After that, whenever I trained with Virossa in the autonomous zone, a few vampires would show up and taste some of my blood. Watching as middle-aged vampires writhed along the floor upon tasting my blood was a pretty unpleasant sight to say the least. And Yavka, as their leader, was always present—always drooling and twitching as she lapped it up right alongside them. Well, the responsibility would be on her hands should anything happen, so I guessed I’d let her have a bit of a bonus.
And then came the arrival of Fifth Demon Princess Spinezia Sauroe and her army to Evaloti.
†††
“What the hell is going on here...?”
As I gave Yavka some blood, I could practically hear the speaker behind me cringing. Turning around, I saw Spinezia, clad in her Bon Dage outfit and munching on an apple as she watched us with open disgust.
“Oh, Spinezia. You’re here.”
She had sent a notice ahead of her arrival, but after she hadn’t shown up for a while, I’d decided to kill time with some training. And as usual, Yavka and her crew had turned out to lap up the blood that I had spilled everywhere. Vampire men were writhing all over the floor, while Yavka at least had built up a bit of a tolerance to my blood and so had kept some semblance of decency. But that didn’t stop her expression from taking on uncontained ecstasy as drool dribbled out of her mouth.
“What is...this?”
“I guess you could say I’m feeding them?” I replied as Spinezia marched in, muttering under her breath about how stupid it was to give demon blood to a vampire.
“What’re you trying to do? Teach them how to drink demon blood?”
“Yes.”
“...What?” My reply left Spinezia stunned. What was going on here would be pretty easy to figure out for any onlookers, so I was making no effort to hide it.
“Apparently my blood is pretty appetizing, and after tasting it, they can’t even stand human and beastfolk blood anymore. At least this way they won’t overindulge in blood from the citizens of the autonomous zone, so there’s less risk of accidents happening and people dying.”
“Huh. Your blood is that good, is it?” The Gutsy Gorger turned an all too serious look on me.
“For vampires,” I answered emphatically.
“I know, I know. It was just a joke.”
“It never sounds like a joke coming from you. In any case, just letting them take the blood I was spilling anyway has them working like madmen. It’s a small price to pay.” They had even taken it upon themselves to clear out the rubble in the city. All because they wanted my blood so badly.
“And what’ll you do if they start coming after demons for their blood?” she asked.
“I’ll destroy them, of course. Why would we be scared of weaklings like them?” I replied, motioning with my chin to the vampires convulsing pathetically on the floor. Yavka was a viscount, but the rest of them were all knights and baronets. Basically trash.
“Well...that’s true.” Spinezia nodded. A count would only need one hand to take on this gaggle of vampires. Though they posed a threat to ordinary humans, they were no more than pests to demons. Only kids whose horns hadn’t grown in yet would be scared of them.
Besides, my blood was only tasty because it had the magic of a high-level demon. So if vampires sought out blood for the flavor, they’d have to target high-level demons. That wasn’t something they could do on a moment’s notice. Not while the demonic kingdom’s authority was still solid. Though even if they did go crazy and start killing demons (other than myself), I couldn’t have cared less.
“And don’t worry. These guys won’t be leaving the autonomous zone anymore.”
“I guess it’s fine then.” In the end, judging by the cold gaze Spinezia cast upon them, she determined this matter was beneath her concern. “Anyway, it looks like your training is pretty intense. It seems the rumors were true,” she said, looking my blood-drenched form up and down. Not far away, Liliana was sitting while patiently waiting, and Layla was standing with towels at the ready. It was a safe bet that I was the only one in the entire demonic kingdom who had access to unlimited healing. A resource which allowed me to carry out training to the death.
“You’ve been fighting that human?” Spinezia asked, glancing over at Virossa as he slid his weapon back into its sheath.
“Yeah.”
“This human really did a number on you, huh?”
Oh? She didn’t know? “I know what it looks like, but he is a Swordmaster.”
Spinezia gave an impressed hum as she appraised Virossa from head to toe. The night elf Swordmaster replied with a polite bow. “Training with a Swordmaster, that’s pretty bold of you. Did you take his family hostage or something?”
“Something like that.”
If she didn’t know about Virossa, I wasn’t about to spill the beans. She likely hadn’t done much research on me considering she was on her way back from the front lines. She’d probably figure it out eventually, but it would be quite educational to see how long it took her agents to discover it.
“Didn’t you have a night elf Swordmaster among your people?” She scowled at me.
Oh. Never mind then. “So you knew all along?” I gave Virossa a wink, prompting him to shift back into his night elf form.
“That’s pretty tasteless of you. Where’s your charm?” Spinezia sighed, taking another bite out of her apple, paying no mind to the seeds and stem she was now chewing.
“I wouldn’t want you to find me tasty.”
You’re the one who initiated this conversation by bringing up how much I got beat up. Trying to see if I’m quick on my feet, huh? You’re being just as “charming” as I am.
“So, can I help you with something?” I cut right to the chase. There was no way Spinezia would have come here if it was just to drop off some captives.
“Oh, nothing in particular. I just wanted to do some family bonding.”
Really now?
Though I was smiling, Spinezia evidently saw the suspicion in my eyes as she gave an awkward shrug and took a plate of cookies from one of her beastfolk servants.
“Hungry?” She held the tray out to me.
“What are you after?!” I all but shrieked. The Gutsy Gorger was offering food to someone else?!
“Oh come on, even I know how to share!” Spinezia scowled again, but I didn’t miss the shock on the faces of her servants behind her. Apparently Spinezia had caught on to where my attention was as she quickly spun around and shouted, “What are all of you looking surprised for?!”
“I mean, you ate our rations just the other day!”
“Oh shut it! I’ll shave the lot of you!”
“Now you’re just being a tyrant!”
It looked like Spinezia got along pretty well with her beastfolk servants. Though that last comment had Porkun sticking his head out one of the castle windows.
She didn’t mean you. Sit down.
Spinezia sighed. “I have to admit, this new Bon Dage Style has helped rein in my appetite a bit. Before...it was kind of hard for me to control myself.”