Chapter 40 - Unsealing the Golden-Haired Vampire (1/2)
Rio was approaching Liselotte and Aletia who were discussing something in a low voice. Although Liselotte tried to keep their voice low, Rio could listen to their discussion easily. He was so amused by the content of the discussion.
In short, Liselotte was flaunting her seniority in Rio's soon to be established harem and was trying to make Aletia into her 'little sister'. It was hilarious because of Aletia's age which was many times older than Liselotte, but the blue-haired blade dancer wasn't aware of it. Aletia was mostly passive in the discussion. That was because of her numbed emotions after being sealed in this God-forsaken place for around three hundred years.
”So, do you agree with this accommodation?” Rio heard Liselotte's business-like voice asking for Aletia's approval. The immortal vampire was silent for a few seconds, weighing her choice. She then nodded and replied with a soft, ”En.”
”Very well, then, you may call me Big Sis from now on.” Liselotte nodded deeply. Her face formed a smug and victorious expression.
”En.” Aletia nodded shortly before turning in Rio's direction as he climbed up the elevated ground on which Aletia was sealed in the cube. She had lost her interest in Liselotte. She was watching Rio's face intently, clearly trying to engrave his appearance in her mind.
Inwardly, Rio felt grateful for Liselotte for taking the initiative in speaking about his ambition to create a harem and was glad that Aletia accepted Liselotte's offer.
”Have you finished your discussion, girls?” Rio questioned both Liselotte and Aletia after stopping close to them. Liselotte turned at him and stared at him quizzically.
”Ah, Rio, what were you doing by going around like that?”
Liselotte asked Rio, seemingly miffed because he'd left her just like that without telling her first. In return, Rio smiled wryly at Liselotte. Rio then said to her, ”I was bored and curious, so I try to find out something interesting in this room. Look what I found. I got this artifact that recorded a video. I think, this will help our vampire princess in clearing her misunderstanding about something.”
Rio's statement piqued the girls' interest. They stared quizzically at an orb in Rio's hand.
”Vi-de-o? What's that?”
”My... Misunderstanding?”
Liselotte and Aletia looked up to see Rio's face. They had a similarly dumbfounded expression but with different reason. Liselotte's confusion was due to her lack of knowledge about the video Rio mentioned. She never saw or heard about it. Meanwhile, Aletia was curious about the meaning behind Rio's mysterious statement.
”Video is a moving picture which also produces sounds.” Rio then took out a small transparent ore that looked like a diamond from his pocket dimension. He acquired it from strolling around the chamber as Liselotte and Aletia had their girl's talk.
Of course, Rio knew about this from his foreknowledge. He intentionally sought the video recorder artifact and would present it to Aletia soon, unlike how Hajime in the canon presented it after the fight against Ehit.
”I think... I understand,” Liselotte stated and soon nodded shortly. ”So, where did you get it?” She asked Rio.
”In that place,” Rio replied while pointing his thumb at the spot where he stopped for a short while before. ”But, let's put aside the meaningless thing and free our vampire princess from her seal. Wouldn't you mind?” Rio directed his question towards Aletia, who nodded shortly in return. Simultaneously, he returned the artifact into his pocket dimension for the time being.
”Very well, and Liselotte, move behind me. I don't want you to get hurt needlessly from this.” Rio directed his words towards Liselotte who quickly followed his order, standing behind Rio who faced Aletia. He then had his free hand on the smooth surface of the block that sealed Aletia's body.
”Second Seal... Release!” Rio muttered faintly, though the two girls still heard his voice. They stared at him in bewilderment but changed into shock the next moment. It was because an enormous amount of platinum mana poured out of Rio's body. It kept pouring out as if there was no end of it.
Before he released his second seal, Rio had already unsealed his first seal, increasing his Magic value to 1,000 points. However, after releasing the second seal, his Magic value spiked up to 10,000. Yet, Rio hadn't finished yet.
”Third Seal... Release!”