Chapter 29
“An explanation? What’s there to explain. It’s exactly what it looks like.”
He ran a hand through his hair and turned his head slightly.
It seemed like he was trying to hide his reddened face—but that only made it more obvious.
“For some reason, the barrier placed on you was nullified. As a result, the monsters were able to see you. But…”
Muttering that far, Dazhar continued in a more serious tone.
“Why the monsters went after you instead of just me… that’s the strange part.”
“Is that really that strange?”
“Of course it is. The Siastor bloodline is born cursed with damned magic—no, it’s more accurate to call it a curse.”
“What?”
I sniffed as I asked, my voice still nasal.
Dazhar frowned slightly. His face, which had been bright red just moments ago, was already back to normal.
In short—his annoyingly handsome default face.
“Tch. He recovers fast.”
“The blood running through my body naturally attracts monsters. To them, I probably look like the finest delicacy imaginable. Something they’ve never seen before—just looking at it would make them drool.”
“……”
“Even the scent coming off my body is like that. That’s why the monsters that crawl out of the Cracks don’t go down the mountain. They all rush straight at me.”
And yet… they ignored that gourmet feast and chased me instead?
As I blankly mulled over his words, I suddenly felt a squirming movement behind me and startled.
Wait—this bastard was still holding me?!
“…What?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’?”
I quickly scrambled out of his arms and crawled away, then sat cross-legged in front of him.
Dazhar raised an eyebrow like I was unbelievable.
“What, am I some kind of bug? You jumped away like you’d seen a ghost.”
Did he suddenly gain mind-reading powers?
I flinched slightly and looked away.
Dazhar’s expression darkened even more.
“Ha. I went through all this trouble to find someone like this…”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly frustrated with himself.
Now that we were facing each other, I could see his face clearly—something I couldn’t earlier when he was behind me.
So that was sweat that dripped onto my shoulder.
I blinked as I noticed his slightly damp shirt clinging to his skin.
“Last time, I could blame it on the kid… or maybe not?”
He muttered to himself.
“Let’s run a quick test.”
“…What?”
“Come here.”
Eek.
Still seated, I scooted backward.
“What’s wrong? Where are you going? I said come here.”
“No, it’s just… ah—no, it’s nothing.”
Did I suddenly get possessed by a succubus?
Why did that damp white shirt look so indecent?
I blamed the densely packed romance novels from my pre-possession bookshelf and reluctantly moved closer.
“Bind.”
This time, unlike before, he didn’t use blood.
Instead, he drew strange symbols in the air with swift movements.
A cluster of white light—similar to what had surrounded Aksion before—formed at his fingertips and floated toward me.
The glowing light drifted beautifully toward me… then—
Ting.
It bounced right off my body.
“…Huh?”
“Just as I thought.”
The light tried again and again to make contact, but each time it grew smaller.
Finally, with a faint shiiik, it disappeared.
Dazhar crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.
After a moment of contemplation, he rested his chin on his knee.
“So it wasn’t a lie.”
“What?”
“That story you told about the Eastern Continent.”
“…Why are you suddenly bringing that up?”
As I brushed dust off my pajamas, he sighed quietly.
“You said you brought back that new food from the Eastern Continent. I didn’t believe you.”
“…Yeah.”
“But if you have a body like this, it makes sense that you could go there. Any barrier placed on the continent wouldn’t work on you.”
“……”
“Does that mean you’re the only one who can cross the sea?”
Hearing that, I suddenly felt like I’d become some incredible existence.
Huh?
Was this body secretly overpowered?
“Don’t grin like that. It’s not a good thing.”
“…I wasn’t happy.”
“You know your nose twitches when you lie?”
“….”
I immediately covered my nose with both hands.
Dazhar snorted.
“Relax. I was lying. You fell for it, idiot.”
Wow. This dog bastard.
As my lips twitched, Dazhar burst out laughing—clearly mocking me.
“…So why isn’t it a good thing?”
“Hmmm. I’m not explaining that for free.”
“…?”
“Why?”
“You already forgot what you did wrong to me?”
“Oh.”
He smiled smoothly—an elegant smile he always wore when being shameless.
“That’s that, and this is this, Lady Evanroir.”
Should I just kill him now?
I glared at him with narrowed eyes. He averted his gaze slightly and said,
“Give it to me.”
“…Give you what? Your vocabulary hasn’t improved, Duke Siastor. Everything’s just ‘that.’”
He snapped his gaze back, twisted one corner of his mouth, and said confidently,
“The soy-sauce egg rice you stole from me.”
So that’s it—you’re possessed by soy-sauce egg rice now?
I clicked my tongue and nodded.
“Fine. Fine.”
His eyes widened slightly—then he smiled brightly.
It was the first genuinely happy smile I’d ever seen from him.
* * *
According to Dazhar, if anyone else found out that my body was immune to barriers, it would become a huge problem.
Especially—
“Never let that Tower Master bastard find out.”
“…Why?”
“Did you already forget? He’s the one who shoved a demon dragon’s Dragon Heart into that kid’s chest.”
“That was to save Aksion…”
“How do you know that? For all you know, he put it into a perfectly healthy child.”
“….”
That made me uneasy.
But it was true that there’d been a carriage accident involving Aksion and my half-sister.
And Aksion had been injured.
“…And yet you’re using him as Vanilla’s teacher.”
“I have my reasons.”
Dazhar cut himself off there.
I decided to accept his words—at least partially.
In the original story, Elstern was a hidden villain.
Even though right now he doted on Aksion like a fool, acting lovestruck, brainless, and absurdly soft—
Wait, why is he this bad?
Recognizing how harsh my evaluation was, I thought again: yeah, definitely a mastermind.
Anyway, I promised Dazhar I’d never let Elstern discover this trait.
“Are those… Black Hawks?”
We were outside the mansion.
What I pointed at were black-armored knights leaping across rooftops like grasshoppers.
They were cutting down monsters in a single stroke.
Dazhar glanced at them and nodded.
“Yeah. They’re trash, but occasionally useful. Most days, they’re useless.”
Was that praise or an insult?
As he spoke confusingly, white lights kept flying from his fingertips.
The monsters charging at us exploded one after another—boom, boom, boom.
Like before, his power really was impressive.
I followed behind him, wearing the coat he’d dug out of his room for me.
“Going outside dressed like that? When it’s crawling with monsters?”
The coat he’d thrown at me was his.
It was cold in pajamas, so I accepted it.
It was warm. Comfortable.
Standing in the center of the clearing, Dazhar slaughtered monsters while keeping me beside him.
At first, their grotesque appearances made me scream internally—
But after watching him hunt them all night…
It got repetitive.
Humans really adapt quickly.
I’d been running in terror earlier, but now I was used to it.
Then again, Dazhar and the Black Hawks must be even more used to it.
“…I’m sleepy.”
Watching monsters explode beside me, I slowly sank to my knees—
And drifted off.
The next day, the Siastor estate returned to its usual peaceful state, as if nothing had happened at all.
