Episode 94: The Vampire Princess Wants to Spend Time Together

My day began with a flood of notifications.

The messages were from Laura. The first few were just single characters—likely typos or accidental sends—followed by a string of frantic excuses like "Wrong" and "I made a mistake."

Somewhere in the middle of that mess was a long, rambling paragraph. To summarize: she was asking if I was free.

"...Right. How do I even respond to this?"

The problem was that the messages had arrived early this morning. It was now well past noon.

Because I’d overslept, my reply was late—very late. A few more recent messages had trickled in afterward, expressing concern for my well-being. Are you okay? she’d asked.

It was probably my own fault for always replying so quickly in the past. I knew I’d made her worry, but the tone of those last few texts was getting... well, heavy.

"...Anyway, I just woke up. I'm free today," I typed out.

I sent the reply and settled in to wait, but the response came back in less than thirty seconds.

『Since you took so long, I took the liberty of coming to your house. If you're awake, get down here.』

"Wait, what?"

The sheer absurdity of the message forced the words out of my mouth. I was stunned—mostly because her reaction time was so fast that my brain couldn't quite keep up with the logistics of it.

I didn't exactly leap out of bed, but I scrambled to get dressed and headed downstairs as fast as I could. Sure enough, there she was: Laura, elegantly sipping tea in my living room.

She was dressed in a gothic, black dress that looked more like formal wear than casual attire. Seeing her sitting there in a completely ordinary suburban living room, drinking what I assumed was Earl Grey, created a sense of cognitive dissonance so strong it was almost dizzying.

"Why are you here? And for that matter, how did you even get in?"

"I am already acquainted with your lady mother, Rui-san. She was kind enough to let me in."

"...I mean, that's fine, I guess. But you could have at least waited for a reply."

"I had a matter to consult you on. It couldn't be helped."

No, it definitely could have been helped, I wanted to say, but the words were cut off as Mom walked back into the room.

"Oh, you're finally up, Reima. Laura-chan came all this way and you were just sleeping in? You shouldn't stay up all night playing games, you know."

"............Yes, ma'am."

I didn't have the energy to play the straight man this early in the day. Knowing how much initiative this girl had back in the other world, I figured arguing was a waste of breath. I’m fairly certain I was wearing a very strained expression at that moment.

"Wait, Mom, how do you even know her?"

"What do you mean? Soya-san and I interview Adventurers for a living, remember? We were the ones in charge of the coverage when Laura-chan rose to S-Rank. That’s how we met."

"Oh, right..."

I recalled hearing that before. In my original world, Dad had been a photographer and Mom had been an editor for his photo collections. In this world, that had translated into reporting on Adventurers. I hadn't given it much thought, but if that was their connection, it made sense.

"I’m more surprised that you two know each other, Reima. Since when did you get so close?" Mom asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Uh, through Tsubaki-san."

"That is correct," Laura added smoothly.

"Heh... through Tsubaki-chan, huh? Seems like you two are awfully comfortable with each other for that to be the only reason."

"Our interests align," Laura said. "We communicate frequently via text."

Technically true, I thought, but it feels like a weak excuse.

Still, it was close enough to the truth that I couldn't deny it. Since Mom trusted Laura, she seemed satisfied with the answer.

"I see. Well, she said she had something important to discuss. Should I leave you two alone?"

"We're going up to my room, so it's fine. Laura, you okay with that?"

"I do not mind. Rui-san, thank you for the tea."

Laura followed me upstairs immediately. She likely realized it would be bad if Mom—who knew nothing about our time in the other world—overheard our conversation.

I set out some snacks and prepared myself for whatever "business" she had. I sat in my desk chair while Laura made herself comfortable on the edge of my bed.

"So... what’s this about?"

"I came to check on your condition and to provide a status report."

"You could have just sent a message for that."

"This is not the sort of thing that should be left in writing."

Her tone was serious. It was probably important, but a little heads-up would have been nice. Still, she seemed urgent, so I decided to let it go. Her barging into my house was still a shock, but Laura wasn't the type to do something like that without a reason.

"Besides, we agreed a while ago to meet regularly and share information. It is your own fault for forgetting."

"Fair point, but seriously, give me a warning next time."

"I see no reason to. I heard from Ayane that you would be idle, so I saw no issue."

"...How tyrannical."

I'd forgotten Laura could be like this. Once she decided on a course of action, she was like a runaway train—unstoppable and completely headstrong.

"Fine. So, what happened?"

"I encountered a monster I’ve never seen before. It was powerful—strong enough that even I struggled slightly."

"—Give me the details."

That changed everything. Knowing Laura's actual strength, I understood how abnormal that statement was. I sat up straight, focusing entirely on her.

"Its form was... grotesque. A chimera-like monstrosity that looked as if several creatures had been fused together. It possessed weapons that seemed specialized solely for the act of killing."

"So you ran into one too, Laura?"

"Then you have encountered it as well? As I suspected, that thing was no ordinary monster."

Laura explained the situation in depth. She had been sent by the government to a floor-type Dungeon that had appeared years ago. She’d met the creature there.

She usually made an effort to avoid using her powers from Mythologia in this world, but she had judged this creature dangerous enough to tap into the mana I had left her and suppressed it with extreme prejudice.

"...On my end, I had to use the [Evil Eye of Balor] to take it down. It felt incredibly dangerous. More than anything, it seemed to have a resistance to the magic used by Sol and the others."

"The same was true for me. It possessed a resistance to my [Gouen]."

"Are you serious? Neither Sol’s magic nor yours is 'standard' magic."

Our powers were derived from the Scripture, making them fundamentally different from the magic of this world. The power of the Scripture was supposed to bypass the resistances of lesser beings. I had no knowledge of any monster that could resist it, and the sheer sense of "wrongness" I’d felt during the encounter was still fresh in my mind.

We definitely needed to stay on high alert. I hadn't thought to ask before, but maybe Behiko would know something. It was worth a shot.

"That is the gist of it. What is your take on the matter?" Laura asked.

"...We need to be careful. I have some questions for Behiko, but I’ve got a really bad feeling about this."

"I agree. Most of the monsters I have faced in this world are children’s toys compared to those in Mythologia, but I have never seen a creature like that before. Something is happening."

We spent some time exchanging opinions. Eventually, the business concluded.

With nothing left to discuss, I started turning the information over in my head. That was when I noticed Laura was acting strange. She was fidgeting, looking uncharacteristically restless. I started to get a little worried.

"...Now that I think about it, we are alone," she murmured.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I guess we are."

"How have you been lately?"

"Uh, lately? Just hanging out with Kaiser and the others, studying the history of this world in class... why the sudden question?"

"No, it is nothing..."

The conversation died there. An awkward silence filled the room.

I didn't know what to say to her. She seemed nervous, almost tense. I was just about to ask if she was feeling okay when—

Thump.

Without warning, Laura collapsed facedown onto my bed.

"Laura!?"