Hello, Scrolls and Nazarins, a refreshing interlude is coming in my fanfic The One Who Came Back
The strange paths life can take
With You All
The One Who Came Back
Interlude 14
In an opulently decorated room, Brain woke up with no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. Trying to collect his thoughts, he went over the last events he remembered from the party.
...
In a corner of the hall, a grumpy vampire was taking big gulps of a drink specially made for her.
"Looks like I'm not the only one drinking alone," someone said.
Shalltear looked across the table, where a blue-haired human was sitting.
"What are you doing here?" she growled.
"I was invited, but it seems my friend left me on my own."
"And you came here. Trying something. With me?!"
"Actually, I sat here first. You came after. Besides, you wouldn't be my first choice."
"Oh! I know who would. You're the type who prefers someone more... muscular and bearded."
That was true, and it made Brain remember Gazef, of how they had lived together and the decision the Warrior Captain had made in the end... a duel of honor that he was bound to lose. Brain suffered in his grief.
But he had no resentment against Ainz; it was a fair fight, unequal but fair. Such was a warrior's life: to fight, to duel, to win, to lose, to live... to die.
Gazef had chosen his path, even if it led him far away.
The human looked at the vampire staring at her master and noticed how he wouldn't leave the Prime Minister's side. There was sadness in that gaze, a familiar one.
"A toast!" Brain offered. 'To those unlucky in love.'
Shalltear grunted moodily, but then extended her arm and clinked her glass against the warrior's.
...
After that, everything went hazy, and he only remembered being dragged away.
Looking around, he saw dozens of Vampire Brides sleeping, exhausted, in piles of cushions on the floor, and many toys in suggestive shapes scattered across the room. He felt a slight pain in his neck, and as he brought his hand to the spot, he felt two small holes.
Then a horrible sound caught his attention. What could make such a noise?!
Next to him in bed, lying in a very unladylike manner, Shalltear Bloodfallen was snoring like a stevedore.
'Eh!?' he thought, horrified.
Of all that could have happened to him in the Great Tomb.
"Ok... it could have been worse," the human shrugged before going back to sleep.
...
A few days later
"SHALLTEAR. BLOODFALLEN!" the shout echoed across the third floor.
The startled vampire didn't know what to do as the door to her room was kicked open with a bang.
"C-Cocytus! What brings you here?"
"You. Ruined. My. Project!"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about..."
"I'm. Talking. About. THIS!" Cocytus held someone by the scruff like a cat.
"Him? I don't see anything wrong..."
"He. Has. Vampirism. All. Over. His. Body! A. Few. More. Bites. And. He'll. Turn. Into. A. Vampire!"
The icy insectoid shook Brain like a sack of potatoes in Shalltear's face.
"Well... maybe he'll turn into a ghoul."
"I. DON'T. WANT. A. GHOUL! I NEED. A. HUMAN! Undo it."
"Look, I-I don't know..."
"UNDO IT!"
"Fine! Fine! Leave him here, I'll figure it out," the vampire said, grabbing a folder filled with hundreds of notes on scrolls, all about what Mr. Inta had taught her so far.
"It. Will. Take. Weeks. For. Him. To. Recover. Levels," Cocytus grumbled as he marched out of the room. "Wasted. Weeks..."
"Uh... hi! Didn't think we'd see each other so soon," Brain said awkwardly, as if trying to make small talk.
"What are you talking about?"
"About what happened that night..."
"Nothing happened! It's presumptuous of you to think otherwise. I just needed a midnight snack."
"Oh!"
"Disappointed? I thought I wasn't your first choice."
"I meant you might not be the first choice. I'm quite... eclectic."
"Hmph!" Shalltear snorted. "This won't happen again. Here, I found it! You! Call Lupusregina. I'll need a cleric," she ordered to the nearest Vampire Bride, who vanished immediately.
"What's going to happen?"
"First, I'll use Hematokinesis to drain all your blood and separate it from that which is already vampirized. Then, we'll purify the body."
"That sounds painful. Isn't there a way to purify it all at once?"
"It doesn't work that way," she said, knocking Brain down and straddling his chest. "Besides, what fun would that be?!" she spoke, raising a clawed hand.
Screams echoed across the third floor for hours.
Cocytus's project took a hundred years to complete, mainly because Brain periodically ended up vampirized.
...
Author's Note
Hello, for those who found this relationship between Brain and Shalltear strange, I took it directly from the Web Novel but made it my own.
Cocytus's project is to see how far a human can go in level, and although Shalltear said that the whole thing of biting Brain wouldn't happen again, well, it did happen, maaaany times."