I Have Created an Urban Legend
"Ugh..."
Lili drooped after getting scolded by Katarina.
If she’d had a puppy tail, it would have been hanging limp for sure.
"Ahem. Do not be too harsh on her. This may still be a bit difficult for Lili."
I stepped in and gently stopped Katarina.
Not because it somehow felt like I was getting lectured too, absolutely not.
I just felt bad seeing the youngest get scolded so much.
...Really.
"Yes, my lord."
Katarina bowed her head to me at once.
Just as the commotion seemed about to die down, Lili, who had been hanging her head low, suddenly snapped it back up.
There was no grievance or resentment in her eyes now, only fierce competitive spirit.
"No, Master. Lady Katarina is right...! I’m gonna become a familiar you’ll never be ashamed of! I’ll do my best!"
Huh?
Even after going through all that pain, Lili was trying to overcome it.
And the reason was solely for my sake.
She was determined to become a familiar worthy of me.
......
I found myself reflecting on my own behavior.
If even the youngest familiar was like this, then what about me, her master and the True Ancestor?
At the start, I touched sunlight with one finger, immediately decided this was a hard no, and practically surrendered on the spot.
After that, I never once thought about overcoming the weakness. I just rolled around indoors instead.
How shameful was that?
Right. I’d decided.
I steeled my resolve. I would overcome sunlight, one of my greatest weaknesses—!!
Ghk. No, impossible after all!
—or instead, I would simply remain a shameful master.
There was no way I could overcome that awful nausea.
Shameful was shameful, but impossible was impossible.
So instead, I decided at least to praise the familiar who had shown courage.
"A fine resolve, Lili. Truly commendable."
"Hehe, Master!"
The moment she was praised, Lili beamed.
Katarina, standing beside her, gave a small nod as well.
Judging by how her expression softened a little, she seemed to acknowledge the youngest’s determination deep down.
"Since my lord has personally commended you, see that you devote yourself all the more from this point onward."
"Okay!"
Hmm. Even so, I couldn’t very well send the youngest out into sunlight with no preparation at all.
After a brief moment of thought, I pulled out a black hoodie that had been shoved deep inside the closet.
It was one I used to wear often before awakening, back when I was still male.
It didn’t even fit my body anymore, and I’d been debating whether to throw it away. Who knew it would come in handy like this?
"Lili. Put this on."
"Huh? Clothes?"
"Indeed. If you pull the hood low, it should block a good deal more sunlight."
"Y-you’re giving this to me? Really? For real?!"
Lili took the hoodie I handed her with both hands, then hugged it tightly to her chest as though it were some priceless treasure.
"Thank you, Master. I’ll treasure it...!"
At that, Katarina, who had been silently watching from the side, suddenly trembled as if overcome with emotion.
"Ahh...! My lord is already a great being who has conquered the sunlight itself. And yet you still understand weakness and embrace it. Truly, I cannot dare measure the vastness of your ocean-deep heart!"
No.
No, that wasn’t it at all.
I just knew the struggle because I had it rough too.
But it wasn’t exactly the kind of thing I could correct here and now, so I simply offered a gentle, benevolent smile without saying anything.
At that moment, Siyeon, who had been watching quietly, stepped forward.
"Lili. This should help too."
What she took from her clothes was the black assassin’s mask she wore herself.
Without a word, Siyeon handed the mask that covered the lower half of the face over to Lili.
"Whoa, thank you too, Lady Siyeon!"
Lili put on the hoodie and carefully fastened the mask as well.
With the hood pulled down and her mouth and nose covered, the amount of skin exposed to sunlight was visibly reduced.
After finishing her perfect setup, Lili and Katarina headed back out through the front door.
This time, even after quite a while passed, they didn’t return.
Are they doing okay?
Curious, I used Vision Share and brought up Katarina’s view.
The outside scenery came into sight.
For starters, the people passing on the street didn’t seem to notice her at all.
That was thanks to Veil of Night, which she always activated whenever she went out after the Seollim-dong Gate incident.
But Lili, who was hurrying along close at Katarina’s side, seemed to recognize her perfectly naturally.
Katarina had probably adjusted something so that only Lili could see her.
Oh. So it can be used like that too?
Even I, her master, hadn’t known that application.
"Ugh.... Lady Katarina. The sunlight stings, and I feel dizzy..."
"Did you not swear before my lord just moments ago? Endure it."
"Okay.... I’ll endure it...!"
Though her words were stern, Katarina had subtly slowed her own pace to match Lili’s shorter stride.
Eventually the two of them reached the main road, and there Lili stopped dead in her tracks.
"Lady Katarina. What’s that?"
The thing Lili pointed at with sparkling eyes was a city bus roaring down the road.
"A bus. It is public transportation that carries many people along a fixed route."
"A bus...! That’s amazing...!"
"We will be riding one as well."
"Whoa! I wanna try it!"
...Huh?
Amazingly enough, Lili didn’t even know the concept of a bus.
Maybe because Katarina had inherited my knowledge, she came equipped with a basic understanding of modern civilization.
Whether it was the subway, a convenience store, or a smartphone, nothing seemed awkward to her.
But Lili looked like she was seeing a bus for the first time in her life.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t even understood the concept of honorific speech either, so she was clearly built on a different base from Katarina.
Do summoned familiars all come with different sets of default knowledge?
That added one more mystery, but it wasn’t important right this second.
A little later.
Once they boarded the bus, Lili found the view outside so fascinating that she kept tugging on Katarina’s sleeve.
"Lady Katarina! That building’s huge!"
"Quiet. The humans are staring."
"Ah. S-sorry... I mean... yes...."
Lili lowered her eyes after getting scolded again.
At that, Katarina let out a light sigh.
"...You may speak comfortably with me. I scolded you earlier because you behaved irreverently in my lord’s presence, so do not take it too much to heart."
"Okay! Got it! I’m not taking it to heart! Lili likes you too, Lady Katarina!"
Lili smiled brightly.
Katarina’s gaze abruptly flicked away to the window for no reason at all.
Oh?
Watching that, the corners of my mouth curled up.
Well, well.
Didn’t Katarina secretly dote on her little sister after all?
The way she was trying not to show it only made it more obvious.
It felt a little like watching a fully grown eldest daughter take the youngest daughter along on an errand.
It was a heartwarming sight.
Anyway, after transferring through public transportation several times, the two of them finally arrived safely at their destination.
They had reached a secluded mountainside where a C-class Gate had opened.
By now, enough time had passed that the sun was already dipping low in the sky.
At the same time, near the entrance to the mountain where the Gate had appeared.
Two men, one blond and one black-haired, had parked their car off to one side of the dirt road and were smoking.
They were B-class Hunters from the mid-sized guild Taesan.
But these days, higher-ranked Gates had been scarce, so they had come all the way down to this lower-tier Gate zone to make a little extra spending money.
"Ah, damn, why the hell do no decent Gates ever pop these days? Even the low-rank ones are a pain in the ass to reserve."
The blond glared at his smartphone and grumbled.
"Seriously."
The black-haired man gave a lazy nod of agreement and swept his gaze around the area.
"We’ll just cut in and take a spot, then."
They hadn’t come with a reservation in the first place.
Their plan was to loiter near the mountain entrance, wait around, and then snatch a reservation ticket off someone like they were shaking down pocket money.
With the strength of B-class Hunters, it was easy enough to intimidate the beginners who came to C-class Gates and steal their place.
In today’s world, where strength mattered more than anything, things like this happened all the time.
Then—
The black-haired man’s gaze locked onto someone approaching from far away.
A girl in a loose black oversized hoodie, her face half-covered by a mask.
There didn’t seem to be anyone else with her, and the way she kept looking around in wonder made her look exactly like a rookie Hunter.
"Think she’s the one who reserved this Gate?"
When the black-haired man jerked his chin toward her, the blond looked too and grinned.
"Yep. Total newbie at a glance."
They flicked their cigarettes to the ground and walked over toward the girl.
But as they got closer and looked more carefully, they realized that even under that baggy hoodie, the shape of her body was anything but ordinary.
Oh, shit. She’s hot.
A trace of desire crept into their eyes.
"Heeey~ Sorry to bother you for a sec~"
They casually moved in, blocking either side of the girl.
"...?"
"Hey there~ How old are you, cutie? Out here all alone?"
The blond openly flirted.
"Heh heh. You crazy bastard, don’t scare the kid like that."
The black-haired man smacked the blond’s shoulder and cut in, pretending to be the reasonable one.
But the sly grin hanging at the corner of his mouth was threatening enough.
"Sorry, sorry. My friend’s a bit of an idiot. Anyway, Gate reservations aren’t easy these days. We just happened not to get one."
The black-haired man smoothly brought up the real point.
"So, what do you say? Want to sell us your reservation ticket? We’ll pay well."
"And while you’re at it, give us your number too. Dangerous Gates are too much for a girl like you, so your big brothers here will handle it. You can rest, and after we’re done, come hang out with us, yeah?"
The blond chimed in from the side.
"Oh, and just so you know, we’re B-class Hunters."
"You’ve heard of Taesan Guild, right? That’s us."
The idea was that if they emphasized their guild and rank, she’d start trembling, hand over the spot, and offer her number too.
But then—
"Huh? Reservation ticket? Taesan Guild? Lili doesn’t know what those are."
The girl tilted her head and looked up at them.
And right then, the men couldn’t help flinching slightly when they saw the eyes revealed beneath the hood.
What the hell? Why are her eyes so red? Bloodshot? Colored contacts?
Sometimes high-rank awakeners underwent physical changes.
But there was no way someone like that would come alone to a C-class Gate, so they dismissed the thought.
Just then, the girl continued in a bright voice.
"I dunno about that stuff, but I brought my ID! Master gave it to me!"
"...Master?"
"Oh, and guess what? I rode a bus for the first time earlier! It was super big and really cool!"
"...?"
The weird answer left the blond and black-haired men staring blankly instead.
What the hell is wrong with this bitch?
"N-no, that’s not what we mean. We’re saying..."
The flustered blond tried to continue.
"You. Are there people from another guild coming? Or party members? Or are you by yourself?"
"I’m not by myself! I came with Lady Katarina!"
...?
But even when they looked around, they couldn’t see anyone else.
The mountain path held nothing but scattered trees and brush.
And then—
"Oh right. I learned how to use the subway too! It wasn’t easy, but it was fun!"
The hoodie girl just kept chattering complete nonsense that had nothing to do with the situation.
"Ah, shit, I can’t get through to her. What the hell is this girl?"
Eventually the black-haired man clicked his tongue in irritation.
"...What is she, slow or something?"
The blond muttered in disbelief.
She looked normal enough on the outside.
But this wasn’t just a screw loose. She had several missing.
The black-haired man lowered his voice and spoke menacingly.
"Hey. Looks like you’ve got some weird act going on, but does this seem like a joke to you because we’ve been nice? Just hand over the reservation ticket quietly."
"Huh?"
"We said we’re B-class Hunters. You get what that means, right?"
At last, the blond reached out, about to grab the girl by the shoulder.
That very instant—
Crunch—!
"Aaaaagh?!"
The blond’s scream rang out across the silent roadside.
His arm had twisted instantly into a grotesque angle.
"W-what the hell?!"
Just as the black-haired man, startled out of his wits, tried to stumble backward—Crunch—!
"Aaaagh!!"
His arm twisted in exactly the same direction in midair.
"Huaaagh! M-my arm! My aaaarm!!"
"F-fuck... what the hell just happened?!"
The two men dropped to their knees, clutching their mangled arms and trembling violently.
The girl hadn’t even lifted a finger.
But it had felt like something unseen grabbed them, and their arms bent on their own.
What the hell was this?
Was she some kind of telekinetic awakener?
The men looked up at the girl with fear in their eyes.
"Huh? These humans. Their arms got weird. How strange~"
Large crimson eyes stared down at them.
That unreal, innocent tone somehow made her seem all the more horrifying.
In that moment, a certain sinister rumor that had been quietly circulating among Hunters flashed through their minds.
The rumor of a high-rank monster living hidden among human society—of a vampire.
The characteristics of the vampire in that rumor were clear.
It hated sunlight and wrapped its whole body up tight.
It was active in the late evening or at night.
It lacked knowledge of the human world and sometimes acted awkwardly.
It possessed bizarre and powerful abilities.
And lastly—
—its eyes were said to be red.
The men met each other’s eyes.
The girl standing before them matched every single condition perfectly.
"......"
"Huaaaagh!"
Seized by absolute terror, they clutched their dangling arms and ran for their lives.