"Thank you very much. If you don't mind, shall I prepare some for your attendants as well?"
"My, such courtesy... How gracious of you."
With her approval, I reached into a subspace pocket and retrieved a set of elegant-looking glasses. I had thought of a few ways this could go, but I was honestly relieved she wanted my blood—even as a joke.
As I lightly cut my wrist and let blood trickle into three glasses, Elmenhilde brought the conversation back on track.
"Now then, as I mentioned at the start, we're here today to request the assistance of Gasper Vladi, who is present here. Of course, we didn't come empty-handed—we brought a proper gift."
One of Elmenhilde's attendants pulled a document from a bag and handed it to her, which she then placed on the table. Azazel-sensei took one glance at it and sighed.
"So this is about the Carmilla faction's peace negotiations, huh...? In other words, you're acting as their envoy today, is that correct?"
"Yes. Our Queen is deeply troubled by the prolonged conflict. Depending on how the talks proceed, she wishes to propose a ceasefire with your side."
"You've got your priorities backwards, little lady. Normally, you'd lead with the peace offer. The matter of Gasper and the Holy Grail would come afterward. This just makes it sound like you're refusing to even come to the table unless we hand him over first."
Azazel-sensei looked ready to explode at the sheer audacity of this so-called peace proposal.
"If we, who have been promoting peace equally to all factions under the guidance of the Three Factions, were to ignore this... it would damage our credibility. People would start wondering if we're only choosing to cooperate with factions we favor, despite claiming impartiality. And besides, what they're offering isn't even a proper peace treaty—it's a ceasefire. They've gone straight for our weak spot."
Everyone's blood was boiling at how condescending this proposal was. As tension built in the room, I placed the three blood-filled glasses in front of Elmenhilde and her attendants and quietly sealed my wound.
"Please, enjoy."
"Oh my, thank you. You two should drink as well—it's not every day someone offers something so rare."
Prompted by Elmenhilde, her two attendants took their glasses.
"Hey Ikki! Why the hell are you going so far for these people?!"
Issei hissed at me in a low voice, unable to hold back his irritation. But they'd understand soon enough.
Before their very eyes, Elmenhilde and her attendants took a sip of what seemed like ordinary, freshly-drawn blood…
In an instant, they froze—then clutched their mouths as if in agony, their normally pale, lifeless faces turning bright crimson in a way I didn't think vampires were even capable of.
"Oh my, is something the matter? If you're feeling unwell, the restroom is at the end of the hall."
Smiling cheerfully, I gestured down the hallway. The three vampires, eyes brimming with tears, bolted in unison toward the bathroom.
"...Serves them right."
I grinned as President Rias beside me massaged her temples, clearly battling a headache.
"Ikki, what did you do?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. You saw—I merely offered them blood, as they requested. I did wonder whether drinking the blood of someone with divine energy—who, incidentally, just purified himself under a waterfall before this important meeting—would be safe for them... but they were the ones who insisted."
Of course, as a denizen of the supernatural world, I usually keep my divine aura hidden. But still.
"URGHBLAAAAGH!!"
A rather unpleasant noise echoed from the distance. Must be my imagination.
"...Strangely, I feel relieved. Like I've narrowly avoided inheriting some unfortunate nickname."
Rossweisse-san nodded pensively. Back in Kyoto, I managed to give her full-body qi healing just in time to prevent her stomach from erupting.
Guess the title of "The Vomiting Valkyrie" has now been passed on to "The Vomiting Vampires." Congrats, Elmenhilde.
"Well then, while they're gone, shall we review their proposal? President Rias, feeling any better?"
"A little, though now I've got a different kind of headache."
"Gasper, how about you? Want to try some leftover blood?"
I gestured toward the half-full glasses left on the table.
"Nooooo! Not in a million years!!"
"Nyaahahaha! Who knew vampires could blush like that? That was priceless!"
"Well, back to the matter at hand."
"That's right. That Elmenhilde girl had the nerve to spout all that crap and ask us to send Gasper straight into their internal vampire war—against enemies empowered by the Holy Grail, no less! They go on about cherishing blood more than devils, but this whole thing is just filthy."
"That's actually standard for pure-blood vampires. They refuse outside interference in their affairs, but they're happy to sacrifice half-bloods they normally shun. As for the peace proposal—they've insulted us, but we can't just ignore it. If this were human politics, we could shut it down entirely. But Gasper is officially a devil now. And to the high-ranking devil bureaucrats, one ex-half-vampire's life is a small price for even a temporary truce. Sirzechs would definitely oppose it, but if negotiations drag on, other factions might start asking what the hell we're doing. And if the Tepes faction starts causing trouble elsewhere, we'll be blamed for not acting when we had the chance."
The Three Factions aren't exactly beloved. To factions not yet in a peace treaty, even this half-assed proposal could be used to throw shade at us. They'd twist it into "ignoring a cry for help."
Politics is such a pain. Honestly, I wish those demon execs had died during the magic beast incident. But knowing them, they probably bolted first.
And their successors? Most likely their kids—products of "elite training," no doubt. So nothing changes.
"I—I'll go! I don't really care about the treaty... but Valerie is my savior. I've been reborn as a devil, and I'm surrounded by kind people and friends. I'm happy now. But if Valerie's suffering because of all this, I can't just sit back! I'm not planning on dying—I will bring her back!"
Oh wow. Gasper just declared he's going to rescue the damsel from the evil castle. What is this, a fairy tale?
"I'm heading to the Carmilla territory. If they're using the Holy Grail, they'll want my knowledge. I can't act directly yet, but I'll bring some gifts and try to prepare for when we can intervene. Gasper can go in afterward."
"Then I'll head to House Vladi. I've spoken with their patriarch before when Gasper became my servant. He didn't seem the type to chase ambition. I suspect he's neutral or at least not aligned with the Tepes faction. Also, I'm curious about that black power inside Gasper. I'll see what I can learn."
Just as Issei started to say, "Then we'll come too," Rias cut him off.
"The vampire side is already on edge. If I bring my whole peerage, it'll only make things worse. I'll take one escort—my Knight."
As soon as she said "Knight," Xenovia perked up.
"Leave it to me, President! If needed, I'll use Ex-Durandal to slice their vampire hideout in two!"
"...No, I'm taking Yuuto."
"Understood, President. And Xenovia, you just wanted to vent your anger from earlier, didn't you?"
"Honestly... I thought you'd matured when you didn't swing your sword mid-discussion—but then you go and ruin it at the end."
Yuuto and Griselda both gave her exasperated looks.
"Everyone, they're coming back."
Prompted by Sona, we all returned to our seats as Elmenhilde and her entourage re-entered, sitting back down on the sofa. Vampires are usually pale as corpses, but now they were a terrifying shade of blue—like they'd lost all color. The contrast from their earlier bright-red faces was striking.
"Apologies for stepping out so suddenly. I'm not sure why, but we suddenly felt unwell."
Of course they wouldn't admit vampire pride got wrecked by drinking human blood.
"In any case, we've conveyed what we needed to say, so we'll take our leave now. We'll leave staff here—if you have questions, contact us through them."
As they stood to leave, Rias offered parting words with a subtle smirk.
"I feel like I learned a lot about vampires today. Take care."
The trio gave a brief bow and left. Yuuto offered to see them out, but they declined—then immediately sprinted away the moment they left the Occult Research Club room. I could feel their presence vanish across the school grounds... presumably headed back to their base
Once their aura had fully disappeared, Azazel-sensei turned to Griselda and Irina.
"Griselda, Irina. Make sure Michael hears about this. Vampires and Holy Grails—not a comforting combo."
"Understood. We suspected Longinus-class Sacred Gears might come into play, so Heaven is prepared to deploy a Joker if necessary."
"Wow, ready for the worst already. Well, nothing strange about using a Joker to counter Longinus relics."
"Well, the kid does spend all his spare time chasing good food. The Archangels say we might as well use him when it counts."
Griselda sighed, hand to her cheek, looking mildly troubled.
"Heh. In that case, tell him if he ever falls from grace because of gluttony, we'd welcome him as an executive in our ranks."
"I'm not telling him that. But I will inform Michael of what you just said."
"Ugh! Spare me, please!"
Azazel-sensei pleaded desperately, but the outcome was already clear...
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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