"Well, what you do from here is up to you. You're still young, so there's no need to rush."
I nodded at
She's right.
It's easy to forget because of my previous life, but I'm still a baby.
My whole life is still ahead of me.
I have plenty of time.
I'm a vampire, and my lifespan might be longer than a human's, too.
"So? What are you planning to do from here? If you want to come with us, you're welcome. If you want to stay in human territory, we can look after you to some extent, though I wouldn't really recommend it."
Right.
What should we do from here on?
We no longer have a home to return to.
The Divine Word Church and the Elves are apparently targeting me for some reason, so I need to evade pursuit.
But I don't know about the Elves, though the Divine Word Church is widely worshipped among humans.
Their sphere of influence is all the more expansive for it.
Maybe it'd be more accurate to say that everything outside the Goddess Religion's territory falls within the Divine Word Church's domain.
And the Goddess Religion won't protect me anymore either.
In fact, if they found out I was alive, they'd probably hand me over to the Divine Word Church without hesitation.
Hunted by both the Goddess Religion and the Divine Word Church.
As long as I'm living in human territory, I can never let my guard down.
On top of that,
Up until now, I'd been living alone as a baby, so nobody questioned anything. But going forward, that won't work.
I've never needed to drink blood in my daily life, but once I grow up, I might have no choice but to feed.
Or maybe it's only because I'm a baby that I don't need blood yet.
If that's the case, then Merazophis would be the one who'd need to drink.
Like Ariel said, remaining in human territory like this isn't a good idea.
I think we could manage while staying hidden.
But life on the run is stressful enough on its own, and a small mistake could spell ruin.
But that said, is going with Ariel to Demon territory really the right call?
I think I can trust Ariel.
Even though we haven't known each other long, she's straightforward and surprisingly reliable.
But even if I can trust Ariel, I can't trust Shiro, and I certainly can't trust the Demon race.
I don't know what kind of treatment vampires receive among the Demon race, but would a vampire of human origin even be accepted?
For that matter, what exactly are the Demon race?
I'm not naive enough to trust someone I've never even seen.
But there's no other option.
Ariel said the choice is mine, and she's giving me the power to decide. But the paths available to me are limited.
If I refuse Ariel's offer now, what awaits me is a brutal life on the run.
I'd have no one to rely on except Merazophis, and I'd have to live in fear of assassins who could come at any time.
That would be rough.
I'm still a baby, after all. At minimum, I need someone to take me in for the next few years.
The burden on Merazophis alone would be too much.
I don't want to think about it, but if something happened to Merazophis in that situation...
"What will you all be doing from here?" I asked.
"We'll be heading back to Demon territory at a leisurely pace."
"Then... would it be all right if we tagged along?"
"Oh, have you made up your mind?"
"Not yet. I'm still undecided. So, for now, could we travel together as far as the border between human and Demon territory? I'll make my decision when we get there."
Even I thought it was a half-hearted conclusion.
You could call it kicking the can down the road.
But I'd been living as a human until now. The idea of suddenly going to Demon territory — I just couldn't make that decision.
"Sure, sure. Honestly, I think it's better to be cautious rather than decide on a whim."
She laughed and agreed, which put me at ease.
My request could sound very rude depending on how you looked at it.
Basically, I was saying I didn't trust them and wanted to keep my options open.
"Well, it's a long road from here to Demon territory. You can find your answer along the way."
Ariel answered gently, as though she could see right through my thoughts.
I felt somewhat uneasy.
It was like having my own smallness of character laid bare.
Ah, right. Even after reincarnating, I really haven't changed much.
And it's not just about my capacity.
When someone else is better than me, I can't help but feel an indescribable sense of inferiority, along with a foul emotion that smolders in my chest.
That foul emotion has a name: jealousy.
Why am I like this when they're like that?
Whenever someone is superior to me or things work out in their favor, I can't stop myself from thinking that way.
I was reborn, born into a good family, and my life was just getting started!
And yet here I am — a vampire, dragged into a war, having lost my family and my home, nearly killed.
Why is it only me?!
I suffered so much in my previous life — shouldn't my second chance at life be at least a little better?!
Anger with nowhere to go, nowhere to vent.
That pent-up emotion, accumulated over so long, erupted into fierce jealousy the moment the person I hated most in my previous life appeared before me.
Even while I'm stuck at rock bottom in misery, that person had the nerve to look so composed.
I know.
This is just me lashing out.
It's unsightly and pathetic.
It's not the kind of emotion you'd direct at someone who literally saved your life.
But I can't reconcile myself to it.
I can't sort out my feelings.
That must be why.
At some point, I had acquired the "Envy" Skill.
Its level increased day by day, and it had now reached Level 7.
Every time the Voice of God announced that Envy's level had gone up, it felt as though my ugly inner thoughts were being exposed for all to see, which only made me more irritated.
"Want me to tell you about Shiro?"
About that person?
"She probably won't say anything about herself. So I'll tell you. About Shiro."
I didn't particularly want to know.
But for some reason, I felt I had to hear what she had to say.