“You are trying to stall us here, so the portal closes, am I right?” Rudy asked with a judging look on his face.
“O-Obviously n-not!” she said while averting her gaze to avoid eye contact with everyone.
“Do you seriously think you can convince anyone with this behavior”
“You can fight after going to the human world,” Virgil remarked. “Look, the portal has already begun to close up. Don’t blame me if you are stuck here again for fifteen more days. And even if you have the ability to teleport, you cannot use it on the girls. So even if you return to the human world, you will have to wait fifteen days again.”
“Bye, grandpa!”- Jane.
“Goodbye, grandpa Virgil!” – Rias.
“See you, Vampire Monarch.” – Niti.
“Goodbye, Vampire Monarch.” – Vriti.
They all bid farewell to Virgil and flew to the portal one by one.
Rudy patted on Virgil’s back and said, “Take care, son. Don’t cry when you miss them. I don’t know when we will meet again, but I am sure as hell that it won’t be too soon.”
Rudy didn’t wait for Virgil’s response and flew to the portal.
The girls passed through the portal, but Rudy stayed on the other side and gazed in the direction of the palace.
‘Where are you, Nyxia?’
Jane pulled Rudy through the portal as it closed in front of him.
“That was so close!” she yelled as others— except Vriti— sighed in relief.
Rudy and the vampire gang were hovering in the air above a forest.
‘Should I come out now?’ Angelica asked. ‘I don’t know why, but for some reason, I am nervous about meeting them.’
“You can meet them once we get home,” Rudy replied.
“Hmm?” – Jane.
“Huh? – Rias.
“What?” – Niti.
“….” – Vriti.
“Let’s get you home first. Follow me.”
The girls followed him, but only Rias was flying beside him.
“Isn’t your home that way? Where are we going?” Rias asked after noticing Rudy was taking a different route.
“I am obviously not taking you to my home. We don’t have that much space.”
“Where are you taking us then?”
“Just follow me, you will know.” After a brief pause, he said, “I could teleport you all, but I want the girls to see how beautiful the human world is.”
After flying for a while, Rias nudged Rudy and said, “What are you going to do about the sun? I am only a 10% vampire, so I can live under the sun, but the others can’t.”
“About that, I… saw an anime about vampires where the main girl was also a half-vampire, and she could walk under the sun by applying sunscreen. Would that actually work?” Rudy asked curiously.
“Obviously not.”
“That was a joke.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Anyway, Nyxia had told me a spell that let the vampires live under the sun. I mean, before the partition of the races, when all the races lived on earth, the vampires lived under the sun, you know?”
“No, they didn’t. They never came out in the sun. They lived at night.”
“So, in other words, you haven’t thought about it, am I right?” she asked with a knowing look on her face.
“No, I did. I thought you would know that spell. And if it’s about the sun, then don’t worry, my love. I am the Lord; hiding the sun is no big deal for me,” he said with a proud and confident look on his face.
A few minutes later, they reached the place.
“What is this? There are so many pools,” Rias muttered.
“This place is owned by one of my har…” he cleared his throat and said, “One of my friends. I asked her for permission, and she said it’s okay.”
‘That was close. I was going to say ‘harem member’ but I forgot that in Jane’s eyes, Rias is supposedly unaware of everything.’
They all landed near Reina’s office and glanced around.
“Hmm~ Not a bad place,” Jane uttered while glancing around. “If it had more trees and grass around, it would have given the same feeling as the palace’s garden— minus the pools.”
“So everything,” Rudy commented.
Rudy stood in front of them and said, “Listen, girls, my friend lives alone here, and she runs the pool. She has too many responsibilities on her shoulders, and we should be grateful to her that she is giving you all a place to live for a while.
And it goes without saying that she is a human. So if possible, don’t show off your vampire powers in front of her. Even though I have already told her everything, it would be natural for her to be a little scared of you all.
Whatever you do, do not tease her. Don’t annoy her, and most importantly, do as she says. This is her place, so you all must follow her orders. If she asks you to stop doing something, you have to stop without her needing to repeat herself.
There are other things I want to say, but it’s common knowledge. You are guests here for a few days, so mind your manners.”
Rudy explained the rules, terms, and conditions to them for staying over at Reina’s place, just like parents would when sending their kids to their maternal or paternal home.
“Do you all understand?” he asked. “If I hear complaints about any of you from Reina, you will be punished accordingly.”
“What type of punishment?” Jane immediately asked.
“You will have to clean the pools.”
“That doesn’t seem like a punishment, but okay.”
Rudy turned to the door and knocked on it. And a few seconds later, Reina opened the door with an awkward smile on her face.
She had heard everything from the other side of the door. In fact, she had been waiting for Rudy to arrive as he had messaged her about it before departing for the Vampire World.
“Please, come inside,” Reina welcomed them with a gentle smile on her face. “I have ordered a lot of food too.”
===
Thanks, @puremichigan, for the gift!
