I Want to Break Free from the Vampire’s Blood Bag

Resolve

The dormitories at Lachesis Academy have different facilities for each class ranking.

Even though it’s a Third Class dormitory, which is the third tier, it has a private room and even comes with a kitchen.

The Royal Class where Arein stays even has a private wine cellar, so that says it all.

Nominally, it’s said to be for motivation and academic improvement. But that doesn’t apply to a commoner like me.

-♪♩♫♩~

Floria’s humming can be heard from the kitchen.

I chose Floria as my caretaker.

Eliana left coolly, while Arein left with an unreadable expression.

The reason I specifically chose Floria is simple. Although she’s a bit impulsive, I needed time alone with her.

‘Porridge?’

From the smell of rice porridge in the air, it seems she’s making porridge.

Following that, Floria’s urgent voice can be heard.

‘Please wait a little longer! It’s coming along nicely!’

I calmly called her name.

‘Lady Floria.’

‘Yes? Ha-yu? Are you uncomfortable somewhere??’

Floria hurriedly ran to the bed where I was lying.

I stroked the soft sheets with my hand and asked.

“Do I deserve to receive kindness?”

“What? Of course…”

“The first kindness I received was a piece of bread from a demon child who looked about my age. It was so spoiled that you could see mold in several places.”

“Ha-yu?”

She looked at me quizzically, as if not understanding my intention.

I continued speaking.

“I was so hungry after starving for several days and nights that I ate it hastily. I didn’t care about the mold or anything. Even now, I remember it being somewhat tasty.”

“Ah……”

“And then I was severely beaten by my master for ‘tainting my blood.’ Until I threw up all of that bread. Later, I found out. The kids who gave me the bread had disguised their prank as kindness, anticipating this situation.”

“…Don’t say such things. Even though it’s a painful and sad past… I’m always on your side, Ha-yu!”

I stare intently into Floria’s eyes. Her purple pupils are like amethysts.

Since I don’t have abilities like mind reading, I can’t gauge whether her words are sincere.

“Having some porridge will make you feel better! I’ll go get some!”

Floria went to the kitchen, seemingly avoiding my gaze.

“Lady Floria.”

“……”

“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

Floria’s movements stopped for a moment.

I had roughly figured it out. Her responses seemed to anticipate friction with Arein. Somehow, our meetings had been suspiciously frequent since the airship.

…I can’t be certain, but Floria is hiding something.

“Well… let’s see? Ha-yu, do you dislike carrots? I did put some carrots in…”

The first suspicion was about the affection level.

The system clearly had an affection system, but despite having so many interactions with Floria, no status window about affection levels appeared.

Even Eliana, whom I only met briefly, had a status window about her.

Of course, up to this point, I could have dismissed it as mere coincidence.

But then there was the decisive dream just now.

“Found you.”
“Found you.”
“Found you.”

On the Day of the Abundance Festival. The owner of that voice saying ‘found you.’ Though the tone is slightly different, it’s definitely Floria.

For reasons I don’t understand, parts of my memories are sporadically erased.

Like losing pieces of a puzzle. This is clearly intentional.

Of course, I remember the happy parts too. These aren’t lies either.

Stealing wine with Floria at the festival, getting drunk, playing mask games while avoiding people, watching the festival together. Caught up in the mood, I even allowed some skinship.

When I woke up, those memories were mixed up, creating an odd sense of déjà vu.

“The… liver, how should I prepare it? Since Ha-yu is mentally and physically exhausted right now, I should make it easy to eat…”

“Answer me.”

“Well, though it’s embarrassing, I could feed you directly? I’m not sure if it’ll suit your taste. Everything that’s good for your health…”

I stood up from my seat. Sharp pain coursed through my entire body.

And I stood behind her. Since Floria is slightly smaller than Arein, my shadow completely covered her.

Her delicate shoulders were trembling ever so slightly as if they might break.

‘…Why are you being so nice to me?’

‘Lady Ha-yu… first, please… please calm down. You must have been in such pain yesterday…’

As if finding it difficult to meet my eyes, she mumbled while maintaining that posture.

I answered gently.

‘I am calm right now.’

‘T-then… please have some porridge first.’

She served the porridge into a bowl with trembling hands. It was porridge made warm.

At that moment, I remembered the cookies the Saint had given me.

‘I don’t think I deserve to eat.’

Only then did Floria turn around. Tears were ready to roll down the fine lines of her face.

‘No! I made this sincerely thinking of you, Lady Ha-yu…!’

‘……’

When I remained silent, for some reason, Floria began apologizing while sobbing.

‘I… I’m… s-sorry…’

As she hung her head, droplets fell.

‘Don’t apologize now. I don’t remember everything either.’

-Whoosh.

She grabbed my waist and embraced me.

‘Huh?’

This was unexpected.

“Could I… could I tell you a little… later…?”

“……”

Later, she says.

I left her room without being able to give an answer.

* * *

“Today feels like shit too.”

Lost in various thoughts, I had already arrived at the Quarter-class dormitory.

Perhaps I was hoping Floria would deny it.

But they say it’s better to take your beating quickly, and I should hope this is the right course of action.

“…Oh.”

Eliana was walking in the dormitory hallway.

Upon spotting me, she quickly approached and whispered.

“Don’t worry. I don’t have a habit of eavesdropping. However.”

“??”

“I’m on patrol to make sure there aren’t any couples getting too friendly with each other.”

Must be some vice president authority.

“I see. Then I’ll excuse myself.”

As I tried to turn away, she stopped me.

“You’re out earlier than expected… Are you feeling alright?”

She asked with seeming indifference.

[※Aftereffect: The receiver’s stats are decreased by 70%]

[Time remaining: 16 hours 30 minutes 50 seconds]

“Not completely yet.”

“I saw her pulling the luggage cart up. She’s quite cruel.”

“Is it that cruel?”

As if my answer was unexpected, Eliana spoke with her finger on her chin.

“Hmm, didn’t you know? Usually, they use transport ships except for personal belongings. Servant hazing has been a rather childish form of harassment for a long time.”

—————-
Come not too late
—————-

So she deliberately dumped the luggage work on me. Even leaving a note like that.

“I… didn’t know.”

“I thought so. Knights don’t say much. Though I still don’t understand your intentions, I acknowledge your loyalty to your master. Separately, a servant’s mistake is also my mistake. I’ve incurred a great debt. That’s why I…”

Her deep blue eyes showed the same unwavering conviction as when we met at the entrance ceremony.

“…intend to save you somehow.”

She really likes the word salvation. Just like a knight, perhaps she feels some noblesse oblige.

Anyway, I’m not sure if it’s okay to get involved like this.

“Thank you for your concern.”

Our conversation ended with my dry response.

‘Haa.’

Standing in front of my room door after leaving her behind,

Just like the day I heard the news about going to the academy.

Saint,

“-Ha-yu!”

Arein,

“It’s mine…?”

Floria,

“Found it.”

I feel somewhat betrayed.

Like a child who believes in Santa Claus, I wanted to keep believing until the end, but now I feel like something precious has been taken away.

Of course, there’s no such thing as kindness without reason.

Even if Floria’s actions were purely out of sympathy based on memories, without any hidden agenda, I can’t continue receiving those feelings.

After all, my essence is about clearing the game.

I need to be more cunning and selfish, gaining favorability with humans while accumulating Seven Deadly Sins points with the divine authority to become stronger.

Isn’t that the reason this academy was established in the first place?

“This really feels like a terrible game situation.”

For now, I should rest today. I’m not feeling well either.

*Creeak*

I opened my dormitory room door.

“…?”

Arein was there. She was perched slightly on my bed.

Though she looked surprised for a moment, she quickly changed back to her expressionless face as if nothing had happened.

“A servant needs to know where their master stays.”

“I think there was a model showing the room layout on the first floor though.”

‘…You might be hiding something, right?’

Well, I never had any privacy in the mansion either.

-Thud.

I placed the basket I received from Arein on the table and removed the white paper covering it.

Medicine, potions, and even an emergency treatment kit. And there was a thick stack of papers.

‘Quite generous for a gift to a ‘thing’, isn’t it?’

‘W-wait!’

‘?!’

She quickly pulled something small from between the stack of papers.

‘?’

I looked at the remaining stack of papers with curiosity. Seems to be about academy course registration.

‘The Art of Being a Cultured Servant…’

‘I’ve already decided.’

‘…Ah, yes.’

‘Register for these courses.’

As expected of a newly established program, there weren’t many servant courses. However, there were many joint classes that aligned with the master’s practical training hours.

At this rate, I’m just a tool for the master.

‘Don’t bring shame to the Asphodel family name.’

Well, since Arein has done this for me, at least I won’t have to go through the trouble of choosing courses.

The problem is…

‘This is even worse than when course registration was at its absolute worst…’

No matter how I look at it, nothing adds up.

Considering the distance between the Royal Class and Quarter Class buildings, there’s no time for breaks, let alone lunch, when accounting for travel time.

If you were to make this into a diagram, it would look exactly like a chessboard.

‘Be ready and waiting at the exact times.’

Heh. I can’t help but laugh at that stern voice. She totally made this schedule just for herself.

When I was an undergraduate, I only saw schedules like this in internet memes. Never imagined I’d actually have one.

I guess I’m just a blood bag… That’s how it’s always been anyway.

‘All the materials needed for practical training are listed. Make sure you review and bring everything.’

‘Yes.’

‘…I’ll specially allow you to rest tomorrow.’

‘Yes.’

Tomorrow… wasn’t that course registration day anyway?

My head feels fuzzy, probably from the aftereffects.

Her commands, coming as usual, scatter in my mind.

‘You don’t need to eat lunch anyway, right? That’s why I left it out.’

My entire body aches and hurts.

It feels like something inside me is about to break.

‘Dinner will be according to my mood, so you’d better stay in my good graces.’

Arein stood before me with a haughty expression.

A face that can’t be hidden even with loathsomeness.

“It must be an honor. Your master paying so much attention to you. You should answer?”

“……Thank you.”

[Acquired 1 point of Seven Deadly Sins: Greed from ‘Arein S. Asphodel’.]

The words of gratitude, these are sincere. I was a fool for hesitating until now.

I forcefully swallowed the words I wanted to say.

‘Thank you so damn much. For letting me act without guilt from now on.’