Chapter 62: Chasing and Playing...

The next day, Shichen woke up hunched over, listless as he came out of his room.

After a simple wash, Natsuki Minamiya also emerged, fully dressed.

"You look awful. Did you not sleep well last night?" Natsuki asked in puzzlement, noticing his state.

"Mm… pretty much," Shichen nodded weakly.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"Not exactly…"

"Then why are you like this? It can't be you had a certain kind of dream? Though if it were that kind of dream, you wouldn't be like this either."

"How could that be!" Shichen raised his voice in denial, then suspiciously asked, "Natsuki-chan, how do you even know men don't act like this after that kind of dream?"

"You just told me," Natsuki said calmly.

"… …"

"So what is it, exactly?"

"Sigh. I guess I'm… still a fake Primogenitor," Shichen sighed heavily, replying feebly.

"What do you mean?" Natsuki didn't understand.

"That Familiar I absorbed yesterday from the Fourth Primogenitor is gone…"

Last night, besides learning that he too needed to suck blood to awaken his own Familiars, Shichen also figured out that the Familiar he'd taken from the Fourth Primogenitor had turned into his mana. After all, a Familiar was essentially condensed mana; being absorbed and converted to his own magic also made sense, but it had done so without him knowing.

He basically couldn't make the Fourth Primogenitor's Familiar become his own. It couldn't even survive inside his body, so it had ended up simply converted into mana.

The huge chunk of power from that Familiar was indeed massive, but for Shichen it didn't quite help. What he needed was an offensive means, a Familiar he could use as a weapon.

He had wanted to count on that "Alrescha-Glacies" from the Fourth Primogenitor to flaunt some might, but it turned out to be empty hopes.

So it's not much different from before.

Moreover, Flamme—his teacher—didn't teach him any offensive magic, because he couldn't use magic back then, making it pointless to teach him advanced battle spells.

"You even devoured the Fourth Primogenitor's Familiar?" Natsuki asked in surprise.

"Yep, the original soul kept one Familiar for herself."

"The original soul?" Natsuki looked puzzled.

Shichen explained, "The Fourth Primogenitor was once split into twelve parts and sealed—twelve 'primogenitor bodies'—and her twelve Familiars were also respectively sealed. Each body has its own consciousness, basically like her blood-servants. Any one of those bodies can potentially become the Fourth Primogenitor by devouring the others."

"In other words, the Fourth Primogenitor isn't fully done for?" Natsuki grasped the point.

"Pretty much." Shichen nodded. "The Fourth Primogenitor's Familiars are each tremendously strong, each with terrifying abilities. Missing one is no big deal to them."

"So nothing's really solved, then? The bodies presumably don't understand anything, which just makes it more troublesome?" Natsuki sighed.

Yes, participants in the "Blazing Banquet" would vie over the "Primogenitor bodies." Anyone who ended up controlling enough of them could cause the reawakening of a new Fourth Primogenitor.

Assisting the Fourth Primogenitor's birth and thereby reaping unimaginable benefits—there was no telling how big a mess that might become. Achieving immortality, rising to power… People with ambition wouldn't let that slip by.

Natsuki immediately saw the looming chaos.

"No need to worry," Shichen patted his chest, trying to reassure her. "I'll make sure there's no trouble."

"But you don't even have a Familiar," Natsuki pointed out, unimpressed.

"That was just the Fourth Primogenitor's Familiar. I have my own. And they're super strong," Shichen boasted groundlessly.

"Then where are they?"

"Uh… still sealed, apparently needing some 'vampire ritual' to awaken them?"

"How does that work?"

"… …" Shichen pursed his lips and silently met Natsuki's gaze. His eyes drifted to her pale neck.

"Why are you looking at me?" Natsuki asked, puzzled.

"I need blood…" Shichen answered honestly.

"Blood…" Natsuki instantly stepped back, covering her neck defensively, eyeing him warily.

"Natsuki-chan… Are you serious, stepping away like that?" Shichen's mouth twitched.

"Hmph! What else? Let you sink your fangs in me?"

Shichen knew that in vampire terms, biting someone's neck also implied "that kind of interest."

"Hey, I'm not that indiscriminate."

"You'd better not be… And let me tell you in advance: even if you did, it wouldn't do you any good."

"I know."

"Wait, you're not planning to go after Kanon or something, are you?" Natsuki narrowed her eyes dangerously at him.

"How could I? She's just a kid. Do I look like that kind of person?"

"Who knows, with how you suddenly say you need blood. And you do seem to like kids."

"…Where's the basic trust between people? It hurts my feelings," Shichen said pitifully.

"Hmph! It depends on how you behave. So what's your plan? Run around biting random women?"

"Nothing like that!" Shichen practically shouted. "For now, I won't awaken my Familiars."

"What about the Fourth Primogenitor issue, then?"

"No big deal. Finding all the twelve parts any time soon is impossible. They'll probably take a year or two."

"I see. You sure know a lot." Natsuki said calmly.

"Awesome, right?" Shichen grinned proudly.

"…" Natsuki rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, we can enjoy a period of peace."

"You really won't go after any underage girls?" Natsuki pressed again.

"Natsuki-chan… if you keep this up, don't blame me for not being polite." Shichen gave her a stern look.

"Oh? You think you can do something to me? I doubt it." Natsuki sniffed.

"That's what you said?"

"Go ahead, if you've got the nerve."

"Alright!"

Before the words were out, Shichen suddenly reached out to pat Natsuki's head.

Natsuki simply gave a light shake of her head and vanished on the spot.

"You only have this much nerve?"

Her voice came from behind him. Shichen didn't even have time to turn around, hurling himself back over, but she'd already vanished again.

Then he used his own spatial magic, locked onto her space fluctuations, and gave chase.

The two flickered around the living room, literally like kids playing cat and mouse.

"Natsuki-chan, don't run!"

"Why wouldn't I run? Let you stroke my head? I really don't see what's so great about it."

"You don't understand."

"I don't need to understand."

"Don't worry, I'll catch you. I have more mana than you—once you run out, you'll see!"

"Are you an idiot? This is just our living room—there's not much space. We could do this for days."

"… …"

~~~

Patreon(.)com/Bleam

— Currently You can Read 100 Chapters Ahead of Others!