"Please forgive me, Naohara-sama. I got a little carried away."
Realizing she had gone too far, Shalltear immediately bowed in apology.
Naohara first confirmed that Evileye had simply fainted and wasn't in any real danger. Only then did he wave a hand, telling Shalltear to drop it.
He couldn't really blame Shalltear for this. If anything, it all traced back to his old friend Peroroncino.
Back when Nazarick's members were still around, only a handful of them could be called "normal." The rest were all over the place.
Righteous types, perverts, lewd degenerates, "burn-the-world" types, idiots, tsunderes, outright lunatics. They had everything.
And as the guild's most famous pervert, Peroroncino had designed Shalltear as the embodiment of every bizarre fantasy imaginable.
Naohara already had a pretty good idea what her earlier behavior was about. It was probably yet another weird kink.
"Try to restrain yourself a little. Don't fill your head with nothing but filth."
"Oh~"
Shalltear nodded at the Supreme Being's reminder, though she hardly looked convincing.
Nearby, Evileye lay with her eyes shut tight, brow furrowed, her expression pained.
As Naohara was wondering what was going on with her, Shalltear's voice came again.
"Looks like it's taking effect."
"What do you mean?"
"Naohara-sama, you noticed it too, didn't you? This child may be a vampire, but she wasn't born one. She was turned later."
"And to become a vampire of that level… the price is quite…"
Staring at Evileye, Shalltear licked her glossy lips, smiling as though she had found an entertaining toy.
If Naohara-sama weren't here, she would have pounced already.
As a True Vampire, Shalltear could sense it clearly. Evileye had killed an enormous number of living beings.
Not a mere "hundred" or "thousand," but numbers in the "hundreds of thousands" and "millions."
The lives that had died by Evileye's hand were enough to rival a nation. That was the main reason Shalltear had lost control earlier.
"I see. No wonder there's a faint scent of blood on her."
Naohara frowned thoughtfully. He had noticed something off about Evileye for a while, but he hadn't expected it to be this.
Memories from his first life surfaced, but they were sparse, only a few lines of description.
He vaguely remembered that Evileye had once been a princess, that there was a side story about her, and that she seemed to have some connection to a True Dragon Lord.
"Annoying. I should've read the side story back then."
Unable to recall more, Naohara felt a bit helpless.
Meanwhile, Shalltear continued in a soft voice.
"This child seems to reject her identity and suppress her instincts to an extreme degree, so I gave her a small push earlier."
"Blood Ancestor above, please bless this poor child."
Shalltear even assumed a praying pose. With her long golden hair and white dress, she looked like a devoted believer.
As a Cleric, Shalltear did have an object of worship.
But when it came to this Blood Ancestor, she felt nothing. It was just for show. Her true faith had long belonged to Nazarick.
The Blood Ancestor was nothing more than a shield, a convenient spare.
"Fully awakening a vampire's instincts?"
Naohara's expression turned odd. He hadn't expected Shalltear, of all people, to actually help Evileye.
But he could more or less guess what Shalltear was thinking.
High-tier vampires were usually level 60 or above, yet Evileye was only around level 52 because of her resistance and rejection.
So Shalltear used bloodline stimulation to provoke her vampire instincts, forcibly breaking through that rejection.
That would let Evileye's strength surge for a short time.
"Shalltear is actually pretty smart… if you ignore the weird fetishes."
Naohara couldn't help thinking that Shalltear was a genius ruined by Peroroncino.
"Alright, leave things here to me. Shalltear, go to Yuri and help wrap up this operation as quickly as possible."
"Yes!"
Shalltear gave a small salute. With one last reluctant look, a flash of crimson light flickered, and she vanished from where she stood.
"What a pain. Good thing nothing serious happened."
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Naohara held Evileye in his arms, absently stroking her head while resting his chin on one hand, lost in thought.
The fact that Blue Roses had skipped Princess Renner's arranged schedule and gone straight to Entoma had been completely unexpected.
Fortunately, Shalltear had been there. Entoma hadn't ended up like in the original storyline. That alone was good news.
If anything had happened to Entoma, it wouldn't just have been Naohara's anger they faced. Blue Roses would have had to endure the fury of all Nazarick.
Thankfully, it hadn't come to that. Otherwise, their fate would have been easy to imagine.
This incident was also a reminder to Naohara. Not everything in this world would unfold according to what he remembered. From now on, he would have to be more cautious.
Activating teleportation magic, Naohara and Evileye vanished into thin air.
He didn't spare a glance at Gagaran and the others lying on the ground. He admitted he could be petty. After all, Gagaran had attacked Entoma.
Besides, the Kingdom's soldiers would arrive soon. They weren't going to die.
...
The next morning.
Evileye woke in a daze. The first thing she saw was a familiar ceiling.
Her eyes were tinted crimson, likely a lingering effect from her awakened vampire instincts.
"You're awake. How do you feel?"
Sitting by the bed, Naohara set down [A Preliminary Understanding of Tier Magic] and yawned.
"You… why are you here? And that terrifying vampire?"
Evileye sat up abruptly, scanning her surroundings. Her memory was still stuck at the moment of the battle.
Just recalling that figure made her blood feel as though it were boiling.
"Calm down. The fight's over."
Naohara spoke gently.
"You… you defeated her?"
"Not really. We just talked for a bit, and then she left."
Naohara answered casually, without trying to hide anything.
"Evileye, you attacked Entoma. She's a child created by my friend. I don't want something like that happening again."
"If it had been anyone else, they would already be dead. But I don't want to hurt you. Do you understand?"
Their eyes met.
Golden pupils flickered into view. A faint trace of dragon might flashed and vanished in an instant.
The game of playing adventurer was over.
"I… I understand."
Still shaken by that brief flash of dragon might, Evileye nodded instinctively. A second later, she realized something and suddenly looked up.
"You—"
"Shh."
"It's enough that you understand."
Naohara cut off her question. He had no intention of explaining. Let her draw her own conclusions.
"My… my teammates… are they still alive?"
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Evileye raised her head slightly and asked in a small voice.
"They've already been rescued by the Kingdom's soldiers."
"Since you're awake, let's go. I'll take you to them."
"Wait… th-thank you."
"Mm."