Chapter 112: Invitation
Chapter 112: Invitation
Chapter 112: Invitation
"… Master."
"Ah, Miss Blaze."
A week had already passed since Isaac Adler abducted Mycrony Holmes, keeping her in his hideout.
"Good morning.”
"… Indeed."
As usual, Miss Silver Blaze, dressed in a maid's outfit, entered Adler's room to start her daily routine, and greeted him good morning.
- Swish, swoosh...
In the next moment, she naturally sat next to Adler and rubbed her soft cheek against his.
"… Miss Blaze, what did you say this action signifies again?"
"It's a Demi-human's morning greeting. For us demi-humans, it's an essential part of our daily routine.""Really...?"
"Yes, Master. It would be a huge problem if I didn't do it."
Adler, who had been passively accepting her persistent nuzzling, couldn’t help but ask with a sceptical expression. In response, Silver Blaze replied with a rare note of seriousness in her tone.
"Can you tell me exactly what would happen if it's not done?"
"… I will get depressed and gloomy for the whole day."
However, in response to Adler's probing, she mumbled in a dejected tone; her ears slumped while her face became sullen and gloomy.
"That certainly sounds serious."
"… Hehe."
Adler, who had been quietly observing her adorable behaviour, let out a bitter smirk and offered his cheek to her once again. His action prompted Silver Blaze to giggle softly and wag her tail in delight.
- Swish, swish...
Thus, the sound of cheek rubbing against cheek echoed inside the silent room.
"Is burying your head in my hair and sniffing also a greeting among demi-humans, Miss Blaze?"
"… Ah, no."
When Adler, who had been working at his desk, asked again, Silver Blaze finally lifted her head and responded in a sheepish voice.
"It's because I like you so much, Master..."
"........."
"And your scent is always so pleasant."
At her candid response, Adler turned his face away, blushing and trying his best to avoid her gaze.
"… Ah, that's right, Master."
Silver Blaze, who couldn’t help but twitch involuntarily at his shy demeanour, slapped her cheek to snap out of her state and spoke up again.
"Today is the scheduled blood-feeding day."
"… Ah."
And then she timidly offered her snowy white neck to her master.
"This week it's my turn, so please use me without any reservations."
".........."
"I've also taken care of any fine hairs in advance. It's better to be clean when being feasted upon by you, Master... Ugh."
As soon as Adler saw her delectable white nape, he was overcome with the urge to bite and pressed his lips against Blaze's neck while closing his eyes tightly.
""...........""
And thus, silence ensued…
"… Master. I've been thinking, wouldn't it be better if I just took over the blood-feeding duties?"
The usual sensation of being helplessly drained of blood washed over her as she felt Adler’s sharp fangs sink into her pale white neck, stiffening her usually wagging tail. Amid such a feeling, Silver Blaze opened her eyes ever so slightly and started whispering her thoughts in the silence.
"Princess Clay's blood, even if you drink it, she’ll have to quickly suck it back from you. In the end, it’s back to square one with her."
".........."
"And Moran is too young. If you draw from her like you do from me, she'll get anaemia and get weak and frail."
Silver Blaze spoke calmly, her argument unusually logical and precise for someone naive like her.
"Master. I have a lot of stamina, so even if you draw a lot of blood from me, I'll be fine. So, I think I'm the right person..."
- Drip...
"... Huh?"
However, as Adler, who had been quietly observing her all this time, pulled out his fangs earlier than usual, confusion and panic fluttered in her eyes.
"This is enough for today."
Adler replied to her in a slightly colder voice than usual.
"... I-I'm sorry, Master."
Picking up the slight notes of coldness in his voice, her complexion darkened immediately. Quickly, she knelt at his feet while bowing her head like a helpless puppy.
"I dared to speak out of turn without knowing my place. I am truly sorry..."
"It's not that, I'm just really full."
"From now on, I'll just be a silent flesh doll, only meant for delivering blood to you, Master."
"........."
"No, I'll do anything you want, so please don't discard me..."
As she spoke with a sobbing voice, Adler quietly looked down at her and then smiled softly.
"... Are you sure you are willing to do anything I want?"
"Yes?"
"What if I said I wanted your soul, would you willingly give it to me?"
His eyes darkened as he asked, and Silver Blaze’s reply came without any hints of hesitation.
"Of course."
"........."
"I'll quietly go and commit suicide in the alleyway. Or, do you wish to kill me yourself, Master?"
"... Aren't you afraid of dying?"
Adler couldn’t help but look down at Silver Blaze with a perplexed expression on his face, seeing that she had not questioned even once why she had been treated so poorly by him all of a sudden.
"I am only but a tool to be used by my Master; why should I be afraid?"
"... Hmm."
However, when Silver Blaze questioned him back with a puzzled look of her own, Adler was enveloped in silence for a moment.
"Well done."
Then, silently, he started stroking her head with affection.
"As long as you maintain that attitude, there will be no problem in serving me."
"Oh, th-thank you...?"
"Now, you may leave."
As he whispered in a kind voice, Silver Blaze stood up with a bewildered expression and then bowed her head enthusiastically with a bright smile on her face.
"... Ah, right."
Turning to leave the room as ordered, she suddenly seemed to have remembered something and spoke to Adler on her way out.
"Lately, there has been a sweet scent coming from you, Master."
"........?"
"Why is that? Moran and Princess Clay said that you don’t smell at all though…”
She murmured, tilting her head in curiosity as she left the room.
.
.
.
.
.
‘... Sweet scent?’
Even after Silver Blaze had left, I remained puzzled for a while after hearing her last words. Then, I quietly began sniffing the clothes I was wearing.
".......?"
But I couldn't detect any particularly sweet scent coming off my clothes.
Since becoming a vampire, my sense of smell had heightened significantly. There was no way I would have missed something like this.
So what could be the identity of the scent she mentioned?
"Mycrony."
After pondering for a long time with no answer in sight, I finally called out to her in a low voice.
"... Yes, Master."
The her in question was none other than Mycrony Holmes, who had been silently biting my lower half under the desk since dawn.
"Do you know what this scent Silver Blaze was referring to is?"
"... The smell, huh?"
Initially, she resisted without eating or drinking anything, but surprisingly, it didn't take long to completely subdue her to the point where she willingly wore a maid's uniform and served me wholeheartedly.
After all, even if it was me in her position – experiencing a simulation that was never felt before, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – I too would have easily succumbed.
Even taking that fact into account, the training had been so successful that… I was still somewhat dazed by how smooth sailing it was.
To think that the formidable Mycrony Holmes was now kneeling quietly under my desk, biting my lower half for hours on end without even so much as a noise…
Perhaps there was a tremendous talent for training others hidden within me.
"Usually, when demi-humans detect a sweet scent from a person of the opposite sex, it is a sign that they are about to enter their mating season.”
Anyway, there was one definite benefit to having subdued Mycrony Holmes.
"By the way, there are cases where entering the mating season completely flips the beaskin’s personality while their strength increases manifolds, so you need to be careful, Master.”
"I see."
And that was… the fact that I no longer struggled for information.
"You've done well."
- Pat, stroke...
Just by stroking her cheeks or belly, I gained unlimited access to an encyclopedia that would autonomously analyze and organize information from all over Britain.
Even if I told you about it1 back then, you’ll just forget it as usual and get devoured in the end anyway.
"... So, when will the information I requested be available?"
Of course, the reason I took the trouble to train her wasn't just to gain knowledge about the Demi-human's mating season, but to get perfect advice on how to overcome the current predicament where my progress has become utterly stagnated.
"I was just about to report that."
Ignoring the system's grumbling message as something inconsequential, I urged her for an answer. In turn, Mycrony Holmes, pressing her cheek against my leg, began to whisper in a soft voice.
Did I say something wrong?
"What you need right now is one thing only."
For a moment, I had the feeling that she was talking to the system next to me rather than me. However, I soon discarded that thought as that would be impossible, even for her.
"Facing your real identity and the hidden truth of the world."
"........"
"By confronting them, you'll find the answers that will lead you to the solution you desire."
"Then where do I confront this truth?"
While I listened to her quietly, Mycrony Holmes silently handed me a piece of paper, her eyes shining in the dark.
"... You need to go to this address."
"This place is..."
The address written on the paper was surprisingly quite familiar to me.
"It seems you know about it already?"
"........"
"... Hehe."
To be precise, as a fan of the Sherlock Holmes series, there was no way I wouldn’t know about this location.
.
.
.
.
.
A few days later…
".........."
A brief letter containing a single sentence arrived at the worn-out boarding house at 221B Baker Street, where Charlotte Holmes and Watson were staying, as well as at the London Metropolitan Police Station where Gia Lestrade was employed.
A new mystery is upon us.
,- At the Baskerville estate, Isaac Adler.
The short postscript written below the letter led the three women to an event that was more bizarre than anything they had encountered before in their /genesisforsaken