“Aruru, Iruru? Eruru still hasn’t come back…”
Her two older sisters, who were preparing the bedchambers, turned around at their younger sister’s addressing them.
Aruru and Iruru were twins, but Ururu could of course tell them apart, since she was family. Or so they thought, anyway—she actually got them mixed up all the time. Even they didn’t bother trying to distinguish themselves, so they’d stopped minding so much if someone got them wrong.
Routa, the King of the Fen Wolves, savior of the elven race, was the only one who had never confused them. Just thinking about it made Aruru’s and Iruru’s chests warm, and they were unable to hold in their feelings of gratitude.
Ahh, I want to spoil him. I want to spoil him rotten and ruin him.
The older of their younger sisters, Ururu, wondered at times if it was actually a darker desire than gratitude, but it wasn’t especially bothering anyone, so she didn’t point it out.
More importantly, she was concerned about where the middle of the younger sisters, Eruru, had gone off to.
Contrary to her glasses-wearing, mild-mannered appearance, Eruru was energetic and always up to something outside the village.
Though they were under the protection of the Fen Wolves, who had an information network spanning this entire forest, that didn’t mean there were no monsters out there. With night having already fallen, it was strange that she hadn’t come home yet.
“Anyway, let’s go look for her. Where’s Oruru?”
“She’s already looking.”
“Okay, then we should join her. If anyone here can use lamp magic, have them help us.”
“All right!”
The sisters put on their overcoats and left to find the missing Eruru. Even before the slave traders had burned the village, Eruru would go out without telling anyone and suddenly wander back, so they weren’t overly worried.
“Heeey! Eruru!”
“Eruru, where are you?”
“Eruru! If you’re there, say something!”
The full moon shining in the night sky illuminated everything brilliantly, but not enough to allow them to see too far in the forest. The two older sisters, who could use simple magic, had hovering orbs of light in place of torches as they searched for their younger sister.
“It looks like Eruru is gone again.”
Villagers came running, one after another, once they heard the news.
“Yes. We’re sorry to trouble you, but we’d like you to help us look.”
“Oh, sure thing. Let’s split up to search for her.”
It was almost bedtime for the good-natured elves, but all of them came out to search for Eruru without complaint.
“Eruru!”
“Eruruuuu!”
As they continued to search, calling her name through the forest, some bushes in the direction of Aruru’s search rustled.
“Eruru!” she called. A figure appeared.
And it was certainly her younger sister, Eruru.
Aruru’s sisters gathered to her voice.
“Did you find her?!”
“Phew. You shouldn’t worry us like that.”
“Sometimes Oruru seems older than you. Don’t worry us like that again.”
Everyone surrounded Eruru and rejoiced over her safety.
“……”
But Eruru was acting strange—normally she’d quibble and make excuses, but she wasn’t doing either. She wasn’t even responding, and her face was pale. Aruru took her younger sister’s shoulder, thinking she’d been wounded somewhere.
Eruru, lips trembling, managed to speak.
“…Run…away…”
“Run away? What do you mean? From what?” asked Aruru, peering into her face, worried something had happened to her.
“Run away……from me!”
She grabbed the hand on her shoulder, tightly. The force of it surprised Aruru, and a moment later she’d been bitten in the neck.
“Aruru?!”
“Eruru?! What are you doing?!”
They frantically peeled Eruru off the bitten Aruru.
Eruru’s mouth was spattered with blood, and she had sharp fangs that glistened eerily in the moonlight. The elves were taken aback, not sure what had happened. Meanwhile Aruru, who had fallen on her face, got up slowly.
“Wait, Aruru, are you okay?!” Iruru ran over to her in worry, but then her face froze.
Now Aruru, too, had two sharp fangs in her mouth.
“Run…away…”
Aruru and Eruru, shedding tears of blood, attacked the remaining elves.
And so the elf village, which had just been rebuilt, was destroyed in a single night.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! Weak! How weak! How frail the kin are compared to their king!”
The vampire princess laughed, snakelike trails of red blood running across her body.
Garo and the others bared their fangs to threaten the invader who had suddenly attacked their settlement.
Several Fen Wolves had already been defeated at Carmilla’s hand. Their enemy had caught them by surprise, and they lacked a means of attack. But they couldn’t keep glaring at each other like this. There were young Fen Wolves here as well—ones who didn’t have the strength to fight.
“Grwl! (Don’t underestimate us…! You’re about to learn firsthand how we fight…!) ”
Garo, leading the pack, dug her claws into the earth and sought an opening to pounce. The enemy was in human form, but it was clear she was anything but. Pure malice radiated from every pore, and Garo could sense a power rivaling that of the necromancer they’d once fought.
“Bow! (Lady Garo!) ”
Bal ran to her, having brought reinforcements with her.
“Grwl! (Bal! Take the children and leave this place! Inform the king of this!) ”
Never breaking eye contact with Carmilla, Garo ordered the evacuation of the noncombatants.
“Not so fast. I need you all to disappear here .”
With a thin smile on her lips, Carmilla slowly closed the distance.
“But I will listen to any preferences on how you want me to kill you.”
Sharp red nails then extended from her hands, looking like ten scythes. She brought the nails together, sending sparks scattering madly, portending a terrifying sharpness.
“Grrr! (That’s the last time you ever look down on us!) ”
“Grwl! (Wait! Don’t be reckless!) ”
Garo couldn’t stop them in time; the Fen Wolves who had been hiding and waiting for their chance sprang out to attack Carmilla from all sides.
“Not. A. Chance. ”
Carmilla swung the nails on both hands as though dancing. The Fen Wolves twisted to avoid them, but the surge of blood that came a moment later rose up to swallow them.
“Grahhh?!”
The murky, raging stream swirled upward like a tornado, whipping the wolves every which way.
The attackers helplessly sank into the blood, eventually disappearing.
Carmilla exhaled. “Thank you for the snack,” she said, the wave of blood pulling back into her mantle as though being sucked in, leaving Fen Wolves flat on their faces in its wake.
It was hard to tell, given their absolute motionlessness, whether they were alive or dead.
“Tastes terrible, though… Young human blood really is the best. Elven blood wasn’t bad, either, but I very much feel like snacking on the blood of a youthful virgin. ”
“G-grwl…! (Damn you…! You’ve even gotten to the elves’ village…?!) ”
Garo was astounded that they hadn’t been able to detect that even with their sharp senses.
If they’d actually noticed this vampire approaching, they’d never have been caught by surprise. She possessed concealment techniques that exceeded the Fen Wolves’ senses.
Her objective was unknown, but this enemy could become a threat to the king. They needed to swiftly pass along the information they’d acquired to him. The dragon princess was with the king as well. Those two would be able to counter this powerful opponent.
She needed to let Bal and the young wolves escape—and Garo was prepared to risk her life to create an opening for them.
“The one past here, yes? I’ve partaken of them. Don’t you think you’ve been a little too neglectful of their security? What a tribe of incompetents you are, Fen Wolves.”
Garo’s hair stood up. Her inability to save the elves, whose protection had been entrusted to the king, and her family from being harmed were enough to fill her limbs with mortified rage.
Cracks appeared in the ground on which she stood.
“Grwl! (You will atone with your life, bastard!) ”
Garo disappeared.
Even the eyes of Bal, another Fen Wolf, couldn’t track her god-speed assault.
Carmilla, however, caught her fangs easily with her nails.
“Oh, stop… Beasts’ blood doesn’t taste good. But I am still thirsty, so I’ll put up with it and drink you dry.”
“Grwl, grwl!! (Bal, go! I swear I’ll stop her! Don’t turn back! Run as fast as you can!!) ”
“Grwf, grwf…! (Lady Garo…! Damn… Leave Shiro and Kuro to me! Please stay safe!) ”
“I already said you weren’t getting away—”
As Carmilla took aim at the fleeing Bal, Garo’s claws sliced at her.
“Grwl. (I said I’d stop you.) ”
A line of blood ran down Carmilla’s cheek, and a single drop of it fell.
“…Not bad. Okay. I’ve got something special in store for you.”
Her long tongue reached out to lick the blood on her cheek.
Eyes glittering with anger, Carmilla swung her nails. The blades created vacuums in their wakes. Garo slipped by them, gaining distance for a charge.
She’d successfully diverted the enemy’s attention. Now it was about how long she could stall her.
“Grwl, grrr…! (Don’t think you’ll kill me for free, you leech. We Fen Wolves can rip out your windpipe even after we die…!) ”
“Ha! Very funny. Go ahead and try, you lowborn mongrel.”
Carmilla grinned scornfully at Garo, baring all her teeth.
Remembering her king for a moment, and praying for Shiro and Kuro’s safety, Garo threw herself into a battle with her life on the line.