Chapter 25 - Why Isn't Anything Happening?
Translator: Roshi
Serintia could truly feel that her power was growing stronger.
Every single day was different.
Yesterday, she had learned the reason why.
It was thanks to Shin-hu curing her Bloodlust Precursor.
Come to think of it, yesterday she had felt like her power hadn't grown much for some reason.
Still, she had thought two days of growth was better than nothing and hadn't worried about it.
But then, while Serintia slept, Shin-hu discovered another symptom and treated it, and her power began growing again.
Naturally, the Barrier grew stronger too.
Her detection ability had also improved.
"Oh, they've appeared."
Thanks to that, Serintia was able to respond even faster now.
Whoosh!
Using Blood Wings to fly there in an instant, Serintia...
"You wicked invaders!"
...unleashed her attacks on the Demonic Creatures swarming from beyond the Barrier.
A crimson energy spread from her fingertips with a sharp sweep.
When she swung the wide-range Blood Slash, the Demonic Creatures were torn to pieces.
"Red Blood Spear."
Crimson spears materialized in midair and pierced through the Demonic Creatures.
After dispatching dozens of Demonic Creatures in the blink of an eye, Serintia withdrew her energy.
"Woooah! It's Serintia-nim!"
"Serintia-nim stepped in personally again!"
"Thank you!"
The pale faces of the Bloodline Clan vampires who witnessed the scene brightened.
Meanwhile, the Vigilance Corps members rushed over and expressed their concern.
"Serintia-nim! Didn't you use too much of your power?"
"We should have stepped up and fought, even at the risk to ourselves...."
"We have no excuse, Serintia-nim!"
At that, Serintia planted her hands on her hips.
"What are you talking about? I'm overflowing with energy."
"Pardon? But before, whenever you used your abilities like that, you seemed exhausted...."
"Look. I already repaired the Barrier like it was nothing, didn't I?"
"Huh?"
The spots where some quick-footed Demonic Creatures and ranged ones had struck the Barrier had already been restored.
And Serintia genuinely did not look tired at all.
She had never been good at lying in the first place.
"Hehe. Actually, I happened to visit another dimension briefly, and I met a human named Shin-hu there."
Serintia seized the opportunity and launched into a boastful speech about Shin-hu.
"A human with such abilities...!"
"Then does that mean you no longer need to drink blood, Serintia-nim?"
The fact that Serintia couldn't drink blood was something the entire Bloodline Clan knew about and pitied.
"Yep! No problems at all even without drinking any. Hehe."
Serintia smiled with genuine happiness.
Several members of the Bloodline Clan who saw her expression wiped away tears.
They knew how much Serintia had suffered all this time.
"He may be in a faraway dimension, but this person called Shin-hu is as good as a savior, not just for you, Serintia-nim, but for all of us."
"Indeed. Let us always carry gratitude in our hearts."
"And Shin-hu said he'd be my appa too!"
"Ah, then that person is essentially the father of our entire Bloodline Clan."
Without Shin-hu knowing, a sense of reverence had taken root in the vampires' hearts.
Having finished boasting about Shin-hu, Serintia returned to the Palace.
"How is your body feeling, Serintia-nim?"
"Light as a feather! I went and bragged about Shin-hu to the clan too!"
"Haha. I see. That's wonderful to hear."
The butler Edrick watched as Serintia pulled out a chocolate the moment she returned and ate it happily.
He had known that Serintia's growth was slow, but he hadn't known it was because of the Bloodlust Precursor.
After all, there had never been a True Progenitor who couldn't drink blood until now.
So he had simply assumed she was a late bloomer.
'And yet Shin-hu-nim found this phenomenon called the Bloodlust Precursor and even treated it.'
All this time, the butler had secretly helped with the True Progenitor's duties so that Serintia wouldn't overexert herself during her growth.
While Serintia slept, he had reinforced the Barrier by adding his own mana, and he had even slipped outside the Barrier to hunt Demonic Creatures.
Because of that, the butler's body had been growing weaker.
Whenever Serintia occasionally remarked that he looked unwell, he hid it by saying he was fine.
But thanks to Shin-hu treating Serintia and aiding her growth, the butler had recently been able to focus on his own recovery.
Shin-hu had essentially saved not just Serintia, but the butler as well.
The butler vowed that if Serintia's abilities improved enough for her to cross through a Dimensional Portal, he would express his gratitude to Shin-hu in person and help with anything he could.
"Butler! Here, have some chocolate."
"As I've mentioned, I don't really...."
"Tch, Butler. Did you think I wouldn't see through a lie like that? I can just ask Appa for more tomorrow anyway, so hurry up and eat!"
Serintia trotted over and pressed a handful of chocolates into the butler's hands.
Then she spoke with a smile.
"Hehe. Butler."
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"For what, exactly...."
"For everything! I'm always grateful to you, Butler!"
Serintia munched on another chocolate with a grin.
"......."
The butler looked down at the chocolates Serintia had firmly pressed into his hands.
"For... everything, you say."
It occurred to him that perhaps Serintia wasn't the only one who was bad at lying.
*
Thinking I should eat first, I was about to unwrap the A++ grade ribeye when...
"Huh. Why is this glowing again?"
The Mark on my left arm was faintly glowing.
Whine?!
"I think Shin-hu-nim just mumbled something, yom. What did you say, yom?"
"Just now? Oh."
I realized it only then.
"I said, 'I wish the Treatment waiting room were a bit bigger.'"
No but seriously, before, it hadn't listened no matter how embarrassingly loud I'd shouted.
And now it responds to this?
Something felt off, though.
Up until now, it had been a puppy, a daughter, someone to explain things, and so on. Always some kind of person or being.
For it to suddenly react to wanting the waiting room to be bigger...
Could this mean it's going to summon someone from another dimension who can make the waiting room bigger?
'But is making a waiting room bigger even possible in the first place?'
What if some muscular somebody suddenly appeared and expanded the hospital by smashing through the outer walls (physically)?
Maybe this time I'd really gone and done something absurd.
"Ugh, what do I do?"
As my imagination spiraled in a bad direction, Yom approached and took my hand.
Touching the soft, squishy paws of the otter calmed me down a little.
"Don't worry too much, yom. The chances of something bad happening are low, yom."
"You think so...?"
Kking! It'll be okay, Master!
Cer came over too, nuzzling against me in comfort.
"Thanks, Yom. Thanks, Cer."
I nodded.
Right. No point worrying for nothing.
"...But why isn't anything happening?"
"Who knows, yom. It might not happen right away, yom. You said Cer-ssi and Serintia-ssi both came the next day, right, yom?"
"That's true."
Yom had arrived right away, though.
Must have been lucky.
It seemed like there was some element of randomness in how long the search took after a wish was registered.
"Yeah. Let's just eat dinner first!"
Better to set the worries aside and eat at times like this.
Eating something delicious always helps with a change of mood.
"Sounds good, yom!"
Kking!
"Since we're eating, I should invite Jickan-nim too."
I sent Raymond a message, and soon Jickan was summoned to the living room.
【Oh, the family's grown since I was last here.】
"Hello, yom. I'm Yom, yom."
He said he doesn't usually reveal his name, but he introduced himself right away. Maybe because he thought of us as family.
Kkiiiing!!
When Jickan arrived, Cer greeted him with wild enthusiasm.
Nuzzling his face into the mane.
Could he really be that happy?
【Haha, you. You just saw me yesterday and you're still this excited.】
Jickan didn't seem to mind Cer's warm welcome either.
Anyway, I got to work on the ribeye in earnest.
"Cer, let's grill!"
Kking!
Fwoosh!
Instead of the terrifying flames that had brought down the Snowfield Troll...
A fire that cooked the meat to perfection in an instant.
I put a well-grilled piece into my mouth first.
"Wow...."
The juices were alive.
A soft, savory layer of fat melded with the rich, meaty flavor of the flesh.
Truly exquisite.
So this is what A++ grade Korean beef ribeye tastes like.
Cer and Jickan's eyes lit up at my reaction.
"Here, eat as much as you want."
I'd cleaned out every last piece of A++ ribeye at the butcher shop.
No need to worry about running out.
Fwoosh!
Chomp chomp chomp chomp!!
Kkiing!!!
【Oho.... Perfect doneness and the finest quality meat.】
Jickan ate the meat with an impressed expression.
"Yom, aren't you going to eat?"
"I prefer this, yom. It's the feast Shin-hu-nim bought for me, yom."
Yom poured a heap of abalone onto the large plate I'd given him.
Then he pulled a small hammer out of his subspace.
Sea otters have a habit of cracking open abalone and shellfish with rocks, but being no ordinary otter, Yom apparently carried a dedicated hammer.
Its performance was even more impressive.
Tap.
Crack!
It looked like he'd barely tapped it, but the abalone shell split clean open.
If he'd hit it hard, it probably would have turned to powder.
It occurred to me that Yom might have more combat power than I'd expected.
Yom scooped out the flesh inside and ate it right away.
Nom nom nom.
"So delicious, yom...! It's been so long since I've had abalone this fresh, yom!"
Tap.
Crack!
Nom nom nom.
Yom kept cracking open abalone with the small hammer and eating them one after another.
I sprinkled garlic salt over my ribeye and ate it with rice and side dishes.
I'd asked Cer and Jickan, but they didn't seem to care much for seasonings.
So I was the only one enthusiastically sprinkling away.
"Ahh, that was good!"
"That was great, yom!"
【Much appreciated, as always.】
Kking!
It was a dinner that left everyone satisfied.
It was a shame Serintia wasn't there, though.
Nothing to be done about that.
With any luck, we could have dinner together tomorrow.
Kking, kking!
【Haha, you rascal. Quite the bundle of energy.】
Cer played with Jickan in the living room.
Yom received the item I'd promised him.
"Th-this is that treasure trove of knowledge, yom?!"
"It's just a spare phone. I've connected it to the internet, so if you press here like this.... you can search things. This is called NewTube, and you can search for videos...."
Scribble scribble scribble!
Yom took down every word of my explanation in shorthand.
Having memorized the instructions, he began tapping away at the phone eagerly.
"Ooh, this is amazing, yom...! So much knowledge, yom...!"
Tap tap tap. Tap tap.
Yom nodded along as he immersed himself in browsing.
"But aren't you going to write in the Tome of Exploration?"
If he just copied from a wiki, he might be able to go home.
But Yom shook his head.
"I can only write things in the Tome of Exploration that I've personally experienced or heard, yom. I can't copy from existing books, records, or other Tomes of Exploration, yom."
"Ah, I see. I was actually going to mention this anyway. There's a lot of wrong information on the internet, so don't take everything at face value."
"Of course, yom. I'll only use it as reference, yom. Thank you for looking out for me, yom."
Yom nodded and went back to browsing the internet.
What a diligent little otter.
"For charging, just place it on the wireless charger over there and it'll charge on its own. You can also plug it in with a cable, but it can be dangerous to touch it with wet paws, so try to use the wireless charger whenever possible."
"Got it, yom."
Soon, Jickan, who had been playing with Cer, went home.
Kking!
Cer hugged his Comfort Toy again in place of Jickan.
I sat on the sofa with Cer, watched an action movie on Netflecks, and got ready for bed.
I filled the portable bathtub with cool water and brought it into the bedroom.
When I climbed into bed with Cer, Yom soon set the phone on its charger and climbed into the tub.
"Good night."
"Good night to you and Cer-ssi too, yom."
Kking!
*
The next morning.
"Well then, I'll be heading out for today's exploration, yom."
Hum.
Yom cracked open and ate the remaining abalone and clams with his hammer, then left on his exploration.
"Should we go for a walk and then head to work?"
Kking!!
Today, I shortened the walking route.
Because midway through, I got a message from Park Ji-yeon saying a traffic accident on the road had caused a jam and she'd be late.
I needed to get there first and open up.
When I arrived at the front door of the hospital, there were already three or four guardians waiting outside.
"Good morning. I'll see you shortly, so please wait just a moment."
"Thank you!"
There was still quite a bit of time before opening, and people were already lining up. Looked like today the overflow would spill outside again....
But it didn't feel right to just use a heal on each patient without keeping records or writing prescriptions and then tell them to pay and leave.
'Hmm. Maybe I really should move to a bigger place.'
Thinking that, I unlocked the door with my key.
I opened the door and stepped into the hospital.
Or rather, I thought I had.
"?"
*****
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