บท 25: Six Months (3)
Chapter 25: Six Months (3)
Elmenhilde Karnstein Pov:
{Notice. You have attached the Magic Power Transfer Cable to the wrong receiver. Please remove it and attach it to the receiver next to it.}
My body followed the Great Sage's command without complaints, but my mind solely focused on the holograms above Master's desk.
It had been a few hours since Serafall and Sona arrived at Master's house, and they had done plenty of things by now.
After having lunch, Sona and Master played chess, and he won within half an hour, but for some reason, the girl looked like she had accomplished something.
Well, for a child, she was good at chess. If we were to play against each other, she was good enough to drag the match out for a while, but she'd still lose.
On the other hand, if Master were to play with me, I'd lose within two hours at best.
With their match settled, Sona and Serafall dressed up as Magical Girld because of a bet, which the Leviathan enjoyed to her heart's content, hugging Master while saying she'd remember this blessing forever and how he should become her younger brother instead of Beelzebub.
From their interaction, it seemed like Serafall had previously 'bribed' Master into having Sona dress up as a Magical Girl after he won the match.
Master also introduced Amy as his [Pawn] to Serafall and Sona, and the latter commented on how he should've made a Healer like Amy his [Bishop] rather than [Pawn], considering that her healing abilities depended on her Demonic Power Reserves.
Master explained how a logical answer wasn't always the correct one, and Serafall said that he was right, but Sona didn't seem to understand what they were talking about, only tilting her head in confusion.
'But a [Bishop], huh?'
Thinking about it, I'd be a perfect candidate for Master's [Bishop], considering how good I was with Magic, but something like that would never happen.
In Master's eyes, half of my worth was in helping around the laboratories, and the other half was in my position as the next Lady Karnstein, so if he reincarnated me as a Devil, I'd lose all connections with the Vampires.
After the Magical Girl Show, the three of them started playing different board games, and when Satan Leviathan proposed that the loser would do a strip show for the winners, she was locked inside the basement by Master and Sona. The two continued their games while hearing Serafall's cries as background music.
Thanks to the hidden camera within the basement, which Serafall noticed moments after walking inside, I could see her cry very clearly, and it didn't look like an act—not at all.
She was whining about how they were leaving her out and having 'fun' on their own, and how much she wanted to join them. Honestly, she needed an adult's guidance more than Master and Sona combined.
'Is this how one of the Four Great Satans should behave?'
It was hard to believe that Serafall was seriously a Devil that was as strong as Kurl, the current Queen Carmilla. Their bearings were too different.
But what consumed me the most was that it looked like Master was enjoying his time with Serafall and Sona.
I couldn't understand that.
He wasn't faking his enjoyment and pleasure in spending time with Serafall and Sona, and I was sure of it, which confused me even more.
Who was he?
Could it be that my Master had multiple personalities? A bipolar, perhaps?
It was hard for me to understand.
No, I simply refused to understand.
How could the monster who twisted my very being into something completely new within a mere ten days have emotions like empathy and affection towards other people?
It wasn't as simple as a persona he built to deal with the world.
As someone who needed to maintain a certain image in society, I acted differently in public to maintain that perfect image as the next Lady Karnstein. My natural personality only surfaced when I accompanied Millacra.
But that wasn't the case with him.
Such different worldviews couldn't possibly be held by a single person, not even if they were mentally ill.
But Master never showed any traits of having multiple personalities. It would have been easy to notice since I had been with him for a while.
Then, was he faking one of his sides?
Whether he was an affectionate person who became a monster while dealing with those he could use or if he was a monster who acted affectionate while dealing with those close to him so he could use them, it was hard to understand.
Unknowingly, I gulped.
Both of these possibilities terrified me, and I realised something.
He broke me to the edge to create a loyal slave out of me, but if I, someone he invested so much of his effort to train, were to disappoint him in any situation, what would he do to me?
And after he was done with me, who would he go after?
Krul? I doubt that. No matter what, Krul was stronger than an Ultimate Class Devil, and although I didn't care about what happened to her, I doubted Master could defeat her right now, so there was only one person who'd be his next target if I turned out to be a disappointment.
Millacra.
At that thought, I shook my head lightly.
Staying next to him was similar to walking on the edge of a cliff—one wrong step, and what awaited me was a fate far worse than death.
'I... I can't disappoint him, never…'
Even though there was one unanswered question in my mind, I was too scared to think about it.
Who was my 'real' Master?
{Notice. There is no work left for you to do, so please study the notes prepared. Once Master returns, your training will begin.}
Great Sage's sudden callout almost caused me to trip in surprise, but somehow, I managed to keep my balance.
Since the instructions were clear, I walked inside the elevator after being guided by Great Sage, going one floor lower as I arrived at a room filled with thousands of documents.
From what Master told me, he planned on training me as his secretary, so I'd need to study a lot to exceed his expectations.
That was the only way for me to survive.
With the determination to survive and please him, a little over five months passed in the blink of an eye.
.
.
.
Master returned from Bucharest after three days when Serafall and Sona left, and then, he started training me in things necessary to be his secretary.
Everything went smoothly from then on as I watched and learned about Master's experiments while also slowly catching up to his knowledge and research so I could be of use to him.
Master also got me accustomed to watching numerous Vampires, Humans, Half-Devils, Reincarnated Devils, and many other people die regularly.
As a Pure-Blooded Noble Vampire, I had killed my fair share of people already, like Dhampirs, Humans, Stray Devils, Low-Class Vampires, and so on, numbering almost a hundred.
However, they were only a fraction of the people I saw getting killed at Master's hands within mere months, and some of the people had deaths that looked extremely painful, enough to make me shiver, but Master watched them as if nothing was happening.
I have seen numerous individuals kill others for various reasons, from revenge, enjoyment, pleasure, disgust, discrimination, sadistic impulses, to even boredom.
In short, there was always a reason, but Master did it as naturally as he breathed, like stepping on ants while looking far ahead, not even showing the slightest signs of any of the said emotions.
It was terrifying.
The first time he displayed emotions was when Serafall and Sona visited him.
Second was when Latia Astaroth, Master's niece and his soon-to-be [Queen], had come to visit along with Alice, Satan Beelzebub's [Knight].
And this time, Master looked even more pleasantly surprised than he was with Serafall and Sona, indicating that he was closer to the latter duo.
"What even is this? It's having the opposite effects."
Leaning back on the chair, I looked at the graph on my tablet screen, and as time passed, it kept going down despite my displeasure.
In front of me were dozens of glass containers, each containing Pure Blooded and Half Devils that were at my mercy at this moment, with all of them releasing small amounts of Demonic Power thanks to Great Sage using [Life Force Conversion] on them.
It was my private floor within the [Devil Clan Traits Research Laboratory].
Well, I called it private because Master never visited this floor, as I, being the slave, got summoned whenever he needed me.
"Ugh… My goal was to look for ways to increase Demonic Power in Devils artificially, but what even is this? How am I supposed to show it to Master?"
During the time we spent together, my 'relationship' with him has improved a lot.
I no longer acted scared when he looked me in the eye, knowing that I was still useful to him, though I still had shivers and felt like lowering myself whenever he stared at me.
That feeling would probably never go away. After all, lowering myself in front of him was an instinct for me.
Also, I learned how to cook human food because Master had no idea how to, and the first time we tried to cook, it ended up with a loud explosion.
After some practice and online research, my cooking skills improved a lot. And although Master said I wasn't at the level of Amy or Alice, it was still delicious. Since that was the case, I have been diligently improving my cooking skills to please him.
I, as a Pure-Blooded Vampire, could only consume blood, and my only meal was Master's blood.
As expected, I was already starting to get addicted to the taste of his blood, although it was not that bad, not yet, at least.
Understanding what was best for my survival, I continued my self-brainwashing and stopped thinking about 'who' my Master was or what his goals were because, in this case, knowing too much could get me killed, so I just kept reminding myself to be an obedient and submissive slave.
Following his orders was already an instinct for me, too, and I was starting to naturally call myself a slave whenever he crossed my mind as a result of constant reminders to myself.
Who knew mere months could change a person so much?
No one could recognise the former proud and arrogant Pure-Blooded Vampire when looking at the 'real' me.
"I am slowly turning into his loyal dog. Wait, since I am a female, I would be his loyal bitch, no? Might as well start wearing a collar with his name written on it, like a proper pet."
Talking to myself to remind myself of my position was a habit, and I could feel my personality slowly being twisted into what Master desired.
Even then, the only thing I could do was watch, if not help him do so myself.
"And whose pet are you becoming?"
"Yours, Master. No one else can make me willingly prostrate myself like an animal..."
After my honest and lazy reply, I leaned back on the chair, closing my eyes.
'... Hold on.'
My mind was beyond gone, yes, but it hadn't yet reached the point where I'd start daydreaming about Master.
'That means...'
My eyes shot open, glancing at the glass container right in front of me, and thanks to the reflection, I saw Master standing behind me.
Before I could cry out an apology and kowtow towards him, our eyes met.
The look in his eyes was as if he was annoyed, which caused me to shiver.
Instinctively, I got up from the chair, turning it towards Master for him to sit on, and got on my knees.
He looked down at me for a good few seconds, only to let out a small sigh.
"Why are you naked?"
That question made me look down on my body.
Indeed, I lived butt naked because that was when my mind worked the best—something I found out while living on my private floor, and since he never visited this place, it wasn't a problem.
I'd quickly get dressed whenever he called for me.
"I'm sorry, Master. I'll get dressed right away."
Scared that Master was displeased by my act, I lowered myself even further.
I was way past the point of being embarrassed because he saw me without any clothes. The number of times I had stripped naked at his orders to undergo checkups and experiments was hard to remember.
And thanks to how uninterested he was towards me, I almost started to doubt my beauty and charm.
But then again, the idea of having that kind of relationship with a slave must be disgusting for him, or maybe he was simply too young right now.
From the moment we met, I never thought of Master as a child because of how he behaved, but I guess some parts of his personality were in sync with his age.
If Master took a liking to my body, it'd increase my chances of survival, but I was too scared to try anything like that.
For races like Devils and Vampires, sex was a way to please themselves, so it wouldn't be surprising if Master used me for his pleasure. Not to mention that it'd be my first time doing it.
As a Noble Female Vampire of the Carmilla Faction and the daughter of Queen Carmilla, no man had ever touched me since birth.
Before Master, the only man who ever touched me was my father when he had his hands wrapped around my neck, threatening Krul that he'd kill me if she made a move.
That happened back when I was three.
It was a pity he had no idea how strong Krul was, as she single-handedly dealt with all the rebels.
But maybe that'd please Master?
Male Devils were possessive of their females, and even though our relationship wasn't like that, in a twisted sense, he did own me, so maybe my zero experience would please him.
Seduction was a common way to rise in the ranks within Supernatural Factions, but it was just that I was too scared to try something like that with Master.
I couldn't risk it backfiring on me.
"Stop having strange thoughts. They're written all over your face."
"I-I'm sorry! I'll get dressed right away…"
How'd he even realise what I was thinking about?
"It'll be a waste of time, so just tell me what's going on with your research about Demonic Power."
Master sat on the chair in front of me, placing his right leg above his left while looking down at me, who was kneeling in front of him.
Since our bodies were similar to dwarfs, the things here were naturally suitable for our sizes, including the chair.
"Here's the data, Master." I handed my tablet over to him while explaining everything, and after that, he nodded. "To summarise, my research on how to artificially increase the Demonic Power inside a Devil was a massive failure. Instead, I somehow ended up with a formula that slowly decreases the maximum amount of Demonic Power a Devil can have over time with small amounts of consumption."
"Hmm..."
Master examined my research, occasionally making a few changes to it, and just as my anxiety was over the roof, encouraging me to lower myself even further, he commented.
"While it's not what I expected, it's some new data on Demonic Power, so it isn't all bad..."
He wasn't angry!
I could feel my body and soul melting in happiness because he wasn't angry at me, but I held myself together.
'Oh, what have I become in such a short amount of time?'
At least I was alive, so that question didn't matter much.
"If these effects can be made temporary rather than permanent, and the targeted energy can change from a Devil's Demonic Power to a Vampire's Magic Power, slowly weakening Krul and enslaving her like you should be possible... It'll be much faster than training you until you become the Carmilla Faction's Queen…"
At his words, I blinked silently.
On what frequencies does his brain work?
That was, in fact, an extremely simple plan with a somewhat decent success rate.
As Krul's daughter, I could potentially start drugging her. I'd lose all my connections with the Carmilla Faction if we were to get caught, but if we managed to hide the drug's presence and effects, Krul would also end up as his slave.
I had no doubts about Master's ability to break people into what he desired, not as someone who had experienced it already.
As long as he got his hands on her, Krul would end up like me, helpless and obediently submissive.
That way, Master would also become the indirect ruler of the Carmilla Faction, which could provide him with as many test subjects as he wanted. Nobles or not, everyone must obey Krul within the Carmilla Faction.
Not to mention, that would reduce my burden of selecting and bringing in prisoners from the Carmilla Faction by a lot, and I would be able to help Master with his research more.
"Indeed, choosing you over Millacra was the correct choice."
Master looked down at me with a slight smile, leaning forward before lightly patting my head like a pet and caressing my cheek.
"Thank you, Master."
I lowered my head respectfully, wondering when my mother and the current Queen Carmilla would join me as his slave, kneeling beside me at his feet, lowering her head.
I only raised my head after a good few minutes passed. Looking up at Master's face, I remembered that he looked annoyed when he appeared on this floor, and since his mood was better after reading my research, I steeled my nerves to ask him about it.
"By the way, Master, did something happen?"
"It's nothing. Just another Rouge Vampire from the Tepes Faction for me to deal with."
"Again?"
During the time I had spent with Master, he dealt with seven such Rouge Vampires from the Tepes Faction and three from the Carmilla Faction, all of whom were turned into test subjects later on.
It was almost as if someone was purposefully releasing them to freely massacre humans.
Master couldn't get any useful information even after using [A Corpse Never Lies] on them, as they were all useless trash at the bottom of the food chain.
The worst part was that Master hated it when something interrupted his research, with the only exception being his family.
"Should I deal with it in your stead, Master?"
"Forget it. I'll deal with it before going back home."
"You're going back to the Underworld, Master?"
"Yeah, my father called me because they're about to announce my planned marriage with Rias to the Underworld, so it's a formal announcement of our engagement. I'll be going back in a week."
"Oh, right. That also happened…"
A month after Master enslaved me, his parents visited him, along with Latia, Rias, Lord Gremory, and Lady Gremory, asking him whether he wished to marry Rias Gremory, the Heiress of the Gremory Clan, or not.
After Latia said she didn't mind being by his side as his [Queen] and a Servant, Master agreed to the marriage. However, I doubted Master would ever treat Latia like a Servant. After all, the look in his eyes was the softest when he looked at her.
I was surprised by how mature that little girl was, but then again, she was someone related to Master, so it wasn't that surprising.
What I still couldn't understand was why Latia came out crying after Master suddenly teleported her inside a library. What could scare a little devil so much inside a local library?
Maybe she saw an Evil Spirit because it was midnight, but even then, she was strong enough to handle a dozen of them, so what happened to her?
Other than that, since Master agreed to the marriage, the engagement was already half done, and the only thing left was a public announcement and banquet.
In Devils, an engagement was the promise to marry, and as long as two clans agreed, there was no need to throw such a big banquet to announce it. In the future, Master could simply introduce Rias Gremory as his fiancee and be done with it, but apparently, both the Gremory and the Astaroth Clan wanted to show off.
After all, it was the engagement of Master and Rias Gremory, the siblings of Satan Beelzebub and Satan Lucifer, respectively.
Their Clans would have announced the engagement right away, but since Grayfia Lucifuge was pregnant, they decided to hold off the announcement until after she had delivered her child, and that happened around one month ago.
If I wasn't wrong, her son's name was Bucciarati Gremory, and the one who suggested that name was Master.
That, coupled with the news of Rias' engagement, made it so that the people of the Gremory Clan were all smiles these days.
'But Master will leave in a week, huh? A week... It'll be exactly six months from the first day I met him when he became Bucharest's overseer.'
"And it'll only take a few days at best since even at the announcement party, Rias and I only need to stand in front of the audience and look pretty; our parents will handle everything else. After all, they can't expect two kids to host a banquet like that."
That made sense.
"Anyway, let's go."
Master gave me back my tablet before getting up, and soon, the Astaroth Clan's Magic Circle appeared below the two of us.
"Should I get dressed, Master?"
"Forget it. You can roam around in the labs naked if it makes you feel comfortable."
Well, it wasn't like anyone other than Master could see me like this, so it was fine.
"Thank you very much, Master."
With that, Master and I teleported to the [Darkness Magic Research Laboratory].
---
"For now, we'll give some final touches for the Great Sage's large-scale experiment before I leave for the underworld. You'll return to the Carmilla Faction to ensure everything is in order, and after that, prepare around three hundred Low-Class Vampires as extras, along with a hundred or so High-Class."
"I understand, Master, but what about the blood required to restore those three hundred Low-Class Vampires? Should I collect it, too?"
"Sure, just make sure not to leave any traces behind."
Master walked over to the corner of the room we previously prepared for Great Sage's large-scale experiment, standing in front of a dozen or so holograms.
I followed behind him with my tablet in hand, checking if everything within the Engine Room and Magic Power Distribution Lines of the [Darkness Magic Research Lab] was fine or not.
It was my duty to check the system within the facilities regularly.
"Master, everything here is functioning properly. The Backup Power Room is at 87% because of the excess usage that happened during the experiment last week, so I'll charge it up to 100% in case."
"Have you changed the batteries in the Engine Room of this facility?"
Naturally, the 'batteries' he was talking about were living beings, but after being next to him for a while, I was starting to adapt to his way of thinking.
"Of course, Master. I changed the batteries when the previous ones ended after the experiment last week."
"Very well... I'll adjust the Magic Power Frequency, so go and take over the Engine Room."
"Yes, Master."
Except for Master, no one could teleport between laboratories, and even the 'Password' he left within my chest needed his permission to activate.
So, if he were to bring someone inside, their only option was to destroy the Engine Room and the Backup Power Room to cut off the Magic Power that kept this place active, along with the hundreds of Defensive Barriers surrounding it, and then teleport away.
That was if they didn't die when the laboratory exploded because of the self-destruction function.
After a minute, I arrived in front of the Engine Room's control panel.
"Connect me to Extra Room One's main unit."
{Answer. The connection is successful.}
"Master, I am all set."
{Alright. Make sure that it doesn't go into overload while I raise the frequency, and if it does, manually shut down this room's connection.}
"Yes."
And so, another week passed by while we prepared for Great Sage's large-scale experiment.
At this point, it was hard to hide my curiosity about what this experiment was, but I had no idea since Master never talked about it, so all I could do was wait until he returned from the Underworld.
---
"Alright, I'll be back after everything at the Underworld gets settled. Make sure to do what I told you to, Elmen..."
"Rest assured, Master. I won't disappoint you."
I got on one knee and respectfully lowered my head.
"And before you leave for the Carmilla Faction, don't forget to get dressed."
"... Of course, Master."
Realising that I had completely forgotten that I was roaming around naked for a whole week, I felt a bit embarrassed.
Maybe I had gotten a bit too comfortable when roaming around like this everywhere to please Master.
These past six months had been pretty wild, becoming a slave and all, but I survived.
To me, the last part mattered the most.
---
Words: 4,289
A/N:
I couldn't upload for the past few days. My bad. Was sick. I'll upload a new chapter tomorrow, too.
With this chapter, we're done with Elmenhilde's POV and should move back to Mc's POV.
The plot's about to pick up again, too.
Also, who snitched (reported) the fic to Webnovel and somehow got the cover removed?
What "explicit and pornographic" content, bruh? There are no lemons, and the sole torture scene isn't the worst I've seen on this app.
Send Powerstones (I doubt a no-cover fic is appealing to read otherwise). Thanks.
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