Ch.15Werewolf Hwang-gu

“It’s complete!”

“Waaaa!”

A castle made of books.

The moment we saw the magnificent form of that huge castle, Aurel, Hwang-gu, and I naturally let out cheers.

Looking at the completed castle filled me with satisfaction.

“Charlotte, you’re amazing!”

“So cool!”

I nodded as I received praise from the two girls.

The embarrassment I felt when I first started building the castle had long since disappeared.

Why wouldn’t it? Even adults sometimes want to play like children.

That’s all I was feeling.

The completed book castle had become a playground for Hwang-gu and Aurel.

They seemed to have become close while building the castle together.

Aurel’s initial opposition to Hwang-gu joining us had disappeared long ago.

I wondered how much time remained until sunset.

Leaving the two girls playing behind me, I left the bookstore and approached the stairs.

As I got closer to the stairs, the darkness began to fade, and bright light poured in.

The middle point of the stairs, where light and darkness met.

Standing at the edge of darkness, I looked up at the sky.

My gaze naturally furrowed.

The disgust welling up from deep within me was a vampire’s instinct.

The sun had not yet set.

It seemed like we’d spent quite a bit of time making the book castle, yet the sun still hadn’t set.

It would have been nice to have a watch to know how much time had passed.

I stroked my empty wrist and turned around.

Just as I was about to head back into the bookstore.

Pause-

My body, which had been walking slowly, came to a stop.

The top of the stairs.

A breeze slowly flowing from there.

That breeze carried an extremely attractive scent.

A smell that stimulated my appetite while somehow making my body tense.

Suddenly, I realized I was naturally sticking out my tongue and licking my lips.

There’s only one thing that can stimulate a vampire’s instinct like this.

The smell of blood.

And it’s definitely human blood.

“Hmm…”

I let out a soft moan as I touched the sharp fangs that had emerged in my mouth.

I still had very little desire to drink blood.

I did salivate at the smell of blood, but that was just the vampire’s instinct that couldn’t be helped.

“Sniff sniff!”

That’s when it happened.

Hwang-gu’s head suddenly popped out from the bookstore entrance a short distance away, and she began sniffing the air.

As a werewolf, her sense of smell was superior to a vampire’s.

She must have caught this blood scent while playing in the book castle inside the bookstore.

“Delicious smell!”

So Hwang-gu was also a monster, not human.

She was defining the smell of human blood as delicious.

“Did you come out because you smelled this too, Charlotte?”

“No.”

I was just trying to check the status of the sun.

Hwang-gu tilted her head at my answer.

Then she smiled brightly and said to me.

“Then can I go eat that?”

Eat it?

Go to where the human blood smell is coming from?

I looked at the small girl with a sour expression.

Of course, if she wanted to go, there was no reason I couldn’t let her.

That is, if she hadn’t lost her memories.

In a world like this, how could I send such a small and cute child out alone?

I shook my head and answered.

“No.”

“Okay…”

When I firmly refused, Hwang-gu accepted it too easily.

Her drooping brown ears, looking so dejected, were quite impressive.

At that moment, a memory suddenly came to mind.

Before losing her memory, Hwang-gu had come to find Aurel and me, saying:

‘An unfamiliar smell I’ve never encountered before… along with the smell of human blood… I’ve finally found it…!’

Perhaps that blood smell might be from the target Hwang-gu had been pursuing.

“Hwang-gu.”

“Yes?”

“Did this smell remind you of anything?”

“Remind me?”

I looked at Hwang-gu, hoping.

Whatever the process had been, wasn’t it my fault that Hwang-gu had lost her memories?

If Hwang-gu could regain her memories, I wanted to help her.

Though if she regained her memories and came at me again, I’d give her an even stronger flick to the forehead.

“Hmm…”

Hwang-gu crossed her arms and fell into thought.

This caused the soft skin of her armpits, exposed by her white tank top, to move squishily.

“Well… nothing really comes to mind. I just came out because I smelled something delicious.”

“Hmm…”

I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth and nodded.

It seems I’d been drooling continuously from smelling the blood.

“Then, how about we go to where that smell is coming from after the sun sets?”

That is, if the smell hasn’t disappeared by then.

“Really? But why wait until after the sun sets?”

Hwang-gu tilted her head and questioned my answer.

Her large brown ears, which had been drooping, perked up and twitched.

“Because…”

I trailed off as I met Hwang-gu’s gaze.

Was Hwang-gu really suffering from memory loss?

Those innocent eyes looking at me.

She had such clear, pure eyes.

So this is the final test.

I smiled lightly and spread my arms wide.

“I turn to ash if I touch sunlight.”

“Oh!”

Hwang-gu was startled by my answer.

I watched her reaction in that state.

Her ears twitching energetically, Hwang-gu rushed over and pushed my back.

Not toward the sunlight streaming into the stairwell, but toward the dark entrance of the bookstore.

“Aren’t you going to push me into the sunlight?”

“What? Why would I? More importantly, it’s dangerous, so hurry inside!”

Hwang-gu’s actions made me smile.

Seeing her carefully pushing my back with her small arms, I couldn’t help but laugh.

She could easily move my small body using her strength, but she didn’t put force into her arms.

Like a cat giving a massage.

She just pressed my back with her small, soft palms.

This confirmed it.

Hwang-gu had definitely lost her memories.

Otherwise, such behavior wouldn’t be possible.

Returning to the bookstore with Hwang-gu, I found Aurel building a large tower.

Completely immersed in stacking books to make a tower, she didn’t react even as I approached.

“Heheh… heheh…”

Aurel let out a slightly disturbing laugh.

What was she like before all this happened?

Like me, Aurel never talked about who she was before the world changed like this.

As if she had abandoned those memories.

“Aurel.”

“Eek!”

Aurel jumped in surprise at my call.

How startled she must have been.

The height she jumped was higher than the tall castle she had built.

“Oh… Charlotte!”

“What are you making there?”

“Ah… well… I thought if there’s a castle, there should be a watchtower too…”

It seems Aurel was quite serious about this castle-building.

Looking at it now, the book castle seemed more elaborate than before.

Wondering why, I noticed a large flag made of torn book pages stuck at the top of the castle.

“You like this kind of thing, huh?”

“Oh! Yes!”

Aurel nodded with a satisfied expression at my question.

Before the world changed, Aurel must have had hobbies related to architecture or model building.

Aurel’s construction continued.

Finding it interesting, Hwang-gu also helped with the construction beside Aurel.

Why put in so much effort when we’ll leave once the sun rises?

I watched the two girls while lightly scanning the interior of the bookstore.

Most of the items that could be collected from the bookstore were skill books that increased passive skill levels.

[Basics of Farming 2]

[Gun Maintenance 1]

[Advanced Swordsmanship 3]

[Herbology 6]

[Vehicle Maintenance 2]

….

…

..

In total, there were 15 skill books that could be collected.

These items weren’t necessary for my character, Charlotte, but they might be needed by Aurel or Hwang-gu.

Of course, that wasn’t the reason I collected these skill books.

The purpose was credits.

Skill books were items that equipment shops purchased at particularly high prices.

I stuffed the stack of skill books I was holding into the mouth of my shadow.

The shadow wriggled as if it didn’t want to eat them, but it couldn’t go against my will.

After time passed like that.

Finally, Aurel, Hwang-gu, and I were able to leave the bookstore.

Aurel and Hwang-gu looked back regretfully.

I smiled as I looked up at the refreshing sky.

The soft moonlight was so welcoming.

It felt like greeting a refreshing morning.

Hwang-gu, who had brought out her bicycle, began sniffing the air.

She seemed to remember my words about following the blood smell after the sun set.

“Well? Is that smell still there?”

I tried to smell it as soon as we came outside, but my sense of smell couldn’t detect the blood scent.

At my question, Hwang-gu closed her eyes and continued sniffing.

At that moment, her ears perked up.

“Yes! It’s still there!”

“Then shall we go that way? Can you lead the way?”

“Yes!”

Hwang-gu answered energetically and moved forward, pulling her bicycle.

“Charlotte.”

“Yes?”

I answered Aurel’s question as I walked forward.

Aurel stuck close to my side and continued speaking.

“What are you talking about? What smell?”

“Ah… the smell of blood.”

I told Aurel about what had happened earlier.

How the smell of human blood had wafted in when the sun was up.

And how I’d said we’d follow that smell with Hwang-gu once the sun set.

“Human blood!”

Aurel also showed deep interest in the smell of human blood.

Seeing her lick her lips and salivate, it seemed she already wanted to drink blood.

Eventually, the excited Aurel began walking alongside Hwang-gu.

After following Hwang-gu, who was leading the way to track the blood smell, for quite some time.

Finally, I too could smell the blood.

The source of the smell was inside a large abandoned building.

Hwang-gu, whose ears were twitching, turned to look at me with an excited expression.

She looked ready to dash in if I gave permission.

Just as I was about to nod unconsciously at that sight.

I casually looked at the entrance of the abandoned building.

A faint movement felt near the entrance.

Something thin and slender was stretched out near the entrance.

Rather than a wire… it felt more like a thin thread.

I shook my head at Hwang-gu and picked up a fallen branch nearby.

“Charlotte?”

“Just watch for a moment.”

Saying that, I threw the branch in my hand with all my might.

Whirrrr-

As the rapidly spinning branch passed through the entrance of the abandoned building.

Tick-

BOOM!

After a small noise, a sudden explosion.

Just as a bright light seemed to envelop my vision.

The entrance of the abandoned building had collapsed.