As I flopped down spread-eagle on the floor, Yeoreum crouched beside me.

She poked my side, which was unsettled by the thought of the injection.

“Eek.”

The tickling forced a laugh out of me.

I covered my mouth in surprise, but then realized there was no need to hold back and just chuckled.

I wasn’t angry at Yeoreum after all.

There was no reason not to show her my smile.

“Gyeoul, are you really scared of shots?”

“Yes…”

To think that I, who could take down monsters, was afraid of a mere injection.

I sighed deeply, embarrassed.

“If you’re scared, should we not do the blood draw?”

“No, I can handle the blood draw if I grit my teeth. I’m just embarrassed about it.”

“You’re embarrassed about being scared of shots?”

“Yes…”

My face felt hot.

My tail curled around my thigh once.

For some reason, though, Yeoreum looked puzzled.

“What’s embarrassing about being scared of shots? It’s normal to be afraid of them.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. I’m terrified of shots too, but I just endure it. Everyone’s probably like that, right?”

“……”

To think that Yeoreum was afraid of shots.

It didn’t seem like her at all.

My ears perked up at this unexpected information.

“Saebyeok’s probably scared of shots too, I bet.”

“Yeah. I’ve had a lot of shots, but I’m scared every time.”

I see.

So everyone’s afraid of shots.

Was she just saying this to comfort me?

I wasn’t sure, but hearing everyone say it did make me feel better.

Feeling encouraged, I sat up.

That’s when Gaeul approached me.

“Master shot?”

“Yeah. Looks like I’ll have to get a shot.”

“Rabies…?!”

Gaeul’s ears trembled.

I wasn’t sure what she meant at first, but then I realized she was talking about rabies shots.

It seemed she had some unpleasant memories of rabies vaccinations.

“It’s not a rabies shot, just a blood draw.”

“Blood…!”

Gaeul covered her eyes with both hands.

Still scared, she buried her face in my chest.

As I was stroking the back of the frightened Gaeul, Levinas tapped my shoulder with a tense face.

“King! Levinas will be there when you get your blood drawn! Don’t worry too much!”

“Okay. Thanks.”

I was grateful for Levinas’s support.

But I wondered if our children all knew their own blood types.

Just as this question was forming in my mind, Yeoreum gave an awkward chuckle.

“Well, Levinas will probably need to have her blood drawn too.”

“Levinas has to get it too…?!”

“Yeah. Saebyeok and Gaeul as well.”

Boom-!

It was as if lightning had struck above the children’s heads.

It was unfortunate, but one thing was clear now.

Many people are afraid of shots.

**

We didn’t need to go outside to get our blood drawn.

Thanks to the health center operated separately in the guild building.

“I’ll go first.”

“O-okay…”

Saebyeok stood bravely in front of the blood draw chair.

Then the doctor, who we often saw around the guild, appeared with a syringe.

“The big sister’s going first? How brave.”

“Yeah…”

Swish swish-

The doctor rubbed Saebyeok’s arm with an alcohol swab and brought the needle close.

As the needle got closer to her arm, Saebyeok’s fur began to stand on end.

“It’ll sting a little, but it won’t hurt.”

As the needle touched Saebyeok’s forearm, I could see it:

Saebyeok tensing her arm muscles tightly.

Clang-!

The needle bounced off as if it had hit steel.

Everyone stared at Saebyeok’s forearm with surprised eyes.

So that’s possible if you’re strong enough.

I thought it was pretty cool.

“Um… you need to relax your arm for the blood draw.”

“I got nervous…”

Gulp, Saebyeok swallowed and relaxed her arm muscles.

The doctor brought a new syringe and inserted it into Saebyeok’s forearm.

Slurp-

As the doctor pulled on the syringe, blood was drawn out.

“Hurrk!”

“Master…!”

Levinas’s mouth fell open at the sight of blood.

Gaeul’s eyes were wide open.

“See? It doesn’t hurt at all, does it?”

“Y-yeah…”

Saebyeok nodded.

And so Saebyeok’s blood draw ended, and it was my turn.

While Saebyeok’s fur stood on end when the needle approached, mine stood up as soon as the alcohol swab touched my arm.

“U-ugh…”

The arm rubbed with the alcohol swab felt cool.

Maybe because of my good eyesight, the needle’s sharpness seemed even more pronounced.

“…!”

As the needle approached my forearm, my beast-kin instincts flared up intensely.

Danger.

I need to shake it off.

“Gr, grrr…”

I instinctively tried to intimidate, but the syringe didn’t stop.

Poke-

The needle pierced my forearm and blood was drawn out.

All I could do was bury my face in Yeoreum’s chest beside me.

“There, there. Gyeoul’s being so brave.”

Pat pat-

As Yeoreum patted my back, the blood draw finished.

I maintained my deeply frowning expression as I pressed a cotton ball against where the needle had been.

“King, did it hurt a lot…?”

“No, it didn’t hurt much.”

“Really…!”

Levinas, with her eyebrows raised high, sat in front of the blood draw chair with a tense face.

Levinas pointed at the smallest marking on the syringe and said:

“Vampire, you only need to take this much of Levinas’s blood!”

“Hmm… that’s too little.”

“Th-then this much…?”

Levinas pointed at the second marking.

The doctor just smiled with his eyes and drew Levinas’s blood.

It was the same amount as mine and Saebyeok’s.

“Bad vampire…”

Levinas grumbled as she rubbed her forearm.

Her eyes were slightly red, but she didn’t cry.

Finally, it was Gaeul’s turn.

“…!”

Gaeul, upon seeing the needle, lay down on the floor.

She closed her eyes and played dead, but the doctor crouched down and drew her blood anyway.

Gaeul, who didn’t move even when the needle went in, and the doctor who calmly drew blood.

They were both amazing.

Gaeul only “woke up” from playing dead after all the blood was drawn.

“Huh.”

Gaeul wagged her tail and smiled brightly as if nothing had happened.

Was she pretending that whatever happened while she was playing dead didn’t count?

It was clear that this was Gaeul’s way of dealing with the shot.

“Hehe, all the scary stuff is over now. Right?”

Yeoreum chuckled and patted each of our heads.

Our tails, which had been slightly raised, drooped lifelessly.

It seemed the fear of the injection was still greater than the joy of physical contact.

Yeoreum’s gaze shifted to my tail hanging behind me.

Her pupils trembled slightly at the sight of my unmoving tail.

“Oh, oh, should we have a feast for dinner tonight?”

“Okay…”

“I’ll make it with the fish Gyeoul likes.”

And so, after having our blood drawn, we rushed out of the health center like we were escaping.

We didn’t forget to say goodbye on our way out.

**

Jeffrey Wilson.

He entered the Yeomyeong Guild park, rubbing his forearm after returning from the dungeon.

He even thumped his chest, marveling at how incredibly strong his body had become.

‘This is unbelievable.’

The dungeon he visited to confirm the tea’s effects.

Jeffrey had an amazing experience there.

His mana had explosively amplified, yet he could handle it all without any problems.

To think this was possible from just one cup of tea.

What on earth did they put in it to have such an effect?

He had to find out, no matter what.

With this determination, Jeffrey moved towards the tent where the children were.

“…Why are they like this?”

Inside the tent, the children were sitting with glum expressions.

Gyeoul, who was usually like an angel, had the corners of her mouth deeply turned down, while Levinas was pounding the floor with her fist.

Saebyeok’s face was expressionless, but somehow radiated dissatisfaction.

Only Gaeul sat wagging her tail with a blank face.

“Did you all have a fight?”

“No, we didn’t fight.”

“Then…”

In response to Jeffrey’s question, Levinas waved her arms around grumpily.

“We got our blood stolen by a vampire!”

“A vampire?”

“Yeah! They stuck a needle here and took a hundred bloods! But Levinas didn’t cry!”

“Gaeul too.”

Ah.

So they had blood drawn.

No wonder the children looked glum.

Jeffrey took out the remaining dandelion honey tea from the thermos.

It was precious, but he felt he should give it to the children now.

“Did you replenish your fluids? You should hydrate after having blood drawn.”

“Um… no?”

“I see.”

Glug glug-

Jeffrey poured the dandelion tea into the thermos cup.

There wasn’t much left, but with its unique effects, it should be enough to replenish their energy.

“At least drink this for now. There’s not much, but you know its effects…”

Since they were the guild’s children.

They must know better than anyone the effects of the dandelion honey tea from the guild.

Jeffrey handed Gyeoul a small amount of tea.

“Hmm… then should I make more?”

“…Make it?”

“Yes. I’ll make a lot so we can drink a lot.”

“…You know how to make this?”

Jeffrey felt bewildered for the first time in a long while.

He never expected to hear from young Gyeoul that she could make the tea.

“Do guild members share the recipe among themselves?”

“No, only I know the recipe.”

“Only you…?”

So does that mean Gyeoul was the one who made this incredible tea?

To think he had been face to face with a genius and hadn’t realized it.

Jeffrey could only blink in disbelief at this unbelievable fact.

—

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep