kscans

Chapter 37 - I Want a Lot of Eggs

"The town is looking so much cleaner now."

Under the moonlight, Fenesia Town, once ravaged by battle, had been completely restored. The buildings had been renovated to serve as homes for the new residents who had arrived. The various races had already moved into their refurbished houses and had even started businesses. At first, it was just the Dark Elves, but the Goblins and Orcs, intrigued, also began trading through barter, exchanging goods they each desired.

"It's primitive, but it's interesting to see an economy starting to form."

"Indeed. It was thought that races considered to be on par with monsters couldn't understand economics, but seeing this, it seems they have the intellect to learn, they just never had the chance. More importantly, this deepening interaction fosters understanding between the different races, which is beneficial for the coming battles."

True. If a group of strangers who know nothing about each other are thrown together, they might not be able to trust one another in a crisis, which could lead to their collapse in battle.

"Nngh!"

"Hmph!!"

But as you'd expect with emotional beings, clashes were inevitable. I could see a group of demi-humans whose argument had escalated, filling the air with tension.

"Solfi, tell the nearby guards to intervene."

"Leave it to me-chu!"

Receiving my order, Solfi leaped from my shoulder and flew high above, relaying instructions to the undead guards near the scene. The guards immediately headed for the location.

"Now that we're using them, undead guards are pretty handy, aren't they?"

"They are. I'm surprised at how useful they are, more so than I imagined. I never thought not getting tired could be so convenient."

It was true. The undead don't feel fatigue. More importantly, without souls, they don't suffer from mental exhaustion. That's why they can work all day without their efficiency dropping.

"They can run at full speed without worrying about running out of stamina, so they're not out of breath when they arrive at the scene. And it's great that they don't get injured even if an agitated resident hits them. It's quite difficult to restrain the physical strength of an Orc."

In that respect, since the undead don't feel pain, they can attempt to capture someone without flinching, no matter how many times they're hit. They can let the opponent tire themselves out, and once other undead arrive, they can use their numbers to overpower them.

"I've learned through practical application that even low-class undead have their uses. It seems my knowledge is still mostly from books."

Adolnel spoke of the difficulties of actually managing a town. But you know, Adolnel, for someone your age to be able to manage multiple races living together for the first time with only minor squabbles like this, I think you're amazing.

This girl really has a talent for being a lord.

"Mhm, you're working so hard, Adolnel. You're doing great."

"Eek?! Wh-what is it all of a sudden, Big Sis? Ah, please, don't stop."

Though surprised, Adolnel made sure to ask for the head-patting to continue. She's so shrewd.

"I'm back-chuuu!"

Solfi returned while I was patting Adolnel's head.

"I finished my job perfectly-chu!"

"Good work, Solfi."

I gave the returning Solfi a little scratch on her forehead with my finger, and she instantly melted. Breaking news: bats are liquid.

"Ahhh, that's the spot. A good scratch after a long day's work is the best-chuuu."

Solfi certainly had a lot of work. I could issue commands to the undead myself, but giving mental orders to undead who were far away was a pain. So, having the flying Solfi go to them in person was the most reliable way to deliver commands. But there was only one Solfi. When I needed to give multiple orders, there was an inevitable time loss. Messengers from other races had to run on the ground, after all.

"I wish I had more Vampire Bats for messenger duty."

But the thought of going through that constipation again was awful. Thinking about it, my Master, who commanded so many Vampire Bats, must have been an incredible Vampire. An handsome, older Vampire enduring intense constipation to lay a massive number of eggs... what a mental image.

"No, but maybe there's an easier way to produce them?"

It just didn't seem realistic to go through that agony every time just to produce Vampire Bats that weren't even that strong. It was more likely that there was a method I just didn't know about.

My master told me that we Vampires are beings whose bodies are mostly made of magic. If so, maybe the egg I laid was also something like an egg made of magic.

"Maybe I should give it a try."

I decided to see if I could increase the number of Vampire Bats at will.

"First, I need to stock up on energy by drinking lots of blood."

And for that, human blood is better than animal blood. I soared high into the sky and flew along the highway.

After flying for a while, I saw not a town, but a castle-like building by the road. However, the building had no elegant decorations and was of a stark, functional design.

"Hmm, it's a bit too imposing to be a castle. Is that the fort they reported?"

This must be the building that the reports from my new cavalry—or rather, wolf-ry—of Goblins and "Wolf-chan"s mentioned. Adolnel suspected it was a base built to keep an eye on me.

I flew past the fort and continued on. Soon, a town came into view.

"That must be Carolmana Town."

But this time, I passed Carolmana Town and continued down the highway. Then, I spotted the small light of a bonfire by the road.

"There it is."

I flew to a position directly above the light and descended.

"Man, guard duty at this hour is rough."

"Can't be helped. We lost the bet."

It seemed the two on guard duty had lost some kind of bet and were stuck with the watch.

"Then how about I take over for you two? You can go to sleep."

"Oh, really?"

"Thanks, man... wait, huh?"

The two who turned around at my offer stared wide-eyed at the unfamiliar girl.

"A woman in white...?"

"Silence."

I released my magic power with the image of erasing all sound. And just like that, the world went quiet.

"Yep, it worked. Just like Master taught me, Vampire magic can do anything. It's amazing."

Honestly, it's almost too convenient. No wonder my Master is so feared.

"?!"

"~~~~~?!"

The guards panicked at the sudden loss of sound. In that moment of confusion, I bit into one guard's neck and drank his blood.

Chomp.

Hmm, grilled meat flavor. But the blood of the guard I drank before was tastier. This must be due to the quality of the individual's blood.

"Hmph!!"

Seeing his comrade attacked, the remaining guard drew his sword and lunged at me. But an attack slower than the "Wolf-chan"s was easy to dodge. Evading the attack while still drinking, I slammed the attacking guard to the ground and pinned him. Then, after draining the first guard's blood, I bit into the neck of the second.

"Phew, now for the sleeping ones."

And so, I went around drinking the blood of the travelers along the road, filling my belly.

"That should be enough energy for now."

I ordered the travelers, now my familiars, to head towards Fenesia Town while taking a wide detour around Carolmana Town and the fort, then returned to my town ahead of them.

"Alright, let's try this in a safe place."

I sat on the ground, closed my eyes, and created an image in my mind. The image of my Vampire Bat familiars being born. The sight of them breaking out of their eggs, loyal bats born to serve me.

As I did, I felt my belly, swollen with blood, deflate. At the same time, several small eggs rolled out before me with a series of soft thuds.

"It worked?!"

My familiars were born?! As I watched over the eggs, I heard a soft tapping sound. Then the eggs began to wobble, and the sound grew louder. Finally, the eggshells cracked, and from within, the bats emerged.

"Whoa! They're born!"

""""Mathter-chama!""""

They talked! They're real Vampire Bats! And just like that, I had succeeded in creating familiars of my own will. I did it! Now I'll have more messengers! And they can be used for reconnaissance, so Adolnel will be thrilled!

"B-Big Sis has secret children—?!"

Why does it always come to that?