Free Web Novel“I’m sorry, I only know what goes on at our level.”
Sally’s voice was low. “All the captured blood specimens are graded, from Class C up to Class A. We here are Class A blood. The higher the grade, the better the treatment.”
“Class A?”
“Yes.” Sally nodded carefully. “In our tier, only the master of this castle comes to feed. But below... I heard that no matter what kind of monster it is, if it has the urge, it can just go...”
Her voice grew quieter and quieter, until it trembled almost inaudibly with a suppressed sob.
Even as she struggled to keep her emotions under control—afraid that fear might make the newcomer do something reckless—Vieya could tell what she really felt.
Sigh...
Vieya exhaled silently. She looked at the girl before her, understanding that Sally was just another victim, doing everything she could to stay alive. Nothing she did could really be called complicity.
“...Sorry,” she said softly.
“Eh? Who are you apologizing to?” Sally blinked, confused. She thought this girl was too calm.
From experience, most girls dragged in here would /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ wake up screaming in terror at the unfamiliar surroundings.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have called you a lackey.”
Vieya cleared her throat. “Do you know how to reach the other levels?”
“Eh...”
Sally shook her head blankly, still surprised by the apology, but did her best to explain.
“The managers on each level are strict. We blood specimens aren’t allowed to touch those areas. Once, there was a little girl on our floor who couldn’t bear it here and tried to run away... she barely reached the staircase before the manager caught her and drained her dry on the spot.”
“Those bastards,” Vieya muttered under her breath.
“!”
Sally gasped, rushing forward to cover her mouth. “You mustn’t let those monsters hear such words! They’ll punish you cruelly if they do...”
As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to remember something urgent and reached out to pull at Vieya’s clothes.
“Hey—! What are you doing? Let go of me!”
Vieya slapped her hand away, glaring as she clutched her clothes.
“E-every newcomer gets examined by the manager personally... I’ll wash you and make you clean,” Sally stammered timidly.
The girl before her might be smaller than herself, but her aura made Sally’s heart quake.
Still, despite the fear, she moved carefully, trying to clean her as best she could—to make her smell pleasant, to avoid any flaw that might anger their “guests.”
It was like preparing a lamb for a noble’s feast: the cook meticulously tended every inch of the animal’s body, so no blemish could spoil the master’s appetite.
At this moment—
Vieya felt exactly like that lamb, being readied to be served on someone else’s table.
...
Akm stepped slowly down a red velvet carpet.
The softness beneath his feet was unreal, yet his heart sank to the bottom.
He was the head administrator of the entire residential district of Fengxiang Town. Once, at eighteen, he had dreamed of being a virtuous man who served his country and people.
But as the years passed, as his hair thinned, his body weakened, and his children proved useless, fear began to take root.
He began to fear death.
He dreaded the thought that one day he would never wake again—forced to watch his incompetent sons and daughters tear each other apart over inheritance, dying one by one before his grave.
So he spent fortunes collecting all manner of health elixirs and miraculous longevity pills.
Millions of gold coins later, his body still continued its slow decline.
Despair set in. Collapse followed. And just as he was about to lose himself to madness and give up on everything, a voice whispered in his ear:
“Praise my true name, and you shall behold eternal life.”
On a night known to no one, he called out that sacred name— ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Elizabeth Bathory of Hatred.
To him, that was the name of a god. A great name. A name mortals could never attain. The name of—
A Demon King.
That moonlit night was one he would never forget.
When he spoke the Demon King’s name, he received a single drop of precious blood. That single droplet restored his youth overnight.
In that instant, the ideals he had upheld for a lifetime shattered without a trace.
To gain more of that blood, more of that lifespan, he helped the Demon King bypass human defenses and build a palace beneath the city.
During that time—
He not only permitted the Demon King’s servants to prey upon humans, but also helped conceal the truth.
He secretly aided the Demon King’s influence, seeking out other powerful mortals—those obsessed with immortality—and tempted them to join.
But because both humans and monsters held deep grudges against each other in this region, his expansion had to proceed cautiously, always wary of discovery by the Lord Mayor, the Church, or the Demon-Hunting Order.
Even so, within just two years, he managed to draw the strongest noble house of the residential district—the Beckham family—into the fold.
The promise of escaping death was an irresistible temptation to anyone with power nearing its end.
And so it continued—until recently.
That noble Demon King herself came to this city.
At that time, chaos had broken out among the demons.
But the southern domain’s demons did not belong to his Demon King.
His master had told him: once the Great Demon King fell, the entire southern realm became a slab of meat on the table—every other Demon King drooled for it.
Each of the other three domains had two Demon Kings.
Only the south had one.
So when that sole Demon King died, leaving behind a worthless heir, all the others stirred restlessly.
The first to move was the one once exiled from the south—a Spider Demon King consumed entirely by jealousy.
Gradually, the red velvet carpet ended.
Before him loomed a great blood-red door, gilded at the edges.
Akm’s face turned pale, but he stepped forward.
The highest level of this underground city—the place he stood now—was the palace of the Demon King who had given him blood.
...
In the small room—
Water dripped softly.
Sally’s motions were gentle as she wiped beads of water from Vieya’s golden hair. As she worked, she couldn’t help feeling a twinge of envy.
The newcomer’s skin was so smooth, so fair; her hair so silky and radiant, like real gold.
“In a moment,” Sally whispered, “whatever those monsters do, don’t react. Don’t speak, don’t resist. Just pretend they’re cabbages growing in a garden.”
“......”
Vieya nodded. I promise I’ll treat their heads like cabbages in a garden—by kicking them to pieces.
Seeing how obedient the girl appeared, Sally sighed in relief. It seemed this newcomer might adapt quickly to life here.
No dignity, no freedom—yes, being drained of blood was painful, but one just had to endure.
“Just endure it and it will pass,” Sally murmured softly as she draped a thin, translucent white gauze dress over the girl’s shoulders.
“Just this?”
Vieya pinched the nearly see-through garment, her face flushing with anger. “Heh. These bastards really don’t treat people as human, do they?”
If this was the treatment of a so-called Class A, she couldn’t imagine how horrible the lower levels must be.
“......”
Sally could only sigh helplessly. She knew this kind of attire was bad for a young girl’s heart.
After thinking a moment, she untied her own pink scarf and gently wrapped it around Vieya’s neck.
Sally hoped that little scarf might bring the girl at least a bit of comfort.
Vieya: ?
