Even wine ages in a cool, dark place.
Bloodsucker.
Vampire.
Nosferatu.
Although often lumped together as “vampires”, there were distinct differences between them.
Bloodsuckers were the lowest species, s*aves created by vampires through bloodsucking. They didn’t have the ability to turn into bats or mist, but only to attack human beings, suck their blood, and increase the number of bloodsuckers. They were easily destroyed by the light of day or by holy power.
Vampires were the well-known vampires themselves. The special ability to increase the number of vampires through the act of bloodsucking was often talked about, but in fact, most of the time, it only produced bloodsuckers.
When a vampire created a vampire, they share the vampiric power that resided in their blood. So usually, they only created vampires when they were in love with someone and made them their eternal companion.
Nosferatu was also called the “True Ancestor”, and it was said that there were only a few of them in the world. A vampire who can (supposedly) create an unlimited number of vampires.
Their power was said to be comparable to that of demons and devils, but they had basically never appeared on the stage of history, and their principles of action were said to be unknown in many respects.
“… Umm, Everis-sama. Why are you telling me such a story? And in a place like this…”
“Hmm?”
Mialanze, who had been given a passing knowledge of vampires, said with a puzzled look. The triangular ears above her head twitched.
It was so quiet that even the sound of the rubbing of clothes could be heard loudly. This was the deepest part of the royal castle’s dungeon. It was a stone cell with no light even shining through. Without the light of a magic lamp, the place would be sealed in true darkness.
Mialanze was summoned there by René and Everis.
“…The other day I acquired the vampire ability by feeding on a soul.”
René was already in vampire form.
Her canine teeth were elongated, and on her back were small coated wings. These wings could expand and contract, though the principle was unknown, and when in flight, they would expand to a size that would wrap around René’s body.
Incidentally, she was wearing a gothic-lolita dress with black frills and silver studs all over her body, and even a morning veil on her head, but this had nothing to do with her transformation and was just a costume to create a certain atmosphere.
“I can now create vampires, but there’s a problem.”
“Are you saying that when you create a vampire, you share your blood’s power and become weaker?”
“Uh-huh. In my case, I can replenish it by eating souls, so there is no problem as long as I do not overuse it, but the success rate is low … I have not tried it properly and have no data, but my feeling is that it is about 50%. The power of the soul was not enough to fully reproduce the vampire’s abilities.”
René could feed on souls by making a contract with souls that have died with regret, and then vindicate them.
It was the evilest of all evil methods to disassemble souls that should be reincarnated and use them to strengthen oneself, and furthermore, it is something that should not be possible. It was a feat that was only possible because René had been given the Divine Protection by the Evil God itself, and so she had one foot in the realm of the gods.
However, it was not all-powerful either.
To put it in an easy-to-understand game-like way, ‘It’s like getting skill points according to the strength of the souls you eat and assigning them to your skill tree’.
Yuin’s soul was not so bad, but she did not fully acquire all of the vampire’s abilities.
“Flight” and “Atomization” for emergency escape, “Charming Evil Eye” that can do everything from gathering information to disturbing the enemy, and “Bloodsucking” that can be used in various ways, such as making bloodsucker and recovering one’s own magical power… Rather than aiming for perfection in each ability, each ability was broadly and shallowly reproduced at a practical level.
So it was a little bit half-baked.
“If there were vampires in the current situation, it would be a huge boost to our forces. But the problem is not only the success rate.”
Everis took over the explanation.
She pointed her finger at Mialanze with a snap.
“Vampires create partners of the same rank, you know. In other words, unlike the undead created by the «Create Undead» and other undead creation methods, there are no restrictions on their behavior.”
Most of the undead were absolutely obedient to the master.
Skeletons, which had almost no intelligence, and even those with high intelligence, such as ghouls and revenants, were imprinted with an unwavering and absolute loyalty.
Vampires, however, had none of that. Therefore, there was a danger of being betrayed by one’s blood partner.
There were also useful items such as “S*ave Collars” and “S*ave Cores”, but they are only for wearing or embedding in the body. It was not a good idea to use them on a vampire, who could literally make their flesh be cut off and their bones be broken.
“So, I want to use this power on someone who is not bothered by the worst-case scenario of death, but is still loyal to me.”
When René smiled with fangs exposed, Mialanze kneeled down in front of her and put her hand on her chest.
“Then I will gladly offer myself to you.”
“I knew you would say that.”
René had called Mialanze to this place where no light shone, with the intention of turning her into a vampire.
“I know that your words were unworthy of me the other day, but I still want to be of service to Princess-sama even in battle. I don’t want you to be wounded like that again.”
“That was … something I did myself…”
She was referring to the fact that she stabbed herself with the cursed red blade in order to recover from her self-lost state.
Mialanze was distraught when she saw René return with wounds.
She had just reaffirmed her resolve after that.
René appreciated Mialanze’s unwavering loyalty. Well, that loyalty was also a bit of a waste at the moment, but if she could be turned into a vampire, that would be a different story.
René knew that Mialanze would volunteer, even at the risk of death. It was to be expected.
As Everis removed the “S*ave Collar” to expose the pure white neck, René put her hands on Mialanze’s shoulder and side of her head.
“If my body should decay, please use just my soul.”
“I hope that doesn’t happen.”
Mialanze’s ears stood up.
As an instinctive action, René thrust her canine teeth into Mialanze’s neck.
Her body knew what to do.
René’s fangs immediately probed the thick veins.
“Hyauu!”
Mialanze’s shoulders trembled.
All René had to do was take a light breath, and Mialanze’s blood flowed through her canine teeth and into her mouth.
Something that was not the original taste of blood, René could detect with her vampire taste buds. The taste of blood that was sweet like overripe fruit, yet still bitter. This bitterness, René thought, was the taste of the humiliation Mialanze had experienced.
Suppressing the desire to drink it all up and only take a sip, René instead sent her own blood from the wound.
She did not know where the blood came from, but it certainly flowed into Mialanze.
“Fah…”
“You’ve got a pretty voice.”
“Is that what bloodsucking is like?”
When René took her mouth away from her neck, Mialanze slumped down, sounding stunned.
Soon, however, the color of her face changed.
“Ugh!”
A single stream of blood flowed from her amber eyes.
With a watery cough, Mialanze coughed up a glob of blood.
“Oh, oh! Ouc, oww!!”
Clawing at her chest, Mialanze screamed in agony and rolled over, trying to hold herself up.
“Is this a failure …?”
“No,… it’s a struggle. All that’s left is to see if she can withstand vampirization…”
Everis took out a vial for a potion and popped the cork.
It contained a bright red, slimy liquid.
“Can you drink it, Mialanze?”
“That’s…”
She looked at the red liquid and thought it had a strange, delicious smell.
“The best medicine for a vampire. It’s a maiden’s blood. It might give you some energy.”
Everis shoved a vial into Mialanze’s writhing mouth, and Mialanze forcibly swallowed it down.
Then she wriggled again.
Her beautiful white skin gushed out blood, covering the wound like an image in reverse. There were several blood stains on her maid’s uniform.
“I don’t know how many days it will take, but we’ll just have to wait and see if this settles down.”
“So … we’ll put a Jack-O-Lantern around here so we’ll know if something goes wrong.”
“Yes, and I’ll let you know if anything goes wrong.”
“… Do your best, Mialanze.”
“Yes, you don’t have to tell me…! I, Mialanze, will surely become a vampire under the Princess, ahhhhhhh!!”
Mialanze scratched her nails on the stone floor. The nails peeled off, blood flowed, and then quickly grew back.
Waving a hand at the crawling Mialanze, René closed the cell to the darkness.
“… By the way, Everis. Have you worked out the storage magic yet?”
“I’m sorry, not yet. I’m prioritizing the dungeonization project…”
“Well, then…”
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