Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

With that one random thought, the fate of the poor half-elf was decided.

Applying the same procedure that Tullius had used to turn Charl into a vampire, he tried to chimerise her body using vampire blood as a base to prevent her from becoming a lesser.

The result of this attempt, V-01Y, was half a success, half a failure.

Indeed, he was able to impart the characteristics of a vampire to her. Her physical abilities have been greatly improved, and she became immortal in the absence of sunlight, and from sucking blood, she could gain strength. Unlike the dried-up, mummified looking lesser vampires, she also retained her looks.

In exchange, however, she was in a significantly regressed mental state. Her speech was sluggish, and when it came to using magic, she could not even recite spells. This downside could be somewhat improved by adding magical imprints on her entire body, to substitute for chanting, but that would only make her useful for combat. This was not the clue to immortality that Tullius was hoping for.

Her partner and former comrade, the priest, was also subjected to the experiment to create V-02Y, but he was still too holy, despite breaking commandments, and turned into ashes instead of becoming a vampire. Of course, this was just one of those failures that Charl did not need to remember.

Charl stopped reminiscing on the past and stared at V-01Y, who was still crying.

"......What are you doing? We have work to do after the extermination, remember? Don't you remember? Or are you slacking because you don't want to?"

"Yes, I remember! Enemy corpses! I'll do it!"

"Yes, that's it. So you remember clearly? Good...... If you remember, then hurry on with it! You've already healed from the gunshot wound, since you're a vampire! Come on, hurry up! You can't just sit around and wait for the morning to come. Or do you want to relax and enjoy the sun once morning comes?"

"Ahhhh! ......I'll do it! I'll do it!"

The girl picked herself up and started to do as she was told. Once, when she had just started working, she had witnessed a servant of Charl being burned in sunlight as punishment for a blunder. The little girl has poor memory, but she vividly remembers the scene.

"Good work, 04. You've put a lot of work into the training."

"That's right. Master has been ordering me to do such extreme work. She’s a vampire, so I have to take care of her, he said."

"Prediction. It'll only be a short while. The plan is that soon—"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. This war will come to a close soon, right?"

Charl's tone took a 180 degree turn and it seemed he had regained his good mood.

The burning of military supplies by Uni, the failure of resupplying due to the villages being burned before St. Gallen could arrive, and now their final attempt to resupply failed. The St. Gallen army was near their limits. Sooner or later, they would have to decide to push ahead decisively or retreat, or simply stay affixed to the ground.

Either way, that would spell the end of the war in Volden. They would have to, without the necessary supplies, cross the mountains which would be as cold as the middle of winter. Or attempt to stage a decisive battle before they fall to starvation. The latter option would most likely be chosen.

I would love to see that happen, Charl thought to himself. People killing each other while driven by extreme circumstances and resentment for one another. The thought of such an appalling scene made his heart skip a beat. The bloodshed on the battlefield may not be worthy in comparison to the blood of a virgin, but if it was for decoration purposes, it was enjoyable enough.

That failure with a stupid head was an important part of the script written by master. He will have to treat her carefully so that she doesn't break until she plays her part in the spectacular finale. With that in mind, Charl could tolerate the failure that was so annoying to watch. Besides, judging from the poor quality of this prototype, it appears he would not be challenged by alternatives in the near future.

The vampire lord gloated to himself. All that was watching him was the moon in the night sky and the eyes of the golem. Both gave off a cold, golden light.