Sanghrila was a vampire city near the Valentine House Training Center, yet it was completely silent that night.
Victor realized this a few minutes after crossing the enormous black gates that separated the outer territories from the vampire urban core.
It wasn’t a natural silence, nor a peaceful one. It was the kind of artificial quiet created by people too accustod to constant danger.
The streets were wide, built with dark stones polished by ti, and the buildings possessed that excessively refined architecture typical of ancient vampires, mixing aristocratic luxury with structures that resembled fortresses disguised as ordinary shops.
Even so... there were few people.
So vampires walked the streets wearing clothes too elegant for the ti and place, but everyone seed too busy to pay attention to their surroundings. No one spoke loudly. No one laughed. There was no disorganized movent like in human cities.
Everything seed... controlled.
Victor kept his hands in his pockets as he walked beside Serafall, observing the city without much interest. His eyes scanned the buildings, the ancient symbols carved into so walls, and especially the few vampires circulating there.
"So this is a vampire city..." he murmured after a few minutes. "It’s quite... monotonous."
Serafall walked calmly beside him, wearing a dark dress that was too simple for her absurdly luxurious standards. Even so, she still naturally drew attention simply by her presence.
She made a small, amused sound through her nose before answering.
"Sanghrila isn’t exactly an ordinary city."
Victor glanced at her. "What do you an?"
"It’s more exclusive." The answer explained absolutely nothing.
Victor maintained a neutral expression as he observed the practically empty streets again.
"Exclusive just sounds like a fancy way of saying nobody lives here."
Serafall chuckled softly. "You’ll understand soon enough."
They continued walking for a few minutes until they entered a narrower part of the city, where the old buildings practically obscured the artificial bluish light used to illuminate Sanghrila during the Vampire Realm’s eternal night.
The alley they entered seed completely ordinary.
Victor was about to comnt on that when Serafall simply placed her hand against a black stone wall.
The entire structure vibrated slowly, and then a door appeared.
It didn’t magically appear out of nowhere. The wall simply rearranged itself silently, revealing a narrow entrance decorated with ancient symbols carved into the dark wood.
Victor raised an eyebrow. "...Okay."
"You’ll see," Serafall replied with a small smile before pushing the door open and entering.
Victor followed right behind her.
The interior contrasted completely with the cold silence of the city.
The place resembled an old tailor’s shop, filled with expensive fabrics neatly arranged on tall shelves, partially disassembled mannequins scattered throughout the hall, and antique sewing machines powered by blood magic. The scent of new fabric mixed with refined blood filled the air in a strangely comforting way.
Then the small bell above the door rang, and chaos imdiately ensued.
"LADY, WE HAVE CUSTORS—!" A small vampire girl erged running from the back of the shop at an absurd speed, practically flying through the narrow aisles while clutching a huge pile of fabrics in her arms.
She didn’t notice Serafall imdiately.
The little vampire girl slid violently across the waxed floor right at the entrance, spinning twice in the air before stopping on her knees directly in front of Serafall.
The silence lasted two seconds.
Then she slowly raised her face, her eyes t Serafall’s, and... the color instantly drained from her face.
"L-LADY, RUN—!" She tried to flee at that very mont.
She couldn’t even take two steps.
Serafall simply grabbed her head with one hand before the little vampire even finished turning around. The movent was absurdly casual.
The little vampire froze completely.
"If you run, I’ll catch you," Serafall said calmly while holding the girl by the head like soone holding a disobedient cat.
The little vampire was visibly trembling.
"M-madam...?"
"You’d better co here, lina," Serafall called toward the back of the store without changing her tone of voice.
A few seconds later, footsteps could be heard coming from inside the establishnt.
A woman appeared, walking calmly through the aisles while wiping her hands with a dark cloth. She was tall for female standards, had long silver hair partially tied back, and extrely noticeable pointed ears.
Victor looked at her for a mont before speaking naturally.
"...An elf?"
The woman looked up imdiately.
Her eyes first went to Victor.
Then to Serafall.
"SERA!"
She practically dropped the cloth on the floor before running across the entire hall and literally leaping at Serafall like an uncontrolled emotional projectile.
Serafall barely had ti to react before the woman wrapped her in an absurdly tight hug.
Victor heard a small crack co from her spine.
"You disappeared!" the elf complained while rubbing her face against Serafall’s shoulder without any dignity. "You selfish wretch!"
"lina... I can’t breathe."
"GREAT."
The little vampire was still being held by the head during all of this.
She slowly raised a trembling hand.
"M-madam...?"
lina finally realized the situation. Her eyes slowly lowered toward the terrified little vampire.
Then she smiled.
It was an extrely gentle smile.
Which sohow made everything worse.
"Why didn’t you say you were my best friend?" lina asked calmly as she slowly released Serafall.
The little vampire imdiately began sweating.
"I-I thought that—"
"Sorry, Sera," lina interrupted with a weary sigh. "Things haven’t been very pleasant with the army around here lately. So forgive this idiot."
She then grabbed the little vampire by the head.
And slamd her into the floor... hard.
The impact echoed throughout the entire store.
Victor watched in absolute silence as the little vampire trembled on the floor with tears in her eyes.
"Apologize," lina said calmly.
"S-sorry..." the little vampire replied imdiately between sobs.
"Fufufu~" Serafall chuckled softly as lina finally released the girl’s head. "Still managing everything the sa way, huh?"
"Of course," lina replied, crossing her arms. "If I stop scaring employees, this place will collapse in two days."
lina let out a tired sigh and lazily waved one hand.
"Okay, okay... go inside before soone sees you standing at the entrance like normal custors." She partially turned toward the employee still lying on the floor. "And wipe that scared drool off the floor. You look like an abandoned dog."
"Y-yes ma’am..."
The little vampire practically crawled away imdiately.
Victor watched this for a few seconds before simply following Serafall through the store’s inner corridors.
As they moved forward, the atmosphere slowly began to change. The front of the shop looked like a relatively normal tailor’s shop by vampire standards, but the inner corridors felt much more like the back rooms of an aristocratic clandestine organization.
Magical symbols were discreetly engraved into the walls.
So doors had locks made entirely of crystallized blood.
And every now and then, Victor could sense presences watching from within the walls, probably living security systems.
"You know strange people," Victor comnted as he walked behind Serafall.
"I’m strange," she replied naturally.
"Fair enough."
lina, who was walking ahead of them, opened another hidden door at the end of the corridor without even looking back.
"You two are still alive, so clearly my friendships are excellent."
The door opened.
Victor entered the room.
And imdiately fell silent.
The VIP room looked less like a private salon and more like an aristocratic vault transford into a relaxation area. Gold literally decorated parts of the walls. Not just golden details—real gold. Ornantal bars served as trim between the furniture, red crystal chandeliers hung from the absurdly high ceiling, and small mountains of ancient coins were scattered across shelves as casual decoration.
"Finally," lina retorted imdiately.
Then sothing happened.
Victor was looking at a huge decorative sword hanging on the wall when he noticed movent in the corner of his vision.
lina simply began changing clothes in the middle of the room.
Without warning.
Without sha.
Without even going to another room.
A wave of magic coursed through her body as her previous dress simply dissolved into luminous particles before Victor’s eyes.
For approximately two full seconds—
Victor saw everything.
The vampire elf stood completely naked before another outfit magically appeared, enveloping her body in an absurdly rapid sequence of black and gold fabrics.
Victor blinked slowly.
"...Okay."
lina finished adjusting her new outfit as if absolutely nothing had happened before casually sitting down in a luxurious armchair with her legs elegantly crossed.
Then she looked directly at Victor.
Her eyes glead with imdiate interest.
"Who is this handso man?"
The silence lasted exactly half a second.
Then—
SPLASH.
A ball of blood struck lina in the face with absurd speed.
The impact slamd her head against the back of the armchair before she tumbled backward like a theatrical corpse.
Victor slowly turned his head.
Serafall still had her hand outstretched after the throw.
Her murderous aura was completely real.
"It’s my son," Serafall replied calmly. Then she narrowed her eyes. "And my husband."
lina remained slumped backward.
"..."
"Take your eyes off him or I’ll kill you."
Silence lingered for a few seconds.
Then lina’s muffled voice erged from the armchair.
"...You’ve beco much more possessive since motherhood."
"And you’re still a whore with no survival instinct."
lina slowly rose from the armchair, blood streaming down her face as she pouted indignantly.
"I just asked a question!"
"You literally started glowing while looking at him."
"Because he’s handso!"
"lina."
"Okay, okay..." She imdiately raised her hands in surrender before looking back at Victor. "Sorry. I’m not going to try to steal your son-husband."
Victor stayed silent for a few seconds, processing that particular sentence.
"...That was probably one of the worst combinations of words I’ve ever heard."
Serafall seed strangely pleased now.
"Great."
lina wiped the blood from her face while huffing irritably.
"You’re being very aggressive today."
"Because I know you."
"That’s prejudice."
"That’s experience."
Victor watched the two argue for a few more seconds before finally raising a hand to interrupt them before Serafall could start another personal war in the middle of the room.
"Okay," he said, looking around again. "But what the hell is all this anyway?"
His gaze swept over the piles of decorative gold, the antique weapons hanging on the walls, and especially the countless strange fabrics scattered throughout the luxurious hall. So of them clearly possessed blood energy circulating through the fibers like living organisms.
Serafall slowly crossed her legs on the sofa before casually pointing at lina.
"My professional stylist."
Victor slowly turned toward the elf.
lina imdiately broke into an absurdly proud smile and tossed her silver hair back like soone receiving long-overdue public recognition.
"Finally, soone respecting my art."
"You literally called my son hot two minutes ago," Serafall retorted dryly.
"And I still stand."
"lina."
"Hostile silence accepted."
Victor partially ignored the argunt and looked around again.
"...Wait. Stylist?"
"Professional," lina corrected imdiately, pointing at herself. "Don’t compare to ordinary seamstresses." She grinned proudly. "I make clothes that can survive war."
Serafall nodded slightly.
"Elves are excellent stylists when it cos to magic. Especially enchanted armor. And lina is one of the best in the Vampire Kingdom."
Victor raised an eyebrow.
"She?"
lina placed a hand on her chest, dramatically offended.
"What tone was that?"
"The tone of soone looking at a woman who beats employees into the floor."
"Discipline improves productivity."
"That sounds like a labor law violation."
"That sounds like a poor person’s opinion."
Serafall let out a small laugh before finally explaining properly.
"We’re here to order armor for you."
Victor looked at her without any imdiate reaction.
"...Armor."
"Yes."
"Like a dieval knight?"
"No."
Serafall rested her face against one hand while smiling slightly.
"A battle suit."
Victor remained silent for a few seconds. Then he looked at lina again.
Then at the room.
Then at Serafall.
"...Does this really exist?"
lina practically jumped out of her armchair in outrage.
"OF COURSE IT EXISTS!"
She quickly walked toward one of the walls and tapped her hand against a golden symbol carved into the black wood.
Imdiately, several hidden compartnts opened throughout the hall.
Victor watched dozens of outfits erge, chanically arranged behind magical glass display cases. So looked like extrely refined formal suits, others resembled aristocratic military uniforms, and so were clearly armor disguised as elegant clothing.
Every single one emanated supernatural energy.
"Vampires haven’t worn traditional armor for centuries," lina explained as she proudly walked among the pieces. "It limits mobility, regeneration, and blood flow. So we evolved."
She pulled one of the black suits from its display case.
The fabric looked alive.
Literally alive. Small crimson veins slowly pulsed beneath the inner layers of the suit, resembling artificial blood circulation.
Victor narrowed his eyes.
"...Is this breathing?"
"Yes."
"...It is."
"This one can absorb impacts equivalent to heavy artillery without losing flexibility," lina explained casually as she tossed the suit onto a sofa. "This other one reduces blood energy consumption during prolonged combat. That one over there has its own regeneration. And that one—"
She pointed toward a red outfit hanging near the bottom.
"—explodes if soone without a blood tie tries to wear it."
Victor stared at the suit for a few seconds.
"...Why would anyone make an explosive suit?"
"Because it’s funny."
"lina," Serafall said tiredly.
"The previous client asked for it!"
Victor slowly massaged his forehead.
"This is stranger than I expected."
"That’s because you haven’t seen the live models yet," lina replied naturally.
Silence fell.
Victor slowly turned his head toward her.
"...What?"
Serafall imdiately raised a hand.
"Don’t show him the living ones."
"But they’re the coolest!"
"lina."
The elf huffed dramatically before crossing her arms like a disgruntled child.
"You never let show you the fun stuff... I made a new one called Lilith. You’d love it..."
"You made a dress with the Succubus Queen’s na on it?"
"No, I made it with her wings. Seriously, that material is hard to get, okay? I had to wait for her to shed her skin and go through body reconstruction. She sold it to for one billion eight hundred million Vels."
Victor sighed deeply as he looked once again at the countless magical suits scattered throughout the room.
Then he finally understood...
This wasn’t simply a shop.
It was an arsenal disguised as a tailor shop.
And considering the Ascension Ritual that was approaching... Serafall probably wanted to make sure he entered that massacre wearing sothing capable of keeping him alive.
[Note: Vel’s is the universal currency of this world. Let’s say it’s equivalent to the Dollar, but consider that the economy of this world is much richer in terms of money. Gold is a luxury, but it’s easily found.]
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