Pretty Adolescent Vampire (2)
The sleepyhead goddess only showed up after the storm of Lan-lan-i's puberty had blown through. Sophia came in carrying a teapot and tea set she'd bought with the money she'd saved by skipping a bra, took one look at me, and pulled a truly bizarre face.
"What are you doing like that?"
She glanced back and forth between me and Cheonsol, then nodded like she'd figured it out.
"Did you mess up again and get buried by Cheonsol? And Evni's just copying Daddy?"
"Similar, but different. This is a unique spirit pastime called mud bathing."
"Mud bathing?"
"Nice..."
Evni mumbled with her eyes half-lidded. Sophia pointedly looked away from her.
"Lady Sophia. We've got a problem."
"A problem big enough to bury Yohan? Cheonsol, you tell me."
"Lady Sophia. Lan-lan-i has entered her blood-thirst period."
"Aha."
Sophia nodded.
"So it really was mud bathing. I thought Yohan was just lying to cover up whatever he did wrong."
"As if this lady would bury the Mad Demon."
"I figured it was possible. Then Lan-lan-i's all grown up? She was adorable even as a little kid, so her grown-up self has to be pretty, right?"
"Of course!"
There isn't a single dad in this world who won't praise his daughter. And if that daughter is objectively a beauty, even more so.
"How pretty and cute and adorable Lan-lan-i is. Lady Sophia would be shocked if she saw her. Classic Eastern beauty face, but the body's Western, so she's got this unbalanced charm too."
"Bo...dy? Umm. You mean body in the pure sense, right?"
"Even I wouldn't do incest ya—"
Would I not? I wouldn't start it myself, but if Lan-lan-i were the one doing the seducing...
"Mad Demon. Could it be what this lady is thinking?"
"I won't."
I'm the dad, so I should close my eyes and let it slide once. Twice would be tough.
"In the first place, Lan-lan-i would hate it. She's gotten a lot pricklier with puberty. The kid who used to say she loved Daddy all the time is now yelling at me to get out of her room, and it just crushed me."
Not a single lie in there. I missed the little Lan-lan-i who used to leap into my arms at the drop of a hat.
"?"
Cheonsol suddenly flinched. Had I said something wrong?
"Hehe. It's nothing, Mad Demon. You don't need to worry too much."
"If Cheonsol says so, I'll believe it."
"Daddy..."
An amateur dad might not get it, but a semi-pro raising a pubescent daughter can tell. That single word "Daddy" was packed with meaning.
"Of course I believe our Evni too!"
"Hehe..."
-How does he understand without even having souls linked like me? Is this what a dad is? Amazing.
-I understand too.
-How would you?
-Because he makes me work every day...
Who's badmouthing my cute daughter! I climbed out of the pit to put the insolent slave in her place.
Seeing me rise like a sprouting shoot, Lirota flattened herself on the ground.
-I was wrong!
"I'll let it slide once. Watch yourself."
-Yes!
While I was up, I grabbed a snack for Lan-lan-i too. It used to be a nutritional supplement when she was little; now it was just a snack.
"If Lan-lan-i's all grown up, she can officially register as a minion, right?"
"Indeed. Since she is no longer a minor, registration should be possible."
So the Game of the Gods doesn't deal with minors. Like slapping adult labels on violent games back on Earth.
"As a mother I worry, but a martial artist hones their skill through real combat. The time has come for Lan-lan-i to be reborn as a martial artist in her own right."
"Right? What about you, Yohan?"
"Hmm."
I'd stayed in the mud bath too long; my head was spinning.
Lan-lan-i had always loved watching battles. In the sister determination match she'd looked better than that Kim Dwarf who'd cried after I gave him a knuckle sandwich.
More than anything, the idea of battling side by side with her felt good.
A dad who avenges the enemy who beat his daughter. A daughter who runs over and hugs him because her dad is so cool.
Family peace sealed with a hug. Perfect plan.
-If she's an adult, she should definitely go into battles.
"Me too..."
-Our Evni can go into battles when she grows up too.
"When..."
-That's something your dad would know, right?
Turning the arrow on me so cowardly. Krista... I won't forget this grudge.
"Evni will grow up fully within a year and be able to go into battles."
"Really...?"
"Of course. Daddy promises."
I pinky-promised with the little mud hand Evni had made. Kids born through impregnation grow to adulthood within a year, so it was a promise that would definitely be kept.
"Lan-lan-i's opinion matters too, so let's all ask her."
"Huk!"
Sophia stared at me in shock.
"What."
"No. I was just surprised because you sounded so much like a dad. Right. Lan-lan-i's opinion is the most important. Then shall we go into the room together?"
"Lan-lan-i's at the age where she wants her own room, so barging in suddenly won't go over well. I'll call her."
I cleared my throat a little and knocked. Lan-lan-i's voice came through.
"What?"
"Lan-lan-i. I've got something to say. Won't you come out?"
"Okay."
Lan-lan-i cracked the door open and sidled out crab-style. She was so cute a smile just came out on its own.
"Lan-lan-i. You've heard everything already, have you not."
"Ah, no? Lan-lan-i doesn't know anything."
"I see. Then Lady Sophia, please speak."
"Ahem!"
Sophia cleared her throat. Cute just like Lan-lan-i.
"Lan-lan-i. Do you want to officially become my minion?"
Lan-lan-i didn't answer right away. She just stared at me blankly. Unlike when she was little, I couldn't read what it meant.
When I nodded like I understood, she whipped her head away.
So this is puberty...? Dizzying.
"Then Lan-lan-i can go into battles too? You'll get a community ID, and a separate room for Lan-lan-i."
"Uung? O-of course! I have the divinity to make Lan-lan-i's room!"
Lady Sophia had escaped being a poverty goddess, but she still wasn't rich. She'd already spent a ton expanding her room and ours. Looked like she was about to go broke again.
Sophia goes broke. Meaning I grind myself to dust in the workshop making items.
"Then okay."
"Lan-lan-i. You are no longer a child. Should you not use honorifics with the Master?"
"Okay...yo."
Lan-lan-i pouting because she was awkward with honorifics was adorable.
All that aegyo hadn't disappeared! It was still there, just as clumsy emotional expression!
"Welcome, Lan-lan-i!"
When Sophia shouted, light wrapped around Lan-lan-i's body. Had she gotten a new skill to commemorate becoming an official minion?
"It says I got a new skill...yo."
I got chills. My deduction skills were at this level. If I'd been born in the Middle Ages I might've been a detective who put Sherlock Holmes to shame.
"What is it?"
"Blood Replenishment? Similar to Self-Healing but a little different...yo. It says it's a skill that can replenish blood lost while using skills or techniques! Yo."
"A skill optimized for Vampir. With a handful of blood you could use a skill twice."
Seeing how much Cheonsol liked it, it seemed like a pretty solid skill.
"Congrats."
"Congrats..."
-Congratulations.
-I offer my congratulations.
Receiving congratulations from me, her sister, and the spirits, Lan-lan-i's shoulders rose a full inch.
She was over the moon. You could see the urge to show off as much as she wanted, held back only by the will to act like an adult.
"Evni, see? This is what a big sister is!"
In the end she couldn't hold it in. Lan-lan-i bragging to her little sister was cute.
"Since you're a minion now, you should make a community ID, right? Daddy will help."
When I stepped closer, Lan-lan-i flinched and backed away. Wound received.
"A-ah, no, I hate it! Lan-lan-i can make it alone!"
"Lan-lan-i. Would it be alright if Mother helps?"
"...Yes."
Lan-lan-i and Cheonsol headed for the room. Right before going in, Lan-lan-i shouted at me.
"Daddy, don't come in!"
Bang.
Sophia and Krista flanked me like the Azure Dragon and White Tiger.
Pat pat.
"Yohan. Don't be too discouraged. Lan-lan-i's just embarrassed."
-Right. She's a Vampir in her blood-thirst period.
"Daddy..."
Evni also patted my leg with her little fern-like hands.
I was grateful for the sentiment, but I wasn't discouraged at all. If anything, I was happy.
"Lady Sophia, did you hear? Lan-lan-i called me Daddy!"
"Huh? She did?"
"The kid's just embarrassed because of puberty. She still likes me."
There's no way my kind, cute eldest daughter would hate her dad. Now I could finally relax a little.
Lan-lan-i, who had come into the room with her mom, calmly regulated her breathing. She hadn't shown it in front of Yohan, but she was quite excited.
"Lan-lan-i. Do you like the Mad Demon that much?"
"Yes!"
"Then why are you being so mean?"
"Uh uh, that is, I don't know how to say it. Lan-lan-i is an adult!"
Cheonsol sent her a warm gaze. Lan-lan-i felt her chest grow warm.
"More than that, Mom. How do you make an ID?"
"Mother will teach you well. But is there a reason you rejected the Mad Demon?"
"I don't want to tell Mad Demon my nickname."
Lan-lan-i had never used the community even once, but she'd watched Master and her parents use it plenty.
"Since Lan-lan-i is a half-Vampir, she can use the human-only board and the Vampir-only board!"
"Ho. Is that true? Do you not only use the Vampir board?"
"Uh uh? Is that so?"
Until a moment ago she'd been completely sure, but Cheonsol's words made her anxious.
Cheonsol soothed her uneasy daughter.
"Let us check together."
"Yes!"
Just as Lan-lan-i had expected, she could use both races' boards. She searched the nickname Carverworld and scrolled through the posts.
In particular, she diligently read every post by the person using the nickname PopularStar. Happy that they were praising the Mad Demon, she left comments without even remembering Cheonsol was right beside her.
"So that is why you did not make a nickname with the Mad Demon."
"Hiiik!"
Lan-lan-i belatedly realized her mom was there. Her heart sank, but her face burned.
"Mom, get out too!"
She shouted just like a Vampir in her blood-thirst period, but Cheonsol was no soft parent like Yohan.
"Lan-lan-i. It seems this lady will have to take up the rod of love."
"La, Lan-lan-i is an adult too! I'm not at the age to get spanked! I hate it!"
"Stay still. It will hurt more if you move."
For the first time in her life, Lan-lan-i got her butt spanked.