Sheep's Wool Inn

Yoko was currently unconscious on her bed, although she was healed by Kai, the fatigue was still too much for her to bear. Beside the bed, Kai sat down on a chair beside Amelia while Erina was taking care of Yoko.

"The vampire that attacked her, he wasn't normal."

Kai said in a grim tone.

"I haven't heard of vampires making servants stronger than them from just regular humans..."

Erina commented. Amelia was the expert on the topic but she was afraid of vampires so she refrained. She held Kai's hand while lightly trembling, although she knew she had strength now, she still couldn't wipe away the trauma of her past.

"To tell you all the truth, we actually came to this continent to find anomalies like this. It's vital that we remove this threat from the continent, the sooner the better. For that, I'm going to need your help."

Kai held Amelia's hand tightly and looked into her eyes.

"I know you're scared, trust me, I do but I can't do this alone, I need you. If this continues, not just this continent, the whole world will be in peril, and that includes us."

Erina stayed silent while Amelia tried to avert her gaze from Kai.

"Erina, leave us alone for a bit."

"Alright."

Erina voiced her consent and left the room without much hesitation.

"Amelia, in the future, I will take you as my wife, although you don't want the position of first wife, you are still the first I've had relations with. To me, you're already a big part of my life. If you feel hurt, I feel hurt, and if you feel joy, I feel joy. Without you, I'd most likely have lost my life already and if you were to disappear, I'd wallow in despair for the rest of my days even with the company of Erina."

Stroking Amelia's cheek, Kai gazed into her eyes with determination.

"That's why, I'll protect you. Even if it costs me my life, I will assure you that you will survive. And to see that future, you need to help me. You're the Vampire Princess, you have an innate power to control all vampires, I just need you to use your powers once, to trace the vampires' conversion to its source."

Amelia shivered.

"...I'll be found out by the royal family-"

"Do you trust me?"

Kai stopped Amelia's words and leaned in even closer.

"I do trust you but the royal family is something we can't afford to provoke-"

"Amelia, do you trust me?!"

Kai raised his voice and stopped Amelia once more. Silence ensued the two of them as they stared into each other's eyes, peering the other's thoughts.

"...I do."

"Then, trust in my words. I will protect you."

Without offering any more words of consolation, Kai stood up, kissed Amelia on the forehead and left the room.

"Strange..."

Amelia muttered to herself in a daze, she covered her forehead with one hand and had a goofy smile slowly crept up on her face but she tried her best to suppress it and covered her mouth with her other hand.

"Strange...!"

Amelia was so flushed that she could be mistaken for a tomato.

"It's just like normal and yet...! And yet...!"

Finally unable to suppress her smile, she covered her face in shame.

"Why is my heart beating so fast?!"

Kai and Amelia were already in a physical relationship, she had long since been used to receiving his kisses but there was something different about that last kiss, she could feel the emotions that terrorized her melt away and replaced by Kai's warmth.

It's just like...

"It's just like when I first fell for him...!"

Amelia accidentally blurted her words out loud, she looked around and sighed in relief that she wasn't caught by Erina or Yoko but she still couldn't suppress the goofy smile and red flush on her face.

"Congratulations."

"...It actually wasn't all that difficult."

Erina raised one brow when she remembered the trial she had just taken. Immediately after Kai left the room, he didn't wait for Amelia and headed straight for the nearest body of water to help Erina undertake the trial. Erina, unlike Kai, wasn't rejected by the elements and her trial was quite simple.

"All I had to do was test my aptitude and create a new technique."

"..."

Hearing the content of the trial made Kai feel bitter inside. He knew the contents from his previous life but he still couldn't understand why he was forced to take a trial that tested both his body and magic power.

"Kai, I want a reward."

"And what does my princess want?"

Kai held up Erina's chin and said in a flirtatious tone. As expected, Erina quickly lost her composure and became flushed but recovered soon after.

"You've only been lovey-dovey with Amelia, I want to receive some affection too!"

"...I don't recall giving her special treatment though?"

"Hah?!"

Erina quickly became angered when hearing that and summoned a sword of clear ice in just a few seconds.

"Wait, don't be rash. More like, how can you form Eternal Frost so fast already?! You're even faster than me!"

"Do you really think you haven't been favoring her?!"

Erina inched closer to Kai and pointed her sword at his neck. As if recalling the distant past, Kai closed his eyes for a few moments before slowly opening them again.

"...Okay, maybe a bit."

"?"

"...A lot."

Facing Erina's cold smile, Kai could only acquiesce.

"Then, what exactly do you want?"

"The same treatment as Amelia!"

"...Like I said, I want our first time to be during the wedding day."

"Not that!"

Unbeknownst to the two of them, a crowd was slowly building up by the road next to the creek.

"A lover's quarrel?"

"It looks like the guy has been cheating on her."

"Poor girl, she looks beautiful too."

The crowd was mostly made up of old men and housewives who came to watch the show. Of course, Kai noticed them long ago but if he tried to get out of this situation, Erina would most likely become more furious because of something along the lines of 'their relationship is embarrassing to be revealed' or 'he doesn't want the public to know'.

Kai was strong but in the face of Erina and Amelia, he couldn't do a thing.

"Alright, once we get back, I'll love you so much you'll become sick of it. Now, let's go, a crowd is forming."

Hearing that, Erina raised her brows and looked at the road. She quickly dispersed her sword and hid behind Kai with a flush on her face.

So cute...

Kai couldn't help but stare at Erina to which she responded with glare, cheeks still flushed.

"Well, shall we go?"

"Nn..."

Kai wrapped his arms around Erina's waist but before he could wrap it around completely, he lowered his hand slightly and softly grabbed her rear.

"@#$%?!"

Erina's mind quickly overheated but before she could shake off Kai's hand, he already lifted her up into the air and flew away.

Sheep's Wool Inn. A few minutes to midnight.

"You four are going to have to defend me and Amelia while we do the ceremony. Remember, there can be no interference from the outside."

Kai told Erina, Kei, Arata, and Date in a serious tone. The bandits they captured were already scattered around the area and were used as spotters. Kai had already warn the four of them about the threat they're about to face.

Vampires. Not just normal ones at that, these are vampire servants that were converted by the anomalies. If even Yoko had trouble, then the three of them didn't have much confidence in winning but they had confidence in delaying one. Kai had warned them that the ceremony would last from midnight until dawn and during this time, all of the vampires in the city and a hundred kilometers beyond that would be alerted.

But with Erina being able to control two elements now, their chances were significantly increased.

"Don't worry, we'll defend you with our lives!"

Arata said while hitting his chest.

"No, your lives are the most important. We can repeat the ceremony but we can't bring you back to life, if you're all confident that you're about to die, then retreat."

It wasn't just Kai being worried, it was also the right choice for the world. Without even one of them, then the balance between Kai's future force and the other races would tilt heavily in the favor of the latter. Arata, the Shield, Kei, the Right Sword, Date, the Left Sword. These were titles given to them formally but to most, Arata was called the Mountain King, Kei was called the Flame Emperor, and Date was called the Water Sovereign.

Their names were just their elements and variations of the word, king but to the future human race, they were the symbols of hope. They weren't given kingly names just for show, they ruled over the humans and fought back against the evil demons, angels, Gods, Devils, and monsters.

"Don't worry, we'll return. You haven't taken me as your wife yet, after all..."

Erina became flustered at her own words and quickly left the room. She wanted to give Kai a peace of mind but the only thing that popped into her head was his words earlier.

"Kai, will you allow me to spar with you once we're back?"

"...Are you Yoko? Fine, whatever."

Unexpectedly, Date was the one who asked for a spar. Although Kai acted like he was annoyed, the truth was that his eyes flashed with surprise and delight. In the future, Date's attitude had a serious change and it only had one meaning.

His innate ability is about to awaken.

To Kai, that was an unimaginably huge help. Innate abilities weren't strong inherently, they are honed by the wielders.

Hearing the confirmation, Date left the room and found his own spot to defend the place.

"I'll go and guard Yoko now."

"Please."

Arata headed upstairs to Yoko's room. They were doing the ceremony at the dining room where they cleared all of the tables. Kai and Amelia sat inside a giant magic circle which covered nearly the entirety of the room.

"I'm ready."

Kei unsheathed his sword and looked at Kai. Seeing the confirmation, Kai nodded and held Amelia's hands within his.

"Are you ready?"

"...No."

"I'm sorry but we have to do this."

For some reason, Amelia had been avoiding Kai's gaze since earlier. Even now, Amelia was trying to retract her hands from Kai's.

"Amelia, do you hate me for making you do this?"

"No! I could never come to hate you!"

Amelia was evidently flustered and began to grip Kai's hands tighter as she gazed into his eyes. It was the first time they had made eye contact since Kai returned.

"...I'm sorry, I've just been feeling a little strange lately. Kai... can you, pat my head for a bit?"

"?"

A strange request to be asked for in their situation but he didn't even question her and quickly complied. Amelia closed her eyes to wallow in the sensation as Kai placed his palm softly on top of her head and patted it softly. It took a few minutes and just as midnight was about to strike, Amelia finally opened her eyes.

"Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me for something as trivial as this."

Amelia shook her head.

"It may be trivial to you, but to me, it means a lot."

Without offering more words, Amelia once more clasped Kai's hands and closed her eyes.

Immediately, the magic circle glowed and covered the two of them in a wall of light. Kei was right outside the wall and he stared with wide eyes as it happened. He tried touching the wall but to his surprise, it was smooth but firm. He was mesmerized by the light for a few seconds but his eyes quickly sharpened as he turned his body around.

Date began fighting outside.