Chapter 30: A girl's intuition

With a loud noise, the door of the room where the heroes were with the King and the Emperor, opened wide, revealing the knights and mages of the kingdom with their respective weapons. They were led by Captain Meld.

They all had a tense look on their faces.

The first thing they saw was the huge crack in the wall next to the pieces of the ceiling that had collapsed. Their faces were pale.

Captain Meld's gaze fell in the center of the room, where they were all gathered.

"Your Majesty, what happened here!?" Captain Meld asked as he ordered the others to surround and inspect the surroundings before approaching the King.

"Meld. You need not worry. Tell all the knights and mages to leave the room. I have something important to tell you."

"But-!"

"No buts. Go and do it." Commanded the King in a powerful voice that left no room for Meld to ask questions or be able to refuse.

Captain Meld nodded instantly without question as he ordered the knights and mages of the Kingdom to return after some mages cast healing magic on the unconscious Kouki.

Seeing the door close again, the King looked at Captain Meld and began the explanation of what had happened, including about the true face of the Ehit God he had worshiped earlier.

Even now, he found it hard to accept the truth, however, he had no choice.

"If we want to be free, we have to strengthen ourselves before we face this corrupt God. However, it is too soon, if we are found out now, it would be no different from digging our own grave."

"Therefore, I don't want you, nor anyone here, to spread the news related to this"

"Not for now. I think you are all aware of what would happen if the citizens discover that the God they have worshiped for countless years turns out to be a maniac who enjoys seeing the misfortune of others, right?" Explained the King with a stern look.

The heroes and Captain Meld nodded like chickens pecking at their rice. They knew that if the news spread to the citizens, it would not only cause fear, but that fear would be accompanied by chaos and despair. So, for now, it was best that they kept their mouths shut.

"Also, Meld. As of today, you must personally train and guide the heroes to clear the Labyrinth of the Great Orcus, understood?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" expressed Captain Meld with a serious look on his face.

Captain Meld at no time had thought that his King was lying, for he, more than anyone else, knew the devotion he had previously had for Ehit. And to face the reality in which they found themselves, he certainly needed great mental fortitude.

Moreover, previously he himself was in charge of guiding the heroes, however, the situation at this moment, where not only humanity but also the entire existing race of Tortus were much worse than they could have imagined.

After all, they would now face not only demons but the God himself and his minions, who knows how many are under the palm of their hand!

"~Sigh, I guess I'll have to look for a competent person for a new Pope for the Holy Church..." muttered the King.

If with every sigh of weariness increased in age, the King would already be old enough to call his ancestors sons.

The King already knew that Nader would show no mercy to Pope Ishtar when they met. This was because, unlike him, the Pope was not under the control of the brainwashing Noint had done to him. Which meant that the Pope possibly knew all of Ehit's evil plans.

Whereas before the King treated the Pope as someone with a higher status than himself to the point of blindly trusting him as he thought he was Ehit's messenger, now things had changed.

The Emperor, who until now watched while keeping a thoughtful expression, approached the King and patted him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey, Eliheid, what do you think of a formal alliance formed by a political marriage between your daughter and a son of mine?".

This proposal took the King by surprise. He stood thinking for a while.

If it were before, he would not hesitate for a long time to accept the Emperor's proposal regardless of his daughter's feelings, for to a ruler like him, a political alliance was far more important than his daughter's thoughts and feelings.

However, now that he had seen things far beyond what he had the opportunity to see, he had to think carefully. First, there was the fact that he felt guilty toward Liliana. There was also the fact that he knew his daughter's feelings toward Nader.

"I'm sorry. But I'm afraid I have to refuse in the face of this proposal."

"Oh? Why?" asked Gahard, a little surprised.

He had thought he would accept it easily, considering the oppressive situation in which they needed more strength than anything else.

The King merely let out a laugh that had surprised everyone in the room, as he was never normally seen laughing.

The King waved his arms and started walking towards the door, "I have something significant to deal with right now. Besides... Meld. Go get someone to bring me a pen and paper."

"Understood!" Captain Meld nodded briskly before turning and leaving the room.

"Hey, Eliheid, why do I feel like you're up to something? For some reason, I think you're becoming like that damn sly fox" The Emperor spat with a judgmental look.

The King merely smiled and patted the shoulder of the Emperor, who walked beside him, leaving the students behind.

'If she succeeds, not only will we gain a powerful ally, but my daughter's happiness will be assured.' With those thoughts, they left the room.

Little did they know that two of the heroes had long since disappeared again.

*****

"Is this place...?" Shizuku asked as she looked around the surroundings.

A familiar and haunting place flashed in her vision. It was the same place she had seen the first time she had set foot in this world.

"Yes, this is the Cathedral where we appeared some time ago." Nader nodded as he let go of Shizuku's shoulder.

"Umumu...~" Yue was still grumbling as she narrowed her eyes at Shizuku while, from time to time, looking at Nader's face with distrust.

Suddenly, Nader lowered his face and, to the stunned Shizuku, kissed Yue on the lips.

"Now are you satisfied...?".

"No... I want more." Yue said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and climbed on top of him, hugging her leg around his waist.

"Oh, too bad for you, then." He teased as he threw his head back, dodging Yue's kiss.

However, she, instead of being annoyed by that, opened her small mouth, revealing her sharp and strangely cute fangs that buried themselves in Nader's neck.

"... Nader?! This..." Shizuku was startled at the strange scene unfolding in front of her eyes.

Even she, who normally kept her expression always serious, couldn't help but startle a little. After all, the girl had just bitten Nader's neck. If they were just normal teeth, it wouldn't be too strange, but no! They were long, sharp fangs digging deep into Nader's neck, and as if that wasn't all, it looked like she was sucking his blood!

This scene seemed to her quite similar to the vampire movies she used to watch in her old world.

Seeing his new companion's shocked expression, he decided to explain about Yue as they walked down the silent corridors.

...

"A vampire, I see... Now, even if a majestic dragon appeared in front of us, I wouldn't be so surprised anymore." Shizuku said with a shrug.

Her curious expression was fixed on Yue's figure, who was writhing happily while letting out little choked moans as she drank Nader's blood.

Since Nader didn't want to spill the beans about Yue's past without her consent, he hadn't revealed anything beyond her race and that she was the only survivor left after the war of the past.

And, of course, of how the vampires of this world were different from the ones in the movies Shizuku watched. Surprisingly, she believed that if Yue went out into the sunlight, she would turn to dust. She also thought that Yue hated the smell of garlic, and to her surprise, the one who hated the smell of garlic was not Yue, the vampire, but it was Nader...

'For now, I'll keep my mouth shut about what I discovered in Noint's memories...' Nader thought to himself.

As for that fragment of memory, he was referring to, it was naturally Yue's possible past, or to be more specific, the past of why her uncle had betrayed her.

As for why he didn't want to bring it up right now was simple, he could see that his little vampire was having fun with his blood, so he didn't want the surrounding atmosphere to become depressing.

"Wait..." Shizuku had sudden enlightenment about something as she looked with a surprised expression at Yue. "If vampires went extinct three hundred years ago, that means Yue-San is more than.... 300... years old...".

Shizuku's voice was cut off as she neared the end, she felt the temperature inside the room drop to an alarming degree. She couldn't help but shiver from the chill as she rubbed her arms.

*Gulp*

Shizuku swallowed hard as she looked at Yue, who stopped sucking Nader's white blood. But she didn't stop to think about that, the only thing on her mind right now was that she had stepped on a mine of angry bees! Or, in this case, a vampire's cave...

"Shizuku... Did you say something?" her voice was cold as she narrowed her crimson eyes dangerously at Shizuku.

Without a doubt, Yue's greatest weakness was her age. An age that didn't match her appearance at all. And Shizuku had put an arrow directly into her heart, a critical point!

Shizuku laughed dryly as she apologized with a wry smile on her face.

However, that wasn't enough to make the girl's bad mood disappear, so, Nader squeezed her butt and kissed her on the lips.

"Come on, come on. Calm down."

'I know a girl who is already old enough to consider herself the creator of everything in existence, so three hundred years is not a lot.' Nader thought before a sudden shiver assaulted his back, making him shiver.

[Humph! Mentioning a girl's age is impolite!].

A holographic screen projected into his field of vision, making his back sweat for a few moments. Since Nader had never talked much to girls in his past life, he was unaware that women tended to get upset when the subject of age was brought up to the point of triggering calamities. Such was his past life...

Just as he was about to sigh in relief that he had not spoken aloud, the next words made him swallow again forcibly.

"Nader, you've come up with something rude, haven't you?". Yue looked at him with narrowed eyes as she patted his chest. Her cheeks puffed out in a cute pout.

This caused Nader to squeeze her into his embrace. He found the sight and actions of his little girl extremely cute and adorable.

'But... a girl's intuition is scary...' He added in his mind.

Soon after, Yue calmed down and began sucking on the white blood again, losing herself completely in Nader's euphoric and exhilarating taste.

As Shizuku sighed in exhaustion as she witnessed the scene of two lovebirds placed in their own worlds, and apparently, that would not be the last sigh she would take for this very situation, they arrived in front of a huge double door, where Nader had sensed the presence of the Pope along with some bishops.

"Hehe, time to collect old debts." With a wicked grin, Nader kicked the door hard.

*Boom*