Old Vampire and a Holy Girl

The Vampire Still Persists in Proving His True Nature

“Uncle, good morning—oh, you’re up early again today?”

As the saint arrived, the man snapped his fingers. In response, the familiar who had been waiting opened the curtains, letting in the morning sunlight to fill the room. The interior of the room became visible.

Today, instead of sitting on the bed, the man was seated on the sofa next to the guest table.

“Welcome, please have a seat on the sofa in front,” the man gestured towards the sofa with his hand.

The saint looked puzzled but said, “Excuse me… Um, Uncle, I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. How about a drink? My familiar brewed some fruit tea in the castle cellar. Shall I serve scones as well?”

“I’m open to the idea, but… Didn’t we have this conversation before?”

“That’s okay. It’s just a way of celebrating this joyful day. Besides, this may be our last day together.”

“We did have the same conversation before! Uncle, you are not thinking of suicide again, are you?!”

It wasn’t suicide. The man was a vampire, but no one believed him. He had attempted to prove it by demonstrating his ability to regenerate after being cut in half, but he was stopped. Looking back, the man realized that his approach was flawed and didn’t take human common sense into consideration.

Cutting oneself in half and expecting regeneration was clearly an unreasonable scenario.

So today…

“Be at ease. Today, I plan to safely prove to you that I’m a vampire. It’s a method that won’t hurt anyone.”

“Oh…”

“It’s surprisingly simple, and I wonder why I didn’t think of it before. Really, why didn’t I?!”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to grow wings.”

The boy who visited the man the other day used this method to prove that he was a vampire. After the boy left, the man felt like he was struck by lightning when he realized, “There is such a method!”

As you age, there seems to be a delay in being surprised, and it feels like the ability to connect information is gradually weakening.

“I don’t want to be dismissed as performing a mere trick, so I need your cooperation in a few ways.”

“Oh, like a magic trick!”

“It’s not a trick! I want you to carefully observe and verify that it’s not a mere trick.”

“Okay. What do I need to do?”

“I’m going to undress now, so, Saint, could you watch me?”

“What—Um…”

“I know it’s not a pleasant statement, but it’s necessary. Please bear with me and don’t think I’m a weirdo.”

“Well, if it’s just the upper body…”

“It’s okay. You’ll mainly be looking at my back.”

“Oh, then it’s okay… Alright!”

There must have been conflict within the saint. However, she seemed to have made a decision based on the direction of where to look.

The man stood up, turned his back to the saint, and loosened his gown-like pajamas to expose his shoulder blades.

“Uncle, you have quite a bit of muscles…”

“Well, as a vampire, my body is constantly regenerating in the best condition, but that’s just nonsense for now. You’ll soon acknowledge me as a vampire.”

“Uh…” The saint was unsure how to respond.

“Okay, did you confirm that there was nothing on my back?”

“Yes. There’s nothing there. Just muscles!”

“You could touch it to make sure.”

“Well, um, I mean, I do want to touch those muscles, but I think there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed.”

“Right. I’m sorry for that. It will end soon… Okay, don’t blink and keep looking. Wings will grow on my back where there was nothing until now.”

The man concentrated on his back.

To grow wings—in his prime, he could have grown bat-like wings that were twice his height in an instant, but he hadn’t done it recently, so it took a little time.

The man continued to concentrate.

However—

“…Why can’t I grow wings, I wonder?”

“Um… Normally, people… can’t grow wings…”

“Maybe it’s because I haven’t done this in a while and I’m a bit nervous. Could you step out for a moment while I practice for a bit?”

“Okay.”

The saint left the room, and the man tried again to grow his wings with less force than before.

Bass!

As soon as he concentrated on his shoulder blades, a familiar, slightly ticklish sensation spread.

Wings.

He could move them and even float by flapping them lightly.

“Hmm, it seems my wings haven’t disappeared.”

The man was relieved. He folded his wings, knowing that if he didn’t show the saint he could grow them, she would think it was trickery.

“Saint, you can come back in now.”

As she entered the room, the man turned his back to her and prepared to grow his wings.

“I’m going to grow my wings now.”

“Um, are you sure that’s necessary, Uncle? I believe everyone has ‘freedom’ wings in their hearts. You do too.”

“Let’s not talk about that kind of spiritual stuff. When I say ‘grow my wings,’ I mean it in a materialistic sense.”

“We can spread our wings in society. You’ll see the world in a different way!”

“Stop it! You make society sound like some great utopia.”

“But it is a great place, Uncle!”

As they chatted, the man attempted to grow his wings, but they didn’t appear. The wings he had grown earlier didn’t show up either. He tried to figure out why.

Could it be because of that mysterious power that nullifies the charm and other abilities of the saint? That’s the only reason that comes to mind.

He had thought that as long as he didn’t use his vampiric powers on the saint, it would be fine, but now it seemed that he couldn’t use them in front of her at all.

He needed to study this further. There was nothing he could do today.

In the room, there was a half-naked middle-aged man claiming he could grow wings and a girl with a gentle face watching him.

“Well, it looks like today isn’t the day.”

If he were a younger man, he would have been flustered and embarrassed, but he remained calm and elegant as he adjusted his gown and sat on the sofa.

“We’ll try again another day. I’ll show you my wings then, young lady.”

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it, Uncle.”

The saint smiled, and the man smiled back.

As he sat there, he couldn’t help but feel there was something strange about not being able to use his vampiric power in front of the saint, but that’s a story for another time.