Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi

「I'm alive.」

I'm laying spread-eagle on my back.

It seems I have drifted along the river and ended up on a bank somewhere.

「I'm pretty tough if I do say so myself.」

There's a big hole in my chest……and the Keravnos is still stabbed in my body.

I can't believe I'm still alive after falling off the cliff and sinking into the water.

While my vision remains blurry, the sun sets and I am surrounded by darkness.

「It's just a matter of time though.」

I can't muster any strength and I can tell the warmth of life is leaking from my chest and back.

I don't think I can speak properly either.

Then I suddenly hear a low-pitched growl.

「Wolves……huh?」

A pack of wolves try to bite down on my arms and legs.

Of course animals will be attracted if the scent of blood wafts through the forest at night.

I can no longer move even a single finger.

What a tragedy it is to be eaten alive, although that is a part of what it means to die, it can't be helped.

「If I'm going to be eaten, I'd prefer it to be by a female.」

So I mutter as I close my eyes, but then the wolves all curl their tails and run away whining.

「Hey.」

I hear a slight rustling of clothes and smell a faint flowery scent as shimmering blonde hair drapes over my body which has lost its sensation.

An overwhelming amount of beauty appears in my fuzzy vision.

Hey Lucy.

I tried to answer back, but my voice didn't come out.

「You're not dead, are you?」

I'm almost dead.

「Mm. I guess I made it on time.」

Lucy brings her face close and kisses my cheek.

My eyes can't see her, but I can still hear her.

「Aegir, was it fun?」

Lucy caresses my cheek, then plants a kiss on my ear, gradually sliding her lips along my neck and eventually to my lips.

I am about to ask what she was referring to, but I stop myself.

I can infer that she was referring to my life and everything that happened after meeting her.

「Ugh.」

There were times I got angry, times I got heartbroken, and times where things didn't go my way.

Still, it was a fun life running around with my beloved women, cute girls and other interesting guys.

「Good.」

Lucy smiles.

I can't see it, but I'm sure it's there.

「Then, you've had enough. Come with me now.」

Lucy doesn't wait for a reply and sucks on my neck.

I have already lost all feeling so I can't feel the pain, but I can tell her fangs have pierced me from the pressure in my neck.

The feeling is completely different from before, where I'd normally feel a small prick and then a swell of lust from my blood being sucked.

She isn't only draining my blood, she is sending something hot and cold back into my body at the same time.

I could only hear Lucy's voice before, but now I can also hear the trickling of water, the falling of leaves, and the distant howling of wolves.

My eyes, which closed preemptively as death neared, opened.

The forest, which should not contain a single torch, now seems as bright as day.

Oh, so this is what it was like.

Strength starts to fill my body again and right when I try to vocalize my thoughts, Lucy's hands hold my cheeks.

「It's going to quite painful, so hang in there.」

It happened right when her beautiful voice registered in my brain.

「Guooooh!!」

My body bounced up on its own.

My heart, which should have been slowly dying, is pounding like a drum.

Pain, heat, despair, coldness……the substance that flowed in me is neither of those things, but the outburst of feeling was more intense than any of them.

My body naturally struggles, as if pleading for the agony to stop in the only way it knows how.

But whatever entered my body doesn't listen.

It goes from my neck to my head, invades my chest, and travels to my stomach and my limbs, as well as throughout my entire body.

It also enters my heart, and violates every nook and cranny as if trying to consume me from the inside out.

「With this, Aegir's heart and body belongs to me.」

Lucy yanks the Keravnos out of my chest.

Even though blood gushes out like it was poured out from a bucket, I feel neither pain nor suffering.

Not feeling it is inaccurate, rather it was overwritten by agony that was several times more powerful.

「I injected highly-concentrated power deep into you so you wouldn't become a simple puppet. In exchange, the pain is greater, but knowing Aegir, you can definitely withstand it. On the off-chance you ended up breaking, I would protect you for decades until your consciousness returned.」

I can hear her voice clearly, but my mind doesn't have room to comprehend her words.

My limbs flail about as I keep crying out, and my heart feels as if it has fallen to the bottom of hell.

Lucy gently hugs my dysfunctional body and gives me countless kisses.

「If this is the end, we'll be together forever. You will be with me for eternity.」

Contrary to her soft tone, it looked like Lucy was about to cry bitterly.

Right as I realize that she can't bear to watch me suffer, the agony goes over the peak.

Although I don't groaning like an animal and my body is still tensing up, I can tell the pain is subsiding.

「You survived the first wave……fufu, as expected of my Aegir!」

Lucy sounds pleased.

But then her face suddenly stiffens and she glares downstream.

「――interference at this time? Shall I kill them……no, I can't step away right now.」

Lucy picks me up, leaps into the forest from the riverside in a single bound, and lowers me by the roots of a thick tree.

I still can't move my body and my heart is still pumping like crazy.

However, my unusually sharp eyes lock onto something coming this way.

「Aegir-sama……Aegir-sama! Where are you!? Answer me! Where……can you be?」

The one who runs while falling repeatedly――is Celia.

Her arms, legs, and even face is covered with tiny scratches, most likely from the grass.

And the one leg she is dragging has swollen up and become red, possibly broken.

「There's no way Aegir-sama died. I'm going to find him, I have to……」

Celia grits her teeth and walks to the riverbank.

「Aau!」

She falls again for the umpteenth time and lands right in the spot where I washed up.

Celia notices the pool of blood which has spread in the area.

「A lot of blood…… From the neck or chest……this should be…… No! This isn't Aegir-sama's!!」

Her hands come across the bloody Keravnos.

Celia holds the spear in her arms, tears streaming down her face.

「The Keravnos……sniff, Aegir-sama……it's a lie……I refuse to believe it.」

Celia brushes away some dirt and notices something else.

「Tracks of a pack of wolves…… There are no dead wolves……so they weren't attacked.」

Celia tries to follow the prints, but the darkness makes it impossible.

Heavily-injured and stumped, Celia collapses.

「I can't see Aegir-sama again……I won't get any love from him……and I can't go out with him.」

Celia gazes up at the sky and turns the bloody Keravnos on herself.

I lift my body which is supposedly not able to move.

I try to tell her to stop, but only a dry sigh comes out.

「I will accompany you, Aegir-sama. I will be with you for eternity.」

Without any hesitation, Celia plunges the tip of the spear into her chest.

A jet of blood squirts out from her chest and even more blood gushes from her small mouth.

「Arara……she went and did it.」

My eyes widen and I try to utter a sound as I prop myself up.

Lucy takes my hand gently and shakes her head.

「You can't. I gave you a huge amount of power. The greater the power, the greater the recoil from the mutation. Unless you acclimate to it for several months, you won't be able to stand. I feel bad for that girl, but the only thing we can do is to give her a proper burial later.」

Those words anchored my rampaging heart.

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Celia is dying.

She jumped to conclusions and chased after me in death after assuming I'm dead.

I can't accept that.

I grab the trunk of the tree hard enough to crush it and slam both legs into the ground.

「No way!」

The natural groans of anguish that came out from me were drowned out by a roar I squeezed out from the depths of my lungs.

「It's only been a few minutes……you must not stand yet!」

I force both legs to plant themselves on the ground.

Hurry, hurry, I have to hurry.

「Aegir, stop! If you move during the mutation――!!」

I twist my legs that are stiff as sticks and leap towards the fallen Celia.

I closed the distance of 50 meters in a single jump.

I land next to Celia, and pound my throat, telling it this is no time to be hoarse.

「Celia!!」

Celia, whose muscles are making their final twitches, stares at me in shock……and the smiles.

「Aegir-sama……you're alive……」

Celia holds a hand up to my cheek.

「Sorry……I acted too quickly……I made a mistake.」

Her hand slowly falls.

「But……I'm really……glad.」

Tears flow from her eyes as she gives me one more radiant smile.

The spear had completely pierced her heart.

I clutch her weakened hand and shout.

「You idiot! You try too hard!」

Her wound is not one that can be treated.

My cute Celia is going to die.

She doesn't have more than a few seconds, much less minutes.

「What do I do? What can I do?」

I am able to move now.

So that's the answer.

Although I don't know how it works, I can only try and hope.

「I'm not going to let my cute Celia end things by herself.」

「Stop it, Aegir! Mutating someone else while you're still mutating yourself――aah, gosh!!」

I sink my fangs into Celia right as she takes her last breath.

A Few Days Later.

Two lovely voices echo inside a damp cave.

「Do you know what this is?」

「A rabbit and a wild strawberry. An especially sweet one.」

I can't see the speakers.

It's because I'm crouching and facing the wall.

「How mysterious. When a lower-class vampire tries to make kin, they either turn into a puppet or a type of zombie, yet that ridiculous way he bit you when in the middle of transforming…… aren't you a zombie? You're really not?」

「Who are you calling a zombie!? Stop holding down my head! In the first place, I haven't forgiven you yet……」

I ignore the water dripping on my head and count the number of mushrooms growing in front of me, pretending not to react.

「Is Aegir still sulking?」

「Yes, he's grumpy. Aegir-sama, won't you come here?」

I make a deliberate show of turning my face away when Lucy and Celia call me.

I know it's lame, but I'm seriously angry at the two of them right now.

「It's because you trapped Aegir-sama. You're at fault for betraying his love.」

「Hmm, don't you think he's mad at you for acting too quickly and killing yourself?」

In a huff, I yell that it's both their faults.

「Aa-ah. I thought it would be just the two of us forever, I can't believe such a nuisance would get in the way on the first day.」

「Aegir-sama and I are already always together. In fact, you should be the one to get out of here.」

Lucy sighs, but there doesn't seem to be any discontent in her tone.

Indeed, we have become vampires that live in the night.

I was turned by Lucy right before death.

And Celia was turned by me as she took her last breath after stabbing her own heart.

Even now, we are in the depths of a cave that lacks any kind of light, and rather than it being an inconvenience, I can still more clearly than when I was a human during the day.

My strength is also abnormal, being able to strangle a two-meter tall bear, that was the owner of the cave, with my bare hands.

I could have done it as a human if I tried, but this time it felt so effortless, let's consider it amazing.

At that time, the bear ripped my shoulder with its claws, but the wound healed in mere seconds, leaving only my clothes torn.

「Fine, it can't be helped, shall we start?」

「Start what? Kyaa! What are you doing!?」

The two of them frolic behind me as I sit cross-legged.

「It is customary for new vampires to rub their genitals with older vampires of the same sex to deepen their friendship.」

「I don't want to! Auu! You're annoying! Ah……but it kind of feels good……」

I fold my arms and turn only my head to peek.

It was an extremely quick peek utilizing my inhuman speed, a feat an average human can not achieve.

「Gotcha.」

「I knew it was a trap……」

「I'm relieved to know you're still a pervert after becoming a vampire.」

Lucy grabs my face and pulls me.

When I make a sad face at her, she senses my intentions and mutters awkwardly.

「She's the one who asked me to do it. She's the principal offender.」

「I won't let you talk your way out of it. I can still arrest you for treason!」

Lucy holds back the clamoring Celia with one hand.

Even talking cutely won't get her forgiven quite easily it seems.

「It's fine it if happens to me. I've done what I wanted, and I had a hunch things would end this way. But don't you think it's cruel to let Antonio die?」

Of course, Antonio is alive and well right now.

His will and emotions are preserved too.

However he can no longer walk in the sun or stay warm with his lover or fuck pretty girls and spread his seed left and right. It's not fair to rob such fun out of life from a 14 year old child.

「Can't he procreate normally?」

I ignore Celia's interjection for now.

「That kid was serious. No matter how I tried to scare him, he had no indecision. If I refused him, he would have surely found another way to kill you, Aegir.」

Celia nods in agreement.

「Rebecca-san said so tearfully. She said that she vaguely saw Antonio moving in the direction of the watchful feudal lords, but Aegir-sama told her to stop investigating.」

The other way that is not turning into a vampire and challenging me to a one-on-one duel is probably the standard method of gathering friends to defeat the boss――winning over those who are unhappy with me and starting an insurrection.

「Aegir conceded to him in the end, but other people wouldn't have done so.」

It was single combat involving just the two of us, so I could do that.

In war, one stray arrow to the forehead can kill you.

There was also the possible outcome of Nonna and Catherine getting injured on top of Antonio dying.

If Lucy refused him, if I allowed Celia to accompany me……I don't know if those differences would have resulted in a better outcome.

I'm all for resisting fate and destiny, but there's no point mulling over something that has already happened.

「I just wanted to go hunting or fishing once with him. I ultimately couldn't go.」

I at least handed him the fishing rod, but I doubt the mood is right to go with his family.

「Uuuu……waaaah……I feel so sorry for you, Aegir-sama……」

Celia begins to sob.

I thought I heard that vampires lose their emotions.

Both Antonio and Celia are overflowing with emotion.

「My powers are strong as someone of 500 years……but still, the emotions in someone transforming should be weak for a while.」

I don't want to see Celia as a lifeless doll so I fully welcome this though.

Now then, it's about time for the main issue.

「Why did you do it?」

Lucy took a breath before answering the vague yet simple question.

「I also wanted a family.」

She didn't have to do this when we――not that I could say anything.

In just a hundred years, Lucy will be alone again.

「That's why I wanted you. I wanted to walk with you, who had run through life as a human and became attractive. No matter what I had to do, no matter who I had to make sad, I wanted Aegir.」

A straightforward, selfish and pure wish.

It is a wish that can only be fulfilled by making many others cry.

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「Then it can't be helped.」

「Yes, it can't be helped.」

I killed my friend and the king for personal gain, and Antonio killed his father for his mother and sister.

Lucy sank her fangs into me and Antonio in order to be with me forever.

Wilfulness, tyranny, egoism.

If you still desire something in spite of that, you'd do whatever it takes to achieve it.

That is life.

Lucy and I lock lips.

「I don't know if it will be eternity, but let's be together until one of us dies.」

「Thank you Aegir. My legs were actually shaking, afraid that you would get angry and run off.」

Lucy says, her waist weakly dropping to the ground.

「I'll do anything to apologize for it. Whether it takes 50 years or 100 years……after all, we are not bound by time anymore.」

Lucy smiles at me as innocently as a virgin girl.

However, I respond with a wicked smirk.

「Anything? You said anything, for a hundred years, right!?」

When I lift my head up quick enough to create a gust of wind, Lucy's smile freezes.

「Now I've done it. I guess I won't be wearing clothes for the next hundred years……」

「Fufufu, you can act as a female molester and become a different monster.」

「Alright, next.」

I grab Celia, who is egging Lucy on.

「Auu.」

Then I slap her springy cheeks, which have become light-skinned after she turned into a vampire, a few dozen times.

「Au, stop, it hurts! Au, ah!」

After the slapfest, I take one cheek in each hand and stretch them.

「Fugyaa! Id thurshーー! Id weally hurddsーー!!」

I stretch them more than usual as I scold her.

「Why did you die? Why would you commit suicide? Seeing the cute you die, in addition to dying myself……my heart will break!」

The mood is joke-like, but my words are serious.

Celia senses that and apologizes countless times.

When she's finally released, she rubs her cheeks and mutters.

「But I don't regret it. Even if I were to go back in time, I'd do the same thing. A world without Aegir-sama is not worth living in.」

「You still have……」

She interrupts me.

「It was fun. Irijina-san, Myla-san, Leah, they were all my precious family. It is an unthinkable happiness for an orphan like me! But!」

Celia jumps into my chest.

「All of it is because of Aegir-sama. It would be torture to live in a world without Aegir-sama. That's why if Aegir-sama won't be here, I'm going to meet you as soon as possible.」

If you say that, I won't be able to stay mad at you.

「My secret desire was also fulfilled. If I was going to die, I wanted to be killed by Aegir-sama…… ah!」

「Uwah, such a pervert.」

I was also a little taken aback.

Celia, wanting to erase the awkward atmosphere of disgust, waves her hand in the air and raises her voice.

「I also have something I want to say! Aegir-sama vaguely knew this was going to happen, right!?」

I don't reply.

Celia interprets it as affirmation.

「You were going to leave me behind, weren't you!? You're so mean! You should know that I can't survive without Aegir-sama!」

I don't have any excuses.

There's no way I could do something like dragging Celia to the grave with me, but I should have considered what would happen to her when I died.

Telling her to have a cheerful life without me is a bit too cruel.

「Sorry. I'll make it up to you in the long years to come.」

I pick Celia up and share a deep kiss with her.

She lost her body heat and is as cold as ice, but her lips still feel hot.

And right now, all I can do is endure Lucy's icy stare.

「By the way, I was meaning to ask about it.」

「Yes?」

I put my hand on Celia's head, then pat her down from the shoulder to her chest, then to her ass.

「Why have you gotten so small?」

Celia has always been cute, but she was a 20 year old fully-developed woman.

She had a height of 160 cm, plus her boobs were above average in size, and her ass had grown big enough to adequately take me in.

But for some reason, she's barely 150 cm, her breasts are only subtle bumps and her ass has shrunk considerably to a cute peach.

She has reverted to the same size around the time I met her, when she was 14 or 15 years old.

Additionally, the fangs that have grown as part of the process of becoming a vampire are an adorable size.

「You're supposed to be a villainous vampire, but you got cuter. Why did this happen?」

「Hmm……I've never heard of or seen regressions in age during transformation.」

Lucy tilts her head in confusion.

「I have no clue what happened myself.」

Celia prefaces before continuing.

「However, I have been gradually developing to be plump and voluptuous. I was growing in order to match Aegir-sama's preferences so he can embrace me without any reservations.」

After saying that, she points at Lucy.

Lucy tilts her head with an imaginary question mark over her head.

「But I have no chance against that!」

Celia roars, baring her canines.

Lucy's lovely and humongous breasts are pushing up against her clothes like they might pop out at any moment and are not sagging one bit.

Her ass is also the optimal size, maintaining good shape while also being nice and juicy, and any guy who looks at it can think of nothing except for slamming his hips against it.

Contrasting her overwhelming proportions, her waist is slender and her figure is perfect like a carved statue.

Not only that, the features on her white face are symmetric and placed at the ideal distances apart, and her beauty can be described as nothing less than otherworldly.

「I can't compete in beauty or voluptuousness. That's why I guess my instincts chose to take the cute route.」

「That makes sense.」

I fold my arms and nod.

Lucy's body type and appearance is peerless.

If a hundred men were asked, they'd all say she was beautiful.

「On the other hand-」

If they were asked "Is she cute?", I don't know if all of them would answer yes.

Her stunning looks and perfect proportions contradict the idea of cuteness.

Her beauty is overshadowing her cuteness.

If you asked me who is currently cuter, Celia or Lucy, Celia would probably win in that regard.

「They say beauty loses its luster after three days. Meanwhile, our time is forever……eventually Aegir-sama will become a captive of my appeal, and girls with luscious curves will be rendered to nothing more than an existence he occasionally releases his lust on.」

Isn't it the cutest when she herself admits that she's cute?

I pick Celia up and rub my cheek against her, causing Lucy to puff her cheeks.

It's no sleight to Celia, but Lucy is plenty cute too.

「You're speaking quite annoyingly…… Let me take this opportunity to tell you, Aegir is my kin, in other words, he is like my child. And you are Aegir's kin, meaning I am……ah, oh no!」

Lucy quickly covers her mouth, but it's too late.

「Which means you're an old lady! Please treat me well, granny――kukuku.」

Lucy strangles Celia half-jokingly.

And so our long road together starts.

「Goodness……the sun's about to set, I'll go to a nearby town to procure supplies.」

Lucy releases Celia and walks out of the cave.

「What are you getting? Alcohol and food?」

Lucy turns around, as if the answer is obvious.

「Virgin girls and boys. Aren't you getting thirsty?」

The second she says it, my throat begins feeling incredibly dry.

It is the same for Celia, who writhes in agony.

「M-my throat feels like it's burning……blood, I want blood! Fshaa!!」

Celia bares her fangs, though to me she appears more like a cat than a vampire.

Lucy looks at us and smiles.

「That state will continue for a while. You two are like newborn babies, so for the time being, I'll take care of you.」

Lucy nimbly dashes off.

Seeing that makes me think over our situation.

「Umu, we really aren't humans anymore, huh?」

「Yes. But as long as I'm with Aegir-sama, I have no regrets.」

Celia and I stare at each other with our red eyes, and bring our bodies close as we wait for Lucy to return.