Bldi's Face as She Sucked Blood Looked Overjoyed. But She Really Likes Blood, Right?

I set off with Bldi for the Coco farm, the one where the birds were being raised on gallek.

"Sir Lucas — what brings you out at this hour?"

The farm owner, out on night patrol, spotted me and asked, startled.

"Forgive the late visit. I'd like to buy a few Coco."

"Of course, of course! Sir Lucas, you're this farm's benefactor — how could I possibly refuse? Let's go have a look right away."

The owner of the Coco farm, torch in hand, led us straight to the very coop Bldi had once snuck into. At the sight of it, Bldi shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Nnnggh..."

"What's wrong with you?"

"I-it's the h-holy ward they've put up around the farm. M-my body's a l-little shaky. Hehe."

"That's what's doing this?"

Right. After her break-in, they'd raised a Holy Barrier around the property.

"You okay?"

"Y-yes... at this level, it's only a mild sting."

"A mild sting? That's what you're calling this?"

I studied the Holy Barrier surrounding the farm.

The ward had been personally cast by a bishop-level priest. Ordinary monsters couldn't even approach it, and a barrier this powerful was known to wreck even summoned creatures called forth by magicians. Against beings of darkness, it exerted tremendous repelling force.

And vampires? Vampires were a race that had once stood among the Demon King's closest servants.

They were beings composed of magi. For a vampire like Bldi, this kind of power should have been anathema — absolute kryptonite. And yet she was calling it a mild sting?

I stared at her, baffled. She nodded as if she understood perfectly well what I was thinking.

"I-I've been eating tons of gallek lately... so I c-can tolerate it."

"...Hold on. Eating gallek makes you feel like this?"

"Yes. I like the sort of prickly sensation it gives me all over, so lately I've been adding extra minced gallek to my seonji soup on purpose. Hehe."

When she said her body felt prickly — that's what she meant?

"Then neither gallek nor holy power is actually good for you, right?"

"...It's fine. I-it's a little uncomfortable, but I can handle it. Hehe. Actually, the gallek's been boosting my resistance quite a bit."

Back in Korea, I'd heard people say garlic built up your resistance, but I'd never once heard anyone claim that applied to vampires too.

She'd been eating the stuff without any visible trouble, so I'd dismissed the whole garlic-and-vampires thing as a myth. When she described it as prickly, I'd assumed she just had a roundabout way of saying it stung a little.

But if this is what she meant...

"Isn't that a rejection response?"

"Huh?"

"There's that old story, right? Vampires can't stand gallek."

"Oh... I did hear that a long time ago, but I-I've been fine! I-I mean it."

I looked Bldi straight in the eye and pressed her.

"Really?"

"Yes."

She couldn't even meet my gaze when she said it.

"Truly?"

"Y-yes."

Her face had gone unmistakably flushed, and she kept turning her head, unable to fix her eyes on anything.

"You swear?"

"...Yes."

Her voice shed confidence with every answer, until at last she stammered out:

"So gallek really doesn't bother you?"

"P-probably not..."

"You sure?"

"Y-yes."

I let out a sigh at how unconvincing she sounded.

A vampire with a highly specific palate: drinks blood from Coco raised on gallek and calls it delicious, and she's taken to dumping extra minced gallek into her Haejangguk because she likes the prickly buzz. A picky-ass bocchi vampire who refuses to drink straight from the vein because it tastes awful.

Was this really all right? Was I spoiling her so badly I'd given her genuinely warped dietary instincts?

On the surface, she looked fine... but I didn't know enough about vampires to be sure.

Is there anyone around who actually understands vampires?

One name sprang to mind.

Riman — magician and alchemist. He'd know.

I'd have to ask him for help. Until then, I needed to keep a close eye on her.

She says she's fine, but...

You never know.

That was what I was thinking when —

"Here we are. Should I dress these for you?"

The farm owner came pulling up with twenty Coco loaded into a cage. The birds peered around, utterly clueless about what was coming.

"Ah, that won't be necessary. I can dress them back at the restaurant."

"Surely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it'd be more convenient to handle it here."

"No. If I start butchering on-site, you'll have the rest of the flock waking in a panic and losing a night's sleep. Besides — keeping them alive until I need them is better for freshness."

"Ha ha, very well."

Beside me, Bldi's eyes glittered as she stared fixedly at the Coco.

She couldn't even make eye contact with people, but livestock she had no problem staring down?

Then again, to her they were food. Not exactly the sort of thing that would make her self-conscious.

"Let's go."

"Ah, yes!"

We hitched the cart carrying the cage to a horse and made for the restaurant. The whole way back, I wrestled with the question of whether she ought to be eating gallek at all.

"By the way, why'd you buy so many Coco? Five would've seemed like more than enough."

"I have a job for you."

"You need me, master?"

"That's right."

"Fufufu, master needs me... Th-that's wonderful! Say the word! Anything! I-I can do everything!"

We reached the restaurant and moved the cage to the rear yard. As Bldi swallowed hard, already anticipating Coco blood, I spoke.

"Bldi."

"Yes, master!"

"There's something I want to ask you."

"Go ahead!"

"Can you drink their blood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠without draining their life-force?"

I was thinking back to the first time I'd seen her. The way every trace of vitality had been sucked out of her victim, leaving not even a fragment of bone — reduced to dust and scattered.

"Uh... it's possible, but why do you ask?"

"Because if you help me, I won't need to slit their arteries just to bleed them."

If she'd said no, I'd planned to do the blood-draining myself the old-fashioned way.

Only now did Bldi grasp why I'd bought more Coco than I needed. She nodded.

"I-I can do it! I'll be your strength, master!"

She reached into the cage and closed her hand around the neck of one of the Coco.

Cococo!

Grabbing hold of one flapping bird, she sank her fangs into the nape of its neck.

"Mmmnngh!"

Flutter!

The Coco thrashed, scattering white feathers in every direction. A meal after a long wait — Bldi gave a tiny shudder, squeezed her eyes shut, and pulled her fangs free.

"Puh-ha! Here you are, master!"

She wiped the blood from her lips and held out the limp Coco.

"Thank you."

I plucked the Coco clean, then brought my blade down across its neck and feet.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

Clean.

The flesh of a Coco drained completely of blood gave off a curiously sweet scent. I'd worked with this ingredient enough times to know — I knew exactly what texture the meat took on when bled before dressing, exactly what aroma it released. I studied the firmness of the muscle, the gloss of the skin, and took its measure as an ingredient right away.

Top grade. Much better mouthfeel than you get from conventional bleeding.

I didn't need to taste it to know — cooked with this, I'd be able to pull out far deeper flavor than usual.

No trace of magi either, looks like...

How did the principle behind this even work?

I asked Bldi, who was already drinking from the second Coco.

"When you drain blood — is there some technique unique to vampires?"

"Huh? Th-there's nothing special about it, really... you just drink."

"Yeah?"

"Ah, y-yes, actually, I did hear something once."

Sluuuurp!

She finished the third Coco and went on.

"Pwah! Th-they say a creature that's been fed on by a vampire feels the most intense bliss."

"Bliss?"

"Yes! So they used to say that being fed on by a vampire is the happiest way to die. S-so some vampires even call themselves bliss missionaries, I heard...."

And with that, she moved on to draining the fourth Coco.

Sluuuurp!

She must have been starving.

Eyes squeezed shut, she pulled her mouth from the Coco's neck. One by one, she passed them to me, and I dressed and broke each of them down.

"So if a creature that's experienced that bliss gets eaten by something else — what happens?"

"That shouldn't be possible. The act of feeding is basically a form of charm magic, so...."

"Really."

I took a piece of breast meat from one of the dressed Coco and laid it on the frying pan.

Tssss!

While it cooked, I noticed I'd stopped hearing the sound of Bldi drinking.

"Bldi — actually, I wanted to ask..."

I sensed a presence behind me and turned around —

"Eep!"

Bldi had been creeping toward me like a thief and found herself suddenly face-to-face with me. Close enough that our faces were almost touching.

Startled, she blinked.

What had she been trying to sneak up and take?

"What are you doing?"

"Huh? Huh? Ah, well, it's, you see...."

Her eyes, which had been fixed on me, slid toward the Coco breast cooking on the pan.

"I-I wanted to try a bite of that!"

"Oh, this? You could've just said so. Why'd you sneak up like that?"

"It's just... I've been eating s-so much ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠already. Coco blood, and now breast meat on top of it..."

"You can have some. Go ahead, take a piece."

I picked up a slice of the breast meat with my chopsticks and fed it to her.

"Mmmngh!"

The moment she bit down, her eyes lit up.

"Good?"

"Yes! It's genuinely delicious!"

I popped a piece of the perfectly cooked breast into my own mouth.

Chew chew.

"Oho?"

Better than I'd expected.

Even with no special seasoning, it had a clean, clinging savoriness that coated the mouth.

No apparent adverse effects on the body, either.

Just to be safe, I circulated mana through my system and checked my condition. I'd been worried that meat produced through vampire feeding might carry some strange effect on the human body.

I ran several tests. Conclusion: no abnormalities.

This seemed perfectly safe to eat.

"And this one's the last."

Having drained every last Coco, Bldi's face was brimming with renewed vitality. She was practically glowing.

"Hehehe."

With blood smeared at the corner of her mouth, Bldi wore a loose, blissed-out grin as she sucked the final Coco dry.

"Phewww... that was delicious."

"You worked hard."

Patting her stomach, she looked deeply satisfied. I reached out and stroked her head.

"Fufufufu."

"How's that prickly feeling?"

"...I-it's nothing at all."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

Bldi still couldn't meet my eyes.

Glance.

"Haaah. Wh-when you stare at me like that... I-I can't breathe — I-I'm gonna die."

She kept trying to lift her gaze toward me, but each time she'd immediately look away and drop her head.

"Nothing at all" sounded like a lie.

But she's cute, so I'll forgive her.

Drinking the blood of Coco raised on gallek had visibly made her healthier. That much was obvious.

I stowed the prepared Coco meat in the cold storage.

Tomorrow's staff meal — I was going all-in on Coco.

What'd be best?

Chicken? Dakdoritang? Or maybe...

Braised chicken? Dakgalbi? Whole-chicken kalguksu? Nurungji chicken? Oven-roasted chicken?

Too many excellent Coco dishes.

I glanced at Bldi — the one who allegedly had a rejection response to gallek.

Something loaded with garlic would be ideal.

Whole-chicken kalguksu sounded perfect.

Whole cloves of garlic simmered hard alongside minced garlic in a bubbling whole-bird broth — and just when you'd finished the Coco, you dropped in the kalguksu noodles and let them boil one more time.

With Coco of this quality, I could get a deep, rich broth without even leaning on heavy seasoning.

A Coco gomtang, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thick with clean poultry depth and savory richness, would absolutely work. Toss whole green onion, whole onion, and whole garlic cloves into the pot together with the Coco and let it boil hard, then slice green onion and potato thin, scatter chopped chives over the top, and bring it all together...

It tastes incredible just imagining it.

The nights were getting chilly, but the days were still hot. For the staff, working hard as they were, there'd be no better restorative meal than this. Andrea would love it. The other knights would, too. Ivan especially might lose his mind.

— Soup-based dishes! The absolute best!

With whatever Coco was left after the gomtang and kalguksu, I could make braised Coco or even a spicy Coco stew. There was plenty to work with.

The only question was — I'd probably need to add something to the menu especially for Bldi...

Letting her drink the blood separately, then serving her just the gallek-seasoned meat — that might not be a bad way to find out whether what she really loves is the blood or the gallek.