#Episode 88
Todd lashed out at Vasha, as if making one final desperate attempt.
“You don’t really mean that! Deep down, you think I’m just an annoying, arrogant little brat!”
“If I don’t find my familiar lovable, who else would I find lovable?”
“…….….”
Vasha’s words left Todd speechless once again. He opened his mouth several times as if to say something, but in the end, he just turned his head sharply to avoid looking at Vasha.
His ears, peeking out from between his hair, were so red that they seemed like they would burn if touched.
‘Is he… upset? Or is he okay? This is hard to figure out…’
Since Todd remained silent, Vasha had to continue speaking.
At the very least, her counterargument seemed to have worked. Todd no longer appeared to misunderstand or mock the idea of being called cute.
Feeling relieved, Vasha fiddled with the pendant on Todd’s cravat and subtly changed the subject.
“Anyway, be careful. If anything happens, make sure to call me with this. Got it?”
“As if I’d ever need to.”
Todd scoffed dismissively, but his cheeks were still flushed. He tried to act indifferent, putting on an air of arrogance.
“Most things, I can handle on my own. If anything, it’d be more of a problem if you showed up at the auction house over something trivial and ended up exposing your identity.”
“That’s true, but….”
Vasha hesitated.
Todd had a point—what were the chances of something happening? But from experience, things always seemed to go wrong precisely when one let their guard down.
For some reason, her heart felt uneasy, and a chill ran down the back of her neck. The creeping sense of anxiety made Vasha press the issue again.
“Still, check in with me from time to time, okay? I’ll worry if you don’t. If we could synchronize, at least I’d feel a bit more at ease….”
Everything had its pros and cons.
Right now, their synchronization rate was still low, which allowed Vasha to keep a distance from Todd’s burning thirst for revenge. However, this also meant that if Todd ever found himself in danger, Vasha wouldn’t notice right away.
Vasha had been so insistent that Todd could no longer avoid giving an answer.
“…Well, I’ll see how it goes.”
With that, Todd stepped aside and walked over to a full-length mirror, staring into his reflection.
The enchantment placed on the pendant seemed to be working well—his gleaming golden eyes now appeared as a soft brown.
The change was subtle enough that even the maids, who knew his real eye color, wouldn’t find anything odd. Yet, the difference was still clear.
“Hmm. Looks pretty natural. No one would notice unless they were exceptionally sensitive to magical energy.”
Vasha’s spell had achieved maximum effect with minimal mana. Satisfied, Todd nodded and asked,
“By the way, when did you learn to craft magic tools like this?”
“I picked it up little by little while you were training. Laurus’ library had some decent books on the subject.”
“…Is that so?”
But Todd seemed skeptical.
Vasha, confused by his reaction, cautiously asked,
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“It’s not that it’s wrong, but….”
Todd furrowed his brows, falling silent for a moment as if debating whether to speak. Then, with a sigh, he decided to be honest.
“Even just mastering spells you’ve learned is difficult enough. Modifying or creating spells is impossible without a natural aptitude. But you, who only recently started learning magic, managed to create something this advanced? Just having talent isn’t enough to explain that.”
“Oh…”
Vasha suddenly realized—she had been too focused on the flaws in her own work to notice how unusual it was for a lower-ranked vampire, completely new to magic, to produce such a result.
Even she had to admit that if her memories of magic hadn’t returned, crafting an enchanted item like this would have been impossible.
While Vasha remained speechless, Todd continued,
“And then there’s the communication spell you engraved. That’s based on the magic used by the Lamphas Church, isn’t it?”
“Huh? Uh… why do you think that?”
Todd had asked so naturally that Vasha, caught off guard, could only stammer.
She hadn’t even known that Lamphas had such spells, but Todd’s confidence made it difficult to deny.
With a smirk, Todd continued speaking, as if he already knew everything.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? Being able to send messages through an enchanted object… That’s the kind of magic you’d expect from those humans who cling to the relics of the Holy Dragon, whispering their petty prayers.”
Vampiric magic, on the other hand, was fundamentally different. It focused on issuing commands to those marked with magical energy or bound by enchanted objects.
At first glance, it might look similar to the communication magic used by the Lamphas Church, but it was an entirely different system.
‘So, in this world, holy energy and magic are treated as completely separate forces…? Is the system really that different? To me, it just seems like a matter of direction rather than an actual distinction…’
But explaining her perspective would only invite suspicion. If she started pointing out inconsistencies with this world’s common knowledge, it could lead to unnecessary trouble.
While Vasha remained silent, Todd continued listing out oddities.
“And converting holy energy-based spells into magic? That’s impossible for an ordinary vampire. Maybe a Strigon could do it.”
“Strigon?”
Vasha blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar name. Seeing this, Todd’s frown deepened even further.
“You don’t know who Strigon is? The first of the progenitor’s Menorahs. He was so skilled in magic that his title was literally ‘The Magician.’ He was one of the Lord’s most trusted subordinates.”
The Menorahs Vasha knew about were the ones she had learned of through Hudel’s dreams—Olok and Mirkala—and the one she discovered through Laurus, Lucy.
According to Laurus, there were four Menorahs in total, but strangely, Vasha kept encountering information about everyone except the ones she already knew.
Todd narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Vasha’s lack of knowledge about Strigon.
At that moment, Vasha realized her mistake—A vampire who doesn’t know about the Menorahs? That’s definitely suspicious…
Of course, revealing that she was from another world would only make Todd even more distrustful.
So Vasha quickly made an excuse.
“Of course I know. I was just caught off guard being compared to someone that powerful.”
“Hah. Powerful, huh.”
Todd scoffed, but his suspicion seemed to ease.
Relieved, Vasha couldn’t help but mutter in admiration,
“Still, being able to control magic so freely… That really is impressive. I wonder if I’ll ever reach that level.”
“Not even if you spent your entire life trying.”
“I KNOW THAT!”
Vasha shot back, looking utterly betrayed by Todd’s blunt remark.
“I don’t actually expect to become as skilled in magic as the Menorahs just because I crafted my first enchanted object. I just… wish I could. It’s like how humans often say they want to get rich without putting in any effort. I know my place.”
A lower-ranked vampire like herself and a Menorah, one of the highest-ranking vampires at the very top of the hierarchy—comparing them was ridiculous from the start.
Even if Vasha overcame this trial and became a high-ranking vampire, the gap would remain the same.
“I’m low in rank and have little magical power, so—”
“What’s wrong with that?!”
Before Vasha could even finish, Todd snapped at her, his voice filled with frustration.
Vasha was completely baffled.
“But… it’s just the truth?”
Todd, seemingly exasperated, clutched his chest as if trying to suppress his irritation.
“When I said you could never become like Strigon, it wasn’t because you lack magical talent, power, or rank.”
Vasha blinked in surprise.
“Then why?”
“Because you could never be as ruthless as he is.”
Todd’s gaze was serious as he continued in a grave tone.
“Magic grows stronger the more you’re willing to pay its price. And Strigon… he’s notorious for being one of the most extreme hardliners. He never hesitates to use humans or even his own kind as sacrifices for his magic. If you stacked the bodies he’s offered as tributes, the pile would probably reach the sky.”
Even if Vasha became a high-ranking vampire, even if she had talent in magic, even if her power grew stronger, he she still never be able to surpass Strigon.
That was an undeniable truth.
