NOVEL NEXT “Amy, where did Aria go?”
On her way back to the orphanage, Amy sighed heavily with a worried face.
Aria had disappeared.
Despite losing her memory in an unfortunate accident, the girl who had been doing hard work with a smile, blended into the orphanage like a family, had suddenly vanished.
Children said that something was off with her since around dinner time.
After giving Jack some medicine for his injuries from playing outside, she ran off somewhere with a pale face—it seems that was when she left the orphanage.
“Her condition hasn’t been good for the past few weeks anyway.”
Even when told to rest, she sought out work.
Although Amy was trying her best not to burden her, managing all the tasks in this orphanage was simply overwhelming for just the two of them.
One might wonder how things had been handled before Aria arrived, but the truth is that before Aria came, Amy had just given up on doing everything alone, focusing on putting out fires as best as she could.
Aria, on the other hand, never left any work unattended and never allowed herself to rest if there was something to do.
Despite being absolutely overwhelmed with tasks that were tough for two people to manage, she stubbornly stuck to it, even taking on Amy’s share since Amy, due to her age, couldn’t keep up.
“I should have taken better precautions!”
Now, what good would it do to mull over past assumptions?
But even with the knowledge that it was too late for regret, Amy hung her head, thinking she shouldn’t have taken Aria’s bright demeanor at face value.
Without memories and in a mentally unstable phase, shouldn’t she have paid more attention to her, even if she was busy?
Perhaps she had unconsciously relaxed her guard since Aria had never shown a shadow of sadness at any point.
However, you can only blame yourself for so long; what’s done is done.
Since Aria had gone missing, all Amy could do was wander around the village all evening looking for her.
But even that was fruitless as the late night closed in, and now it was time to return to the orphanage.
“If she hasn’t gone to the village, did she head to the forest?”
There had been no sightings of Aria in the village.
It was unthinkable that someone wouldn’t remember such an eye-catching figure, so there could only be one remaining possibility.
The mentally unstable girl had gone into the forest all alone at this late hour.
Finding a reason for that only conjured up further terrible thoughts.
While dangerous beasts didn’t frequently come near the village, as you went deeper in the forest, safety couldn’t be guaranteed, and even putting aside the threat of beasts, the nighttime forest was not a suitable place for a woman to be alone.
“Could it be that bad memories resurfaced, leading to a poor decision?”
Upon further reflection, there was indeed a possibility of that.
Lost memories were a critical key to her identity but could also be a time bomb filled with despair.
She had been a survivor rescued from a vampire incident.
It goes without saying what kind of treatment a human taken by vampires endured.
For vampires, humans were merely meals, and her memories must have been unspeakably horrific.
Dare I say, when it comes to that memory, it would be better if she never returned.
Just as Amy’s face turned pale at the thought, she spotted someone dressed in white and red near the orphanage’s main gate.
“Aria! Is that you, Aria?!”
There couldn’t be another person with such conspicuous silver hair in this village.
Forgetting all about her age and creaking bones, Amy dashed towards the main gate with all her might.
Did that white-haired woman turn at the sound of her shout?
Without a doubt, it was Aria.
“A… Director.”
This was definitely Aria. However, the expression on her face was utterly unfamiliar.
A dark shadow under her eyes, a pale and haggard face.
The gentle smile she usually wore was completely absent, and seeing her exuding such a dark atmosphere made Amy’s heart ache.
Recognizing Amy, Aria looked flustered like a child caught doing something wrong, glancing around in a panic before lowering her gaze.
“She must be so exhausted that she can’t even mask her weakness with a smile.”
How could she not be worn out?
Strange environment, hard labor. Nobody knew about her past, and she herself knew nothing about who she was.
It was strange that she had managed to hold up with a smiling face until now.
At least, it was fortunate that she returned before anything irreversible happened. Thank goodness she didn’t have ill intentions.
But just as Amy tried to relax, approaching Aria, she recognized what that red color had been from afar.
“Ah, Aria, your blood! Are you okay?! Are you alright?!”
Aria was covered in blood from head to toe.
Almost all of her white cloth clothes were stained bright red, and blood caked on her visible face, arms, and legs.
Upon closer inspection, there were wounds on her limbs as well.
If she had lost this much blood, wouldn’t it be dangerous? Amy turned pale as she examined Aria, who hesitantly opened her mouth.
“Y-yeah, um… this isn’t my blood. Uh, well, my arms and legs got hurt, so that blood is mine, but the rest is—Ugh!”
As Amy pulled the blood-covered Aria into a hug, a cute squeak escaped her.
“Woah, Director, you’re getting my clothes dirty…”
“Is this really the time to worry about clothes? I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Aria, I didn’t realize it had come to this—”
Aria wore an oddly awkward expression but didn’t push Amy away.
The conversation paused until Amy confirmed that Aria didn’t have any life-threatening injuries.
Once she finished checking, Amy led her around to the back of the building to prevent the kids from seeing Aria covered in blood and immediately washed her down.
Although Aria looked very uncomfortable while being washed, Amy couldn’t leave her unstable friend alone, so it couldn’t be helped.
Once the blood was cleaned away and the wounds treated, after changing her into new clothes, their conversation resumed.
“That’s what happened.”
From what Amy heard, Aria had gone up into the mountains and encountered a beast.
She had been injured but was not severely hurt. The blood on her was from escaping a beast’s attack.
The injuries on her limbs were from falling down.
After briefly recounting what had happened, Aria fell silent. It seemed she didn’t want to share why she had suddenly gone to the mountains, her nervous eyes darting around.
“It must have been difficult for you, Aria.”
However, Amy had no intention of probing further. Asking why she went to the mountains at night would just dig into her painful story.
Instead of soothing her painful wounds, she shouldn’t burden her with more heartfelt inquiries.
“I won’t pry any further. But can you promise me that you will not take your life lightly anymore?”
At those piercing words, Aria flinched. At her response, Amy was confident that Aria had indeed climbed the mountains to end her life.
Surely those bad memories of being captured by vampires had resurfaced.
She must have been overwhelmed by that pain and had her will to live crumble.
“No matter what past you have, what you remember, or what you forget, you are just Aria here if that’s what you want. If you were to disappear suddenly, how sad would that make me, the kids, and Plona?”
Feel free to bury any memories you want, keep your struggles aside.
Just please, stay alive, Amy pleaded earnestly.
For a moment, Aria’s gaze seemed taken aback as she looked around in confusion.
But soon, she slumped her shoulders and answered in a small voice.
“…Yes. I won’t try to die anymore.”
“Good, thank you.”
Amy let out a sigh of relief.
As they say, even the longest journey begins with a single step. Who knows what led to her change of heart, but at least she wasn’t thinking of dying anymore, which was a significant breakthrough.
Amy once again hugged Aria tightly, hoping for a day when she could truly smile.
*
It’s been about two weeks since I discovered that I’m a vampire.
Back then, I was gloomy about how to make excuses, but somehow it seems like I’ve managed to slip by without understanding how.
Yes.
Not just managing to get by, but I actually did get through it. So it’s not that I came up with a good excuse; it’s more like I just wormed my way out of it.
I hadn’t even thought of a plausible excuse when the Director shouted at me around the orphanage’s front gate. I was completely taken aback.
Surely I hoped I wouldn’t be caught until I secretly snuck in and washed off all the blood, but who would’ve expected her to be outside?
Desperate, I scrambled to come up with excuses. Once I started talking, I was like, “Well, if she asks why I went to the mountains, what will I say?” Also, if she asked how I came back covered in blood while running from a mountain beast, I’d have nothing to say and would be completely flustered.
Logically thinking, if I encountered a mountain beast and managed to escape unscathed, there’s no way I’d come back covered in blood.
If what was on my clothes wasn’t my blood, it should have been the beast’s, but no matter how you slice it, how could a human woman engage in a tussle with an injured beast?
Oh no, I realized my blunder.
Yet for some reason, the Director said she wouldn’t pry any deeper, and indeed since that day, she hasn’t pressed me about it again.
Is this… a woman’s secret? And the dignity of a life mentor respecting that?
If it’s true, I might actually be thankful for being a woman for the first time.
Speaking of life mentors, when I apparently got caught trying to commit suicide, I was completely blanked out.
How on earth did she figure that out?
They say wisdom comes with age, and it’s certainly not a wrong proverb.
Anyway, the Director hasn’t probed into that matter anymore, and the kids have no idea what happened.
To the kids, it was simply that I looked a bit unwell and that I suddenly went out for a long while—thankfully, that was the extent of their understanding.
Above all, the good news is that my hypothesis that I could survive on animal blood alone instead of human blood seems to be coming true.
Over the past two weeks, my body has not shown any abnormal reactions like before and has remained healthy.
Now I can tolerate the smell of blood. I’m not losing control and being overcome by impulses.
I guess it’s still because I’m full. Being able to maintain a healthy body and mind without human blood is, at least, good news.
It seems that the major problems I was worried about are gradually resolving.
The process may have been different, and I might’ve stumbled cluelessly into conclusions, but as long as I got it right, that’s what matters.
So what’s next? It’s time to move on from the past and step towards the future.
Now, I’m leaving the orphanage, seeing the Director off as I head out for my next mission.
“Aria, going out today, are you?”
“Yes, Director!”
“Be careful, it’s still a woman going out alone.”
“Yes, I’ll be back!”
Leaving the worried Director behind, I exit the yard.
Today is a full day off. No one will think my outing is sudden as long as I’m not returning late at night.
This time will be different from last time. I’ve thought this through carefully instead of acting impulsively.
I’m all set.
I’m off to secure my second meal now.