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“It’s delicious. Why don’t you girls try some?”

Elsie invited us and tilted her head, but Kuzuha and I didn’t touch the tea or the sweets. That’s because we didn’t know what was in them.
Even though I’m immune to both poison and curses, I still can’t help but be on my guard.
As for Kuzuha, she’s probably even less in the mood to enjoy tea than I am.
She’s such a glutton, yet she’s not even glancing at the sweets—she’s just glaring at Elsie. Naturally, she seems pretty angry.

…After all, there’s the whole Sakurazaka incident.

A little while ago, in a town called Sakurazaka, Elsie injured a group of giant monkey monsters called White Ape that lived in the mountains, abducted their female and children, and even used a curse to stop the flow of the hot springs—a major tourist attraction.
When Kuzuha-chan found out about that, she was absolutely furious. It’s no wonder her attitude has become so prickly.

Caution and hostility. Even when faced with these two forms of animosity, Elsie remains completely unfazed. She smiles, as if flaunting her slender fangs, and speaks to us.

“No need to be so scared—I haven’t laced anything with poison or curses.”
“And you said that, when I could clearly look at the people next to you?”
“Exactly. There’s no way we can trust you!”
“There are so many of these children. You two are getting special treatment. I wouldn’t do something so petty.”

Brushing off my retort with a light wave, Elsie stroked the face of Renge, who was sitting next to her.

We were currently in the village chief’s house.
The living room, which had been simple yet warm when I came here with Akisame-san yesterday, had undergone a drastic transformation.
Everything—from the cabinets to the carpet and even the curtains—had been replaced with flashy, gaudy items. While the exterior looked like nothing more than a slightly larger single-story wooden house, the interior had a jarring atmosphere, as if we were inside a castle. It was almost blinding.

“I just happened to be here to collect some honey. I knew you were in Sakurazaka and had come to Sakuranomiya… but since I’d lost track of you after you were snatched by that werewolf, I’m so relieved you’re safe.”
“You were watching me?”
“Yes. At the Sakura Bath Garden in Sakurazaka. Ever since I saw you having fun there, I had my servants keep an eye on you.”

It seems I’d been under surveillance for quite some time—long before I even knew she existed.
It’s true that Kuzuha-chan made quite a scene at the Sakura Bath Garden so we definitely stood out.
At Sakuranomiya, I was practically dragged away by Kuro-san, so she must have lost track of me there. Then, in Renshia, she found me again.
But why was she keeping tabs on me? I don’t think it was simply because she was concerned about a fellow member of her kind.

Swaying her golden twin tails, Elsie tilted her cup once more.
Her slender throat moved as she sipped her tea in small gulps—a gesture so elegant and possessing such flawless beauty.
She was such a beautiful young woman that, had I not known what she’d done, I would have been able to admire her without reservation—enough to find myself naturally and quietly watching her every movement, right up until she let out a small sigh and set the cup down.

“To be more precise… I’ve been looking for you ever since you protected the Minotaur, I would say?”
“Could it be… that you were the one who ordered that?”

I recalled a forest I’d stopped by some time after I’d been reincarnated, which had been attacked by poachers.
She responded to my question calmly.

“Yes. I wanted to try it. Minotaur meat, that is. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any… but I found something even better, so it’s fine.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her gaze turned toward me.
A wave of unease ran down my spine, and I finally understood.
When she had stared at me a little while ago, I’d thought it was a gaze I’d never felt before. Not just as Argento Vampyr, but as Kuon Genji as well—it was a gaze that had never been directed at me before.

I wouldn’t know. It’s only natural that I wouldn’t.
It wasn’t a look of affection, nor one of curiosity, and certainly not the gaze one would cast upon a useless cog in the machine.

The way she looked at me was the exact opposite of how the Kuon family viewed me.
It was the gaze of someone looking at something they needed—something they absolutely had to have.
Without even a pretense of hiding her obsessive gaze, she stared at me with eyes that were almost lecherous, and Elsie continued.

“Really, that silver color is just as if you were born for me.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You don’t need to be afraid. All you have to do is become my bride.”
“……Is that so? I’ll have to decline.”

I still don’t understand what she’s getting at.
Even if she calls me her bride, we’re the same gender to begin with. I’m a man inside, but she obviously doesn’t know that, so essentially, she’s proposing to me as a woman.

To be honest, for just a split second, I thought, “Maybe this isn’t so bad.” That’s why I couldn’t refuse her right away.
While the Kuon household looks at me with the exact opposite of that gaze, she is the one who desires me.
If I just accept, she’ll probably at least take care of my daily needs.
In a way, her wish could be called the ultimate goal of my journey—its final destination.
Even though I understood that, I couldn’t accept it.

…She gives me a bad feeling.

Judging by her actions, tone of voice, attitude, and the personality glimpsed through all that, she’s clearly a dangerous person.
If I accepted her invitation, there’s no telling what she might do to me. As if to shake off the fleeting attraction I’d felt for just a moment, I voiced my refusal.

“…Fufu. Ahah, ahaha!”

Since I’d clearly refused, I expected her to get angry.
But what actually came back was the opposite. Elsie laughed. And she seemed to be having a lot of fun doing it.

“Why, yes. Of course. Obviously. If it weren’t like that… it would be boring.”
“…!”
“It’s fine, my bride. React as much as you like. Reject me, deny me, resist me, struggle against me, will you? I’ll take it all… and I’ll break you in.”

Her crimson eyes pierced right through me.
The intense chill that sent a shiver down my spine wasn’t just because of the clinging intensity of her gaze.
It was because a massive surge of magical power was pouring out from her body.

Her aura was so dense it felt as if the scenery itself were warping. I sensed a danger far greater than simply being met with hostility.
Not just me, but Kuzuha-chan also stood up from her chair and immediately put some distance between us and her.

“Fufu, you’re welcome to resist. Don’t worry, I won’t take any hostages. But if you two try to run—well, in that case, I can’t guarantee the safety of these children.”

The moment she finished speaking, the walls around us vanished.
Not only that, but the furniture—tables, closets, and the like—disappeared without a trace.
I recognized this phenomenon. Or rather, it’s one I use all the time. It’s “Blood Box,” a storage-type skill possessed by vampires.
But even I, with my skill maxed out, couldn’t store this many objects at once without touching them.

“How… did you do that…?”
“It’s better to have plenty of space, don’t you think?”

Storing multiple objects simultaneously without touching them. I don’t know what kind of mechanism is behind it, but in any case, she did it.
She calmly demonstrated something even I—who was reincarnated and granted absurd powers—couldn’t do, and it wasn’t over yet.

Elsie swept her golden hair back with an elegant motion. From between her strands, a ruby-red droplet spilled out.
The scent that reached my nose was one I knew well. It was the smell of blood.
Something that could be described as tear-shaped, crystallized blood struck the ground and shattered.
Red shards danced into the air, yet defied gravity. They dissipated like mist in midair.

“Blood Cage”

I wasn’t surprised by the words that reached my ears. It was a word I didn’t know—but that was all. I turn my attention to what is about to happen. Because I know, without a doubt, that something is about to happen.

The red mist swells, gathers, and begins to take shape.
It resembled “Blood Arms,” the skill that forges weapons from blood.
But what appeared was neither a sword, nor a spear, nor a bow—and certainly not the chains I usually create.

“What is that…!?”
“…You have a poor taste.”

Taking shape and roaring were creatures that were somewhat misshapen.
Some had two heads and looked like giant dogs.
Others had eagle-like wings, snake-like bodies, and lion-like heads.
There was even a creature with the silhouette of a bipedal lizard, with octopus-like tentacles sprouting from its back.
There were also creatures with shapes that were hard to describe—ones where the size of the wings and the length of the legs were clearly different on the right and left sides.
Not a single one of the creatures that appeared looked exactly like another. They were terribly disjointed creatures, as if different toys had been pulled out of a toy box and forcibly pieced together.

…She even possesses a Skill to store living creaturesl?

“Blood Cage.” That name wasn’t among the skills available for early acquisition that I’d seen before my reincarnation.
Presumably, like Iris-san’s “Blood Boost,” it’s a rare skill—or one that can only be obtained through training.

“…Is that?”

Among the creatures that appeared, one caught my eye. I recognized its form.
It was a creature with a bear-like build, similar to a honey-eater. But its arms were like those of a large ape—specifically, a giant ape with white fur.
I know that. I’ve seen it once before—at Sakurazaka, on the mountain where the hot springs bubble up.
Kuzuha-chan, who had seen the same thing as me, let out a stunned gasp.

“White Ape arms…!? Don’t tell me… you created those monsters!?”
“Ahaha, you’re absolutely right! Those little ones are my creations—my cute pets! Now then, shall we play…? And then, shall we get married!?”
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to accomplish. Once again, no.”
“It’s okay if you don’t understand. I’ll make sure you do…!”

Her cheerful voice cut through the night.
As if on cue, the monsters all sprang into action at once.

A conversation with someone I can’t reason with, and a completely baffling turn of events. Above all, the person standing right in front of me is, without a doubt, the greatest threat I’ve faced since I was reincarnated into this world.
Despite a sense of foreboding, I took a step forward to deal with the situation before me.