Standing in front of just the pathway was intimidating in its own right. The slope was kept to a mostly comfortable height, but it stretched back and forth into the rock for a massive distance. By the time we made it to the top, both of us were feeling tired, but glad to be done with the climbing. This close up you could really only see the massive gateway into the rest of the home. Simon gave it a few firm knocks with a large and ornate knocker and stepped back. A moment later and a small viewing port opened up on the right side of the door.

“Who’s there?” Came a raspy voice.

Simon stepped towards the port and held a hand up in greeting. “Simon Ainz, returning to give my respects to grandfather and to properly join the family. I’ve brought along a companion for after I have joined, as well.”

He looked back at me and gave a thumbs up. The gesture inspired so little confidence in me that I double checked the spot in my trousers where I had hidden the dagger Senna gave me. The port closed and the door slowly opened up afterwards. We took a few small steps inside and found the source of the raspy voice move out from behind the door. He was a short man with a slight hunch to his back, as well as a noticeable clouding in his left eye.

“The errant son.We’ve been expecting you. Your ‘guest’ was not invited, but I’m sure such a triviality can be overlooked for this… special occasion...” The man gave a sinister grin as he stepped aside, motioning for us to step into the manse.

Unlike what I expected, the walls weren’t lined with torches and pitch. There was a strange fungus growing on the walls as we entered. I stepped closer and pressed my hand gently against one of the lines. It was soft, but very moist, and the light dimmed where I touched.

I can only imagine they imported this stuff from somewhere far away, or it’s otherwise rare. Wouldn’t it be easier to use torches? Or just rely on their night vision? Perhaps if you live in the dark all the time, this sort of expense becomes viable. I thought to myself as we went further in.

We moved out from the long hallway and into a small gathering hall that was likely built as a copy of courtyard gardens in more normal households. Instead of large plants and flowers, however, there were strange metal sculptures of various figures intermixed with ones made of blown glass. As the place seemed empty, I broke away from Simon and crouched down next to one for a better view.

The light was dim, but I could tell the piece had red colored glass stretched around what looked like a heavy iron frame. I gently brought my hand forward and brushed over one of the glass vines wrapping around it. Unlike most of the glass I’d seen in my life, it was perfectly smooth with no obvious lumps in any portion. Something shifted on the other side of the frame, and through a small hole in one side I found a woman’s face looking back at me. I fell back in surprise and she let out a soft chuckle.

“Sorry, morsel, I couldn’t help but smell you there and figure you’d be fun to scare. So you’re with my little nephew then?” She asked in a sultry tone.

“Ah, I’m guessing you’re one of my aunts then. I’m afraid I haven’t seen any paintings, so I don’t know which of them you are. Rather than terrorising the poor man, might I trouble you to introduce yourself?”

“Of course. I am Anna Ainz, second daughter of Arnulf Ainz. Were I still keeping track of it, I might be inclined to tell you my age as well.” She said with a small wink before she stepped closer. “Now I know who you are, Simon, but what is this stranger you’ve invited?”

“My name is Leo, I’m Simon’s servant for the time being. Sorry about the unexpected visit, I just came along to help him acclimate to his new home. This place is pretty intimidating, though you may not have noticed if you grew up here.”

Anna looked to her cousin for a second, and a smile flashed over her face. I can only guess he winked at her, but Anna was quick to come to my side, taking me by the hand and pulling me off to one of the wings. I looked back at Simon as he started to follow, but another man appeared from behind one of the sculptures and caught him. The two of them started a conversation and I tried to head back to him.

“No, no, dear. That’s just my brother Baron, the first born. He’ll be the one reuniting Simon to the rest of the family... I assume you’re aware of what he is doing here?”

“If you’re asking whether I know you’re vampires or not, I’m aware of it.” I responded bluntly.

Even as I said it, I had to take deep breaths. Being a recluse was making her hand in mine an already awkward sensation; knowing it meant she could snap my fingers off at any moment only made it worse. I’d already been warned by Simon that I should try to be firm, but not challenging to them. Being here was already a dangerous act.

She responded with a long stare before pulling me away from Simon again. I slipped my hand out of her grasp but kept the pace with her, not wishing to appear as if I was rejecting her offer. After passing a few corridors, all of which were empty but lit with the same strange glowing fungus, we arrived at a lone doorway. The clean brickwork before was replaced with straight rock walls, showing off how deep in the mountain we were. Anna opened the door for me and gestured inside.

All I could see was a long path that angled downward, with what looked like a bend back around at the end of it. I looked back to her to ask where we were going, but her hand was already on my back. She gave a strong shove and I was suddenly tumbling down the stone hallway at high speed.

Doing my best to ball up and avoid damaging myself too much, I rolled the last section before gathering myself on my knees. My nose was bleeding from the unfortunate start of my tumble, and I wiped it away with one hand, gazing up at Anna as she walked towards me with a wicked grin.

No way I can take her on, even with the dagger. She’s got me beat in speed and strength. My best bet is to run away; if I get backed into a corner it’ll only mean she has no way of flanking me. Thankfully this place is sloped, so her speed advantage isn’t going to be much help if we’re both going down.

Without much time to spare, I rushed down the loop of the hall, blindly looking for an escape. I could hear her catching up to me, gaining speed as the path flattened out. Falling into the first door I could find, which ended up leading into some kind of abandoned kitchen. I collapsed onto the counter in the center of the table and panted heavily, hearing Anna approach me from behind.

“Are you finished?” Anna asked, already in the doorway. “I’m afraid there’s not exactly a way out of here for you. Running deeper and deeper into the house was a large mistake on your part, honestly.”

Just as I realised what kind of room we were in, my newly burgeoning hope was rewarded near-instantly as Senna burst out from one of the cabinets. She had her sword raised in the air as soon as she was standing, but only bore my pursuer to the ground, the sword remaining bloodless.

“Senna?” I asked, a little dazed from my injuries. “Sorry about messing things up, unexpected circumstances...”

“How vile, rotten splinters...” Anna groaned, pulling a large piece of wood out from her back. “Senna, did you say? I didn’t think the little rat was still alive, let alone skulking around here.”

Got to hope we can take her out fast, otherwise the other family members might appear and cause even more trouble for us. Wait, even if we kill Anna, won’t that just guarantee that Simon will die too? I suppose all we can do is hope that they just wanted to kill me.

“Listen, rat, just hand the human over. He’s all hairless and small. I’m sure you’ve got little forest critters ready to bite outside, right?” Anna said in a mocking tone. “Surely you don’t want to die trying to—"

“I would, but I won’t.” Senna interrupted her threat. “In fact, if you’re the one that hurt him, I’m not even going to let you leave here alive. Your head is going to roll off your neck and I’ll leave your body in that gross cellar to rot.”

The tension was growing thicker, and I could tell that they were going to make their moves any second now. At first I thought it would be a straight fight, but Anna’s eyes were snapping to the entrance. Given Senna’s sword, I can imagine her urge to flee was strong, but it was strange to see that malevolent confidence from before being stripped away in an instant. Senna felt different too, like something was off about her. Before either attacked, Senna straightened her back from the animalistic pose and dropped her blade onto the ground.

What is she doing?! I screamed in my head. Even if Anna ran away, she could’ve taken her out with one swing, the odds were completely in our favor before this! I’m praying she’s just bluffing, because otherwise the situation just got a lot worse. Better draw my dagger just in case.

Senna resumed her animalistic pose, but a second later was leaping directly at Anna with both hands swinging. Given their difference in age, at least from what I know about vampires, I had assumed the fight would in the older one’s age. Almost immediately this was proven false, though it was more the style of attack than strength or speed.

I knew both of them were of noble birth, but Anna was clearly more reflective of that lifestyle than Senna. Her dress alone gave the impression of someone that was above the majority of any nation. Despite that, she displayed an unnatural amount of power behind her strikes, splitting forgotten tables and cracking decrepit counter-tops with every missed blow..

She was still no match for Senna, even though her strikes caused far less wanton destruction. The fact was that Anna clearly had only fed on humans or at most squabbled with one of her brothers or sisters. Whenever she got the upper hand, she tried to gracefully move left and right, like she was mimicking some kind of violent ballroom dance with her opponent as the partner.

Senna meanwhile fought like a beast. Every limb flowed with the other in rhythm and she made sure to throw her back into every sure hit. She had her moving around the counter in the center and hardly ever took a hit from Anna. It wasn’t long before Anna’s dress was ragged from claw marks, blood splashing out of wounds that rapidly closed and were opened again. In only a few seconds more, she was on the ground panting and coughing violently while Senna loomed over her. I even felt a little foolish for getting mad at her over dropping the sword when it was all said and done.

“You... m-mongrel...” Anna coughed out, sliding till her back was near one of the doors. “I can’t... believe you did this... ruining my dress...”

“Don’t worry, I was planning on making your face match it.” Senna replied in a cold tone. “Maybe if you apologize for hurting Leo, I won’t tear your head off...”

“Ha... haha... y-you think you’ll get out of here alive if you kill me?” Anna said with a grin, most of her wounds healed by now. “We’ve got a new family member by now, rat. If we can convert him, that means we’ll be one step closer to ruling the entire countryside!”

“Wait, if? You told Simon that you could, but now you’re saying there’s a chance he might not even become a vampire?”

Anna glared at me, though it was obvious she was more angry with herself than the question. When she refused to answer it, Senna took an intimidating step forward, and fell into her opponent’s trap. Her leg swiped out and knocked Senna to the floor, giving the older vampire time to stand up and open the door behind her.

She must have been disorientated by her duel with Senna fight, as the door she opened led only to a dead end in the form of a storage room. It took only a second for the door to open before Anna started violently gagging from the smell, which I could only get a vague, yet still horrifying, scent of. Senna took advantage of this and kicked her inside, slamming the door shut afterwards and holding it in place.

Muffled screaming mixed with powerful slams against the door almost instantly. I moved to see into the small window on the storage room, and only got a look of Anna’s face. To my surprise, her pale skin was turning grey, and slowly into a pitch black color. Blood gushed out of her mouth as she fell onto the door and slid out of view. When only silence followed, Senna moved away from the door.

“What was in—?” I asked before Senna tackled me to the ground, her supernaturally powerful arms crushing the breath out of me for a moment before she relented.

She buried her face into my chest, seeming far more the small girl she appeared to be than the violent warrior she had been mere moments ago. Relaxing slightly as the adrenaline faded, I wiped the blood from my nose with back of my trembling hand, and tried to calm myself down by petting her head. A smile crossed over my face for only a second and then faded into a frown as I put something together. I was alone in a room with a vampire and bleeding profusely.