"Sigh... a whole thousand-yen bill..."
Himegami Aisa let out a long, gloomy sigh, staring blankly at the stubborn red vending machine. She certainly hadn't expected to be charged a thousand yen for a simple can of icy black tea, only for the machine to jam and swallow her bill without dispensing anything. To a high school student living on a strict budget, losing a thousand-yen bill was a devastating financial blow.
Although she was formally classified by Academy City as a Level 4 Gemstone, her monthly research scholarship was notoriously meager. Because her power revolved entirely around "vampires"—beings that the city's rational, scientific community dismissed as mythical fantasy—her ability was deemed to possess zero practical research value.
Deep Blood (Kyūketsu Goroshi)—that was the official name of her innate Gemstone capability. Her power manifested directly through her bloodstream. To any vampire in existence, her blood emitted an intoxicating, irresistible temptation that overrode all rational thought, driving them to drink it at any cost.
However, her blood was pure poison to them. The moment a vampire's lips touched even a single drop, their body would instantly disintegrate into falling ash. She was a living, walking trap—a curse that endlessly lured vampires to their deaths.
For as long as she could remember, vampires had been drawn to her. They would approach her with terrifying greed, utterly unable to resist the scent of her blood, even as they cursed their own instincts, screamed in agony, and wept, begging her to stay away before turning to ash at her feet.
That endless nightmare had eventually culminated in the ultimate disaster. Years ago, a vampire arrived at her isolated mountain village. Perhaps terrified of her blood yet completely powerless to resist its siren call, the creature enacted a horrific, spiteful plan: before dying, it infected the entire village, turning every single inhabitant into vampires.
Her parents, her relatives, her childhood friends, and her neighbors—all of them lost their sanity and rushed forward to attack her. They licked the blood dripping from her hands and instantly dissolved into ash. In the end, with tearful, heartbroken apologies, her own parents turned to dust right before her eyes.
Eventually, a traveling Alchemist from the European Magic Side discovered the solitary girl sitting amidst the piles of white ash that used to be her home and brought her out of the mountains.
She became an orphan after that day, eventually being placed into Academy City's student shelter program.
She had naively believed that entering a city built on science and technology would end the nightmare. But the disaster only continued. Even the border defenses of Academy City couldn't stop wandering vampires from sneaking inside, only to die one by one from her lethal blood. She had heard countless pleas for mercy, horrific curses, and weeping confessions, leaving her thoroughly hollowed out, having lost all hope in the world.
Until recently, when an Alchemist named Aureolus Izzard reappeared in her life. He claimed he had found a way to permanently seal her Deep Blood capability, provided she helped him capture a living vampire to extract its biological properties to save a precious companion of his.
Aureolus was a man driven by absolute conviction, traveling across the world just to save the girl he cared about. He had even provided Aisa with a specialized, cross-shaped talisman to temporarily suppress the sweet fragrance of her blood so she could walk through the city without causing a slaughter.
"Hey there, Miss. Did the vending machine swallow your cash? If you need help, I can give it a solid kick for you—though I don't work for free, you know."
A casual, flippant voice sounded from directly behind her.
Aisa's reaction speed was naturally sluggish, and she tilted her head in confusion. 'Is someone trying to pick me up?'
She was well aware that her passive presence was incredibly faint; people almost never approached her or initiated small talk. The only entities that ever actively sought her out were vampires drawn by her scent.
Thump... thump-thump!
Her heart suddenly began to race at an alarming speed, sending a sharp, electric shock straight through her chest. Aisa clutched her miko robes over her heart. Her blood felt as if it were brought to a sudden, boiling heat, each drop pulsating inside her veins like a chaotic, wild crowd welcoming an honored guest.
Aisa's serene face turned helpless, her snow-white skin flushing a pale pink from the intense throbbing of her circulatory system.
To her, this biological reaction was not a mere bad omen; it was the absolute worst possible outcome. It was the exact same sensation that had occurred countless times before—a signal that another living creature was about to turn into ash right in front of her.
To Aisa, vampires were no different from ordinary humans; they felt fear, they wept, and they begged for mercy.
She slowly turned around, her expression returning to its usual indifferent, deadpan calm as she looked at the young man standing behind her.
It was an high schooler wearing a standard uniform. His eyes were glowing a sharp, blood-red hue, and two elongated, sharp fangs protruded from beneath his upper lip.
'Here it comes again...' Aisa thought bitterly, her heart aching. 'Please, not another one...'
Pursing her pale lips, Aisa quietly reached into the wide sleeve of her shrine maiden outfit, slipping her fingers around the metal cross talisman given to her by Aureolus. It was a magical artifact designed to bind a vampire's movement upon contact.
Usually, at this point, the vampire would violently pounce on her in a frenzy, screaming and cursing in terror as its instincts overrode its mind, begging her to run away even as it tried to tear into her throat. And because she possessed no physical combat skills, the vampire would inevitably end up drinking her blood and incinerating itself like a moth to a flame.
"Wait..." Aisa blinked, her deadpan expression cracking into genuine confusion. "Are you... not afraid of the sunlight?"
It was currently broad daylight. Even the most powerful, specialized vampires who could temporarily survive exposure to the sun would desperately cling to the shadows. Yet the boy before her was standing right under the blazing midday sun, looking entirely comfortable.
"Of course I'm not afraid of the sun. Only low-tier, weakling vampires burn up under daylight," Yuuya said smoothly, the corners of his mouth curling into a playful smirk. "When your bloodline is strong enough, the sun is just pleasant weather. And that little cross talisman hidden in your sleeve won't do a damn thing to me either, pretty miko."
Hearing her quiet mutterings, Yuuya's tone turned thoroughly amused.
"Strong enough to... ignore sunlight?" Aisa was completely stunned, her fingers freezing around the cross inside her sleeve.
This was the absolute first time she had ever encountered a vampire who calmly initiated a normal conversation with her, rather than immediately screeching, cursing, or mindlessly lunging for her throat.
"Of course, I won't deny that you smell ridiculously good," Yuuya added, wiping a stray bit of drool from the corner of his mouth with a laugh. "It's an intoxicating scent. Honestly, it smells better than a five-star gourmet feast."
"You... you still possess your full rationality? You can speak to me normally?" Aisa asked, her quiet voice filled with bewilderment.
"Of course I have my rationality. I'm not some brainless beast," Yuuya said with a mischievous grin. "Though I'd strongly advise against trying to throw those magical spells at me. I might get a bit rude if you attack me."
Seeing Aisa silently adjust her stance to pull out additional binding talismans, Yuuya was both amused and exasperated. Those alchemical trinkets were meant for traditional, cursed vampires, making them entirely useless against his artificially simulated physiology.
Aisa stared at him for a long moment, her dark eyes completely devoid of malice or fear. She then asked in her usual flat, serene tone: "Could you please come with me somewhere?"
"Well, well. How bold," Yuuya chuckled teasingly, his eyes narrowing. "We just met on the street, and you're already asking me to go somewhere private with you? What, are we heading to a hotel?"
He knew her intentions perfectly. She wanted to take him directly to Aureolus Izzard's hideout at Misuga Class Firm. Her complete lack of deception or hidden malice was so pure and natural that it practically begged to be teased.
"Someone desperately needs your help. Could you please lend us your assistance, Mr. Vampire?" Aisa asked earnestly, her clear eyes revealing her true motives without a single shred of guile.
"You're asking for my help? Interesting..." Yuuya said, licking his sharp fangs as his red eyes lingered playfully on her snow-white neck. "I don't mind lending a hand, but I'm certainly not a charity worker. So... what kind of reward does the famous Vampire Killer intend to offer me in exchange?"
Yuuya swallowed hard, genuinely admiring her calm composure. 'I really do want to take a bite out of her. Thanks to the Star Cup, her Deep Blood won't turn me into ash anyway... so why not give it a try?'