Chapter 12: Physical Pleasure, Mental Rejection

***

Grandma Claire told the siblings about her encounter with me this morning.

“…So that’s how it is, from now on Little Syl will be a member of our family. You two are both older than her, so you need to look after her and take care of her… Barry, did you hear me? You’re not allowed to bully her!”

“…I won’t!” Barry stole a glance at me, then said loudly as if trying to hide something.

“Little Syl, are you from a noble family?”

Elia opened her eyes wide, the 18-year-old mountain village girl was very innocent in her thoughts. She hadn’t received much education and didn’t have many complexities in her mind, she was the type to say whatever she thought.

“I… am not.”

“I don’t believe you, tell me!”

“Elia! Close your mouth and eat your food.”

“What’s wrong, Grandma, I can’t even ask… Why is it sweet potatoes again! Grandma, didn’t you say we would have venison for dinner tonight, why don’t I see any! Did you secretly let Barry eat it all! Grandma, you’re playing favorites, you know I’ve been thinking about it for days!”

“The venison was eaten by Little Syl. When your Uncle Dor comes back from hunting tomorrow, I’ll go get some more from him.”

“I’m… sorry, I was… too… hungry.”

“Ah… no, Little Syl! I was just worried Barry would steal some, if it’s you eating it then that’s fine, after all… you’re so cute, hehe.” Elia fluttered her eyes, ignoring Barry who was muttering something beside her, and continued talking to me, “Little Syl, would you like to come gather herbs in the forest with me tomorrow?”

“…Gather herbs?”

“Yes, gather herbs. There are so many fun things in the forest! I’ll take you—”

“Elia, why are you so lively today? Tomorrow Little Syl isn’t going anywhere, she needs to rest well for a few days first. Barry, you go with your sister tomorrow.”

“…Okay.” Barry answered in a muffled voice.

“Barry… what’s wrong with you today, you look so gloomy.” Grandma Claire touched Barry’s forehead with some confusion, “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“No… I just think Elia is too childish, I don’t want to talk to her.”

“Barry! You dare call me childish!”

“How are you not childish! Shouting and yelling, where are your manners as an older sister?”

“You… I’ll tear your mouth apart!”

“You two! Be careful not to knock over the plates, what kind of behavior is this during meals!”

“Giggle.”

“Look, Little Syl is laughing at you both.”

…………

At night, I slept together with Grandma Claire.

Grandma told me many things, telling me that she originally had a son, who was Elia and Barry’s father, a church knight of the Holy Church’s Seventh Knight Division. Her son had always been her pride, he married the most beautiful girl in the village, but unfortunately sacrificed his life a few years ago during a large-scale bandit suppression operation organized by the church. As for the siblings’ mother, she had passed away from massive bleeding when giving birth to Barry, so only Grandma Claire and the siblings were left in this family, depending on each other to survive.

When her son passed away, Barry and Elia were still snot-nosed kids, and Grandma raised them by herself through much hardship. Fortunately, since her son died in the line of duty, the church sent a considerable compensation. The villagers were also very kind, lending a helping hand when needed, and they managed to get through day by day. Now little Barry is already 16 years old, considered half-grown, and many household matters rely on him.

Grandma said she’s getting old and her body isn’t as useful anymore. When the day comes that she sees Barry get married, she would feel ready to close her eyes…

Grandma’s rambling about daily life became a sense of comfort I hadn’t felt in a long time, and I gradually drifted off to sleep.

…………

Claire’s family had taken in a child as beautiful as a goddess.

This news quickly spread throughout the village.

In this era, entertainment activities were quite scarce. Such news was quite a major topic of interest for the village. As far as the villagers were concerned, my appearance was indeed too eye-catching, and I would be recognized wherever I went.

“Ah, this is that little girl who came to Claire’s family… tsk tsk tsk, she’s truly beautiful.”

People would point and whisper about me like this.

As a result, during this period, Grandma’s house had many visitors. Some came specifically to see me in person, some came to inquire about my background, and a few days ago someone even brought their son specifically to meet me.

He was a dark and skinny boy with a foolish look, who kept staring at me with a silly grin that gave me the creeps.

Finally, Grandma got annoyed and shooed them out with both pushing and pulling.

What frustrated me most was that recently, whenever I went out alone, there would always be a group of troublesome kids, the oldest looking around 18 or 19, the youngest still bare-bottomed. They would do nothing but follow behind me wherever they saw me, circling around like they were watching monkeys in a zoo.

Several times I became angry from being watched and would pick up stones from the roadside to throw at the crowd. The troublesome kids would scatter with loud laughter, but as soon as I turned around, they would gather around again.

Later, when I really got annoyed, I complained to Elia during casual conversation.

Elia heard this and tried to hold back her laughter. She told me the oldest boy was called Leyn, the leader of the village children, who spent his days idling around, leading a group of little kids running here and there. Doing this was probably just to get my attention, and the more embarrassed and angry I got, the happier they became. She had been teased like this before too, but there wasn’t any real malice in it.

Really… childish to an infuriating degree, how old are they to still use such methods to attract girls’ attention? Their flirting skills are worse than my neighbor’s little kid, who already knows how to use snacks to trick a little girl from the next class to kiss him when he’s just in kindergarten.

So later when I saw that group of troublesome kids, no matter what they did or said around me, I ignored them completely.

…………

The leisurely days seemed like they could continue on forever.

This day I got up early, planning to go to the forest to gather some herbs.

The village regularly had merchant caravans come by monthly to collect herbs or vegetables and fruits, which was one of the few sources of income for the village.

The currency in this world wasn’t anything special, with copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins in the cliché ratio of 10000:100:1. However, most villagers only ever used copper coins or salt for trading, and until now I hadn’t even seen a silver coin, let alone a gold one.

I carried a small bamboo basket and went out with Elia, walking towards the forest.

The path to the forest was the same muddy road I had taken to come to the village. The forest was rich in resources, and villagers would go there to hunt or gather herbs like this, but they generally only stayed around the edges, rarely daring to venture deep inside.

“Little Syl, let me tell you, there’s a dragon god in this forest.”

“Dragon god?”

“Yes, a huge white dragon, isn’t it amazing that dragons actually exist in this world!”

…Isn’t that what I should be saying? Are dragons also legendary-level beings in this magical world?

“Elia, seen it?”

“I haven’t… I heard it from Allen, his father is the most skilled hunter in the village, who dares to go deep into the forest alone, he said his father had seen it before.”

Allen, whom Elia mentioned, was her lover, a sturdy boy two years older than her, and they were about to get married.

“Dragon god, what’s it like?”

“Hmm… not very clear, seems like his father only caught a glimpse from far away. They say it has huge horns growing all over its head, covered in white fur, and can transform into a beam of light and fly into the sky…” Elia became confused as she spoke, “Little Syl, aren’t dragons supposed to have scales?”

“I, don’t know, these things.”

“Hmm… what would a dragon with white fur look like, I can’t imagine it. But it must look super strong and majestic!”

Well, although I don’t know what kind of dragon god you’re imagining, it might be somewhat different from reality.

That dragon not only has white fur but also bad breath.

…I wonder what Dabai is doing now, I kind of miss it.

“Last year, an uncle who lived at the west end of the village got lost in the forest, but after taking a nap, he woke up to find himself back outside the forest again, isn’t that amazing! It must be the dragon god protecting us.”

“…”

Well, your understanding isn’t exactly wrong.

“There’s another strange thing. Before you came to the village, there was a period when many church priests and knights came. They said terrible monsters had appeared on the other side of the forest, and they took us to the neighboring town to take refuge. When you arrived at the village, we had just returned a couple of days ago.” Elia’s eyes flashed with excitement as she spoke, “The church knights were all tall and mighty, so handsome! My father was a church knight!”

Is “tall and mighty” the only way you know how to compliment people?

“Grandma told you, right? My father was killed by bandits… but the priests said that before my father died, he killed more than 10 bad guys by himself!”

“You’re not, sad?”

“Why should I be sad? My father was a church knight, a hero who died protecting the people!” Pride showed in the girl’s words, “Though… sometimes I still dream of him patting my head, hehe.”

“…”

A hero… who protected the people?

What an remarkable person.

…………

When we reached the forest entrance, Elia and I had to split up, this way we could gather more, and when the merchants come in a few days, we could sell for more copper coins.

“Make sure not to go too far.” Elia reminded me before leaving, and I nodded to her.

Actually, Elia had brought me here many times before, and I had already memorized the routes, there was no way I could get lost.

But each time she would still worry a bit and remind me.

What we needed to gather was a kind of root called Ganrong, which was a very effective medicinal herb for injuries.

Finding things wasn’t difficult for someone like me with exceptionally keen senses, in one hour I could gather a basket full.

My main purpose for coming here each time was actually to resolve another matter.

My hunger.

This was something I discovered by accident recently while training my Abyssal power, the black smoke, in the forest. The reason why I had always felt unsatisfied no matter how much I ate. It wasn’t because I hadn’t eaten enough, but because the Abyssal power within me urgently needed to absorb energy.

It needed to devour living creatures to maintain its vitality and not “die.”

So every few days, when that unusual hunger sensation came, I would come to the forest.

Rustle rustle rustle…

Not far away, an animal that looked like a rabbit but had four ears appeared in my sight. My gaze focused, and a fist-sized black smoke ball shot out with a “whoosh,” and a blue-white light was absorbed into my body.

A tingling sensation spread throughout my body, and I unconsciously squeezed my thighs together as I felt the hunger slowly subside somewhat.

Yes, just like this, gathering energy for the Abyssal power.

I had never tried to see what would happen if I got extremely hungry, and I never wanted to try, something very bad would definitely happen.

So I’m sorry, little rabbit.

This feeling of seemingly devouring another’s soul always made me uncomfortable. At moments like this, I would recognize from the bottom of my heart the fact that I was a monster.

Physical pleasure, mental rejection.

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