On the other side of a window, a stretch of darkness covered the spacious halls, as if someone had disregarded the time of the day and didn’t turn the lights on.
Frost mist, small bits of snowflakes and ice coated the transparent glass window — The coldest part of winter had already begun. Outside, snow floated downwards, as the dim light of night fell directly into the house through the frost. From the tightly shut window, one could faintly hear the gale howling outside.
The door to the second floor was locked tight. In the hall of the first floor, scattered potato chip dregs and bags of snacks were messily strewn together, all while empty bottles of otakus’ happy beverages laid all around. Every area of the spacious house was covered in a strong otaku aura.
Cluttered documents on the table emitted the faint scent of ink and seemingly piled up to form several small mounds. No one could be seen in the vicinity, with empty chairs placed haphazardly all around. It was a scene that someone with obsessive compulsive disorder would find unbearable to look at.
A quill had been casually tossed on the tabletop, with its ink splattered to the surface, forming some sort of abstract art.
On a sofa not far away, a petite silhouette of a girl wrapped herself in a silk blanket that was decorated in an anime style. A faint fluorescent light flickered in the sea of darkness and illuminated the completely engrossed expression on her face.
“…Ahhh! I am sooo pissed! My rank is going to drop again, howwwww infuriating!”A silver-haired girl clad in a school swimsuit fumingly pulled the silk blanket she had off her body, and threw the IPad in her hands to the side. With her arms wrapped around her body, she sat down on the sofa and, in a fit of anger, shifted to a seiza-position.
“Ahhhhh~” The girl stretched her body exaggeratedly. Her long hair flowed through the spaces between her fingers and piled up behind her back like a collection of superior silk. These actions made her resemble a ball-like hamster.
Anna continued to lazily stretch her body and stared at the incessantly swirling snow outside. Pulling a dakimakura towards herself, she laid on it with her face filled with happiness.
Traces of drowsiness rose in her mind.
‘Sleeping after getting tired from playing and eating once my stomach is peckish from a nap~ Indeed, there’s nothing more comfortable than a casual life of slacking, eating and waiting for death. It feels amazing to retire early… Although I’m not old at all.’
And so Anna thought.
After some more stretching, she straightened her body and retrieved the IPad that had been tossed to the side.
“Creak.” The sound of a door opening resounded.
The person that arrived had a tall and slim figure, with hair trailing over their shoulders. Their hands were wrapped around a pile of documents.
“Plop.” Suddenly, Anna, who moments earlier was happily slacking off with an IPad in her embrace, pulled the blanket over her head and laid stiff as a corpse.
“Clack, clack, clack…” They gradually came closer.
Despite breaking into cold sweat in her mind, Anna remained as still as a mountain on the outside, making one feel as if they were watching a trained dog performing an act.
“Hey, do you still plan on keeping up the facade?” A cold voice resounded. This caused Anna, who currently resembled a wrapped dumpling, to shiver slightly.
“Some people are simply lacking in social discipline, which makes them so overly unreserved in nature. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“…W-What do you want…? I’ve already fallen asleep. It’s actually very rude to wake someone up, you know that.”
“Is that so?” Lan Yi tilted her head to the side expressionlessly.
“I had even bought some coke and potato chips when coming to visit a certain someone. Since she’s asleep, it’s fine, I won’t be bothering her anymore.” Saying that, Lan Yi raised her foot and prepared to leave.
“Eeeh?? Wait a moment!” Like a bamboo sapling shooting out from the ground, Anna burrowed her head out from her blanket to have a look around.
“Potato chips, coke! Where are they??”
“Huh? Didn’t you say you’re asleep? So, that was a lie.” Said Lan Yi emotionlessly with her hands on her hips.
Only after seeing Lan Yi standing before her with nothing in her hands did Anna realize that she had fallen into a trap.
“Waaaahhhh! Come here quick, Mr. Policeman! There’s a baddie here trying to deceive a pure and innocent child!” Anna withdrew her head into the blanket once more like a tortoise, only leaving some strands of silver hair behind to hang down the sofa.
“Seems like you’re very energetic. Since that’s the case…”
“Waaaah…! Please spare Anna! If I continue to look at these head-aching documents, I’ll sooner or later pass away in my prime! You’re abusing an underage girl!”
“Oh? While your efficiency of approving documents is subpar, you sure are coherent and logical when it comes to arguments. However, I wonder if a long-expired loli vampire like yourself would be protected under the law?” Lan Yi twirled a strand of Anna’s exposed hair and gave it a pull.
“Hey— Don’t go too far! Don’t you know it’s very rude to bring up age-related questions in front of a woman?” Anna pouted to express her extreme anger and displeasure.
“Alright, alright. Hurry up and come out. I’m here to discuss some other matters with you.” Lan Yi heaved a sigh.
“Eh?? You’re not here to criticize me?”
“What, do you want me to accompany you all night approving documents this bad?” Lan Yi narrowed her eyes.
“Wahh…! No, no…” Anna stretched her head out from inside the blanket in a hurry.
Pulling the silk blanket away, she sat up and crossed her little stumpy pale legs over each other while placing her hands on her knees, making her resemble the ideal image of a lovely and obedient girl.
“You should have a rough idea of what’s happening in the Border Town, right?”
“Ah?… No idea, Anna has always been playing games at home and is completely unaware of what’s outside…”
“Someone disappeared a while ago. I wonder where she went?” Lan Yi narrowed her eyes.
“Ah-Aha…”
“There’s also this inexplicable change of opinion, where you went against everyone’s judgment in order to keep Ji Bai. Did you see something to change your mind?”
“Ara, ara~ …It’s best for one not to get too curious over certain matters~” Anna’s tone changed with a light smile.
“It’s just a question in passing. I’m not really interested in knowing either… I wanted to get a rough idea, that’s all. Are you not planning to do something in your role as a Chivalric Head?” Lan Yi didn’t express any particular fluctuation in her tone.
“Ah~? I’m too lazy to bother about this trifling matter that humans have created among themselves.” Anna yawned in boredom.
“Something like conviction is too luxurious for me, in every sense of the word. Just like the purpose of me joining the moon knights back then, it’s not that pure.” Anna slightly drifted off as she talked, as if recalling something.
“I’m not exactly the one calling the final shots in this place. After all, there are also those guys behind the scenes… Taking good care of my personal affairs, skiving off my duties occasionally and making me something like a mascot… That is the most I can do. I am still essentially a vampire, except that I don’t easily hurt people, that’s all~” Anna brandished her fangs, revealing an evil smile in stark contrast to her nature.
“I understand.” Lan Yi nodded her head. She had no intention of forcing her to act.
“Oh~ That’s right. Didn’t I tell you to pay attention to Ji Bai-chan… Ptooey, little friend Ji Bai’s movement? Where did he go?” Like the sudden change of emotions portrayed in a Beijing Opera, the speed that Anna swapped hers was similar to that of flipping a book. Her face was filled with joy and an indescribable sense of delight, as she approached Lan Yi like a curious baby.
“Him? He had gone to save the world.” Lan Yi said emotionlessly.
…………
“Clank!” A massive scythe and a conjured short tooth knife clashed many times in the air, causing a large amount of sparks to explode outwards.
In the end, vampires were still extremely inept at physical combat. Even with Goutermera’s buffs, it was unavoidable for Bai Ji to be at a disadvantage, especially when all her attributes had been reduced.
If Lilias was watching the battle from a corner, she would most likely pick her up, lift her skirt up and ferociously give her butt a spanking. After berating Bai Ji for completely forgetting the vampire battle style in an extremely ‘gentle’ manner, she would then go up and torture the enemy to death with a few palm slaps.
The dense concentration of magic granted to them at birth was the base that vampires used to cast magic unique to their race.
However, overpowering magic was a complete mismatch with Bai Ji’s current fighting style.
She had been clashing metal against metal throughout the entire battle and hadn’t released a spell once.