Chương 137: Beyond Blood

I tried the bread oven in my kitchen corner of the mindscape. The result was… Well, this is definitely bread that I made, just not a very good one. I thought my practice attempts had yielded good results, but it seemed that I would require some more training in that regard–Nonetheless, I did end up cooking up a curse from it. Inferior Ailment Curse Of Hunger - Causes the target to feel hunger.

The food in the target's stomach will be broken apart by the curse, and nutrients will be drained from the body for a certain duration of time It looked like a pretty good curse to me. The actual duration wasn't disclosed in the description, but at least. It didn't feature limitations like preventing me from using it on the same person several times in a row, nor did it require a special activation method like the previous curse I cooked. It was just a simple matter of applying it and seeing the results.

I like simplicity. In any case… I was currently still inside the beastfolk city, which name I had no clue about… Regardless, I had managed to get inside a small shop several neighbourhoods away from the restaurant that was ruined by my actions. When it comes down to it, humans and beastfolks were rather similar… This was certainly due to most beastfolks before being the kind that was very light on bestial traits.

When it came down to it, those were incredibly similar to humans, resulting in similar architecture, infrastructure, and ways of doing things in general. As such, I wasn't too lost in this foreign city–Nonetheless, I needed to come up with a good plan to spread 'Remember Me?' curses all over the place… I hadn't been taken into any final trial for a little while, now.

I assumed that my number of victims had either dropped to zero or that the remaining ones were just competent enough not to be sent to the final trial. In either case, I needed to replenish my stock of prey. Unlocking the sweet 'Nightmare Form' was amongst my list of priorities. I mean, if you were given just the handle of a sword, and yet it still allowed you to beat up knights with ease, wouldn't it be normal to be excited about what the entire sword was capable of? … Currently, I was in my knightly form.

It was better for walking around the streets. Especially in the better-off neighbourhoods. The surroundings of the restaurant had been packed with patrols. Getting out without being spotted had not been an easy affair–I honestly was uncertain if someone had spotted me or not, actually. So I wasn't just hiding inside this small shop. I was waiting to see if one or more guards would be showing up to look for me.

I didn't know how guards operated in Heldinot, but I would assume that someone moving at night, near a place that had seen several disappearances, a brutal murder, and a lethal accident, would be considered suspicious enough for the guards to want to at least check who that person was. While waiting for something that might not happen, I admired myself in a mirror of the shop–Which I think is a hairdresser–As I had done a little something using 'Minor Cosmetics'.

Although I wasn't planning on showing myself to anyone, if it were to happen, it would be best to somewhat fit in, wouldn't it? Thus, I had changed the shape of my helm. It returned the peculiar patterns on its surface, but instead of just a somewhat flat surface, I had made it into the shape of a beak. The idea had been to mimic the bird that was apparently my soul, and such. In the end, though, I more-so resembled a battle version of those bird-masked doctors… What were they called again?

Plague doctors–I think the helm looks quite good, personally. I don't think there is a need for the design to be elaborate with the knightly form. Its simplicity is part of its charm I agreed with Nara on this point. The lack of visors, or slits for eyes, was what really made the look of my knightly form so nice to look at. It made me look exactly like what I was, a suit of armour without anyone inside. Just a solid chunk of steel shaped into an alluring, female humanoid form. …

Also, I could probably peck someone to death with this. Which was a nice bonus in my book. To further sell the look of beastfolk wearing armour, I had shaped my hands to have talon-like claws. I had already done similar things in the past, but after giving myself some time to really work out the specific design of the claws, I quite liked the ferocious look. My fingers looked almost elongated with how lengthy I had made the claws on each finger.

Each of them was thin and sharp like a razor–I had used my experience acquired in the nightmare trial, where I had been made into a tigerfolk, to really make the claws as 'realistic' as possible. If a beastfolk saw these, they would definitely assume that I was at least a serious warrior who fought in a bestial manner. It might not seem like much, but beastfolks naturally respected feral might a great deal.

Even if the more humanoid kind tended to move away from their animalistic side to copy humans, it did not change that it was an important part of their history and culture. Appealing to this could potentially allow me to get a pass in certain circumstances, by basically distracting attention from my more bizarre traits, toward something that they would like to look at.

I wanted to add something that would mimic a tail hidden under my dress to really sell the idea that I was a beastfolk knight, but 'Minor Cosmetics' wasn't capable of something like this at all. So I would have to bet on people assuming that I was a bird wearing a bird-shaped helm, but who had no wings. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Not that it wasn't possible, the sheer amount of beastfolk variants for any given animal species was enormous beyond belief. I remember having some classes on the subject back in the day. I had been taught about the more recognisable variants, but the instructor had gotten lost after a while when I mercilessly pelted him with endless questions about more specific things.

Overall, the 'main' beastfolk variants were those who looked just like humans, but with mild access to bestial aspects of a certain animal–They were usually so unremarkable that they melded into human societies seamlessly. Many of them were actually not even aware that they were technically beastfolks. Then, there were the most common, with just the ears replacing those of a human, and a tail–The first group and this one actually had stuff in between.

I had never seen it myself, but a beastfolk could actually have only the ears, or just the tail, as an addition… It was somewhat weird to picture. The next big group were the humanoids, but covered in fur, scales, or whatever else. Also, having a face shaped more closely to the creature they took after. The diversity of variants separating this group from the previous one was absolutely, ludicrously enormous.

I had had a lot of fun skimming through a book the instructor had given me and questioning him about specific sorts of beastfolks–It might seem a little cruel of me, but this guy had been impressively boring. In any case… There are also the taurs and satyrs. I have never seen any of those either. Lastly, there were the beastfolks who were literally just beasts. I honestly wonder how anyone makes the difference between the bestial-minded sort of those and just regular beasts. Is there even a difference?

Because, even if another sort of beastfolk acts like an animal, you can always tell by how they look that they aren't a regular beast… Any ideas, Nara? I must admit that I never wondered about this subject… And right now, I am more focused on how you look. The new helm shape goes very well with the feather-like frills at the bottom of your dress Indeed! I wonder if Ophelie was inspired by whatever force decides what my forms are like.

Isn't it a big coincidence that she put black feathers on the original plush before I even learned that my soul and company have the form of a giant crow creature? Then again, it is a weird thing to influence someone for. It wouldn't be the end of the world if that one form did not make reference to the birds inside of me. Nara and I discussed the significance of this, as I waited and waited… Until I got another idea for conversation. Nara.

If you were to ever be able to gain physical form and interact in the world like everyone else… What would you want to be? As I spoke, my ghostly little sisters were actually rummaging through the shop. I had brought them out of the mindscape before switching over to my knightly form, letting them follow me around by phasing through the ground beneath my feet. I couldn't summon them at all in this form, and I felt that it would be best to keep them around.

Also, Poppy had told me that they would like to help me more in the real world, even with basic things. I think they already do plenty enough, but she gave me puppy eyes–This was a very strong argument when it came to something I didn't mind allowing them to do in the first place. Thus, I currently had Gigi and Ophelie sitting on my lap, while the other four looked around the shop like adorable little thieves.

Though it seemed like they had decided to sit Nessa down in front of another mirror and attempt to give her a hairstyle that would reveal her beautiful face more. It was a worthy effort, but the appearance of my spectral sisters was somewhat set in stone. Unless they changed because of their growth in power, their looks would always end up reverting to 'normal'. Nonetheless, it was a good effort.

Nessa was adorable with her face and eyes all covered up by her dark, messy hair, but it was undeniable that she was extremely pretty underneath. It was a shame that she didn't show the world how great she was. … Eventually, I am sure I'll be able to dress them up and style their hair… One day! Nara took a little while to come up with an answer. When it was personal and not factual information, she always seemed to struggle a bit.

As a system, she had been born with the express purpose of operating a special, non-sentient system given to me. It was a bit strange to think about, but Nara and my special system were simultaneously one and the same, but also completely separated. Nara was more like the voice and overseer of a machine rather than the machine itself. She had told me that it wasn't the case for every special system possessing a mind of its own, but she was apparently 'too nice', and had thus been made into this.

Which was still better than some. Apparently, some talking systems were literally two different systems, with one that could talk, but didn't actually have even the slightest of influence on the other system. Nara could at least sift through a bunch of information and do some work on the special system to get it to do things. I… I don't know. I think I would just want to be the same as I am now, even if I had a physical body. I was born to be your system, Big Sis…

And I honestly quite like the reason for my existence I suppose a proper answer would be that I would try to find what a physical body could allow me to further help you as your system … You really are so freaking adorable, Nara. Had I a heart that still beat. I might have had a heart attack just now. You are overloading me with a desire to hug you! I would honestly like you to want to do your own thing separate from me, you know?

Family does not have to remain bound tightly together at all times, but if that's what you want, then it is perfectly fine. This has always been my philosophy. As much as I want my family to remain close by my side, I always understood that it was best to allow others to pursue what they wanted as long as it wasn't bad for them. … This was why I had been so invested in helping Leton in the past. He had a clear goal and dream to develop his skills as a mechanist.

I did not understand what this was all about at the time, but he was working hard to achieve something in spite of his weak health and limp. It had only been natural for me to do my best to help him succeed. … Leton, Leton, Leton… Do you hate your sister…?