Chapter 1

PROLOGUE “Hey, Ryouta, it’s morning already. Seven twenty-five. You’ll be late!” Rustle, rustle. A large shudder shook Ryouta’s bed. “I can’t; I’m sleepy…” Ryouta was usually the one doing the waking up, but making lunch the night before had taken longer than he expected and kept him up late. He could barely open his eyes, mostly because he wasn’t used to being woken up. He’d been having a rather lovely dream, too, so his instincts were screaming, I don’t want to get up! “Up, up, up! I need my traditional breakfast of rice and miso soup and eggs and fried fish! It will take longer for us to get to school now that we’ve moved!” The force that shook him grew stronger. Rustle, rustle, rustle. “Nnngh… This train’s a shaky one…” “Ryouta, this is not your master’s job; it’s yours! You’re supposed to say, Get up; it’s morning. Sheesh, Master, you lazy piece of work— But out of respect for your childlike sleeping face, I suppose I’ll allow another five minutes! You need to be more conscious of what kind of minion you—” “Hey, Ouka, don’t sleep in the family altar. I know you like high places, but you’re in the way! I can see up your skirt, Ouka!” The girl snapped when she heard that name. After all, it wasn’t hers. “If you do not wake up in the next three seconds, I’ll bite you. This is a real three-second rule.” Bite. When he heard that word, Ryouta’s consciousness rapidly tried to awaken. Things were headed south! But three seconds were still plenty of time. No need to panic. “Three… Two…” Chomp. “O-owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!” Pain coursed through his neck, and Ryouta leaped up. Wasn’t there still one second left?! The girl had clamped down on the base of his neck so hard her teeth pierced his skin. “Oh, you’re ahake. I has gonna hite you hecause you weren’t.” “Don’t talk while you’re biting me! Don’t bite me, period!” he yelled, and the girl finally let him go. Her long hair, tied in pigtails, swayed side to side more violently than usual. The exaggerated action was a sign she was angry. Even her smallish and fairly cute face had a tinge of red to it. Her face is red almost all the time anyway because she gets mad so quickly, though, Ryouta thought. But he only thought it. He’d be given a blood punishment if he said it out loud. A literal blood punishment… “You were not waking up at all, so I bit you. Ryouta, it seems you’ve forgotten you are a minion in service of me—of Shiren Fuyukura. And that’s your punishment.” “You just bit me before the three seconds were up! I got up with godlike speed!” “Hmph. Bloodsucking is a typical form of intimate contact between Sacred Blooded masters and their minions. Be grateful I’m even going out of my way to warn you. Thank me as a good Christian would pledge devotion to the Virgin Mary.” “You’re a god now?” “Of course, you may return home to Japan from the Empire. There’s a ninety-nine percent chance you’ll be caught along the way, though.” “Crap… She’s sizing me up…” The bell on Ryouta’s neck rang when he stood. PROLOGUE 5 There was a collar around his neck. When they went to and from school, he would be dragged along by a chain. That pretty much summed up his situation. He had no choice but to live his life as the property of this high school girl named Shiren Fuyukura. If he walked around without his collar on, then the good people of the town would turn rabid and attack him. “All right, I’m making breakfast. I’ve still got time.” Ryouta slowly stood from his bed, but just before he reached the door, Shiren clung to him from behind. It wasn’t a romantic gesture; she was seizing him more than anything. She was so small, she was almost like a little sister coming up to play with him. “Hey, I take back what I said before… Pretend I never said you could go back to Japan. Don’t go back, even if there’s only a one percent chance you’d be caught…” Her nails dug into his hips. At least cut your nails if you’re going to cling to me like this. Shiren Fuyukura was much too terrified of being left alone. Sheesh, she always looks down her nose at me and pushes me around, and now this. He wanted to tell her to grow up, but…well, it wouldn’t hurt to stay awhile. A promise was a promise. “Without you, I’d…I’d…” “I know. I’m not going back. Don’t worry.” “Really…? It’s a thousand needles for you if you lie to your master!” “Yeah, yeah, I know.” “And a blood donation penalty of fifteen hundred milliliters!” “Yeah, that’s not that— Wait, I’d die! That’s almost enough to kill a grown man! That’s three times more than a typical donation!” “Hmm. Two thousand, then.” “You’re not even hiding that you’re trying to kill me… You are, aren’t you?!” “You oblivious baboon! My point is that you’re not supposed to leave! Be more conscious of your master’s feelings! You still lack heart in your service, Ryouta!” Shiren clung to him harder. It wasn’t so bad to be depended on like this, was it? Shiren was kind of cute, too… “I’m telling you, it’s oka—” “Without you, I’d have to be the one to clean and cook and do laundry and weed the garden and swap out my residence permit at city hall! I hate how much work it is! You’re the one who’s supposed to do all that, and I’m the one who supports you!” “…So that’s the punch line we’re going with?” Ryouta sighed, regretting all the unnecessary things he’d done in the past. If only he hadn’t gone hiking that day… Ryouta was living together with (well, more like living rent-free with) a girl of Sacred Blood—what we’d call a vampire. He had reached the neighboring village and discovered it was a country of vampires called the Sacred Blood Empire, and he couldn’t go back to Japan. As of now, it didn’t seem like he’d be going back any time soon.