PV 1 Million Views Broken!
Overall Rating 10,000 Broken!
When I posted this a year ago, I was aiming for one-tenth of this.
Thank you everyone for reading!
Another Side: Memoria
Memoria Tris, 193 years old, has a boyfriend.
Her boyfriend is Jiro Tanaka.
Occupation: MAOcorporation, Commercial Facility Sundries Store Clerk
Magic Aptitude: Unknown
Position: Store Manager
I am a vampire, a being who has interacted with humans, hunted and been hunted.
A defective product, surviving by obtaining the sustenance of blood, sometimes resisting attacks, and supported by the foundation of blood.
However, other vampires look down on humans.
That would be natural.
From their perspective, humans are nothing more than livestock, food.
But I couldn’t think that way.
A strong body, immense magic power, long life to accumulate wisdom, all of it surpasses humans.
On the other hand, the Overgod’s light burns this body, and when hungry, the accumulated wisdom disappears, and the tough body dries up.
How can we, who cannot survive without relying on such humans, consider ourselves superior to humans?
I don’t think we are inferior.
Nor do I think we are superior.
That slight divergence isolated me.
The common sense of others and my own common sense, the unique me within the common sense held by the majority, is treated as an oddity by my own kind and family.
And so it is that, by a twist of fate, or perhaps inevitability, I found myself developing feelings for a human man.
“It’s a strange thing, isn’t it?”
“Did you say something?”
“No, just talking to myself.”
Through twists and turns, we became lovers, and now, hiding the fact that I am a vampire, I am traveling with him in Isal.
What would my vampire companions say if they knew about me now?
Would they laugh that it’s impossible, or get angry and ask what I’m doing? In either case, they wouldn’t take it favorably.
Shaking my head, I look for him and easily find him.
In a simple campsite made by the river, where I blocked scent and sound with a barrier stone and scattered detection stones, he is diligently preparing a meal for the number of people present in a kiln he built by stacking stones.
Watching his back, I accidentally let out a sound, and he, despite being in the middle of his work, notices it, making me feel happy.
I am alive too.
Even as a vampire, I have emotions.
However, their amplitude is small, and they are difficult to express.
Like a perpetually calm lake surface, no waves arise.
But his words stir up waves, as if a stone were thrown into that lake.
My heart, which has taken about two hundred years to form, is hesitantly trying to accept it, and it’s a truly strange sensation.
And there’s me, who finds it not bad, no, even preferable.
“You seem close.”
“Do we?”
“Yes, very. You were smiling kindly at him.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose so.”
Gently placing my hand on the spot I was pointed out, I can feel my mouth smiling.
This human, Eshlee, often initiates conversations with me.
The road to the campsite was kept to business-like conversation, but once the campsite was prepared, she brought up topics at every opportunity.
To be honest, at a time when I have no interest in humans other than Jiro-san’s associates, it feels bothersome, but I don’t hate her enough to ignore her.
I don’t feel much about the four “female” knight trainees who are admiring his cooking.
Even though they hide their physique with armor and disguise their voices with magic, they cannot disguise their magic wavelengths.
Jiro-san recognized them as such, but his expression was indescribable when he saw their gender after taking off their helmets.
As someone not perceptive of subtle emotions, I cannot guess what he was thinking at that moment.
Thinking about it, when I told him that if he were to escort Eshlee, a Miko, it would be inevitable that women would be among them, he smiled as if he understood.
“It’s ready.”
He is alone among a group of women, and if he were a man in Isal, he might have taken liberties, but Jiro-san is acting to avoid being seen as much as possible.
It’s a bit lonely to see him tasting and plating the stew of satisfactory quality that looks so business-like, but I’m happy that he gives mine to me first.
He served his own last, casually replying to their exclamations of deliciousness.
Conversely, perhaps it’s unusual, they don’t realize this is attracting their attention.
While it cannot be seen as gentlemanly, simply not acting negatively seems to be perceived positively by them.
“Move back a little, or you’ll get burned.”
“Y-yes!”
And his helpfulness is also a problem.
Although he appears to be pushing them away slightly, I can tell he’s being considerate at key moments.
When one of the knight trainees tried to observe him while he was cleaning up the fire, he cautioned her while moving his body to make it easier for her to see what he was doing.
This may be natural behavior for him, but such gratuitous actions are rare here.
He appropriately assigned tasks to them during campsite setup and so on, and by the time they finished cleaning up, he had apparently become quite popular with them.
The distance between him and them has grown closer than it was at first.
“He’s reliable, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but is it alright? Shouldn’t you be in charge?”
“When it comes to cooking…”
“Ah.”
By the time the knights tried to stop him, he seemed to have realized something was up with Eshlee’s cooking.
I can do it, but it would be sloppy.
The others are likely the same.
His image of rolling up his sleeves and saying, “At least let’s have some delicious food,” was memorable.
Now that cleanup is finished, he’s starting to maintain his weapons next to me.
“Good work.”
“Yeah, and you guys should learn to cook a bit. Why am I the only one who’s decent?”
“It’s called ‘right man for the right job.’ Unfortunately, I’m not good at anything other than tomato dishes.”
“As someone who has actually eaten it, I can’t deny that, which is sad.”
It can’t be helped.
Tomatoes are ingredients that cannot be carried on a journey.
If I speak to him while he’s working, he’ll complain, but his casual responses while maintaining his weapons show that there’s no hidden meaning beyond his words.
Regarding his cooking skills, it seems he said it as a joke, but is it “feminine charm”?
I won’t say who, but those who are significantly lacking in it seem to be holding their chests, enduring the damage.
I also informed him that I would check our current location on the map, and he replied, “Is that so?” and returned to maintaining his equipment.
This is troublesome. According to the map, we are proceeding as planned based on our approximate location.
With that, my work is done.
I think about what else to do, but in a situation where we can’t fully trust each other, entrusting each other with lookout duty would be a crazy choice, so we decided at the outset to share the lookout duties among ourselves and them.
I am on the first watch, and he is supposed to rest.
After eating and taking the first watch, all that’s left is to rest.
“…”
To put it crudely, I have nothing to do.
“Well, this is a problem.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Yes, if it goes on like this, I’ll be bored.”
“Why don’t you talk to them? You can make small talk, can’t you?”
“Oh, won’t you be my conversation partner?”
“After I finish this, I’m going to rest.”
“Then, until then, please talk to me.”
“Alright.”
I’m just postponing the problem, but I’m happy about it, so I’ll just go with the flow.
The conversation is about harmless things, like what we want to do when we reach the town.
He mentions baths, and I ask why.
“It’s unsettling not to bathe for several days.”
“It can’t be helped during a journey, but…”
“Well, that’s how it is, but I wish I could bathe anywhere someday.”
“You’re insistent.”
“That’s just how I am.”
I enjoy talking with him, whose gestures suggest he’s Japanese.
I lose track of time.
Before I know it, I’m the one initiating the conversation.
“Ah.”
“Well, that’s it.”
However, time flies when you’re having fun.
A thought crosses my mind that he should use bigger weapons.
He finishes polishing the weapon stained with beast blood, checks for nicks, and wraps it in cloth.
This signals the end of our conversation.
It’s not like we can never talk again, and we’ll be able to talk tomorrow, yet I still want to talk.
But considering what’s to come, I can’t talk any further.
If, hypothetically, they weren’t here, could I have talked more? I wonder.
“I’ll rest first, but wake me if anything happens.”
“How?”
“By calling me, tickling me, isn’t that how? Is there any other way?”
“Well, the way I thought of waking someone up is more something that happens *to* me.”
“Please save that for private occasions.”
Perhaps that’s why, as if to hold him back, I say something I don’t usually use, pointing to my lips. He laughs, as if exasperated, and touches my head.
Then, he says, “Good night,” with a smile and leans against a rock near me.
He then covers himself with his outer garment, rests his ore tree against his shoulder, and closes his eyes.
A brief silence descends. Now, I’m truly at a loss.
I’ll save my dissatisfaction that he could have hesitated a bit longer for tomorrow.
For now, I should think about how to spend my watch.
The barrier is active, but unlike in Japan, you never know what might happen. However, if the final bastion, the seal, is released, most events can be handled.
As long as I’m being normally vigilant, there should be no problem.
As a vampire, this is the time I’m awake, so there’s no need to worry about losing concentration.
While I can say there’s no problem with this, it’s also true that it’s somewhat boring. It’s not an environment conducive to reading. Looking up at the sky, I see no stars, only dark tree leaves and thick clouds beyond.
Do the inhabitants here not think anything of this sky?
“Um.”
“Is something wrong, Eshlee-san?”
No, they don’t, I think as I engage in various self-questioning, and my thoughts, detached from vigilance, begin to show signs of derailing.
As if to pull me back, I sense someone speaking.
Even so, no one but her speaks to me, and thinking it might be a good way to kill time, I turn my gaze from the sky to her.
“?”
Despite my response, Eshlee fidgets and doesn’t start talking.
Her face is red, and her gaze is unstable.
She hasn’t consumed any alcohol, and there’s no sign of any strange mushrooms in her food from earlier.
I, a vampire, haven’t used any charm magic on her.
So, I consider various possibilities as to why she isn’t starting the conversation and arrive at an answer from her demeanor.
“Ah, if you need to relieve yourself, the riverbank over there is recommended.”
“That’s not it!”
“You should lower your voice a bit.”
“Mary-san is saying strange things!”
Jiro-san reacts for a moment to Eshlee’s voice but, thinking it’s nothing, glances around once and goes back to sleep.
Unaware of this, she turns even redder and speaks to me in a hushed voice.
But then, what is it?
Even though I thought it was the most logical inference, I still can’t predict human thoughts.
It seems the others are also watching us out of the corner of their eyes.
The atmosphere seems similar in some ways.
“Well then, what kind of story would you like to hear?”
“Um, Mary-san.”
“Yes, what about me?”
“You’re dating a gentleman, aren’t you?”
“Yes, the one sleeping there.”
“Um.”
“Yes.”
“What is it like to date a gentleman?”
“…”
Is this… are they asking for a romance story?
Even though they might not realize it, humans are asking a vampire for stories about love?
It’s my first time, but they’re not asking about the Demon Lord’s Army, so I suppose I can talk.
However…
“What do you mean by ‘what is it like’? Specifically, what would you like to know?”
I can’t figure out what to talk about, as the question is too abstract.
For example, if she were asking about whether we get along well or not, how should I answer?
We get along well, wouldn’t you say?
While there is Suella, the first wife, he tries his best to treat us equally.
We do spend time together as three, but I don’t feel uncomfortable during those times.
Naturally, there are times we spend alone, so from my perspective, our relationship is good.
However, I don’t think that’s what she wants to know.
“Um, like, how did you meet, or how did you spend time together and deepen your relationship?”
Is she under some kind of curse?
Every time she asks a question, her face turns bright red.
The others around her also seem to be listening, not eavesdropping.
There are no signs of a curse from Eshlee, and from the scent of blood, it doesn’t seem to be an illness.
“You mean how I met him?”
“Yes! It’s not that I’ve never met a gentleman or dated one before, or that I want to meet a cool guy or anything like that!”
“Yes, I understand.”
It’s still strange.
I only asked to confirm the content of the question… why is she providing information I didn’t ask for and turning red?
Well, fine.
And his meeting me?
“A-are you alright?”
I initially worried about me.
As you can see, my skin is white, so he probably thought I was sick or something.
Is he kind? No, from my perspective, I was healthy and suddenly being worried about struck me as strange.
I was supposed to be shopping, but he started helping me with my work, and that impression strengthened.
He’s a strange person, isn’t he?
Thinking about it, that was the trigger.
Thanks to the strong connection between his profession and my workplace, I started talking to him regularly.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a new Potion.”
“No, no matter how I look at it, it’s Co–.”
“It’s a Potion.”
Talking about new products, and…
“You seem to be doing well.”
“Ah, and about this rope…”
“I won’t give you a discount, you know?”
“Please, at least this once!”
Refusing his requests, and…
“Is this book interesting?”
“It’s quite interesting. Why does this man not notice the affections of multiple women? Conversely, he’s close with his friends. Is he perhaps homosexual? As a fellow man, what do you think?”
“…I can only say it’s how things are, but it certainly won’t go in the direction you’re thinking of.”
“Is that so?”
Talking about things unrelated to products or work, and before I knew it, I found myself looking forward to our conversations across the counter.
Normally, I would listen to conversations while doing inventory or shelving, or reading if I had free time, but when did it start?
It wasn’t a casual conversation anymore; I started looking up at him from behind the counter to make eye contact and talk.
Shortly after that, I heard he started dating a woman from another department.
“Ehhhhh?!”
Is this surprising?
Apparently, he got injured, and that woman confessed to him, and he accepted.
What are those eyes for? I didn’t steal him from that woman, you know?
It’s not that I didn’t have such thoughts, but I was too busy trying to understand the sudden surge of emotion that arose before I could even come up with such an idea.
Fortunately, the injury didn’t seem serious, and he came to me a few days later.
At that time, I responded as usual, but I couldn’t take my eyes off his retreating back.
I hoped the closing door would open again.
“Th-that’s…”
As for whether the emotion I felt then was love, I still don’t know.
I only understood it later, when I compared it to the description of a woman who was about to lose him in a book I was reading.
Is that a strange story? I think so too.
The first emotion is like that.
And then, what happened?
“Well, after that…”
“That’s enough.”
“Oh, you were awake?”
“It’s good that you’re getting along, but why should I have to pretend to be asleep while listening to my own love story?”
“Was that not allowed?”
“Please, next time, ask me when I’m not there.”
“He says so.”
“…”
I can’t overcome silent pressure, and you guys should rest while you can. If you say you can’t move due to lack of sleep, I’ll leave you behind.
The conversation seems to end here.
I realized it, but she was so engrossed in the story that she didn’t notice. My mouth, lightly covered by her hand, couldn’t say any more.
I could flick her hand away, but I couldn’t refuse his request with a wry smile.
I look back at his face, but then turn back to face the others and announce the end.
Then, Jiro-san claps his hands as if to dismiss them, and they return to their duties, looking displeased.
They still seem to be in high spirits, and I can vaguely hear them discussing which part they liked from the previous conversation.
Speaking of which, were they High School Students in Japan? Around that age, weren’t they?
They call it “of marriageable age” there.
“Oh.”
“What’s wrong?”
“No.”
It seems I might be of that age too.
I tell Jiro-san that it’s nothing, but I notice that I regret not being able to continue the story.
Nodding, I return to my original position and say “Good night” again to him, who has fallen asleep once more. I hear his reply, and I tell Eshlee, who seems to want to hear the rest and is coincidentally on watch with me, “No.”
I put aside her disappointed, dog-like expression and think that it’s good that the story ended here.
After all…
“From now on, I will love you.”
I didn’t want to say those words.
He might have said them to me, but these words are now my words, because
I love you so hotly that even a vampire, who is weak to heat, doesn’t mind.
It seems the rest of my watch will be spent reminiscing about the past.
Memoria Tris, 193 years old, has a boyfriend.
Her boyfriend is Jiro Tanaka.
Occupation: General Goods Store Owner
Magic Aptitude: 6 (Vice-General Class)
Position: Eccentric
Quote of the Day:
Compared to the months of lived experience, it’s a fleeting moment, but the accumulation has certainly borne fruit.
Another Side END
While busy with work, your corrections for typos and settings are very helpful.
I will steadily fix them, so please continue to support this work.
