CH 55

February 25th, 2023

Sorry for the delay, I was having some problem with my laptop.

By the way, I think the chapter title is a shout out to a certain vampire movie in 1994, starred by Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

Beta Reader: My_Own_Worst_NPC

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I’m glad that Sierra was so happy drinking the blood that I’d created using magic, but it was going to take a while until I could make another round of drinks.

“Sorry, this is all I have right now. It’ll take about 40 minutes to make another serving.”

“Verily. Tis natural of fine things to demand of patience. A pity, but well worth it.”

Wait, why is your way of talking suddenly changed?

“I’ll prepare another serving, so please help yourself to the food while you wait.”

“I find this arrangement most amiable.”

She’s become more lively ever since she drank the blood, and she’s begun to speak more cheerfully. Her way of speaking, however, has become a bit strange …

“Shirou…”

As Sierra flicked her finger, her travel bag seemingly moved by itself and snapped open.

“There is an azure purse within my satchel’s confines, I wouldst have thee avail thyself to its contents.”

When I looked inside the bag, I immediately found a blue bag about the size of a rice cooker. I opened it as I was told, and found it filled to the brim with magic stones and money.

“I have decided to accept thy offer of hospitality. Take as thou wouldst to cover thy fees.”

Uwaahh… Are you some kind of CEO for a multi-national company?

“It’s 5,000 Lehmens per night, including dinner and breakfast. Drinks will be charged separately.”

“I care little for the wheres and wherefores. You could not deplete my fortunes with a lifetime of spending.” Sierra dismissed my concerns with a wave her hand, seeming annoyed by my questions while eating the blood sausage.

“I’ll take 150 thousand Lehmens for now; I will refund the excess when you check out from the inn.”

“Do what thou wilst. Moreover, this sausage is truly scrumptious.”

“Thank you. I didn’t make it by magic, it is crafted by hand.”

“Truly? Such fine taste makes me crave for something alcoholic. Pray tell, what spirits do you have on hand?”

Something alcoholic, she says; but no matter how I see it, she looks like she’s only fifteen. I wonder what’s the minimum legal drinking age is in this country.

“Is it alright for you to drink? I shouldn’t serve alcohol to a minor…” [1]

“Oh? Are you suggesting that I’m not of age? Kukuku… Though I may have this youthful a face, I’m actually 42 years old. Even young amongst vampires, I’m still many years older than you.” [2]

As I thought, the vampire race looks younger than their actual age. She looked way to youthful to ever pass for 42 back on Earth.

“I guess it’s alright, then. Currently we have wine, beer, sake, and rum, but we’re planning to add more in the future.”

“Prithee, what is sake? Never before have I heard of such a thing…”

I see. So even a vampire like Sierra, someone who likes to travel, has never heard of it before…

“It’s an alcoholic drink made from fermented rice; a specialty of my hometown.”

“Interesting, an exotic taste of distant lands… Barkeep, fetch me a glass of such finery.”

The type of sake that we have now is Junmai sake, which is my favorite. [3] It’s an unpasteurized sake and has characteristically fruity flavor.

“Goku, bring out a bottle of sake from the cellar.”

Sierra’s expression clouded a little as she watches Goku run the errand for me.

“That thou canst create familiars to obey your whims…”

“I’m not sure what a familiar is, but Goku is a golem that I created. What’s a familiar anyway?”

“A vampire can share their vitae with creatures  that strike their fancy and turn them into their own personal servant. In exchange for a portion of their power, the familiar will have absolute obedience to the vampire. But to do that, we need to bite them directly on the neck…”

She is mentally repulsed by the idea of biting people though…

“That would mean that Sierra, you…”

“Indeed. I have no familiar …”

Uwah, the atmosphere suddenly become gloomy. Luckily, Goku arrived with the bottle of sake.

“Now, now, you should try this, it’ll cheer you up.” I poured the sake into the bowl I made resembling Hagi ware and gave it to Sierra. [4]

“Hum…”

Sierra put the cup to her mouth while still having a gloomy expression on her face, but quickly looked up in surprise.

“Tis delectable. Never before have I tasted such sweet delicacy.”

“Glad that you like it.”

“And the taste pairs well with the blood sausage. Hold on… pairs well with blood… Shirou, pour some of the… sake into the small glass over there.” Sierra pointed to the glass that had been used to serve the blood aperitif.

Most of the blood sticking there may have been licked clean, but there were still some remaining at the bottom. I poured some sake into the small glass.

“Truly delectable…” Sierra murmured while licking her lips. Seeing her like that gave me a tingling feeling, fear and interest intertwined with excitement.

“Yes. As I had thought before, tis also possible to drink it this way.”

That day, a new cocktail was born in Shirou’s Inn; The Bloody Sierra. [5] It is a vampire cocktail.

The drink was quickly gulped down by Sierra, so I poured another. At this point, there was no longer a single drop of blood left on it, but I think there was still some fragrance of it on the glass.

“Would that thou wouldst be my familiar, Shirou…”

Scary! That’s really a scary thought! I’m my own being, and I would really hate it if I my sense of self turned into someone else’s.

“Sorry, but I refuse to become someone else’s familiar. However, while you’re still staying at the inn, you can request anything you want, Sierra.”

Sierra smiled a little sadly and picked up her glass. And then she approached me with a bewitching smile.

“W-what is it?”

Don’t tell me, she got mad because I refuse to become her familiar? Please don’t turn me into something charred, crisp and smokey like you did to Janice, okay?

I sat petrified in my chair, only able to watch Sierra closely moving toward me. And then… she suddenly sat down on the chair next to me and leaned against my shoulder.

“Eh? Eeeh?”

“Thou stated I couldst make a request of anything, did you not? For tonight, I fancy having a man to pat me on the head. Surely, you understand how a young girl such as I wouldst have such cravings from time to time, do you not? The need to be pampered.”

‘Which young girl are we talking about? You’re 42 years old!’ I thought of making such retort, but I managed to keep it to myself. At least she looks like a young girl on the outside, so her remark is not completely off.

“Surely, I’m not that heavy, am I?” Sierra asked, tracing my chin with her finger.

“Nnooo… Actually, you’re really light…”

“For tonight, spoil me as thou wouldst pamper thy own sister…”

I’m sorry Sierra, but I don’t have that kind of tendency… Hold up, I’ve never done it, but it might actually be interesting.

“Errr… Hey, Sierra?”

“Aye?”

“You can lean on me more.”

“Mmhh… Tis fine already. Never have I imagined that I would find such paradise after so long a journey. Shirou, care to accompany me for a drink?” With a vacant look in her eyes, Sierra lifted the sake pot.

I think I’m in the mood to have a drink right now. I don’t want to get as drunk as I did like during the incident with Gram, so I’ll just drink in moderation.

“You don’t mind if I use this, right?” I picked up the hagi ware that Sierra was using.

“Perish the thought. You’re the innkeeper, regardless. Well then, let us have a toast!”

I downed a mug of cold sake that Sierra poured for me. As I thought, Junmai sake is really delicious.

“So, Sierra has been traveling to a lot of places, right?”

“Hmm, indeed, I have been traveling all over the world for the last seven years.”

“Then, please tell me stories from your travels. I’m still new to this world, so I know very little things here.”

“New to this world? Whatever do you mean by that?”

“I was transferred here from another world by some kind of summoning magic.”

“……”

Uwah! It’s that look again, like when you see some child telling outrageous story. Well, I’ve been getting used to it though.

“Many people don’t believe me. It’s the truth, though.”

“Hooohh…” Sierra said while picking her nose.

Look, it’s really unbecoming for someone with appearance of a little girl to pick on her nose like an old man, you know.

“It’s not like I need you to believe me anyway… So, got any story of anything interesting?”

“Anything interesting… Well, if we are to talk about a rare living being… Say, do you know about the small country to the east, Gorvania?”

“Yeah? And?”

“It was there where I met …… a werewolf!”

A werewolf…that’s it…?

“Why are you not surprised? ‘twas a werewolf, you hear, a werewolf!”

Well, a vampire is sitting right beside me, so it must be a given that werewolf exist too in this world, right? But since a vampire was saying that it’s a rare creature, does it mean that it’s actually a rare existence?

And so, as the night went on, the drunken vampire became more and more talkative, and we spent the rest of the night talking and drinking.  Sierra had been traveling alone for seven years, meanwhile I hadn’t had anyone to talk to since the research team left, so I think both of us were feeling really lonely.

It has been a long while since I was able to have a conversation with someone, so I was really happy.

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1 That’s quite ballsy for Shirou to reject serving alcohol to someone who could turn him to cinder.

2 Gentlemen, we have a legal loli right here.

3 I’m wholly unfamiliar with alcoholic drink, let alone sake, but based on what I’ve googled a Junmai Sake is like an old-school, traditional sake. It is brewed using only rice, water, yeast, and koji — there are no other additives, such as sugar or alcohol.

4 Hagi ware is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally originated from the town of Hagi, Yamaguchi, in the former Nagato Province. (Wiki)

5 A nod to Bloody Mary drink, I think.

6 A severe case of bro-con (brother complex), it seems.