Master’s Smile

"To think that I\'d have to stoop so low as to do this… there’s no hope left for this world, I say."

Somewhere else, the men from the subjugation squad of the Dark Guild, \'Troops of Salvation Yelquchira\'3, stood face-to-face with a lone woman.

The woman in question was a beauty wearing a bright red dress, one that seemed all too unnatural for being in the depths of the thick forest.

Had she been in a place of high society, one where nobles flocked together, she would have undoubtedly been incessantly asked for one dance after the other.

"To think that I, of all people, would be sent out to \'clean the trash\'…"

"What was that?!"

Rage emerged on the faces of each and every member of the subjugation squad, directed towards the woman who gave a resounding sigh of exasperation.

She had called them trash. Surely, there wasn’t a single person who wouldn’t be enraged by such a thing.

"Hmph. There’s hardly any need to gawk at a lady in such a way. Have you no manners?"

"Well, we’re not exactly like those nobles that just won’t shut up about etiquette. Bear with us barbarians, would ya?"

While the words and actions of the woman had invoked their anger, there could be no denying that the beauty of her features drew in their gaze.

Especially her bosom, which was ample enough to be easily defined even through her dress, ceaselessly drew their eyes in with its allure.

"People who join Dark Guilds are wanted dead or alive, you know. You\'re gonna let us do whatever we want."

The men of the grey guild gave lecherous grins.

While they were knights that had, more or less, undergone a proper education, the grey guild was made up of unrepentant criminals that had to reason to bother hiding the voracious looks cast the woman\'s way.

To them it was certain; once they had captured her alive, they would do anything to squash that dignity of hers beneath their feet.

"Oh, my. Well then, may I assume that means you\'ll be letting me treat you as I please?"

"Whoa there, ya gettin\' into it too?"

"Although admittedly, my treatment is a tad different from what you might expect…"

Her eyes sparkling, the woman clapped her hands together.

For a single moment, their eyes widened, but they settled back into their foul grins in no time.

Needless to say, the intent behind the woman\'s actions was in no way meant to imply what they believed.

And besides, the only time she would ever harbor such an intention would be when it was meant for the Master, and the Master alone.

"This is what I meant to say."

With those words out, the woman turned her neatly prepared hands toward the men.

She closed them tightly.

"Aiiiiieeeh?"

With that single, meaningless gesture, one of the subjugation squad\'s men found his head bursting.

Masses of blood sprayed about, and a portion of his brain was sent flying and clung to the faces and bodies of the surrounding men.

"A…Aaaaaah!!!"

The men, their minds finally grasping what had occurred, screamed their hearts out.

They could understand neither what the woman had done, nor what had happened to that man.

All they knew was that, just by the closing of her palms, the man had died instantaneously.

"Now then, come to me."

As she spoke, the woman brought a beautifully polished drinking glass out of nowhere.

"Wha…?!"

The blood, having come together to form a single mass in mid-air, could be seen moving into the woman\'s glass out of its own accord.

The woman brought the glass close to her nose and took in its scent.

"Hm…It certainly doesn\'t seem very tasty…"

The woman\'s nose twitched, and her brow furrowed.

The way she presented herself was, no matter from which angle one were to look at it, full of gaps and openings.

"Don\'t fuck with us…!!"

A member of the subjugation squad fired his bow.

The small arrow taking flight may have had a pitifully small range, but it was surely more than enough to reach her at that distance.

"Honestly. I\'m in the middle of taste-sampling, so I\'d ask you to keep from getting in my way."

"Huh…?"

The woman, her face contorted with annoyance, caught the incoming arrow with unrivaled ease.

She then threw the arrow back towards the man who had fired as he stood there staring at her, completely dumbfounded.

The arrow she had let fly from her hand sailed towards the man at a tremendous speed.

It was even faster than an arrow shot from a bow.

"Gah?!"

Unable to counter or even dodge, the man caught the arrow with the middle of his forehead.

The arrow had flown with terrifying force, force enough to penetrate his skull.

Faced with the sight of his gruesome death, the members of the grey guild and even the knights of the kingdom sunk into silence.

After all, they now felt that, by a mere poor choice of words, they could be the next to follow suit.

Satisfied by the newfound silence of her surroundings, the woman\'s stunningly elegant lips went to the glass, and she allowed the blood collected within to flow into her mouth.

Once she had done so, her brow went taut.

"Goodness, how awful."

The woman threw the vessel to the ground, even though it still held plenty of blood.

"I must have grown accustomed to the Master\'s high-quality blood. It would be ridiculous to even compare blood of such lowly caliber… Ugh, that awful taste still lingers in my mouth."

It was a cruel thing to say, even more so after she had killed the men and drunk their blood on a whim.

Still, it was this very woman who had dominated this area by sheer power. No one dared speak against her.

"Vampier-san, do you need something to remove the aftertaste?"

"Oh, Schwarz."

At the side of the woman who glared at her surroundings - Vampier - a maid had appeared.

The subjugation squad, unable to make heads or tails of when she had appeared or where she had come from, could only look at her with their eyes wide.

The silver-haired, dark-skinned maid - Schwarz, as her name was - handed Vampier a cup filled to the brim with water.

Vampier accepted the cup, then drained it as quickly as one could without coming off as improper.

"Phew… You certainly came to my rescue, Schwarz. Their blood was just ever-so disgusting… If I were to have remained with that taste in my mouth, I might have just killed them all right away and then been off to the Master\'s to pester him for blood."

"You have a habit of drinking Master\'s blood and becoming intoxicated, so please don\'t. Dealing with your drunken stupor is a hassle."

"I\'ve never caused trouble for you or the others, so where is the issue?"

"It bothers the Master."

Despite the brawny men touting weapons in front of their very eyes, the two beauties continued to converse as naturally as could be.

The light-hearted tone of their conversation stole away the terror sparked by Vampier\'s actions bit by bit.

Once the fear had departed, anger took its place.

"Hey! What the fuck are you two blabberin\' about?!"

"What, he asks… I am just warning Schwarz about crawling into the Master\'s bed every morning under the pretense of \'service.\'"

"What, he says… I was simply asking Vampier-san to cease her shameless pursuit of the Master whenever she becomes soused on his blood."

Even when surrounded by so many men, they showed absolutely no sign of being perturbed.

If one were to listen to the conversation alone, it would seem to be nothing more than a catfight revolving around some man.

On that note, if the two were to truly clash, the damage dealt to their surroundings would be a far cry from anything mere \'cats\' could do.

"They\'re just messing around! Come on, let\'s move!"

But for the subjugation squad, who had no way of knowing this, it only served to further thicken the anger their expressions betrayed.

Among the members of the grey guild and kingdom knights, many were of a prideful sort.

While pride was far from a bad quality to possess, it was the probably worst thing to show in this situation.

The men, taking great offense to being made fools of, rushed forward - not towards Vampier, mind, but rather with Schwarz in their sights.

While Vampier had earned their ire, the fear instilled by the two men being killed still won out.

With that in mind, the seemingly proper answer was to swoop down on the newly arrived maid.

"Hm. Were you made to think that I would be easier to defeat?"

"A wise decision, if you ask me."

"…"

Schwarz puffed out her cheeks while Vampier whole-heartedly looked down on her

Being looked upon as if the members of the Dark Guild Yelquchira had outdone her in some manner was far from a pleasant feeling.

And when the one looking down on you was the prideful Vampier, it was all the more unpleasant.

Schwarz, while being rather weak-willed when it came to asserting herself, still held her own pride in high regard, and gave an expression of dissatisfaction.

"Drop dead!!"

The first man to reach Schwarz raised his blade above his head.

While he was clearly used to more theatrical fights, his own skill with the blade was adequate enough.

"Well, not that it measures up to my own…"

Schwarz stopped his weapon with a blade, one that seemed to have been drawn from nowhere.

She then drew another blade and slashed at the man with a single hand.

"Guah…?!"

A diagonal slash cut across his torso and blood spurted as the man fell to the ground.

Schwarz swung her blade in a rapid sequence, shaking off the blood that had become glued to it.

The maid\'s apron, as if it were completely ignoring the massive spurts of blood from the ghastly execution, did not show a single stain.

"Always the tidy one when you cut someone, aren\'t you?"

"I will accept that as a compliment."

Schwarz forewent showing any emotion in response to the praises of the impressed Vampier, and instead let them flow past her coolly.

With that over and done with, the subjugation squad had no idea what they were to do.

If they rushed toward Vampier, they would be killed off by some sort of strange, unknown magic; if they chose to face Schwarz, a magnificent cut with her blade would spell out their demise.

"Now then, let\'s settle this quickly and return to the Master. I\'ve grown bored of this already."

"Hearing that from you is irritating, but I agree."

"Hiih…?!"

Vampier\'s crimson eyes and Schwarz\'s ice-cold ones moved to the men.

The subjugation squad\'s annihilation would come soon after.

Vampier: Vampire in GermanSchwarz: Black in GermanNot entirely sure about this translation.