Memory Gap
What if everything that had happened so far had only been a dream?
It was the small wish I had clung to right up until the moment I fell asleep.
I wanted to write off everything that had happened as a nightmare and go back to my ordinary life.
But.
The first thing that greeted me when I opened my eyes was the ceiling of a building, caved in and crushed in places.
A sigh escaped me almost automatically.
How could I not sigh, when reality felt more dreamlike than any dream could?
I rubbed my eyes and was just about to sit up when—
"Ah?"
The moment I moved, a strange sensation shot through my body.
Without thinking, a small groan slipped from my lips.
It felt as though someone had suddenly yanked me by the hair.
My brows furrowed on reflex, and I turned toward the source of the shock.
"Ha..."
Another sigh, this one even more helpless, as I turned my head and found the truth.
My long silver hair and Aurell's golden hair had been twisted together into the shape of a heart.
A knot no human hand could ever tie naturally.
There were only two of us in this building: Aurell and me.
Which meant the culprit who had done this to my hair could only have been Aurell.
I looked down at her without a word.
Her face was peaceful, as if she didn't have a single care in the world.
The corners of her mouth were slightly raised, and she looked happy.
Had she been dreaming something pleasant?
I reached out and untied the heart-shaped knot.
It came loose with a soft whoosh, far more easily than I'd expected.
I had no idea how long it had been tied that way, but luckily not a single strand seemed damaged.
Swish, swish—
I ran my fingers through the smooth fall of my hair and frowned.
When exactly had I started caring about the condition of my hair?
I wasn't in a good mood.
I lightly patted Aurell's cheek, where she lay beside me.
Tap.
"Hngh!"
Aurell startled awake with a sharp gasp.
The instant her wide eyes found me, her expression melted into a smile.
"Hehe... Did you sleep well, Charlotte-nim?"
I had been about to scold her for tying up my hair, but when I saw Aurell's bright, innocent face, the words died in my throat.
I watched her in silence.
Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and stared blankly at the ceiling.
How long had passed like that?
As though something had suddenly occurred to her, she looked down in a hurry at the hair on the right side of her head.
"Ah..."
A sorrowful little sigh slipped out at that moment.
Aurell stroked her hair with clear disappointment.
I stood up.
Watching Aurell in silence had been strangely entertaining, but now that the sun had gone down, it was time to move on.
"Let's go."
Together with Aurell, I stepped out of the building.
I had wondered if more humans might show up, but that worry seemed pointless.
For a moment, I thought the world without electricity looked like a stage after the lights had gone out.
Wasn't the dim moonlight and the shortened stretch of daylight just a device to make the star of the play stand out more clearly?
What a useless thought.
I shook my head, looking up at the huge full moon hanging overhead.
Come to think of it, it was the full moon.
The time when werewolves became especially powerful.
And yet—
Why wasn't that information in the memories I'd absorbed?
The Full Moon buff in Blood Carnival wasn't some hidden Easter egg.
It was common knowledge. Anyone who had raised a werewolf even once, anyone who had ever fought one under a full moon, would have known it as a matter of course.
Precisely because it was so obvious, the game company hadn't bothered announcing it separately.
"Aurell."
"Yes?"
"It's a full moon."
Unsure whether my memory was off, I brought it up cautiously.
"Yes. A beautiful full moon, too!"
"Werewolves are going to get stronger."
"Werewolves get stronger?"
"Don't tell me you didn't know?"
"No! I've never raised a werewolf."
At Aurell's answer, I fell silent.
Five years had passed since the world had changed like this.
How could she not know that werewolves grew stronger on the nights of a full moon?
What was more, werewolves and vampires were allies.
They met regularly and shared information. How could she not know something that basic?
Still, someone like Aurell, a low-ranking vampire, might not have known.
She must have been a newbie before the world became like this.
"Is something wrong?"
"Hmm..."
I crossed my arms and sank into thought.
The problem was Ravina's memory.
Ravina was the leader of a vampire clan that had managed a region.
Which meant she, too, had regularly met with werewolves and exchanged information.
Not only that—the amount of information her clan members gathered on a regular basis had been significant.
"No. Nothing."
I shook my head and turned away.
I would need to check this later by meeting another werewolf or vampire.
After that, Aurell remained silent the whole time we walked.
Judging from how blankly she kept staring at the enormous full moon, she seemed to like it quite a bit.
I kept sneaking glances at her profile.
How long had we walked like that?
While I was looking around absentmindedly, I spotted a bicycle propped up inside the building.
It was covered in dust, but the frame didn't look too bad.
My feet turned naturally in its direction.
"Charlotte-nim?"
Ignoring Aurell's call, I examined the bicycle.
There was a little rust from having been left untouched for so long, but the chain looked fine.
If I could just deal with the tires, it looked like it could be ridden right away.
"Are you going to ride it?"
"It'll be faster than walking."
Of course, running on foot would be faster than riding a bicycle, but wasting stamina for no reason was dangerous.
"Can you find me a pump?"
"A pump?"
Aurell tilted her head at my words.
Did she really not know what a pump looked like?
It was true that if you weren't interested in bicycles, you might not know, but...
Just as I was about to explain the shape of a pump, I shook my head at how awkward the thing looked and said, "Just bring me anything long and suspicious-looking."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Aurell and I split up and began searching for the pump separately.
There were various maintenance tools scattered around the bicycle, so there had to be a pump somewhere in this house.
How long had passed?
Aurell came running back to me, clutching a long object in her arms.
"Charlotte-nim! I found it!"
"This is..."
I let out a small groan as I looked at what she was carrying.
I had told her to bring back anything long and suspicious-looking because I couldn't be bothered to explain, but...
This wasn't a pump. It was a belt barrier.
Aurell was looking at me like a puppy waiting for praise.
"This isn't it."
"Gasp..."
Her shoulders drooped as she turned away dejectedly.
What exactly had the people living here been doing, anyway?
A belt barrier inside the house?
How long had passed after that?
With a bright expression, Aurell came back holding another long object.
"Charlotte-nim! I found it!"
Of course, that wasn't it either.
What she had brought me was one leg of a camera tripod.
"That isn't it either."
"Gasp..."
Again, Aurell looked crestfallen.
How much time passed after that?
I finally found the pump shoved into a corner of the building.
"Aurell! Come here!"
At my call, she came running at once.
Her eyes sparkling, she stared at the pump in my hands.
"This is a pump."
I set the heavy pump down on the floor and unfolded the footrest.
My stance settled naturally into place.
Looking at the hose lying on the floor, I said to Aurell, "Aurell. Can you connect that to the hole in the bike tire?"
"Got it!"
With Aurell's tiny, soft hands working diligently, the setup was complete and the tire was ready to be inflated.
"Hup!"
After a small breath, I began pumping.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Each time the handle rose and fell, I stretched my arms and pushed down with all my strength.
Whoosh!
Stretch.
Whoosh!
Stretch.
After repeating the motion several times, the bicycle tires filled out as though they had been given new life.
I had worried there might be a leak somewhere, but it seemed that fear had been unfounded.
Now that the tires were done, all that remained was to adjust the seat and handlebar height.
The person who had ridden this bike before must have been quite tall.
I pressed hard on the seat, which had been set up absurdly high, and lowered it.
The handlebars, too.
When the adjustments were finished, I had a fine bicycle made just for me.
"You sit in the back."
"Y-you're taking me with you too?"
"What, you want to walk?"
If there had been two bicycles, we would have ridden separately, but this was the only one we had.
We might find another one along the way, but until then we'd have to ride together.
I sat on the bike and pointed to the rear seat.
"Mm...!"
Aurell carefully approached and sat down behind me.
Then, looking a little uncomfortable, she began shifting her posture this way and that.
"If you let your clothes hang down like that, they might get caught in the chain."
"Gasp... really?"
I checked Aurell's outfit and pointed out the problem.
A skirt that long and loose could easily be chewed up by the chain.
At that, Aurell lifted the hem of her skirt slightly.
"Is this okay?"
I silently nodded at her question.
Her thighs were a little more exposed than necessary, but I didn't bother mentioning it.
Just as I was about to set off in silence—
Aurell grabbed the hem of my clothes and called out to me.
"U-um, Charlotte-nim."
"What...?"
"Could you maybe make this seat more comfortable? My thigh flesh is poking through the holes underneath, so it's a little uncomfortable..."
She had a point.
The rear seat, with all those little holes, really would be uncomfortable.
With great difficulty, I tore my gaze away and went back into the building to fetch a cushion to put on the back seat.
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