Chapter 43
#043
1.
A woman curled up in a ball inside a box.
Looking closer, she wasn't simply crouching.
Her posture had been fixed by a straitjacket.
I never would've expected a beauty who enjoyed bondage play to pop out of a bag left in a remote place like this.
Even Cedric, lord of the world, would be startled.
"What the hell is this."
Cotton-candy pale peach-blond hair. A face that looked about Arbel's age.
By the boobs-vs.-flat-chest dichotomy, she leaned toward the boobs side.
Her doll-like features were dreamily beautiful.
"Hmm. A face that could sweep a nation."
A woman like that, curled up small inside a bag, made the whole scene feel a bit criminal.
Or not?
Come to think of it, stuffing a woman into a bag in a straitjacket was pretty much a crime.
"Human trafficking?"
I cautiously reached out and placed a finger under her nose....
She was ice-cold, like touching freshly chilled pork belly straight out of the fridge.
And yet she was still breathing.
"No way... Brother Yiming's surprise for his little brother? Did I get the wrong intel?"
I was at a loss in every way when—
-ding! Ding!
An alert rang.
"Holy fuck, you startled me!"
Fuck! I'd gone out without wiping off my mascara, and now I'd blurted out a girly exclamation.
Let's check that unexplored status-window alert....
[ Fate Encounter effect activated! ]
[ You've encountered a key character in the scenario! ]
Fate Encounter?
✧ [Fate Encounter]: Greatly increases the chance of encountering major characters in the scenario!
Was this what it was?
One of the benefits of Premium Fever.
Compared to the other perks, it wasn't very intuitive, so I'd never paid this one any mind.
This was also the first time the effect had actually kicked in.
Which meant.
"So this girl is a major character?"
I looked back into the bag.
The unfamiliar girl's unreal beauty came into view again.
That unreal aura was one of the hallmarks of a mage.
A cargo item left abandoned for 'a month.' No upkeep. Locked inside a box as cold as an icebox.
A being that should've turned into an instant-frozen candy by now, yet was somehow alive and breathing just fine.
And right now, what I wanted most was to resurrect Arbel through the blood of a True Ancestor.
Then....
"Don't tell me... you're a True Ancestor?"
Wasn't that a little too much to chalk up to coincidence?
You're saying the status window gives that much story correction?
"...Nah, no way."
I quickly denied it.
Think about it logically.
Twilight Resource Development's lifelong dream was to tame a True Ancestor.
A True Ancestor in cargo they just threw out and left sitting around?
And not even sealed away properly, with not a single guard on it?
"Probability: 0.1%"
Sadly, the status window I got wasn't that convenient a thing.
Still, you never know....
Let's see, according to Yiming, a True Ancestor was a vampire, right?
"Patient, say ah~."
Like giving medicine to a puppy, I pinched her soft lips and gently lifted them.
"......"
A long, sharp fang that drew my eye.
This wasn't just a crooked tooth.
The fangs were so sharp and beastlike it was as if she weren't even the same species.
"...Is this real?"
2.
Since she didn't seem likely to wake no matter how much I prodded her, I carried the whole bag back home.
Even with the bag, it must've weighed at least 70 kilos.
But for me, after awakening my circuits, a weight like that was no problem.
Again, awakening my circuits naturally came with physical ability roughly equivalent to a Level 1 boost.
"Haa...."
So the sweat beading on my chin wasn't from exertion.
I was just scared shitless.
Objectively speaking, this was a very good situation.
The plan I'd been considering to clear the premium route was to kill Arbel and use True Ancestor blood to revive her as vampire Arbel.
In this world's setting, vampires had no side effects beyond a mild blood-drinking impulse, which made it an even more workable option once I knew that.
The keyword here was 'True Ancestor blood.'
But that True Ancestor blood was a far more extraordinary substance than I'd expected.
'Before being sealed, the True Ancestor was a mage at the 7th tier, standing at the pinnacle of life magic.'
'As a vampire, even a single drop of blood held boundless magical potential.'
That single drop of blood could.
You could inject it into a corpse already bereft of breath and turn it into a retainer—that is, a vampire—or bring it back to life.
Or, as with Project Z, dilute it to one two-millionth and turn hundreds of thousands of humans into ghouls.
'However... even sealed, the True Ancestor's blood has a powerful binding force over her own blood. Twilight Resource Development apparently only knows of a tiny amount that can break that control and be handled freely.'
'I've never seen it with my own eyes.'
That made the farming difficulty feel about the same as getting your hands on a nuclear bomb.
And yet.
I picked up a True Ancestor.
And I hadn't even shaved.
Paradoxically, that stroke of luck made me terribly uneasy.
"Fuck... what else are you planning to pull..."
Something I learned from my life in this other world.
When Cedric's having a lucky day, be on guard.
Same thing when the gacha suddenly hit an all-purpose jackpot.
This status-window bastard is the kind of bastard who gets a stomachache whenever he sees me doing well.
"But is there really any proof she's a True Ancestor?"
Maybe it wasn't that convenient of a development after all.
Could she be a run-of-the-mill vampire instead?
But then again, the 'Fate Encounter' alert had appeared, hadn't it?
"For now, should I drain her blood and have Arbel drink it?"
And then.
-click click click
As if in a horror movie, the bag's lock opened all by itself.
-thud
The bag was ripped open roughly before I could stop it.
And in the middle of it, 'that thing' curled up inside opened her eyes.
Her eyes moved slowly, as if the drowsiness of awakening hadn't yet worn off.
Deep crimson eyes whose depths I couldn't read.
The moment my gaze met those vertically slit pupils.
"Hhk...!"
I finally understood why mutts shit and piss themselves when they meet a dog catcher.
The prey understands it instinctively.
That the being before it is an absolute apex predator.
-clack clack clack
No, no, don't just take that off all of a sudden....
Freed from her restraints, she slowly rose, covering her body with her flowing pale peach-blond hair.
"Was it you who awoke this one's long slumber?"
Heaven above, earth below. I alone am supreme.
An arrogant voice, as if it had set the whole world beneath its feet, rang in my ears.
I knew it instinctively.
Shiiiiit... it's real!!!
When she was quietly sitting there she looked only cute, but the moment she opened her eyes she unleashed pressure beyond even Kisara, that crazy samurai bitch.
There was no doubt.
I knelt without the slightest hesitation.
Here goes... full kowtow mode!!!
-BANG BANG BANG BANG
"The great head of the Tsukimiya family! I, a humble human, have come to pay audience to the one and only Red Moon!"
Is that the aura of a 7th-rank mage?
Can something like this even exist? My body is shaking like an aspen.
"Bring me garments befitting this one's station."
A high-pitched voice, but with dignity and charisma coexisting in it.
"Yes!"
That's clothes, right?
Since Arbel's size is probably about the same....
I quickly grabbed the cheongsam I'd received from the brothel before and the gold panties Yiming had given me.
"I have brought them!"
With both hands, I respectfully presented them, then promptly bowed down again.
-spurt!
A small whoosh of wind, then a searing pain in my left ear.
Blood flowed down along the rim of my ear.
The tip of my ear had been torn off like it had been gnawed by a rat.
"Have you lost your mind? You dare make me wear the clothes of those vulgar Three Houses bastards?"
Why the hell are you making a fuss! It's pretty!
It's a precious item only the ace girls in the red-light district wear!
"J-just give me a moment. If you'll let me go outside, I'll get you a new outfit...."
"Shut up. Human."
"......"
Okay. I understood immediately why she'd been crushed by a coup and sealed away.
She was completely crazy.
"What's wrong with this material? Did you rip it off a corpse?"
"I never imagined I'd have the honor of receiving you so suddenly, my lord! I humbly bow my head and beg your forgiveness!!!"
"Hmph. To think the place I woke up in after all this time would be this pathetic."
Despite her complaint, I could hear the rustling sound of her getting dressed.
"You may raise your head."
When I lifted my head, the True Ancestor was looking down at me in a cheongsam with an absurdly high side slit, her long legs exposed.
Her face was sour, as if she hated every part of this situation.
A pair of panties flew into my face.
"You throw something like this out as underwear? Do you think I'm a joke?"
She seemed especially displeased with the sheer panties Geumriga had treasured like a priceless jewel.
"Neglecting me is a crime deserving death ten thousand times over... Still, the air of the mortal world after so long is quite refreshing. I'll show you mercy, so don't take this blessing lightly."
"Your grace overwhelms me!"
Looks like I got through it somehow.
Man, I'm seriously flustered.
What the hell is this.
But even if it was sudden, I had to keep my head on straight.
What was in front of me wasn't just some True Ancestor.
It was the key to clearing this run, and at the same time, a being fully capable of ruining my first clear.
Whether Twilight Resource Development was thrown into an uproar because its True Ancestor disappeared,
or why that supposedly amazing True Ancestor had suddenly popped out of cargo Geumriga had left abandoned,
that was something I could worry about later.
"Still, how thoughtful of you to prepare a meal."
What snapped me out of my thoughts was the True Ancestor muttering to herself.
The True Ancestor licked her lips while looking at Arbel.
Her eyes practically glistened with appetite.
She had a look that made my mouth water.
Come to think of it, this bitch is a vampire, right?
No way! Don't you dare! Arbel is mine!
I hurriedly bowed my head and said,
"Master, please drink my blood."
"I have no interest in the blood of some lowly man."
"That woman is my little sister, and she's on her last legs and on medicine, so her blood probably tastes awful."
The True Ancestor raised her brows as if to say, 'How dare you talk back?', but after checking Arbel, she nodded readily.
"Indeed. It does seem to have gone stale."
"Right? It'll ruin your appetite."
The True Ancestor walked over to me and beckoned with her fingertip.
"Show me your neck."
The True Ancestor's fangs gleamed especially sharp.
That suddenly got a little scary.
What if she sucks me dry and I die?
"Bend your knees more. Isn't that too high?"
The True Ancestor slapped my forehead with her palm.
What a goddamn rude bitch.
"Master. Fine, all of that is fine, but... you're not going to suck me dry to death, are you?"
"Haa...."
What came back instead was her fangs sinking into my neck.
It didn't hurt nearly as much as I'd expected.
But her soft, squishy lips and the way her tongue wriggled as if licking the wound were strangely sensual.
Her breath tickled the nape of my neck.
The True Ancestor smelled faintly of disinfectant.
"Sluurp... sluurp... sluurp...."
The sound of drinking Capri Sun.
-gulp gulp gulp
The sound of some sticky liquid being swallowed down her throat.
"Sluurp... chuuup... chuuup...."
Maybe because my blood was draining out, I felt kind of drowsy.
I'm sleepy....
But this... when is she gonna stop sucking?
"Sluurp... chuuup... chuuup...."
"Hey?"
I tried to push the True Ancestor away a little.
But she didn't budge.
"Sluuup... chuuup... chuuup...."
"Hey? At this rate, I'm gonna bleed out and die, you know?"
Like a leech stuck to a cat with bulging eyes wolfing down Churu, she clung on no matter how much I endured it.
Even when the corners of my eyes were pulled sideways, she still wouldn't let go.
"Chuuup! Chuuuuup! Chuuuuup!"
Stopstopstopstop! How much the hell are you drinking!
"I'm dying! I'm fucking dying like this!!!"
Only after I shouted at the top of my lungs did the True Ancestor finally pull away.
"Tch. And you call yourself a man, whining like that."
She said irritably, wiping the corner of her mouth.
"For a man to have offered his blood to this one... count it as an honor to your clan."
"......"
At the very least, couldn't you say I tasted good?
The tiny burp she let out in the middle really pissed me off.
Anyway....
At least I'd fed her.
And when people are full, they tend to feel good.
They say judges hand down more lenient rulings after a meal.
Vampires probably do too.
Wouldn't this be the perfect time to ask or beg her to save Arbel?
"What are you standing there blankly for?"
The True Ancestor urged me on like a rookie who'd frozen up.
"Yes?"
"This one's meal is finished."
So what, you bitch. Want me to brush your teeth for you instead?
"Dessert?"
"...Huh?"
"Mochi and matcha?"
Mochi and matcha? Give me a break, damn it.
This is the Necropolis, you shot-in-the-head bitch!
I swallowed my rising anger and said,
"Master, do you prefer strawberry mochi or red bean mochi?"
No matter what, Arbel has to live first.
Arbel comes first, damn it!