A series of resonant ear-pleasing bird chirps, clear spring water flowing downwards from a slope and onto rocks could be heard by the naked ear. Even if one didn’t concentrate on their sense of smell, they could still feel a faint perfume wafting towards their nose. It made one feel as if being in a remote utopia.
Ji Bai felt like he was currently in a half-asleep state. Lying in a quiet wilderness, he was seemingly one with the grass and trees that surrounded him. With his head lying on a soft and cozy cotton cushion and breathing in refreshing air, he was somewhat reluctant to open his eyelids.
It was as if time had come to a standstill for an instant. Apart from the white clouds that were leisurely drifting across the azure-colored skies, the only things moving were the reeds and leaves lifted into the air by the gentle wind.
“Oh, dear~ Is the lap of your mother comfortable enough for you?” The voice Ji Bai dreaded most in the depth of his soul met his ears like a gust of wind hitting him in the face.
He abruptly opened his eyes, only to see a silver-haired girl clad in a black western-style dress smilingly down on him — His head was currently resting on her soft thighs.
“Have a good sleep, my heir~ You must be extremely tired during these times….. No matter where you are, your mother will always l-o-o-k o-u-t for you~ Hehehe…”
…………
With his consciousness in a state of haziness, Ji Bai opened his eyes.
A few traces of sunlight fell on his iron helmet through a window, causing his eyes to hurt somewhat.
After shooting a glance at his wet leather gloves, he directed his gaze at the plain furniture surrounding him and the familiar ceiling.
‘So it was just a dream. Probably the repercussions of using the vampire’s power.’
More than a year had passed, but the vampire side embedded inside him had never once given up on taking over leadership of his body and vampirizing him completely. It was like a lethal poppy flower that was unceasingly enticing and tempting him to embrace it.
The only thing that Ji Bai could do was to minimize contact with it as much as he could and leave his human side to be in charge of his body, ensuring that he never forgot the heart of a knight.
However, what truly made him terrified was the imperceptible influence of this power; It was secretly changing his world views and character without him even noticing it.
In the past, Ji Bai had been a silent and hardworking man; He wouldn’t have engaged in superfluous words when he encountered an issue, and would just hack at it with his sword.
But now, when he encountered something annoying, he would grumble like a broken record, resembling a girl on her period.
Even though it wasn’t that drastic of a change, his once mountain-firm stoicism had been shaken up.
If he frequently used his vampiric powers, he would sooner or later be corrupted and dominated by it. This was exactly what Ji Bai was most unwilling to let happen.
He let his train of thought come to a stop. Due to him sleeping in a fetal position last night, his neck and joints had become stiff. After slightly moving them around, he got up from his bed.
After getting home, Ji Bai had originally planned to take a bath, send his armor over to the arms shop for maintenance and lay down on his bed to rest. However, due to the fact that he had returned too late yesterday, his eyelids had betrayed him and closed completely when he sat on the floor to have a brief respite. His consciousness had then blacked out and caused him to fall asleep.
Ji Bai stretched his chest, his spirits refreshed after a night’s sleep. The blazing sun shining through the window was already at the highest spot of the day.
It was currently afternoon, so even if he reported to school now, he would probably be subjected to disciplinary actions.
“Growl…” An awkward sound resounded from his stomach.
Ji Bai touched his iron helmet and unconsciously looked towards the table tray — On top of it, the uniquely-shaped cat biscuits that were usually placed there were absent.
With his iron helmet askew, Ji Bai felt somewhat flabbergasted.
It was hard to succinctly express the taste of the biscuits that Ke’er made. They couldn’t be considered unpalatable, yet it was definitely too far of a leap to label them delicious. But why did he feel somewhat addicted to them?
Thinking about Ke’er had caused Ji Bai to recall something; After his time in the sewers exceeded the normal amount required for an exploration mission, she had dragged out a small stool and kept watch in front of the apartment’s door.
When she had caught sight of him coming back last evening, she had hurriedly helped him inside. Following which, he had fallen asleep whilst leaning against a wall, clueless as to what she was doing during those times.
“Click.” The sound of a door handle turning resounded and a petite silhouette entered the room.
“Eh? You’re awake, Mr. Ji Bai!” Ke’er carried a baguette in her arms. With her cat ears twitching, she approached him with a warm smile on her lips.
“Mhm.” The iron helmet moved up and down. Ji Bai unconsciously wanted to reach out with his hand and stroke Ke’er’s head, but upon catching sight of his dirty brigandine armor, could only let this idea go.
“Mr. Ji Bai… The mission was very dangerous, am I right?” Her large, lustrous eyes were filled with seriousness as she looked at his iron helmet.
“…Mhm.” It was completely untenable to refute it. His dirty and dilapidated armor had already placed the truth before her eyes.
“Nyaauuuu… Seriously. You must be hurt, aren’t you? Ke’er knows some medical knowledge like wound binding, treatment, and so on if Mr. Ji Bai doesn’t mind…”
“It’s no big deal.” The iron helmet shook from side to side as Ji Bai rejected the Ke’er’s goodwill.
“Even if it’s a minor injury, you can’t just ignore it and leave it alone… Ke’er knows where the school’s infirmary is, Mr. Ji Bai…”
“It’s nothing you need to worry about.” Ji Bai once again expressed that his injuries weren’t severe enough to the point that he needed to see a doctor.
“Nyauuu… I-, I’m sorry.” Ke’er’s cat ears drooped as she looked at the extremely stubborn Ji Bai.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Ke’er doesn’t know anything, and cannot help Mr. Ji Bai with his worries and problems. She only knows how to cause trouble for him…” Said Ke’er in a somewhat dejected tone.
“No, you’ve helped me out a lot.” The eyes inside the iron helmet fixed themselves on the baguette in Ke’er’s hands.
“Uuu… Is Mr. Ji Bai hungry? That won’t do! At the least, you need to seriously take a bath or something before you can begin to eat.” Ke’er hid the baguette behind her back and pouted.
“Did you go out earlier to buy me breakfast?”
“Well, not really. Ke’er also went to Mr. Lin Tuo and applied for a leave of absence in place of Mr. Ji Bai~” Ke’er smiled.
“Thank you.” Ji Bai was silent for a moment before nodding towards her.
‘This child, Ke’er, is so smart and thoughtful… Her actions are so well-thought-out.’
“Ke’er has already warmed up the water for Mr. Ji Bai. You can go in there anytime to have a hot bath~ Just leave tidying up the living room to Ke’er, go~” Ke’er seemed to be in extremely high spirits as she both persuaded and pushed Ji Bai into the bathroom and shut the door after leaving the room herself.
The bathtub was filled with steaming hot water.
Ji Bai shot a glance at the closed door and started to remove the brigandine armor and clothing on his body.
Let alone Lil’ Sha, even Ji Bai himself wouldn’t want to scurry down into the sewers like a rat unless he had no choice. After two days of neglecting proper hygiene management, he could feel that his hair was beginning to solidify. It was indeed time to take a good bath.
A series of rustling noises resounded, and very soon, a set of lean and robust muscles was exposed to the air, with various scars of all sizes densely covering his body.
Although these densely lined scars affected the aesthetics of his body to a drastic extent, they served as decoration and proof of his experiences in battle.
Casually stacking up his armor and dirty clothes on the ground, he stepped into the bathtub that was brimming with a sparkling and translucent liquid.
‘Indeed, my body is a bit dirty… It will probably smell if I don’t wash it… No… It already smells; After staying inside the sewers for 2 days, it would be weird if it didn’t.”
Ji Bai had decided to make good use of this time to do some proper cleaning. The feeling of unkemptness was something he couldn’t endure.