Spirit Soul

Upon encountering the winged woman who had Fiery red feathers, Kyle was not sure if he should be reassured or scared.

It was quite an advantage to get to know someone who knew about the situation.

But the fact that she could sense or see that his blood was coursing through Beatrice's veins was unsettling.

Thus, both Kyle and Beatrice were wary of the winged woman, who noticed this quite easily.

"There is no need to be on your guard with me around. I just saw you earlier, and thought that you two might be funny! My name is Yasmine, how about the two of you?"

Despite her cheerful introduction, Beatrice wasn't sure what to think of her.

Thus, she didn't say anything but continued to stare at her in doubt.

Meanwhile, Kyle sensed that everybody seemed to have calmed down since Yasmine appeared behind them.

This allowed him to understand that Yasmine was a well-known figure, even amongst the people that were seeking asylum in the city and forming a long row.

As such, he bowed lightly before introducing himself formally.

"Nice meeting you. My Name is Kyle Lrae, I'm an adventurer who got a bit lost on my journey. The wom-.."

But before he could continue, Beatrice pulled him back abruptly to make him stand next to her.

Seeing her reaction, Yasmine moved a step closer.

This caused him to feel a little bit dumbfounded, only to see an all too familiar glint in Yasmine's eyes.

'Another late bloomer in puberty?' He instinctively thought, recalling the time Beatrice had attempted to mate with him.

And that was during their first real encounter.

While old memories flashed through his mind, Beatrice ignored the glint in Yasmine's eyes.

Attempting to be nice, she also bowed lightly before giving a rather curt introduction.

"Beatrice Menyr."

She added no necessities to her words and barely stated her name.

Yasmine noticed the passive aggressive reaction and smiled lightly as she took a step towards her, gazing at her intently.

Her eyes began to glow subtly, but before she did anything else, Yasmine straightened her back while taking a step backward.

"It looks like you belong to a bloodsucking race…interesting!"

After the offhanded comment, she turned towards Kyle, ignoring Beatrice's glare as she added,

"Either way, as long as you're not an Aldras, you'll be allowed to enter the city…but that doesn't mean that you will be treated well. After all, you look exactly like the race that caused the majority of beings inhabiting the city to feel misery!"

Receiving helpful intel was great, but Kyle was unable to stay focused on the ways to enter the city.

He couldn't help but feel that the encounter with Yasmine was too odd, and her eyes were certainly what made Kyle feel the most uncomfortable.

As such, he decided to be straightforward and rain down questions on her.

"Earlier you said that we would be funny. Why did you say that? Are we interesting in any way that differentiates us from everyone else? In a sense that makes you believe that it will be funny to be around us?"

His questions might sound chaotic at first glance, but they had a deeper meaning other than figuring out Yasmine's true reason to be interested in them.

Yasmine seemed to be unbothered by his questions as she had expected him to ask that.

Thus, she answered him almost immediately.

"I have many reasons to be interested in you two, but if I were to choose only one, it would be that you two look like you've been traveling for a very long time. Meanwhile, the direction you two came from has no settlements.

That means you two came from a place the Anadra kingdom doesn't know about. Or you two wandered in the vast forest and got lost. This would explain why you two rushed towards the city the moment you two got a glimpse of human settlement.

But…why do I feel like both reasons are the truth, but at the same time, they're not?

I want to find the answer to that question, which is why I believe it will be funny to stay by your side!"

Ending her short explanation, she continued to look at the two with a playful smile.

Meanwhile, Kyle nodded his head, accepting that she would stay with them until they entered the city.

After all, it was quite advantageous if nobody stared daggers at them, with the intention to kill him.

However, Beatrice was bothered by Yasmine and didn't like her one bit.

She made no efforts to hide her dislike but the Demihuman only looked at her with a sly smile.

This caused Kyle to believe that Yasmine was truly having fun staying by their side.

Even he knew that Beatrice was quite easy to tease.

"Well, good luck finding out where we came from. We'll get in line now, otherwise, we might not be able to enter the city until tomorrow."

Saying so, Kyle grasped Beatrice's arm and pulled her after him to prevent her from being provoked any further.

Unfortunately, it was not that easy to distance themselves from Yasmine as she appeared next to them once again.

"How about you guys answer one question, and I bring us closer to the entrance?"

While saying this, she kept smiling, making Beatrice want to stab her.

Yet, Kyle couldn't help but hear the hidden meaning in her words as he nodded his head.

"What do you want to know?"

In the end, there was no need for him to jump the queue, and the few hours they would save were not exactly worth answering any kind of question that possibly exposed a secret of theirs.

However, when he thought about it again, he believed that it might be worth answering Yasmine's question.

'If Yasmine can jump the queue with me, a look alike of the Aldra race by her side, she, or her family must have some influence in the city!'

Figuring this out was not exactly difficult, and it was probably what Yasmine wanted to tell him, to begin with.

As such, she had expected his reaction.

"I want to know…where and when you two got to know each other?"

Of all the doubts he would have expected of her, Kyle didn't think that Yasmine would ask such a question.

Instead, he had predicted that she would ask something different, such as questions about his home, why he was not bothered by the fact that Beatrice sucked his blood, or anything else.

As such, he looked at Yasmine for a few seconds before he averted his attention to Beatrice.

She was fuming already and was about to answer the question only to intervene before that could happen.

"I have no idea what the place we first met is called but it's at a high altitude.

That I can tell you for sure. Maybe you'll find the place if you travel through the ginormous forest for a few months.

As for when we first met…I first saw Beatrice more than half a year ago? Probably a little bit longer.

Not sure if Beatrice would expose some things that were better off being hidden from strangers, Kyle took the lead and answered instead.

As such, the moment he answered, something flickered in Yasmine's eyes.

However, the subtle glow dispersed before anyone could notice

Having answered the question, he waited for Yasmine to counter or ask more follow-up questions.

But, she didn't seem to question the truth behind his words. Instead, she nodded her head before indicating them to follow her.

Afterward, they moved straight to the front of the line and approached the gate which the citizens of the city used.

Those who had been seeking asylum saw this, and made a beeline for the gate.

However, in an instant Yasmine turned around, staring into the depths of their souls.

Rendered unable to move, they could only keep staring at Kyle, Beatrice, and Yasmine, who were already standing in front of the gate's guards.

Yasmine was still calm, as she greeted the other guards warmly, who responded to her greeting with a faint smile, indicating that they knew each other well.

However, the moment they saw Kyle, the guards frowned and exchanged odd glances before one of them turned towards Yasmine once again.

"Apologies young Miss, but… we cannot allow this… Aldras to enter the city, except if you want us to find his cold body in the drainage of the side alleys."

Kyle felt great respect for the guards because they were speaking calmly and true to their duties even though they presumed him to be an Aldras.

As such they were treating him quite nicely considering that the situation was tense between the Aldra race and the Demihumans.

Demihumans included all kinds of races that were a cross between humans and beasts.

Each race had their own specific name but the kingdom he and Beatrice had entered seemed to be a chaotic mess of all kinds of Demihumans.

To be precise, the Lohar race was also considered to be a subsidiary race of Demihumans, and they had a kingdom for themselves!

While Kyle remained quiet and was calmly looking at the Guards that were Demihumans originating from a coyote, wolf, and bear, Yasmine shook her hand quickly, intervening in the situation.

"Why would I want an Aldras to enter the city? If I want to kill someone in a cruel way, I can do it differently, not by allowing anyone to enter the city…

Either way, he is not an Aldras. His blood is different. You can let him take one of the basic blood tests to figure out what kind of hidden bloodlines he has!"

As if they were suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning, the guards nodded their heads, approving of Yasmine's idea. One of them was quickly sent away to get the necessary equipment to do so.

This caused Kyle to look at Yasmine for a few seconds, wondering who she truly was as he got another idea.

'So… they just accepted the fact that my blood is different to an ordinary Aldras? Just because she said so?'

Yet, instead of commenting further, he took out the adventurer ID he had received from the guild and showed it to the guards while asking,

"I would gladly take the blood test, but maybe my ID card provided by the guild will help. I lived inside the Sadorla forest for a short time too."

One of the guards took his guild adventurer ID, read it through, and looked at Kyle for a moment.

He and the other guards were known for having the least prejudices, but even then Kyle's moves were rather counterproductive.

"On this ID, you are labeled as Aldras…"

This caused Kyle to quickly take the ID back with a frown on his face as he muttered to himself.

"I told them not to add a race!...Just because I look like them, doesn't mean I'm the same…"

Sighing deeply, Kyle spoke to himself but his words could be heard by the other guards.

They felt that his reaction seemed genuine which caused them to grow less wary of the odd group.

It didn't look like Kyle liked the Aldra race, or he simply liked his own race too much to be misunderstood as the descendant of another race.

In the end, it was neither of those, but nobody had to know Kyle's real feelings. They were his personal preference, after all!

Thus, after he threw a fit, the guards fell silent, waiting for their colleague to return with a simple device.

Using a needle, he took a small sample of his blood that was saved in a syringe.

Seeing his blood made Beatrice's eyes brighten up for a moment, which was also noticed by Yasmine.

This reaction made her look at Beatrice with even more interest than before, while Kyle simply told the Vampire,

"Later, when we're inside, alright?"

After that, it took only a few minutes before the assessment of his blood was done, and with a sigh of relief the guards spoke out loudly.

"Welcome to Lynar!"