Adopted The Main Villains

Chapter 2 – Siren

About a week passed like that.

Many things happened during that short week.

The biggest thing was.

‘I’ve now become someone who can’t return home?’

‘Explain.’

‘When I gave up myself, my position as king disappeared. Separately from that, I can no longer see where elves live, just like humans can’t.’

‘So you’re asking to live here?’

‘Yes! I can do anything for you? I’m surprisingly good at housework. Except for nighttime activities. I’m saving those for the person I’ll love someday.’

‘Do as you please. I’m the only one living in this house anyway.’

‘I thought so. Well then, I’ll… What?’

‘I said do as you please.’

She must have thought I would refuse.

I’m a bit disappointed she saw me that way.

‘Pick any room you want and stay there. Since you mentioned doing housework, just cook my meals.’

‘Is that really all you want?’

‘Yes. As for cleaning, I can handle it myself if things get dirty.’

‘If you let me live in this huge mansion for such a small price, I’ll feel guilty…’

‘That’s why I’m asking you to cook.’

Cleaning is fine, but cooking is troublesome.

If I cook, I have to do the dishes and worry about the menu.

When I was on Earth, I survived on ramen and pasta made with just one pan because of that.

‘Then I’ll be your secretary. And your magic teacher too.’

‘Secretary and magic teacher?’

‘Yes, that spatial magic you used yesterday was the first magic you’ve ever used in your life, right?’

‘So?’

‘As I thought, there were many flaws.’

‘I understand the magic teacher part, but secretary?’

‘You’re the eldest son of a duke’s family, right?’

‘So?’

I decided to listen to her, though I didn’t know how she knew this.

‘Isn’t it strange that the eldest son of a duke’s family doesn’t have any employees under him?’

‘And?’

‘That’s why I’ll be your secretary! Having such a pretty secretary will make you much more confident, don’t you think?’

‘…….’

Calling herself a pretty secretary – isn’t her self-esteem a bit too high?

‘Is that okay?’

‘Sure, do as you please.’

‘Then I’ll call you Master from now on.’

And so I gained a magic teacher who was also my secretary.

I’ve been immersed in magic training for the past week.

Space magic was more difficult than I had imagined.

To the point where that time I used it at the slave market feels like a miracle.

Still, now I can use it about 5 times a day if I exclude the motion sickness.

‘How is the meal I prepared for you, master?’

‘It’s delicious.’

‘Isn’t it?’

If there’s one fortunate thing about having Siren as my secretary, it’s that she’s good at cooking.

She’s really better at cooking than I expected.

Even this stir-fried vegetable I’m eating now is delicious.

‘What are you planning to do today, Car?’

‘I need to do paperwork. Managing a village is harder than I thought. And don’t call me by a nickname.’

‘Is that so? When I was queen, I didn’t have that much to do. I’m envious.’

‘Then do you want to do it?’

‘As I am a secretary, I don’t think I can manage the village. Master.’

She only says ‘As I am a secretary’ when she’s trying to get out of something.

I knew elves were more cowardly than one might think, but they’re even more cowardly than I expected.

But today isn’t about village management.

This is all a cover to bring that child here.

Among the Four Calamities, she’s considered the most dangerous while also having the most tender heart of the four.

Seras of Longing.

Born of human and blood vampire, Seras became an ambiguous existence that was neither human nor blood vampire, abandoned by her parents and raised in an orphanage.

The problem is that apart from the blood she consumed right after birth, she hasn’t consumed any blood.

This means that Seras is a ticking time bomb.

Being half-human is why she’s held out this long; if she were a regular blood vampire, she would have certainly lost control and gone berserk.

‘Ishield Orphanage.’

It’s a decent orphanage located in a village a bit away from Westville, always maintaining a bright atmosphere.

Unlike what appears in other novels, this orphanage isn’t a place that kidnaps orphans with nowhere to go and conducts human experiments on them.

It’s truly a peaceful orphanage.

‘And Seras will go berserk tomorrow.’

Fortunately, I had marked the dates when each of the Four Calamities, including Seras, would occur.

Seras’s calamity is set to happen tomorrow.

Among the Four Calamities, hers occurred the earliest and was the strongest.

When she went berserk, she absorbed the blood of everyone in the orphanage.

Naturally, everyone whose blood was absorbed died.

When she came to her senses, the surroundings were devastated.

Seras, having quenched her thirst, killed people indiscriminately as if releasing everything she had been holding back.

That was the first calamity.

The birth of Seras of Thirst.

‘And I’m going to stop it.’

The only things I need to stop Seras are spatial magic and my body.

This is the end.

‘I’ll go and come back before Siren knows.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘WAAAAAHHH!!!!’

I was startled by Siren’s voice from behind while I was putting on layers of clothes.

‘Why, why are you here?’

‘Is it strange for a secretary to come serve tea to her master?’

‘It’s not strange, but…’

‘So where are you going?’

‘I have some business in the neighboring village. I’ll be back quickly.’

‘I know you don’t have any friends, so what business in the neighboring village?’

She’s hitting me with facts, and I can’t say anything.

If she’s going to be like this while calling herself a secretary, she might as well just call herself a freeloader.

‘It’s just some talk between the eldest sons of ducal houses, something like a social gathering.’

‘But you don’t have any friends to have that kind of talk with other ducal heirs.’

‘…….’

I have nothing to say.

‘Can’t you just trust me?’

‘Based on what I’ve seen for the past week, that’s hard to do~’

‘…….’

‘I’ll let you go anyway. I’m just an employee, how could I stop my master?’

‘That’s right.’

‘But please come back quickly.’

‘Thaaank you.’

With Siren’s send-off, I moved to the neighboring village of Eastwell.

***

Spatial magic is indeed convenient.

If you know the coordinates and the flow of mana, you can go anywhere you imagine.

If the distance is really far, I’d collapse from mana exhaustion, but I can easily move to places within a reasonable distance.

‘This world is indeed very clean, the air is clear, and children are laughing.’

When I was living alone in Seoul, what I saw was stuffy air mixed with fine dust.

Children buried in studies.

Adults buried in work.

It was the complete opposite of this place.

And tomorrow, this scenery will end too.

‘If not me, who will stop it?’

If no one intervenes, Seras of Desire will go berserk.

And the peace of Eastwell will be shattered.

Then 10 years later, the Luminous Duchy where I currently reside will be completely annihilated.

This is something I’m doing for myself.

I’m just going to struggle for 10 years to live a comfortable life.

Then I can spend the remaining 70 years living comfortably with a smile.

‘But where is the Ishield Orphanage? It should be visible around here.’

According to my memory, the Ishield Orphanage was supposed to be on the right side of the village.

‘Ah, found it.’

A bright-looking orphanage caught my eye.

That’s it.

If that’s not the Ishield Orphanage, what else could be an orphanage?

[Ishield Orphanage]

‘Found it exactly.’

The Ishield Orphanage looked cleaner than I had expected.

I entered the orphanage as I had planned beforehand.

As I went inside, children around 1-10 years old looked at me.

‘Mister! Where did you come from, mister?’

‘Mister, mister! You’re so tall!’

‘He’s not a mister.’

‘Then what is he?’

‘Call him big brother.’

‘He’s too big to call him big brother!’

I guess that’s how kids are, they call you mister once you’re big enough.

‘Do you know where the director is?’

‘The director?’

‘Yes, I have something I want to ask the director.’

I wanted to meet Seras right away, but if I approached her suddenly, I would definitely be treated as a strange person.

First, I’ll ask the director, become friends with the children, and then approach Seras.

It might look like I’m a perverted man with a sinister plan to deliberately approach a 10-year-old kid.

But I’m approaching with a pure heart to protect this world.

‘Follow me! The director is over there.’

A girl with her hair tied in two pigtails grabbed my hand, signaling me to follow her.

‘Alright.’

The girl took my hand and started pulling me along.

At the end was a brown door.

‘Director! A visitor is here!’

‘Come in.’

From inside, I heard a somewhat familiar voice.

A voice I had heard often during my school days.

‘Then excuse me. Thank you for guiding me.’

I gently patted her head and entered through the door.

Inside was someone who could be described in one word.

‘Principal.’

He looked exactly like the principal from when I was in middle school.

Exactly the same.

‘What brings you here?’

‘Let me introduce myself first. I am Luminous Caesar.’

‘Hello. My name is Agnes. Please have a seat.’

‘Yes.’

Just as I was about to speak what I had prepared after sitting down.

‘This nurser-‘

‘You’re here looking for a child, correct?’

‘….How did you know?’

I was flustered that she saw through my true intentions.

‘I’ve been doing this job for 50 years. If I couldn’t tell something like that, it would be time for me to retire.’

‘Then I’ll get straight to the point. I’m looking for a child named Seras.’

The director’s face showed signs of deep contemplation at my words.

According to the original story, the director didn’t know that Seras was a vampire.

Then what was that hesitation about?

‘In that case, would you be able to spend the entire day playing with the children?’

‘Pardon?’

‘Seras is very shy with strangers, so please show her you’re not a bad person by playing with the children first.’

The rampage is tomorrow, so I don’t have time.

I need to feed her blood right away.

‘I understand.’

But if I can’t get close to her, I can’t make her drink blood either.

‘Is it okay if I just play with the children?’

‘Yes.’

‘Understood.’

I took off my coat and left the director’s office.

The children must have heard everything from inside as they were all clustered right outside the door.

‘Mister! Are you really going to play with us?’

‘That’s right, what would you like to do first?’

‘Wow! Then let’s play tag!’

‘Sure, call all the other kids so we can all play together.’

While they were calling the others, I planned to call Seras too to establish a connection.

Right on cue, I spotted Seras reading a book alone in the corner.

Sure enough, I could see the trembling of her body, a precursor to the rampage.

Though not clearly visible, she seemed to be sweating as well.

I approached Seras, placed my hand on her shoulder, and spoke to her.

‘Are you Seras? I’m Caesar, nice to meet you.’

I used the extremely friendly voice I had developed when dealing with difficult customers during my time on Earth when I worked three part-time jobs a day.

At this point, wouldn’t even a difficult customer say ‘thanks for your trouble’ and hand over 10,000 won?

But Seras acted completely opposite to what I expected.

‘Don’t raise your hand as you please, you’re annoying me, so get lost.’

I remembered that a real difficult customer remains difficult even when spoken to kindly.