Test

As she lifted the tent flap, a thick stench of blood rushed into Lilith's nostrils.

Breathing in the blood-scented air, Lilith did not feel sickened. On the contrary, she found it rather pleasant.

So Lilith took a few more breaths.

"······"

Something was wrong!

Lilith immediately realized it. How could a normal person find the smell of blood pleasant?

Although she had long known that this body of hers was unusual, she had never imagined it would be this "abnormal."

Lilith let out a long breath. Had she turned into a vampire?

Lilith returned to the tent. She needed to find something and confirm a few things.

Lilith scanned the entire tent but found no mirror. Just as she was feeling disappointed, she spotted a curved blade hanging from a pillar.

Calling it a pillar was inaccurate; it was actually a massive bone used to support the tent.

Lilith walked over and took down the curved blade.

When she drew it from its sheath, a flash of cold light reflected onto Lilith's face, making her narrow her eyes.

The curved blade had been well maintained, much to Lilith's relief.

Then, on the blade's surface, she saw her own reflection.

Since arriving in this world, she finally knew what she looked like.

"Mm, as expected of me."

Lilith was stunned by her own breathtaking beauty, then noticed that her pupils were blood-red.

"With this color, I can't keep fooling myself anymore."

Lilith stroked her smooth cheek, reluctant to take her hand away.

There was a strong possibility that she was a vampire.

Yet she seemed quite different from the vampires of legend.

First, she could survive under sunlight. No matter how low the surrounding temperature was, the blazing sun overhead had indeed been shining directly on her.

And when she had left the tent earlier, she had merely found the smell of blood pleasant. She had not felt any overwhelming urge to drink blood.

Was it because she was not hungry?

But speaking of pleasant smells, the scent of blood had already drifted into the tent.

Lilith sheathed the curved blade and hung it back where it had been.

Then Lilith lifted the tent flap. She was going to make one final confirmation.

When she found Esdeath, Esdeath was skinning that unknown creature.

Judging by Esdeath's practiced movements, who knew how many creatures she had dismembered to become so skilled.

Seeing Lilith emerge, Esdeath wiped at the nonexistent sweat on her forehead and asked, "Why did you come out? Is something wrong?"

Lilith turned her gaze toward the wooden basin Esdeath had used to hold the beast's blood.

Esdeath followed Lilith's gaze, then raised an eyebrow and pushed the basin toward her.

"You want this?"

Esdeath looked interested. Aside from certain tribes, few people took an interest in beast blood, and Esdeath was no exception. Of course, those Foreigners who ate raw meat and drank blood did not count.

Lilith hesitated, nodded, then shook her head again.

This left Esdeath confused. Did she want it or not?

Lilith crouched down, dipped a finger into the beast blood, then brought the tiny drop clinging to her fingertip to her lips and licked it with the tip of her pink tongue.

When the blood entered her mouth, Lilith did not feel anything unusual.

She did not feel stronger after consuming blood like a vampire would. Of course, perhaps there simply had not been enough blood.

Other than that, just as she had expected, she did not feel disgusted when the blood entered her mouth. Though it was only a little, she rather liked the taste.

How was this any different from being a vampire?

Lilith did not confirm whether drinking a large amount of blood would make her stronger.

Esdeath was still here, after all, and her gaze remained fixed on Lilith. Lilith did not want to act too conspicuously.

If her nature as a vampire was exposed, she could not be sure how Esdeath would react.

After all, in any world, vampires were synonymous with evil.

She had not forgotten that Esdeath was stronger than her. She had no desire to experience being killed.

Thinking of this, Lilith recalled something else.

Vampires seemed difficult to kill, didn't they?

Whether in novels or films, aside from specific weapons such as silver, ordinary weapons could not kill vampires at all. Their regenerative abilities were also absurdly powerful, practically making them immortal. Moreover, vampires had extraordinarily long lives; she had never heard of a vampire dying of old age.

Lifespan would be difficult to verify, but regeneration was easy enough to test.

There was a curved blade in the tent.

Lilith pondered whether she should make a small cut on the pad of her finger to test it.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"The beast blood!"

Lilith looked at Esdeath and fell silent for a moment. "·· taste was nothing special."

Then Lilith stood and headed back into the tent.

"Nothing special···?"

"So that means she doesn't dislike it."

Esdeath watched Lilith's retreating back, growing increasingly curious about who Lilith really was.

The Foreigners could be ruled out first. No young lady like Lilith could come from among the Foreigners, but Lilith claimed she was not a noble lady. This was truly······

"·····'s becoming more and more intriguing."

Only after Lilith entered the tent did Esdeath withdraw her gaze and continue dealing with the prey before her.

The corners of Esdeath's lips curved into a faint smile.

She had not been this happy in years, happier even than when she hunted a powerful Dangerous Species.

After entering the tent, Lilith went straight to the curved blade, but when her hand touched it, she hesitated.

The reason was simple: she was afraid of pain.

When people were injured in the past, it was usually due to forces beyond their control. Cutting herself, even if it was only a tiny cut, required courage.

After all, people instinctively resisted getting hurt.

Even if a normal adult man could kill an adult wolf barehanded, that instinct made him reject the idea of trading injury for injury.

It made many people mistakenly believe that he could not defeat a wolf.

Lilith, meanwhile, was simply afraid of pain. Besides, injuries inflicted by others and injuries inflicted by oneself were two entirely different things.

Many people simply were not ruthless enough toward themselves.

And what if? What if she had judged wrongly and was not a vampire? Wouldn't this cut have been for nothing?

Then Lilith looked at her slender, fair arm. If she was testing regenerative ability, a bruise should work just as well as a wound, shouldn't it?

But when Lilith truly tried to pinch her own arm, she could not bring herself to do it.

This time, it was not because of pain, but because she could not bear to damage a "work of art."

That's right, could anyone bear to see a flaw appear on a beautiful work of art?