Eventually, I calmed down and we continued our way towards the village.

Is Celidonia carrying me? Of course not. Despite my size being smaller than her, I still have a weight and I'd rather not have this human wasting her already small stamina.

Then again, it's because of her that I've managed to clear my head on the whole matter. Thinking about it, it really is petty, isn't? To be worrying about such things when it's not a big of a deal...

At least that's what I'd like to tell myself.

I should focus on walking ahead.

Oh and I proposed to her that we should return to them but she refused, saying that we'll just be a hindrance.

I'm not too sure about that decision of hers though...

"Are you really fine walking?"

Celidonia asked me in concern as we navigated through the terrain.

I, of course, am the one leading.

"I am."

Oddly enough, we have yet to encounter a single goblin on our way. Back when we were just heading this way, we encountered a goblin every 10 to 20 minutes.

And we've been walking for 40 minutes now. I find this strange.

The reason for this might just be that time when we were fighting the not-possessed goblin shaman. I've sensed that hobgoblins are coming in our direction then but midway through the battle, they mysteriously retreated.

By whoever orders it is, it also recalled the other goblins in the area. That's my guess on the matter. Or it could also be because we've cleared this way of goblins. It wasn't long since we've walked through this path after all.

I think the latter is more possible.

"Just don't overexert yourself. Tell me if you want to take a break."

Humans always assume that I get tired easily... Well, this time, the reason is because I got a wound. And although it's healed, she assumed that it took a lot of energy from me to heal it apparently.

So we continued like that for another 40 minutes.

When I looked back at her, she's visibly breathing hard and we've only been walking just this much too. What's with the low stamina?

"Should we take a break?"

I proposed to the human and she immediately jumped on the offer.

So we took a break on a nearby tall tree. The leaves from its branches gave us quite the nice shade from the sun.

I took this opportunity to check clothes.

What I'm currently wearing is the cloth that I always wear when going outside and the one piece dress that was made for me. All of which has a fairly large hole on the back where I was hit.

I hid in a large patch of shade where there are no rays of light hitting it and from there, I removed my clothes.

I wonder how Sun and Night made this? And how to fix this as well.

I think it needs something called a 'needle' but I don't know where to get one or if I can make one. Maybe Celidonia knows something about it.

With that thought, I beckoned Celidonia to come closer and when she turned around to my direction, she became apple red.

"Waa—! Why're you naked!?"

"I know. Come here."

"Wha...?"

A bit hesitant, Celidonia came anyway.

Thus I ask her how to fix my clothes.

"Fix this...? You can but it's not going to look nice anymore and we don't have a [sewing] needle or any string to use."

"Sewing?"

"Hm?

"What's sewing?"

As she explained, sewing is a craft of fastening or attaching objects, which doesn't necessarily need to be cloths, by the use of a needle or something alike.

Then it's the same category of dressmaking then.

But digressing from that, as to what Celidonia said, this could be fixed using a portion of the cloth but that wouldn't be advisable as it wouldn't look good as before anymore.

Then again, I don't care really. I just want to be fixed. Because every time a gust of wind hits my back, it sends shivers down my spine. Literally.

"Well, we can't fix it here. You'll just have to endure. I'll fix it for you when we get back."

As Celidonia said that, she put my clothes on me and handed me the cloth.

"But really, your skin is so white. I think I understand why they call you Snow. Has your skin always been like that? Oh, but you don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

"It is. Because of that, I'm very sensitive to sunlight so I have to use this cloth whenever I go out."

"Is that so...?"

Celidonia looked troubled for some reason but soon regained her gentle smile and rubbed my head.

"It's going to be okay! I'll pray for you every day so that you can have a happy life."

"Okay...?"

Leaving Celidonia's weird promise, we continued our way back to the village.

And on our way back, I soon found out about a serious problem.

I'm hungry.

And I think Celidonia is to but while we're walking, she's occasionally picking up nuts and berries from nearby bushes and such so I doubt that she's that hungry. Plus, she has a water container. I doubt she's that thirst as well.

As for me, I didn't bring any because I thought that I could last for a few hours without blood but because I received that wound earlier, the healing of it must have taken quite a substantial amount of energy from me. That's my hypothesis at least.

With that, I became hungry sooner than I expected.

If I'm alone, this isn't a problem. I can just go and hunt something but I can't do that with Celidonia here. If I did that, I'll get found out.

I could just simply endure it until we get back to the village but Celidonia's blood smells very good. Even when she's not blushing, why could I smell her blood this strongly?

... Could it be because I'm hungry? If you think about it, it makes sense. If I'm hungry, I need blood and thus, to make it easier, my sense of smell is heightened to a greater degree.

I've never been hungry like this before, except for maybe that time when I first bit Sun and Night but there was so much blood around that I didn't notice.

This could turn bad but I can still endure it a little longer. Until then, I'll have to think up of a way to get a small snack while not making Celidonia suspicious of my race.

And after 20 minutes, such opportunity has yet to show itself.

There were birds flying close to the ground. I could very well catch them if I tried. The problem is that that is something that a 'human' shouldn't be capable of.

Celidonia would be totally suspicious of me. If ever that happens, I'll either have to kill her or tell her the truth. And the latter is quite a problem.

She might not accept it and maybe she'll view me as some sort of monster akin with those goblins. And the fact that she hadn't done anything offensive while we were fighting must mean that she couldn't fight me properly. This will result in me killing her anyway if I didn't convince her that I'm not harmful.

That, or I might just be overthinking things. No, wait. Maybe I could ask her view on this somehow by twisting my questions that wouldn't make her suspect me yet still get to know what I want. Ho ho~ good plan.

"Celidonia."

"What's with the serious tone all of the sudden? And you can just call me Celi."

Woah! Why is she so close all of the sudden? That surprised...

"Um... What would you think if you discovered your... Friend was actually not like what you think they are?"

To my question, Celidonia raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"... Someone you didn't expect? Your friend was actually someone different."

"I didn't expect? Hmm..."

Upon muttering such things, she began to scratch her cheek and closed her eyes.

Ah, she's seriously thinking it over! So smart of me to think of a way like this! It went smoother than I imagined.

"You'll have to be specific in that question, Snow. Do you mean by personality or identity? Like him or her having a different status in society that he or she had simply hidden. Or maybe they turned into a monster like what you said?"

Huh? What's this about 'status in society'?

But it might be close so...

"... The status one."

"Then, my view on them wouldn't change. I think friends should be looked upon their personality, not any other aspects."

"... Personality...?"

"That's right. Wouldn't it be more fun to hang around with people whose personality you like?"

Celidonia told me that with reminiscing smile on her face.

The smile seems to convince me about her statement. And I'd like to believe her in that. If she truly thinks like that then if I said that I drink human blood, she wouldn't be terrified, right? Or is it just me being too optimistic in the case?

Then again, the choices are these. Either I tell her now the truth and ask her to offer a handful of her blood to me, which can result in her seeing me as some sort of monster or accepting me the way I am and do so with compliance, or I simply not tell her anything but risk going berserk.

I have yet to experience being berserk due to hunger so I'm curious as to what happens to my body when that happens but this time, I can't go around experimenting to see how that happens.

... Or can I?

Wouldn't it be fine? If I killed her here when there's no one around, no one will know. I'll simply bury her body in the ground and go on my way to the village with a full belly. I could also simply explain to them that she died and when the others come back, I'll tell them that we were attacked by goblins in our way and that she died protecting me or something.

It's perfectly feasible and I could do it right now...

... But let's not. For now.

And so I asked.

"Do you really think that?"

"? Yes...?

"Then, can I drink your blood?"

Her eyes turned into big round plates as she looked at me dumbfounded.

"Huh? Why...?"

"Because I'm hungry."

"Then if it's food, I have so—"

"No, I need blood."

Certainly. I can just eat these berries and such to satisfy my hunger but what I'm feeling right now, I don't think that that'll solve the problem. We still have a few hours of walking to do and I don't know by then if I'm still able to control myself.

The only answer my body tells me is to drink blood.

And there's a good source of blood in front of me.

"Haha... I don't quite understand what you mean... I don't think blood will nourish you, you know?"

Why did she laugh? I don't think that what I've said is remotely funny...

Should I explain myself a bit more?

"I'm not a human. I'm... Something else. I need blood to survive. And I haven't drank any for hours now. I'm hungry."

"..."

"Celidonia?"

Celidonia was speechless. I think I should've worded that better since she seems to be having trouble taking in what I've just said...

But still, I have to make her understand. Even if I need to do it forcibly.

"S-Snow...!?"

"I'm telling the truth."

I approached her slowly, like a wolf stalking its prey. It seems that she's able to pick up my not-so-pure intentions from my eyes as she began to back away in unison with my steps.

Eventually, her back hit a trunk of a tree, stopping her movement for a while. I don't know why she just didn't change her direction to avoid the tree but that wouldn't change a thing for me.

"Snow...? Eep!"

I then reached out and touched the side of her neck with my index finger, gently moving it down to her collarbone. I could feel her body shivering with my every little movement.

Accompanying that shivering, her cheeks became apple red as I inched my face closer to her. Her rough breathes were quite warm and the scent of her blood seems to tickle the insides of my nose.

With these conditions, I could hardly control myself.

"Shall I give you a practical example?"

"A... A what?"

Seems like 'that' is necessary.

I won't go and suck her blood of course. I'll just give her a little bite and that's it. Or even better, if she's convinced with just me showing my fangs.

Since her heads turning into the other direction, probably due to embarrassment or something, I gently hold her chin and with that, I slowly moved her head to face me.

Seeing her flustered face that seems far off from looking like she's convinced tells me that this might not be going quite smoothly than I imagined it to be.

But I can't back down now. I'll go through with it.

Next, I used my finger to part my lips, opening my mouth and revealing the two sharp teeth on the upper part of my mouth.

"This is what I use to drink blood. Do you believe me now?"

"Drink blood...?"

Celidonia looked puzzled as her eyes focused on my fangs. She certainly doesn't look convinced when she's like that.

Looks like I'll just have to bite her then. Since she looks so unconvinced, this will make her believe me. I'll have to let her feel the feeling of having her blood sucked...

No! Stop thinking about that, me! Oh my... My thoughts have turned into a strange direction.

I'll just bite her and be done with it. Then after that, I'll ask her if I can drink her blood. That's the correct procedure.

"Wait, what are you doing...!?"

I stood on the tips of my toes and grabbed hold on her shoulders to lift me up a bit more. After which, I slowly pierced my fangs into her.

"Wait, Sno—waah~!"

Ah... It seems I'm sucking her blood when all I wanted to do was just to bite and ask for her consent later. But upon looking at her expression, she doesn't seem to dislike it so it should be fine.

Every drop of blood that entered my fangs, I savored and enjoyed to my heart's content. It felt so long since I get to taste the blood of a different human other than Sun and Night. Although, it didn't taste as good, but because it's a new taste, I enjoyed it nonetheless.

And as seconds pass by, the taste of her blood became increasingly delicious until it reaches the point that I'd say to be the pinnacle of deliciousness for this blood. For Sun and Night's, they've reached this point the first time I fed on them.

Her ragged breathing excites me more and her fast heartbeat makes me want to continue until she has nothing left. And the fact that she's pulling me closer to her seems to suggest that as well.

But I know that that's not something that I should do. I felt this feeling from when I was feeding on Sun and Night so it's not something new. Before long, I parted my fangs from her neck and the moment I did so, her legs lost their strength as her butt fell on the ground.

As for me, I seem to have something returned to me. And it's the clarity of the mind.

After looking at Celidonia panting heavily with heated breaths while having a higher than normal body temperature and crimson red cheeks, I immediately realized that I did something outrageous.

I really went too far than planned.