dmims Chapter 201: The Five Orange Pips (7)
Chapter 201: The Five Orange Pips (7)
“... Haa.”
Having left Charlotte’s side, I returned to the back alley hideout and sat quietly in an empty chair before letting out a deep sigh.
“This is utter madness...”
My head was throbbing with pain. What had I just witnessed? What exactly was lurking behind Charlotte Holmes?
... I almost lost another person dear to me.
To be honest, I had a trauma about losing people around me— quite a severe one at that.
Even if I came off as too sensitive, I couldn’t just help it.
Not everyone experiences their closest friends, all the way back from high school, abruptly disappearing one by one overnight now, after all.
The only one that remained had an accident while working with me at my previous job.
Because of that, I immediately quit my previous job or more like fled from that place. From that moment on, I lived like a recluse for a while, until financial difficulties led me to take a job as a programmer at a game development company.
I never imagined I would be hurled into the world of the very game I was developing.
This time... I absolutely cannot lose anyone...
I tried not to get attached, to keep my head steady and my mind focused.
But now that things had already spiralled out of my control, there was no helping it.
It was truly time to get serious before I lost even the connections I had made in this other world.
“Where have you been, Master...?”
“... Moran.”
Finishing my thoughts, I lifted my head to see Moran tilting her head with an innocent look in her eyes.
“Ugh... uh...”
“Kill... me...”
If her face and hands weren’t splattered with dark red blood,
“These filthy inferior lowlifes. You laughed gleefully when you branded Blaze’s shoulder, right? Why the long faces now, huh?”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...”
“Why, from your perspective, am I not a minority species that should be eradicated too? Then why not burn my shoulder too? This filthy and lowly...”
And, if the dying screams of the culprits, who were having their blood sucked out live by Princess Clay – she was behaving completely different from how she did a few hours ago – weren’t resounding behind Moran,
“... W-What? When did you come back?”
“.........”
“F-Forget the words you just heard! They were merely fabricated sentences I’ve come up with to intimidate those guys. So don’t misunderstand...”
She probably would have looked quite adorable right about now.
“Did you find out anything else?”
“Yes, I found out that the members of their organisation regularly gather at a temporary residence.”
“... A temporary residence?”
As Moran had been diligently working, I just silently patted her on the head for some time before asking. Unexpectedly, an answer popped out of her mouth to the question I had casually thrown.
“It’s like a regular meeting of the members who have infiltrated inside Britain where they report on the progress of their operations in the country.”
“Hmm...”
“I haven’t found the location yet. But it’s the most useful information that came out of these guys’ mouths over the past few hours...”
“I see.”
As I nodded quietly, Moran, noticing my expression, began speaking hastily with a visibly darkened complexion.
“... I-I-I’m sorry for not obtaining more useful information. Should I increase the intensity of the torture?”
“.......”
“Until now, I’ve been using methods that maximise pain without endangering their lives, but if I disregard their lives, there are many methods that can increase the pain several times over. That will surely...”
“There’s no need for that.”
I patted her head some more as I shook my head, soon leaving her behind and moving towards the guys tied to the chairs.
- Zzzttttt...
“Ugh... Huh...”
As I inflicted the guy who had informed me that Charlotte Holmes was the next target with a light electric spark, he trembled and started to moan.
“Why didn’t you tell us where the gathering place is yet?”
“That, that’s...”
“Let’s assume you’re just a pawn, so you might not know who’s behind everything. But you must know where the gathering place is, right?”
“I can’t help you with that...!”
His face paled as he started making excuses under my blunt questioning.
“I... I don’t know the exact location... Actually, I usually find the direction of the meeting with the magic mark engraved on me. We’re only notified of the general location of the meeting grounds right before every gathering...”
“... Is that so?”
“S-So... if you spare me... I can take you there myself...”
Hearing this, I couldn’t help but burst into a peal of loud laughter.
“Are you trying to negotiate now?”
“If you kill me, you won’t get what you want. I’m just letting you know about the clear facts here.”
“You’re mistaken. There are plenty of people who can replace you.”
“... U-U-Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”
In such a situation, the guy started to slowly worm his way up, trying his best to capitalize on this chance.
“I’m the only one among us here who has the mark. I-I’m the leader...”
“........”
“Huh? Why are you pulling out a knife now...”
I had no choice but to use a signature technique on her.
- Slice...
“........!?”
As I carved my own neck with the knife, the face of the princess, who had been trembling, suddenly turned into one of dismay.
“You didn’t need to apologise to that extent...”
Then, she muttered timidly, and suddenly bit her lip hard and stopped speaking.
- Thump, thump...
Soon, she staggered towards me with a vacant look in her eyes, her gaze heating up as she looked at my bleeding neck.
“... Hah~”
And shortly after, she bit fiercely into my neck.
“Ooougooh...”
Closing her eyes tight, she shivered in ecstasy.
- Click...
“... No, it’s alright.”
I carefully embraced her by the waist as she began to feed on me, surrendering my body to her. Then, I whispered slightly to Moran as I saw her abruptly aim a pistol at the princess’ head.
“”.........””
About a minute later,
“That’s plenty, Princess.”
“... H-Huh?”
Pushing her slightly forward as I whispered, Princess Clay finally regained her senses and looked at me with a dazed expression.
“J-Just a little more...”
“.......”
“... Can’t I have just a little more?”
For her, the blood that runs through my veins, infused with the power of a pure-blooded vampire, must be like a drug, perhaps even more potent than the most mind-numbing drug.
It’s only natural, then, that she would abandon even her outwardly haughty demeanour to make such a desperate plea.
“If you help me with this matter...”
What I was about to say,
“... You can feed on me.”
“......!”
For her, it was probably an offer she just couldn’t refuse.
“What exactly... do you mean?”
“Just as I said. I’ll grant you the right to consume my blood whenever you wish.”
“......”
“You may suck all the blood out of me, completely at once, or if you prefer, you can feed on me whenever you desire. I will not refuse or resist.”
Seeing the princess’s eyes had slowly begun spinning,
It seemed that the bait was well taken.
“So please, just help me this one time.”
“... What do I need to do?”
Admittedly, it might seem a bit excessive to me too.
“Well, it’s nothing much...”
But considering the importance and the risks of the role she must play in my plan, this kind of reward seemed totally justified.
“You’ll be a sacrifice for the KKK.”
“... Eh?”
This role required, at the very minimum, the intelligence of the fourth smartest woman in London to be performed perfectly.
.
.
.
.
.
A few days later, it was the day of the regular meeting of the KKK,
“Stop right there!”
“”........””
“What’s with the person you brought with you?”
One of the members guarding the entrance, with a face full of annoyance, stopped a man dressed like one of their own who emerged from the shadows with a tightly bound woman.
“She’s a vampire.”
“... Wh-What did you say?”
Looking at his reaction, Adler responded with a voice mixed with laughter.
“I’ve brought a vampire, everyone!”
“... Once this is over, I’ll really suck you dry.”
“So, may we enter?”