Chapter 2 : What are you even capable of? (1)

I worked like a dog.

No, to be exact, it would be more accurate to say I stole the protagonist Erik’s assignments.

“Valentine…!!”

I could clearly recall the scene of him always yelling behind the building after losing his tasks.

I did feel sorry for Erik.

But there was no time to apologize.

On this land, I had to exterminate the vampires.

I had to build up achievements to the max and draw the attention of those in high positions.

So that no one could harm me.

What little relief I had was when I looked at vampires.

“…Valentine… you are no human….”

“No, I am human.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!! Everyone in the homeland…!! They’ll curse you….!”

—Slash!!—

“…I am human.”

Because I identified as human, I didn’t feel like I was harming my own kind.

That thought—that this was a tremendous blessing—never left me.

For five years, I lured the protagonist’s main missions toward me.

For volunteer assignments, I always ran the fastest to volunteer.

Before I knew it, a second lieutenant became a first lieutenant, and a first lieutenant became a captain.

I kept fighting on the battlefield.

Taking hits from every side, I used boosting morale as an excuse to charge ahead at the vampires.

Though boosting morale was never the real goal.

“…L…Lieutenant….”

“…….”

“…Please spare me……”

I looked at the subordinate whose flame of life was flickering out.

Vampires can eat regular meals like humans.

They can taste food normally and, of course, expel it after digestion.

There’s just one difference between them and humans.

If they don’t drink blood, all they do is expel what they eat.

Unless they drink a large amount of blood, nutrients aren’t absorbed into their bodies.

Naturally, few vampires actually think blood tastes good.

There are a few rare ones, but.

‘…It’s disgusting, but if I want to live…’

Anyway, I wasn’t one of them.

It’s fishy, sticky, and salty.

But even so.

It was essential for survival, so I had no choice but to drink blood.

“…L…Lieutenant…?”

‘…I’ll make it painless soon.’

It was the same now.

I approached the dying subordinate and blew my warm breath on his neck.

Then.

Sluurp…

My small fangs punctured the neck of the soldier who had been loyally following me until yesterday.

His hot blood began to flow down my throat.

“…L-Lieutenant…?”

Looking at the subordinate who called out to me, I briefly lifted my mouth from his neck.

“You wouldn’t survive even if you went back.”

“…What?”

‘I’ll make it easy for you soon.’

Saying that, I let my crimson eyes shine.

Then, a powerful emotion etched itself onto the dimming light in the soldier’s eyes.

Fear.

Every life feels fear just before death.

They struggle to live, no matter what.

This soldier was no different.

“Argh…! Ughhh……! You, you’re a vampire—mmph!!”

I covered the subordinate’s mouth and nose as he struggled away from me.

Then, with the oxygen to his brain rapidly diminishing, he began to convulse in shock.

Only then was I able to calmly suck the back of his neck.

‘…Disgusting.’

It’s revolting.

An unbearable nausea slowly crept up.

But even so.

“Sluurp…haa…hoooh…………….”

I saw myself, blindly drinking blood.

After all the suffering I’d gone through because of blood, now I was someone who stole others’ blood.

Every time I fed, I felt nauseated by that fact.

At the edge of that unbearable disgust.

“Puhah…!”

Relief washed over me once again that I could live today.

I had to take someone else’s life to keep living.

That was the fate of me, a wretched creature that had become a vampire.

Though I drank furiously, I didn’t get that much blood.

The soldier had lost a lot of blood already, so not much entered my system.

“…Thank you.”

“The Empire will forever remember you as an immortal hero.”

To me, that was more than enough.

The soldier, now pale with two fang marks on his neck.

I took off my cap, placed it over my heart, and held a silent moment of respect.

Because we had fought side by side until now.

I paid him the highest respect I could, for being of help until the end.

“Sa—Salute! …Lieutenant? Why are you here?”

“Salute. I was collecting the body.”

I lied with a calm, expressionless face and adjusted my cap.

“Ah, if that’s the case, we’ll take care of it.”

“…Please do.”

Saying that, I handed over the body to a corporal who looked at least 70cm taller than me.

The soldier I killed had the rank of sergeant.

Yes, he must have been that corporal’s direct senior.

‘…I’m sorry.’

But I want to live.

I hated the idea of dying so meaninglessly.

‘I still need more blood.’

Anyway, that’s how I survived, desperately.

Telling myself this life would be different.

So I ran around the battlefield, fighting with all I had.

“…C—Captain…?”

“You…you’re a vampire?!”

“Battalion Commander, you—ugh!”

I heard the death cries of many. I fought fiercely.

I didn’t particularly remember their names.

Any gratitude I felt was fleeting.

Because I had to head to the next battlefield to prove my abilities.

Wielding a sword bigger than my own body, I ran like a madman.

Physical abilities are compensated with the unique vampire skill, Blood Magic.

To enhance speed, strength, and everything else without being noticed required an enormous amount of blood.

“Kyaaaah!!”

“Medic!! Medic!!”

“Someone’s hurt over here!!!”

“Help me… help me… help me…”

After all, this place is a battlefield soaked in blood.

Crimson blood stains the desolate ground, thickening the air with its metallic stench.

Blood flows, and flows.

In a battlefield against vampires, blood inevitably splatters everywhere.

For me, it’s the perfect environment.

And so, in my third year of this life, I became a battalion commander.

I tried to widen the gap in rank as much as possible to avoid that madman, Eric.

[Promotion Record]
[Erik – Major]
[Valentine – Captain]

Yet somehow, when I reached captain, Erik had already made it to major.

‘…Is it really that the chosen ones always prevail?’

I don’t know if the system had a hand in this, but despite walking Erik’s path,

“Well, this is quite strange…”

I have no idea what kind of achievements he’s been piling up.

Well, that’s none of my business.

It’s not like I meet him often anyway.

“A major, huh? That’s right when he’d be at his craziest.”

The war was nearing its end, after all.

In the game, Erik had to solo his way through, slowing things down.

But with me taking down heroes alongside him, the Empire now stood at the brink of victory six months earlier than expected.

And today,

“Captain Valentine! Her Majesty the Emperor is about to award you a medal!”

Is the day I am formally recognized as a hero of the Empire.

At last, I have caught the eyes of the Empire’s highest ranks.

I adjusted my hat with a neutral expression.

“…I’m on my way.”

I hide my face as much as possible, concealing myself.

The hat… feels a bit risky, but I suppose I have to remove it before the Emperor.

A vast plaza, fitting for a hero’s ceremony.

There, citizens of the Empire and high-ranking military officials lined up in perfect order.

“Commander!!”

“You’re amazing!!”

“Commander is so cute!!”

“Our commander is the best!!”

Familiar voices called out from somewhere.

I turned my head toward the source of the noise.

“…Kyle, Jenny, Berman, Kriha.”

My most loyal subordinates.

They seem genuinely happy that I’ve become a hero.

I clicked my tongue at them in response.

Soldiers, shouting regardless of time and place.

‘…You lot are getting extra drills later.’

I frowned, and they quickly averted their eyes, as if already bracing for the scolding.

Having swiftly silenced my rowdy subordinates, I took a step forward.

‘…The Emperor.’

Glory of Victory.

If I had to name the most popular female character in the game, I’d pick, without hesitation…

“…You must be Captain Valentine.”

…the woman with radiant white hair, smiling brightly in front of me.

Of course, I feel nothing now.

I’m not a man anymore, so I have no reason to be entranced by her.

“I am honored to stand before Her Majesty, the Emperor, ruler of the Empire.”

I knelt before the Emperor and removed my hat, pressing it to my chest.

“…You seem quite young.”

“I grant you permission to speak. Are you truly alright?”

The Emperor gave me a concerned look.

Well, I get it. Though I’m technically an adult, my body could be mistaken for that of a middle schooler.

“I may look like this, but I am a grown adult. It is an honor to dedicate this body to the Empire.”

I replied simply.

The Emperor, clearly pleased, rose from her throne and approached me.

“Please, stand.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The clicking of her heels echoed in my ears.

“Stay still, Captain.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor personally pinned the hero’s medal on me.

Despite standing, the Emperor leaned down to fasten the medal, then straightened up, smiled at me, and accepted my salute.

“Continue to dedicate yourself to the Empire.”

“…I shall.”

With the Emperor’s declaration,

I officially became the Empire’s second hero.

The first vampire hero in the Empire’s history had been born.

I thought no one would ever know.

But a year later, of all people, the one who discovered my use of Blood Magic on the battlefield was…

“…A vampire hero, huh? Do you realize that you have disgraced my homeland, the Empire?” this damn protagonist of Glory of Victory, Erik.

“…”

“Major, do you have any explanation?”

I’ve been found out.

That I am the Empire’s first vampire hero.

By the Empire’s first hero, no less.

But…

“…With all due respect, Major,”

“What exactly can you do to me?”