I can feel myself sink into the bed and my own body. Well, not really my body. I'm finally alone enough to process everything that just happened.
Actually, I think I'd rather do anything than that.
The minute of silence reminds me of something in the novel. A rather weird plotpoint I remembered. "Status."
[Poe]
Strength: F
Speed: F
Intelligence: C
Luck: F
Mana: F
____________
Are you insulting me punk? I know I wasn't the strongest in this life or another, but shouldn't F be relegated for people who were like, missing limbs? I didn't have a mirror, so I just brought my arm to my eyes for inspection. The tanned skin was…admittedly rather thin and malnourished looking. Great. I scanned through the rest of the menu.
____________
Skills:
[Starvation Endurance]: B
[Memories Of Another World]: NA
[Eastern Magic]: F
____________
Status:
Starving: C
Malnourished: B
Slave: NA
Gently Bitten: A
____________
I get it, I'm starving. You don't need to keep rubbing it in. I hadn't even noticed, probably thanks to how high my resistance to it is.
Menus were fairly common in novels like these, but the reason I called it a weird plot point was because of how much time was spent explaining its existence in the IRAAS world.
One in two people have menus, and no one besides the saint, a being from another world, can read them. Still, some linguists and other kinds of people have spent lots of time studying menus and how they work. With the help of past saints, they've managed to create a rough translation. This creates a sort of situation where lots of nobles have a comprehensive understanding of the language used in the Menu, but basically none of the lower class have any clue about it.
Why can I read it? Because It's literally my native language. That's part of why it was so odd. The author went through all this trouble to justify the existence of the thing, working to create a mostly separate world and culture, only to give up on explaining the system and just saying, hey, it's in English.
Confusion about the novel aside, there was one surprise on the list.
[Eastern Magic]: F
I don't know anything about this. IRAAS briefly mentions them, but only to call them insane or psychos, which is promising. I try to focus on the skill in the menu, hoping to get more information. Thankfully, another small box appears.
[Eastern Magic:
Magic and abilities replacing mana by using one's own body and soul.
Grade F: You can use rudimentary spells, but lack any true understanding.]
[Known Spells:
Black Fire: Ignites the individual's soul in black flames, coating the body in deathly fire that only the user is immune to. Being born of a soul, the flames defy any kind of control or repulsion, save from similar magic. [[Waring: Use of this ability will harm the users soul directly.]]
Ritual Of Flesh: In exchange for carving a sigil onto one's body, one's physical stats are significantly boosted.]
Poe from the novel was an Eastern Magic user? Was there such a setting? I had yet to see anything like this throughout the novel I had read. Not to mention, why did all of my ability need me to hurt myself first? I'm not a masochist alright.
The last thing I wanted to check was in the status part of the menu. What exactly did [Gently Bitten] imply?
[Gently Bitten:
Blood has been drained from the User without intention to harm them. Depending on the proficiency of the Vampiren, and the willingness of the user, the grade will increase.
Grade A: User is incapable of harming the Vampiren, and in return is significantly more durable, able to regenerate from wounds if the Vampiren gives User some of their unholy blood.]
Huh, I didn't think such symbiotic abilities existed within the [Vampiren] race. I don't think I could be any more willing to get bitten, so it might be just a matter of her growing and developing to raise the rank even further.
I wave the menu off with a sigh. That all wasn't the most helpful, unless I wanted to carve symbols into my body like a deranged tattoo artist.
I made my way through the servants quarters, enjoying all the weird looks people were giving me thanks to my new status as a lunatic. In the past, most people thought I was too stable and steady if anything, so, the novelty of being looked at like a psycho was nice.
I got some food, and had to restrain my body from wolfing it down like an animal. Still, the emptiness in my stomach from starving was reduced significantly.
One of the maids, a young girl with fluffy brown hair, walked up to me anxiously. "The, the um, the young miss asked for you."
Honestly, I'm proud of her for lasting this long without calling for me. Like I said, a kid like her is going to get a lot of anxiety and attachment issues. She's probably going to latch onto me like a barnacle for a while. I genuinely don't have anything better to do though.
Still, I look down at my filthy shirt, the holes in it showing off red scratch lines. "Can I get a new shirt first?"
The maid nods, running off hastily. I'm delivered a new piece of clothing and make my way to Lilith's room. My escort is once again the head butler, who lets out a shaky sigh. His hair has been done back up again into a slicked back style, and he looks down at me. "Now, I must warn you, the young miss is incredibly dangerous, even if she doesn't mean to, she may accidentally harm you. So please, try to maintain-"
I cut him off by taking off the large wooden plank used to block the door. "Sure." I'm rather dismissive of the guy, but whatever. He looks like he's going to have a panic attack whenever he's within even a small proximity to her.
He pales again, and I walk in the room. He hastily shuts the door behind him, and locks it. Not…not sure how I'm going to be getting out now, but, whatever.
Lilith is sitting on the same chair by the window as before, her pale cheeks flushed bright red. She clears her throat, turning to me. "M-My name is Lilith, s-serving boy." I've been demeaned. "A-A-And I-I'm your m-maa-maaa-"
"Master? Mistress?"
"Master!" She crossed her arms, her back exaggeratedly straight with her chin up. She was still rather pink in the cheeks from how she acted earlier. "I am y-your master!"
"Yes?"
"Yes! A-And s-so I-I order you, t-t-t-t-"
"To?"
"To…! Um, uh…" She trailed off. "S-Stay with me?"
It was both kind of cute and kind of concerning to see her try to pull rank on me. "Sure. My name is Poe." There is a tragic lack of any other chair in the room, because she was expected to never have company. So I content myself sitting down on the floor right next to her.
She flushes again, swallowing thickly, and sneaking glances my way. She has a big smile on her face though, which causes my lips to quirk up a little. I speak to her after a moment. "So, what exactly do you typically do locked in here all day?"
"Um…I read, when…when I'm allowed to go get new books. Or I just…re-read the old ones."
Ah, if only she knew the wonders of modern technology. Though, admittedly, I also ended up re-reading the best ones I found quite often. "Tell me about some of them." I remembered reading a book on parenting I had found in a school library, mostly because I found it funny that it was even in there. One of the few lessons I remembered for who knows what reason, was that you should take an interest in your child's hobbies.
It was probably weird that a child was treating another as their kid, but I was mentally an adult who would be taking care of a child for a while. This was the best way to rationalize things.
Lilith's eyes lit up like two red stars and she immediately sprung into a long diatribe about one of her novels. It was clearly well loved given how much minute detail she was able to get into. She was gesturing wildly with her hands, speaking frantically, like I was going to disappear at any second and she needed to say all of this or she would explode.
I had to make her stop and breathe a few times, just to make sure she wouldn't pass out on me. Terror of the Edgar family here, nearly passing out because she has someone to talk to.
At some point, she hopped off of her little chair and brought me the book itself, revealing a new point of consideration. "Huh. I can't read."
She stopped in her rambling finally, cocking her head to the side. "Really? Did your parents not get you a tutor?"
Oh, oh boy. Right, I forgot that she's also super sheltered. "My parents are dead."
Her eyes widened, and I realized that's probably not the best way of speaking about this kind of thing. I rush to correct the statement. "But I never knew them in the first place, so it isn't a big deal." I don't actually know if that's true for Poe, but at the very least I'm not lying.
Her eyes were getting watery again. Don't you hate your parents? Why is she looking at me like I have a terminal disease? She gives me a pat on the back, which carries enough force that I get splayed out on the floor.
Her eyes widened in horror, and she dashed away, hiding in the corner of her room. She grabbed a blanket off of her bed and covered her body with it, huddled underneath it and cowering.
I groan, standing up as I get the breath that was knocked out of me. "I'm fine." She doesn't move from her corner, body hidden by the mass of a blanket.
I approach the ball of fabric, kneeling down so I'm roughly where her eyes would be, and we're eyes level. "I'm totally fine, you didn't hurt me."
I don't hear any response, and sigh, sitting down next to her with a groan. My back is against the wall, and my side is just far enough that I'm not sitting on any of the excess blanket. "I'm not scared of you, and you didn't hurt me."
The only response is a sniffle. God, if things were bad now, she was also going to go through puberty. Novels don't ever talk abou- Oh god. Oh god, wait. Am I, am I going to have to be the one to give her the birds and the bees?
I'm broken from my immense dread as her small form rustles, and she peaks up from the blanket, her silver hair all frazzled as she looks at me. "I hurt you."
"No you didn't. It's a bruise at worst. Kids give each other bruises all the time."
Something like hope blossomed in her eyes. "R-Really?"
I nod. "It's alright to not be in full control of your strength. Kids like yo-us, aren't fully, er, aware? Like, we don't have much life experience. So, it's natural that we will mess up a few or more times. I'm totally fine."
She sniffled again, and spoke while looking down. "I'm sorry I was rude to you earlier."
Rude? When was she? "Oh, when you demeaned me."
She winced, but I shook my head. "Na, that much is expected by you. You're a noble and I'm a slave. Calling me server boy was honestly a few steps up from what's expected."
"Really? What's it mean that you're a slave?"
It's my turn to frown. "I'm…not fully sure." I tug on the collar around my neck. "It's got something to do with this for sure, but I'm also considered a lower caste of citizen."
She has a look of sheer confusion. Right, she was a little kid. "Um. I'm…" I wave my arms around, trying to figure out how to translate the idea of social casts to what would be a middle schooler. "I'm…It's sorta like the opposite of you?"
"People feel really safe around you?"
I snap my fingers. "Right! But, to the extreme. If they're scared of what you'll do to them, they aren't remotely afraid of me. Which, sounds nice I'm sure, but comes with its own demerits."
She cocked her head. "What could possibly be bad about that?"
"Well, they aren't afraid to not feed me. Or not hit me." You don't get a skill like hunger endurance without a little starvation. Or a status like starvation without a little starvation. Getting hit is an assumption but I think I'm making it on good grounds.
IRAAS doesn't go into huge detail on the magic slavery that comes up in these novels every so often. It definitely existed in the novel, but it was, once again, more of a throwaway line. One of the minor villains was a slaver, and one of the major antagonists was actually a freed slave. He was worth another rant, but that was for a different time.
Lilith had sympathy in her eyes as she looked at me. "You can have some of my food…"
"No no, I get fed now that I'm acting as your food source."
"Oh…" she looked disappointed.
"…if you'd like to invite me to eat with you, you can."
She brightens. Finally, I manage to get her out of her little blanket fort, which does give me an idea.
It's very childish for a man that should be 18 in his mind, but, I can just blame it on the child body. "We should make a blanket fort."
She's on board the moment I explain what it is, and soon she's moving at superhuman speed, darting from place to place excitedly and draping the long cloth of her blankets around.
For my part, I contribute by struggling to pick up her little kid chair, and managing to push it incrementally close enough that she can drape the final part of the blanket under it.
I duck under the new fabric roof, where she's staring up with wide eyes. I never got to do this in my life, as sad as that sounds.
I didn't have any of my own stuff, and the moment I got my own apartment, it didn't even enter my mind that I could do something like this. But, it's pretty nice. My inner child is appeased at the offering, and Lilith is likewise awestruck by the most humble of forts.
She looked at me, her eyes tearing up again. We'd seriously have to work on that. How would she be a respectable noble lady If she broke down crying every couple of minutes? She whispered to me, as I caught my breath from the manual labor I was just subjected to.
"Are you real?"
I snort, caught off guard by the question. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."
"Did…were…did my prayers get answered?"
That was depressing. "I don't know." I shrug my shoulders while lying on the ground. "Maybe. This whole situation works out pretty good for me though."
There's the noise of the wooden plank being removed from her door, and it opens after a moment. Neither of us can see the door from under the fort, so, with a groan, I get up to go see.
A severe looking woman is staring with wide eyes at the frankly rather sad blanket fort. We've only got like, three different corners of the blanket propped up, so it's more like a blanket corner than anything.
She blinks at me, her confused face getting more confused. "What…what is happening here?"
"Blanket fort."
"Who…Where is the young Miss?"
Two little red eyes poke out of the pillow fort. She looks up at the woman with what almost looks like pleading eyes.
The woman clears her throat, visibly settling herself as she looks at Lilith. "Young Miss, it's improper for a lady to be in a…pillow fort."
Wait, she actually had someone in her life that cared about that stuff? I raise my hand. "It was my idea, don't blame her."
Her eyes snapped to me, narrowing. "You are a slave, nothing is your idea, you exist to follow the whims of your betters."
Jeez lady, that a lot of pent up aggression coming out there. There's a growl which causes her to jump, and I turn to see Lilith, her fangs bared as he snarls like an animal at the woman. The intimidating effect is greatly diminished for me considering her head is still poking out of a blanket fort. "Don't be mean to him."
The tutor gulps, stuttering something out about slaves and propriety. Lilith's claws, because frankly that's what they are at this point, poke through the blanket, then rip, tearing a hole in it which she walks through.
I think it's a waste of fabric, but the lecturing woman takes a step back. "Y-Young Miss! I-It is time for your lesson!" She seemed to be trying to regain control of the situation.
Lilith's growling noises continued, her face in an angry snarl as she marched forwards. When she gets near me, I put a hand out to stop her.
She turns to me, and I speak. "It's fine, not a big deal at all. Don't be mean to the adults."
She pouted at me. "She was mean first."
I shrug. "People are rude sometimes, it's a part of life."
She stayed pouting, and grabbed my arm, pulling me against her as she looked defiantly up at the woman. "Poe is staying!"
The woman looked down at me, conflict sparking in her eyes. I couldn't have won if I fought against Lilith's strength, so I just limply let her do as she pleases. I meet the eyes of the woman I'm guessing is her tutor. "You heard her."