Chapter 7. Vampire

"You know Lovetta, just because he won't wake up on his own doesn't mean you have to let him sleep in on Sundays. You not waking him up normally is messing up our breakfast schedule and I am starving."

"You could have gone and woke him up yourself couldn't you Clare."

"I could, but I don't want to be the bad guy that won't let him sleep in on a day off when he is working so hard."

"And it's ok for me to be the bad guy?"

"You always wake him up every morning at that time anyways!"

The pair kept going back and forth as they walked towards Ken's dorm room. Another month has passed and finally, Lovetta started to open up and trust Clare just a little bit and even without Ken around, she is willing to hold simple conversations with the elf princess.

"KEN! GET UP! I'M HUNGRY!" Screamed Clare as the pair reached Ken's dorm room.

Soon after, Ken walked out of the room rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Did you brush your teeth? You got ready rather quickly." Clare asked suspiciously.

"Sure did, you want to smell my fresh breath? AHHHHHH."

As Ken and Clare chased each other around playfully and laughing like immature kids acting nothing like 15-year-old young adults, the group headed towards the dining hall in a good mood.

"Whenever I see Clare talking to anyone else, she seems so mature and grown and proper like the princess she is. But then I remember who she really is when I see you two running around together acting like 5-year-olds." Lovetta commented.

"Take that back! According to Clare, the things I'm learning right now, she learned when she was 10 so show me some respect!" Ken replied in a serious tone standing in front of Lovetta before bursting out laughing as she begins tickling him.

For an academy of the highest prestige, one's image is of utter importance. While Clare is more than capable of behaving like a proper princess, with the influence of Ken, she is having more and more moments where her actions are not fitting for her status.

While it's Sunday morning and the academy grounds and halls aren't full of people like during days with class, running around laughing and playing like little children in public for the world to see is the last thing a proper princess should be doing and after hanging around Ken for almost two months, the group have earned a new nickname from the tea party goers and gossipers, the disgraceful trio.

As the trio entered the dining hall, it was relatively quiet and empty, typical of a late Sunday morning. The line at the food counter was nice and short and the three happily lined up ready to get some breakfast.

In no time at all, the three were next up in line however the girl in front of Ken suddenly got agitated and started to get loud.

"What do you mean you are out of type A blood?" the girl shouted in bewilderment.

"Sorry, but all the type A blood got bought up and we don't get shipments often due the low demand." The girl working in the kitchen answered timidly.

"I am the only person in this whole academy that needs type A blood, who else would even buy it and for what reason?" The girl demanded.

"Hey, don't bully the poor girl, not her fault they are out of whatever you want." Ken intervened as the girl behind the food counter was clearly starting to panic.

Turning to him, the girl glared at Ken with her bright red eyes but before she could confront him, someone else spoke up.

"Yea, Alice. Why are you bullying the poor servant girl? I am the one who bought up the type A blood. If you want me to share some with you, you should have accepted my invitation to join our gatherings. We just happen to be having another gathering tonight, I will have plenty of type A blood there nice and cooled just for you."

"Dimitri! You have gone too far!" The red eyed girl named Alice turned away from Ken instantly to confront Dimitri.

"What do you mean Alice? I am a vampire too. What's wrong with me buying some blood for the gathering I am holding tonight?" Dimitri replied smugly.

As the two vampires got into a heated verbal quarrel. Ken whispered to Clare asking her what a vampire is.

"They are a tribe of humans that's slightly different, kind of like how Lovetta is slightly different from a regular beastman. I believe the biggest difference between the vampires and you, are that they only drink blood for food and are supposedly naturally stronger than the average race."

As the two vampires decided to take their argument elsewhere so as not to draw too much more attention, Ken's group was finally able to get their food.

As the trios sat down, Ken's new find interest in vampires turned their normal conversation into a history lesson by Clare on vampires.

But before Clare could even get far, the vampire girl is back standing in front of the group.

"Sorry, I got agitated at you and the girl when it's not her fault or yours for standing up for her. I apologize."

The vampire girl Alice apologized and walked away back to the kitchen counter for a bit before heading to her seat not far from Ken's group where her friend was at.

Following his child-like curiosity, Ken unconsciously stood up and walked towards the two girls.

"Hey, I am really curious about how your race works. Can I ask you some questions?"

"You know, just because I apologized for my behavior doesn't mean I want to talk with one of the disgraceful trios."

"Now you need to apologize for been rude and calling me a disgrace when I did nothing to deserve such hateful remarks." Ken replied while staring the girl straight in her eyes.

"Sorry, I'm hungry, agitated, and in no mood for chitchat but that doesn't mean I should act like a pompous noble and talk down to you."

"Apologize accepted! How much blood do you need anyways? I can let you drink some of mine if you want."

"Is your blood type A?"

"I got no clue what that means." Ken answered honestly.

"You know, vampires stopped drinking human blood over a thousand years ago, but I am not going to let that Dimitri manipulate me. Go to the infirmary, ask for a strip of blood paper, drip a drop of blood on it and bring it to me. If you have the right blood type, I might take your offer and of course you will get paid appropriately."

"Ken! Finish up your food and let's go to the training ground already." While Ken was chatting with the vampire girl, Clare and Lovetta walked over with their food to join the group.

"Lovetta, where is the infirmary?"

"Are you feeling sick Ken? Where are you not feeling well?" Lovetta replied in concern.

"I am as healthy as can be, just want to go and get this blood paper thing and see what my blood type is."

"Are you crazy Ken? You want to let her drink your blood? I know you didn't study the history but there is a good reason why vampires stopped drinking human blood a thousand years ago." Clare added in a serious voice.

"The elf princess is correct; I don't expect anyone to share their blood or am I counting on it. I will be going to town with my friend after she finishes her breakfast to see if I can get what I need. The offer stands if you want to go get your blood tested, I'm sure she can fill you in on why we stopped drinking human blood." Alice replied formally.

Soon after Clare and Lovetta joined, Alice's friend finished eating and the pair left for town. As Ken and the girls finished up their food and headed to the training grounds for practice. Clare explained a quick version of the history between humans and vampires to the eager boy who just wants to learn.

Apparently, human blood is the best source of food for vampires and each vampire has a unique attraction to a specific blood type. Realizing that the best way to guarantee the blood type and quantity they desired, the vampires started farming humans like livestock in secrecy. The history books didn't have details on how long the practice went on but eventually some human escapee made it to Darrumburgh.

Darrumburgh a thousand years ago was just like the superpower it is today. When the king at the time was informed of what the vampires were doing to the humans, he got ferocious and led a great army to wipe out the entire vampire race.

While individually, vampires are stronger physically on average. They had no one that could match the hero or even the overwhelming size and population difference. During the past two thousand years, the vampire extermination was the only major conflict to occur between the races.

After witnessing how humans were treated in the first vampire city they liberated. The Darrumburgh army single-handedly massacred millions and millions of vampires and left every city and kingdom they walked through in ruin without leaving a single survivor.

Children, women, elderly, no one was spared. And in five short years, the entire population of vampires was almost completely wiped out. With a final beg for forgiveness and pleading for their race's survival, around a thousand from the capital city of the last vampire kingdom were spared and brought back to the Darrumburgh kingdom.

A special area within the Darrumburgh kingdom was later set up for the vampires and they were able to build a city kingdom within Darrumburgh. The first rule that Darrumburgh king set for the remaining vampire is that from that day onward, vampires will no longer be allowed to drink human blood. The second is that this city kingdom is the limit for the vampire population to expand.

For the past thousand years, the city kingdom of Vespera, the home of vampires, has flourished due to the protection from the Darrumburgh kingdom by the simple fact of its location.

With a population of more than 10 million, the city today is one of the largest in the world and the only reason why the population growth flattened is due to the area limit set a thousand years ago.

"So, they were terrible to some humans and the human almost wiped them out entirely? Sounds pretty rough for the vampires today that had nothing to do with what happened so long ago."

After hearing about the history between humans and vampires, Ken decided that he will go to the infirmary to get his blood type checked while Clare and Lovetta are going over concepts too advanced for him to participate.

As an island kingdom, almost all of the goods on the island are imported and that includes meat. Unfortunately for Alice, as she and her friend went around the town asking for fresh blood, they were told the same story that all the meat is pre-butchered and there are no livestock farms on the island so no one has any idea where they could get fresh animal blood from.

After a full day of searching and getting increasingly frustrated, the pair decided to head back to school as the sky got dark.

"Will another blood type work or can you only drink type A blood?" Alice's friend Genesis asked.

"Different vampires have different levels of tolerance and preference. I am very particular in my needs and most other blood types will make me sick like trying to ingest food you eat."

When the two got back to the academy, they headed to the dining hall to try their luck again just to be told that the next shipment of blood wouldn't arrive for two more days.

Dimitri just happens to show up right on cue as if he has lackies stationed all around to inform him if she was to show up. After failing to persuade her to join the party once again, Dimitri stormed off in anger.

As Genesis ate her dinner, Alice decided to try and just tough it out for two more days for the next shipment to arrive, determined not to give in to Dimitri's plot.

"If I can't handle the hunger anymore, I might buy a bag of O type blood and hope for the best. I will make sure my dad tells my uncle what this Dimitri is doing and hopefully get Dimitri's dad in trouble so he would teach his son some manners." Alice said angrily.

As the two finished up and headed back to the common room, the offer made with Ken this morning was long forgotten.

"Hey! Here is that blood paper you wanted, you owe me an academy point for this. I can't believe it cost money to get this stupid paper thing."

As Alice looked around, she suddenly remembered the promise made with the human boy this morning and walked towards the place where the disgraced trio always sat in the common area.

Before even reaching their table, Alice already knew his blood type.

"The blood is all dried up now but looks like my blood type is A, whatever that means."

When Ken showed Alice the piece of paper with a dab of dried blood and a faded enchanted letter A, she paid no attention to the paper and was deep in thought.

"You said I owe you a point for the blood paper, right?" Alice suddenly said after been in a daze.

Without waiting for Ken to answer, she got close to him and activated her bracelet and waited for him to do the same. As his profile lighted up, she tapped hers against bracelet.

"Transfer 1 point. You know, stingy man won't conquer the world." Alice commented after transferring over the point.

"Good thing I don't want to be no conqueror. So, you want to buy some of my blood or are you good?"

"No, I am fine for now. Thank you for the offer and actually going through with getting your blood tested." With that said, Alice and her friend left the trio and went up to their dorm.

A few more hours passed, and the trio decided it was time for them to turn in for the night. The three said their good nights as they got to Ken's dorm and the two girls went on to their respective rooms.

When Ken stepped inside his dorm, he saw a piece of note that was slipped under his door.

Curious about what was going on, he picked up the note and all it said was to show up in the garden at midnight.

After checking his clock and see that there are still 2 hours before midnight, Ken flopped onto his bed and decided to do a bit more studying knowing that if he was to try and take a nap now, he would miss the meeting time for sure and won't find out who is the one that left this note.