Vampire's Slice of Life

Semohr was a city in the wilderness. The stone buildings were so towering that they blocked the sun and cast a dark shadow everywhere.

Streets were so wide that a small village could fit in it, and so long that a small city of humans could be instilled there.

Each building, each floor, each street, and each place… they were huge enough to defy common sense.

Giants in plain cotton clothes roamed around these places as if it were the medieval times of Earth and they were the working class.

Mayzin was on Lith's back and sound asleep. No amount of noise was enough to wake her up, and Lith's movements weren't causing her any problems either.

A day had passed by now and five days were remaining for the court trial of Gunther's side.

The clock was ticking and Lith wasn't dilly-dallying but on his way to a certain artifact shop in the city to get things done.

Instructions were given to Gunther and his group and what needs to be done. He was playing his part in this and since the issue was of Giants, the major part would be played by themselves to solve it.

Stopping in front of a run down stone building with a hanging metal sign board that read "Jujuban's Jamaeis"

Jamaeis was a word from the Giants' ancient language which meant something along the lines of sorcery shop.

Walking in, spilled glass bottles containing colorful liquids appeared in Lith's sight. Then, broken wooden floors, tables, and scattered parchments filled his vision while a scent of burning rubber and spices assaulted his nose and throat, making him feel the heat and almost let out a cough.

A stinging sensation then made his eyes twitch and water up.

'What is this place? Why me, with a King Rank physique, going through an adverse reaction like that?'

It was a concerning matter and made Lith's senses heighten up and more alert.

'Ah, fuck—!'

The heightened senses only served to bring him more pain and suffering. It was a bad choice he made.

"Cough! Cough! W-w-who!?"

Walking on the wooden floor brought out creaking sounds and alerted the person inside the shop. And it was good that he had their attention.

"Look down. I'm here."

Lith tried his best to not cough and yelled while looking up. He could now understand how Miwa felt when she looked up to them, physically, not metaphorically.

The counter in the shop was five times the size of Lith. Even if he raised his arms fully, he wouldn't be able to reach the top.

Truly, he was still not getting used to the big sizes of this place.

'Bigger does not always mean better.'

'…Wait. That sounds wrong…'

It was too late to correct himself now.

The person at the shop leaned over their counter and a pair of bright blue eyes with a puffy face covered Lith's vision.

Golden locks fell down from the skies and covered Lith's body. A smell of worn out socks assaulted his nose.

"What the— cough! Cough!"

A fit of coughs took over Lith as the putrid stench made him shudder.

"Ah— sorry! Sorry!"

Perhaps they realized their mistake, the person quickly raised their head up and gave Lith some room to breath.

Then, they began coughing along with Lith.

For a solid two minutes, both parties were doing nothing but cough.

Clutching his head, Lith groaned, "Ugh. What's wrong with this place?"

"Cough… sorry…"

The voice of the person resounded in his ears. Now that he listened to it clearly, it sounded like a woman's.

Turning to look up, he saw a young Giant girl. She was dusty, her hair looked like a bird's nest and her cheeks were red and somewhat puffy.

This is the exact type of girl one could find in a fantasy world's starter village who would either be killed for the protagonist's character development or married off to him and later become a burdened and killed or set a fire to an orphanage for no reason and get killed by the protagonist or be framed for witchcraft and be killed by the village people.

'Wait a second, why am I thinking that she'll be killed?'

'Tch. What's wrong with me?'

Lately, he seemed to be having quite some weird thoughts. Shoving aside those thoughts, he turned to look at the young lady.

She was not ugly, just poor. A textbook example of someone who could shine with just a bit of wealth.

"Dear customer, how may I— cough! Cough! Helopyuwaaaaghhhhh–!"

The girl's coughing turned into aggressive puking. It was good that she had manners and puked into a bucket near her.

Lith frowned, and instead of disgust, he felt concerned for her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Sorry. Give me just a second, please."

The girl ran towards a backdoor and another series of puking sounds echoed in the room, which were then followed by… bubbling sounds?

"Hmm?"

Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!

The sound of something hitting a metal immediately followed suit. Then, bubbling sounds intensified, which were then replaced by the metal ones, and were repeated again by the bubbling ones.

The burning smell of rubber rose sharply and Lith couldn't help but let out fits of coughing. His nose, throat, and eyes were burning once again. Just what sort of place did he stumble into?

Ten minutes later, the smell vanished. It was as if it was never there.

Lith's eyes didn't hurt anymore and being free from these problems, he took a deep breath of clear air.

The backdoor then opened up and the Giant girl appeared once again. This time, her cheeks were a bit more puffy, but overall, she seemed fine.

A bright radiance sparkled in her clear blue eyes, but when she saw Lith standing on the counter top, panic took over her and she immediately bowed.

"Ah, so sorry for the wait, dear customer. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

"It's fine." Lith heaved out a sigh and said. "What even are you doing to have such a weird atmosphere in this place?"

"Ah… well…" The girl fidgeted and twirled her finger in her golden locks, appearing somewhat guilty and embarrassed.

"…I was just trying out one of grandpa's recipes. T-t-that's it!"

Lith blinked and stared at her. His expression stating: 'do you think I'm understanding you?'

"Ah, so sorry!" The girl bowed again and said. "P-p-please tell me what you are here for, dear customer. I will try my best to help you."

Even though Lith was not a Giant, Semohr saw a fair share of foreigners so no one was surprised to see small creatures like Lith around.

Lith thought it was best if he made haste and got out of this place, hence he asked in a hurried tone, "Do you have a thirteen day old poison spirit?"

"Ah… we have a six day old poison spirit at best!" The girl said apologetically. "Poison spirits are too expensive to maintain lately and we are unable to produce anything beyond seven day old ones."

Lith nodded in understanding. "Okay."

"B-b-but… if you want it…you can pay us an advance amount and we can get it prepared for you." The girl tried her best to appease Lith.

It was not everyday that the shop saw customers. She was thus trying her best to make as much money as she could.

Lith shook his head. "I can't wait that long. Anyway, by any chance, do you have a Klaxon Reindeer's Tailbone powder?"

The girl's eyes sparkled brightly, almost blinding Lith. "Yes! Yes! Yes! We have it! How much do you need? One gram? Ten grams? One kilo?"

"Ten…"

The girl's eyes brightened further as she looked at Lith with an expectant look.

"…milligrams."

The expression dimmed, the sparkle vanished, and the girl's face changed into that of remorse and disappointment.

"I'll bring it in a second, please wait." The girl said in the most monotonous voice possible and slowly walked towards the backdoor and went to the back rooms to fetch the powder.

Lith saw her go with an amused look. 'It seems they're really short on money.'

Lith was no saint to go out of his way and help someone, but he also wasn't someone who lacked money. He was thus having thoughts of giving this girl some money.

The girl came back holding a small glass vial. In it was a fine bluish-white powder.

Her face looked like someone who hadn't slept for days. With a complete deadpan smile, the girl said in a monotonous voice again, "Here it is, dear customer."

"How much is this for?"

"Ten silvers."

"Oh…"

It was quite cheap. No wonder she was expecting Lith to buy in bulk. One gram of this powder could get her ten gold coins. No wonder she was so unhappy when the price dropped from ten golds to ten silvers.

'I should've purchased more. No worries, I still have a lot to buy.'

Taking the powder and handing her the coins, Lith asked, "Do you have the recipe for making dragon clavicle yellow grass healing potion?"

As soon as Lith asked that, the girl's eyes widened in shock. Her previous dead expression nowhere to be seen. "E-e-excuse me?"

"What? Do you have it or not?" Lith asked nonchalantly.

"S-s-sir… we don't deal with dragon bones…"

It would be truly scandalous to do something like that and could get them killed by the Dragon authorities.

The healing potion Lith was talking about required a dragon's clavicle as its name stated. Harming a dragon and harvesting their bones to do something like that would not let them go unpunished. The whole race could be implicated if they were ever to be found doing that.

The girl's reaction was exaggerated and Lith could smell something fishy.

To bait her, he took out an amethyst coin and tossed it in his hands.

"I can give this to you if you give me that. Actually, not just one, but a hundred of them."

The girl's eyes followed the path of the coin and she gulped hesitantly. This was really a big amount. If she could have that then…

'No, no, no! What are you even thinking of? We don't deal with that!'

The girl had an internal struggle.

Lith gave her time to think and after two minutes, the girl looked around to see if someone was there or not, then bent down and whispered, "You mustn't tell anyone about this, dear customer, okay?"

"Okay." Lith nodded instantly. He was quite interested to see what she had in store.

The girl then looked around again and sneaked her way into the back rooms again, as if someone was spying on her.

'…And now we wait and then question the lady as to why she has dragon bones. Phew.'