061 – Little Sister

After Lillian Eisulde’s participation, the war began to flow in a more normal direction.

Even that powerful vampire lord couldn’t withstand the magic bombardment of a 15-year-old and decided to retreat.

“Drive them out! Now is our chance!”

As soon as the army defending the northern border arrived as reinforcements,

Humanity quickly retook the fortress gates.

Of course.

“Halt! I will not permit a pursuit!”

“Why is that, Marquis?”

As soon as the ramparts were reclaimed, humanity wasn’t permitted to advance any further.

Unless the vampires re-engaged in battle,

there was no need to continue the fight, sacrificing the advantage of fighting from a favorable position.

“Prioritize the injured civilians.”

The people taken hostage by the monsters seemed gravely wounded.

Then, all efforts were focused on aiding those harmed.

“Please save my son…! I beg you, please…!”

The arrival of a mother who’d lost her son brought a stark realization.

As the vampires retreated, they’d dragged several hostages back to their lair.

“A rescue party…”

But… launching a rescue mission for the captured hostages was practically impossible.

Humanity had already exhausted every resource to retake the gate, leaving almost all soldiers weary.

The northern troops, designated as reinforcements, were under pressure to return to the northern border posthaste.

Moreover, the very nature of a rescue demanded a small team, one capable of breaching the vampire stronghold’s walls.

“…”

No one dared to step forward so lightly.

“Please, I beg you… please… please…”

…

A constant stream of cries echoed near the ramparts.

These were laced with the groans of the injured, writhing in pain.

But mostly, they were the lamentations of those who’d lost loved ones in the war.

Yet…

“…”

The soldiers guarding the gate grimly ignored the cries, focusing solely on the recovery efforts in the south.

“..What is that?”

From afar…

From the monster-infested forest, the people who had been dragged away as hostages were strolling back, almost leisurely.

“..Am I dreaming?”

“The hostages are returning!”

“Open the gates!!”

*

“All of the hostages captured by the vampires have safely returned to the Magic Kingdom, they say.”

“..What?”

Leonardo Leon wore an expression of disbelief at the minister’s report.

“Here is a summary report after a brief assessment of the returning civilians identities.”

“Did Layton himself sneak in among the hostages? How were the hostages rescued…”

Among the many names listed there, he saw one that had an unusually long explanation attached to it.

– Mi-Han (22)

The last of the hostages to return alive.

He apparently pledged to safely rescue all the captured hostages. (However, he required a payment of 2000 shillings per person, payable after the fact.)

According to an orphan’s testimony, he had survived a private audience with the Vampire Lord.

Many witnesses claim to have observed him wielding a doppelganger at will.

Furthermore, the hostages gave a consistent and strange statement. The vampires behavior changed abruptly and were oddly friendly, so much that they escorted them kindly all the way back to the Magic Kingdom.

It was becoming clear he was deeply implicated in this large-scale hostage rescue operation.

The gate guards continued their investigation, but it seemed he possessed no special abilities.

“Ha, and all this time he claimed to be just a regular academy student.”

*

The Academy declared a week-long recess.

Partly because the professors who participated in the gate battle needed to go to the Imperial Palace to receive their rewards.

And partly because some professors required recovery time, the Academy had no choice but to implement a week of temporary vacation.

Of course.

“To be in such a wretched state, unable to enjoy this freedom.”

My own body was in need of recuperation.

The thought of being confined to my dormitory for the better part of a week was, to say the least, unfortunate.

“I wonder when Ella will return.”

When Ella learned of my survival from the vampire nest for the first time,

she simply wept for two straight hours upon seeing me, only to abruptly leave my dormitory room without a word when her voice finally gave out.

“..She wouldn’t just not come back, would she?”

If Ella, who would normally have taken me back to the Eloise estate by any means necessary, would abandon me like this…

A thought crept in – perhaps she was angry with me for being absent for so long without a word.

“..Does touching a woman’s chest solve her anger if a man wants to?”

“Touch!”

“..Touch away.”

*Squeeze, squeeze…*

While receiving Isabella’s chest squeezes, I pondered alpha male techniques for appeasing an angry woman.

Knock, knock, knock…

“It’s open! Come in!”

Hoping that Ella had finally returned.

I promptly called out for them to enter…

“You don’t shut your door?”

“Ah… Your Majesty, you’ve arrived?..”

“You are the only friend I have who looks disappointed when the Emperor arrives.”

“Ah..!”

“Never mind, I jest.”

The sovereign of the Magic Kingdom entered the dormitory room.

“Shall I kneel now, Your Majesty?”

“Why aren’t you kneeling?”

“Uhm… Don’t you normally tell a sick person not to strain themselves?”

“I was just curious to see how far you would go.”

“Oh…”

Having survived the vampire nest, it seemed like I wasn’t easily alarmed by much anymore.

His Majesty seemed to sense this growth in me as well.

“You’ve grown.”

“Indeed?”

“You used to freeze at a single word from me, unable to even twitch.”

“If you found that form more comfortable–”

“This is much more comfortable. Let’s keep it this way. That way, I can freely ask you for this and that, without worry.”

“…You couldn’t ask me for favors if I wasn’t comfortable?”

“Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Um… I’m uncomfortable.”

“Adjust your posture, then.”

“I’m comfortable now.”

“Good. Now, I suppose I can ask as I please.”

“I’m still uncomfortable…”

“I’m comfortable.”

“Ah.”

As if satisfied with that sight… he pulled a paper from his robes and showed it to me.

“I have a favor to ask of a certain ordinary academy student.”

“…What is with that strange title?”

“Are you not the hero who survived a clash with the lord in a vampire den, rescuing the hostages unharmed?”

“…The rumors are a bit exaggerated, aren’t they?”

So saying, I accepted the paper.

“…What is this?”

“I’ve pinpointed the location of the Midnight Auction’s headquarters.”

“Is that so?”

“Only you, myself, and the Third Order of Knights who will lead the operation know this fact.”

“…That’s an awful lot of pressure.”

“Choose a date that suits you. We’ll raid the place according to your decision.”

“Perhaps, the reason I need to choose a date… is because I’m expected to go along?”

“You ask the obvious.”

“I’ve never been more uncomfortable in my life.”

“I’ll assign my best healing priest to remain by your side.”

“I’m fully recovered. …I’ll send you an answer by the end of next week…”

“Thank you! Take all the time you need. There’s no urgency for me any longer. You can postpone it for a year, two years, however long you need.”

Detailed information regarding the Midnight Auction subjugation operation was written on the paper.

‘You’re overestimating me far too much…’

“It’s nice and quiet with the academy on break. I don’t need to bother hiding my identity. I’ll bring Asher along tomorrow.”

“Your Majesty, I believe you’re forgetting something important. I’m a patient.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll bring a few elixirs that are supposedly good for you.”

“I have plenty of those.”

“I have more.”

“No, that’s… …I suppose that’s true, isn’t it?”

“Until tomorrow, then.”

“Ah… I shall see you tomorrow, then.”

“Tomorrow, might you regale my daughter with tales of your adventures within the Vampire Nest?”

“…Is it not that Your Majesty wishes to hear them himself, under the guise of Princess Asher?”

“Aha, you caught me~.”

I almost choked. He was acting as if he’d just come by a friend’s house, intending to handle business and then leave.

To think, a day would come when I’d be so friendly with the very power of the nation. I must have climbed pretty high. Just as that thought crossed my mind…

“Ah, almost forgot this.”

“Something?”

“I’ll leave it on the shoe rack.”

“What is it??”

“Until tomorrow.”

“Your Majesty??”

His Majesty swiftly departed, leaving something behind on the shoe rack.

“…Is His Majesty teasing me?”

“Shall I kill him?”

“Please, Isabella, no.”

A sudden thought: If I, capable of ruling all the vampires and doppelgangers of the Vampire Nest, were to unite with His Majesty, who governs all humans within the Magic Kingdom…

Could it not birth the strongest nation in history?

‘…Should I attempt it?’

A world where humans and vampires live together.

Of course, Isabella would be indispensable in that endeavor, and.

Overcoming humanity’s fear of monsters would also be a significant challenge.

As I pondered on how to gently coax humanity into accepting vampires,

“Ah, right. Isabella, would you be so kind as to fetch what His Majesty left behind?”

“Wait a moment!”

Remembering the object His Majesty had placed upon the shoe rack, I asked Isabella to retrieve it.

Leaping from the bed, she must have deemed it impossible to carry in her feline form, upon seeing the gift.

“Oof…”

She immediately shifted into her human guise on the spot.

“Sowwy…”

Ella returned to the dormitory room.

“Oh…”

Why is Isabella always stark naked after reverting from her Animagus form…?

“…”

“…”

An intensely awkward silence filled the corner beyond my gaze.

“O-Oppai…!”

Isabella blurted out the word “oppa” before dashing into the bathroom beside the entryway.

“I wasn’t told anyone would be here!”

From the way she erupted in shouts at me, I could gather what was happening.

“Who told you to shower in someone else’s house without permission, you little brat?”

“Brat? Did you call me a brat??”

“I apologize, Miss Ella… my younger sister came in without permission.”

“Don’t ignore me!”

“You can ignore her.”

Miss Isabella, having witnessed countless spectacles,

knew perfectly well how to defuse this situation.

“Ah… that, um, that’s… uh… should I maybe come back later?”

“I apologize, Miss Ella… I’ll step outside.”

“You’re not feeling well…? Ah! Yes! Shall we take a little walk outside?”