Chapter 55

Erica gently awakened the sleeping Orly in the vehicle.

She tidied up Orly’s tousled hair, patted her cheeks, and then lightly tapped her shoulder.

“We’re almost there.”

“·····Mm.”

One thing Erica learned from spending a lot of time with Orly was that she needed quite a bit of sleep.

That wasn’t all. There was also a tranquility to her that Erica realized, something she couldn’t have guessed from the chatter of Orly during their forced time together as hostages in the association.

A calm and mature atmosphere.

It was like that on the day they visited Orly’s house, or even today during the aftermath of the terrorist attack at the headquarters, when Orly acted coy while Erica indulged her whims.

Erica recalled the way Orly had smiled and calmly reassured her when she was flustered with ineffective treatment.

She unbuckled Orly’s seatbelt.

Right.

Erica realized once again that she had been slowly melting into Orly after sharing so much time together.

She felt different emotions while experiencing many things together.

In the warped situation amidst a distorted relationship, she found herself at the center confronting it.

Erica helped Orly, who was flailing in faintness, out of the vehicle.

Was she doing something wrong?

Orly was a wanted Awakened One. That was an unchanging fact.

Though their time together as hostages had been forced and often chaotic, in a normal situation, they would have been aiming knives at each other just at a glance.

But Erica had not done that. Neither had Orly.

That was because their relationship was already broken. She had changed enough to speak kindly to Orly.

How had she ended up here?

Erica brushed through the strands of Orly’s hair that lightly leaned on her shoulder and stepped into the elevator.

Am I feeling special emotions?

She had never experienced love. She had never liked anyone.

Was she somehow enjoying this twisted situation in the stark reality?

Had she finally lost her mind?

Erica looked down. She could see Orly’s eyelashes trembling in fatigue.

She merely wanted to bestow affection.

Is this love?

Light poured out as Erica took a step.

No, it wasn’t.

This was not love.

She was far too young and lacking to understand such things.

“Ah, you’ve arrived. And who is this next to you?”

The director blinked.

“Oh, it’s Orly?”

“It seems you’re no longer surprised.”

As Orly almost lost her balance in her slumber, Erica hastily wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“·····What do you mean?”

It wasn’t really difficult for her.

She didn’t even know why.

As she gently laid Orly down on the makeshift bed in the lounge, a red, round creature emerged from her pocket.

Seeing it bounce against her chest with its small body, Erica tilted her head.

She had seen it around sometimes; what is this?

It looked like a spirit.

As they left the lounge, the director handed Erica a paper cup.

Erica accepted it and nodded slightly. It was a gesture of thanks.

The director gazed briefly at the void.

“I’m sorry about something.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s such cheap coffee?”

Erica blinked and took a sip from the paper cup. It only tasted sweet.

“It’s fine.”

“Don’t you receive only the finest coffee from Orly?”

Suddenly, the café mocha set on her desk came to mind.

“·····That’s true.”

A moment of silence followed.

“What’s the situation like?”

“Ah····· it’s a bit serious, but there are only injuries.”

“It seems you managed well.”

“I held on until you could send in reinforcements.”

Erica took another sip from the paper cup.

“When I worried, she seemed really flustered. Hehe. I guess she wasn’t expecting that.”

“Is that so?”

The director smiled bitterly.

“You’ve had a tough time. I sincerely apologize.”

“Director, what are you sorry for? It just… ended up like this.”

It’s not just the director giving her that look. Sometimes when she returned after meeting high officials, she felt worried glances mixed with admiration.

The fact that Orly was stuck in the association was already widely known.

Erica twisted her side hair.

It’s tough, but it is.

I’m okay.

She didn’t even know why.

“I hope you treat Orly well.”

“Don’t worry.”

“·····Thank you.”

Unexpected emotions surfaced. It felt distant.

“I’m taking good care of her.”

Erica smiled slightly.

The meaning of her treatment had transformed, but she didn’t mind.

“You don’t have to apologize. I’ve received plenty of benefits from you too.”

“Hehe. I don’t recall too much of that.”

“After the department transfer, it became even more so. My brother is the same.”

Suddenly, her brother, who was admitted to the association’s special magic room, came to mind. It reminded her that it was time to manufacture new medicine.

“What’s so hard about taking care of my brother? Knowing how to brew the medicine isn’t hard at all.”

Erica smiled bitterly.

“Thank you.”

“Speaking of that, are you taking care of yourself? After all, vitality stats are important.”

“I’m adjusting. I’ve stabilized recently.”

Both her vitality stats and mana stats were like that. Fortunately, her regeneration was decent; if it weren’t, she would have suffered while trying to prepare medicine even for her brother, Er.

As Erica twisted her side hair, her face turned red. After being bled by Orly a few times, her stats began to show high concentration values.

Should I like this or not?

Walking through the dim hallway, she entered the brightly lit hospital room.

“Sis!”

“Yeah. Er.”

Erica let out a sigh of relief. The pale face that had been so long was gone from her brother, Er. Spending a long time on treatment had paid off.

“It’s been a while!”

“Yeah. It has.”

Erica responded like that and gently tousled Er’s hair. Then she took out a small, elongated glass bottle filled with red liquid.

It contained her own bl**d, imbued with magic.

Due to the characteristics of the Awakened One, sharing her bl**d vessels and magic channels with another, she had to use her own bl**d to manufacture medicine for magic infusion.

Her high regeneration stats further enhanced that effect. As bl**d would flow in and out of her heart, she began to devise a suitable treatment for Er, who was suffering from a chronic illness.

“They came to see me today·····.”

“Friends?”

As always, with that conversation, Erica took out a magic scroll. The long incantation was fluttering on the piece of paper.

With sentences glowing in the air, a gentle breeze emanated. As the soft wind blew, a handful of green powder escaped from the scroll.

Erica opened the lid of the glass bottle. The powder merged in, thickening with her sticky bl**d, and began to solidify gradually.

A few minutes later, she extracted a small pill that had solidified from the glass bottle.

“Whoo.”

Erica let out a light sigh as she continued the conversation while handing over water and the pill.

#

[Awaken now.]

She opened her eyes.

Then immediately shut them again.

[Shouldn’t you hurry and see the girl you like?]

“That’s true.”

In that fleeting moment, she felt a sense of discomfort. Bloody had a personality that was shy and didn’t speak much in front of others.

So, if Erica is not here…

She looked around. It was an empty lounge.

“You liar.”

[I have never lied.]

Ignoring it, she raised herself up. The makeshift bed creaked.

[How is your body?]

“I’m fine.”

[I reduced the medication, but for now, we should monitor the progress and discuss future measures.]

“Discuss, you say.”

[It’s your body.]

Bloody flitted her wings. Red currents scattered.

[You should treat it preciously.]

“Thank you.”

She hesitated for a moment.

She had been distressed by too many things over the past few days. The unintended phenomena made her head ache.

Anyway, she had a goal she had to focus on now.

“It’s about the Behemoth mixing formula.”

[Is that what you’ve been worrying about lately?]

“I haven’t done any PvE. Do you happen to know?”

[Hmph. The princess knows everything!]

“So do you know?”

A brief moment of silence fell. The black cloak concealed Bloody’s face.

[Just wait a moment. I will remember!]

“You foolish princess.”

She twisted her side hair. Should she rummage through her study?

[I remember!]

“What’s the mix?”

[No, that’s not it·····.]

“Don’t hesitate, just say it.”

[Behemoth is a necro species.]

Bloody flew in the air. Blue symbols materialized in the void.

[However, it is different from the pure bloodline of necro that has rooted for thousands of years.]

“What does that mean?”

[They possess a core that the necros lack. In that regard, it’s similar to the undead. To put it metaphorically, it would be like a side branch next to the main long twig.]

“I can just ask the Reaver.”

Bloody blinked her white eyes. The incantations increased further.

[Are you talking about the male necromancer?]

“Yeah. That short silver hair.”

[If it’s that man, he should know most materials and mixing methods. However… ]

The incantations shattered, and letters danced in the air.

[To mix a beast like the Behemoth, you will basically need the corpse of a necro species.]

“What’s the assimilation rate?”

[About 80% should do.]

That could be an even better opportunity. After all, she was already planning to sweep out the necromancer group, so it didn’t matter.

“You’re certainly a princess. You know everything.”

[Hehe! Praise me more!]

As she half-listened, the lounge door opened.

“You’re awake?”

She was about to respond but kept her mouth shut.

“You seem weak.”

“Huh?”

“Did you expend your magic somewhere?”

“That’s····· right?”

Is it necessary for a ranker at times?

“I guess I’ll have to supply it again.”

“Huh?”

She smiled slightly. And then she subtly parted her lips, revealing her fangs.

Erica stepped back.