3 bar menu

Extra Story 2 – A Black Sorcerer’s Date With A Vampire / After the Raid Battle 2 (Part 2)

Extra Story 2 – A Black Sorcerer’s Date With A Vampire / After the Raid Battle 2 (Part 2)

So I wait for about a minute until Milla finishes getting her mind ready.

「G-go ahead, Lem.」

With a serious face as if she were a “Hero” blocking a hit from a Spirit Art, Milla urges her own words.

「In the end, the ones who had all this were Fenix and Nicola, right? I myself wasn’t the one who got these for you, Milla. That’s why I wondered if there was anything I could give you that came directly from me.」

「I-I see.」

Milla clears her throat.

「So, you know, you like stuff from “the adventurer Lem”, right? So, um… I’ve been wondering, if it’s okay with you… we could watch some Capture videos from my time with the Fenix Party, and you could ask me whatever you want, and, and… I could answer…」

Milla’s face goes stiff.

I can feel the anxiety welling up inside my heart.

I knew it… that isn’t an actual thing she can take with her… how could that be considered part of her reward?

Besides, isn’t it rather arrogant of me to think that your commentary could be seen as a reward for someone?

Ah, now that I think about it like that, I’m starting to feel embarrassed all of a sudden —

「L-like…a l-live secondary audio?!」

Milla’s sudden outcry took me by surprise.

「M-Milla?」

「Lem! Do you understand what you are saying?!」

「Eh…」

I feel like I’ve already said half a year’s worth of 「Eh…」today.

「Did you just say that you would do a live secondary audio screening just for me?!」

「Secondary audio screening… A-ah, I-I guess?」

A separate audio channel prepared for a video is known as “secondary audio”.

In addition to dubbing the languages of the many different races and performing vocal representations for people different from the general public, in recent years, there have been many talk shows with presenters, producers, and commenters that employ this resource.

What Milla is referring to is the last kind of people, the commenters.

I guess you could say that me giving commentary on a video of the Fenix Party while sitting right next to MIlla is indeed a live second audio screening.

「L-let’s go somewhere else.」, said Milla with a serious look on her face, as well as her hand over her chest as if trying to calm herself down.

「Ah, sure. Anywhere is fine.」

「Anywhere?! T-then I’ll go rent a studio so I can have your secondary audio recorded there, if that’s okay with you…」

It’s certainly a different kind of “somewhere else” than I had imagined.

I had thought she wanted to leave this rental warehouse to go back to the calm dormitory, but she wanted to be able to listen to my recorded voice repeatedly.

「Well, that’s a little embarrassing…」

Since this is Milla we’re talking about, she’s probably going to want to employ the services of a sound professional as well.

「Aw… I understand. Then I’ll bring my own recording equipment to the dormitory later, so we can do it there…」

「U-uhhh…?」

Your own recording equipment?

「I-Is that a no…?」

Milla stares at me with tear-choked eyes.

「…No, it’s not.」

As I give in, I can see her clenching her fist.

「Now then, let’s move on to choosing what videos I’ll have your commentary on for today. Ah, which ones should I pick…I wonder if I can actually narrow them down…」

Milla’s eyes shine as she goes over the titles written on the memory sticks.

She had tied up her hair, her sleeves have been rolled up, and she seems to be in great spirits.

It seems that my commentary actually is enough as a reward for her.

Oh great, I’m relieved…

I had actually prepared another gift in case this didn’t make the cut, but it seems that it won’t be necessary.

Has an hour already passed?

It seems that Milla has somehow finished choosing her videos, as she had picked up a handful of memory sticks.

「I know doing this takes a lot of effort from you, Lem, so I cut my selection to only three dungeons…」

Still, unedited commentary on three capture videos would take a considerable amount of time, but seeing Milla so fatigued that it looked like she had lost weight in only an hour, I couldn’t say anything in return.

「T-Then, how about we head home for today? I’ll lend you the key to this place so you can come here anytime.」

「Sure. Ah, but I’m taking this plushie with me.」

As she starts walking, Milla stumbles.

I rushed out to her immediately, but couldn’t prevent her from falling.

Instead, I managed to cushion her fall in such a way that I ended up caught between her and the floor.

I can see Milla at a very close range, and I can feel her body temperature and smell from up close all at once.

「S-sorry Lem…」

She quickly jumps away.

「No, it’s fine as long as you didn’t get hurt.」

「I’m fine! W-what about you, Lem?」

「I’m okay too.」

She lets out a sigh of relief.

「Ow, what happened to me… Ah, the memory sticks! I have to pick them up!」

She hurriedly picks up the metallic plates scattered on the floor.

「…Huh? What’s this?」

She also picks up a small rectangular cardboard box. It’s red, and it’s wrapped with a bow.

It looks like a typical present box.

And it’s the one that I had been keeping inside my jacket’s pocket until just now.

「Ah, that’s…!」

「This is yours, isn’t it? It looks like a present for someone…」

Since I hadn’t given it to her yet, she seems to have assumed that it’s a present for someone else.

The light disappears from Milla’s eyes.

「That’s… right.」

「For whom, and what kind of present, is this?」

I endure the feeling of wanting to hide my face and look straight at Milla.

「It’s for you, Milla.」

Milla’s eyes were opened wide in surprise.

「F-for me? But you’ve given me so many things already…?」

「Well, um, that was in case you didn’t like any of those rewards… like a last resort…」

Hearing me get all flustered, she also starts to get nervous.

「Um, I see. Then, um, should I return it? Or, c-can I open this?」

「If that’s okay with you, I’d be happy if you could take it.」

「Y-yes.」

Milla corrects her posture on the floor and gently opens the package.

「Oh, this…」

Inside is a registration card cover.

Registration cards are basically a set of two.

One of them holds personal information, while the other one holds information about the owner’s Avatar.

Normally, they’re carried by hanging them from the neck through a chain like dog tags, but since they’re made of metal, they can make some noise when they rub against each other.

The registration card cover exists to prevent this. It’s made of rubber and covers a card’s outer rim.

Since the card with the Avatar information is often used by inserting it into the “cocoon”, whenever a cover is used, it’s usually attached only to the card that has the owner’s personal information engraved into it.

The Fenix Party hasn’t done this, but some adventurers use a registration card cover common to their party and then sell it as merchandise.

They can even be used on memory sticks, so even people who aren’t adventurers can find a use for them.

For this occasion, I bought a red cover.

It may look a bit flashy, but I decided that it fits Milla’s image as a Vampire.

「I didn’t try it back when I found it, so I’ve been wondering if it would be okay for everyday use…」

「…」

「Of course, if you don’t like it, by all means…」

「Thank you, Lem.」

Milla is holding the box close to her chest and smiles as tears are starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

「This date has been all about your hard work and you thinking about me, Lem. I’m very, very happy. This in particular makes me very happy as well.」

Milla immediately set up the cover I gave her onto her registration card.

「Now I can remember you every time I use this registration card, Lem.」

I can feel my face heating up from her smile.

My heart feels like it’s beating so loudly, and a feeling like sweet numbness runs through my whole body.

Does this feeling have a name?

If it does, it is —

「Hehehe, when I think that you chose this for me at a store, Lem… My cheeks get all wobbly.」

Her smile becomes calmer.

「Uh…」

Certainly, it is true that I was very confused by how much the clerk at the store looked at me like I was some kind of suspicious person.

「I’m really happy that you’ve included something like this as well. I’ll always cherish this, okay?」

「Y-yeah.」

We both stand up and head toward the rental warehouse’s door.

「I’m glad you liked them. If you hadn’t liked any of these gifts, I would’ve at least offered you my blood for you to drink –」

I couldn’t finish what I was trying to say.

That’s because Milla had driven me to the wall.

「What did you just say, Lem?」

My eyes meet hers at close range.

Milla’s cheeks are dyed red from excitement.

Her eyes are filled with a mysterious light, her mouth is opened in a ferocious way, and her fangs seem to be ready to sink themselves into her prey.

「Getting your blood on top of all these wonderful rewards does make it feel like I’m in a dream.」

「Ah, no, that was what I thought I’d do if everything else failed…」

「I’m very happy about everything else, but I’d also like to have some blood. In fact, the desire to suck blood is already getting pretty intense. Besides, since you’ve already tempted me with it, Lem, I can barely…!」

I wasn’t trying to tempt her, but it seems that showing the possibility of me willingly giving her blood has aroused Milla’s blood-sucking instincts.

I’m sorry that I’ve made you endure it all the way to the end after we’ve come this far…

「I-Is that a no…?」

「…No, it’s not.」

I tilt my head to the side and offer my neck to her.

「…Then let me apologize to your body in advance, Lem. But don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.」

Her beautiful Vampire fangs pierce through my flesh.

At a later date, Milla started talking widely about how her rewards had been the best.

Other allies who played an active part in the Raid ended up also coming to me looking for some kind of reward, but I’ll leave that for another story.