Vincent rubbed the back of his head, knowing full well that they couldn't afford to eat even the cheapest magic dish, and he said, "Just order a few luxurious dishes instead of magic dishes."

Showing a regretful expression on her face, Leila said, "Even that is worth several contribution points. Should we go somewhere else? If you don't mind, I will cook for us."

Vincent motioned her to stay where she was, and he said, "Don't think about it too much. Consider it my treat!"

Feeling that it will be regretful if they left without tasting anything from Damien's restaurant, Vincent decided to stay and eat something before going away.

Furthermore, it is not like he will remain tight on money for too long. He has already accepted a mission, completing which will net him hundreds of contribution points.

To complete the mission, he has already decided to invite Leila and her brother to help him out.

"I will pay for half of it," Leila said as she didn't want to burden him with all the cost of the food.

"Not today," Vincent said, knowing that she had fewer contribution points them him. "You can treat me next time."

"Okay," Leila replied with a subtle nod.

Soon they called a service droid and placed their order. 

Most of the restaurants didn't hire actual humans and demi-humans as waiters. Rather, they used service droids for such services. 

Vincent could see that magic chefs were rich. He wondered if he could become one also.

At the same time, he was oblivious to the two pairs of eyes staring at him intensely and lovingly. 

'He treats me so well. How will I be able to repay him in the future?' Leila thought as she looked at her boyfriend.

"Is he acting, or have he forgotten about me? Maybe he is just a look-alike and nothing more than that. Whatever! There's a lot of time for us to play in the future, dear friend," Damien said in his mind as he looked at Vincent with eyes redder than red wine, reminiscing about his childhood days.

Held within his hands was a picture of a young boy sharing striking similarities with Vincent, only that his hairs were redder than the darkest shades of blood and his eyes radiating with mercilessness.

A while later, once the service droids served delicious food with enticing aromas on their table, Vincent and Leila proceeded to fill their stomach.

"Wow! This food taste so good." Vincent's eyes brightened as the freshness of umami flavor bursts on his tongue each time his teeth sunk into the half-done steak and warm rice glittering in some kind of crystalline substance.

‹ You've absorbed chicken blood ›

‹ +1 units of blood ›

‹ Blood Capacity: 9/50 units ›

As he stuffed the steak and rich into his mouth and savored the food, Vincent's eyes glistening in calculative glitters narrowed down to thin slits as he thought, 'Damien wouldn't serve me such a dish unless he knows that I am a vampire that can't savor humane stuff, so he purposely added blood in my steak. Moreover, this crystalline stuff on the rice is something like blood. He is either a vampire or someone who knows about them.'

'Should I try to know him better or evade him?'

On the one hand, he wished to know more about the race of his father, but on the other hand, he felt like he will get embroiled in trouble which will become inevitable once he tries to know about them.

Vincent found himself conflicted between two sides and couldn't come to a decision. 

He eased his nerves by eating the food to increase his blood count and eyeing Leila occasionally.

As long as his blood count doesn't fall to zero, he won't be going berserk for blood which was something he found out in the past few days.

Meanwhile, Leila peeked glances at him as well while eating the food on her plate with elegance.

'He is enjoying eating to his heart's content. He is a food lover, I see. I think I have found a way to impress him! I will create delicious food for him every day. I am still pretty lacking, but there are cooking lectures in the academy. Although they cost hundreds of contribution points, I will participate in them and sharpen my cooking skills to cook excellent dishes for him.' Leila dreamily stared at Vincent.

Being stared at for a whole minute caused him to raise his head and look at his girlfriend.

"What are you thinking about?" Vincent asked, pulling Leila out of her thoughts.

"Ah, nothing!" Leila hurriedly replied.

"Why aren't you eating then? Are you full, or is the food not up to your taste?"

"It's nothing like that. I was just thinking about something." 

"Oh, and what were you thinking about?"

Leila realized she landed herself back to square one.

He's good with his words, she thought.

"So?"

"It's a secret. I will tell you when I am ready," Leila said with an amiable smile on her face.

Vincent didn't bother her anymore since he didn't want to force words out of her mouth.

After filling their tummies to the brim with warm and tasty food, Vincent and Leila left the food court. They walked towards their dormitories together by taking the winding path with flowers and trees.

There was not a sign of life in this pathway. After all, most of the students had gone to the arcade to access the virtual simulation game called the arena of valor while the rest were either self-studying in the library, participating in costly classes, resting in their living quarters, enjoying the scenery while sitting in the park and so on.

Sometime later, once they reached in front of the dormitories, Leila tiptoed to kiss him on the cheeks before speaking, "See you later, big brother." 

After a few moments, once Leila's figure disappeared from his sight, Vincent returned to his living quarters and took off his uniform to wear something comfy.

"Let's see what the effect of the body strengthening pill."

Sitting inside the bed on the lower zone, he took out the blue box from his spatial ring and opened its lid.

A waft of aroma assaulted his senses causing his eyes to widen.