Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint - Chapter 119

WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Chapter 119: Everyone's Meal

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Tyr had regained her heart, but she still moved through bloodcraft. There was only one reason Tyr, who had no need to eat, would visit the cafeteria.

"Hyu? I thought I'd find you here."

As always, Tyr found me and naturally came to stand beside me. As I cleared the dishes, I asked,

"What have you been doing?"

"Shei asked me to finish teaching him bloodcraft."

"You're still teaching him bloodcraft?"

"Not often these days, but he seems to have recently made up his mind about something. His eyes have changed. I should say he's become more impatient, or perhaps more desperate."

Was it to fight the woman who would soon descend?

The regressor had always devoted herself to training, but with the final battle approaching, she seemed to have grown more urgent.

From what I had read, it seemed her original plan had not involved defeating that woman in a fight...

Well, things must have changed.

That was good news for those who were not regressors.

"I heard your bloodcraft had weakened."

"Who knows? Whether it has weakened or simply changed... In any case, who could judge? No one has mastered bloodcraft more than I have."

"Did you explain that to Shei?"

"Why should I? A teacher must always have dignity. How can learning take place if the disciple feels anxious?"

The disciple was the one receiving instruction, after all. So it was fine for a teacher to embellish herself a little.

Tyr said that seriously. She meant every word.

Talking to someone with a different way of thinking had its own charm. In the middle of our easygoing conversation, Tyr suddenly turned toward the table.

Callis and the immortal were shamelessly flirting.

Tyr watched the immortal feed Callis, who accepted every bite, with a faintly envious look. Then her gaze abruptly shifted to my hand.

Wait. I could hear a strange thought.

"...Hyu. Come to think of it, I feel a little hungry too."

"What? You can live without eating."

Tyr put on an air of dignity.

"Who said anything about food? I am Tyrkanzyaka, Progenitor of vampires. The only thing I consume is blood."

"So you want blood? Why not ask Mr. Shei, whose blood tastes good?"

"Quiet. How could I drink the blood of a disciple busy with his training?"

This would not do. That would not do.

In my experience, when someone was being that picky, there was a high chance they wanted something.

'I've made it this obvious. He'll offer me his blood himself.'

You said it tasted bad. Why were you trying so hard to drink it?

Besides, I hated injuring my body. Even in the Abyss, the thought of putting holes in myself made me uncomfortable.

When I only stared at her without responding, Tyr fidgeted and watched my reaction.

'Has he not noticed, or does he know and pretend not to? Tch...!'

After hesitating, Tyr finally could not hold it in and cried out,

"...It's the wish I won in our wager!"

"What?"

I asked because the words had come out of nowhere. Tyr looked at me resentfully and shouted,

"Did we not make a wager last time? You said you would grant me a wish if I saw through your magic."

"Oh. That time."

"I will claim the wish I won then. Share a little of your blood with me!"

"Come on, using a wish for something like this..."

Still, a wish won through a wager was a different matter. Dragging my feet, I went over to the sink and thoroughly washed my hands.

When I turned around, Tyr stood there with slightly expectant eyes. Shaking the water from my hands, I asked,

"Come to think of it, wasn't that victory a little forced?"

"Which is why I am satisfied with only a few drops of blood. Is that too precious? Precious enough to break a promise?"

"That leaves me with nothing to say."

Right. A few drops of blood wouldn't hurt.

I held out my freshly washed hand. Tyr swallowed and looked at my fingers, then summoned darkness to block the surrounding view.

'...Until now, there was never a need to sink my teeth into a body merely to take blood. That is a vulgar act for lowly thralls far beneath me. But...'

With her bloodcraft incomplete, Tyr had lost the ability to draw in all the blood flowing through the world.

The blood within her, on the other hand, was entirely hers. To absorb blood from beyond herself, she needed to consume it and make it her own.

Even so, Tyr overflowed with blood vitality and had no need to drink blood.

Still.

'...How embarrassing. To do something so vulgar and shameful... No, that is wrong. This is only a meal. Everyone does it, so there is no reason for me to feel ashamed!'

Tyr simply wanted to do something vulgar.

Where had all twelve centuries gone? Puberty had arrived after twelve hundred springs.

"...Then I shall eat."

"Tch. As if cooking meals for beasts wasn't enough, now I'm becoming vampire ingredients. Since you're having it anyway, enjoy."

Then Tyr's teeth sank into my flesh.

Contrary to popular belief, being bitten by a vampire did not turn someone into one. To a vampire, drinking blood was nothing more than eating.

But meaning could be assigned. Tyr bit me with incredible care, attention, and gentleness.

"Mmm..."

'It doesn't hurt, does it...?'

What pain? There wasn't even any blood coming out. Her teeth only brushed lightly against the tip of my finger. Was this really bloodsucking? Her tongue touched me more than her teeth did.

'...Now that I think about it, there is no need to drink blood. I do not wish to injure him, nor do I crave his blood.'

At this point, she was just sucking on my finger.

There wasn't a trace of bloodsucking. This was something that could not be dressed up in any way.

'Just a little bite...'

It was caressing me. No matter how I looked at it.

Her front teeth lightly touched and pulled away, stimulating my fingertip. Tyr was so engrossed in her not-quite-bloodsucking that she did not even look at me.

Tantalus in the Abyss was an isolated place.

Tyr, whose heart now beat again, felt enormous gratitude toward me. I could not run away or avoid her. If we spent just a little more time together like this, her feelings would likely become clearer.

And she would want something from me.

I was a mind reader.

I read the wishes of others.

Whenever I heard someone's wish, whenever I read the earnest desire circling in their heart, I faced the wish carried across that heart head-on.

It was fate. I would be influenced by it. If it was a wish more important than life itself, that yearning would reach me.

Heat flowed from warm places to cold ones. That great law applied to hearts as well, and it reached me even faster because I touched them directly through mind reading.

Then, with a heart set aflame, I would somehow fulfill that wish, in one way or another.

That was why I was a magician.

Even if it happened in a way I did not want. Even if it went in a direction I had never expected.

So they could face the wish they truly wanted.

There was only one kind of wish I could not grant.

A wish that changed me.

That included saving me, as well as killing me.

So.

"Why are you only biting me? There's no blood coming out."

"Uh, hmm?"

"Now that I think about it, you really like fingers. You put fingers in your mouth every day. You even put them inside your chest. I think you like fingers more than you like me."

"Ah, wait. Mm."

I curled my finger slightly like a hook. It scraped against her fang, and blood began to flow. Before it could even form a drop, it touched Tyr's tongue and melted away.

"Only this once. I'm only injuring my precious body and bleeding for you this once."

Once blood actually came out, Tyr did not know what to do. Regardless, the blood that had already flowed went down her throat.

Then.

Tyr violently spat out my finger.

She coughed softly and, rarely, looked like she might cry.

"Ughhh... It tastes bad."

"So it really did taste bad!"

Looking at my finger, I saw a tiny amount of blood seeping from the slightly torn skin.

So even this tiny amount tasted bad enough for her to spit it out? Was that not practically poison?

"W-wait. It's my first time taking blood this way..."

"Hey."

"Ugh."

Tyr flinched when I held out my bleeding finger. Pressing it firmly to stop the bleeding, I said,

"I had no idea my blood had this effect. It turns out I'm not vampire food, I'm a vampire repellent charm."

"Hyu, I am not yet satisfied..."

"Take it. Holy blood."

"Urgh."

"What satisfaction are you talking about after that? Forget it. We know you can't drink it now, so isn't this over?"

Tyr closed her mouth. I pushed through the darkness and strode away.

When I emerged from the darkness with Tyr following behind me regretfully, I found Azzy and Nabi tangled together in a fight.

"Meow! Hand over my offering, meow-!"

"Woof woof! It's my canned food! Woof!"

Nabi was throwing a tantrum to steal the canned food. Azzy could neither bite Nabi nor subdue her and was at a complete loss.

"What's going on?"

At my words, Azzy hugged the canned food to her chest and shouted,

"Woof! She's trying to take mine!"

Was she insane? How long had it been since the last time ended with her half dead?

"She hasn't had her medicine, so she doesn't know who to fear anymore."

"Can I bite her?"

"If you can bite her without hurting her."

Azzy gave up and focused on protecting her canned food. Just how hard had she planned to bite?

The immortal and Callis had already disappeared. Only Nabi remained, noisily pressing against Azzy and eyeing the unopened can.

She had not drawn her claws yet, but if she went berserk again, there would be bloodshed. I hurriedly looked for the regressor.

"Where's the one in charge of the medicine? Get over here, quickly!"

To help her get used to being without medicine, she needed to receive it at slightly dangerous moments. Still, if she grew accustomed to getting it whenever she threw a tantrum, that tendency could become ingrained later.

Beasts were simpler than people thought.

Humans were the same, really.

"Bring the mana herb already--!"

"Woof! My canned food--!"

"Meowaaah! Offering! Hand over the offering, meow--!"

It was a loud yet cozy moment.

Then I heard a lonely thought from beyond the wall.

'...It is peaceful. Relaxed. Nice to see.'

What about this was peaceful? What about this was relaxed? It wasn't nice at all! Bring the mana herb right now!

'Everyone will leave when sunlight shines into the Abyss next time, won't they?'

Of course. There was no reason to stay.

'I must remain here because I do not know when or how she will come. I have to keep her from obtaining Jizan, the Earth Sword.'

A bitter smile lingered on the regressor's lips. She pushed herself away from the wall, turning a long mana-herb cigarette over in her fingers.

'I hope this is the final cycle. It probably will not be. I will... probably fail again this time. Especially if I waste nine whole months in the Abyss.'

Having hardened her resolve, the regressor stepped into the warm cafeteria.

'So I will not settle for this cycle. I will seek a better possibility... If only to keep this moment from becoming meaningless.'

Bang. The door opened. The regressor tossed the mana-herb cigarette into the air, caught it, and called to Nabi.

"Nabi. Today's offering."

"Meowah! An offering! It's an offering, meow! Give it to me already!"

Nabi rushed over like lightning to snatch it, but the regressor moved a beat faster, caught it, and hid it in her fist.

As I had taught her, she released as little scent as possible and let it out little by little.

"Stay still. You have to inhale slowly."

"Meow. Meowaaah..."

While Nabi got high on the medicine, Azzy, having defended her canned food, looked down at it with a proud expression.

The canned Nabi food I had made, and everything else.

There was a lot I still needed to teach her.