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"I can feel myself getting stronger, but damn, why is it so hot…"
Asuka quickly stripped off her gear with a single tap and jumped straight into the villa's pool.
The cool water wrapped around her, and she instantly felt a wave of relief.
Luckily, each villa here was standalone, with plenty of privacy. Even if she didn't wear anything, no one would see.
Asuka floated lazily on the surface, enjoying herself…
Julian shut down his computer, planning to turn in early.
After all, he'd just lost a full cup of blood. He needed proper rest to recover.
But when he reached the villa entrance, he noticed something odd.
The door was locked.
"Huh?"
"Did those two accidentally lock it from the outside when they left?"
he muttered.
Of course, a locked door wasn't going to stop him.
Most of these seaside villas were half open-air anyway, and the walls weren't that high.
With a light jump, Julian grabbed the top of the wall and flipped over.
The moment he landed, he saw—
Asuka… floating in the pool.
"AH!!!"
Asuka panicked instantly, flipping over and plunging into the water. Her head seemed to smack against the edge of the pool.
"Glug… glug…"
A string of bubbles rose to the surface as she sank.
That hit to the back of her head looked pretty serious…
Julian sighed helplessly, jumped into the pool, and hauled her out.
She lay flat by the poolside, her lower abdomen slightly swollen. She'd clearly swallowed a lot of water.
"What the hell is she doing sneaking into my villa to go swimming…"
Julian couldn't make sense of her logic.
Still, saving her came first.
He quickly recalled the basic first aid steps he'd seen before.
Rescue breathing. Chest compressions.
That should be right, yeah?
No time to overthink it. He got to work.
After a few cycles, Asuka suddenly curled up and spat out a mouthful of water.
"Cough, cough, cough…"
"AH!!!"
She picked up right where she left off with the screaming.
"You perverted old man!"
"I knew you had your eyes on me!"
She clutched herself and scooted back.
Wait—where's my Blood Roar?
I clearly left it by the pool… where did it go?
While retreating, she quickly scanned the villa.
It looked identical to hers, but…
Her scattered shoes and clothes were gone.
Even the wall that had been scratched up by Blood Roar looked completely intact.
Hold on…
This wasn't her villa!
This was—
Asuka snapped her head toward Julian.
Don't tell me… this is his villa?!
I'm actually in his villa?!
Her face turned blank with despair.
Thinking about it now… he wasn't the pervert here.
She was just being an idiot…
"Relax. With what you've got, or rather don't have, why would I even be interested?"
Julian casually grabbed a towel and tossed it to her.
Asuka felt a brief warmth in her chest and quickly wrapped herself up.
But then his words sank in—
"What did you just say?!"
"What do you mean 'nothing to offer'?!"
"I'm at least… an A+!"
she muttered, frowning.
And thinking about what he must've seen while giving her first aid…
He definitely saw everything!
Asuka flushed red with embarrassment and anger.
At that moment, Mafuyu and Hana returned to the villa.
Seeing the door locked, they simply did what Julian did and climbed over the wall.
"Ah! Master, sorry to interrupt you two!"
Hana looked at Asuka, then Julian, then the clothes scattered around… yeah, this was awkward.
"I told you, if the door's locked, it's definitely—"
"Let's go, let's go."
Mafuyu quickly grabbed Hana, and the two of them hopped back over the wall.
"That's not what it looks like!"
Asuka felt like crying.
How was she supposed to explain this?!
"Alright, I'm going to sleep."
"If you're fine now, hurry up and leave. Otherwise, I'm charging extra."
Julian waved her off.
After all, losing that much blood at once wasn't something he could just shrug off.
"Charging your ass!"
"I'm the one who suffered here, okay?!"
"You creepy old man!"
"Hmph!"
Asuka grabbed her clothes and ran toward the door.
"They all climbed the wall… I should at least make it look cool too…"
she muttered to herself.
Gritting her teeth, she stomped her foot and tried to jump up and flip over the wall like the others.
And then—
Smack.
Her face hit the wall head-on.
Her nose instantly turned red.
"So embarrassing…"
Tears welled up in her eyes.
She hadn't expected the gap between her strength and theirs to be this huge…
Was it because she hadn't drunk enough blood?!
Left with no choice, she rubbed her nose and quietly left through the front door.
Outside, Mafuyu and Hana were waiting. They greeted her while trying hard not to laugh.
Asuka kept her head down, her face burning, and dashed straight into her own villa next door.
The two girls returned inside, hand in hand.
"Master, that ended pretty quickly."
"Not like you at all."
Mafuyu covered her mouth and giggled.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
"You know what I'm capable of."
"I just lost too much blood today. I need rest."
"Let's skip feeding tonight."
Julian headed straight for the bathroom.
Hana tilted her head.
"Mafuyu, Master looks pretty tired. Should we still… collect tonight?"
"Let's just use some of the stock for now."
Mafuyu thought it over.
After all, Julian wasn't made of iron. Giving him a break once in a while was only fair.
An hour later, Julian was already asleep.
Mafuyu and Hana quietly slipped out of the villa and into the kitchen.
Their "stock" was hidden in one of the refrigerators.
Back at the base, when no one else was around, they didn't bother hiding anything.
But now, they had to be careful.
Wouldn't want anyone to find it… or worse, steal it.
They carefully opened the fridge.
Their stash had grown to about a can of cola's worth—something they'd worked hard to accumulate since arriving here.
"One sip each. Don't get greedy."
Mafuyu licked her lips and took a small sip.
Pure satisfaction.
Hana also resisted the urge to drink more and only took a little.
She even licked the trace left on her lips clean. No waste.
"Alright, let's go."
They glanced around to make sure no one was there before quietly leaving.
Not long after, a figure slipped out of the darkness.
"Hmph. Sneaking here in the middle of the night to eat something… definitely suspicious!"
"Could be some kind of special potion to boost strength!"
"And they even lied to me, saying it was that thing. Too much, seriously!"
Asuka crept up to the fridge.
The thing those two had been secretly drinking was inside.
Her hands trembled slightly as she opened it.
Condiments lined the outer shelves.
Behind them, hidden away, was a bottle…
"No way… it really is that?!"
Asuka stared in shock…
"....."