Adopted The Main Villains

Chapter 4 – Seras (2)

The first thing I recognized when I became aware of my existence was the expression of my parents abandoning me.

As if they resented me yet were sad at the same time.

I wondered how such an expression was possible, but I decided not to dwell on it.

I was probably about two weeks old at that time.

I must have survived in that state for about two years.

As I later learned, vampires can live for about two years without consuming blood.

By the time I was around two years old, I could walk on my own.

While wandering aimlessly, I met someone I could never forget or erase from my memory.

‘Oh my, child, where is your mother?’

‘…….’

I didn’t know what she was saying.

At that time, I didn’t know letters, so I couldn’t understand what she was saying.

‘Looking at your condition, it seems you don’t have a mother.’

‘…….’

‘Let’s go to my house.’

That woman picked me up and took me to her home.

After bringing me to her house, she began to take care of me with utmost devotion.

To the point where I wondered why she would do so much for someone like me.

‘This is read as ‘ga,’ this is read as ‘na.’

‘G…g…ga!’

‘Well done!’

Honestly, it was enjoyable.

I was happy to be with her, just the two of us.

It was fun.

Because she truly cherished me, I also enjoyed my life with her.

After living there for a year, I even got a name I didn’t have before.

Seras.

‘What does it mean?’

‘Seras is the name of my late mother.’

‘You had a mother?’

‘…Every living being has a mother.’

‘But I’ve never seen your mother, sister?’

‘I told you she passed away.’

‘What does ‘passed away’ mean?’

‘…It means she died.’

‘Ah!’

By that time, I considered her my family.

And she treated me as family too.

I even thought I wanted to stay with her forever.

Foolishly… despite being a blood demon.

***

‘Kill her!!!! Kill her!!!!!!’

‘She’s a witch!!!!! A witch who hid a blood demon in the village!!!!!!’

‘Burn her!!!! The only thing that can kill a witch is the fire bestowed by God!!!!!!’

One day when I came to my senses, I found myself in the middle of the village square where a great fire had broken out.

It wasn’t an accident but a fire deliberately set by the villagers.

It wasn’t a campfire or a festival, but a fire meant to kill someone.

And that someone was my family, my benefactor, my sister, my mother, my friend…

‘Sister!!!!!’

In the center of the village was my sister, who had been mocked and violated by the villagers.

She looked like she could burn up at any moment in her precarious state.

I ran to her, but after seeing the shape of her lips, I had no choice but to turn and run.

‘Run. Away.’

‘I. Love. You. Se. ras.’

I knew then that there was a saying that if you eat a blood demon alive, you can live forever.

Of course, that’s a lie.

There’s no way you can live forever by eating an immortal creature.

But the stupid humans believed it and branded my sister a witch, enjoying all sorts of disgusting acts.

I hated the humans who had reduced my sister to that state.

I hated myself for not being able to do anything.

I hated my parents for giving birth to me as a blood demon.

All kinds of negative emotions dominated me.

All I could do at that moment was abandon my sister and flee as far away from the village as possible.

At some point, tears too hot to bear were flowing down my cheeks.

These hot tears felt as scorching as the price for abandoning my sister who was swallowed by the flames.

That day was the saddest day of my life.

***

As time passed, I wandered aimlessly.

There wasn’t much trouble while wandering.

‘Oh my, little one, how did you get here?’

‘Honey, let’s cover her with a blanket first.’

People who seemed this kind were surely hiding something inside.

‘Here, eat this first.’

‘Eat until you’re full, I can give you more.’

‘You can sleep here.’

‘The floor is warm, so you’ll be able to sleep comfortably.’

When night fell, I left the house of those who had shown me kindness.

The reason was obvious.

‘Hahaha!!!! A blood demon! We’ve lived long and righteously, and now God has given us such a gift!’

‘Master! If we eat this, we can live forever!!!’

When they lifted the blanket, there was nothing but straw.

As expected, all humans except my sister were trash.

From that moment, I began to distrust humans.

When hungry, I would steal food from humans and run away.

If I needed something, I would steal that too.

I felt no guilt whatsoever.

How many years passed like that?

The place I finally arrived at was Eastwell.

I didn’t want to wander around anymore.

That’s why I entered the orphanage.

I came in because I judged there were only children and one old woman here, so nothing bad would happen to me.

But the kids were so annoying.

‘What does Seras like?’

‘Seras is so pretty!’

‘Your name is pretty too!’

‘Do you want to play house with us?’

‘No! Seras is going to play hide-and-seek with us!’

‘I won’t.’

But tired of being outside, I opened a book that was in the corner of the orphanage.

It was a fairy tale book that could be commonly found anywhere.

The content was childish, as expected of a children’s fairy tale book.

There was a princess afflicted with a terrible disease.

The princess embarked on an adventure to cure her disease.

But the only thing that could cure her was a true kiss from someone who loved her.

Then a demon king appeared and kidnapped the princess.

Seeing this, the prince fought against the demon king to rescue the princess.

In the end, the prince rescued the princess, gave her a true love’s kiss, and they lived happily ever after.

These stories are all the same and childish.

It’s time to get tired of the obvious story where a handsome prince appears and rescues a beautiful princess.

But strangely, only one part kept circling in my mind.

A prince who saves a sick princess with a true kiss.

This alone wouldn’t leave my mind.

***

Time passed quickly again.

Because of this, a big problem arose.

No matter how much water I drank or food I ate, my thirst and hunger wouldn’t disappear.

Even after drinking water, I felt like my throat was parched.

Even after eating food, I felt hungry as if I hadn’t eaten at all.

Clearly, it wasn’t like this until recently.

But no matter how much I eat, I’m still hungry.

No matter how much I drink, I’m still thirsty.

As if I need to eat something specific.

Ah.

I know what it is now.

This is why vampires hunt humans.

‘I need blood.’

I need blood.

The moment I realized what I needed, my whole body began to tremble.

Cold sweat ran down my forehead, and all my senses became heightened.

That’s when he appeared.

‘Are you Seras? I’m Caesar.’

He was human, just like my sister.

A pure and kind face.

But in my current state, I didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with such a human.

‘Don’t just raise your hand as you please. You’re annoying, so get lost.’

I pushed his hand away and focused back on my book.

I’m trying to erase my craving for blood with books.

I’ve endured this way before.

But.

‘Won’t you play with us? It would be fun if we all played together.’

That man didn’t give up.

He kept trying to take me outside to play.

But the craving for blood feels like it’s making me lose my mind.

‘Then go play with the kids, and you get lost.’

The man looked slightly hurt and then disappeared outside.

Once he was gone, I could fully focus on my book, and the craving for blood began to fade.

But that man, whom I thought had given up, bothered me again by sitting next to me at dinner time.

‘Enjoy your meal.’

The man even showed kindness by bringing food for everyone.

He really resembled my sister, but he also resembled her in his annoying personality.

‘Get lost.’

‘Enjoy your meal.’

‘……’

I decided to just ignore him.

Today’s menu is red meat stew.

At least it’s something I can eat.

I scooped up a spoonful and slowly put it in my mouth.

But.

‘……’

Delicious.

The taste is completely different from usual.

If normally it was like eating stew mixed with garbage from a food waste bin, now it’s like properly eating warm stew… no.

It’s something even more exquisite.

The thirst for blood disappears, and the hunger vanishes.

The craving disappears.

As I stare at the bowl of stew in surprise, the man begins to smile at me.

And from the man’s arm came the same exquisite scent I had tasted in the stew.

That man must have spilled his own blood into my stew while bringing it.

But why?

Does he know that I’m a vampire?

‘I envy Seras who can eat this kind of cooking every day.’

I turned to look at the man, but he was just shamelessly complimenting the cooking.

***

After dinner time ended, the man entered the director’s office.

It sounded like he was having some conversation with the director, but the voices were too quiet to hear clearly.

I hid myself when I heard the man coming out, suggesting their conversation had ended.

The man who came outside snapped his fingers once and disappeared.

Certain that he would return to this orphanage again, I waited for him right at the main entrance.

And just as expected, he returned.

‘Hey.’

‘Huh?’

He turned toward where I was.

‘What did you do to the food earlier.’

I went straight to the point.

With his personality, he would try to wriggle out of this situation somehow.

‘I didn’t do anything?’

He’s lying.

That exquisite scent is still coming from his arm.

‘Don’t lie, there’s no way food would taste like that.’

‘Really. I didn’t do anything.’

‘You’re ly-.’

‘And it’s late now, you know? You should go to bed.’

That person cut off my words.

It meant he was going to keep pretending not to know, and he didn’t want to drag this out any longer.

‘How annoying.’

‘Why are you scared? Want me to sleep with you?’

‘No thanks!!!!’

That person keeps getting on my nerves, it’s so annoying.

‘You’ll wake the children. Be quiet.’

‘How annoying…..’

I’m saying this because I’m really annoyed.

Since I don’t think I have anything to say to him anyway, I walked back to my room.

‘Tomorrow’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner will taste even better.’

I already knew, but it was indeed that person’s doing.

I made a promise to myself about tomorrow and lay down on the bed to sleep.

***

The next morning’s breakfast.

Bacon and mashed potatoes.

And it’s delicious.

That same ecstatic, addictive taste from yesterday.

A taste I want to forget but can’t.

‘Is it delicious?’

‘……’

It’s delicious, just as this person said.

But I don’t want to admit it.

‘Damn…..’

Like yesterday’s stew, I ate everything without leaving anything today.

It had been a while since I’d eaten so fully.

‘Wow! It’s the first time I’ve seen Seras eat everything!’

‘Did she usually leave food?’

‘Yes! Normally, she would eat about two spoonfuls and go back to her room!’

Hearing that, he started looking at me with a lewd gaze.

‘Then you should eat more.’

‘Don’t worry about it.’

I’ll take care of my own body.

‘You need to eat a lot to grow taller.’

Right.

Now I’m certain.

I don’t like that man.

The taste of blood is truly ecstatic, but separate from that, I don’t like that person.

‘Do you want to play together, Seras?’

‘Get lost.’

‘Alright.’

At least today he only tried once before leaving.

Now that the nuisance is gone, shall I fully focus on my book?

The book I’m going to read this time is about a person who suddenly becomes a cockroach, grows wings, jumps up to kill his grandmother, and then dies.

The title of the book is torn, so I don’t know what it is, but it’s an interesting book.

‘I read up to here yesterday.’

Recently, thanks to that person, my craving for blood has almost disappeared, allowing me to concentrate more on books.

But was it because it was too peaceful?

I could notice something near me too quickly.

That something is not the man who went outside to play with the kids.

Nor is it the director.

Not the children either.

Then it must be a third party I don’t know.

‘Come out.’

If I can escape, I need to get outside.

That man from yesterday seemed to know how to use magic.

[You’re quite perceptive]

‘Oh no!’

An unpleasant black object fell toward me.

Good thing I reacted, otherwise who knows what would have happened if it had hit me.

‘What are you!’

This is a different kind of fear from when my sister died.

[If we had to describe ourselves in one word, we could call ourselves prophets]

‘What?’

The black, strange-looking being that called itself a prophet continued speaking.

[We know the future. The perfect future]

[But recently, that perfect future has been distorting]

[It’s Luminous Caesar]

Luminous Caesar.

I remember. That annoying guy from that day.

But why his name?

[He is causing our perfect future to distort]

[Starting with saving the Elven Queen, who was supposed to become a broken prostitute]

The black object seemed to speak calmly, but the more it spoke, the more excited it sounded.

[That’s why we’re intervening this time]

‘We?’

At that moment, the unpleasant blackness enveloped my entire body.

Then I felt something I had never felt before.

‘I want to drink blood…’

[There are plenty of blood bags out there]

‘Blood… bags?’

[Yes, if you drink their blood, you can satisfy that craving, thirst, and hunger]

‘Ah… I see.’

Strangely, it’s difficult to take even one step at a time.

But at the mention of ‘blood’ bags outside, nothing could stop me.

I barely managed to get outside.

Ah… I’m starting to see them.

That beautiful complexion.

The unforgettable taste of blood.

Just a little closer and I can catch it.

‘Haa….. Haa….’

I, who had difficulty taking even one step, rushed toward the nearest child upon realizing there was a ‘blood’ pouch right in front of me.

-Clang!!!!!

But blocking my path is that human again.

‘Luminous Caesar!!!!!!’

‘Finally calling my name?’

The damn interfering bastard was blocking my path with a dagger in hand.

‘Don’t block me again!!!!!’