Chapter 301 Accepting the deal... for now
<Elysia POV>
Once the message was sent, I decided to fall asleep hoping Shaman would get back to me by the time I woke up.
'Wonder what Teivel will have in store for me, I'm yet to fully transition so surely he will try to make me suck blood.' If what Alice said is true, then my guess is that one of the maids will be used to fulfil my vampiric ceremony, but it also seems Alice has different plans for me.
'Just have to wait for tomorrow.' I wasn't told what I would be doing next. I might even get an extra day off since Teivel probably doesn't expect me to read the whole journal in a few hours.
'Oh well.' I shrugged it off and turned to Yumi who was fast asleep. It then occurred to me that she was still in her maid's uniform.
'Do they not have spare clothes?' I wouldn't put it past Teivel to treat them with the bare minimum of care, but to leave them with only a single pair of clothes is taking it too far.
'Perhaps the system can change her clothes for me now that I have proper control of it.' I had some leftover clothes that had just been sitting in my inventory, so it wasn't a big deal if Yumi changed into them.
Thankfully, due to Yumi being extremely weak in the eyes of the system, I was able to open up her stat window.
'Kind of creepy that I can see almost everything about her just because I am stronger than her.' The system provided information that I didn't need to know, like her measurements. I felt like I was breaking a bunch of privacy laws at once.
Ignoring the unnecessary information dump, I turned my attention to her inventory, which allowed me to easily take her things and put them in my inventory. Truly it was a pickpocket's dream, tempting me to try it out the next time I walk down the street.
'Some conditions might have to be met before I can do that, but I can still try.' I doubt it would be that easy to just walk by someone and take all their belongings without lifting a finger.
'Anyway, let's swap her maid dress with some clothes that are 100% wayyy too big for her.' Swapping out the dress, I noticed a faint glow covering Yumi before disappearing to reveal her sporting that old red button-up shirt I used to wear.
'There, now that should be much more comfortable.' I took out the maid's dress from my inventory and leaned over Yumi, placing it on the table beside her. The last thing I want is for her to freak out because her clothes are gone.
With that sorted, I shifted to lying on my back and got some much-needed beauty sleep.
***
<Morning?>
Considering the lack of sunlight in this underground city, there was no real way to tell how much time had passed. That's why as I woke up the only thing I was sure of was that there was someone clinging to my arm.
Opening my eyes, I turned my head to see that Yumi somehow managed to scoot her way over to my side and hug my arm. Her sleeping face was kind of adorable, especially with her cheek pushed up against me. It reminded me that she really was a kid on the inside.
'Doesn't the system have a clock?' Quickly opening my inventory, I looked in the corner and saw that it was 6:23 in the morning. I had gotten a decent amount of sleep, but I could squeeze in an extra hour of sleep. Plus, with this rascal clinging to my arm, I couldn't bring myself to disturb her rest. It was probably the first time she had gotten a full night's sleep in a while.
*
<1 hour later>
"Shit! Shit! I'm late." Rising from my bed, I saw a half-dressed Yumi frantically running around my room, seemingly doing room service while getting changed.
*Yawn* "Morning." Making Yumi aware that I was awake caused her to freeze.
"M-mistress Elysia, I'm s-sorry, I slept in and I-"
"Calm down Yumi, take your time. I am not about to punish you just because you slept in." I dragged myself out of bed and, with a few clicks of the system, changed into a towel that came out already wrapped around my body, intending to go wash up.
"T-thank you, the other maids will be here soon." Yumi blushed slightly at my display, but now that she was calm, it allowed her to collect herself.
"No worries, I'm going to take a dip in the bathtub." Walking to the personal bathroom, which was just through a door opposite the bed, I got my first glimpse at what luxury looks like. The bathroom was almost as big as the bedroom, with half of it being a bath for me to enjoy.
I didn't hesitate to activate the magic circles, which generated instant hot water. Once it was filled, I dropped the towel and stepped inside.
"Ahh~, that hits the spot. Should check if Shaman responded." Laying back into the bath, basking in the heat, I opened the chat window and saw that Shaman did indeed respond.
[Hey Elysiaaaa~, thank you for messaging me to let me know that you're safe. To get the boring stuff out of the way, yes, I've reported your findings about the summoning circles. Tyso took me to see Elaina and right now she has sent some people to investigate the one in Victoria. I doubt there will be anything there, but if there is, it will be a great help to know what Klaus is summoning.]
[As for your question regarding this vampire, personally I need to know more, but I think you should follow along for now. If I were to follow the typical vampire stereotypes, they are very selfish and want to be the ones in control. So, just be cautious of her trying to bait you into taking over her position.Still, I would like to believe she wouldn't hurt her own kin and would rather help you.]
'Shaman does make a good point, I guess I'll play along for the time being.'
[Onto some more fun stuff, this chat window is something reminiscent of my old world, so make sure you have fun prettying up your profile. It's no fun talking to a blank Icon so if you need a hand figuring out how it all works, message me and I can guide you.]
[Love from your dearest Shaman(づ ̄3 ̄)づ╭??~]
"Hehe~ looks like there is more than meets the eye with this new chatting thing." I felt my heart flutter seeing the text face she sent, which made me want to message her back right away, but I wanted to play around first with the customization.
I already saw that Shaman had changed her icon thing to a picture of herself, which made me wonder since when did the system also have a camera function?
'I guess Rea was always watching us so it shouldn't be that surprising.' But before any of that, I wanted to talk to Alice before meeting with Teivel.
*Sigh* "Alice!" Yelling out her name, I hoped she would just appear, but instead I was met with silence.
'She comes often when I go through strong emotions... Maybe I can take a picture of myself in the bath and send it to Shaman. That will definitely cause a surge of emotions, even thinking about it gets me riled up.'
'WAIIIIT! Stop! I heard you the first time!' Alice suddenly came screaming in my head, killing my mood instantly.
'Jeez, no need to be so loud.' I covered my ears out of instinct, but realistically that wouldn't have done anything.
'Urgh, do you understand how much I hate feeling other people's disgusting lust? It makes me want to vomit. If you're gonna keep trying to grab my attention by getting all horny I'll be taking back my offer.' Alice threatened the very thing I was preparing to accept so I instantly straightened up and cleared my head.
'Good. It would seem you are still cautious of me, but honestly that's good enough. Since you're willing to listen then now I'll tell you what you gain from killing me.'
'Alright, I'm listening.' Relaxing back down into the bath, I keenly waited for what Alice had to say.
'First off, you don't actually need to kill me, I just want to die. However, consuming my blood will allow you to inherit my blood abilities as well as enhance those flames of yours. I do not know what will happen if you suck me dry, but I'm willing to experiment. It sounds like a poetic way to go out and might come with some benefits for you.'
'As for the magic circle that restrains me, if you can translate the runes on it, you will see that it is specifically designed for me, which is what makes it so powerful. You can try releasing me first if you're that scared of being trapped, but do you really want to risk setting me free? Fufu~ just kidding.'
'I see, I'm not seeing any downsides, but how will I get to you?' I would be a fool not to accept the offer, it comes with no downsides. I gain the ability to use blood as an element and enhance my own flames. The only remaining concern was the one Shaman expressed, can I really trust the process?
'You will see very soon. I will guide you when the time comes.' She was being vague again, but I feel it has something to do with Teivel.
"Alright, I accept to be your vampire princess, but as soon as there is any danger I am backing out." I caved in, willing to take the risk, but I made it clear that I would back out at the first sight of things going south. Not that I needed to tell her since she can read these very thoughts, but I wanted to verbally declare it.
'Good~ I can't wait, my princess. I'll see you soon~.'