Overlord: When Human Meets Inhuman

Chapter 45: A drug

"Good evening Mark. It's a surprise seeing you here." 
I take a quick look behind me and I immediately recognise the silhouettes of the two lizardmen, so I smile and gesture them to sit down with me. Zenberu and Zaryusu walk past me and sit in front of me, with two bowls of what looks to be meat stew. There's a nice smell coming from them, it's quite pleasant. 
"Well, I was hungry. And I needed to eat something that doesn't make me feel like a bloodthirsty monster as soon as I eat it." 

Feeding from humans is nice, but the more I keep behaving like a vampire, the more I feel I'm straying further from my humanity.  

We start happily talking casually a bit about ourselves, our past and such, and then the conversation moves on to a romantic topic, of course. 
"So do you have a partner?" I ask the two of them, as I finish my food. 
"Nah! But Zaryusu does!" 
"Yeah, exactly. Do you?" 

Ah…it's a complicated answer. I wouldn't know whether to say yes or no. 

"Well…yes and no. I mean, I do have somebody I love, and she loves me back, I think, but we're not…engaged, let's say." I explain blushing a little. 
"Aha! Who is she?" Zenberu asks excited. 
"Excuse him, sometimes he gets carried away. If you don't want to or can't say, that's fine." 

Well I don't really have anything against telling, but I don't know if Shalltear does, so I'll shut up for now.

"Well, I'd tell you, but I don't know if she's alright with it, so I'd rather keep my mouth shut for now. I hope you'll understand." I explain, blushing a little.
"Ah, fine! By the way, are you still a virgin?"

Well...no. Zenberu is right by subtly saying I look like I'm still a virgin, but unfortunately for him I'm not.

"No, I'm not. It's…a long story. A very long story. I'll tell you someday of course, but I can't be bothered to now." I explain and yawn. 
"I see. Don’t worry, we understand. Right, Zenberu?” Zaryusu says nudging his friend in the side. 
“Ah, sure!” 

These two guys are very nice. They’re the opposite of each other, and that is very funny to me. They also seem to be very good friends… 

We keep talking for another while, with our bellies full, about life and such. It’s relaxing to have a nice chat with somebody every now and then, and especially with somebody new. And lastly, we’re not talking about work or anything, so I’m not stressing myself in any way. 
“You want to take a walk with us? We were heading back to the 6th floor. I can also introduce you to my partner and my brother.” Zaryusu asks at some point. 

Well…I still have time before I need to head to Shalltear’s room, so sure. I’d love to meet even more new people. Lizardmen seem pretty friendly. 

“I’d love to!” 
Zaryusu and Zenberu take me to the 6th floor, and they stop in front of an area with 10 big log houses. 
“This is where we live. It’s not the biggest or most comfortable place I’ve lived in, but it’s got everything and everyone I need.” Zaryusu explains happily and gestures me to follow him. He walks me to the last log house on the right, where I see a lizard person sitting in front of the entrance. 

But…she’s completely white and she’s got red eyes. I’m also assuming she’s a female. 

As soon as she sees the three of us she gets up and walks to Zaryusu, giving him a hug. 
“Crusch, this is Mark. He’s a vampire working for the King, and, since a few days, our training partner.” 

So Crusch is her name. She’s different from all the other lizardmen I’ve seen around here. Is she a vampire too? She’s pale and with red eyes, what more could you ask?