"Haa, it hurts like someone just hit my head with a huge-ass tree." Medusa slowly opened her eyes as she saw a roof above her.
Her eyes opened wide as she quickly stood up and went into a defensive stance.
However, what left her speechless was that she was in some kind of cave, and right in front of her, there was a fire burning. Just after the fire, there was a small girl sitting, wearing a cloak. She was a young girl, just like Medusa, and she wasn't even looking at Medusa because she was busy battling with some undercooked meat, trying to pull a piece of meat from a stick it was attached to.
Hearing the rustling sound of Medusa's clothes, the girl lifted her head and looked at Medusa, who was eyeing her warily.
"Big sister, you're awake! Come eat this rabbit meat, it's so tasty," She said, putting forward the stick she was holding while offering the same rabbit meat she had just tried to chew.
Huh.
Medusa came out of her shock , but her eyes were only focused on the girl's face.
'B-Big sister? T-This is bad. Her face is too cute.' Medusa had never seen a human child before. Even though she saw her own face, it was covered by rashes and dirt, so she had no idea human children are this cute. However, in the few moments when she passed out, she saw a few memories of the girl's body she had inhabited, and that's when she found out about the normal things about humans and even some information about the area she was in.
"Big sister, why aren't you speaking? Are you not hungry?" The girl said as she put a finger on her chin as though she was thinking about something. She had silver hair and a beautiful small face with chubby cheeks. She was wearing a cloak that covered most of her body and clothes.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? And why are you calling me 'big sister'?" Medusa regained her composure quickly and analyzed what was happening.
She had passed out in front of a wolf and didn't die? 'Is she the one who saved me? If so, are all human children strong enough that they can actually defeat a full-grown wolf?'
"Hehe, my name is Evelyn. Big sister can call me Eve. I came here for night hunting, I chased away that big wolf and saved you. And I call you 'big sister' because you're five centimeters taller than me. I noticed that when I was carrying you here." The girl replied with a smile as she continued holding out the rabbit she had offered Medusa.
"Night hunting? Aren't you way too little for that?" Medusa replied as she took the rabbit meat and sat down, putting it in the flames again. The reason the girl was having a hard time eating it was because it was still uncooked.
She noticed the girl seemed to have some power, but at the end of the day, she was still an 8 or 9-year-old girl. So, Medusa needed to have a clear conversation to understand what was going on and find a way to a nearby human city so she could live comfortably.
She had already decided her goal was to live a long life, and from the memories, she realized she wasn't as weak as she thought, so now she had many plans to get strong so that no one could bother her anymore.
"Little!? You're also the same age as me! What are you doing in this forest at night? What's big sister's name?" The little girl Evelyn puffed up her cheeks and asked.
'Calling her little seems to have made her angry. I should talk nicely to her and get to know if there's any city nearby.' After passing out, she had actually seen a lot of memories that didn't even match with each other, but she did get some information from them.
'I am currently in a forest called the Night Forest because of its long and dense trees that don't let much sunlight enter inside, it's called the Night Forest. Just beside the Night Forest, there's a duchy located called Silverwood Duchy, named after the Silverwood family ruling the duchy. And the duchy is located in a Kingdom called Nemarosa. Well, that was all I knew about the geography of this world. It's as I thought; it's not the human world where I was tortured. This is a completely new world that I have never seen.' Medusa thought as she looked at Evelyn.
"My name is med-" Just as she opened her mouth to say her name, she paused. 'I might be in a new world, and it doesn't matter if I use my name, but I don't like my own name. In fact, I don't like anything about my past. Maybe with a new body, I should get a new name, and it should be a good one.'
"My name is Nyx. And I was in a slave carriage that was going to Silverwood Duchy when they stopped for lunch. I fooled them and ran away into the forest, but I got lost in the forest and kept roaming around," she said.
She chose her new name as Nyx because, for some reason, she actually liked that name and got used to it because of her dream. She thought it was a good name for her since it was short and sweet.
As for the story she said, it was actually true. She didn't know how the previous host of this body became a slave since the memories only started from the carriage. And another thing she found out was that she was actually not a human but a vampire. The good thing about this was that she could actually grow her strength extremely fast, and the bad thing was that vampires were actually close to extinction and were hunted because they were thought of as the enemies of the entire world, so she had to keep her identity secret. She actually had a lot of knowledge in her mind about vampires and how her powers worked and how to make them stronger.
'Huh, is fate playing games with me? I was a demon who was hated by everyone in my previous life, now I'm a vampire that is hated by everyone.' She sighed in her mind, but she wasn't ungrateful for the second chance she got.
"Big sister is a slave!? And you said they were going to Silverwood with the slaves, but slavery is banned in Silverwood," Evelyn spoke suddenly, her angry face gone, and her expression turned pitiful.
'Even though what I said is true, this girl is easy to fool,' Nyx thought as she replied.
"It's illegal slave trading. I think they were probably hired by some big names in the duchy." Just as she was speaking, Evelyn got up and walked in front of her.
The girl put her hand on Nyx's head and patted it.
"There, there, you must have been scared because of those bad guys. You're safe now," Evelyn said with a gentle expression.
'My god, this girl is so cute,' Nyx thought as she extended her hands and started pinching Evelyn's chubby cheeks.
"Big sister..." The girl jumped away like a scared rabbit as she rubbed her cheeks.
"Haha, Evelyn is so cute, I couldn't hold back," Nyx spoke as she chuckled.
She took out the rabbit meat that was in the fire and offered it to Evelyn. "Here, it was cooked properly. You can eat now."
Evelyn's mouth watered from the smell of the meat. She quickly took the meat and started eating like a cat as she sat at her place.
"Humph, I also know how to cook. I took it out early because you're hungry," she said as she chewed the meat.
"Evelyn, how far are we from Silverwood Duchy?" Nyx asked with a casual smile.
"It's not that far away. If we walk, it would take 30 minutes from here. Big sister, don't be afraid. I'll take you to the duchy, and the guards there will find a new home for you," Evelyn said with confidence in her eyes as she finished eating.
Nyx chatted with Evelyn about the duchy to get as much information as possible, but after a few minutes, Evelyn got sleepy and fell asleep at the same place she was sitting minutes ago.
'Seriously, this girl has no caution at all. She must be a spoiled noble girl from the duchy. Whatever, when I get back to the duchy, I should slip away from her. I need resources to get stronger, and if I stay here and another beast were to attack me, I won't be as lucky as today.'
'It's good that she's an innocent girl. The wound I got from the wolf's teeth has already healed because of the regeneration ability of a vampire, and this girl doesn't seem to remember it. And she didn't question me about turning into a vampire during the battle with the wolf, either She didn't see me when I transformed, or she thought it was normal and doesn't tie it up with vampires since most people don't even know what vampires are since they're almost extinct.'
Nyx thought to herself as she also closed her eyes, feeling exhaustion seep in. She didn't need to worry about anyone attacking her in her sleep since a vampire's senses were extremely good.
'Maybe that's why I noticed the wolf back there and not because of my intuition.' She thought as she fell asleep in the cave.