Chapter 116 – Mortal Sin’s Reaction
Chapter 116 – Mortal Sin’s Reaction
Mimir was already waiting at the mansion’s entrance, as if already expecting our arrival,
She let out a small laughter as she looked at me and Roxy.
[As expected, it really happened. Hurry. Follow me...]
Since the morning, when she learned that I’d switched bodies with Roxy, apparently she already sensed that something might have went wrong.
Perhaps she noticed while helping Roxy changing clothes, but she never told me about it. She simply stood by, staying in the gray area that was hard to see.
[You could’ve told me...]
[I was warned by Roxy-san to not tell you...forgive me.]
[I see...]
Mimir was also partially responsible for sending Roxy to Gallia. So perhaps she relented to Roxy’s warning out of sense of guilt.
Also, she then told me that Roxy’s appearance that morning was very similar to when I was about to enter starving state.
With that in mind, she waited for our return to the mansion. While feeling grateful to Mimir, we brought Roxy to my room.
My and Mimir’s current standing was the opposite of what it was in the past. There were still part of us that couldn’t stick together. I personally think that this was no good. Especially because it’s been a month since Mimir first start living in the mansion.
It’ll take some time to straighten our relationship. But at least, we have a common interest here.
And that’s also how I hoped to help Roxy by Mimir’s aid.
[It’s been only one day, will you be okay?]
[Ee, no problem. I’ll still be fine even if I have to do this everyday.]
Mimir showed me a devilish little smile. Hearing her saying so, I couldn’t help but to smile wryly being reminded of what she’s been through.
I placed Roxy on the bed and backed off. Mimir came forward in my place, staring at Roxy who had a suffering look on her face.
[Shall I?]
[Yeah, please help Roxy handle the Gluttony skill.]
[Yes.]
Mimir opened her mouth as she leaned closer to Roxy. Her fangs, far more developed than normal human, peeked out from under her upper lip. She then sunk those fangs to Roxy’s neck.
Bloodsucking Impulse. Mimir is suffering from this after what Rafal had put her through. According to Raine, it’s a characteristic brought about from the original nightwalker Shinn.
Rafal implanted parts of Shinn unto her and himself. However, differing from how it went with Rafal, she actually adapted well with it.
As a result, not only Mimir is not under Shinn’s control, she also has full grasp of her power as a nightwalker. For example, normally when a nightwalker sucks blood from others, their victim would turn into rabid undead who will attack other living beings. But she could avoid that by controlling her power.
Mimir may not be an original nightwalker, but she’s pretty close to it. However, the bloodsucking impulse is something she couldn’t suppress for the time being.
Normal human blood wouldn’t satisfy her any longer. In fact, she could easily tell by glance whether a person’s blood would be satisfactory to her appetite or not. Just through a sheer instinct.
Long story short...that person was me.
The day Aaron brought Mimir to work at the Barbatos’s mansion as a maid――she stared at me when we met, then threw a devilish grin.
That expression was not something Mimir did deliberately. It was something she unconsciously did because of her thirst for blood.
Her gaze which almost like that of a hunter hunting its prey, only made me feel ill at ease.
After that, after some consultations with Raine, once every week, I would allow Mimir to suck my blood. Otherwise, she might turn to Aaron or Shara, perhaps even the people on the Heart Mansion next door. Well....Raine said that no matter how severe the bloodsucking impulse is, as long as Mimir was allowed a little taste of my blood, she won’t turn to other person.
And then, I discovered something when she sucked my blood for the first time.
Yes, the starvation state was actually suppressed after she fed on me. Greed said that it probably because Shinn’s mortal sin skill and my Gluttony clashed and ended up offsetting each other.
There is no actual proof, but we were talking about nightwalker powers here...which appeared to be linked to Shinn’s mortal sin skill. Mimir who shared the same power, although not the complete version of it, was still capable of suppressing Gluttony’s starvation.
I watched the rise and fall of Mimir’s throat as she drank blood. Even so, she made it seem like...it was very delicious...
I couldn’t see her expression when she’s sucking blood from my neck before, so I never thought that it’ll look that enticing.
[It’s done.]
It seemed that the Gluttony skill had been suppressed considerably, which meant that she had sucked quite a lot of blood. Mimir had to stop before the blood loss becomes fatal. With the starvation inflicted by the Gluttony skill gone, so was the suffering it brought about.
Although this time, Roxy had been knocked out mainly due to the loss of blood.
[I had no choice but to do this. Roxy-sama should be fine for a while now. But even though the gluttony skill is suppressed, there is no way for me to do this again if it goes wild once more. I can’t afford to suck more blood than I already did today.]
[Alright...that’s already a lot of help. Thanks, Mimir.]
She turned away so as not to show her face to me and let out a little cough.
With Roxy’s condition already stabilized somewhat, I won’t have to rush to settle the matter. As relief washed over my body, I let myself sit on a chair next to the bed.
[Hey, can I ask you something?]
[What is it?]
[Is my blood that delicious?]
[That...]
[That?]
[.......is a secret!]
She won’t tell me after all... As I drooped my shoulder, Miria barged in to the bedroom.
Aaron and Shara followed soon after. They were anxious, but quickly relaxed when I told them that the crisis had come to pass.
[Fate-sama! I, shall we inform Aisha-sama about this?]
[That’s right. Please do, Shara.]
[Yes!]
Shara’s twintails shook left and right as the little girl marched out of the room. She’s just that clever despite her young age.
As her mother, Aisha-sama was the most fitting to take care Roxy. Because Mimir was the maid of Barbatos family, it would be inappropriate for her to handle the needs of Roxy, who was a holy knight that belonged to another family. Although I knew that the servants of Heart family weren’t that strict regarding this matter, we are trying to keep this under wraps as much as possible after all.
For example, despite me having worked as a servant in the Heart mansion before――nobody dared to act overly familiar with me despite me already quite friendly with them in the past, just because I am a holy knight from another family.
I tended to forget that the holy knight was the most privileged class in this kingdom.
Hearing the exchange earlier, Mimir muttered.
[It should be alright if it’s Aisha-sama who’d come here. Those servants are kind of scared of me and Shara.]
[Scared of you?]
Somehow...the words got stuck in my throat...
Meanwhile, Miria promptly replaced me out of the chair and held Roxy’s hand.
[Roxy-sama...please be alright. Fate-san, is she alright?]
[Yeah, for now]
As I thought, both Shara and Miria were not aware on what treatment we actually conducted here. Cause that means I’ll have to tell them that Mimir needs to drink human blood.
Since it’s not a good thing for others to know, I decided to remain silent. Moreover, Mimir herself asked me to do so when she first arrived in the mansion.
Only I, Aaron, Raine, Eris, and the white knights...knew about Mimir’s blood sucking impulse before. After this incident, perhaps Roxy will be added to that list.
Being aware of a secret you shouldn’t...I understand how scary it is. After realizing the true power of the Gluttony skill, and what will become of those who got devoured by it....aside from how it was a heresy to this world’s level and status system....all that scares me sometimes. I couldn’t imagine how Roxy will react upon realizing this herself.
After telling Miria that Roxy is just sleeping due to exhaustion and that she’ll be just fine, Aaron put his hand on my shoulder and began talking to me.
[Now that you are still in Roxy’s body, what will you do?]
[Eerm, all I know that I need to beat the monster that caused all this. Once it dies, the switching will be reverted back to normal. At least that’s what Raine told me.]
[Oh, so it’s a magic that will be dispelled if the caster is dead? Sounds like how the Lich Lord controls souls with magic. But in this case, it switches soul instead of controlling it.]
I first met Aaron when I was aiming for Gallia to help Roxy...we fought a crown tier monster Lich Lord titled 【Harbinger of Death】. It had the ability to control corpses, as well as the soul of the dead people.
The Lich Lord used Aaron’s long history of suffering by using his wife and son’s soul a its shield. Even so, Aaron managed to overcome that, and we were able to defeat it by working together.
At that time, I remembered that the liberated souls flew back to the heaven.
As Aaron said, this ancient monster――the goblin shaman is probably similar to that of the Lich Lord.
[Monster that play around with souls is unforgivable. I will join the fight as well! Are you fine with that, Fate!]
[Yes, of course. By all means. I was planning to ask for your help anyways.]
[I see... My sword arm is already thirsty for battle.]
Recently, Aaron was too busy with the work at the palace, that he had struggled to find time to have a proper spar. I’m kinda expecting this from the beginning.
Especially looking at how he already had his sword ready when entering the room.
His battle is amazing in particular. After reaching Area-E...he had become an even more powerful grandpa. And he’s still growing stronger too.
[I’ll have to fight in Roxy’s body, so if the opponent is an Area-E, I’ll have to rely on Aaron to beat it. Umm...that wound from the fight with Rafal, is it already healed?]
[Fumu, why of course. It’s completely recovered. You can count on me.]
I may have asked too much. But I don’t feel the need to have any reservation to Aaron.
Hearing about the goblin shaman, Miria also chimed in.
[Don’t forget about me]
[Ho...Miria will also tag along? Fate?]
[Yes, this time the target is out there somewhere in the hobgoblin forest. Having more hands on the decks will help. Besides, there is also her resolve.]
[Not that I am complaining or anything, she does have a fairly good sword arm. Um, let’s do our best together.]
[Yes! Eeee.....did I just get praised by THE sword saint Aaron-sama?]
I’d be happy if she could act obedient to me for once, but it’s different with Aaron. Taking the thought aside, I felt the need to throw her a bucket of cold water..
[Don’t get too cocky. Failure is unacceptable.]
[I know. Fate-san is really annoying... such a knuckehead.]
Even if tried to be careful, I ended up on her bad side once again. I guess it’s a failure. And that expression of her...
[No matter where Fate-san go to, I should be able to go there as well!]
[Hey brat, don’t you underestimate me for a fool. Right, Aaron?]
[Nn?..........That’s right.]
That’s a bit unconvincing. Perhaps, as Miria said, I missed something....no way though...
I’d like to speak with Greed, but I don’t have mind reading skill as I’m currently on another person’s body. Placing the black sword next to the bed where Roxy is sleeping, I muttered a request, hoping that Greed somehow could hear it.
[I leave Roxy to you.]
There was no reply, but I could almost imagine Greed answering me with [Of course you can leave that matter to this me.]
I was about to leave the room when the door suddenly opened. It was Shara and Aisha-sama.
Even the usually calm Aisha-sama looked genuinely worried this time. She seemed out of breath, apparently due to rushing here immediately.
[How is Roxy?]
[She has stabilized for now. As of now, I’m going to slay the cause of this body switching.]
[Alright....]
Aisha looked at Roxy’s sleeping form, and finally calmed down. It hasn’t even been a year since she lost her husband Mason after all.
In the morning, she had bothered with her antics, but perhaps she’s just as anxious if not more on the inside. Her daughter’s body was switched to another person, and now, that same daughter is lying unconscious here.
No parent would not feel worried.
But I forgot how Aisha-sama was fundamentally a playful woman. Right. The way she kept acting playful despite the difficulties she might felt.... It’s very similar to her daughter Roxy.
Raising my ears up as I left, I could barely hear conversation coming from inside the room.
(She’s sweating a lot. I have to wipe her body and change her clothes! Shara, Mimir! Can you two help me?)
(Does that mean seeing the naked body of...gulp...)
(But, it’s Fate-sama’s body after all. I don’t feel that good about this)
(I-I-I-I-I-I’m also on the same opinion with Mimir-san!)
(What are you talking about! Even if she’s in other’s body, the inside is still Roxy. As a good mother, this shouldn’t be a problem!)
( ( True! ) )
Eee!? Why are you girls so easily convinced!
(Alright, let’s take it all off!)
( ( Yes! ) )
Wha, what’s going to happen to my body? Why both Mimir and Shara sounded so eager?!
Stop right there!! It’s a mistake to call upon Aisha-sama. Obviously a very bad mistake there.
Let’s just return to the room now. As I was about to reach out to the doorknob,
[What are you doing! Hurry up, Fate]
[Yeah. We have to defeat the goblin shaman as soon as possible!]
Aaron grabbed my right hand, while Miria grabbed the left. They dragged me through the hallway and into the entrance at the ground floor.
[Wait a minute, I sense something dangerous happening inside my room!]
[What are you talking about? Aisha-sama will take care of everything else. Is that not sufficient already?]
[Aisha-sama directly tending to your needs. I’m envious.]
[No no]
I threw one last glance to my room from outside. There, I could still hear their voices.
No matter how I think about it, my body was in danger over there. Since I can’t return right now, I just have to finish up the goblin shaman as quick as possible.
I put my hand on the holy sword hanging on my back, and started running to the direction of the hobgoblin forest. Yep, I’m starting to get used of moving with Roxy’s body.
First of all let’s investigate the place where we found the goblin shaman’s arm.