“Just take it, okay? I’m gonna sleep.”
“W-Wait!” She tried to stop me again, but I ignored her, went into the hut, and passed out on my hard bed.
I heard a sound from beside me, jolting me awake. I’d made two separate rooms in this hut—one for me and one for Ariya, partly because I felt it’d be morally wrong for a guy and a girl to be in the same room. Plus, personally speaking, I didn’t want her infringing on my privacy. Actually, the latter was my main reason for my decision.
I looked outside and saw that the sky had turned a red color as the sun set. My stats hadn’t returned to their normal levels yet, which meant that it wasn’t completely night. It might as well have been dawn to me.
The sound didn’t stop, which meant that it wasn’t Ariya just going back to sleep. She must’ve been awake and moving around. Why? Then again, it’s not like she needed to care about what time of day it was.
Maybe she’d finally come up with a plan to kill me. Just as I thought that, Ariya entered my room. Without thinking, I was on my guard, which couldn’t be helped because my first thought had been about her killing me. She stood there for a few moments before opening her mouth.
“Inori... Can I sleep with you?”
“What? Are you scared? I’ll read you a picture book until you fall asleep.”
“I’m not scared!”
“You’re not? Then tell me what you want. Clearly.”
She fell silent again, her cheeks red, and began nervously fidgeting. I didn’t blame her. She was only wearing her underwear.
“Well, um... If you’re trying to seduce me, you should at least come appropriately dressed.”
“Wha— That’s not it at all!!!”
What is she so mad about? Is it because I haven’t made her any nightclothes? How thoughtless of me. I’ll get right on that.
“Say no more. Let’s take this cloth that I swiped from the castle and...” Armament Craft. “Voila. A fresh pair of pajamas. Put ’em on.”
“Thank you...?”
“Good. Now go and stand by the door again.”
“Okay... Like this?”
“Perfect. Now, from the top. Action!”
“Inori, can we sleep together... Wait, this is stupid!” Her face was even redder than when she’d first come in. Her eyes were moist with tears. Hmm, maybe I went a little too far.
“Why do you want us to sleep together?”
“Before you turned me into a vampire, you asked me if I was prepared to serve you.” Uh-huh, I did. “And yet, last night, you didn’t try to do anything to me. But I’m prepared, so...”
Hold up. There’s something wrong with that logic... Oh, I get it.
“You think you’re my sex slave, don’t you? My bad—didn’t mean to make you think that.”
“Huh? B-But you told me you didn’t care how I interpreted your words.”
“Yeah, because I wanted you to be prepared for anything. I wanted you to really consider what it would mean to continue living and then choose it anyway. Do I look like the kind of person who’d make you my sex slave?”
“Huh?” She looked at me, dumbfounded, as if to say, “Of course you do.”
Rude. Why would she think that way about me? What about me gives off that impression? All I’ve done is ogle women’s bodies and be completely true to my desires, perverse or otherwise. Hm... Okay, guess I do seem like that kind of person. If anything, it might be weirder that I haven’t made a move on her.
“Well, at any rate, I have no intention of sleeping with you.”
“B-But...”
At this point, she could’ve just left and gone back to her own room. Did she want to have sex or something?! No way she actually wanted that. She could get pregnant, which would further restrict her freedom. Why was she coming to me with this idea? Maybe, by entering into a carnal relationship with me, she thought she could protect herself?
“Are you scared of me?”
“H-Huh?! N-No...”
“You might not be conscious of it, but everyone’s scared of the unknown.”
Now that I thought about it, she’d been acting kinda weird ever since I gave her that blade. I guess she was suspiciously obedient before that too. Maybe she was confused by how the person she openly said she wanted to kill had given her a weapon—their best weapon, in fact.
“I gave you that blade for one reason. If you were to be killed and then dissected, it’s possible that our enemies would be able to figure out my weakness. In other words, giving you that sword is just me covering my own ass.” I need her to become stronger sooner rather than later. “Also, I’m more than happy for you to be my enemy. Pretty sure I said something to that effect before as well.” I want her to try to kill me. As twisted as it was, I was interested in her.
“I see...”
“Get it now?”
“Yes. Why did I try to do something as stupid as offering my body to you...?”
“Eh. It’s getting cold. Get in here.”
“Okay... H-Huh?!”
I shifted over to leave some space in my bed and patted it.
Ariya shot me a look of confusion. “If I recall, you said you have no intention of sleeping with me.”
“Yep. But I’d like to use you to level up a Skill or two.”
“Huh?!”
While we’d been having this conversation, the sun had set, which meant my Skills had returned to their normal strength.
“I got Sexual Prowess from Skill Pilfer. I wanna level up as many Skills as I can...well, most of them, anyway. So help me out.”
“A-Absolutely not!”
“You can’t refuse. You serve me. Obey my orders.”
“N-No...”
After that, the hut filled with Ariya’s screams...or, well, not screams exactly. I won’t get into the nitty-gritty, though. Either way, my spank bank got a little fuller. I love Photographic Memory.