“The power creep here is starting to confuse me…” “Anyway, let me get back to showing you around your room… There’s where you can store your shoes, and that’s the hallway light switch, and there’s a talisman on the wall behind the oil painting, but don’t worry about it. That’s where you’ll put your washing machine when you get one—” “Hold on! You can’t just sneak in creepy info like that!” “It’s not creepy. The light switch is supposed to be big and easy to flip, in case an elderly person needs to use it. The shoe closet is big enough for lots of shoes, and you’ll be provided a washing machine by the Empire.” “You skipped the part about the painting!” “That painting is a masterwork. I got it for thirty-five hundred yen on Yahoo! Auctions.” “I’m not sure how much paintings are supposed to go for, but that sounds really cheap!” “A painting’s value is not in its price. Some leap straight to asking how much a great master’s paintings cost, but that makes one look like a fool. I would advise against it.” “Actually, that’s enough about the painting. Why is there a talisman behind it?!” “Because some things just are.” “I’m not asking for a proverb here!” “They’re very popular with kids these days.” “That’s definitely a lie!” “This entire apartment unit is what we’d call a power spot. The talisman is there to regulate its energy. That’s all.” “I’d prefer a room without any energy.” “As you live in this apartment, you’ll gradually be blessed with more and more power from the spirits.” “So there are ghosts in here! That’s gonna be an issue!” In the end, they moved on without Ouka ever explaining the talisman. “Here’s the kitchen. You have storage space above you, and there’s another talisman there, but don’t worry about it.” “I will absolutely worry about it! What on Earth is written on it…?” Ryouta peeled it from the wall to check. COCKROACHES BE GONE “See? I told you not to worry about it.” “Does this really work on cockroaches, though…?” “Cockroaches that understand human writing are quite considerate, and if they see the talisman, they will leave right away.” “So it doesn’t work at all, then.” “Also, there’s a frying pan provided for you. It’s even been treated.” “Oh, you mean it’s been coated with Teflon?” “No, I mean it’s been warded against evil spirits.” “Please, can I just have a different room?! Why are you forcing this one on me?!” “If an evil spirit attacks, all you have to do is hit it with the frying pan.” “You know, if things are that bad, you should just seal the room up…” Once Ouka was finished showing Ryouta the kitchen, they moved on to the next room. “Here’s the bath. I think it’s about five square meters.” “That’s huge… The water, light, and heating costs for this bath alone must be crazy high…” “Then why not use the public bath in the basement? There is a hot spring under the castle, you know. The public would be disgusted if they found out, so we try to keep it quiet.” “People in the castle sure are spoiled…” “I wanted a private outdoor bath for the room, too, but that wasn’t possible.” “Yeah. It’s not like you could turn this whole place into an atrium.” Ryouta looked up at the ceiling; there were talismans plastered all over it. “I think I’ll use the public bath as much as possible…,” he said. “I appreciate your help saving water.” If Ryouta ignored the disconcerting talismans everywhere, the room felt very fancy. “The balcony is over there. It has a great view.” “Huh. Let me take a look.” It certainly had a view—of the graveyard. “All I can see are headstones!” “Land near cemeteries is cheap, you see. It was a lucky find when I was looking into building the castle.” “I think we’re starting to see the negative consequences of your focus on savings.” “See how the stones glint under the sun? Aren’t you spellbound?” “Who would be spellbound by graves?!” “We’ve performed exorcisms, so you don’t need to worry about them.” “You wouldn’t need exorcisms if you hadn’t built the castle next to a cemetery!” “And in the morning, you might awaken to the singing of birds and the groans of the dead.” “I think I’ll lock the windows when I go to sleep…” The unit was certainly luxurious, but haunted vibes of each room mostly canceled it out. “I have two more rooms to show you.” Ouka came to stand before a closed door. “Though, I can’t let you into this one yet. Sorry.” “It’s haunted, right? I see where this is going.” Ryouta was pretty sure this must be the forbidden room where the ghost was sealed. “That’s where your handpicked selection of adult comics is stored. You can’t go in there until you turn eighteen.” “Stop making pointless rooms like that!” “You can use the erotica while you enjoy the view. It’s quite romantic.” “You don’t need to introduce romance into it, okay? And can you not use the verb use? At least say read!” “Oh, it’s not like you read every word on the pages filled with sound effects, do you? Some things you can skip over.” “Why are you even thinking about that?! And when you said enjoy the view—” “I meant the graveyard.” “How can I enjoy anything with that graveyard out there?! I’m going to keep that room locked up forever! Just—just take me to the last room already, okay?” “All right. The last room is the bedroom. This way.” The room was fresh and neat, and there were no talismans anywhere. It was the definition of luxury. The chic design utilized a black-and-white color scheme, and in the center sat a king-size double bed. “Isn’t this a little big for one person?” “I’ll be living here, too, so things have to be this big.” “Right. I guess that makes sen What?” Ryouta got the feeling he’d just heard something very shocking… “But, Ouka, don’t you have your own quarters…?” Ryouta had seen her room with his own two eyes. It had been unexpectedly girly and cute. “You see, my personal guards need to stay by my side at all times to protect me from assassins and Sasara. That is why they tend to be female.” “In that case, I suppose they do need to stay on high alert. I’ll ignore the fact that you listed one of your own guards along with assassins as an equal threat.” “Now, consider the inverse. If I sleep in one of my guards’ rooms to begin with, I’ll be safe from danger. It won’t be every day, of course.” “I kind of get where you’re going with this now, but…you realize you’d be staying in a guy’s room, right…?” “Oh? Does that mean you’re going to try something funny on Her Imperial Majesty?” Ouka stared hard at Ryouta, her gaze piercing. “O-of course not…” “Then there’s no problem.” Ouka smiled, undaunted. She had calculated everything. Ryouta had no intention of arguing with her, nor was he in any position to do so. “Okay… I promised I’d be your minion, so I’ll protect you…” “Exactly. You are my minion. I’m glad you remembered. So”—Ouka placed both hands on Ryouta’s shoulders—“b-become my minion, officially.” Her expression suddenly turned apprehensive, like a switch had flipped inside her. It was almost as though the forceful personality from a few moments earlier belonged to a completely different person. Her voice had grown much quieter, too. “Officially…?” There was nothing wrong with the word itself, but something about the potential implications felt impure to Ryouta. “Let me suck your blood, Ryouta. Become…mine.” A strange feeling overcame him, as though the blood were draining from his entire body. “That means biting my arm or something, right…?” “Yes. No one will see us here, so… D-don’t make me say it out loud… I’m too embarrassed…” Ouka’s hands were shaking ever so slightly, and Ryouta could feel it radiate from his shoulders throughout his entire body. His heart thudded in time with her shuddering hands. “C-can’t we do this tomorrow…?” “No… Once we put it off, it will be difficult to bring up again… You should know that…” Ryouta got the feeling he genuinely knew how Ouka felt. His own feelings were scarily in tune with hers. He almost wasn’t sure who the hands on his shoulders belonged to. The only thing setting them apart was social standings. “But Shiren— Oh, I guess that doesn’t matter anymore.” Shiren Fuyukura was no longer in the Empire, nor was she Ryouta’s master. Both Ryouta and Ouka had been present when that became a thing of the past. Ryouta’s current master was right in front of him. His only master—one he would not confuse with another. “Yes… Master…” The moment those words escaped his lips, a strange feeling overcame him—something like freedom, along with a clenching in his heart. With this, the strange, hazy uncertainty that had hung over him would come to an end. “All right. Ryouta, please sit on the bed…” He did as he was told, and Ouka sat down beside him on his left. “Hold out your arm. It might hurt, b-but tell me if it does, okay…?” “Will you stop if I do?” “No.” “Then there’s no point. Well, a lot of people have bitten me so far, so I’m kind of used to it.” “Well, aren’t you a hussy? It’s not something people normally get used to.” “Yeah, you’re probably right… I’ll be more careful going forward…” “You’d better. You’re the emperor’s minion now.” “I promise I won’t be an embarrassment to you.” “And I will hold you to that—never forget that promise. Mental attitude is very important. There are two ways to earn respect: One is to accomplish something great in a particular field that everyone must then acknowledge; the other is to be a good person, to live so virtuously that one has no enemies at all. You have no incredible talents, Ryouta, so the least you can do is continue being a good person.” “So…are you going to bite me or not?” Ouka’s face flushed a bright, fiery red. Ryouta felt guilty, like he’d said something very mean. “I-I’m embarrassed, okay? I thought I could hide it if I kept talking, but now it’s making it even more difficult for me to commit… Just—just wait for me, okay?! This is my first time…” “Wait, really? Don’t you bite your guards?” “L-look… Biting my female guards is different from biting a g-guy like you, Ryouta… You might not be Sacred Blooded, but… This is so weird. I’ve always wanted to do this, but now that my chance is right in front of me, I’m scared… Weird really is the only way to describe it. Please just understand…” “Sorry… I should have been more tactful…” “Okay, I’m doing it! I’m going in!” She took Ryouta’s arm. “Oh,” Ryouta suddenly piped up. “Wh-what?” “Should I go wash my arm off in the sink, or…?” “No… You don’t need to be that considerate…” Ouka’s eyes slipped shut, and she slowly sank her teeth into his skin. Ryouta got through the first wave of pain by gritting his teeth. The beginning was always the most painful, because the pain came from nowhere. After that, once a starting point for the pain had been established, it only throbbed a little in the same area. Too embarrassed to watch Ouka bite into his skin, Ryouta looked away. Somehow, she appeared even more vulnerable while sucking his blood than she did when she was sleeping. I wonder if, seven years ago, I ever imagined I’d wind up here… There’s no way. Seven years ago, when Ryouta was living in Japan, every woman and girl had been his enemy. Every one of them had their sights on him on account of his curse. If it had just meant a lot of staring, it would have been fine, but on several occasions, he’d almost been kidnapped. He got the feeling those girls didn’t see him as a person, and to him, they weren’t rational humans, either. It felt like he was the only person living in a forest full of monsters. And then there was Ouka Sarano—the only girl who treated him like a person. The reason for that was simple. Ouka was Sacred Blooded, and she could retain her cool around Ryouta. The Sacred Blooded were totally unaffected by the curse. Ouka was the only girl in his class who could look at him through unclouded eyes. In a way, it was only natural for Ryouta to start thinking of her as someone special. He adored her, and those feelings quickly turned into romantic affection. Ouka wasn’t like the other girls. She was the only one who treated me like a person. I was only human when I was with her. That was why she had been his first crush and why, even after she transferred schools, his affection had remained frozen in time, never changing. There had been no one to replace her. Ouka alone was special to him. I was only in fourth grade, and all I ever wanted to do was kiss her. I never thought about her biting me or anything like that. But you know, maybe this is good in its own way. Ouka had been drinking his blood the whole while and couldn’t speak. Unable to hold a conversation, Ryouta spent his time thinking about the past. After seven years, his memories had only grown rosier and more beautiful. They could never be sullied. Was this always my destiny…? Maybe things had all fallen into place and led him here, to Ouka sucking his blood. Perhaps the pain in his arm had always been meant to be. But the pain did not last for very long. It slowly vanished, and in its place came drowsiness. This was a type of anesthesia. When a Sacred Blooded claimed a minion, they injected them with this substance to ease the pain. It was starting to take effect. I can’t sit up anymore… Ryouta toppled backward on the bed. He had no strength left. “Just a little while longer.” When he lay back, Ouka stopped for a brief moment to reassure him. Her tone was lazy; it was almost as though the anesthesia was working on her, too. A string of her spit stuck to Ryouta’s arm before breaking off. Ryouta could see she was sweating quite heavily. She was flushed, almost feverish. Ouka lay down with him. “I’m not done yet.” Once she started, she couldn’t stop. She grabbed Ryouta’s arm and laid it across herself, then took it into her mouth. Nestling into him, she bit down. “Yeah, keep going.” It didn’t hurt anymore, so Ryouta wasn’t entirely sure what was happening to him. His mind felt blank. He didn’t have the energy to think about the past now, but strangely, he didn’t feel like closing his eyes, either. He was suddenly overcome with the impulse to hug Ouka, then absently scolded himself—they were master and servant, and that wasn’t appropriate. He had a feeling the impulse had come to him because he wasn’t in his right mind. He doubted Ouka would criticize him for it, but that was precisely why he thought he should wait for another day to hug her. “I feel hot all over,” he said. He thought he saw her nod slightly. And then the strange three minutes—which at once felt extremely long and extremely short—came to an end. “I think that should do it.” Ouka slowly lifted her head. “We’re done? I feel weird—dazed. I don’t think anyone’s ever bitten me for three minutes before.” “You’d be in huge trouble if you let multiple people bite you for three minutes. Oh, Ryouta, you’re still bleeding. We need to disinfect it—” She pulled out a small packet of disinfecting wipes from her pocket. “I guess that means everything’s gone according to plan if you were carrying that around with you.” “Is that a problem?” “No, not at all.” “Then yes, everything has gone exactly as I wanted.” She smiled as she wiped his wound with gauze. In contrast to her expression, her movements were clunky and awkward. “Let me give you a simple command. We have to see if you’ve actually become my minion.” “Okay. If it worked, I should be able to sense something.” Ouka closed her eyes and made her wish. After a little while, her thoughts came into Ryouta’s mind. Come closer to me. Come closer to me. “I got them! I could feel what you wanted!” “Really?!” Ouka’s eyes snapped open, and their gazes met. Then they looked away at the same time. She had just been drinking his blood, yet both of them felt awkward when it came to things like this. “But why would you order me to do that…? I’m already really close to you…” “It was just a test, okay…? It wasn’t serious.” She cleared her throat. “And be aware, I’m going to be picking on you a lot as my minion, so you’d best be ready for whatever I throw your way.” “Just be gentle, okay?” “And with my stupid little sister gone, you’ll have to take her share of bullying, too.” At that, Ryouta’s expression clouded over. “You…really are sad that she’s gone, aren’t you?” “…Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be? But I was blessed with something else in return,” she said, looking away from him. “I wouldn’t have gotten you if she were still here.” The fact that she couldn’t say that while looking at him only proved how large a hole Shiren’s absence had left. “Sometimes, we have to lose one thing to gain another. We were always going to have to take this step. It’s like one’s first day at a new school.” “You don’t have to pretend like it doesn’t bother you, Ouka.” “And you can say that you’re mad at Shiren, Ryouta.” “Why would I be mad at her?” “Don’t you get it?” She turned to him again, sadness on her face. “She abandoned you.” Ryouta had nothing to say to that. He wanted to say she was wrong, but maybe she wasn’t. Maybe that, too, was a part of the truth. “You worked so hard for her. No one else in the entire world thought about her more than you did.” “But what else was I supposed to do? I can’t replace her mother.” “I would never abandon you,” Ouka said, her expression solemn and dignified. She was the picture of an emperor. “I understand, Master.” “And your blood tasted so good, Ryouta. Better than any I’ve had so far.” “O-oh… I’m not sure if I should say thank you to that…” “It was so good, in fact, that I almost want some more right now. But you’d faint if I did that, so I’ll behave.” “There’s nothing special about my blood,” Ryouta said, embarrassed. “But there is. To me, at least.” Meanwhile, Shiren was swamped with work at the Imperial office. Though it was called the Imperial office, it was just one room in a building. This building was a Sacred Blooded holding some distance from the old Empire in Akinomiya. Apparently, it was being rented out by Sairi. “Uhh… What does stipulation mean? Or intercession? And I’m sure this conclusion doesn’t mean what I think it means. Compensation of deficit… I only know compensation. I think. Implementation? I feel like I should know what that means… Well, I kind of know a lot of these words, so I bet it’s okay. I wish they’d use less fancy vocabulary! But it’s probably fine. Imperial stamp time! Okay, next!” Shiren was putting the Imperial stamp on every document. “Keep at it, Shiren. You’ll be doing that kind of work for a while yet.” Sairi was sitting opposite her, checking documents in much the same way. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll just stamp everything and not worry about reading it.” “I would prefer it if you gave everything a once-over at least, but…that can be our next challenge to tackle. Keep on stamping!” “Leave it to me! I’ll break the stamping world record!” “Oh, that’s right. You’ll need to make a speech to the new Empire’s affiliates tonight. You need to think about what you want to say, Shiren.” “What? I don’t have any time to think about that…” “It doesn’t have to be very long or complicated. You’ll have to do a lot more things like this in the future.” The event that night was held at a hotel, a different one from where Shiren was staying. There were even Japanese politicians in attendance, ones she had seen on TV before. First, New Progenitor Alfoncina—Sairi Fuyukura—came to the stage to speak. “A surprising amount of time has passed since the Sacred Blood Empire was established in Akinomiya. It almost feels as though it has been there for decades now. I believe many of you here feel both pride that the Sacred Blooded were at last able to create their own country and, at the same time, apprehension that they have done so in such a messy, haphazard manner. As one who can trace her ancestry to the founder of the Holy Church of the Sacred Blood, I had mixed feelings about the affair. I honestly questioned their sanity when I saw they were selling a swimsuit photo collection full of pictures of the archbishop.” She was, of course, talking about Alfoncina XIII, Matsuko Kimura. Several of the attendees hung their heads. They must have purchased the photo collection. “This sentiment continued to grow. We were frustrated beyond words that others might think that country represented all the Sacred Blooded. I racked my brain. What could I do? That was when I decided to create the new Empire—the Holy Sacred Blood Empire. Unlike the old Empire in Akinomiya, we aim to create a country that is conscious of the connection we have to the outside world. At the very least, we aim to think of our future as Sacred Blooded on Japanese soil. We already have plenty of non–Sacred Blooded helping and working with us. This is the twenty-first century—trying to create a country based solely on race is already an outdated way of thinking. It would be ridiculous to try and accomplish something with Sacred Blooded alone, and we would surely see limited results. We can only develop and evolve by doing away with exclusionism. The Holy Sacred Blood Empire is currently situated in the city of Oshiro along with our headquarters, but in time, we hope to see at least ten branches across the world create a coalition of the world’s Sacred Blo— Shiren the First, please wake up. Her Majesty must stay awake.” Shiren had fallen asleep in the middle of the speech. “Yaaawn… Oh! …I’m not asleep, I’m awake! I was listening!” “Then summarize what I was talking about.” “Why do soba and ramen shops get so oddly particular about certain things? Sometimes, they ask you to take your first bite of soba without any sauce or start by sipping the ramen’s broth. But isn’t that up to the customer? Sure, it’s fine to suggest those things, but it’s outrageous to force people to do them. They clearly don’t understand cuisine. One’s meals should be free. That’s what you were talking about.” “Exactly,” Sairi replied sarcastically. As she thought, Shiren hadn’t been listening at all—and her apparent pride was irritating. “All right, now we’ll have a very funny word from Shiren the First, emperor of the Holy Sacred Blood Empire. You will surely find yourself rolling on the floor afterward! Be careful not to die of laughter! The comedy world will be changing right here, right now, tonight! Please give Her Majesty a round of applause!”
Chapter 104
21 min read