriors move after dark."
"Yeah?"
"Monsters might come down to the village."
"..."
Villages invaded by monsters.
To me, that evoked nightmares of the Great Catastrophe. To Angela, just one more thing to watch out for.
Fair enough.
'Even in Joseon-era Korea, leopards sometimes came to villages. Baran staying rowdy at night is the weird part.'
We landed quietly in a corner of the village. Angela hunched and strained.
"Heeeng...!"
-Kuweeeek—!
Her convenient avant-garde wings made a cute sound as they retracted into her white back.
I asked.
"Tiring to keep them out?"
"Less that... they mess with my balance when walking."
"Ah."
Makes sense.
I nodded, pulling the pink flower from my pocket and pinning it to my collar.
'Gotta equip defensive items in cursed zones.'
Angela, the source of the Blessing of Flowers, smiled softly.
"Feels nice."
"Nice?"
"Yeah. A flower that let me endure hunger... now helping me endure danger too."
She murmured.
"...It's really like a goddess's blessing."
"..."
We slipped through the quiet village, following a forest path uphill. With Angela's night vision guiding us, we didn't get lost and arrived quickly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ -Ooooh—!
Deeper in, wind truly wailed like mourners. Endless darkness around, withered branches rattling with sharp vibrations.
In the midst of that barren forest,
a snake-shaped statue squatted imposingly.
'When building roads, we just smashed them with falling rocks. Doing that here would wreck the village.'
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 【Those who enter the snake's domain shall become its limbs.】 Guuung—!
The snake's eyes glowed,
and the statue poured some energy at us. But our abilities and blessings blocked it—no effect.
"..."
"..."
No, I hated it.
I hated snakes.
Just hated them.
Snakes in my life were slithering harbingers of bad news, one of my greatest foes. I wanted to shake off this creepy feeling fast.
Angela muttered.
"Daring to curse like this, mimicking the demigod protector 'Eternal Serpent,' servant of the Earth Goddess—. As a priest of the Heresy Inquisition, I can't tolerate it."
"..."
Unlike me, who just hated snakes outright, Angela's beef was with the lore mismatch. But hate was hate, so I empathized.
"Right. But if the ones who placed this ominous statue are nearby—."
No sooner had I said it,
than eerie wails echoed from nearby.
-Kihihihi!
-Kyahaha!
-Foolish, so foolish...
"!"
"!"
Suddenly, baleful red eyes flashed from spots in the barren forest.
-To think the holy site's saint and the Savior would come here on their own...!
Hundreds of spectral monsters appeared, surrounding us—horror movie mashups slowly closing in.
-In a place barren of life force, the saint's power must be incomplete...!
-To come here themselves...!
-The King of Storms's scheme is truly grand...!
Hearing that,
Angela gasped.
"No way! So the withered trees around this snake statue were all a trap—!?"
"!"
Thanks for the hint.
I snapped my fingers.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Growth! Snap—!
Wood magic shortcut activated, fresh grass and trees sprouting across the forest. Dozens of meters around us fully revived.
I nodded urgently at Angela. She nodded back and triggered Blessing of Flowers, converting it to life force.
"Blessing of Life—!"
Fwaaah—!
The forest flashed. The surrounding laughter turned to screams.
-Kyaaaak—!?
Hundreds of spectral monsters wiped out in one go.
Only the re-barren forest and silence remained.
A random combo,
but way more effective than expected—Angela and I were both surprised.
"..."
"..."
Somehow absurd,
but the job was done.
"Exter... Exterminate."
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Exterminate. Boom!
With a small explosion,
the snake statue shattered, spitting out a poignant alert.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 【The statue crumbles, and the curse is lifted.】 "..."
"..."
I said to Angela.
"Shall we head back?"
"Yes..."
*
After that, the Storm forces appeared with new chants.
-Cowardly bastard...
-Not the Savior's way—.
-Cursed forever...
Funny.
Did they think I was a saint or something?