Feeling his unconscious body being shaken, Cid slowly opened his eyes. Just as he was about to sit up, he suddenly acted as if a headache hit him, pressing a hand to his head and letting out a pained groan.
"Cid, you're awake! How do you feel? Are you hurt?"
Seeing him come to, Claire hurriedly asked.
"Nee-san, I'm fine. But you… what happened to you?"
Claire's condition was far from good. Her clothes were torn in several places, and there were bloodstains scattered across them.
Looks like… I might have gone a bit too far.
"Me? I'm fine. Just some superficial injuries. I'll be fine after some rest."
She waved it off casually and immediately began checking Cid over. Even though Aurora had reassured her, she still needed to confirm it herself several times to feel at ease.
"Looks like there's no problem. Cid, be extra careful these next few days. If you see anyone suspicious, tell me right away…"
After questioning and examining him thoroughly and finding no signs of human experimentation, Claire finally relaxed enough to give her warning.
Nee-san, did you just imagine something ridiculous to explain why I passed out?
Watching her relieved expression and listening to her lecture, Cid quietly averted his gaze.
If he came clean now and said that the one who showed up earlier was just a puppet, and that he himself had been off accomplishing his Eminence in Shadow act, would it still be in time?
"Cid! Cid! Were you even listening to me?"
Claire's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Seeing her puffed-up cheeks, he quickly nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, yeah, everything you said makes perfect sense, Nee-san."
Claire was not fooled. She stared at him blankly.
"How much of that did you actually hear?"
"I zoned out. Didn't hear a thing."
"You really…"
Her tone rose sharply. She pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a helpless sigh before looking at him seriously again.
"Forget it. I'll just stick to the important parts this time. Cid, pay attention."
"Got it."
Seeing that he was finally focused, Claire cleared her throat.
"Cid, what do you… think about Vampires?"
"?"
Think? What kind of opinion am I supposed to have about Vampires? Durable punching bags count?
Cid tilted his head. Thinking back to how Claire had dragged him aside earlier to talk about his future and prospects, a strong sense of déjà vu hit him.
He looked at her suspiciously and, after a brief hesitation, spoke.
"Nee-san, you're not planning to drag me back to the Lawless City again, are you? You'd better not forget what happened last time."
Thinking about how she had previously insisted on taking him to the Lawless City to defeat the "Blood Queen" so he could earn merit and enter the Knights Order, only to almost die there, Cid could not help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.
"Cough, cough… last time was just an accident. I didn't expect the [Blood Queen] to be that strong."
Claire could not help but blush slightly. That time had really gone badly. If Shadow had not shown up in time, both she and Cid might have died there.
"Then why are you asking me about Vampires?"
"What I mean is, Cid, what do you think about becoming a Vampire?"
"?"
"Didn't the plan to reincarnate as a Devil fail? Since we can't get a Devil peerage, I figured you might as well become a Vampire instead."
"Sure, there's no rank, and sunlight is a weakness, but their regeneration, blood manipulation magic, and near-immortality are all excellent. Their ability to stay alive is top-tier."
"I… don't really have an opinion, but… Nee-san, can you even find a Vampire willing to turn me?"
At that, Claire lifted her chin, planted her hands on her hips, and spoke with a proud expression.
"You can relax about that. Your big sister has quite a few connections."
"I seriously doubt it. Don't tell me the one who shows up is some bottom-tier Vampire who can only turn people into ghouls."
He muttered it under his breath, but Claire still heard him.
Her expression immediately darkened. She slammed both hands onto the table and leaned in, staring straight into Cid's eyes.
"Hah. The one I know isn't some bottom-tier Vampire. It's a Primogenitor, the [Blood Queen] Elisabeth.
Ah, right, I forgot. You were hiding out at the Adventurers' Guild back then, so you never saw her.
She's the one who caused the vampire disaster when I took you to the Lawless City last time. Among Vampires, her bloodline stands at the very top."
Listening to her description, an image surfaced in Cid's mind. A beautiful woman with long crimson hair, holding a black parasol.
Ah, her.
"…More importantly, my relationship with her is much better than with Rias. I don't need to bargain with my own body."
The more Claire spoke, the more tempted she became. She even started to regret why she had focused solely on Devils for her future when she clearly knew someone better.
A Vampire personally turned by a Primogenitor was superior in every way to Rias's method of reincarnating Devils, which only altered one's constitution.
As for her earlier promise to become Rias's peerage…
Well, there was nothing to be done. The ritual to reincarnate Cid into another race had failed, so she had no reason to continue as Rias's servant.
If it were not for Cid, she would never have bothered becoming a Devil in the first place. The Devil bloodline gave her no real boost, only an extra weakness to holy light.
As for Rias's brother, the Embodiment of Destruction Devil who knew she had killed her own kind on the world battlefield, he was a bit troublesome, but not a major issue. She had already left the battlefield, and bringing it up now would be pointless.
Taking a slow sip of coffee, Cid quietly watched his sister get lost in her own fantasies, a faint smile on his face.
She's completely daydreaming. That Blood Queen is practically a vegetarian and lives like a recluse. She should at least find her first before thinking about any of this.
"Whether Elisabeth and Mary are willing is another matter. I remember they really dislike bloodsucking.
But it shouldn't be a big problem. They told me before that if I ever needed help, I could go to them. Mary even owes me a favor. If I use that to have her help persuade Elisabeth, she'll definitely soften."
Cid started to feel uneasy.
"Nee-san, if you're that confident, can you actually find them? I haven't seen any news about the [Blood Queen] Elisabeth anywhere."
"I can. I have a way to contact them."
In response, Claire took out a pendant that clearly had a vampire-like design.
"This. Back then, they said if I ever needed their help, I just had to crush it, and Elisabeth and the others would come find me."
Cid fell silent.
If he broke his sister's leg and took it away right now… would it still be in time?