" Who are you and what are you doing under my territory?" The young woman dashed his spear toward Shinichi who flinched in fear. Alertely. Shinichi raised his arms to show the young woman he wasn't a threat and muttered soon afterward, " I didn't do anything wrong. I'm innocent, so please don't kill me!"
Shinichi was trembling out of his wits and during that time, he subconsciously thought, " Where did I end up and why is that woman being so threatening right now?"
The young woman was as threatening as ever, so Shinichi used the last card he had up his sleeve. He stood and the young woman shouted, " Don't move!"
Shinichi didn't back out and pointed to her, " Look at the way I'm dressed! Does it look like I'm from around here?"
As Shinichi muttered that phrase, the young woman lowered her spear and looked at Shinichi from head to toe and noticed the unusual getup he was wearing. " You seem to be telling the truth, but that doesn't exclude the fact that you're a trespasser." Shinichi gazed upon the young woman and without realizing he was speaking out loud, he muttered, "Beautiful."
" What did you say?" Her monotone made him take conscience of the situation, so he quickly caught himself and said, " I didn't say anything. More importantly, who are you and where am I?"
" The only thing I remember is that I was walking home and then, out of nowhere, there was this flashing light that sucked me and brought me here." Shinichi was panicked that he might have landed in a strange place. Listening to Shinichi's misadventures, the young woman asked, " Did you come from another world?"
Hearing what she asked him, Shinichi panicked even more and asked, " What did you just say? Did you just say," another world?" Nodding in response, Shinichi muttered, " Oh no, did I end up traveling in time?"
Shinichi scorched to the floor, unable to believe he had just traveled back in time. " From your reaction, you must have come from another world and your presence here must not be coincidental." Extending her hand toward him, she muttered, " Come with me!"
Looking up, Shinichi didn't want to grab the hand that was being extended to him, but what other choices did he have? Grabbing her hand to get up, he asked, " Where are we going?" At that moment, she noticed the minor cuts across Shinichi's face along with some injuries and felt restless, her face starting to burn up uncontrollably.
" What's going on, Miss? Are you okay?" Shinichi worried for the young woman. He could see from her complexion that she was undergoing some kind of pain. He couldn't attend to her, however, as her clansmen came rushing, and upon seeing the situation, they misunderstood, thinking Shinichi had harmed their esteemed leader.
" You, what are you doing, move out of the way!" Hayden pushed Shinichi out of the way and looking at her complexion, he muttered, " Hime, what's the matter?" This was the first time hearing her name up close. Glaring at Shinichi, he asked, " You, what did you do to, Hime?"
Surrounded by threatening people, Shinichi muttered, " I didn't do anything to her. She started feeling unwell all of a sudden and I was simply trying to help." Giving a straightforward response, Hayden didn't seem to believe him and said, " Do you expect me to believe your lies?" The young woman, at that time, had fallen unconscious.
With her unconscious, Shinichi was in a whole lot of trouble. " Seize him immediately! He must be some kind of spy sent out by our enemies." With the orders being given, Shinichi was seized and brought along to their quarters. Hayden picked up the young woman in his arms and followed right behind them.
While he was being taken away, Shinichi couldn't help but think of the young woman and subconsciously muttered, " Earlier, she was in so much pain. I hope she's alright."
Moments later, they reached their quarters, and looking around, Shinichi noticed that the people's garments were very similar to the young woman's attire. He couldn't perceive much as he was harshly thrown to the ground while Hayden carried their leader to her room.
Coming back after a few minutes, he extended his arrow toward Shinichi, he asked in a threatening tone, " Confess at once! Who are you and why were you with, Hime? What did you do to her that she would go through such pain?"
Shinichi was asked lots of questions at once but no matter the answer he would provide, that wouldn't change his current situation, so all he could do was, " Is she alright?" to inquire about the young woman.
" Don't pronounce her name and answer my questions!" Hayden shot an arrow at Shinichi out of anger. The arrow was coming at full speed but because Shinichi was tied, he wasn't able to avoid it altogether, resulting in a cut across his right shoulder. Shinichi felt the pain that came alongside the shot, however, he held it in and endured it silently.
" Answer me now!" Hayden was preparing to shoot the second arrow. Shinichi muttered to him in response, " No matter how much you'll ask me the same question, my answer will not change. I didn't do anything to her; My presence there was only coincidental.
" Coincidental, you say?" Smirking, Hayden said, " Guess what! I don't believe in your silly coincidences. You were there for a reason and, Hime being injured has something to do with you." Shooting the second arrow, Shinichi moved slightly and the arrow was planted inside a tree a couple of meters away from his location.
" Listen while people talk to you!" Offended that he was being lectured, another one of the classmen stepped forward and stopped Hayden as he was about to shoot the third arrow. " Stop it, Hayden! You never know, he might be telling the truth." The one stopping Hayden was another commandant going by the name, Lucien.
Meanwhile, the vampire princess was reminiscing about what happened with Shinichi earlier, about their encounter, to be more specific. Recalling the last part of her dream, she awoke startled. " Blood? Whose blood is this and why do I feel that I know this scent?" The vampire princess smelled the scent of blood and recalling again, she muttered, " That scent belongs to that boy I encountered earlier."
The vampire princess rushed out of the room. Following Shinichi's scent, the more she was about to reach his location, the more she felt sick and each time she felt that way, she would stop. " This must be Hayden's doing. I must reach in time before anything happens."
The vampire princess kept treading her steps and after a while, she reached the lamentation hall.
The lamentation hall is the place where criminals and outlaws are judged for their crimes and where issues are discussed.
Moments before the vampire princess reached the Lamentation Hall, Lucien was trying to reason with Hayden regarding Shinichi's fate. " We shouldn't take matters into our own hands before consulting with Hime. She's the one who has that authority and not us."
Hayden looked at Lucien and said, " Hime has the right over every decision taken within the clan but as her commandants, we also have some rights and some of them include taking care of issues such as this one." He looked toward Shinichi again intending to shoot another arrow at him. Shinichi during that time subconsciously thought, " I didn't have time to recuperate from the fight I had with Aikawa and now, I've received so many injuries again. That guy is out for me and if I'm to receive another one of these arrows, I think this is going to be the end of me. Besides, those arrows aren't normal. There are some kinds of energy surrounding them that are causing me to feel numb."
" As things stand, I don't think I'm going to get out of this alive. I don't have enough drive to avoid another one of these shots." Closing his eyes and waiting for his doom, he was surprised when the arrow didn't slash through his heart, and more importantly, no pain came his way. " What are you doing, Hayden? Who gave you the right to harm him?"
Recognizing the familiar voice, Shinichi opened his eyes and saw the young woman from earlier. She stood between him and the arrow. Shinichi noticed blood being spilled to the ground and looking closely, he understood why that was the case. " Hime, how come you're here?" Hayden asked the vampire princess who had blocked the arrow with her bare hands which caused blood to spill to the ground.
Staring angrily at her clansmen, she muttered, " What were you guys doing just now? Who gave you the right to harm him?" Hayden wanted to explain his motive to the vampire princess, however, she didn't give him the opportunity. Turning toward Shinichi and noticing his major injuries, she had a hard time contending herself.
Shinichi noticed her change in complexion once again and asked, " Are you okay?" His tone was warm and gentle at the same time. Extending her hand toward him as she did last time, she muttered, " You're coming with me!"
Staring at her, Shinichi extended his hand toward the vampire princess and grabbed it. Hayden was irritated seeing this. " Let's go!" The vampire princess muttered, however, Shinichi was unable to walk. Due to his injuries which were quite severe, he couldn't move a step and was feeling numb.
Noticing the state he was in, the vampire princess lifted him in her arms in front of everyone. Being embarrassed to be carried like a princess, Shinichi muttered in embarrassment, " Put me down—---- I'm not so weak that I can't walk on my own."
The vampire princess expressionless muttered, " You got injured because of my men, so the least I can do is carry you." Against such backup, Shinichi had no way of retorting and so kept quiet while he was being taken away by the vampire princess.
Using her levitation skill, she flew to her quarters. Within a few minutes, they reached their destination and the vampire princess lightly put Shinichi down. Looking across the room, Shinichi was mesmerized by how grand and grandiose the place looked. " Sit down so I can treat your wounds!"
The expressionless vampire princess muttered to Shinichi who obediently sat down as requested. Staring at her injury, although minor across her right hand, Shinichi looked inside his school bag and took out some bandages and cotton.
" Excuse me, could I have your hand?" He humbly asked the vampire princess who was confused. Although she didn't understand why Shinichi wanted her hand, she extended her hand toward him regardless. " Not that one, but the other hand—--" The vampire princess finally understood why Shinichi was asking for her hand and said, " That's not necessary—--"
" I know you probably don't require my help in treating it, but you got injured because of me. If you hadn't blocked that arrow for me earlier, I'd be a goner, so please, allow me to at least treat your wound!" Staring into his clear eyes, the vampire princess could see no hostility in them, so she extended her right hand to him.
Shinichi used cotton to stop the bleeding before bandaging the wound with bandages. " That's it, I'm done. Your hand will heal in no time." Muttering to the vampire princess, he slightly grinned.
" Now, it's your turn to extend your hands for me—---" Obediently, Shinichi extends his hands to the vampire princess who, using magical powers, was able to heal Shinichi's injuries without leaving a single scar.
" Wow, that's amazing—--" Shinichi was impressed as it was his first time to see magic being deployed from up close. He had even more questions now as to where he was and of the identity of the woman before him.
" Earlier, you were feeling sick. Your complexion wasn't normal, Why was that?" Shinichi took the liberty of asking but the vampire princess didn't answer, so Shinichi muttered, " I know I have no right to meddle in your affairs as I'm just an outsider, but I simply want to make sure you're alright and well."
The vampire princess didn't know what to say. Shinichi sounded so serious over his words but she couldn't quite believe them. Being expressionless as usual, the vampire princess muttered, " Currently, you're in the Selene Empire—---" She was willing to speak but only to tell him where he was."
" The Selene Empire?"
" The Selene Empire is the place where you're currently and my clansmen and I are vampires. As for my identity, I'm the vampire princess, Yoruhime and I'm the leader of the clan. Everyone here calls me, Hime. Would you happen to have any other questions?" The vampire princess asked Shinichi who was trembling a little due to the discovery. Seeing this, the vampire princess muttered additionally, " Although we're vampires, none of us will harm you in any way. You've landed here accidentally so making sure of your safety is my priority."
Shinichi stopped trembling at the result of these words and looking at the vampire princess, she muttered, " Although this is a vampire territory, we also have humans residing here and that's where you'll be leaving from here on out until I figure out how you can head back to your original world."
" I can go back! Can I truly go back?" Shinichi was delighted as he asked. The vampire princess retorted, " There should be a way for you to return to your original world."
" Thanks for explaining things to me. I'm very grateful." Shinichi muttered in delight. Recalling that he had yet to introduce himself, he introduced himself before the vampire princess, " I'm Shinichi Izumi and I'll be in your care starting today."
House servants came into the room and said, " The room is ready, Hime. We prepared it as per your instructions."
Earlier, after landing Shinichi back on his feet, the vampire princess excused herself for an instant during which she gave instructions to her house servants and so forth.
" You did well." The vampire princess said before adding, " Now, bring him to his room for the night!"
" Yes, Hime!" Shinichi stood and as he was about to leave with the maids, he muttered quite brightly, " Goodnight, Yoruhime!"
The vampire princess was taken aback by how she was addressed by Shinichi, however, he added with the same bright grin as before, " Take care and I'll see you tomorrow." He turned and left with the housemaids.
Moments later, Shinichi was brought to his room. Before leaving, the housemaids said, " Ring the bell inside the room if you require anything." After giving the instructions, they left the room. Admiring his room, he lay exhausted on the bed, recalling the events that took place very recently.
" Today had been a tough day—---" Trying to sleep, he couldn't as he recalled the vampire princess's revelation. " I landed in a vampire's den. Will I be alright?" With his worries and fear, Shinichi fell soundly asleep after a few minutes of being awake.
The vampire princess on the other hand was spitting blood again. Looking at her blooded hand, she muttered, " I'm nothing but a hideous creature."