Ch.10Memory Dissonance

“Charlotte…! Gasp…!”

After the battle ended, when I headed to the place where Aurel was waiting, she made a shocked expression upon seeing me.

Her reaction was probably because of this guy.

I shook the body of the male user whose lower body was missing.

Even though I had become small with a height of 145cm, I could still grab and shake the body of a person whose lower half had been blown away.

“Is that… not dead?”

“Nope. He’s alive.”

I threw the male user’s upper body in front of Aurel.

Incredibly, this user was still alive despite having lost his lower body.

Of course, if left alone like this, he would die soon.

“Aurel.”

“Yesss!”

“Take out some medicine and bandages from the backpack.”

“Got it!”

Though I hadn’t prepared for this specific situation, the bandages and potions I had packed came in handy.

I began treating the human user’s body using the potions and bandages Aurel brought out.

Of course, this treatment was just a temporary measure. It merely prevented further bleeding.

Unless you were a vampire, severed body parts couldn’t be regenerated.

“Eek…”

Aurel, who was watching from the side, made a horrified expression at my actions, but I had no choice.

I knew it was a terrible thing to do to a living person. But if I wanted information, I needed to keep this user alive for now, right?

“Hmm…”

After finishing the treatment, I nodded while admiring my work.

The bandages wrapped around the severed area had turned red, but there seemed to be no additional bleeding.

His previously contorted expression had relaxed a bit, suggesting his condition was improving.

I carried the user’s upper body and moved to a suitable spot inside a building.

I was worried about whether I could do this well.

Who would have thought that I, once an ordinary office worker, would end up torturing and interrogating someone?

Who could have predicted this?

Of course, I’m a vampire now.

I didn’t need any special tools for interrogation.

Vampires, being a far superior species to humans, had their entire bodies as weapons.

Even these tiny fingernails could inflict sufficient pain.

I began tapping the user’s face to wake him up.

“Wake up.”

Tap- Tap-

I tapped lightly several times.

Seeing how he wasn’t easily regaining consciousness, it seemed he needed quite a shock.

I clenched my fist and struck the user’s face.

Thwack-!

A rather solid sound was heard, and red blood began flowing from under the user’s nose.

“Urgh…”

He’s awake.

The user, groaning with a nosebleed, began moving his body while his eyelids twitched.

“Are you awake?”

“Uh, urgh…”

Is he still not fully conscious?

I tapped his cheek once more.

“What, what is… what’s going on…!”

The user finally started responding.

He blinked several times and then began looking around with a confused expression.

“Wh-where is this…”

“Hello.”

I waved my hand at the right moment and brought my face close to his.

The user, who had been blinking, finally seemed to recognize me and waved his arms with a terrified expression.

“H-huh!”

Is this guy really a level 20 user?

Judging by how his emotional state kept changing, he seemed to be using a skill, but the emotion of [Fear] wasn’t disappearing.

It seemed impossible to have a conversation in this state.

I clenched my fist again and delivered a strong flick to his head.

Thwack-!

“Urgh!”

A solid impact sound.

The sensation traveling through my hand was quite thrilling.

The user, hit by my powerful fist, let out a short scream and squeezed his eyes shut.

Seeing how he had calmed down compared to before, he seemed to have finally realized his situation.

I spoke to him in a calm voice.

“Hello.”

“…”

There was no answer, but I could make eye contact.

Seeing how he was rolling his eyes around as if looking for an opportunity, he probably still thought his lower body was attached.

I clicked my tongue and spoke.

“I have a few questions. Can you answer them?”

“If-if I answer, will you let me live?”

“Hmm…”

I crossed my arms and tilted my head.

Of course, I could let him live.

But could this user who had lost his lower body survive in this world?

If he encountered werewolves, vampires, or fusion bodies, he wouldn’t be able to avoid death.

“I can let you live.”

The user’s eyes lit up at my answer.

It seems living is still better than dying.

Now that he was ready to answer, it was time to ask questions.

“You know about the shop NPC, right?”

“I do…”

“Are there shops elsewhere too?”

“… There are.”

“Hmm. Could you tell me where they are?”

The human user began spilling everything I asked.

According to him, there were three more shop locations besides this one.

Of course, I couldn’t trust all the information he provided.

I continued questioning for quite some time, waiting for the right moment.

“Can you tell me how many people are in your faction?”

“70 people…”

His attitude had softened slightly.

That meant his tension had eased.

I sighed lightly and spoke.

“Can you tell me the locations of the shop NPCs again?”

“I already told you that…”

I showed my sharp nails to the human user who was trying to talk back.

I know. It was a question I had already asked.

“Seoul… and…”

I waited for his answer with my arms crossed.

The first time he answered, he mentioned Seoul, Incheon, and Seosan.

If there was no lie in that answer, this answer should also come without hesitation.

“Pocheon…”

“And after that?”

“Gunsan…”

A different answer from before.

He had been lying.

“Shall I ask again?”

My patience isn’t very long.

And the same goes for my shadow.

The shadow at my feet writhed and flowed out.

I stroked the shadow and began repeating the questions I had asked earlier.

The human user’s answers changed slightly each time.

After the interrogation had gone on for over an hour.

The human user, looking haggard, cautiously spoke to me.

“Um, excuse me.”

“What?”

“I need to go to the bathroom…”

“Bathroom?”

I tilted my head and asked back.

How could he go to the bathroom and relieve himself without his lower body?

“I mean, I’d like to be untied… at least my legs…”

The man trailed off and looked down at his body.

He looked down at his bandaged stomach and tilted his head.

“Huh…?”

The user opened his mouth blankly as if he didn’t understand his own situation.

He blinked and looked at me.

“This is…?”

The human user began to wriggle vigorously.

As if trying to move his lower body.

Of course.

No matter how much he tried, his severed lower body wouldn’t return.

“Ah… ah… aaaah…!”

The human user began screaming as he looked down at his body.

I could tell from the smell of blood that his emotional state was not normal.

I silently turned my head.

It didn’t seem like we could continue the conversation any further.

“Um, Charlotte…”

“What?”

“Are you not going to eat that human…?”

“Do you want to eat him?”

“Yes…!”

Aurel’s eyes were shining like a puppy waiting for food.

She looked like she would pounce immediately if I said “eat.”

I checked my body condition.

Since I had recovered from the bomb injuries by consuming the lower body, there didn’t seem to be any problem with giving the upper body to Aurel.

“Eat.”

“Gasp…!”

No sooner had I spoken than Aurel rushed toward the human user.

She raised her cute hands high and struck the human user’s chest with all her might.

“Yah!”

Bang!

Unlike her cute shout, a chilling sound echoed.

“Guhk!”

The human user, hit in the chest by Aurel, writhed in pain, but all he could do was twist his body around.

“Yah!”

Bang!

“Yah!”

Bang!

Aurel had to strike the human user’s chest several more times after that.

The level 20 human user was too tough for level 12 Aurel.

Aurel’s blood-drinking took place in a very bizarre manner.

She was covered in blood from head to toe as she thrust both hands into the human user’s chest.

She sucked out blood in that state, and only got up when the human user’s upper body had dried up and twisted into a mummy.

“That was delicious!”

“Did you eat it all?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s go.”

“Oh, where are we going?”

“Seoul.”

Just as we were about to leave the building.

Brilliant light began pouring down from afar.

The sunlight pouring onto the ground quickly raced across the darkened city.

An instinctive aversion welled up, making me frown.

“The sun’s up…”

“Gasp…”

Morning had broken.

It meant that Aurel and I would be trapped in this building for the next 6 hours.

A building we couldn’t leave until the sun set.

I sighed and went deeper into the building.

While vampires didn’t necessarily need sleep, it didn’t mean they couldn’t sleep.

How many days had it been since I woke up from the coffin?

I realized I hadn’t slept a wink since the moment I opened my eyes.

“Aurel.”

“Yes!”

“I’m going to sleep for a bit.”

“Gasp… You’re going to sleep? Should I be your lap pillow?”

“…”

A question not worth answering.

I glanced at Aurel’s thighs once, then threw my backpack on the floor and laid my body on it.

***

Aurel carefully watched Charlotte.

It had been an hour since Charlotte curled up on the backpack and went to sleep.

Judging by her steady breathing, she was in a deep sleep.

Aurel moved stealthily toward Charlotte’s head.

A level 20 vampire user who suddenly appeared and completely destroyed an entire clan.

While other clan members didn’t welcome Charlotte’s appearance, Aurel liked her.

She just liked her. This must be what they call love at first sight.

Aurel lay down beside Charlotte and carefully tied her own golden hair with Charlotte’s silver hair.

“Hehe…”

Aurel thought the heart-shaped tied hair looked quite cute.

Aurel’s bright smile continued until Charlotte opened her eyes.