Now that we were done with Partner, I quickly gathered the people and brought out some ingredients. We stopped our journey after a whole night of traveling. The relentless and incredibly fast undead horses were amazing as we were already one-quarter of the way to our destination down the south.
These areas seem all desertic. There are no people around other than us, so it seems that there shouldn’t be anything to worry about for now other than wild monsters here and there.
Today, the former slaves felt more revitalized as we reached an area with a lake, and everyone went in groups to wash. I had brought a lot of soap and new clothes, so everyone had the opportunity to wash out all the odor they had and the nastiness, and all got into decent clothes. Some fit more than others, but everyone got dressed.
We had yet to reach the areas with snow, but this morning was certainly more chilly than other times. Thankfully (not so much for Partner), the sun was pretty good and strong, so it was warming everyone.
“Huh? What’s going on with Partner?” Wondered Takeshi.
“She looks weird….” Said Laura.
“Ah, she evolved into a Lesser Vampire, and she has been like that for a while,” I sighed.
“I am fine! I can bear with it… Grrr…” Muttered Partner, gritting her teeth and eating the food.
She drank a bottle of blood as well, and that seemed to have appeased her pain a large amount. Silvio and Francesco recommended this method, and it worked stupendously.
“Fresh blood made me feel way better than any food….” Sighed Partner.
“Yes, this is something that the other Vampires that were not like us did,” Said Silvio.
“Indeed, by drinking fresh blood, you can temporarily increase your stats and resistance to elements, which can lower the damage you take from sunlight and hasten your regeneration. Your body doesn’t feel as sickly because Vampires receive a bonus to their stats when drinking blood until growing satiated,” Said Francesco.
“You guys don’t feel bad if it is your blood she’s drinking?” Asked Laura.
“Oh no, we have discarded our bodies, and the truth has enlightened us that having non-corporeal bodies is the best. Like Maria-sama here, we have chosen the path of ethereal bodies!” Said Silvio.
“There’s nothing more beautiful than using your very soul as your true body after all! Look at my flames. This is how much my soul is blazing in passion for our master!” Said Francesco.
“Oh, my friend, your passion is incredibly blazing!” Said Silvio.
The two were very weird sometimes. But I guess they really don’t mind having their bodies repurposed and their blood drank by Partner.
“These two weirdos still creep me out sometimes,” Sighed Lucifer.
“Master, will Partner be okay? She’s so clumsy that she ended up choosing the strongest but weakest evolution simultaneously!” Sighed Emeraldine.
“She’s gonna be fine. Her power is still pretty good as long as she drinks blood….” I said.
“Don’t worry about her. I believe she used to be a walking skeleton, so even if she burns her skin to ashes, her skeleton will remain, and she’ll just go back to the previous stages… Hahaha!” laughed Lucifer.
“That’s not funny! It is not funny at all,” Said Partner while crossing her arms, angered.
“Yeah, that’s not funny, grumpy dragon,” I said.
“I-I was trying to lighten the mood….” Said Lucifer.
“Go back to your gloomy personality! At the very least, you didn’t say bad jokes,” Sighed Partner.
“Y-You dare call me gloomy?! I was just….”
I patted his shoulder.
“Okay, calm down, don’t get overworked with it. We know you did it for a good reason, I guess,” I said.
“A-Anyways, Partner, you feel alright?” Asked Emeraldine.
“Yeah, I am fine. Thank you for worrying, Emeraldine,” Said Partner.
“Is it my idea, or you’ve begun to talk more eloquently?” Asked Emeraldine.
“Must have been the evolution. I feel that my mind has grown sharper,”
“That must be it. After she evolves, she always grows more intelligent. The next evolution might make her into a genius,” I said.
“I-I don’t think it is that much of a big deal… If I can grow more intelligent and speak more eloquently, we can get along better!” Said Partner.
“Indeed, you’re right. It is better now that you can speak more fluidly, although I still notice a few mistakes here and there,” Said Lucifer.
“We can all help her out to speak better too, but for now, it seems that everyone filled their bellies, so we should get moving,” I said.
“Yeah, let’s go to your carriage to pass the time,” Said Emeraldine.
“H u u h h h h… Sure, but I will be doing something a bit important. I hope you don’t mind,” I said.
“Something important?” Wondered Emeraldine.
“Yeah, I am planning on making Catarina’s zombie, so I have to assess all the minced meat and reconstruct her, stitch her together, and make her whole again…” I said.
“Oh, like that guy that made us?” Asked Takeshi.
“Takeshi, don’t remind me of that guy….” Sighed Laura.
“Y-Yeah, I wouldn’t want you to remember that, so don’t come either, okay?” I confirmed.
“But I want to see the process!” Said Takeshi.
For now, we wrapped things up and then went back to the carriage. The one I traveled on was like my personal room, so there were a few things here and there, even a small bed where I lazed around all day like the useless person I am…
Anyways, today we were not lazing around! I quickly took out a table and then dropped a pile of dismembered body parts. This was all of Catarina, probably mixed with some of Silvio and Francesco… I’ll see if I can separate them, but maybe I will keep a few body parts of them into her in case she has some that cannot be easily replaced.