Ch.12TowerInside (4)

“…”

What’s with this cheeky little kid?

If someone’s first words upon meeting you are to expose their neck and ask you to suck their blood, who would possibly believe them?

Asking me to suck their blood was absurd enough, but what they said before that made me go beyond disbelief to questioning my own ears.

Surprisingly, I would soon realize that all of this was actually happening.

“…Let’s go inside and continue our conversation…”

“Whoa?!”

Anxiously looking around to see if anyone had overheard us, I forcibly pushed Irina into the room.

Fortunately, it seemed no one had heard our conversation. Being the private room of a high-ranking mage, it appeared to be soundproof, but I couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

As soon as we entered the room, I closed the door and let out a sigh of relief.

What just happened was quite a dangerous statement to make.

If the guards had seen a girl who looked about 10 years old exposing her neck and asking someone to suck her blood, they would have arrested me on the spot.

There weren’t any guards here, but if other mages saw this, things would get complicated.

‘It reminds me of back then…’

A thousand years ago, though my appearance was objectively less impressive than now as a True Ancestor, I was still quite handsome as a vampire.

Many women caused a commotion trying to sleep with me, which says it all.

‘That little elf…’

Whenever I tried to do something, she would interfere in various ways.

Most of the time, she didn’t intend to interfere, so I couldn’t really blame her.

Even now, it makes my teeth grind just thinking about it.

There were quite a few women who were my type too!

“Excuse me…”

“Hmm…? Oh, I’m sorry. I was just reminiscing about the past…”

Come to think of it, I originally came to see Irina.

Turning toward Irina to demand an explanation for what she had just said, I frowned.

“…What are you doing?”

“Um… Isn’t this… what you wanted…?”

As if she was already imagining me pouncing on her to suck her blood, she had pulled up her clothes to expose her upper body, tilted her neck to the side.

To put it simply, Irina’s appearance is quite remarkable.

As a True Ancestor with incomparable beauty, she might seem less radiant compared to me, but Irina is beautiful enough that anyone would describe her as pretty or cute. She’s a beautiful girl.

It’s just that she still has the look of a young child, so even though her pose might be seductive, it couldn’t possibly stir any lustful feelings.

To be frank, she just looks cute.

‘The old me might have run away in horror…’

It’s true that I was starved for women, but not to the point of viewing a young girl in a sexual way.

Even if I were starving, I’d rather just live with it than look at a young girl that way…

That would never happen.

Anyway,

“No… I have no intention of sucking your blood, so get up…”

“What?!”

As soon as I said I had no intention of sucking her blood, she jumped up as if what I said was absurd and started questioning me.

Then she bombarded me with questions, asking if I wasn’t Count Vladimir’s descendant, and if so, shouldn’t I enjoy sucking blood?

My goodness, she’s so noisy.

“How did you find out that I, or rather, Count Vladimir, enjoyed sucking blood?”

“…What? Of course I know that!”

What does she know?

I wasn’t particularly fond of sucking blood.

After all, I could absorb power from other monsters or the Demon King’s army to become stronger and heal without having to suck blood.

Of course, according to the setting, sucking blood supposedly gives an incredible pleasure and heavenly taste, but doing such a thing made me feel like I was no longer human, so I didn’t really like it.

‘I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a vampire, but…’

She seems so certain about it, which is strangely suspicious.

There’s only one person who would know about me.

“And they said you were really into women! Especially the fresh blood of young, pretty women!”

“That’s not true…! *Ahem*!”

“Huh?”

For a moment, I almost got angry, but I managed to hold back.

It seems the rumors have been distorted…

Even when I was active as Count Vladimir, I rarely sucked blood.

No, I barely even met women in the first place!

I was too busy traveling to defeat the Demon King—where would I have found time to meet women?

It was more like women who were captivated by my looks and fame came to me at inns, asking me to take them.

So why, after a thousand years, have I become a perverted freak who craved the blood of young women?

This is so absurd it’s almost enlightening.

“Hehe, I know everything about Count Vladimir!”

Seeing her act so smug while getting everything wrong makes me want to give her a knock on the head.

I pressed my forehead and said:

“…This doesn’t seem like an appropriate conversation to have in front of a self-proclaimed descendant.”

“Then ask me anything! I’ll answer everything!”

Oh ho, you said it?

I smiled and asked a question.

“What was Count Vladimir’s favorite food?”

“Kimchi stew!”

“What…?”

How could she know this?

That’s impossible…

‘Ah… now I understand.’

I completely get it now.

“It’s a famous food from the East! Hehe, you didn’t know that, did you?”

“No, I did know. I can tell who told you.”

“Eh.”

Only one person knew about my craving for kimchi stew.

“You heard it from the Green Tower Master, Seria Woodrin, didn’t you?”

At my question, Irina’s eyes widened in shock.

“Uh…”

She seems genuinely surprised, as if she didn’t expect me to figure it out.

‘So it was her… she knows about me…’

And she included all sorts of slander too.

What did that kid do to this young girl?

Like a caterpillar trying to act tough in front of a butterfly, Irina, who had been full of confidence until just now, was now fidgeting as she looked at me.

“Um…”

The confidence had disappeared from her voice.

Somehow, I felt sorry for her.

I sighed inwardly and said:

“Call me Midir. It seems you don’t want to acknowledge me as the Tower Master.”

“…Big sister Midir.”

Being called “big sister” was unexpected.

Until recently, I was used to being called “big brother,” and suddenly switching to “big sister” felt strange.

When I looked at her as if asking why she called me that, Irina looked up at me with pleading eyes.

“Really… you won’t suck my blood…?”

Along with the question of whether I wouldn’t suck her blood.

“…”

What should I do with this kid?

“Do you really want me to suck your blood?”

“…I wanted Count Vladimir to suck my blood directly, but… I know. That the Count has passed away…”

Irina said in a sad voice.

Died, huh.

That’s not wrong.

While I was asleep, I became a True Ancestor, and my past self no longer exists.

I raised my hand and stroked Irina’s head.

It might look odd, a little miss of similar height stroking someone’s head, but she’s a child who adores someone like me, who’s merely a thousand years old.

Although her affection seems a bit twisted, it’s endearing.

“Of course, I’m not a direct descendant of Count Vladimir, but… I can be considered to have inherited his will.”

“…What? So you’re not a descendant after all…”

“Well, among mages, blood relations don’t matter much. Inheriting magic makes one a descendant or disciple.”

It’s funny that I’ve become my own disciple.

“…Really?”

“Of course! Otherwise, how could I have shown you such blood magic?”

Irina silently shook her head.

She’s been acknowledging my blood magic since we first met.

Each blood magic spell I showed was of such a high level that she couldn’t help but believe.

“About blood, Irina, let’s think about it when you’re a bit older. You’re still too young now.”

“…”

She still seemed dissatisfied, but given the atmosphere, she couldn’t refute and eventually nodded.

Does she really want to have her blood sucked that badly?

“Would you like me to tell you about Count Vladimir? As his disciple, I know quite a lot.”

“…Really?!”

“Of course! I even know things the Green Tower Master doesn’t know.”

“T-tell me! Tell me quickly!”

My, this kid.

Seeing Irina jump onto the bed, patting it with her palms, urging me to sit down, I chuckled.

Am I really that great?

“T-then, can I ask about you too?”

“By all means.”

I’m the one who offered to talk, after all.

“Great~!”

Wondering what question she might ask, I waited with a relaxed expression.

“Is Midir a thousand-year-old grandma?!”

“…”

My relaxed expression froze as Irina cheerfully drove a stake through my heart with her question.

Ah.

Suddenly, I’m starting to dislike this child.

Sigh…