Perspective of the Horned Demon
"Are we really doing this?"
"Of course we are. Or are you really planning on letting little Hinoko down?"
"Hinoko's fine and all, but I really don't know what she sees in that vampire Julianne."
"That was the human side. The vampire side was, what, Angeline?"
"I don't really care, they're both basically the same. Let's just find that jerk and report back. She probably just overslept anyways."
Of course he doesn't care. That bird's always acting so high and mighty. That said, if we're looking for someone who's been missing, they have the skills to help us.
A while ago, Hinoko came by and told us there's something wrong with, uh… Julianne. Hinoko is responsible for delivering the blood every week, but she noticed that Julie wasn't at her usual online spots. When she tried contacting her online more directly, there wasn't any reply. After a few days, she decided to check on her house and noticed the last delivery of blood was still there. Hinoko panicked and came to us.
As a (half) vampire, Julianne needs blood to survive. She can probably last a week without it, but it's really odd for her not to take her usual supply. She's usually too lazy to try to procure other sources too.
Anyways, that's why we're in the current situation, in front of her door. She's not exactly the first person I'd go to bat for, but if something happens to one of our own, we need to investigate.
I break open the door's lock and get in. I could feel Sora looking down on my methods, but what I have is brute strength, so I'll use it. What we saw in the main hall surprised us.
"Is Julianne really playing with the occult?" Sora asked.
I looked on the ground in front of me and with the used up candles and the magic circle drawn on the floor, it was difficult to come to other conclusions. "I… don't know. It doesn't really seem like something she'll do. Let's ignore this and look for her."
The tengu silently agreed with the plan and we started to search the house. Unfortunately we couldn't really find much. Despite her wealth, Julianne lived rather thriftly, the only thing that could be considered expensive by any stretch was her computer. Thieves would be disappointed.
"Did you find anything?" We met back up in the main room.
"She's not here." Sora replied definitively. Sora's eyes don't miss a thing. Although he claims not to be able to actually see through walls, it always feels like he can see everything as though walls weren't even there. If he says she's not here, then she isn't here.
"Got it. Weird, where could she be? It's not like her to, uh… leave home much. I guess the only suspicious thing we have is this." I kneel down to look at the magic circle more closely. I reach out with my hand and soon…
…
…I woke up. Was I asleep? I looked around and saw that I was on a dirt path right next to a forest. Where am I? Was that some sort of teleportation circle? Am I in another world? Is this an isekai thing? Well, let's see…
"Status!"
Name: 笑里1Romanized as "Emily"
Race: Oni
HP: 378/378
MP: 30/110
Passive Skills: Kalensha Language
Awesome, it worked! Well, not sure on what these numbers mean without much to compare it to, but MP means there's magic, right? I wonder why it's used up? Seems like I have the local language at least, well, I hope that's what it is. Would be a pain if I couldn't talk to people.
All right! Isekai! Magic! Awesome! Now, I guess this is probably where Julianne went? I don't see her near here, so I'll just follow the dirt path and see where it takes me.
Perspective of the Blood-Sucking Demon
It's been a few more days since I started actually working like an adventurer. I managed to gain a few more skills from various monsters and even managed to improve my stamina a bit. Extended Stamina is a nice, useful skill.
Got through the magic circle book and I'm not anywhere close to understanding the teleportation circle that got me here. I talked with Xedne about it and it seems anybody who would be capable of such a feat would be in one of the major cities, such as the Ool Empire capital, not a small town like Midforest here. It's a similar deal for getting rid of my curse.
So I'll need to go to a major city for much chance of any progression, but really, that sounds like a pain. And also kinda dangerous from what I've heard. Talked more with Xedne about some minor otherworldly technology and she herself has been in contact with the crafter's guild to try and get some of the ideas off the ground. There's been progress on that front at least.
Even with the extra stamina, I still come back rather tired from our excursions. I got a small mid-afternoon snack and sat at a table.
"Well, her stamina is improving at least." Yaten noted.
"Indeed." Kala agreed. "Although it doesn't seem like we'll be able to leave this town too soon." Hey.
"Why? Are you in a hurry?"
"No, it's just…" The door to the guild slammed right open, interrupting Kala.
Looking towards there, I saw a big, red oni with two horns standing in the entrance. "Hello, I am looking for Julianne." …It's Yuri-Ann. Also, what are you doing undisguised like that? I know we're not on Earth, but still.
Despite the mispronunciation, the few adventurers that were here instead of on a quest quickly looked at me. Emily noticed where their gazes went and, quite literally, looked happy to see me. And suddenly attacked.
"Julianne! I'm glad to have found you! Everybody was so worried!" What a blatant lie. I can't imagine anybody except for maybe Hinoko being worried about me. And this body hold is making it difficult for me to breathe.
I beeped in morse: "Let go of me."
And then she did. "Oh, sorry about that. Still, glad we're together again, us supernaturals need to stick together, you know!" Uh huh.
"That's quite an entrance. May I ask who you are, and your relation to… this Julianne?" Not you too, Kala.
"Oh, I'm Emily, Julie's friend!" Absolute lie. Since when were you my friend?
"Well, I'm Kala, and this is Yaten. We've been helping take care of her while she's here."
Yaten was looking… past Emily?
"I heard there was a bit of a disturbance here. Why don't you four come with me to discuss things?"
…I feel like I'm in trouble at school and Xedne's the principal.
