I became a vampire princess and then a dragon girl?

"Okay, that was just a little black panther. Shiz has already caught it. Come on, open your eyes and take a look."

Shaking the body that was tightly bound by Istina, Eve whispered comfortingly.

"…real?"

"Really~"

"……Oh."

After hesitating for a long time, Istina slowly opened her eyes a little, and jumped off Eve after seeing the little black panther in Melchis's hand.

"Ah, be careful."

As a result, Istina's legs felt a little weak and she almost fell down when she came down. Eve helped her in time.

"Okay, Shizu, let's release it too. Let's go around a bit more. If we still don't find anything, we can go back."

As she spoke, Eve took out another piece of meat from the demiplane and placed it on the ground.

"Yeah! Okay, be a good boy~"

After comforting the little black panther in her hand, Melchis put it back on the ground. The little black panther swallowed the mouse in its mouth in a few bites, then took the piece of meat that Eve took out and disappeared into the forest again without looking back.

Just like that, after experiencing such a small disturbance, the Ghost Search Team continued their operations.

They didn't encounter anything unusual during the rest of the journey, but Istina would jump onto Eve whenever there was any sign of trouble, making Eve consider whether she should just let her hang on her forever.

"Ah! Eve, Eve, look over there!"

Suddenly, Melchis seemed to have discovered something and quickly shouted to Eve in a low voice.

"Ok?"

Looking in the direction that Sith pointed, a white figure was wandering aimlessly in the dark woods. From a distance, it looked like a human figure. What was even more strange was that the human figure was actually floating in the forest.

But Eve could clearly see that something was wrong with the 'figure' with her night vision ability - it was more like a large white cloth than a figure, and not a very fine one. It was only because the light was too dim and people subconsciously imagined it that they mistook it for a figure.

"Eve, it's a ghost, what should we do?"

At this time, Melchis also came to Eve and asked in a low voice.

"What should I do... Let's catch it. I have some impression of this thing. It seems to be a magical beast. The main body is in the tree. Don't make a mistake."

That's right, Eve had already seen that the true identity of the suspected human figure in front of them was actually a spider-like monster, which was also a frequent source of ghost rumors. Scholars believed that the things it created seemed to be for courtship.

This kind of monster is quite afraid of humans, which is why the guards failed to encounter it and discover its true form during the previous search.

By the way, at this time, Istina was hanging on Eve again, and even blocked her ears, completely refusing to accept any information from the outside world, which can be said to have turned cowardice into reality.

"Viya and Arcana please come too. I really can't move right now."

As Eve spoke, she shook her body which was firmly locked by Istina.

"Ah."

"Leave it to me, Master. But I didn't expect Tina to be so afraid of these things."

At the end of his words, Akana looked at Istina on Eve with a smile on his face.

"Who says it isn't?"

After a wry smile, Eve also formally gave the order.

"Okay, please capture the ghost and return it to its place for Tina to see. That should be enough."

"Good~"

§ 73 The Haunted Forest (Part 3)

The capture operation went very smoothly. Within a few minutes, a large spider was caught among the people. Because Eve had released a little pressure to intimidate them, the spider was now in a state of pretending to be dead and dared not move.

This spider monster looks quite gorgeous in appearance, and it is the kind that will not cause people to feel disgusted. Its entire body is covered with fine blue hair with a metallic luster, and the joints of its legs are decorated with pure white hair.

At this moment, its eight little eyes were revealing deep fear. Is it easy for a little spider like this to find a partner?

I don’t know why a bunch of people were walking around here a few days ago, which scared it so much that it didn’t dare to come out. As a result, it was caught today.

Woohoo, I'm sorry, my significant other who is nowhere to be found, I can't go see you...

However, compared to the drama-loving Eve in her heart, she was busy explaining the reason for the ghost rumors to Istina.

"Okay, look, I told you there are no such things as ghosts, so stop scaring yourself, Tina."

"Hmm...hmm, it turns out it's a spider."

Looking at the rumored real person who had been brought to her, Istina nodded stiffly and finally got off Eve to the ground.

"Well, now that we've seen the rumored ghost, let's go back."

As she spoke, Eve looked towards Melchis.

"How's it going? Is Shizu satisfied too?"

"Well! Go back!"

When Istina heard Melchis mention that she wanted to go back, she quickly agreed.

"Yes, that's right, brave man, let's go back to the city quickly, hurry up and go."

It seems that although the rumored true identity has been discovered, Istina probably won't be able to recover for a while. After all, although she is shouting that she wants to go back quickly, she still holds Eve's hand tightly and dares not move.

Tina usually doesn't react at all to the bushes around her when camping on weekdays, but when the ghost rumors come into play, she can't stand it anymore.

"Okay, let's go."

Smiling, he pulled up Istina, and the few of them set out on their return journey. The spider monster that had been pretending to be dead also ran away a while after they left, disappearing into the depths of the bushes. It had decided to find another place to look for its other half, as this place was too dangerous.

On the other side, although the truth of the ghost rumor had just been discovered, Melchis was still muttering with some regret on the way.

"So the so-called ghost is the monster from earlier... I thought ghosts really existed..."

“Nothing is the best!”

"Well..."

Just as Melchis looked at Istina and wanted to say something, she suddenly froze there.

"T-Tina, y-you over there."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Istina's side.

"Huh? What's wrong? It can't be a ghost..."

Subconsciously looking in the direction Melsis pointed, Istina froze in place. A young girl appeared in her eyes.

To be precise, she was a girl with a translucent body. Tina could even see the trees behind her through her body, and some bushes overlapped with her body. When she noticed that Istina and the others were looking at her, she tilted her head inexplicably.

"..."

Before she could finish her words, Istina fainted directly in Eve's arms with an extremely peaceful expression. In a sense, this mysterious girl had just performed a literal head-tilt kill?

Tsk, but now it’s difficult. When they were taking a bath together, she accidentally discovered that Shizu was very afraid of her dragon mode for some reason, which made it impossible for her to grow bigger by converting her bloodline. So how should she bring Tina back?

As for whether this mysterious girl posed any threat, she was not worried at all. After all, fear often comes from insufficient firepower.

"Eve, Eve, it really is a ghost!"

At this time, Melchis seemed particularly excited. After all, she had just said that the previous ghost incident was boring, and then another one came that was even more realistic.

"..."

On the other side, after seeing Istina suddenly faint, the mysterious girl hesitated for a moment and then walked towards them. The bushes on the road did not interfere with her actions at all, as if the two sides were not in the same dimension at all.

"Is she okay?"

After coming to the front of the few people, the mysterious girl leaned down slightly and looked at Istina, who was lying in Eve's arms with a peaceful face.

“S-speaking?!”

Compared to Melchis's surprise, Eve was much calmer.

"Ah, it's okay. Tina is afraid of rumors about ghosts, so she was a little scared just now. Don't worry, Miss Weapon Elf."

"Hey, how did you know?"

The mysterious girl was a little surprised to hear Eve reveal her identity.

"Well, I just happened to know about it. Don't take it seriously."

To be precise, this situation was an interesting story that Eve had seen when she was researching information related to the Awakening Ceremony and weapon elves for Istina. She had never expected that she would encounter an actual example in person.

As we all know, weapon elves live in a different dimension from this continent. People can summon them by holding an awakening ceremony at a specific time, and the weapon elves will choose whether to sign a contract with people and come to this world depending on the situation.

So the question is, is it possible for something like the Awakening Ceremony to occur in nature? It's like two dimensions coming close together.

The answer is of course yes. The current situation of this weapon elf lady is an example.

Sometimes there will be some overlaps and intersections between the two dimensions, and at this time some things in the opposite dimension will appear on the other side in the form of projections. The projections cannot be interfered with by the other side, just like this weapon elf, so her body is a little illusory and she can pass directly through the bushes.

However, the current situation can be said to be extremely rare. After all, the possibility of such a projection happening is already ridiculously small, not to mention that the one projected happens to be a top-level weapon elf. What kind of luck do they have?

After sighing in her heart at her group's outrageous luck, Eve looked at the weapon elf in front of her and asked.

"If you don't mind, could you please explain this to Tina after I wake her up? Otherwise, she might be scared for a while."

"Yeah, no problem. I thought I wouldn't meet anyone this time, so it's a good opportunity to chat with you guys."

The mysterious weapon elf smiled and nodded, then began to chat casually with a few people, while Eve also began to try to wake up Istina.

Wait, if Tina wakes up and sees the other person again, won’t she faint again?

Well, I hope not...

§ 74 The Haunted Forest (End)

"Tina, Tina, wake up~"

In her drowsiness, Istina seemed to feel Eve calling her.

"Um... Mr. Brave?"

I opened my eyes dazedly, and what came into view was Eve's face. I seemed to be lying on her lap?

"Ah, are you awake? Are you okay?"

"Um...I remember just now..."

After taking a quick look at the surrounding scenery, Istina immediately remembered what she had seen before she fainted.

"Ghost! My brave hero! There really is a ghost!"

"Okay, what Tina just saw wasn't a ghost."

As she spoke, Eve helped Istina sit up and looked towards Melchis. At this time, the weapon elf was chatting casually with Shis. After seeing Istina wake up, she stood up and greeted her politely.

"Hello, young lady. I am a weapon elf, not a ghost."

"Eh?! B-But why is your body translucent?!"

"Well, let me explain this."

Eve took over the conversation and told Istina what she knew.

"So that's how it is... I was scared to death just now..."

After listening to Eve's explanation, Istina patted her chest and said with a lingering fear, it seems that she really has no way to deal with ghosts.

Seeing her like this, the weapon elf also seemed a little guilty.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect to scare you just now."

"Ah, no, it's my own fault. You were also dragged into this, so I don't blame you."

As she spoke, Istina subconsciously tried to pick up the weapon elf in front of her, but she missed it.

"what!"