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Last Embryo Volume 5 Prologue Part 7

「H-Her former. . . . . . . . maid, huh?」

「Yes. She is Master’s former maid, and a beautiful blonde vampire at that.」

「A beautiful, blonde-haired vampire maid?! What kind of an overkill combination is that?!」

The existence of someone like that was a huge shock to Suzuka, because in the world of the 21st century real, bona-fide maids were already an endangered species on the brink of extinction, so Suzuka never saw one in person, and she did not hear about Aya, that is Kudou Ayato, having one of them herself, which spoke volumes about their rarity, since as a genuine rich lady hailing from a wealthy household, Suzuka always suspected that she might have one or two of them residing in her family’s estate, but according to Aya herself, that was not necessarily the case, which ended up making Suzuka quite disappointed.

And that is exactly why hearing about a blonde-haired maid who was also a vampire at the same time had a huge impact on her.

「So, Leticia. . . . . . as I was asking in the beginning, where are you right now? And more importantly, are you safe?」

『In terms of safety. . . . . . . . yes, I guess you could say that I am safe at the moment, and because of that I am looking after my niece for the time being. If you want any more details, then you would do better to ask Izayoi and the others. Right now they should be in the place where the members of the old 『No Name』 are gathering.』

「Ara!」

Asuka raised a surprised voice.

「Members of the old 『No Name』, you say? Other than you or La Croix, I presume?」

『Asuka. If it is all right with you, then I have a request for you. Will you hear me out?』

「Well, would you look at that now. A request, you say? It is quite strange for you to be asking me for a favor, but I am willing to listen to it at an exceptionally low interest rate, even though this is the first time in a long while when we can talk to one another despite being close friends.」

Asuka then smiled and ended up her sentence with an ironic laugh. She could not have seen it, but at the other side of the phone call, Leticia, whose face was initially pretty grim when she heard her friend’s voice suddenly ring out from the receiver, softened up quite a bit, and she even managed to crack up a weak smile.

『Thank you. It is wonderful to see that you are still the same reliable Master as you have always been. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . So, about my request for you. . . . . . could you take care of my niece, Lamia, for a little while?』

「EEEEEEEHHHHH? ? ? ? ? ? ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !」

This time it was the blonde girl’s – Lamia’s, Leticia’s niece’s – turn to scream in surprise and shock. Stealing the phone and back from Asuka’s hands, she yelled at Leticia at the other side of the receiver:

「A, A A, Au, AUNTY! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ? ? ? Since we are acting on behalf of our Community, then do you not think that it is a bad idea to be separating yourself both it and myself, your closest ally?! And besides, is leaving your precious niece in the hands of a complete stranger not very irresponsible of you?!!」

『You are right. This is definitely going to be a hard blow for the Community, and leaving you, even temporarily, pains me greatly. You are an intelligent and very talented girl. . . . and above all else, my cute niece whom I do not want to let go, and always be by your side.』

「R-Right?! Of course you would feel that way. . . . . because I feel the same way about you too, Aunty Leticia!」

『However, Lamia. That girl who is there with you is anything but a stranger. She and her companions are the people whom I consider to be my saviors. If it were not for them, then I am sure that I would have remained a slave and have been sold to be nothing more but a plaything of the worst kind of scum in Little Garden.』

Lamia’s face froze when she heard Leticia’s quiet confession.

That was a story of when the three problem children: Sakamaki Izayoi, Kasukabe You and Kudou Asuka were just summoned to Little Garden. Back then, Leticia was captured by the 『Ouroboros Demon Lord Alliance』 and sold as a slave to 『Perseus』, a Community located in the five digit gate on the East Side of Little Garden after her strongest Gift has been taken away from her, where her fate was to be the personal plaything of that Community’s leader, Laius Perseus. All the vampires living in Little Garden have a few things in common with one another: their beautiful appearances, golden hair and ruby-red eyes, and their very strong physiques. But at the same time, there is also a crippling, absolute weakness that all of them share with one another: sunlight is their biggest mortal enemy. That is why they spent their eternal lives hiding from its rays in the shadows of the night, but in Little Garden, it is possible for them to live normal lives in the sunlight without suffering from its harmful effects on them, all because of the existence of a special barrier that surrounds Little Garden in its entirety. However, to vampires, the territory outside of Little Garden’s boundaries, which is not protected by the barrier, is no different than a giant natural prison. That was exactly the kind of place where 『Perseus』 wanted to sell Leticia, who was trapped in her child form.

『We Purebloods are different from the common vampires that are rooted in the minds of the people living in the Outer World. Unlike them, we only have one weakness, but in exchange it is a truly deadly one. Back then, if things went differently and I would have been sold outside of the Little Garden, the only thing that I would have been able to do to save my dignity from being irrevocably tainted would be to commit suicide.』

「Aunty. . . . . . . . Aunt Leticia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 」

『That is how big and important of a savior that girl is to me. And now a chance encounter has brought you and her together in such a mysterious way. . . . . . so what do you say? Will you lend her your strength for my sake?』

At that point, their conversation has stopped for a moment. But when Lamia spoke again, her voice was cold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

「Aunt. That person is a human. Having our ultimate goal in mind, we should not associate with them or try to be friends with them.」

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and it stopped sounding as childish as it was just a moment ago. But it was not just her voice alone. The entire body and soul of the young Lamia Draculea were shaking with, disgust, contempt and anger directed towards humans.

「Human prejudice, their grudges and the enjoyment of the sweet lies of their Storytellers are what turned mother, the Vampire Queen, into a monster. Ever after all this time, I never forgot about it, and I have no intention of ever forgiving them. To punish the entirety of the human race, and to bring extinction and eternal suffering to the Storytellers. . . . . I told you that this is my wish, remember?!」

Lamia snarled at Leticia with a voice that was filled with loneliness and devoted love for her mother, but those feelings were quickly burned away by the anger and resentment that were welling up inside of her. If Leticia makes even a single mistake in her response to her now, then it might be possible that even those positive feelings she still had in her will turn into malicious hatred, and nothing will be able to bring them back once they plunge into that bottomless abyss. Searching for the right words to say, Leticia kept quiet for a moment, and when she found them, she continued to speak in the same gentle tone.