Everything happened a lot faster than I had expected. Even as Simon was crouched down, I felt myself want to step between them. Even though she was a vampire, and was definitely dangerous, I couldn’t bear to see a woman crying like that. I moved closer to her, anxious to step between the two of them.

“Um, you want her to murder people? did you really need to find a vampire for that? I get the feeling I’m missing something here”

Senna sniffled before holding her hand out. To my surprise, it was slowly healing already. I knew vampires could recover from wounds easily, but it was amazing to see flesh grow back so fast.

“You are. The Ainz are a clan of vampires in this area, one of the oldest in fact. How exactly do you expect me to think you’re one of them?” She asked Simon.

“It’s a complicated issue, to be honest. My mother and father were originally members of the clan ages ago, when they were still mostly humans, but my grandfather tried to get them to convert, they ran away and hid. They obviously trained to defend themselves against vampires after going into hiding, and passed the skills along to me.” Simon said as he stood up and pulled out a necklace with a small crest impressed on a plate of silver. “She gave this to me a few years after I became a vigilant, when my father died, and told me about my heritage. Didn’t seem right to let things rest as they were so I came here to kill them. They’re all too old for me to take out by myself, however. That’s where you come in.”

“Well it’s not like I can really pretend to say no to this, but I don’t have any issue with the Ainz clan. All I want is the destruction of the Godwins.” Senna said, looking down at her injury. “They’re the ones that murdered my family, and forced me out into woods.”

“Huh, I thought you wanted two things, remember? Destroying them and...” Simon drifted off.

“S-Shut up! That doesn’t count!” Senna replied, looking away. “Enough, just tell me what you want already so that I can get this over with. Just for the record, by the way, don’t expect me to stick my neck out for you.”

Simon tucked the necklace back into his shirt and moved over to the table. I started to feel even more out of place with the weight of tension in the air. As Senna stood up again, the wound was already more of a scab than the harsh wound it had been before. She tried to pick at it as she walked, and I grabbed her hand to stop it. She looked up at me in shock, and I almost unconsciously felt over the injury with my thumb.

“Ah, sorry, does this hurt? I’m just amazed it actually closed up so fast.”

“N-No, it doesn’t. I’ve gotten burns a lot worse than this. Sometimes an animal would try to dig up the place I was sleeping and it’d burn a hole straight through one of my legs.” She admitted, avoiding eye contact now.

“Jeez, and you never thought to try and sneak into a house or something? You shouldn’t be sleeping in places where you can get cut open, Senna.”

She looked back up at me for a second, with a placid look. It seemed like she was trying to pierce me with her stare again, but it was off. Her eyes were kind of like a rabbit’s, with her pupils a little too large to be intimidating. With a frustrated sigh, she broke eye contact and took a seat at the table. In the silence before they spoke, I took a chair and moved it to the table as well.

“Now, my family has a strong dislike of intruders, as I’m sure you’ve experienced. Given their strength, however, they tend not to watch the borders of their ancestral home. There’s a hidden entrance at the base of the cliff, which is covered in heavy rocks.”

“Why would they design an entrance with rocks in the way?” I asked, doing my best to keep up.

“All of them would probably be strong enough to move the rocks out of the way and back in. It’s a bit annoying, but it serves as a very solid defense against espionage. Even if there was a team of humans who could move the rocks to get in, they wouldn’t waste the time moving them all back. It lets them know if someone got in, as well as keeping strangers out.” Senna answered, rubbing her wrist some.

“Correct.” Simon answered. “You can move them yourself, I’d imagine. What I’d like is for you to sneak inside through that entrance and then go to the kitchen, it should be where you exit the tunnel. Just hide anywhere you can stuff yourself inside of. I’ll come find you myself later on, and then we’ll get to the rest of my plan.”

“You really think you can just walk into their home like that? I can already tell something is going to go wrong, and it’s likely going to be you getting yourself killed.” Senna countered, folding her arms across her chest.

“Nonsense. I’m going to propose a way to eliminate the Godwin family, and offer myself up to becoming a vampire.” Simon shrugged. “They’re going to jump at the chance to convert the last warm-blooded member of their family. I imagine I’ll have to convince them it’s me, but just relax. You shouldn’t have any issues hiding inside of there, right?”

Senna nodded, but I could hardly imagine it was something she actually felt comfortable about. It might take hours for him to convince them and get things ready to meet back up with her. Assuming she had to hide in a closet or something similar, that would definitely get uncomfortable fast, and dangerous at worst. I looked at her again, and she seemed to be in deep thought over the ordeal.

“Um...” I cut in, looking to Simon. “Is there any way that I can help?”

“I think it’s too dangerous for you to get involved. Senna is a vampire, so she can hold her own if things go south, same for me. You don’t look to be in terrible shape, but I doubt you can keep up with us both if anything goes off plan.” Simon answered.

“Even if it is dangerous, I want to be able to help in some way. I know I haven’t known her for very long, but I’d like to keep Senna out of harm’s way. Not to mention if these vampires are in the area, I’d like to do my best to help get rid of them.”

Simon frowned, and I could tell he was thinking about it. As he did, I looked at Senna again, but she seemed to be staring intently at the wall. Now that I knew she was a vampire, it felt strange to see her acting sheepish or awkward.

Why didn’t she feed on me last night? I wondered to myself. Even if I want to think the best of her, I can’t help but think it was strange for what she was. She’s likely incredibly strong compared to me, and could’ve gotten away with anything. Then again, I don’t think she’s just a blood sucking fiend by any means. Strange as it is to even think, I want to know more about her.

“Alright.” Simon said. “You can come with me when I go in. I’ll say you’re my servant and are going to be my cattle. Should help me get out of any odd looks, and will give me sometime to distract them. It’ll also be easier for you to leave and contact her than it will me, after all.”

“But isn’t that more dangerous for Leo?” Senna asked with concern.

“Don’t worry, they look down on humans as prey for the most part. Even if he bolted straight for you, they’d likely just let him be. After all, the back entrance he might find would just be covered in heavy rocks, right?”

Both of us sat back, neither really liking the idea, but I knew that I’d have to accept. It was an odd compulsion, even I didn’t fully comprehend it. Though I might have wanted to be heroic and say it was just for Senna, I think a larger part of it was a sense of duty on my part. These woods have been good to me, the people even more so. A little bit of danger is enough to pay both of them back, I suppose.

“Sounds good to me. I just hope I can get out of this without getting any holes in my neck.” I said with a small laugh.

neither of them shared in my attempt to lighten the mood, and I was left to realize they didn’t expect much out of me from this. We finished making our plans and Simon left for the church to prepare and get some sleep. With him gone, all that was left was for me to cook something. At first I was going to make something for Senna, but she told me that she’d go out hunting later.

I was expecting her to go to sleep since it was the daytime, but something kept her awake. As I was cooking, I could feel her looking at my back, though she’d always manage to turn her head away in time.

Should I try to talk to her about it? She’s just a girl after all, even if she is a vampire.

“Hey, um...” She interjected before I could question it more. “Do you actually want to go into the ancestral home with Simon? I know you might’ve said it in the heat of the moment, but you do realize you’ll be heading into a den of old and powerful vampires, all of whom will probably see you as food?”

“It sounds worse when you say it like that...” I muttered, finishing off the cooking of my own meal and moving to the table with it. “Yeah, it’s pretty dangerous and all, but I’d just be sitting here worried anyway. If I can help without being a burden, I’ll go along with it.”

Senna went quiet for a long while, and I took that time to start eating. It wasn’t many bites in that she started to stare at my food. There was obviously something going through her mind, but I was lost in thought myself.

She’s right, it is pretty dangerous. Why do I feel like I have to go there at all? All I’ve done is hunt in this place, I’m not some travelling adventurer or a mercenary. Maybe I am just swept up in the moment after all. Even thinking that, I don’t feel strongly pulled away from going either. Maybe I’m more restless than I thought?

“What’s that stuff taste like?” Senna asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Huh? You mean the venison? You had some in your mouth earlier.”

“No, not that, the green beans. I only had them once back when I was a kid, and I’ve completely forgotten what they taste like. Don’t think I can taste them now or anything, I’d just gag.”

“Oh... sorry to hear that. They taste kind of plain, but it helps balance out the meal. You don’t have to worry about that kind of thing as a vampire, huh?”

She tucked her knees up onto the chair. “The plain things are the stuff I miss these days, honestly.”

It took a second for me to realize that’s why I wanted to do this. For the longest time I’d been surviving in the woods, and so has she. We’ve got a bond over something like that, and she’s been here for not even a day and she already might be heading into a death trap. Maybe I’m just feeling lonely, maybe it’s just some kind of instinct, but I don’t want to lose her already.

“...Senna, do you think you could take me out hunting with you tonight?”

“W-What?”

...well, I guess it’s more on the loneliness side of things right now. Have to make the most of this time.