episode_0082

In the small village, the cries of the women did not cease.

What had been done secretly only at night had now spread throughout the village, and eventually became haphazard, regardless of time or place.

Then one day.

Suddenly, a village girl’s stomach began to swell.

Many people thought it was a disease and shouted that it should be isolated, but one vampire who was usually interested in various books suggested a new possibility: pregnancy.

And before the same season returned, a mighty cry echoed through the quiet village.

Girl.

The child with red eyes was undoubtedly a descendant of a vampire.

“Wait a minute… .”

“Why are you like that?”

“How did you end up getting pregnant?”

“Sister Haru is very interested in pregnancy. You want to do it, right?”

Tachibana, who had been playing with his dry hair, soon came down from under the bed and placed his hand on my abdomen.

“No, I was just curious… .”

I pushed away Tachibana’s hand that was caressing my lower abdomen and slowly moved away from him.

“Hehe, how do you get pregnant… .”

Tachibana followed me closely and blew his breath into my ear.

“I mix my sister’s blood with my saliva and put it in here.”

A slender finger began to wiggle up and tickle my lower abdomen again.

So… if my blood and Tachibana’s saliva mix… it becomes the liquid that makes a baby… .

“I think the probability is very high. In fact, many descendants have been born and carried on the line until now.”

Thinking about it, the area where Tachibana bit me felt a bit weird, so I rubbed the back of my neck with my palm and ran onto the bed to avoid Tachibana.

“But that’s… a story between vampires, right?”

“Certainly. There is no story about how they became connected to humans.”

Tachibana wiggled his fingers in the air a few more times as if he was disappointed, then sat down quietly next to me and smiled brightly.

“But it doesn’t matter, right? I’m here, the fruit of my mother’s labor.”

Mom and Mom…?

“What is the difference between mother and mother?”

“The human female is the mother, and the vampire female is the mother. Because the mother is strict.”

Is your mother strict? Is she a mother?

Even if that’s the case, how did Tachibana’s mother and mother become connected?

“Then… Tachibana’s home is in the vampire village?”

I don’t know how far back in time this story was, but I don’t think the vampire race was very open-minded.

But Tachibana is walking around so brazenly, and honestly, other than the fact that he drinks blood, he doesn’t seem like much of a vampire…

“No? My house is in East District 2?”

“Uh… .”

It’s closer than you think… .

“Have your fantasies about vampires been shattered?”

“Oh, no… .”

Contrary to my answer, my head was nodding without thinking.

“Well, in the past, they had to count the grains of rice all day long because they had leftovers. Their skin would burn when exposed to sunlight, and they would suffer if they touched silver objects or smelled something irritating. They say they lived long enough to get sick of all those weaknesses.”

These are all characteristics I’ve heard of somewhere. Also, they are characteristics I can’t find in Tachibana.

“But when I got involved with a human woman and my blood thinned, I ended up being a vampire like me. I have no weaknesses, but I don’t have any particular strengths either. Still, after living in human society, everyone got used to it, and now there are even opinions going around that we should just give birth and get rid of the vampire blood. Maybe I’ll be able to eat proper meals instead of just sucking blood.”

Let’s give birth to many babies and get rid of all the blood… .

After all, aren’t vampires a species that fundamentally has a dangerous mindset?

“So, would you mind helping me? Thinning the vampire’s blood.”

Just as I was thinking about something rude, a slightly cool and sticky hand touched the back of my hand.

“Huh…? Oh, no, that means you want to get pregnant!”

“Khehehe… If you say, “Get pregnant with my child!”, she usually gets pregnant. By any chance, Haru-unnie too?”

When I pulled my hand back in surprise, Tachibana closed the distance with a sinister expression.

“No, no one does! More than that, we… decided to stay friends… . What kind of pregnancy is that between friends?”

I’m not sure how far I can go with pranks on my friends.

My only friend, Hanna Yeon.

If I stick to Hanna Yeon and tell her to get pregnant with my child… I’ll definitely get beaten up, right?

“Here lethally… .”

Fortunately, it seems that our promise to remain friends was kept.

Tachibana mutters with a look of regret and steps back slightly.

Tachibana, who had been pouting with a dissatisfied expression for a moment, glanced at me and started talking nonsense.

“In the first place, didn’t Haru-unni get a confession from Mirae-yang? She gave a positive answer.”

“Why all of a sudden… No, did the future say that?”

How does Tachibana know about what happened back then?

“I like the fact that Mirae Yang is light-hearted! Is it okay for you to talk to me after giving me an answer that you are seriously thinking about it? You fish farm manager! Don’t play with Mirae Yang’s heart!”

My doubts were dispelled by Tachibana’s angry voice, and in the end, it somehow seemed like I was the one who was at fault.

In the first place, this promise was made by Tachibana, not me… Didn’t we just draw the line and say we’re just friends?

“Huh, huh?”

“So, I have a good offer for you.”

A voice that suddenly became warm.

My head feels dizzy, like I’ve been hit with Dempsey Rolls from all sides.

“As I said earlier, we are trying to thin out the vampire blood. In order to do that, we need to increase the birth rate.”

Tachibana lay on the bed with a languid expression, then turned to the side and looked at me intently.

“But you can’t get pregnant while you’re pregnant, right?”

“What, what do you want to talk about… .”

Red eyes that stand out even more under soft lighting.

It’s an incredibly burdensome look.

“The point is that polygamy is allowed in vampire society. There are only a limited number of excellent females that you can impregnate. Whether they are human or vampire.”

Polygamy…?

Are we really speaking the same language as Tachibana right now? We’re not speaking Japanese, are we? Even if it were Japanese, polygamy would be strange… .

Plus, the word choice is quite extreme, making it difficult to accept.

“If you marry me, you will be able to accept the future even if you like someone else, right?”

Just as my mind was drifting away and I was about to head off into the distant universe, I was able to grasp the meaning of Tachibana’s words before it was too late.

“The law aside, that’s just trash… .”

The reason she was criticized as a fish farm manager was probably to show the advantages of polygamy.

There’s no need to worry any more.

But Tachibana doesn’t seem to notice my worries. I’m not worried about anyone else besides Mirae.

“Haha, I knew you’d answer like that. It’s all been a joke so far.”

A moment of silence.

“One day, Sister.”

Tachibana spoke again in a somewhat subdued voice.

“Don’t confuse affection with responsibility. When you realize the difference, Haru will become like Jinjo in the old story.”

It is more serious than ever before.

That’s why I also hugged my knees and listened to Tachibana’s voice.

Affection and responsibility.

How can these two be separated?

If you love, you have a responsibility. If you don’t love, you don’t have to take responsibility.

Jinjo must have felt the same way. Because he loved his creations more than anyone else, he accepted their sins even though he lived a life full of pain.

The reason why there was only hatred in the end was probably because both responsibility and affection were abandoned.

In the end, this story has nothing to do with me. I haven’t been harmed by Mirae in any way. Mirae is my daughter, whom I want to take responsibility for without fail.

But when the future is no longer my daughter. When the future no longer needs my responsibility.

Where responsibility has disappeared, will affection remain?

“Haa… It’s complicated.”

“There’s no need to think too hard about it, right? Haru unnie never asked us to like her. We just like her on our own.”

Tachibana entered the gap in my heart without a care.

“So even if she runs away and abandons everyone, no one can blame Haru Unnie.”

The gap that I tried so hard to fill, telling myself that I should never accept it, and my weakness that I had kept tightly hidden within it.

“But Haru Unnie can’t do that. I like Haru Unnie like that, I love her so much, so I suggested one of the many ways.”

He embraced me with gentle hands and even accepted everything.

That’s a part of me too. That’s a good thing.

“Tachibana… ….”

No solution was found. As Tachibana said, a small side road appeared in the bleak future.

But that shortcut gave me a breather.

Even if it’s a path you would never choose, it’s better than having no choice at all.

“Let’s keep it simple. Surely you don’t plan on living alone and single for the rest of your life. If you marry me, you can have children and get all the women you like!”

Tachinaba extended his index finger at me and shouted in an exaggerated tone.

You should talk about childbirth and harems as if they were some great merit… .

But Tachibana came out with such a confident attitude that I couldn’t even object and burst out laughing.

“Pfft… Before that, the story about my friend completely disappeared… ?”

“Oh, without me knowing!”

In the end, it’s a story about him going around and around and asking to marry me. It seems like it would be difficult to plan a confession that is so disjointed and incoherent.

Maybe that’s why. I couldn’t take it seriously, so I made a joke, and Tachibana didn’t care either and responded with a bright smile.

“What, please don’t be so cautious. I don’t go after Haru unnie like anyone else, even if she says she doesn’t like me. ”

Who is this… talking about the future?

Even though I was gossiping behind my daughter’s back, strangely enough, I didn’t feel bad.

Perhaps I had been building up some resentment towards Mirae without even realizing it. Of course, lately, Mirae has been the one who’s been getting beat up all the time.

“Really. No, I’ve been acting completely selfish lately, like I’m going through puberty… .”

“That’s right, that’s right! Future Yang is completely unruly! I think I need to give her a lesson!”

“Hmm… Then should I try hiding a lot of wasabi in my breakfast tomorrow?”

“Ahahahaha! Then isn’t the future sheep going to cry and say “Mom-!”?”

It might have been like that when I was young, but now I’m just going to get treated coldly and it’s hard to bear.

“I don’t want to… I’m scared… .”

So our chat continued until the meeting was over.

It’s pitiful that the students who yearn for him without knowing the dark side of the future are like that, that Seo-hoo is dying because he’s being forced to do too much student council work, and that he attacks him with a cold attitude whenever he gets the chance.

Although most of it was just Tachibana’s grumbling about the future, it was still fun to get a glimpse into future academy life.

“Wow, is this what you call a rainbow?”

“Yeah, it’s a rainbow. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one.”

The weather outside the window had suddenly cleared up, as if the torrential rain that had been pouring down like the world was falling apart had been a lie.

“Then let’s continue the date! Or would you rather stay at a hotel?”

Tachibana, who had been absentmindedly admiring the faintly floating rainbow, suddenly linked his arm with mine and hugged me.

“No, I want to go out.”

I released Tachibana’s arm and got up from the bed.

But we still had one very big problem.

“Oh, but the clothes… .”

The fact was that the clothes were wet.

But the clothes that were clearly placed on the towel were nowhere to be seen. I tried to dry them with a dryer before going out… .

“I already left the cleaning for you!”

“Oh, oh… .”

Clap clap clap─

Tachibana spoke proudly, puffing out his chest. Expensive hotels even have cleaning services.

Anyway, the problem was solved thanks to Tachibana, so let’s give him a round of applause.

“How is it? Do you want to get pregnant?”

Yeah, I hit it for nothing.

I just quit.