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“Did I…”
As Crim woke up, a familiar ceiling greeted her.
“…So I got back.”

It was the room above the shed, where she had slept for the last few days. The heat lingering in her body reminded her that she defeated the monster, but her memories seemed to end abruptly after that. She understood that she had passed out, and then someone had carried her all the way there. So she tried to get up from the bed and-

“Guhpah?!”

Somehow her feet did not reach the floor the way she wanted, making her trip and fall face-first on the floor while making a strange sound.

“Owww…that hurt…just what-”

Wait what?

As she propped herself up to sit on the floor, she realized her head was roughly as tall as the bed, even though she remembered it being lower. Also, the room felt oddly large. Though looking at it again…

Full of suspicion, she lowered her gaze to her legs. Her body had always been on the smaller side…but not that small. It was almost like…

“Wh-what in the world?!”

Her body had shrunk so much it could no longer be called small, but was literally that of an eight or nine year old. And as the realization hit, Crim could not stop herself from screaming.

“Okay…so you’re definitely still the same Crim from before, yeah?”
“Yeah…sorry for making such a fuss…”
“That’s what I told you dad. This is Crim.”

Crim’s scream was so loud it could be heard out in the city, so Ludger and George rushed to the room.

From what they told her, after she defeated the boss, the townsfolk finally arrived at the cave…where they found George on the ground, and a sleeping mysterious girl near him, which they brought back to the town.

“By the way, how did your body even get so small in the first place?”
“About that…”

Anyone would want to know that. Even Crim had been confused at first, but now she had an idea of what had happened.

“I’m really sorry I kept this a secret. I’m actually part of a species known as Noble Red…I’m not human.”

That species had the unique ability to consume blood to manifest power. The Skill she used while fighting the monster, Blaze Blood, had used up all the blood she was given at the start of the game, so now Crim was essentially running on an empty tank.

“Unless I drink blood again, I won’t be able to regain my previous body. My species requires someone’s blood to maintain our shape. If that makes you uncomfortable, then…”
“That doesn’t matter!!”

George shouted that all of a sudden, startling Crim.

“You still came to help me..!”

His eyes were almost tearing up as he stared straight at her, while Ludger watched from a distance. After some time, Ludger broke the silence.

“Yes, George is right, that doesn’t matter. You’re the person who saved the lives of both my son and my daughter, and you’re nothing less, and nothing more.”
“Y-yeah, you really saved me there. I don’t care if you aren’t human, you still did that for me!”

Both of them got closer to Crim as they assured her of that. She was left speechless for a moment, but that was quickly overtaken by a strange sensation that put her at ease.

“I see…thank you.”

Crim smiled innocently and thanked the two. They responded by just staring at her with their mouths opened, which really confused Crim.

“Ahem… Anyway, the only issue remaining now is your body. But we can fix that if you just drink some blood, right?”
“…Maybe.”

A bit shocked by that question, she reluctantly gives a reply.

“Well, let’s do it then. Do you want to take it from a cup? Or do you have to directly bite someone?”
“N-no, there aren’t limitations like that…”
“A cup should do the trick then.”
“I’ll do it. This was all my fault anyway, so this is the least I can do in return.”

Saying that, George held out his hand and cut into his wrist with no hesitation or delay, before pouring the blood into a cup. Crim gulped loudly as she peered into that cup, filled with a crimson liquid.

Somehow that liquid looked extremely appetizing to her, maybe due to her being a Noble Red now. But it also began to awaken the trauma of her childhood, sending a cold chill down her spine.

“Umm…like I mentioned before, I’m actually vegetarian…”
“I remember, but does that mean you want to remain looking like that?”
“Ugh…”

George retorted back as he healed the wound on his wrist with a recovery potion, and Crim had nothing to say back.

That would be a problem, my limbs are so stubby I won’t be able to fight at all.

“Just clamp your nose and down it one go already.”
“Uh-urgh…”

Okay, this is nothing!

Taking a deep breath to steel her resolve, she followed George’s suggestion and closed her eyes, blocked her nose, and downed the cup in one go.