After discussing the countermeasures, we fell silent and watched the fires burn. Our shift was nearing the end and we could call the others to take over. Even though we vampires were normally nocturnal and alert at night, we still needed to sleep. It wouldn't do to be exhausted when we attacked Miranda's laboratory during the day.
Then for some reason Stella unbuttoned her blouse to check her chest. I frowned and looked away, to give her some privacy.
"What happened? Is something wrong?"
"No. Not at all. I'm just checking to see if I have the crest."
"Crest? What crest?"
"The crest that I should have gotten when I became Klein's subordinate."
"…huh?" There she went, saying things that I didn't understand again. Must be something she read from a trashy web novel again. "Since when did you get a crest? You don't mean the same one as this, right?"
I took my glove off and showed her the crest on my right hand. Stella giggled and shook her head.
"No, I was just teasing you, sorry. Sometimes I feel like calling you Chrome, you know?"
"Should I change your name to Shea then?" I asked dryly. Stella winked.
"If you want."
"I just want you to stop making obscure references to other revenge web fiction."
"Fine." Stella sighed, as if disappointed. "But I wish you to remind you one more thing."
"What is it?" I asked, glancing at her in surprise. She smiled shyly, her face taking on a slight tinge of red.
"Don't forget that you have the option of making a blood contract with me. I mean, we've been feeding off each other's blood the entire time, so it's not as if it's undoable."
Stella had a slight point. So as not to draw attention from other people or harm humans, we had relied on each other for blood. Vampire blood was as good as human blood, which was how the vampires in Tyranvania survived without humans. Of course, there were other alternative sources, such as monster blood, but vampire blood was preferable to that when there was no human one available.
"Let's just hold off that for now. It's not that I don't trust you, but soon I'll be dispatching you to other missions."
Stella frowned. "I'll never leave your side. It is my duty to protect you."
"I appreciate it, but you must think of yourself as well. Don't bind yourself to me. You are your own person, you should have your own goals…"
"My goal is to be a knight," Stella replied. "And I will fail as a knight if I cannot protect my lord. To a knight, duty, honor and loyalty are everything." She then made a face. "I'm glad I didn't swear fealty to a bastard like Bradley."
"That fucker doesn't deserve any loyalty," I agreed. "But you really should have your own dream. Something you want for yourself. Other than being an amazing knight, I mean. Or did you already want to be a knight when you were a child?"
"Yes, I suppose." Stella leaned back and stared at the night sky, her sapphire eyes gazing at the golden moon above. "But when I was a child, huh?"
Her cheeks colored and she turned away in embarrassment.
"…I just remembered what my dream was when I was a child. Before I wanted to be a knight."
"Oh? What was it?" I couldn't help but be curious, but for some reason Stella didn't want to elaborate. I shrugged and fell silent, not wanting to pry. Fortunately, Stella finally mustered up the courage to talk about it.
"I wanted to be a bride."
"…huh?"
"I know right?" Stella fumed. "Such girly things don't suit a ruffian like me! But…when I was young, my parents would bring me to attend the weddings of other knights and nobles. I would see how beautiful the brides were and wish I could one day wear a dress like that. A white wedding gown the color of snow, with my hair elegantly tied up and a bouquet of flowers in my hands…I always wanted to experience a wedding like that! It's the dream of almost every young girl to be a bride! To be someone special! I'm sure of it!"
"I see." I nodded. "That makes sense."
"…that dream was shattered when my parents died. And then…when my sister was raped and murdered by that bastard. After that…I…I only have the path of the sword left to me. Knighthood. I don't think I will ever see that dream fulfilled."
"Come on," I chided her. "Someone as beautiful as you will definitely find someone. And why can't you get married just because you're a knight? I'm sure plenty of men will find strong and unyielding women like you attractive."
"Do you find me attractive, Klein?" Stella asked, a playful smile touching her lips. I nodded.
"Yeah, definitely."
"Then…if nobody else takes me, will you take me as your wife?"
"Uh…" I scratched my head, feeling flustered. Was this a confession? A proposal? "Maybe? But it'll have to wait until I get my revenge and settle everything in the Demonic Empire first."
"All the more I should stay by your side and help you achieve those…so that I can hear a proper answer." Stella giggled, and then stretched herself. "I think our shift is over. We should wake the others up."
"No worries. We're already up." Wilson waved at us as he stepped out of his tent. A few seconds later, Rose emerged, looking bleary-eyed and stifling a yawn.
"Sorry about that. I hope you weren't up for too long."
"No, I just woke up. I didn't catch much of your conversation, don't worry." Wilson chuckled. "Honestly, I wanted to listen to the two of you flirting for a bit longer."
"Now it's your turn to flirt," I retorted.
"Um, as I thought, you two are in that kind of relationship, right?" Rose asked, rubbing at her eyes and slowly rousing to full wakefulness. "Are you going to get married soon?"
"Not exactly," I replied. Wilson nudged Rose before she could ask anything more and then bowed his head.
"You guys should get some sleep. We're hitting the lab tomorrow. Chris has a route in, but it is best that we tackle the mission feeling refreshed."
"Got it." I nodded and followed Stella back to our tent. "I'll be relying on you guys to guide us in tomorrow."
*
Mikhail sighed wearily as he switched off the console that was supposed to display the life signs of an experimental subject. He studied the printed graphs and shook his head.
"Another failed experiment. The grafted appendages and organ transplants aren't being rejected by the host body, but even so the host still dies so quickly. Why?"
"I think it's a problem with the surgery," a second guy replied from over the next console.
"I don't understand," a third guy said grumpily. "Isn't the whole point of researching homunculus to create artificial life from scratch? Why are we surgically altering all these poor sods instead?"
"Because the chairwoman said so," a fourth guy replied gruffly. "Careful she doesn't hear your protests or you'll be the next specimen."
"I wasn't protesting," the third guy objected angrily. "I was just…curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat, didn't you know? Perhaps the chairwoman might turn you into a cat chimera next."
"Now, now," Mikhail said in a tone that placated all of them. He yanked out another printout from the machine and compared them with a previous one, taking several notes and discarding a crumpled roll of parchment. "Let's just get this work done and we can go rest for the night."
The second guy snorted. "Rest? You? You won't be getting any rest, Mikhail."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mikhail asked sharply, looking up.
"He means you'll be spending the night getting fucked by the chairwoman again," the third guy replied crudely. He tore out another parchment and scribbled something on it. "Recently, Chairwoman Miranda has been calling you to her bed more often, right?"
"No, not at all." Mikhail waved their accusations away. "She calls me just as frequently as everyone else."
Inwardly, he suppressed a sigh that caused his body to shiver. He still recalled sleeping with Miranda last night, their entwined bodies rolling about on her huge bed.
"As frequently as everyone else? Don't joke. You're the one most often called to her bed."
"Yeah, you're clearly Chairwoman Miranda's favorite."
"It's because you resemble him a lot."
The other guys in the lab glared at Mikhail, their gazes filled with envy and resentment. Rather than be afraid, Mikhail basked in it.
Yes, he understood the reason why Miranda favored him. It was because he looked a lot like her ex-lover, the Hero Herman.
Miranda never got over her rejection by Herman. Well, to be more accurate, she wasn't exactly rejected. She had enjoyed a physically intimate relationship with Herman for a brief period of time. All the girls in the Hero party did. Herman did not hesitate to lay his hands on any of them.
Honestly, Bradley tried to hit on them too, but all three girls were too infatuated with Herman to accept his advances. Also, Bradley was a lecherous brute, and they hated him, though they never said it out loud. However, Bradley was strong and indispensable. Whatever his vices, his sword skills were necessary for the war against the demons.
That was why they sacrificed the "useless" and expendable kind person of the group instead. His kindness was causing irreparable damage to their own reputations and they reasoned his naivety would eventually lead to his death anyway. So might as well bring it forward sooner.
Whatever the case, Miranda was devastated when Herman announced his marriage to Irene. She had withdrawn to this remote outpost in the west. As a member of the strongest Hero party who had defeated the Demonic Emperor, and was recognized as the world's greatest mage, she was welcomed with wide open arms by adoring mages.
In order to get over her failed romance, Miranda had brief flings with many of the young male mages in the corps. However, she was drawn the most to Mikhail, who bore a stark resemblance to Herman. As a result, she invited him to her bed more frequently than others. Having idolized Miranda, Mikhail couldn't refuse her seduction and found himself falling for her.
It also helped that his views aligned with hers. Like Miranda, Mikhail did not hold a high view of his fellow non-mage humans. He agreed with the chairwoman that they were good research material. He believed that their sacrifice would not be in vain, for their deaths and suffering would allow their magic research to continue progress.
Stagnancy was death. Extinction. In order for humanity to survive, they must keep moving forward, especially in the area of magic. What were a few deaths compared to that? A few hundred deaths, even, when compared to the fate of mankind?
There was a buzz at another console, and one of the other guys turned to consult it. He scowled.
"The hell? Where did squadron 03 go? They still haven't returned?"
Squadron 03 was the horde of chimera monster that the mage corps had released earlier that day, to track down and hunt a quartet of deserters.
"Shouldn't they still be chasing Chris Redfield and his goons?" the third guy asked.
"Huh? With their magical abilities, there's no way they can beat squadron 03. Those monsters shouldn't need this much time to wipe those pathetic losers out."
"Perhaps they are better at running away than we give them credit for," the fourth guy suggested.
"They should be back tomorrow." Mikhail scratched his head. "We'll just give them a bit more time. If squadron 03 still isn't back by noon tomorrow, then we'll dispatch squadron 04 to search for them. That should be within the allowance for deviation."
"Good thinking," the second guy agreed. He grinned. "Now we know why you are Chairwoman Miranda's favorite."
"Come on…" Mikhail moaned. He wasn't given much time to complain, though. Miranda showed up at the door, her lovely face showing a slightly distracted expression.
"Mikhail, come to my room tonight."
She was gone before he could acknowledge her order. The other guys in the room exchanged mischievous grins.
"What did we tell you?"
"Yeah, Mikhail looks like a clone of the Hero…"
"Ugh, I'm so jealous! Well, enjoy yourself, 'Hero.' We'll go look for some other girls then."
"Ah, right. Didn't the chairwoman just capture a new batch? I remember they have some pretty sweet girls there…"
Mikhail shook his head as he listened to his comrades and he switched off his console.
Closing his eyes, he shuddered as he anticipated the pleasure that he would experience tonight. Miranda was a wonderful lover and she had taught him everything he knew regarding…uh, bed exercises.
However, he couldn't help but feel annoyance gnaw at his heart.
"Am I really nothing more than a stand-in for the Hero?" he whispered.
"What did you say, Mikhail?" one of his friends asked. He quickly shook his head.
"Nothing."
He couldn't let the others know…that he had deliberately used surgery to alter his face so that he would look like Herman. All so that he could attract Miranda's attention and receive her affection. He shuddered to think what would happen if they found out.
Well, Miranda probably already knew, but given how she encouraged the male mages to ruthlessly compete against each other for her love – judging the losers to hellish suffering as lab specimens – Mikhail was aware that he had best avoided revealing that secret to the others.
Otherwise he would be the next subject on the gurney.