In Terra, a Hunter, and a Bad Woman

At that moment, Maria also noticed the slightly swollen side of the other girl's face, hidden beneath her hair.

"What happened to your face?"

"Ugh..."

The puppy girl turned her head away uneasily, seeming somewhat frightened.

"Look at me, Puppy!"

Maria frowned and gave the order decisively.

This was not something to joke about.

In a forest where medical supplies were scarce, even a minor injury or illness could become a cause of death.

She did not want anything to happen to the girl because she hid her pain.

Hearing Maria's stern words, the puppy girl shuddered.

Though extremely unwilling, she still hesitantly turned back to look at Maria.

Timidly, she opened her mouth wide, revealing her pearly white teeth...

"Ah..."

Using the sunlight, Maria silently examined the swollen area...

"This is..."

Full Moon?

"Ah~"

The puppy-like girl knelt trembling on the ground, doing her utmost to tilt her head back.

She opened her mouth uneasily, her body tensing as she shut her eyes in fear.

Yet that only made her feel more clearly the cold hand that had entered her mouth.

Slender fingers moved wantonly through her mouth, the ticklish sensation mingling with the sensitive warmth brought on by her racing heartbeat and constantly distracting her thoughts.

So itchy...

So... strange...

Her powerful heartbeat made her breathing uneven, and her slender throat could not help swallowing.

A rosy flush had already climbed from her neck to her cheeks.

Even so, the owner of those fingers did not hesitate in the slightest. With their cool touch, she slowly stroked every one of the girl's teeth.

From the sides to the front, from stroking to pressing.

Little by little, deeper and deeper...

The instant those fingers touched one particular spot, the puppy girl jerked violently as if startled.

Instinctively, she bit down hard on the fingers...

"Mm..."

A meaningless sound escaped Maria's cool breath, but it frightened the girl.

She hurriedly opened her eyes. Feeling the fingers left inside her mouth after she had closed it, she pitifully sucked on them.

"Maria... it hurts..."

The little girl voiced her feelings indistinctly.

Her eyes brimmed with tears.

Before her, Maria's indistinct figure paid no heed and continued feeling around inside the girl's mouth.

"Did you eat too many sweets?"

"Ugh..."

"You have a cavity."

Maria quickly pronounced her verdict upon the girl before her.

Who would have thought...

Maria truly had not expected Beasts to have problems with cavities.

In her memories, Beasts had never shown any pain from human illnesses or injuries. That had kept her from ever considering that eating candy could give one cavities.

What was this?

A bad joke?

But... without a doubt.

The girl's tooth had started hurting for no reason despite not suffering any injury.

That meant she probably had a cavity.

Perhaps that also explained why this foolish girl liked sweets but had not eaten these few pieces of candy.

It was not that she did not want to eat them. It hurt too much, so she could not.

With that thought, Maria silently withdrew her fingers from the girl's mouth.

Strings of thick, transparent liquid still connected them.

Maria looked at it without any stray thoughts.

She merely took a Blood Vial from her belt, removed the cork, and lightly dabbed a little blood onto her fingers.

Then, under the puppy girl's puzzled gaze, she pushed her fingers back in!

Gently stroking...

"Ugh!"

At first, the puppy girl instinctively struggled and trembled.

Even her little ears twitched.

She shook all over, terrified.

But after a while, she discovered in astonishment that the unbearable needle-like pain in her mouth was fading.

Her eyes gradually relaxed.

Her soft little tongue instinctively licked at the fingers.

"It seems I'll have to control your sugar intake from now on."

After confirming that the girl's cavity had been healed, Maria withdrew her fingers as well.

As for the saliva on them...

She casually grabbed a handful of dirt and rubbed it between her hands a few times, causing the sticky fluid to fall away.

"It shouldn't hurt anymore, right?"

Maria turned to look at the puppy girl.

After carefully licking her teeth, the girl's eyes sparkled brightly.

Maria... is amazing!

"Even if you like it, you can't use this too much... it's addictive."

Maria silently put away the Blood Vial in her hand and spoke coolly.

She failed to understand the puppy girl's thoughts, merely assuming that the girl could not resist the temptation of Blood Ministration.

That thing was a poison that led people into depravity.

In Yharnam, there was no shortage of clever people who knew the truth of Beastification. But why did they not reveal it?

Even if they feared retaliation from those academies, surely they could have fled on their own?

Yet... not a single one had done so.

Because they had all been consumed by Blood Ministration.

They were no longer human, but bloodthirsty monsters wearing human skin.

Because of her unique ability, Maria was far less dependent on Blood Healing. Thus, when all of Yharnam descended into madness, she could still retain a fair amount of reason.

Having seen plenty of people go mad, she held a sense of reverence toward Blood Healing.

It could be used, but only if one possessed the ability to restrain oneself.

Someone like the puppy girl, who did not even fully understand herself, should use it as little as possible.

As she pondered, Maria slowly rose to her feet.

Under the puppy girl's innocent gaze, she silently took back all the remaining candy from her.

The girl wore an unwilling yet helpless expression.

But after all... Maria was the leader of this "family." The puppy girl naturally could not resist whatever she wanted to do and could only hand over the candy.

Only after making sure the girl had not hidden any away did she give her one small piece of candy.

Watching the silly smile appear on the girl's face, Maria silently lowered her head.

"All right... it's afternoon, Puppy. Time for your lesson."

"Ugh?"

Another ordinary day soon passed.

Night arrived once more.

Maria sat cross-legged by the campfire, carefully maintaining her equipment.

The puppy girl whom she had massaged lay peacefully on Maria's lap, sleeping soundly.

She truly was strange.

When they had first met, they had both been wary of each other.

Yet after only one week, the girl had completely abandoned her guard around Maria. Even when sleeping, she would instinctively nestle close to her.

As if she had completely regarded Maria as family.

That sort of companionship had gradually softened Maria's cold heart as well.

Though she did not say it, she truly no longer resisted the little puppy before her. On the contrary, she had become somewhat curious.

Was this world truly a dream, or was it a real world?

After all, the puppy girl really was... far too much like a living person.

Once this dream ended, would she ever see the girl again?

Perhaps she would only learn the answers to these questions once everything was over.

As she thought, Maria let out a helpless sigh.

She raised her head and looked at the bright moon in the sky.

In this unpolluted world, a dazzling river of stars spread across the heavens, with a luminous full moon at its center.

Maria had only wanted to enjoy the view and relax a little.

But then, her brows suddenly furrowed.

Today... was a full moon?

Time to Part Ways

"The moon's cycle is roughly thirty days."

"When I first arrived here, the moon was still a new moon. By all rights, the full moon should not appear until two weeks later."

"But only one week has passed..."