The Vampire's Salary Negotiation
I gave Rosente a simple explanation of the principles of scientific management.
Not that I expected her to grasp it easily.
"So, maximize worker productivity through incentives and improved labor conditions, establish rational training standards based on objective metrics, and provide a standardized labor system that reduces the complexity of work while raising the intensity per hour. Is that right?"
"No. How did you understand that right away?"
She actually got it?
"I'm Rosente Devi, you know."
"Pardon?"
"The Devi family is the family of shepherds. Herding livestock and herding people—neither is difficult for someone of Devi blood. My brother has said similar things from time to time. To draw more milk, you mustn't crack the whip… that sort of thing."
"The traditions of the shepherd family, is it."
So this is the caliber of a house with two thousand years of history.
Treating people like livestock was a bit much, but from the standpoint of production management, there probably wasn't much difference.
"More than anything, I'm smart."
"Ah. Yes."
She did seem smart enough… so why was her head such a mess?
"And running the Workhouse shouldn't be difficult either. Offering milk porridge to those without roofs and borrowing their labor is also one of the shepherd family's traditions."
"Ah. That's quite reassuring."
In any case, it was clear there was no better candidate than Rosente Devi to run the Workhouse.
"So, what's the compensation?"
"Pardon?"
"You're not seriously planning to make me work for nothing, are you?"
"…What do you want?"
"Give me a taste."
"Crazy bitch."
"Heehee. Isn't that a bit harsh for the legitimate daughter of the Devi family?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
The completely unexpected answer left me a bit flustered.
How did a person end up this broken?
"Devi blood and Lothringen blood. The family with the deepest history, and the family with the thickest blood. The mixing of two nobles' blood… doesn't that excite you?"
"It's not blood that mixes. It's bodies."
"Then, doesn't mixing bodies excite you?"
"It does not."
"Is the rumor that you prefer men true?"
"What kind of garbage is that?"
"Strange. Am I not pretty enough? I inherited the shepherd's blood densely, so my figure is good. My skin is white. My lips are red. Isn't this every man's ideal type?"
Saying nonsense with that much confidence was a talent in itself.
With an ego this inflated, of course she couldn't admit defeat and ended up dying to the heroine. Fresh reminder, but she really was an annoying person.
I sighed and took a step closer to her.
"…Hic!"
When I approached and reached out my hand, Rosente hiccuped and shrank back. For someone with such a swollen ego, she was quite the coward.
No. She was so fearful that she couldn't endure without inflating herself.
"W-w-what is it?"
"If you're going to claim you're pretty, you should at least tidy your hair first."
I lightly smoothed her tangled hair with my hand, then smirked and thoroughly mussed it up.
Rosente's face, which had gone pale, now flushed red all the way to her ears.
"You must have come in a hurry. You could have taken your time."
"If I could come often, I'd dress up perfectly every time. But you never call, so when you do, I rush over…"
"That's all because you're impatient."
"Is that bad? Unlike my brother, I don't have the peace of mind of a flock of sheep. Is it so wrong not to have leisure?"
"I didn't say it was bad. Well, I do think it's childish."
"…Tsk."
Rosente made a sound like air escaping from her mouth. Actually, it sounded closer to a "pi" than a "chi."
"Miss Rosente."
"…Yes."
"There's no need to be in such a hurry, is there? As you yourself said, Miss Rosente, you are beautiful. With that charm, you could captivate anyone."
"I couldn't captivate your heart, Mr. Dante."
"That's what being hasty is. If you try to do anything without preparation, you're bound to throw away even the opportunity. In the worst case, you might even lose your life."
"Hic…"
My hand lightly touched her neck.
Dante Lothringen's body had a natural talent for killing people… but that wasn't what I wanted. Rather than closing a hand around someone's throat, I wanted to unfasten their collar.
But Rosente was too sensitive to blood, and seemed unable to help but fear mine.
"Don't be too impatient. There is plenty of time. Some people may have more opportunities… but in the end, time is equal for everyone."
Even a regressor who can repeat a day's time over and over can ultimately only fully possess the time of the final day.
Time is equal. A little more equal for some, but still cruelly equal.
So if you don't invest enough time, you ultimately cannot win a person's heart. The reason I run the orphanage and want to run the Workhouse is also, in the end, a matter of time.
If I don't first invest time to set an example, no one will try to understand my morals.
"I was born of Lothringen blood, but I am not as savage as Miss Rosente thinks. My fangs are sharp, my claws keen, my eyes bright, my muscles firm, my hide tough, my bones thick—it may seem I could easily kill a person… but I do not easily kill people."
"…"
"And that is something that can only be understood by watching over time."
That is why one person can never change the world. The accumulated strata of prejudice cannot all be excavated by a single person.
I can only set an example.
Unexpectedly showing, through time and action, that this prejudice might be completely wrong—that is all I can do.
"Miss Rosente is also such a being to me. The Rosente I see is bad-tempered, tactless, vicious, loose, looks down on people, arrogant, and doesn't know the value of life. I simply cannot like such a person."
"…"
"But I also know that isn't all of Miss Rosente. I have prejudices about you, but I do not blindly believe those prejudices. If Miss Rosente shows me her good side time and time again, then surely I too will come to think of Miss Rosente as a good person."
It must be truly unfair for her.
Knowledge of the original work or its contents were things she could never possibly understand.
Well, this too must be the fate she was born with. Being a villainess facing a regressor means bearing even sins she hasn't committed yet. There are villainesses in this world who can't help but be wronged.
"…If——"
And unexpectedly, Miss Rosente did not cry this time.
Ah. Saying she didn't cry isn't precise. More accurately, she held the tears back. Like a child who thinks crying means losing and is pretending to be an adult, she clenched her teeth, opened her eyes wide, and endured.
Tears welled in her eyes. Every word was mixed with sniffling. Her fists were clenched tight. Her whole body was expressing the urge to cry—but
"——If I become a good person, will you like me?"
She spoke to the end without bursting into tears.
"Probably."
I can only regret that I cannot give a better answer to that resolve.
"If I become a good person, will you mix bodies with me?"
"Probably. If I come to like you, such a relationship might form."
"If I become a good person, can I spend time with you whenever, Mr. Dante?"
"Probably. No. Hmm. It might be hard when I'm looking after the kids."
"If I become a good person——"
Rosente, about to say something more, chewed on her words for a moment, couldn't continue, dropped her head, and in a voice a little wetter than before, said again as if on the verge of tears.
"Even if I'm not a good shepherd… can I still become a good person?"
Ah. This I could answer clearly.
"Of course, Miss Rosente."
"…I want to become a good person."
"So do I. It seems we've found some common ground."
"More than Kalt Devi… more than my brother who inherited the shepherd's blood more densely, more than a good shepherd, I want to become a good person."
A red light flashed in her green eyes.
"Mr. Dante."
"Yes, Miss Rosente."
"I've thought of what I want as compensation."
"Hmm. What is it?"
"Give me… one mouthful of blood."
"Pardon?"
"No. Even a single drop from your fingertip is fine… please let me drink your blood, Mr. Dante, and turn it into my own blood and flesh."
"…That's a bit gruesome."
"Is it strange for a gruesome person to demand a gruesome price?"
"Now that I think about it, you're right."
I took a small knife from my pocket and cut the tip of my finger.
Her tongue coiled around it.
"Slurp… Hyaah… Mm… Hwah…"
"So, are you satisfied?"
"Until I become a good person, I'll be satisfied with this…"
"…Well, understood."
It was a reasonably rational salary negotiation.