Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Mate
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"Mate... you say?"
"Y-yeah..."
Oh crap.
I hadn't misheard.
So I just registered my marriage with a guy I've known for three days?
This is straight-up insane.
The Saintess blushed and scratched her cheek amid all this.
Unbelievable.
"Please release me."
"Huh?"
Unfair contract.
If I'd known it was like this, I never would've agreed in the first place.
I can be your shuttle for sleep and blood, but husband? No way.
"Familiar. I'm asking you to release me. How is this supposed to make us close?"
"B-but you said it didn't matter."
"No, even if that's true, do you pick the person you'll spend your whole life with like this?"
"Th-that's why I asked you."
The Saintess must've known I'd refuse if she mentioned mate.
No way she didn't.
Who in the world forces a marriage after just three days?
And we weren't even dating.
"Even so, how could you skip right over the mate part?"
"Anyway... I can't undo it."
"What?"
The Saintess turned her head away, avoiding my gaze.
What the hell is this now?
She can't even undo it?
"Once you choose a mate, it lasts until that mate dies."
"......"
Thinking back, in the game, the only way to break a familiar bond was to kill Malus.
So does that mean one of us—the Saintess or me—has to die?
My head was spinning. Why me, of all people?
Frustration surged, and I scratched my head furiously.
"Getting close has what to do with making me your familiar?"
"Huh? I figured if you were my familiar, I could tell you everything... It was like my own little vow."
Why make a vow all by yourself?
What about my say in this?
Shouldn't choosing a mate be something both sides agree on?
"So you made that vow... and turned me into your lifelong mate?"
"......I-it's fine. Vampires have long lifespans."
"Mine's short, though? I'm the one stuck with you for life."
"Ah... that doesn't matter. I don't mind several women... I'd actually prefer more..."
That's not the point at all.
The problem is I'm stuck with you from now on.
My head throbbed.
"Familiars don't even need to stay with me anyway. It'd actually be a problem if something happened to a host like me..."
"Huh?"
Usually, isn't it the vampire controlling the familiar?
That's how it always was in fantasy games.
"The vampire who creates a familiar can only drink blood from that familiar."
"Huh?... Then why make a familiar at all?"
Wait, doesn't that mean it's actually a loss for the Saintess?
Even a little thought shows there's no reason to.
"Uh... it's good for my health..."
"Huh?"
"Making a familiar increases your blood volume. Sure, I can only get blood from you now, but even just you is enough for me—no worries."
This was news to me.
Blood volume increases when you make a familiar?
In the game, becoming Malus's familiar didn't grant any obvious abilities.
But if it's something indirect like increased blood volume, that tracks.
Is that why Malus kept visiting so often?
Scenes from the game flashed through my mind.
Those two-hour sermons were actually flirting.
Making me her familiar was a step toward making me her mate.
She visited constantly because she could only get blood from me.
No way... even the curses that lowered intelligence and stamina were all intentional?
Chicken skin prickled across my body.
This crazy bitch...
Thinking about it, Malus didn't really do much in the game.
She was just there to purely harass the player.
Turns out she was simply a vampire who liked men.
Does that mean every time I played the game, Malus forced me into marriage?
Now that I knew the secret, my head started burning.
Maybe my expression twisted too harshly, because the Saintess flinched.
"A-and it's not like I made you my familiar for no reason at all."
The Saintess waved her hands as she explained to me.
She seemed tense—a bead of cold sweat dripped from her forehead.
"First off... inhale*... your blood tastes delicious."
"......"
The Saintess wiped the corner of her mouth with her arm, as if just thinking about blood did it.
Even when tense, blood makes her salivate, huh.
"Second, you can put me to sleep without a lullaby. Th-that's impossible from a vampire's perspective. Honestly, I wanted to make you my familiar right after yesterday."
"......"
This one... honestly, even if I were her, I'd be tempted.
Humans collapse from exhaustion if they sleep just three hours late.
For vampires, a broken bed means no sleep—and one slip-up, and you're dead.
Then suddenly, a living sleep therapy bed that moves shows up?
If I were in her shoes, this would make total sense as a reason.
Probably why she said she'd protect me at the gate, too.
"Third, Malus was looking at you all weird."
"Ah, fuck..."
The curse slipped out loud the moment I heard it.
Luckily, I said it softly, so the Saintess probably didn't catch it...
That bastard Malus approached me with that intent from the start.
"So I wanted to mark you before another vampire snatched you up."
"Hmm..."
Now that I heard the reasons, they made sense for making me her familiar.
But mate? Still no.
"What do I get out of this? I went from single to married in a flash."
"Huh? Uh... I'll protect you. And you don't have to think of it that seriously. It might not even be a marital bond..."
"There are ones that aren't?"
"Not yet, but... couldn't we just think of it that way?"
"......"
This is driving me nuts. What do I even do?
Looking at her now, it feels like the Saintess just went for it with zero planning.
"Mate or not... we can just keep living like we are now. You put me to sleep and give me blood, I protect you—win-win for both of us."
I decided to flat-out deny reality.
Right. Not mates. Familiars.
We're in this for mutual gain.
That's how I'd think of it.
Yeah... like I decided earlier.
No matter what she did wrong, I'd tolerate it once.
Time to cash that in now.
"Just to be safe, this doesn't let you track my location or anything, right?"
"Uh..."
I asked to confirm, wondering if it'd be like the Hero's situation.
But the Saintess's shoulders trembled like she was caught off guard by the question.
No way there's really...
"Just... like, which direction you're in?"
"......"
Some people get full CCTV and GPS, so direction-only is tame, I guess.
But I couldn't hold back the sigh that burst out.
My damn luck...
Can't undo it, so I can't even get mad at the Saintess.
"So that's really it? Nothing else?"
"Uh... yeah."
The Saintess rubbed her index fingers together, gauging my mood.
Everything so far already gave me a headache.
Please don't let there be more.
"Nothing else you need to tell me now, right?"
"Yeah..."
I double-checked with the Saintess.
Has to be nothing else now.
"Ha... alright, now that I'm your familiar, tell me. Why'd you burst Malus's head?"
"Huh? That was..."
For now, I'd save the familiar details and ask my burning questions first.
She froze at my question.
Then she let out a deep sigh and opened her mouth.
"Ha... Dad said I was engaged to him, so I ran away from home."
What came out of the Saintess's mouth left me stunned.
Malus and the Saintess?
Some impossible love story like that?
It was a different flavor from the forbidden loves I knew, but still intriguing.
"We were living just fine... out of nowhere, an engagement."
The Saintess tossed her hair back with a haughty flick.
So that's how the past she told me unraveled.
Ran away and abandoned her entire clan over an engagement... not easy.
But there's something the Saintess doesn't know.
Even if she hadn't run, she never would've been engaged to Malus.
Obviously—without her help, I'd be his 'mate' by now.
"Then the 'princess' thing too..."
"Right. That's what he used to call me. Annoying as hell. So I killed him."
"......"
Demon society had its differences from the human world.
One slip of the tongue, and your head flies off.
Or... is it more similar than I thought?
"I'm not even on the Demon King's side anymore anyway, so who cares?"
"......Yeah."
So in the end, the Saintess punched her own fiancé's head into oblivion.
And whether by luck or not, that changed my host from Malus to the Saintess.
...Yeah, better than Malus.
I even got an item out of his death...
"So, does that make sense now?"
"Ha... yeah."
The Saintess sneaked a glance at my face, gauging my reaction.
No point scolding her further.
Nothing to change anyway.
And it was about time to wrap up the conversation.
Time was nearing 9 p.m. already.
I hadn't realized just talking would eat up so much time.
Today had been... mentally exhausting, to put it mildly.
I just wanted to get home, shower quick, and crash.
"Well then, Saintess, I'm heading out."
"Huh? Already?"
Already? I was owed overtime pay at this point.
"Saintess... my shift ended almost three hours ago."
"Th-then before you go, put me to sleep first."
"Huh? How long ago did you wake up...?"
"I used some power earlier, so I'm a bit tired."
The Saintess grabbed my arm as I tried to leave the gate.
...Symbiosis it is, then. No helping it.
"Ha... fine. Turn around and put your hands on the wall."
I had no choice but to start the body search.
While she placed her hands on the wall, I slowly circled behind her.
"Alright, body search starting. Close your eyes."
"Yeah."
I figured she'd collapse like always the moment it started, so I reached for her waist right away.
Last time, seeing her thud powerlessly to the floor made me worry she'd hit her head.
If I caught her waist first, I could move her safely.
-Chab.
I wrapped my hand firmly around the Saintess's waist.
"......"
But unlike last time, her body didn't go limp.
Huh... why isn't she relaxing...
I released her waist and grabbed it again.
"......"
The Saintess still stood there quietly, eyes closed.
Cold sweat started beading.
For some reason, the Hand of Abstinence suddenly wasn't working.
'What's going on?'
Maybe my grip had weakened, so I kneaded her waist harder.
Her soft flesh yielded between my fingers.
The Hand of Abstinence grows strongest during this kind of kneading.
It varied person to person, but most were like that.
A little firmer than during the day.
Definitely—her muscles felt more active than daytime.
After kneading a bit... finally, I felt the tension drain from her waist.
Took longer than last time.
'Now just lift her into the cradle.'
I hooked one arm around her waist and flipped her to face me.
Now, lift her like this and tuck her into the cradle.
Should keep her from hitting the floor.
Lifting her went fine.
But the moment I picked up the Saintess, I couldn't help but be shocked.
The most crucial part had gone wrong.
"Hic..."
The Saintess's flushed face stared right back at me.
For some reason... she wasn't asleep.