The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 514: If you can’t find the answer here, then look over there

Chapter 514: If you can’t find the answer here, then look over there

"A...a way?"

We stirred instantly. I straightened my back and Natha took a seat on the bed, gripping the armrest of the chair D’Ara sat on. Jade, who didn’t know anything, blinked and stared at D’Ara from my shoulder.

"Don’t get too excited," the vampire waved her hand. "I said ’might’."

"Still..."

"What is it?" Natha asked with a stiff voice. I could see that he held himself back as much as he could, but his impatience was leaking through the drop in temperature.

Thankfully, I had a portable heater on my shoulder.

"Transferring mana directly is impossible," D’Ara rubbed her lips as her blood-red eyes narrowed. "Even vampires have to consume the source of mana first--Jade is also the same, right?"

[Ung! Jade eat yummy balls that Papa make!] The little bird nodded cheerfully, happy to be a part of the discussion.

"But...if it’s about consuming..."

Wasn’t that all I had been doing? Consuming the mana in the air, consuming the mana in the food, consuming mana inside the mana stones, and even consuming mana in Jade’s core.

"Of course, we already know eating is not the answer," D’Ara shook her head slightly. "Sada is different because she can eat an enormous amount, but Valen doesn’t eat a lot in the first place."

Uhh...yeah. Of course, compared to last year, I ate twice the portion these days. But that was still nothing, since the Vampire Lord could eat ten times the amount just for her snack. Even if I tried my best, I would throw up first before I could fill my mana core.

D’Ara then spoke in an uncertain tone. "But perhaps, if it’s not directly..."

Natha grabbed my hand this time, and I gripped his fingers heart. We could hear our heartbeats increasing by the second as D’Ara muttered while rubbing looking at Natha.

"If we use something to absorb your mana, and then send it to Valen..."

She pointed at Natha, forming a bowl with her hand, and then shifting the bowl in my direction, before making a pouring gesture.

Not direct...not direct...vampires drank fresh blood straight from their sources, so not direct would be like...pouring the blood into a glass and drinking it--something like that?

I gasped and turned my head to Natha, who seemed to be remembering the same thing, if his expression was any indication. He was an Earth doctor for two months, so he would probably remember it.

"Like...blood transfusion?" he confirmed my thought with a soft exclaim.

Right--I nodded repeatedly at that. But of course, D’Ara looked at us confusedly, so Natha explained it to her. Ah...it felt like I was back in those early days of my crush...

No! Focus Val, focus!

"Ah, you can say that," D’Ara nodded; the glint in her eyes told me that she found the technique fascinating. Perhaps because she was a vampire? She probably thinking about using that for her children somehow. "By your explanation, you do need a vessel to contain the blood, right? You can’t just pour the blood directly from one person to another."

"That’s right," Natha tapped his fingers on his knee. "So we need a place to contain my mana so Valen could absorb it?"

"Essentially, it’s just what you use for the child," D’Ara shrugged.

"Ah!" my eyes widened. "You mean, using formations?"

The druid formation I drew in the garden was absorbing mana from the environment and sending it to Shwa through the roots. While it seemed like a plant absorbing water, in reality, the formation was collecting mana first, and then stabilizing it before sending it to the flower.

Stabilize...yes; mana between people was hard to transfer because compatibility was needed. Eruha also said it; his compatibility was the best with Lesta. I was soul-bonded with Jade, so our mana pattern was inherently the same, like DNA.

Between me and Natha, however...we were of different races, and we used our magic differently. The only silver lining between us was that our lifespans were linked through the eternal oaths.

Thus, his mana was the best for me, but stabilization was still needed before I could receive his mana.

"A formation," D’Ara nodded, "--or an artifact."

Natha shifted impatiently. "So, you’re saying you know how to get this?"

We looked at her eagerly, but she raised his hand and shook her head, leading to our disappointment.

"No--not yet, anyway," she exhaled slowly. "It is still just a concept, so I need to create the formation first..."

She paused and, after a few seconds, stood up. "I’m going South."

Huh? Suddenly? I looked at her inquisitively, but Natha seemed to understand what she meant.

"To Sloth?"

"Yes," her eyes twitched briefly, and she added while holding back a sigh. "She might be able to help me."

"Right..." Natha blinked dazedly, before repeating it with a firm nod. "Right."

I tugged on his coat. "Who?"

"The Lord of Sloth is a Sacred Guardian."

Oh! I gasped--this was new.

"I’ll ask Terre too, in case he knows something," D’Ara said while putting on a fur cloak. "For now, just hold on with what you currently have. I’ll try to do it as fast as I can."

"Please," Natha bowed his head, the fingers he used to grip my hand tightly were trembling. "I’ll give you any--"

"Sush," D’Ara snapped her fingers, cutting Natha’s voice as well as summoning a red magic circle beneath her feet. Her eyes looked at Natha dryly, as if she felt offended. "Don’t talk about price with me."

I blinked in surprise, and I guessed Natha too, because his hand stiffened and he looked up with a stunned expression.

With a softer voice, D’Ara spoke while stroking Natha’s hair. "You didn’t come from my blood, but you’re my child too."

Holding my hand tighter, Natha replied with a strained voice. "Thank you..."

"Be strong, sweetling," the stroking hand shifted to my chin, and she leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Be careful."

[Bye Bye, Teacher!]

With new questions in my head, the magic circle swallowed her figure, probably transporting her to the cold South.

For a while after her departure, we stayed in silence. Even Jade did not chirp, as if waiting for the tension that unknowingly piled up to subside. Slowly, I let the anxiety melt from my shoulder and exhaled slowly, leaning back on my fluffy pile of pillows.

"That’s good, isn’t it?" I rubbed Natha’s hand, which had been colder than usual these past few days.

"It might not work, but--"

"But it’s something!" I smiled and swayed his hand, loosening the tensed grip.

Come, my Lord--smile! It was a piece of good news nevertheless!

Instead of smiling, he looked at me wordlessly for a while, only to say embarrassing stuff. "You’re so beautiful."

I pressed my lips and pinched him. "Don’t make me blush!"

He smiled and shuffled closer, stroking my reddened cheek. "But you’re even prettier when you blush."

I smacked him lightly--since I had no energy--but eventually grinned and raised both arms to invite him for a hug.

A group hug, actually, because Jade slipped between us, and Ignis got dragged in. We let us laughed for a bit, because a hope for something was better than nothing at all. At least, it didn’t sound impossible. And with two--maybe three--sacred guardians making it, surely something would come out of it, right?

We did another group hug an hour later, after having my meal. We visited the nursery, which was in the middle of construction, and hugged the saddened Vrida, who I rarely met these days. We only met through the large window this time, but it was still a nice reunion, especially with the uplifting news about a possible solution.

That being said, we had no idea when D’Ara would be able to finish the formation--if it could be done at all. So, Natha still actively buying all the mana stones in the realm.

And by actively, I meant aggressively.

"Get everything you can get from the merchants, even in the black market," I eavesdropped Natha’s order one day. "Go to the Magic Tower and see if they are willing to sell some--it doesn’t matter if we buy it at the current market price."

Well...I guess a spike in price couldn’t be helped for now. As someone who consumed them, I couldn’t say anything because I knew firsthand how much I needed them.

And it wasn’t just the mana stones that got depleted.

"Lord Natha, I would like your permission to visit the realm of nature," Moikai said during a dinner. "I would like to purchase more ingredients, since the auctions had grown thin."

Natha almost cursed under his breath, but he took out a black medallion with a golden frame. "Use this to purchase things in Elvendom. If you go to Heldari in district Kamarh and show them this, someone will guide you to find almost everything."

"Much appreciated," the vampire received the medallion with both hands.

"Umm...should I write an introduction letter?" I looked at Natha. "In case she meets a druid merchant there."

"Oh, that would be perfect!" Moikai exclaimed, and that was how our gourmet connoisseur left first thing in the morning with two of Natha’s guards.

It was the beginning of our aggressive buying, which we couldn’t help but do even if we had to drain the realm’s supply. We just had to be grateful that winter was yet to be here, or procuring both would be even harder--not to mention the distribution problem.

But thanks to that, I didn’t have too many deficiency problems, and could even start to walk around the Quarter--although I got very tired afterward. No matter; we just need to hold on until D’Ara was done with her research.

Or so we thought.

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