Chapter 36
Chapter 36
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Shy True Ancestor
-----------------------------------------------------------------
At times like this, I knew exactly how to act.
At times like this, it was best to stay quiet.
That person would actually welcome this silence.
I’d been introverted before my mutation too, so I knew how introverts typically behaved.
Acting overly excited would be a minus.
Just a bit nonchalant, with a slight smile.
“Hello. Looking forward to working with you.”
The key here was to show her that I wasn’t someone who made her uncomfortable.
People like her preferred deep, narrow relationships over broad, shallow ones, so I shouldn’t approach too hastily and heighten her wariness.
Exactly this level of distance was right.
“Ah, y-yes… Um, you’re… a Dragon, right?”
“Yes, that’s me. I heard you’re a True Ancestor… Do True Ancestors have any special traits?”
Then, give her space to speak.
Above all, I absolutely couldn’t mention anything about seeing community posts.
That was the biggest landmine. Touch it, and she wouldn’t talk to me at all.
Someone seeing a post I’d written anonymously on a community?
Just that would make her want to crawl into a hole.
In other words, I just needed to be a good listener.
Bring up topics she’d find easy to talk about, then listen enthusiastically.
Once she opened up a little, she’d start chatting excitedly on her own before long.
It just took time until then.
I’d gone to great lengths to force conversations when I’d just entered university.
I knew how much courage it took for an introvert to even start talking to someone, so I patiently waited for Yeon-hwa to speak.
“Tr-True Ancestor…? A True Ancestor is, like, just a stronger… vampire, I guess… Hehe…”
“Oh… Sounds impressive.”
“Heh, r-really?”
“Yes. I heard from the Deputy Director earlier that you can even go out in sunlight…”
“Th-that’s true, but… I don’t like it. It’s, um, a bit harder for me… I have to replenish blood to be active during the day…”
“Even True Ancestors find sunlight threatening, huh.”
“Yeah. So I usually don’t go outside…”
“But working here—you must have to be active during the day sometimes.”
“Most of the time is indoors… And the pay’s good…”
“Ah.”
Pay was a big deal, after all.
She seemed to be opening up a bit, lifting her gaze from the floor to look at me.
…Staying holed up at home with looks like that—it was such a waste, by others’ standards.
“Honestly, I didn’t really want to do this, but they pay and provide free blood packs…”
“Really? I heard they buy it at fair market value…”
“Th-that’s true, but I can’t buy blood packs every meal… I make do with animal blood or pig blood as a stopgap… but it’s tough.”
“I see…”
Suddenly, I had a thought.
Maybe my blood could help this poor vampire?
Considering my original body size, losing one blood pack wouldn’t cause anemia or anything.
“What did you do before mutating?”
At my question, Yeon-hwa, who’d been glancing at me cautiously, dropped her gaze back to the floor.
“Um… just that. Stayed in my room… got scolded by Mom. But now I’m working with a government agency, and Mom’s happy… Hehe, mutating was a blessing. I was a night owl anyway…”
Ah, landmine. She didn’t even seem to realize it herself.
No need to dwell on this topic.
“I get it—my life’s gone pretty smoothly since mutating too. Oh, what abilities do you have, Yeon-hwa?”
“I-I can turn into a bat… and control blood…”
“Blood?”
“Yeah… Any living creature’s blood, I can control. But I haven’t tried it carelessly—it might kill someone. It’s really dangerous…”
No wonder the Deputy Director called her a saint-level person.
Abilities like that, wasted away in a room.
“And I can control vampires.”
“Huh?”
“Un-like High Elf… S-Sia, vampires have a hierarchy by species… True Ancestors can dominate and control lesser vampires…”
That’s when the Deputy Director chimed in.
“That’s why there’ve been no vampire-related crimes in Korea.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Vampires are the most reviled mutants abroad. But in Korea, they’ve never caused an incident.”
“No way…”
“Yes. All thanks to Yeon-hwa here. She warned all Korean vampires not to cause trouble.”
“Heh, hehe…”
Yeon-hwa scratched the back of her head sheepishly. Even that clumsy gesture drew the eye. Vampires, alright.
Jin-ha would love her if they met.
“Oh, have you met Jin-ha by any chance?”
“I introduced you before, but…”
“Eek…! J-Jin-ha is scary…”
“Huh?”
Jin-ha scary? Why?
With abilities that could steam most mutants, it was baffling.
“That overwhelming… overwhelming insider aura…! Someone like me, an outsider, burns up just approaching…!”
“As you see… But the clothes she’s wearing now are from Jin-ha.”
“Ah, haha… Oh, one thing I’m curious about, Yeon-hwa.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Ever thought about trying dragon blood?”
“Dr-Dragon blood…?”
“You seem to have trouble sourcing blood. But with my true body’s size, a little bloodletting should be fine for me…”
“How about donating blood? There’s a blood bank nearby. If your blood helps Yeon-hwa’s daily life, it’d be great all around. Blood packs are rare since not many donate.”
“Let’s try it.”
And so, we headed to the blood bank.
“Huh? What’s this…?”
There was a minor issue—the needle wouldn’t pierce my skin. But relaxing and allowing the intrusion let it slide in smoothly.
My body was just so bizarre, even to me.
Reminded me of those wuxia memes where invincible kung fu masters can’t get surgery.
Anyway, after that little hiccup, I got a processed blood pack from the blood bank and handed it to Yeon-hwa.
“Hehe, bl-blood…”
“Is it that tasty?”
“Yes. To me, it’s better than any delicacy in the world… Even the least tasty pig blood feels better than any food I ate as a human.”
“I see…”
“Honestly, my dream is to drink blood freely… If this blood’s okay…”
“Then I could give you one pack a day. No side effects from donating, so it should be fine.”
“Th-that’s amazing…!”
Yeon-hwa looked enraptured, like she’d met a god. That much?
Sourcing blood packs must’ve been harder than I thought.
She said she didn’t drink much, but that was probably her suppressing her urges.
How could a True Ancestor’s dream be to drink blood freely?
Like the Deputy Director said, she was a modern Virgin Mary for a reason.
Not just introverted—she fundamentally thought not to harm others.
And that mindset suppressed even her instincts.
Giving blood to someone like that didn’t feel like a waste at all.
Yeon-hwa carefully held the blood pack with my blood, inserted a straw—where’d that come from?
Maybe she carried it.
She tentatively sipped through the straw.
“…!?”
Her eyes went wide, body freezing. Something wrong…? Did she pass out?
“Yeon-hwa? You okay…?”
Only then did her body twitch. Not just twitch.
Tears streamed down.
“Ah?”
Yeon-hwa was crying. What? Not tasty?
But that worry was unfounded.
“How can it taste like this…!”
A gasp of ecstasy escaped her lips.
“So good! I could live on this forever…! And my body’s surging with energy! Daytime usually drains me, but now I feel alive like it’s night…!”
“G-Glad to hear. I thought something went wrong.”
“S-Seo-hyun? You’ll really give me this every day…?”
“Yes. We’ll work at the same agency now, and as director, I should accommodate staff as much as possible. I worried it might harm you… but no issues, so I’ll supply plenty daily.”
“I’ll work hard! Anything you say!”
How delicious was my blood to make someone who couldn’t meet my eyes sparkle like that?
Not just sparkle.
Like a fanatic devotee, she stared at me.
…What on earth did it taste like?