No to Being the Suffering Heroine!

Not much blood was given.

It wasn’t enough to go on a rampage with my thirst for blood, but it also wasn’t enough to recover my weakened body—just barely enough to quench my thirst.

After handing over exactly that amount of blood, I naturally pulled my finger back, as if to signal that mealtime was over.

– Drip drip.

A long string of saliva and blood stretched between my fingers and lips. My finger was soaked from how eagerly she sucked on it.

“Hand, hand, please! I need to disinfect it!”

Seeing that hand, Friede quickly pulled out a water bottle and a handkerchief. She washed my entire left hand with water, scrubbed it clean with the handkerchief, and then sprayed potion on it for healing.

She seemed so disgusted with the handkerchief that had wiped the vampire’s saliva that she tossed it into a corner, as if it were trash—or a terrible germ.

“Are you okay, Hilde? Are you feeling dizzy, or getting cold, or are your fangs itching…?”

Yeah, she treated it like it was a germ.

With a worried expression, Friede touched my cheek and asked if there was anywhere that hurt.

Like a doctor checking someone who had come into contact with an infectious disease.

Did she think the vampire’s saliva contained germs that would turn a person into a vampire? How cute.

“It’s fine, Friede. I’m okay.”

I smiled and lightly patted Friede on the shoulder. Except for a slight sting in my fingertips from the potion, there really wasn’t anything wrong.

Contrary to Friede’s misunderstanding, the vampire’s saliva was just saliva, without any germs or abilities that would turn another race into a vampire.

If it did, then just licking or kissing would have led to infection.

For a vampire to increase its kind, they needed to feed their own blood to the target, not mix saliva.

The very essence of a vampire—a cursed, tainted blood.

And even then, the success rate was only about 20 to 30%.

A human who could withstand a vampire’s blood could turn into a vampire, but those who couldn’t would end up as zombies—monsters resembling the undead.

That’s why vampires were few in number.

After witnessing countless beings that had been precious enough to share their tainted blood turn into mindless monsters, even demons would eventually lose it.

Whether parents, siblings, or lovers—all would turn into zombies if they just shared blood, crawling around going “Uwaah~!” Would anyone still want to share their blood after such an experience?

It’d be better to live alone without kin.

In the first place, the chance of infection was low, so for that reason, they rarely even attempted to infect anyone, resulting in vampires becoming an extremely rare species, despite their infinite lifespan.

Old vampires would die one by one, either in battle or by suicide, and new vampires born to replace them appeared only once or twice in a hundred years—it was a record-low birth rate of 0.02.

If it wasn’t for their immortality, they would have long since gone extinct.

The vampire’s aversion to reproduction was that severe.

The girl vampire who had licked my finger also seemed to have that aversion, as she only sucked blood and didn’t try to give me her own precious blood.

…Well, even if she had fed me her true blood by chance, I wouldn’t turn into one of those monsters like a vampire or zombie.

Would a Valkyrie with an [Ice Heart] become infected by a vampire’s true blood?

Even if an ancient vampire poured all their true blood into me, the chances would still be slim.

Only pure humans could be turned into their kin.

…In other words, I’m saying I’m not a pure human.

At least, not in terms of my body.

The Valkyrie was a modified human created by the old Eisenstein, who had implanted a Jotun’s heart into a human body.

After twisting and distorting the genes through all sorts of magic and experiments, I became a third race, neither human nor Jotun.

Thinking back, the reason that vampire ignored Friede and showed affection to me was probably because of that.

There was a commonality between me as a Valkyrie and her as a vampire—both had human flesh as a base with a touch of demon blood.

“Whoa… My throat feels cold…”

…Maybe it’s just that the blood of a Valkyrie tastes like refreshing soda to a vampire.

◆◆

I went back up the dungeon with the vampire in tow.

I was a bit nervous that the not-so-satisfied vampire would whine that she was still hungry, but thankfully, that didn’t happen.

I observed her for a moment to see if perhaps that little bit of blood had restored some of her sanity, but no matter how I looked, there was no sign of it.

Her mind was still stuck in the confused state of mistaking me for her mother. Her body remained in that childish form as well.

I didn’t know whether she had always been that way or if the amount of blood I gave was too little to recover both her body and mind, but whatever the case, I figured we were safe for now.

I reluctantly decided to take her up with me.

As much as I wanted to keep her locked in a dungeon, unfortunately, that was impossible.

As Friede and I exited the cell and started to head up, she held onto my clothing as if it was natural for her to come along.

Like a chick following its mother.

Because of that, I gave up on trying to separate myself from this monster and decided to go up the dungeon as originally planned, to take her outside.

To use the power of the sun to finish off this monster.

Thus began our uncomfortable journey together.

Feeling like I was walking with a ticking bomb made me very uneasy, but ironically, my body felt hundreds of times more comfortable than when I was coming down.

– Crunch! Crack! Clack!

The leftover monsters in the dungeon repeatedly blocked our path, but every time, the vampire girl swiftly slaughtered them all.

‘Indeed, avoiding more fights down there was the right choice.’

With a blood-red spearstorm crushing everything within its range. Truly overwhelming prowess.

‘That speed is too fast. I might not be able to break through her Holy Armor…but the exposed parts are likely to be cleaved away before I can even react.’

I could have shown such power if I exerted everything, but catching up to her speed would have been impossible.

Would taking off all my armor and swinging my spear barehanded help? I don’t think so.

“…Can we stop it with the Holy Barrier?”

Perhaps heightened by fear and vigilance toward the enemy, Friede whispered near my ear, her face tense.

“Hmm… I might be able to stop it for a bit, but it won’t mean much.”

Imagining trying to block the vampire’s blood-spear storm with Edelmut’s Holy Barrier made me sigh as I shook my head, envisioning a scene where it lasted a mere two seconds before being shredded.

Considering that power and attack speed, the time it would take for the barrier to be destroyed, once deployed, would only be a few seconds at most.

It would be far too short a window to seize an opportunity to turn the tide.

‘…In the first place, there might not even be a chance to deploy the barrier.’

If I cast the barrier beforehand as a precaution, that might be okay, but activating it to defend at the moment the vampire attacks would merely remain an academic discussion.

The spear would reach me several times faster than I could cast the Holy Barrier.

“So, for now, we must head above ground and stake our fate on sunlight.”

“What if that doesn’t work?”

Friede asked anxiously. Her expression hinted that she thought even sunlight might have exceptions or limitations.

She wasn’t wrong.

Most vampires exposed to sunlight would either be burnt to ashes or weakened to the brink of death, but there were rare exceptions.

Those who could block sunlight with magic or power.

Those with regeneration so insane that they kept healing even while on fire.

And those with the ability of [Daywalker], who could move about in broad daylight unscathed.

All three were abilities reserved for some of the strongest among vampires, but there was no guarantee this monster was one of them.

Even weakened from centuries of blood loss, she might have once been one of those powerful beings before being trapped.

“…Let’s just think it will work.”

So, if for some reason, sunlight doesn’t kill this monster? Well, then… what can we do?

“If that fails too, I really will have to play the role of a mother.”

I’d have no choice but to keep playing the role of a mom to a senile monster until we could find a way to kill her.

“Haaah…”

Friede didn’t seem to like my answer, groaning and frowning in frustration.

◆◆

As we began our ascent toward the surface, I took every opportunity to chat with the vampire girl, engaging in casual conversation.

“Hey, our daughter. What was that spear earlier? It just appeared and disappeared. It was pretty amazing… was it some kind of magic?”

Not that I was trying to bond with her, but I was probing into her physical condition, abilities, and equipment, gathering as much information as I could.

“It’s not magic! This is my toy!”

The vampire shook her head vigorously and held out her palm to show me.

Her cold, pale, and slightly clawed palm had a small ring on her elongated index finger.

It was a rough metal ring of a dull red tint, covered in unintelligible runes. The inside that touched her finger was filled with small spikes.

It looked like an extraordinary item. I was intrigued and asked her for a more accurate explanation of what it was.

“What is this? Can you explain it to Mommy?”

The vampire girl nodded enthusiastically, her face lighting up as she began to explain the ring’s identity.

“Ma… uh, umm, what was it called? Oh, right! Magical spear! It’s called Cabellach!”

…Magical spear?

Isn’t that like the spear version of a magic sword?

As I suspected, it was truly an extraordinary item. It was something I could call the demon version of a holy sword, not just a simple magical tool.

“Aha, a magical spear! That’s amazing! So, what does it do?”

“It drinks blood! Spits blood! Doesn’t break! Also generates more!”

“Uh, um. I see. That’s cool…”

As expected of a senile vampire, her explanation was awfully fragmented.

I could vaguely understand what abilities it had, but to know exactly what it could do, I’d have to see it in action.

So, I did just that.

I praised the vampire girl and encouraged her, one by one checking the powers of the Cabellach ring.

Indeed, upon confirming everything, it matched her summary description perfectly.

It absorbed the blood of those it touched to create a spear, and that spear would then absorb the blood of those pierced, storing it as a magical energy reserve.

Additionally, it featured automatic recovery from the blood and a capability to spray the absorbed blood outward to attack enemies.

From appearance to abilities, it literally felt like a supportive tool made just for vampires.

The vampire girl said that she had previously used that ability to suck the blood from distant enemies and then sprayed it into her mouth to drink it.

Thanks to her unique ability to control blood as a vampire, she could even maneuver that spear freely in the air without needing her hands.

Now it made sense how she had slaughtered so many foes while remaining stationary—she must have controlled the magical spear from a distance to wipe them all out.

After killing them all, she then used that spear to absorb their blood, serving both as a blood bag and a straw.

“That’s amazing. So that’s how you used it…”

The red line that had almost taken my neck off. That was also a technique utilizing the magic spear’s power along with the vampire’s abilities.

She must have released a minuscule amount of stored blood into the air and then sliced it quickly to create a horizontal line, right?

Since she released so little blood, the power was somewhat weaker, but its speed made it an excellent ambush technique.

Certainly, I only managed to dodge it by instinct; I wouldn’t have been able to evade it if I had to see it coming.

It was a shockingly dangerous ability, all enhanced by that spear. The combination turned it into a tiger with wings, so of course, it would be strong.

“My daughter, can I ask you one favor…?”

…There’s a necessity to separate the two of us as much as possible.

“That… the toy of our daughter. Just hearing about it sounds incredible and fun, doesn’t it?”

“Right? It’s amazing!”

“Yes, it really is. So, can Mommy borrow it for just a bit?”

So, I asked the vampire girl to lend me that magical spear for a short while.

With a smile that was deceptively sweet, like a mother playing with her daughter’s dolls.

“If you want it, take it! I’ll give it to Mommy!”

I wasn’t sure if that would even work, but surprisingly, the vampire girl nodded readily and handed me the ring.

“Um… thanks, our daughter. I… will use it well.”

Though she may be a monster, her sweetness and innocence were so disarming that I felt like a total jerk for planning to deceive and kill her.

But I wouldn’t change my mind about that.

Let’s not forget, this is a demon.

A vampire that kills people and drinks their blood.

Even if she acted like an innocent little girl, in essence, she was just a monster that devours humans.

“Hehe… Mommy likes it!”

“…….”

…Probably.

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