Chapter 15 – Werewolf IV

“It’s done!”

“Wow!”

The castle made of books.

Seeing the grandeur of the completed castle, Aurel, Hwanggu, and I couldn’t help but cheer. Looking at the finished castle filled us with pride.

“Charlotte, you’re amazing!”

“So cool!”

I nodded at the girls’ compliments.

The feeling of embarrassment I had when we first started building the castle was long gone.

Why wouldn’t it be? Sometimes even adults want to play like kids.

I was just feeling that way too.

The completed book castle became a playground for Hwanggu and Aurel.

It seemed they had become friends while building the castle together.

The initial opposition Aurel had towards Hwanggu joining us had disappeared long ago.

How much time until sunset?

Leaving the two girls playing behind, I stepped out of the bookstore and approached the stairs.

As I got closer to the stairs, the darkness faded, and bright light started pouring in.

At the midpoint of the stairs, where light and darkness met.

I stood at the edge of the shadows and looked up at the sky.

My gaze naturally squinted.

The deep-seated hatred that welled up inside was the vampire’s instinct.

The sun hadn’t set yet.

Despite the significant time we spent building the book castle, the sun hadn’t set.

I wished there was a clock to know how much time had passed.

I rubbed my empty wrist and turned around.

Just as I was about to head back into the bookstore.

Pause-

My slow steps halted.

At the top of the stairs.

A gentle breeze drifted down.

That breeze carried a very enticing scent.

A scent that stimulated my appetite and made my body tense.

I realized I was instinctively licking my lips.

Only one thing could trigger a vampire’s instincts like this.

The smell of blood.

And it was definitely human blood.

“Hmm…”

I let out a soft groan and touched the sharp fangs in my mouth.

I didn’t have much desire to drink blood yet.

Smelling the blood and licking my lips was just a vampire’s instinct.

“Sniff sniff!”

At that moment, Hwanggu’s head popped out from the bookstore entrance, sniffing the air.

Werewolves have a better sense of smell than vampires.

She must have smelled the blood while playing in the book castle.

“It smells delicious!”

So Hwanggu wasn’t human either.

She defined the smell of human blood as delicious.

“Charlotte, did you come out because of this smell too?”

“No.”

I was just checking the sun.

Hwanggu tilted her head at my answer.

Then she smiled brightly and asked me.

“Can I go eat that?”

Eat that?

Go to where the human blood smell was coming from?

I looked at the small girl with a puzzled expression.

Of course, if she wanted to, I couldn’t stop her.

But that was when Hwanggu hadn’t lost her memory.

How could I send such a small, cute child alone in this world?

I shook my head and answered.

“No.”

“Okay…”

Hwanggu easily accepted my firm refusal.

Her drooping brown ears were quite striking.

At that moment, a memory suddenly came to mind.

Before losing her memory, Hwanggu had come to Aurel and me and said,

“A new scent… and the smell of human blood… I finally found it…!”

Maybe the scent of blood was what Hwanggu had been chasing.

“Hwanggu.”

“Yes?”

“Does this smell remind you of anything?”

“Remind me of anything?”

I looked at Hwanggu, hoping for a clue.

Regardless of the circumstances, it was my fault Hwanggu lost her memory.

If she could regain her memory, I wanted to help.

And if she attacked me again, I’d just give her a stronger knock on the head.

“Hmm…”

Hwanggu crossed her arms and thought.

Her exposed armpit moved softly under her white tank top.

“Well… nothing comes to mind. I just came out because it smelled delicious.”

“Hmm…”

I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth and nodded.

Smelling the blood had made my mouth water.

“How about this? When the sun sets, we’ll go check out where the smell is coming from.”

Of course, if the scent was still there by then.

“Really? But why wait until the sun sets?”

Hwanggu tilted her head and asked.

Her large brown ears perked up.

“Because…”

I trailed off, meeting Hwanggu’s gaze.

Had she really lost her memory?

Her innocent eyes looked at me.

She had clear eyes.

So, this was the final test.

I smiled lightly and spread my arms wide.

“I turn to ash if I touch sunlight.”

“Really…!”

Hwanggu was shocked by my answer.

I watched her reaction.

Her ears twitched, and she quickly ran over and pushed my back.

Not towards the sunlight streaming down the stairs, but towards the dark entrance of the bookstore.

“Aren’t you going to push me into the sunlight?”

“No? Why would I? It’s dangerous, so get inside quickly!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Hwanggu’s actions.

Seeing her gently push my back with her small arms was amusing.

She could easily move my small body with her strength, but she didn’t use any force.

It was like a cat giving a massage.

She just pressed my back with her small, soft hands.

This confirmed it.

Hwanggu had definitely lost her memory.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t act like this.

Returning to the bookstore with Hwanggu, I found Aurel building a large tower.

She was so engrossed in stacking books that she didn’t notice me approaching.

“Hehe… hehe…”

Aurel let out a slightly creepy laugh.

What was she like before this?

Like me, Aurel never talked about who she was before the world changed.

It was as if she had discarded those memories.

“Aurel.”

“Eek!”

Aurel jumped in surprise at my call.

She must have been really startled.

She leaped higher than the large book castle we had built.

“Ah… Charlotte!”

“What are you making?”

“Oh… I thought we should have a watchtower if we have a castle…”

Aurel seemed really serious about building this castle.

Now that I look, the book castle looked even more splendid than before.

I inspected it and saw a large flag made of torn and woven books placed at the top of the castle.

“You like doing things like this, don’t you?”

“Yes!”

Aurel nodded proudly at my question.

It seemed that Aurel had a hobby of building or model-making before the world changed.

Aurel’s construction continued.

Seeing this, Hwanggu joined her to help with the construction.

Why put so much effort into something we’ll leave by sunrise?

Watching the two girls, I took a light glance around the bookstore’s interior.

Most items we could collect from the bookstore were skill books that increased passive skill levels.

[Basics of Farming Volume 2]

[Gun Maintenance Volume 1]

[Advanced Swordsmanship Volume 3]

[Herbology Volume 6]

[Vehicle Maintenance Volume 2]

We managed to gather a total of 15 skill books.

These items were unnecessary for my character Charlotte, but they might be useful for Aurel or Hwanggu.

Of course, that wasn’t why I collected them.

The main reason was for credits.

Skill books were highly valuable items at the equipment shop.

I pressed the stack of skill books into the shadow’s mouth.

The shadow wriggled as if it didn’t want to eat, but it couldn’t resist my will.

Eventually, time passed.

Finally, Aurel, Hwanggu, and I were able to leave the bookstore.

Aurel and Hwanggu looked back regretfully.

I looked up at the refreshed sky and smiled.

The softly glowing moonlight was such a welcome sight.

It felt like greeting a refreshing morning.

Hwanggu, who had brought out the bicycle, began sniffing the air.

She remembered my suggestion to follow the scent of blood once the sun had set.

“Can you still smell that scent?”

I couldn’t smell the blood when we came outside.

Hwanggu closed her eyes and sniffed continuously.

Then, her ears perked up.

“Yes! It’s still there!”

“Then shall we go that way? Can you lead us?”

“Yes!”

“Charlotte.”

“Yes?”

I answered Aurel’s question as I walked forward.

Aurel followed closely beside me and continued speaking.

“What sound? What smell?”

“Oh… the smell of blood.”

I told Aurel about what had happened earlier.

The smell of human blood had wafted in while the sun was up.

And I had suggested to Hwanggu that we follow the scent once the sun set.

“Human blood!”

Aurel showed great interest in the smell of human blood too.

Seeing her lick her lips, it was clear she was already craving blood.

In the end, an excited Aurel walked alongside Hwanggu.

We followed Hwanggu, who was leading the way to track the scent of blood.

Finally, I could smell the blood too.

The source of the scent was inside a large abandoned building.

Hwanggu, with her ears twitching, looked back at me with an excited expression.

She seemed ready to dash in if I gave the signal.

Just as I was about to nod, I noticed something at the entrance of the abandoned building.

A faint movement.

Something thin and delicate was hanging near the entrance.

It looked more like a thin thread than a wire.

I shook my head at Hwanggu and picked up a fallen branch nearby.

“Charlotte?”

“Wait and watch.”

I said, then threw the branch with all my strength.

Whizz-

The branch spun rapidly as it flew past the entrance of the abandoned building.

Tick…Tick…Tick…

Boom!

After a small sound, a sudden explosion erupted.

Just as bright light filled my vision, the entrance of the abandoned building collapsed.

NOTE : A new ally , a new place and a new adventure….. I am getting excited….