When I came to my senses, I was laying on a bed. My head felt dizzy, and my body was aching all over. I don’t remember this ceiling. Why was I sleeping here? Was I finally abducted? That sounds highly plausible if you ask me. I’m the daughter of a rich, influential family. More than anything though, I’m an unparalleled beauty.

“Komari-sama, have you woken up?”

I moved my gaze when someone called out to me. I saw the perverted maid sit next to my bed on a chair. My eyes opened wide. The main reason for this being because she wore hospital clothes, with bandages around both her arms. This isn’t the perverted maid. She’s just a pervert now—Wait, who cares about that.

“—Vill!? You’re okay!?”

When I jolted up from my bed, I felt pain fill my entire lower body, pulling me back down again. It hurts. It hurts so much. It feels like I’m being cut in half by giant scissors.

“Stay still, your wounds haven’t healed just yet.”

“It hurts~! Why does it hurt so bad!? My legs are burning!”

“It’s because you’ve been stabbed by the heavenly tool. Do you not remember?”

I remember now, yeah. I headed over to the abandoned castle, fought against Millicent, and got a rough beating by her. I had given up, accepting reality where I couldn’t save Vill—But this pain I’m feeling means that I’m still alive, right?

“—Hey, Vill. Is this heaven?”

“No, we’re still on earth. You won, Komari-sama.”

“In what?”

“In your battle against MIllicent Bluenight. You snuck inside the abandoned castle, defeated that terrorist, and saved me.”

“..No seriously, what are you on about?”

I was losing, wasn’t I. She hit my entire body with her <Magic Bullets>, stabbed me with that silver knife, and had me eat a part of that laser. Only some hero or demon lord out of a novel could come back from that.

“Do you know this so-called Nucleus Liberation?” Vill stared at me.

“Nucleus..? Oh right, you talked about that in the bath, yeah?”

“Yes. A Nucleus Liberation is a different kind of power from magic. By cutting your connection with the magic nucleus, the magical power inside of you that would normally be locked away can be used freely.”

“Hmmm..First time I heard of that. What about it?”

“You used that, Komari-sama.”

“Eh? What?”

According to Vill, this is what happened..I had been born with my own Nucleus Liberation, called <Solitary Crimson Mercy>, which activates whenever I drink blood, allowing me overwhelming magical power and physical abilities. When I was about to get killed by Millicent, Vill forcefully had me drink her blood, and I beat up Millicent without even knowing about it. I see, I see—Wait, hold your damn horses!

“I don’t remember any of that, you know!?”

“It’s probably because your magical power, endurance, and willpower ran out. The members of the 7th Corps carried you here, but any longer, and you might have died.”

“Hold on, there’s too much info to process!”

“I will explain everything later. For now, all you need to know is that you’re the strongest, Komari-sama. You can defeat whatever opponent may stand in your way. You defeated Millicent with ease.”

“As if I could believe that! She didn’t even die after being crushed by two rocks!”

Vill let out a snicker.

“Yeah, it must be hard to believe. But, you don’t have to. I’m plenty satisfied with having you with me here.”

Why can she say stuff like that with a straight face. That’s embarrassing, so quit it. I’m not used to receiving such honest feelings. Act more perverted will you. Actually, nevermind. I averted my gaze from Vill, and changed the subject.

“..Are you feeling fine now? That must have hurt like crazy.”

“I am a soldier. I am confident in my endurance.”

“I see..”

There, my words stopped. My head was still spacing out. I understand that this isn’t heaven, but reality still hasn’t set in.

“Komari-sama.” Vill spoke up. “You won. You managed to capture that terrorist, and handed her over to the underground prison. She won’t come attack you again.”

“Y-Yeah.”

“That’s why, there’s no need to be hung up on your past any longer.”

“....”

I felt a comfortable breeze blow through my heart. I don’t have to be hung up on the pasty any longer. How wonderful of an idea that was. These past three years, I was always scared of Millicent. I didn’t want to leave my room. I didn’t want to deal with people. Because I was scared of going through something similar again. I tried to hide these thoughts, and pushed them to the back of my head. I shut myself in, was absorbed in whatever I felt interested in, and ignored the tragedy that was my life.

But now, that life came to an end. Because I succeeded in taking a step forward.

“..These wounds won’t disappear just from defeating her.”

“That might be true, but..”

“I’ll try talking with Millicent later.”

Vill’s eyes opened wide. She was shocked at my words. But, I just felt like I needed to do that no matter what.

“She loathes me. I doubt that will ever change. But, I want to change. I want to understand her, and maybe arrive at a common ground. If I don’t do that, I will never be able to deal with the past.”

“How wonderful. That is something admirable.”

“I agree.” I gave a wry smile.

It might be weird for me to say it, but talking with someone like that—Especially with someone who hated me before, makes me want to think that I’ve grown.

“I guess that leaving my house won’t hurt once in a while.”

“Understood. Then, I’ll plan three battles every two days.”

“That’s taking too far, okay!” I was sulking.

As always, she didn’t understand my feelings at all. Or she does, and is just being a horrible person as always. In her case, I can tell that she’s acting for my sake, so I don’t mind too much.

“Komari-sama.”

“What is it?”

“Thank you for saving me.”

I glanced at her. She had no expression as always, but I could see her reddened cheeks.

“You’re welcome.” I looked up at the ceiling, and responded. “..Then again, that was some weird way to end things. Is everything really over? Feels like I’ll only wake up from my dream soon.”

“You won’t. This is reality.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But, how was Millicent caught by the imperial army?”

“You used your Nucleus Liberation, and came to save me.”

“Again, that’s..Well, whatever. We’re both safe, so that’s all that matters.”

I’ll think about the details at another time.

“Oh right, what are you going to do now, Vill?”

“Eh?”

“The incident from three years ago has been dealt with, right. There’s no need for you to stay as my personal maid.”

If what she wrote in the letter is true, then Vill became my maid to repent for her sins (although I never asked for anything like that though). Now that the past and the present had been severed, I didn’t see any more reason for her to work with me—And yet, when I looked over at her, she made an expression like the world was about to end.

“That’s..you’re just throwing me away now..”

“No, not at all.”

“How cruel of you, Komari-sama. You’re stealing my job from me! Now I have to sneak into your room and steal your underwear!”

“At least steal the money! Any more than that, and I’ll fire you for real!”

“Ugh..How cruel..After everything I did..”

“I get it, I get it! You just stay with me forever, Vill!”

“Eh, was that a proposal..?”

“Of course not!!” Because I retorted with a loud voice, the wound at my leg started hurting again.

Really, she’s such a bothersome maid. But—exchanges like these aren’t as bad, I guess. It makes me feel like an idiot for always worrying how to deal with others. If I’m with her, I might really be able to change my life. At the very least, that’s what I felt like at that moment.

*

I wanna shut myself in for the rest of my life. That was my deepest wish.

“–Urgent news! Captain Melaconcy defeated the enemy general! I repeat, Captain Melaconcy has defeated the enemy general! Our army has emerged victorious!”

The vampires around me heard these words, and loudly celebrated. As for me, I secretly let out a relieved sigh.

“That was dangerous. To think they aimed for a surprise attack right away.”

“You can say that again. I thought I was going to die..” I felt the tension escape from my shoulders, and sacked back down in my chair.

This was the third battle against the chimpanzee general of the Laperico Kingdom, together with the 7th Corps I had under my control. Apparently, Hades Molkikki was fixated on only getting revenge on me. I was overly cautious because of this, but that was all for nothing. Right when the battle started, Lieutenant General Molkikki ordered his entire troop a frontal attack, rushing towards our headquarters. Well, Melaconcy’s explosion magic took care of them really quickly. If this doesn’t turn into a grudge, I don’t know what will.

According to Vill, I possessed the strongest possible Nucleus Liberation, but that just sounds like a bold-faced lie to me. It’s me, you know. I have no special talent, blessed with nothing at all, an outsider vampire. My subordinates apparently saw the scene where I beat Millicent to a pulp, but they must have been fantasizing.

How did I defeat Millicent then, if not with that Nucleus whatsit? ..Good question. She probably died because of the magical jewels I used. That had to be it.

“..Tsk! No turn for me to participate.” A blonde-haired man, Johan Heldars, clicked his tongue.

He was as blood-thirsty as always.

“I finally can participate in the battle, and I can’t even let out this burning fire inside of me? Maybe I should just burn down this entire plain.”

“—Hey, brat. Why are you back in this corps?” Belius crossed his arms, glaring at Johan.

This dog man had recovered fully, and killed a fair amount of his allies during yesterday’s training even. In response, Johan let out a snort.

“Hey now, Belius. If you got any complaints, let her Excellency know. She was the one who allowed me to come back to the 7th Corps.”

““Wha—””

Chaostell showed a baffled expression, sharing it with Belius, as they both looked down at me. I mean..everybody makes a mistake once or twice? It seems like Johan is reflecting on it. So, I thought of forgiving him. And, he properly apologized and all.

—Sorry about what happened. I won’t try to kill you any longer. If anything, you saved me, so I should be thanking you. You’re weak as hell, but at least you have the guts, so I’ll try my best to help you. D-Don’t get the wrong idea! It’s not for your sake or anything! I’m just accepting this condition so that I can come back to the 7th Corps. Since you protected me, let me stay with you!

I can totally use him. He’s offering to protect me, you know? How could I not forgive him.

“Your Excellency! Why did you forgive Johan!?”

“He worked with terrorists before. He’s dangerous.”

Chaostell, Belius, and the other vampires complained. But, I just showed a confident smile.

“Are you going to judge a person for a single mistake they committed?”

“However..”

“You just sweat the small details too much.”

“!?”

The vampires looked like they had been hit by lighting.

“How kind!”

“That’s your Excellency for you!”

“The world she lives in is entirely different from hours.”

“I can hear it..the cries of hell and slaughter.”

As if you do. Also, stop looking at me with respect like that.

“I see. Johan had been saved by her Excellency’s heroic spirit.”

“That’s how it is. But, you needn’t worry. If he dares to plan something again, I won’t forgive him again. I’ll take responsibility, and finish him myself!”

“Wohoooooooooooo!!” The vampires roared.

I guess that was enough to satisfy them.

“—Alright! We’ve won today’s battle as well, so let us return and be greeted by fanfare! After I finish my report to the Empress, you’re free! So take a good rest!”

I wanna go home and sleep. That’s what I thought, but..

“No, your Excellency! Let us think of a strategy for the next battle!”

“..Huh?”

“I second that. You can never prepare too early!”

“Right, right!”

“Time to head home and prepare for the next battle!”

“It’s gonna rain blooood!”

“Alrighto!”

“Let’s do this!”

“Wahahaha!”

“Phewwwwwwwwww!”

“Yahahaha!”

....

........

..What is this, a zoo?

“Komari-sama, I suggest you give up on getting a break anytime soon. Keep fighting.”

“....” I felt despair.

I really don’t get what they are thinking. They’re the exact opposite from an indoor-type like me. Of course, they’re all good people, but as soon as they get together this corps, they’re uncontrollable. Not to mention that I could be killed any second. And yet, I never hated this current situation of mine.

“Very well! I’ve received everyone’s enthusiasm! Let us return to the Mulnight Empire, and work on our next strategy! I, the great Terakomari Gandezblood, will color the world crimson, and will offer it to you!”

A roaring applause followed. My subordinates were asking for another Komarin Encore. Standing in the midst of this heated passion, I looked up at the clear blue sky. Who’d turn such a beautiful sky into a grotesque red. Maybe I really should have stayed a shut-in..