CH 3

It seems to be morning, although he can only guess.

“…Oh ho?”

The man sits up in bed with a slightly puzzled look on his face.

He looked around the room he had become very familiar with over the past few centuries.

For a bedroom, it’s rather spacious.

A crimson coloured carpet is spread across the entire floor.

There are various closets along the walls, as well as small tables and chairs meant for visitors which haven’t been used for a considerably long time, even by his standards.

His bed is a luxurious one, complete with a canopy.

Although it doesn’t look it, the bed is actually a large coffin.

Inside that coffin is the soil from his place of birth.

A long time ago, he would sleep in the coffin like any normal vampire, but…

It really was a chore to have to clean clumps of dirt off his clothing whenever he woke up.

So, eventually, he just decided to lay blankets and pillows on top of the coffin and sleep on it that way.

Since sleeping is his most treasured (and only) pastime, over the years the ‘coffin’ has begun to look more and more like a real canopy bed.

Even so…

He definitely must have added the canopy at some point in the past few hundred years, but even he has forgotten just why he did it.

“…Hm.”

He strokes his chin for no particular reason.

And as he sat on the edge of his ‘bed’…

Click.

The man snapped his fingers.

After a few moments, the door to his room opens.

The girl wearing the maid uniform with short black hair covering one of her eyes entered. A familiar.

Approaching calmly, she waits for his instructions.

He beckons her to come closer, and as she does he continues to rub his jaw as he looks her over.

“…I see, it really does look like a young girl.”

“…?”

“Just so our ‘visitor’ doesn’t suffer from any more misunderstandings, wouldn’t it be best if you adopted a slightly more mature figure?”

“…”

The familiar shook its head.

It seems like they can’t do it. Although if it doesn’t speak, it’s impossible to understand completely.

A familiar is essentially a follower.

For that reason, even if he was rattling off instructions one after the other, there was no need to hear any response.

But now that he lived such a peaceful existence, it did feel somewhat uncomfortable to have a familiar who never seemed to say much of anything.

Besides, what would the Saint think if he had a young girl waiting on him who didn’t seem able to talk at all?

“It’s decided, I shall teach you a few words today.”

“…?”

“Well, first of all, are you able to make any noise at all? Try it for me.”

“…Kii kii”

What a half-hearted attempt.

Is she really as expressionless as she looks? Perhaps she simply has a cold personality? Or maybe she’s just tired from having to take care of this old man for so long?

“…You have served me faithfully and well over the years, I will not begrudge you your freedom, if that’s what you wish?”

“…”

Another shake of the head.

Even if it’s possible to communicate, it really is inconvenient not being able to have a conversation.

Though, this is strange.

He has never thought of this as a problem, but now that he’s conscious of it, it’s a hard thing for him to handle.

He awoke six hundred years ago, yet he had never been frustrated by a sense of distance between himself and a familiar until now.

The vampire that had once been spoken of in hushed voices as “He Who Emerges from Darkness” and “The Blood-Curdling Shadow of the Full Moon” was now experiencing something similar to what a father feels towards a daughter going through puberty.

“Alright, today you’re going to study with me. It will be a success if you can just imitate the words that I speak to you. Now, repeat after me.”

“…”

The familiar looked confused.

‘Why are we bothering doing something so unnecessary?’ is what her face seems to say.

The truth is, he isn’t quite sure himself.

Regardless, the man began to teach words to his familiar. The expressionless girl and the white-haired (from an early age) man sat across from each other on the bed, exchanging various “Ahs” and “Ohs”.

The morning rolled on, the day melted away, and eventually, night fell.

The man nodded and asked.

“Well then, have you committed those words to heart?”

“…”

The familiar nodded.

The man stroked his stubbled chin.

“Then, say what’s on your mind. I want to hear your true feelings.”

“…”

“I want you to speak honestly.”

“…Talking, hate. Annoying.”

“…I see?”

The man couldn’t help but laugh.

The familiar simply remains as quiet and expressionless as ever.

So she hates talking, huh?

After a relationship spanning longer than several human lifetimes, the man finally learned something about his familiar.

That was how the Vampire spent his day whilst the Saint was away.