It had been a day and a half since we started implanting the awakening-suppressing technique into the vampires possessing the souls of evil dragons. To be honest, we had already finished handling the vampires in this town. I'd expected the process to take much longer, but the town's security was laughably lax.
It wasn't just because of the recent coup—vampires, being so insular, might simply be unprepared for external threats or internal sabotage. Even the Church, their greatest enemy, had never discovered this town or Carmilla's. That means their primary concern must be rival vampire factions, or maybe the occasional werewolf. If no one had ever breached their secrecy before, it's understandable that they grew complacent. Either way, Kuroka's and my Taoist arts ended up being incredibly effective at slipping past their defenses—a pleasant surprise.
Naturally, the vampires aligned with the Tepes faction were also in their main castle, and breaking in there was significantly harder due to tighter security. Still, we managed. Vampires tend to sleep in coffins, so sneaking into their barracks and knocking them all out while they were resting made me feel like a grave robber.
The vampires assigned to watch over our assigned room probably assumed we were still inside. We'd already finished our work in the castle and even used Ittou Shura as a final sweep before returning to the room to catch some sleep. By the way, we secretly summoned Shirone through Izuna and had her heal us while we lay face down on the bed—after all, if Kuroka collapsed from overwork and I was completely drained from Ittou Shura, we wouldn't have anyone left to recover us.
Now, with our bodies still a little heavy, we were out in town again, sitting in a café, grabbing a bite to eat. Staying in the castle was too risky—if anyone realized we were there, the surveillance would become intense, and getting out might require brute force. We couldn't afford to leave any evidence we'd made the first move.
"Fuuunyah~ Sooo tired, nyaaa…"
"Nice work, Kuroka."
We'd just finished our meal—Kuroka had eaten more than twice what I did—and she was now flopped face-down on the table, basking in that just-right fullness.
I gave a small smile and offered some well-earned words of appreciation.
"Ugh... But we still have to go to Carmilla's vampire town next, right? That's just depressing. Honestly, it'd be faster to just kill everyone... but if we did that, we'd be found out immediately, and then it'd turn into a huge pain."
She says the most terrifying things so casually.
Anyway, we were now preparing to head toward Carmilla's territory. Luckily, the barrier surrounding this town didn't make exiting difficult.
Even when we left Carmilla's town before, we just took a regular van and drove out. Most likely, the barrier was designed to allow for easy escape in emergencies. During the recent coup, Azazel-sensei mentioned that even the ousted king of the Tepes faction managed to flee.
If escape routes had been more limited, survival wouldn't have been possible.
After leaving the café, we made our way to the gondola station where we had originally arrived. That was our escape point. But we stopped abruptly when we saw a certain figure.
There, on a bridge crossing a narrow canal, stood Lilith—Ophis's doppelgänger.
At first, I thought she might just be out for a walk. But when I saw that snow had accumulated not only on her head but her entire body, I froze.
Just how long had she been standing there without moving!?
Clearly, she still lacked emotional development, but this was just sad.
"Hey, Lilith. What are you doing?"
I couldn't just ignore a gothic-lolita girl I recognized standing out in the snow. She didn't look at us but continued staring into the canal.
"Looking... at the river."
...She's being literal!?
"Do you like rivers?"
"They're quiet. Lilith likes quiet."
Ah right, she was originally a dragon who sought silence.
"Even so, you should at least brush the snow off... or carry an umbrella on days like this."
"Lilith... not cold."
She tilted her head, puzzled.
Sure, even in a weakened state, she's still a dragon god—this kind of weather wouldn't bother her. Back in her prime, she could probably withstand the sun or even space itself. But that's not the point!
"Even if it doesn't bother you, there's a kind of social responsibility involved."
Again with the confused look. Guess that didn't register...
"See, Lilith, you're wearing a dress, right? Clothes were originally created by humans to regulate body temperature and protect their sensitive skin. Technically, you don't even need to wear clothes. So why do you?"
Now here I was, a high schooler, asking a little girl why she wears clothes. Out of context, that's a serious red flag. But to get through to someone like her—innocent and unaware—I had to break it down to the fundamental, almost philosophical question of "What is clothing?"
"...Don't know. Lilith wore clothes because Rizevim said to."
"That's because otherwise, people in the human world would think you're strange. And looking like you do, they'd probably worry about you instead. In public, it's best to dress in line with the local culture to avoid unnecessary trouble. You said you like quiet, right? Then it's something you should gradually learn."
I made sure to tie it back to her interest in 'silence,' and she nodded obediently.
She looked around and spotted a small boutique nearby, then started walking toward it. She really is quick to act when she accepts something—because she's so straightforward.
We waited for her to enter the store before preparing to leave... but then, just as she opened the door, I caught a glimpse of a mannequin inside dressed in an extremely revealing "X-pastie shield dress."
SLAM!
Lilith stepped inside and closed the door.
"STOOOOP!! LILITH!! GET BACK HERE!!"
"Nya ha~ That's the same outfit Ophis used to wear, right? Who knew it was being sold here too? Maybe it's surprisingly popular?"
It was advertised as a 'hot new product'... but what are the odds she'd wander into that exact store!?
My voice didn't reach her, so I dashed in, just as she was about to utter the infamous line, "I'll take that outfit, please." I managed to pull her out in time.
Before leaving, I noticed the store carried the "Freaky Maid Series," including titles like Fallen Angel Erotic Maid, Great Fairy Tease Maid, Sea Great Satan Black Maid, and more.
Apparently, the new release was titled: Dragon Princess Dracul-Peke Maid.
After that disaster, Kuroka and I took her to a normal clothing store and picked out something more appropriate. We bought her a black, hooded ladies' poncho to wear over her dress. She now looked like a gothic Little Red Riding Hood—more like Little Black Riding Hood.
To keep with the theme, we bought a white version of the poncho too, along with a few more items, and stashed them in our dimensional storage.
"We really burned a lot of time on that."
"Nya ha ha~ Well, I guess it couldn't be helped."
If we hadn't found her on the bridge, she wouldn't have gone into that shop. Maybe I altered fate just a little by changing Ophis's outfit—only for Lilith to inherit the consequences? I couldn't help but feel the universe was trying to balance itself out.
As we left the store, Lilith looked up at me.
"...Thank... you?"
Was that a question? Probably—she hadn't experienced enough life to really grasp the idea yet.
"You're welcome."
That was all I said. Whether someone should always say thank you when given something is a tricky topic. There are weirdos like "Uncle Azazel, who'll give you candy if you do him a favor," after all. She'll learn with time.
...And if she runs into a pervert, she'll probably flatten him anyway.
"Well, we've got work to do, so we'll be going."
"Work?"
"Yeah, work. Oh—by the way, we never introduced ourselves. I'm Arima Ikki. And this is Kuroka."
We knew all about her, but from her perspective, we were still "Random Passerby A and B."
"...Arima... Ikki? Kuroka?"
"Yup. Just call us Ikki and Kuroka."
We were about to part ways when I remembered: I had some snacks for Ophis stored in my dimensional pocket.
Even though Ophis often sticks with Issei, she's been coming to my room more since she started talking with Kokonoe. The others also treat her to sweets and tea now and then. She's become kind of the group's mascot. And since she doesn't gain weight, there's no "don't overfeed the mascot" rule either.
"Here, Lilith. A token of friendship."
I pulled a single banana from storage.
Why a banana? Ophis never says what she likes, but we've seen her eating bananas often, so... that's the assumption.
...Come to think of it, didn't Vali's dragon Crom Cruach also like bananas? Maybe the strongest dragons are connected by their love of fruit.
Lilith started to eat the banana—almost skin and all—so I helped her peel it. She looked up at me silently with expectant eyes, so I handed her the rest of the bunch and instructed her to throw the peels away properly.
And with that, we finally left.
=============
100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
65+ Advance Chapters on P@treon(.)com/Veltoria