Title acquired: Samaritan ( +10% HP from healing)

+0.3 luck

I completely ignored the new message. There were more urgent matters at hand.

There has to be something else I can do.

I made up my mind.

Flapping my wings, I descended upon the unconscious Fake.

Celine lifted her tearstained face, alarmed by noise. Our gazes met.

Mysterious silence fell between us. The torch stretched our shadows on the cold cave walls.

Once again, I flapped my wings and disappeared into the darkness. Soon, I was back with a now bloodstained piece of rock.

I had to put all of 0.5 stat points into strength in order to carry enough weight with my tiny feet.

She was staring at me incredulously.

Celine must have guessed something. I wasn't acting like other monsters, which only cared about eating and killing.

It wasn't hard to guess, I was special. She looked down at the bloodstained piece of rock lying at her feet.

I neared the unconscious body of Fake and made a motion of biting close to his face, but I didn't really touch him. After expressing myself, I turned back and stared at her once again.

Another row of tears fell from her eyes as she sobbed in silence, staring between the rock, me and unconscious Fake.

She must have guessed my meaning.

Kill him.

You can level up and get stronger then.

He won't be able to resist.

I was pained to have made such a decision, but I didn't have any better ideas. I was too weak myself to protect her from harm as the cave was full of things I couldn't handle.

Hence, my act of 'saving' her would be meaningless. She would either die gruesomely in the hands of these cave monsters or would face the fate of being Fake's plaything once he woke up.

Sigh, this is as much as I can do.

I can't kill him in her stead. After all, this was my body for 18 years. It also represents hope, that one day I can get it back.

But I can't act selfishly and just abandon her either.

Aaaah, I don't know! It's just too fucked up.

Celine sobbed even more and distanced herself from the piece of rock.

I'm a genius, aren't I?

Did I just expect from a little girl to kill a person just like that?

Even if Fake was really hateful, it would be too unrealistic to think she could go as far as to kill him.

Regretfully, I ran out of ideas. I just sat there, listening to her sobs. The atmosphere was really depressing.

I made sure to split my attention to Fake's condition. I would have to instantly flee if he woke up.

The monsters didn't approach, probably scared off by the intimidating aura he previously gave off.

It was now, that I felt how truly powerless I was.

I reincarnated into a bat, in another world.

So what? Nothing seemed to have changed. I was still that weak, powerless, thrown around by circumstances.

I hated it. I hated it. I hated it!

There was no point in me staying there. I flapped my wings and hid nearby, hanging from the ceiling.

...

Celine finally stopped sobbing and wiped the tears with her hands.

She fixed her half-torn clothes as best as she could, then started walking towards still unconscious Fake.

I was watching from distance.

Has she made up her mind? Is she really...going to kill him?

A pang of regret flashed in my mind. If the fake me died, I would never have the chance to return to being Alan Morgan ever again...

Still, I didn't get my hopes up.

I still held a glimmer of expectancy, that one day, when I was strong enough, I could return to being a human.

Huh?

Celine skipped past the bloodstained piece of rock and walked past him too.

She crouched down and rummaged through the bag I used to carry to work and took out a packet of cookies.

I instantly guessed her intention.

Silly girl.

She wanted to travel alone. But she was weak! And she knew that.

Still, she chose to no longer stick with him, despite knowing what this meant - an almost certain death in monsters' jaws.

...

I sighed regretfully.

Simultaneously, my gaze fell on the familiar bag and packet of cookies in her hands.

I remember now. I bought that on the way to work. Eating chocolate cookies while enjoying the coffee was one of my ultimate enjoyments in life.

Seems they have survived these past few days due to that packet of cookies.

My perception allowed me to see from far.

I saw it. There was only 1 cookie left.

My heart almost melted as I saw her following actions.

She split the cookie in half and left the remaining half to him.

Even after what he did...

Ah, I can't take it.

How can someone be this cute? How can someone be this kind? How can someone be this innocent?

Noooo! My heart will break if I see her die to these disgusting cave monsters.

Ah, what should I do? What should I do? Is this all destined to not work out?

Am I bound to never see a happy ending?

Fake! I can tolerate that you stole my body, but why did you have to be an asshole? Why are you making things so hard for me? Why are you making me watch this tragedy?

Aaaaahhh!!! I'm so mad. I'm so pissed.

No!. I won't let the poor girl die! I refuse!

System, allocate all my skill points into intimidation!

Yosh!

I flapped my wings and descended right on her shoulder.

Celine screamed, scared, but recognizing me, and that I was obediently sitting on her shoulder, she calmed down.

'W, were you the one that s...saved me?' She stuttered.

I nodded my head.

'Do you understand me?' Her eyes widened in astonishment.

Once again, I nodded my head.

Celine's expression brightened.

'Thank you.' She patted my head. Ah, bliss...I unintentionally squinted my eyes in contentment. Ah, how shameful.

She should have realized earlier that I saved her from my previous actions, but that time, she was too traumatized. Besides, it was ridiculous to talk to a bat, hoping it would understand you. She must have been confused.

'Ah, wait.' Celine took out that half a cookie and broke a part of it, then brought it to my mouth.

*Ba-dump

You won my heart, little girl.

I pretended to be picky and turned my head.

Even though, I might never taste my favorite chocolate cookie in this life...

'Ah, please, it's really good.' She begged with her eyes.

Damn, don't play with my heartstrings!

She looked at me in disappointment because I didn't eat it, but then patted my head again while smiling.

'Thank you. Go now.' She pushed me gently.

What? No!

I once again dropped on her shoulder, unwilling to budge.

'Thank you, you can follow me, just for a bit.' Her expression full of expectation, loneliness and relief won over my fragile heart.

She must be thinking she's going to die and drag me down. Don't you worry, little one, I won't let anything bully you, I prom...

No. I can barely protect myself here. It's no use being delusional. I never liked empty promises, so I won't make one. I'll just, try my best and That's it. I just...do not want to be disappointed with myself and be burdened with regrets, that's all.

It's hard to imagine how pitiful she is, having to escape from that bastard and walk the dark cave full of abominations all by herself. Even a useless and weak companion such as me can be of help...sometimes people just need something to depend on, no matter how useless they are.

I know that feeling. When you are in need of someone, just anyone, but nobody comes. You are left alone, with your problems, with your thoughts, with your nightmares...

Celine grabbed the torch and took a last look at him.

She took a deep breath and gathered up the courage to go on her own. It must have been very hard for her, but she had no other choice. She couldn't continue to stay here, because he would wake up sooner or later, and she didn't want to be here when he did.

As she moved ahead step by step, the torch lightened up the path ahead. It was total darkness outside the range of torchlight. Eerie contours of shadows were painted on the walls, always moving around as the light source changed its position with every new step.

If I didn't have my echolocation and vigilance skills along with decent perception, I would have been scared shitless. Celine's body was trembling slightly. The light source illuminated her pale face.

I gave small screeches every now and then, expressing I was here with her. This seemed to work a little as she would give me a grateful smile and pat my head.

I sat on her shoulder, acting like radar and a deterrence. My high perception was spread out all around. My mood soured when I detected many small worms and crawlers scattered around a couple of meters away. They were just everywhere.

My red eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.

Activate intimidation!

The muffled creeping sound could be heard from all around.

It worked. The crawlers dispersed. I'm sure this wouldn't work on everything, but as long as I didn't slack my vigilance, I could avoid greater dangers.

Yosh! I'll do my best to keep her safe, definitely!

* * *

The dark figure rose to his feet slowly.

He gave off a suffocating aura.

The insects hid, not daring to make noises, avoiding alerting him.

The nearby Otium crystal gave off a purple light, barely illuminating the contours of his contorted face. Two lines of blood coming from his messy hair painted his face.

*Crack!

In a fit of rage, he slammed his fist onto a nearby cave wall, which crumbled into small fragments and fell on the ground.

'No, no, no, fuck, stupid bitch, you bitch, you bitch!'

Two bloodthirsty eyes lit up in the darkness. The eerie figure moved ahead irregularly, then stumbled upon the backpack.

'AAAAAAHHHH! CELINE, WHERE ARE YOU?!'

The deafening howl reverberated and echoed across the dark cave, while the baleful aura spread out. The smaller monsters nearby panicked as they scattered in all directions.

Meanwhile, several more red pair of eyes lit up in different places across the cave.