kscans

Chapter 5 - Goodbye, Fleeting Princess Life (Blink and You'll Miss It)

"Poeh…"

"It suits you very well."

I was wearing a dress. After receiving my Master’s blood and evolving even further into a high-ranking vampire, he had declared, "Mm, next are clothes. Now that you are my daughter, you must dress in a manner befitting your station!" The next thing I knew, I was whisked away by the maids and turned into a dress-up do—er, a dress-up vampire.

"My lady, it suits you very well," a maid said, repeating herself.

"Therefore, you must no longer walk around outside naked."

…Yes, that’s right. Until now, I had been stark naked. But you can’t blame me! I was a bat until just recently. After living for so long where being naked was basically my uniform, it’s only natural that I’d forgotten the concept of clothes!

Thinking back, I feel like those gatekeepers were averting their eyes the whole time they were talking to me. Yeah, that makes sense. If a naked girl suddenly came running out of the forest at night, any gatekeeper would be like, what is that? Sorry for getting unreasonably angry, gatekeepers.

But my days as a nudist are over! From today, I am reborn as a civilized, clothed person!

"Ehehe, cute."

Mm, my reflection in the mirror is very cute. In my past life, if I had worn such a frilly dress, people would have definitely called me a weirdo behind my back. But now I’m different! I have been reborn as a Vampire! My appearance is nothing short of otherworldly beauty! So pretty! So cute! I’m so glad I evolved! Thank you, Mummy! Thanks to you, I’ve become cute!

Also, maybe because of the evolution, my hair is super long. It was so shaggy, like I hadn't cut it in years. It was so messy that a maid had to trim it with scissors. Well, thanks to that, the gatekeepers probably couldn’t see my… sensitive parts. Probably. Please let that be the case.

"By the way, I’m a vampire now, right? So why am I showing up in the mirror?"

Vampires not being reflected in mirrors is a classic trope. Or maybe vampires in this world do show up in mirrors?

"That is because this is a Magic Mirror, my lady."

"A Magic Mirror?"

"Yes, it is a mirror with special powers. Most of them are evil items that curse whoever is reflected in them, but…"

"Wha—?! A curse?!"

"They have no effect on us vampires, so they are quite harmless and convenient."

Oh, that scared me. I thought for sure I was going to be cursed. I guess since vampires are evil beings, they have a resistance to evil powers.

◆

"Good morning, my lady."

Night fell—the morning for a vampire—and a maid came to my room.

"Good morning."

After our greeting, the maid stared at me intently. She approached me and, with a swift motion, lifted my skirt.

"…You are wearing your underwear. Very good."

"Yes, I’ve gotten quite used to it now."

That’s right, ever since I became a vampire, I had to undergo a daily clothing check by the maids. It was part of my Master’s—I mean, my father’s—educational policy that I should be able to do the bare minimum for myself, which included getting dressed on my own. Not that dressing myself was any trouble for me, having been human in my past life. I learned how to put on the dresses of this world in no time.

However, due to my old Vampire Bat habits, I would occasionally forget to put on clothes, and the maids would scold me each time.

"This makes it one full week without forgetting your clothes. Congratulations."

"Thank you very much!"

What is this conversation? This is a string of phrases I probably never would have used in my entire past life.

"Kuu~"

Just as we finished, my stomach growled. Vampires get hungry, too.

"Then it is time for your meal. Come."

The maid called out of the room, and a beautiful woman entered. Why would a person come in when she said it was time to eat? The answer is simple: this woman is my meal.

Of course, I don’t munch on her head. I’m a Vampire. That means my food is blood. You might ask if I, who was human in my past life, have any resistance to drinking human blood. I would answer with a resounding no, without hesitation. After all, I was reincarnated as a Vampire Bat. At that point, I was already attacking beasts, monsters, and any humans who trespassed in the forest, so there’s no reason for me to feel any aversion now.

Well, I was surprised when I first learned my food was blood back when I was a bat, but at the time, the shock of no longer even having a human form was so great that I was more like, "W-well, if I’ve been reborn, I guess I have to get used to it! I need to adapt to this life!!" I was so focused on adapting that it was almost a way of escaping reality.

As I reminisced, the woman happily bared her neck.

"Please, drink your fill."

Whether she’s being controlled or has been educated this way, she doesn’t seem to dislike having her blood drunk. I don’t know what kind of arrangement leads to a life of having your blood sucked by a vampire, but asking seems scary, so I’ll just quietly tuck that question away in my heart.

"Thank you for the meal."

I bit into her neck with a kapu, and an indescribably sweet taste filled my mouth. Mmm! Delicious! When I drank the Mummy’s blood, it was like eating a hearty meat dish, but this woman’s blood is a dessert! It has the elegance of a masterpiece created by a high-class pastry chef.

Seriously, human blood is delicious! It’s a world apart from the blood of the monsters and beasts I’d been drinking until now! Oh, but the blood of the humans who trespassed in the forest tasted bad. I wonder why? Maybe they were raised differently?

After enjoying my vampire meal, it was time for my studies. The studies included some ordinary subjects like arithmetic and history, but the main focus was on how to use my vampire powers.

Even though I had become a Vampire, I had evolved from a bat, so I didn’t really understand what I was capable of. Apparently, those who are born as vampires understand these things unconsciously.

"Vampires possess many abilities. This is because vampires are beings closer to spirits than humans; that is to say, much of their bodily composition depends on magical energy."

Thanks to my knowledge from my past life, I have some understanding of fantasy concepts, but I don't really get the complicated theories. What I did understand is that vampires are something like half-ghosts. It’s like, X% physical body and Y% magical body, and the higher the percentage of physical body, the lower the rank of vampire, while a higher percentage of magical body means a higher-ranking vampire.

And as a bonus, high-ranking vampires can’t be harmed by ordinary weapons.

"Magical energy is a formless existence. Just as you cannot cut the air by swinging an iron sword through it."

In other words, we high-ranking vampires are like magic itself. But we still have some physical body, so we can touch others.

"Vampires, whose bodies are composed of magical energy itself, do not need to process magical energy into spells like humans do. Just as you would move your arms and legs, magic activates on its own simply by wishing for it to happen."

So apparently, we use magic unconsciously. Things like turning into mist or commanding familiars. If you think you can do it, you can. That’s what my tutor told me about vampire magic.

On the day I first evolved into a vampire, I tried to fly home but couldn't. I asked my teacher why I couldn't fly if I could do it just by wanting to, and she replied:

"It was likely because your form had changed so drastically into that of a human. You had always flown with wings, but now you had none. The unconscious recognition that humans cannot fly, and above all, the mental shock of no longer being yourself, was likely the reason you could not use your power."

I see. I was certainly in shock at the time.

"Therefore, let us start by learning to fly. In your former life, flying was second nature to you. If you can learn to do this with your vampire powers, your understanding of your own abilities will become clearer."

So, I started with flying practice. I couldn't just float in the air, so on my teacher's advice, I started by trying to grow bat wings.

"Vampires can transform at will. Picture your former wings while shaping the magical energy within your body into the form of wings."

"Y-yes."

I focused on the image of my wings from my bat days and manipulated the magical energy inside me. And then, wings sprouted. From my arms.

"Excellent. To be able to transform on your first try is quite impressive. However, turning your arms into wings is rather unsightly for a vampire, so let’s try to grow them on your back."

"Y-yes!"

So, I tried again. This time, wings appeared on my back, slightly above my waist.

"I did it!"

"Yes, that position is perfectly acceptable."

However, the completed wings were pure white. My hair is also pure white, so it seems my wings turned out the same way.

Next was flying practice, but that was easy. It was probably because I had spent so long flying as a bat.

And so, having understood how to use my powers, I learned many vampire abilities. I didn't just learn about my powers; I was also taught about vampire common sense, manners, my father, and this world—many things I never knew as a Vampire Bat.

What surprised me most was learning about my Master.

"Your master is one of only seven special vampires in this world, known as the ‘Seven Heavenly Progenitors.’"

"Progenitor?"

I tilted my head at the word, which sounded vaguely familiar.

"The Progenitors are those who stand at the pinnacle of all vampires."

Wow, so my father is an amazing vampire.

"And you, my lady, having received his blood, are ranked second from the top within his bloodline, at the Second Rank."

"Is the Second Rank amazing?"

"…Yes, very. You hold enough authority that all vampires, except for those of the same rank as your master, would bow before you."

"Whaaaat?!"

What’s that?! Does that mean I have the power of a vice president or something?!

"My lady, you must not use such language."

"Ah, yes. I’m sorry."

Yes, my teacher is quite strict about my speech. But you can’t blame me. I went from being less than a temp employee to vice president in one fell swoop! Of course I’d think that getting this kind of treatment just for giving away the Mummy’s sword is too good to be true!

Apparently, the Mummy’s sword was something incredible, and my Master is in a better mood than he’s been in years, so much so that everyone in the castle is surprised by how cheerful he is. Seriously? So, my being made his daughter is a fitting reward. I guess it’s like obtaining a legendary holy sword or something.

"Oh, Merlille!"

"Ah, Mas—Father."

After finishing my lesson, I ran into my father in the hallway on my way back to my room.

"I was just on my way to see you."

So saying, my father picked me up with a smile.

"To see me? If you had called, I would have come to you."

"Hahaha, I wanted to see my cute daughter."

Ever since he got the Mummy’s sword, my Master—no, my father—has been in a really good mood. He picked me up and carried me to my room.

"Now, the reason I came to see you is this. The head maid has informed me that your education is, for the most part, complete."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed. You are now a full-fledged vampire. As such, you must acquire your own domain."

"My own domain…?"

I think my tutor maid mentioned that vampires have their own territories, or domains. And that trespassing on one is equivalent to a declaration of war.

"Therefore, as your father, I command you. Merlille, leave this castle and claim your own domain! From this day forward, you shall leave my protection and live proudly as an independent vampire!"

"…"

Um, does that mean I have to leave this place? All by myself? Into a dangerous world teeming with monsters?

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"

Are you telling me to go die?! And so, I, who had become a princess, was banished in just one month… Oh, the misery. I guess there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.