Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

“...Gyaaaaaaaaa!? C-Charl! W-Why!?”

“Hmph! Why!?”

The other vampire froze as her compatriot screamed as she was enveloped in flames.

Their master was so angered that even the space around him was simmering.

“Why, you say? What did you just say? ‘One day rule the world’? Don’t give me that crap...”

“W-Why!? What did I say wrong―”

“Everything, you idiot! Dominating the world!? As if I would dare do anything rebellious against my master! Know your place, bitch! Who do you think is one that allows us to live! Oubeniel, my great master! I-I-If you know that, then don’t speak of such things!”

Charl was almost at the point of screaming.

The truth was that he was crying out in fear. To Charl Franz Schmidt, Tullius Shernan Oubeniel was an existence that could never be messed with. He was a person that should be feared.

He had been forced to participate in an inhumane experiment while they were students at the academy.

His body was inserted with undead parts, turning him into a vampire.

The hatred and grudge he had against Tullius had been modified by brain restructuring.

...Tullius had a determination to never stop even if he had to give up the world.

Every bit of the alchemist’s flesh, hair, or blood made his soul shudder.

Tullius was always on alert for the chance that he was rebellious. If he did display signs of betrayal, surely Tullius would go out and dispose of him. After that, he would just brainwash another appropriate necromancer or simply just manufacture a replacement like how Seis was made.

Because of his fears, Charl often played the fool in front of him. He wanted to let Tullius feel that his guard was down towards him so Tullius could rest easy. Also, since he was dumb, there was no way he could betray him...To give that impression, he desperately continued with his act.

And how dare this slave!? Some day rule the world? How could she even mutter such dangerous words? In front of the M-series or B-series who could be listening?

These idiots would make all his efforts go down the drain.

Firstly, why was it possible for these vampires to go without slave collars? It was not because Charl recognised their talents or anything. It was because he could deal with them at any given time. They had no battle experience, lacked training and had nothing for use as equipment. They were just stupid toys. There wasn’t even a need for the Opus series to deal with them, even mass produced slaves with equipment could take care of them. These idiots had the audacity ro run their mouths like that when they failed to understand anything!

That was the reason behind Charl’s sudden fury.

“Aaaaaa!? Forgive me, pl―”

“So do you understand!? How foolish you were!?”

“Y-Yes! Please―”

The female vampire was almost burnt to a crisp, and was just moments away from crumbling away.

Charl walked briskly towards her. For a vampire lord, just sunlight alone wouldn’t be fatal. Much less so for a hybrid like him. He had higher than usual tolerance for vampire weaknesses.

The female vampire crawled and grovelled, trying to get into Charl’s shadow. Charl looked down and asked.

“”Do you want to be forgiven?”

“Please forgive me!”

The female vampire who could smile and joke earlier was now crying in pain.

Charl smiled benevolently.

“You will be forgiven...”

He raised his heel into the air.

“...after you burn and suffer.”

Without a tinge of emotion, he crushed her head with his foot.

Beneath his foot was the sound of crumbling ashes. Her body had turned into a mountain of white ashes.

Charl spat on the ashes and turned away. He moved towards the mass produced slaves who were silently witnessing everything.

“...Ah, my apologies, okay? That this turned into such a mess.”

The slaves replied.

“No, there is no problem. Our breaktime is just about to end.”

“I humbly believe that this was a meaningful use of time. Once again I can see Opus-04’s allegiance towards our master.”

Charl laughed jokingly.

“R-Really? Ahaha, being praised like that makes me embarrassed. All I did was deal with some defective products.”

“We will deal with the waste matter over there, so please rest assured, Opus-04.”

“I feel kinda bad, but...Ah, well, please do. Then I shall go back to my room―”

He lifted off the girl who had her blood sucked and left the place.

His fun game ended like that. He had dealt with his familiars, but how much suspicion did that remove…?

“Master Charl...she just had a slip of the tongue...”

Charl glared sharply at the remaining female vampire to silence her and quickly returned to his room.

He had to find time soon to apologise to Tullius in person. But he feared that being upfront would only raise suspicions against him. He would need to consider the appropriate level of apology.

In any case, he had to clear up his negative thoughts. Panicking like this wouldn’t be productive for thinking. This girl had transformed into a vampire and was now his pet. After having fun with her and forgetting his troubles would he then consider his next approach.

“Damn it...Please try to not do anything stupid like that, okay?”

As he sighed, he whispered into the sears of his new undead toy.

※ ※ ※

“Master. 04’s toy has instigated rebellion as planned. She was then dealt with.”

“Hm…? Then I guess he isn’t planning anything?”

“I cannot make any conclusions about that...”

“Hey, hey. Father, Uni, what are you guys talking about?”

“About the safety of our experiments, I guess? Nothing you should be concerned about anyways.”

※ ※ ※

Today, Fem was bored.

But since she was a golem, would she actually feel boredom? She herself did not know the answer to that. However, the Orichalcus Brain definitely came installed with human emotion emulation.

But was that truly emotions? The signals running through her head were the ones telling her if she felt anger, sadness or other kinds of feelings. There was no fundamental difference between Fem and humans if considered from the perspective of outcomes. However, the main difference was that humans had souls, whereas Fem did not. A soul, which was detectable by magic, was the central location where a living creature’s memories and consciousness reside in. It wasn’t something that belonged in an inorganic and unliving existence like Fem.

And that’s why she mulled over it. Did she really have emotions if she did not possess a soul? Was she really thinking? Was there a heart in her?

Thinking like this was also the reason she found everything boring. If Fem was given a mission, she would dedicate her full processing power, ignoring all play and indecisiveness, to achieve the mission’s goals. However, her current mission was to standby. Her current role was to protect the facility, called the Temple of the Sun, which directed light into the lab within Marlan’s mountains.

Yet, there was no opportunity for her to perform this role. There was not a single intruder. Firstly, this dungeon was undiscovered. That’s why her computation prowess was left idling.

The missions that Fem had received to date were all emergency missions, and not missions that were planned originally. Now that it was winter in Marlan, the probability that an emergency situation could occur was very low.

And so, she was stuck with fighting off boredom instead of external enemies.

Once spring arrives. Fem thought to herself.

Once spring arrives, human activities will spring up and there might be adventurers who would discover this dungeon. And discover the large exterior which protects the lab, the sea of trees and the temple.

She would then be able to use her abilities. Fem has yet to distinguish herself in battle. When they were attacking the elf village, she took damage from the large scale spell and did not make it out completely unscathed. Also, when she was at the capital, her job was to keep a lookout and not engage in battles.

It was alarming for her. What was she doing? Among the Opus series, she was supposed to be built fully for combat. She had to redeem herself. Her circuitry was giving her an itch, telling her that she needs to redeem herself in the future.

She had to obtain more combat data, obtain new resources, complete more missions and of course, win, win and win.

Obtain everything her master desired.

The generator spinning hidden inside her seemed to roar.

“...I can’t wait, I think.”

She said as she struck both her fist together. The sound of bulky metal plates colliding reverberate through the temple.

Opus-05 Fem quietly waited for spring as she sought to accomplish her reason for existing.