Chapter 507: Friend? Enemy? A strange relationship indeed.
"What's with the atmosphere~?" Natashia asked playfully, but everyone could see the dangerous glint in her eyes, which was present from all the other women as well.
Maybe she'd be the one who would react the most badly if something happened to Victor.
...
..
.
In fact, they would all react badly... very badly... Incredibly badly.
Due to recent events, Scathach, Agnes, and Natashia had achieved a ridiculous level of paranoia and possessiveness toward Victor.
The moment they saw the somewhat menacing atmosphere, the three of them immediately looked at Vlad.
"Did something happen~?" Natashia continued the question.
"Hmm, from how the Wolf is reacting, something must have happened, right?"
"...." Scathach didn't say anything and just watched everything in silence.
Vlad couldn't help but quiver his lips a little.
'The three most powerful Clans in my Kingdom can turn their blades on me if I decide to do something with this bastard?!'
'Is this the power of the gigolo? Ugh, I knew letting women take over the Clan leadership would be problematic.'
Despite this thought, Vlad, at the time, didn't think much about it; after all, the women were incredibly capable and certified, not to mention that the leadership from the beginning of Clan Fulger, Scarlett, and Snow was composed of only women, and that never gave problems before.
Yes, things started to go wrong when a certain man showed up...
'It's all because of this troublesome man.'
To be honest, the three women in front of him were, in some ways, extremely troublesome, crazy, and various other adjectives Vlad could think of, but he decided not to list them because it would take too long.
Scathach? A crazy battle maniac who was unpredictable and controlling. And if you spoke ill of any of her daughters, or herself, you could only pray to whatever God you believed in for a painless death.
Natashia? A mentally ill, manipulative, dual-personality-having psychopath, with one personality being crazier than the other.
Agnes? A short-tempered delinquent with pyromaniac tendencies who would rather set the world on fire than think too hard when dealing with anything problematic.
To be honest, she was the most normal of them all...if you ignored her target of affection.
Which, for some reason, was Victor right now.
And Vlad knew very well that this woman could do anything crazy for her target of affection.
A trait the three of them strangely shared.
Vlad never thought these crazy women would get together and be with the same man without anything happening.
The level of bullshit of this scenario was ridiculous.
Before Victor appeared, the very sight of the three women walking together without teasing each other would have been impossible.
"Fufufu~, nothing happened~; we were just talking about whether the King's castle was a public domain or not."
"Oh? And what was the result of that conversation?" Scathach spoke.
"Who knows~? What do you say, Vlad?"
"...." Vlad's eyes fluttered, and his lips too. He never thought he would be in this situation, being pressured by someone who wasn't even a third of his age.
"The Castle is not in the public domain; the Castle is mine." But, of course, Vlad wasn't going to back down either; who did they think he was?
He was the motherfucking King; he wouldn't lose in a staring contest.
"Oh~? I see; that's a shame."
"I was thinking that when Ophis turned 6 years old, I would throw a party at the Castle... But since it's not the public domain, that's a shame~. After all, hardly the King of all Vampires would allow 'commoners' to step foot in His Castle."
'This piece of shit, don't bring Ophis into the middle!'
"!!!" Ophis opened her eyes wide and looked at Vlad.
'Ugh.' Vlad squirmed inwardly when he saw Ophis's expectant gaze.
"Father, please..."
"Fine, but only Clans with the Title of Count will be invited."
"Hey? How generous your father is." Victor laughed with a foxy grin.
"Isn't it, My daughter?"
"Umu!" Ophis nodded as she smiled at Vlad.
Vlad was now taking a lot of internal damage.
Damage from Ophis' cuteness and damage from Victor's petty plan.
By doing what he did, Victor had improved Vlad's image a little more for Ophis and ensured that Ophis was satisfied.
But he'd also manipulated Vlad to arrive at this result.
'Ugh, and to think I would be in a situation like that.' Vlad tried to look at this as a beneficial manipulation and attempted to ignore the other effects of Victor's action.
"...And to think the King would back down... Count Alucard is a monster..." Whispers from the wardrobe were heard. Even though they were pretty far away, Vlad had one hell of a hearing.
He held back the urge to twist his lips. These were the adverse effects he was talking about; Victor was also intentionally raising his own reputation.
But the question Vlad most wanted to know was... Why was he doing this?
'This man has no interest in his reputation; why is he doing this?' Vlad tried to look at Victor's expression but only saw a 'gentle' foxy smile as if he'd done a good deed.
"Did you sleep well?" Victor asked the three women as he picked up Ophis and placed her on his shoulders.
"Mm." Scathach gave a simple nod.
Natashia smiled broadly: "I slept well... Unfortunately..."
"Oh? Did you not like it?"
"It's not that. I wanted you to help my sister with something, but that happened, and we kind of missed the opportunity..."
"Mah, Mah, no need to be sad; I can help her some other time."
"Hmm." Natashia nodded lightly.
Agnes and Scathach narrowed their eyes at the Clan Fulger woman.
"You're not planning on dragging your sister around, too, are you?"
"I mean, yes?"
"I will not allow it!" Scathach denied.
"But as long as we stay as a family, it's okay, right?" She flashed a sly smile.
"What do you mean by Family?" Agnes asked.
"I mean that."
"That?"
"Yes."
"???" Agnes didn't understand. Was this woman speaking in morse code?
"I already said no. Do you want to die, bitch?" Scathach took her spear and pointed it menacingly at Natashia, her eyes showing she was not kidding.
"Humpf, why don't you drag that stranded daughter of yours too?"
"That way we'll be the same!"
"...This is not a competition, and I will not drag anyone. And my daughter will find someone decent in the future..." Thinking a little about her daughter's personality, she added,
"Probably."
"Too bad because I will. I want that happiness for my sister, too. She deserves it."
"This bitch…" A vein bulged on Scathach's head.
"Seriously, what are you guys talking about?" Agnes looked like a chicken without a head. She didn't understand at all.
While the three Countesses were chatting casually, Victor turned to Leona and patted her head.
"... You're a fool..."
"I warned you, you who didn't believe me."
"But he is the King!"
"And?"
"…Eh?"
"He could've been a God; he could've been a devil or even The goddamn Pope; none of that would change a thing."
"Titles mean nothing."
"I will always fight, no matter who threatens you."
"...." Leona just looked at Victor in absolute shock.
Vlad, seeing this scene, couldn't help but think:
'And there goes another one... And this time, it's even a Werewolf woman from Clan Lykos, one of the Great Clans of Samar...'
'...Wait, doesn't that mean the Werewolf King will have to deal with Victor at some point in the future?' Vlad's mind became more calculating; he was planning on how to drop this bomb [Victor] on his rival's territory.
Alexios appeared from a portal alongside Vlad and remained by his side.
"Alexios."
"Yes?"
"Are you sure Alucard is not of Greek origin?"
"...." Alexios raised a curious eyebrow.
"My King, he was born in the United States..."
"Perhaps his ancient incarnation was Greek." Vlad nodded with a conviction that not even Jesus could change his mind.
"... Why do you think that?"
"I mean, Wolves, mothers and daughters, and possibly their future daughters..."
"...Yes, he's Greek."
"???" Question marks appeared around Alexios' head; he didn't understand anything because his master was apparently speaking in code.
"Anyway, let's get this meeting started-."
"Not now."
"..." Vlad's lips twitched a little when he heard Victor's voice.
Holding back the urge to sigh, he asked:
"Why?" It was a simple question, but it contained several emotions imperceptible to all but Scathach and Victor.
"We will go to only God knows where; Nightingale will be left unprotected."
"My Royal Guards are Elder Vampires; they can handle it."
"Yes, they can, but..."
A portal appeared near Victor, and soon two women appeared.
A woman with long golden hair, a cold expression, and bright red eyes.
The other one was more exotic; she had two wings, two horns, and a succubus tail; she was a Demon.
"I brought reinforcements."
"...." Vlad's eyes fluttered slightly when he saw his ex-Wives.
The moment the two women passed, the children of the two women came after.
Elizabeth, Adam, and Lilith.
"Vic~, I came to play~" Morgana flew towards Victor and hovered around him.
"Oya?" She looked at Leona with a curious look.
"A Wolf."
"A Demon."
The two spoke at the same time.
"Fufufu, you're wrong; I'm not a Demon; I'm a vampire." Morgana corrected.
"You were wrong too; I'm not just any Wolf; I'm an Alpha." Leona's eyes glowed blue.
"But an Alpha is still a wolf~" Morgana laughed.
"And I am a General of Demons." She spoke in a severe tone.
"Didn't you say you were a Vampire?" Leona spoke in disdain.
"Are you contradicting yourself?"
"..." The two looked at each other dryly, and two lightning bolts seemed to collide between their gazes.
In the next moment, the two turned to Victor and said at the same time:
"I don't like her."
"Hahaha~, it's good that you guys are getting along well." Victor chuckled lightly in amusement.
"Who's getting along well!?" They roared in unison.
"Nakama!" Ophis clapped her hands together as she laughed.
"...Ophis, that was from Ruby, right?" Nero asked.
"Mm." Ophis nodded.
The two were so close that, just like Victor, just a few words were enough for them to understand each other.
And apparently, Ruby was spreading the 'culture' even more than before; even Ophis was not spared.
"Father." Adam, Elizabeth, and Lilith spoke simultaneously as they looked at Vlad.
"You came back... How was your training?"
"...." Despite being a little taken aback by Vlad's question, the three responded.
"I was able to improve. With my mom's tips, I could understand my strength better." Adam replied.
"It was enlightening… I never thought I could get better like this." Lilith spoke.
"I learned a lot," Elizabeth spoke succinctly because, of all her siblings present now, she was the youngest except for Ophis; she believed she still had a lot to learn.
"...Mm, that's good, looks like the trip wasn't useless... I'm happy for you."
The three nodded their heads still with strange expressions. It was bizarre to see their father talking like that!
Victor chuckled lightly; he couldn't teach the three of them much due to being too busy, but from the beginning, their trip to Clan Adrastea was just to spend time with their mothers; he wasn't upset.
"You're learning, old man. Good, very good." Victor nodded several times in satisfaction.
"...." Vlad narrowed his eyes and looked at Victor in a complicated way.
Seriously, he really wanted to get rid of Victor, but at the same time, he did not. After all, this man had already helped him a lot; he fixed his relationship with his daughter and was also helping with his other children.
Not to mention that Victor's very presence, despite being irritating most of the time, made him feel nostalgic.
The way he spoke to Vlad without fear reminded him a lot of his old friends.
Because of that, if you were to ask Vlad what he thought of Victor, he'd answer.
He's a troublesome man.
Despite wanting to get rid of him, he felt grateful for the man and wanted to pay off this debt.
Despite feeling slightly annoyed that Victor always confronted him, he was grateful for it because he felt nostalgia for his old friends.
He was irritating... And annoyingly pleasant.
'Sigh...' Vlad just sighed internally.
"...." Alexios, who was nearby, only displayed a small smile. In the opinion of this humble servant, he was very fond of the current situation.
In Alexios' eyes, Victor didn't need to be Vlad's subordinate but his friend... A strange friend.
As long as this status quo was maintained, anything was possible.
And the pillar of that strange relationship was the little girl sitting on Victor's shoulders.
...
