Companionship

"How did you end up there? Did you get separated from a caravan?"

Just as Lilith was thinking about how to steer the conversation away from this topic, Esdeath asked her two more questions.

"A caravan?"

Lilith looked utterly bewildered. How had this gotten to caravans?

It took Lilith two seconds to recover. "I... don't know."

It seemed Esdeath had mistaken her for someone separated from a caravan again.

But then again, would caravans even come to a godforsaken place like this?

As it turned out, caravans really did come to this godforsaken place.

Originally, there had been a tribe here that also made its living hunting Dangerous Species.

The materials from those Dangerous Species were extremely valuable, especially those that could only be found in this region.

The enormous profits drew some caravans here despite knowing full well how dangerous the snowfields were.

Although that tribe had nearly been wiped out years ago, leaving only the chieftain's daughter, she was an exceptionally powerful hunter. She alone had killed no small number of Dangerous Species—enough to make the journey worth the caravans' risk.

Esdeath also obtained all her daily supplies from those caravans.

"You don't know? Did you lose your memory?"

"..."

Faced with Esdeath's question, Lilith could only remain silent.

Amnesia could explain why she knew almost nothing about this world.

But there were still many things it could not explain.

Such as her physique, which was far beyond that of an ordinary person...

In short, silence was golden.

"Looks like you don't want to talk about it. Fine, then."

"I've been planning to leave the snowfields soon. After all, I've nearly eaten all the Dangerous Species around here. Do you want to come with me?"

Lilith fell silent. She knew Esdeath would leave the snowfields and join the military.

But she had not expected that to be the reason Esdeath was leaving.

"...If you don't mind."

Whatever the reason, leaving the snowfields would be for the best.

After all, she had no desire to spend the rest of her life in this frozen wasteland.

"That's wonderful. I've always lived alone, and I never had any brothers or sisters. I've always wanted a little sister."

"..."

Lilith did not answer.

She was not an idiot. The implication was obvious. If she simply went along with Esdeath's words, she could acknowledge the ceiling of this world's combat power as her sworn older sister.

But she hesitated.

Esdeath was indeed exceptionally beautiful, but that was all.

Not to mention that Big Dragon was gone; even now, no one could surpass her in looks.

Lilith was just that confident in her appearance.

Therefore, Esdeath's outstanding looks did not add much to Lilith's favor toward her.

Then she thought of Esdeath's bloodthirsty nature after joining the military...

It was not quite disgust, since Lilith had no right to judge others.

Besides, Esdeath was not the sort of person who slaughtered innocents indiscriminately.

Among the countless twisted people nurtured by this rotten Empire, Esdeath was one of the more normal ones.

She simply did not want to be a "little sister"!

Though she looked young, her actual age was enough for her to be Esdeath's older... sister.

But considering her size, no one would find that believable, so she might as well say nothing.

Seeing that Lilith did not answer, a trace of disappointment flashed through Esdeath's eyes.

She truly wanted to keep Lilith by her side.

But at this point, she was not yet so domineering that she would think of using force to keep Lilith with her.

"Once we leave the snowfields, have you thought about where you want to go, Lilith?"

That question truly stumped Lilith.

A hint of confusion appeared in her eyes.

She had only just arrived in this world. Everything about it was utterly unfamiliar to her, and she had no idea where she should go.

But there was one thing she knew for certain: these snowfields were absolutely no place to live, and she had to leave!

"I see. Since you have nowhere to go, why not come with me? The two of us can keep each other company."

As though she had noticed Lilith's confusion, Esdeath hurriedly asked.

Her voice unconsciously grew a little louder as she leaned a little closer to Lilith.

"Well... all right. Then please take care of me from now on."

Lilith thought it over. Staying by Esdeath's side did not seem to have any downside.

Sooner or later, Esdeath's strength would reach the pinnacle of this world. Staying with her would also greatly benefit Lilith's own growth.

After all, having a powerful mentor was better than fumbling around on her own, especially when that person was the strongest in the world!

As for joining the military later and helping the Empire commit evil?

Honestly, Lilith did not feel much attachment to this world.

Perhaps she had learned of many tragedies in this world while watching the anime, but she had only seen them through an anime—and they had even been censored.

She felt no personal connection whatsoever to this world's tragedies.

As for joining the Rebel Army to overthrow the Empire?

Sorry, she had never considered it.

Besides, in her eyes, the Rebel Army was not made up of good people either.

Perhaps the Rebel Army's original purpose had merely been for a group of people who could no longer survive to rebel and gain enough food to stay alive.

But as time passed, the Rebel Army had long since changed in nature.

Some people saw hope in the Rebel Army's ability to defeat the Empire. They wanted to use it as the vanguard while reaping the rewards from behind.

Otherwise, where would a mere group of farmers get weapons capable of fighting the Empire's army, not to mention those precious Teigu?

They were funded by certain people, weren't they?

Those people claimed they could not bear to watch the Empire's atrocities any longer, but how much of that was true?

No matter what, following Esdeath into the military was indeed a good way to temper herself.

And with a vampire's immortal body, she did not have to worry about being struck by some stray arrow flying in from nowhere on the battlefield and dying a miserable, humiliating death.

Still, she had no idea how long it would be before joining the military. She was still in the snowfields, so there was no need to think that far ahead.

"Please take care of me."

Esdeath took Lilith's outstretched hand, looking extremely happy.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot."

Plop~

Seeing that the water was about to boil, Esdeath picked up the wooden basin holding the meat and dumped all the raw meat into the iron pot.

Then she began to cook it.

Watching the raw meat go into the pot, Lilith suddenly wondered whether she could eat normal food.

Would she be like in the movies, able to drink only blood and vomit whenever she ate ordinary food?

That was a question.

Lilith sank into thought.

But at that moment, Lilith forgot that vomiting after eating normal food was something that happened to certain ghouls. It had little to do with vampires.