Prologue: The Self-Proclaimed Normal Girl Flies the Coop
The continent of Ephenia was once a marvel of progress. Although lost in the modern day, there used to exist magic beyond Level Three spells as well as incredible technology. Tribes who wielded these spells and technology were prevalent over the lands.
Even though several tribes tried to take reign over the continent, the times were relatively peaceful. And that was all due to a family of vampires who reigned supreme, outstripping the abilities of the other tribes—the True Bloods.
However, those peaceful times were nearing their eventual end.
“...Wait, what was that? Ristia, what are you even talking about?”
In the throne room of the castle where the True Bloods resided, the King of the True Bloods opened his eyes wide in disbelief as he sat atop his throne. Reflected in his fiery red eyes was... a young girl, swinging her jet-black hair. She was the Princess of the True Bloods, a girl who captivated the hearts of anyone who laid eyes on her. She was also the King’s darling and beloved daughter. The Princess—Ristia, as she was called—was spreading her balled fists apart and throwing a temper tantrum.
“I told you, I want a cute little sister~!!”
“I was hoping you’d clarify, but alas. A ‘cute little sister’ is emblematic of yourself, is it not? You’re saying that you want yourself, Ristia. So I ask: What in blazes are you even talking about?”
“Father, you are the one whose words aren’t making sense, not me~!”
“An adorable figure, lovely mannerisms, and a voice produced by a pair of sweet lips that soothes the souls of all that hear it. Someone literally as cute as an angel. And that someone I’m speaking of is you, my dear.”
“I am not an angel; I am a vampire. And a normal girl, for your information! Also, I don’t want to be the one being coddled; I want to be the one doing the coddling~!”
Ristia was going to be seventeen this year. To the True Bloods, who were capable of living several thousands of years on end, she was no more than an infant barely out of the womb. It was practically inevitable that both her parents and her older sisters would coddle Ristia, the child born not even a decade and a half ago. However, contrary to their desires, Ristia was a precocious and very clever child.
In spite of that, Ristia’s older sisters were true to doting sister form, often times mobbing up and coddling Ristia (the baby sister) while showering her with praises to her cuteness. And because of that, Ristia herself had developed a desire for a little sister of her own.
“Wait! Don’t try to change the subject here~! I want a little sister, plain and simple!”
“I cannot imagine a little sister cuter than yourself being born. Therefore, I do not plan on having another daughter. Even if that weren’t the case, children do not just grow from trees. It is not so cut-and-dry.” One could say that this was the drawback to their family being able to live for millennia and possessing near immortality. Only one child could be born every decade, or every century, if the cards did not work in their favor.
“I’m not asking you to make one, Father~! Just give me your permission, and I’ll make one on my own.”
“—You wha...?! Wh-Wh-Wh-Why, you...! Are you saying you already have a partner for that?! Unacceptable, simply unacceptable!! Who is this louse?! They are as good as dead!!”
“...What are you on about? I’m going to be finding a partner—preferably now.”
“You’re going off to find one? You leave me no choice, then. This means war. I will massacre every single last man in this world!” The True Blood King said, making an outrageous declaration. However, Ristia didn’t flinch; instead, she simply cocked her head in a confused yet adorable manner in response to his statement.
“Huh? But I’m making them my little sister, so my partner would be a younger girl.”
“...Hm? What are you talking about?”
“I wanna get a human or an elf or someone from the dog-eared tribe, make them a kinsfolk, and baby them as my little sister~!”
“‘K-Kinsfolk?’”
“That’s right~ Well? Well? You’ll let me, right~?” Ristia was persuading her father in earnest desire, like a child begging their parents to keep a pet. It was a sight that proved positively adorable for the True Blood King, who found himself ready to give her the blessing she needed.
—That is, until he shook his head and stopped himself at the last second.
“...I believe you’re mistaking kinsfolk for a pet or something of the sort, are you not?”
“Oh, don’t be silly. I am not~ I will make sure to seek a girl with no relatives and make sure to gain their permission before turning them into kinsfolk.”
“No, that is not the issue at hand. ...They’ll be kinsfolk. Kinsfolk of a True Blood’s daughter, no less.”
The True Blood King was showing his disapproval, but Ristia wasn’t backing down from this; in fact, she looked up at the king with her glittering red eyes.
“Will you, please? If you say okay to this, then Mother and all of my sisters will consent to making a little sister. So, pretty please, Father~?”
“Well, it’s like I said. I, well, you know...”
“Please? Can I~?”
“Mnghh...” My daughter is far too innocent and adorable, the True Blood King groaned to himself.
As Ristia’s doting father, he felt compelled to grant his daughter’s wishes, but, nevertheless, there were reasons why he couldn’t allow himself to comply.
For one: True Bloods did not possess the weaknesses that a regular vampire would, making them literally the ultimate family—the strongest of them all.
For another: Kinsmen also gained power proportionate to their master. This was in addition to the fact that True Bloods dwarfed other races in the amount of technology they possessed. With all of those benefits, there would be no shortage of people wanting to be brought into the fold.
And the proverbial icing on the cake: Ristia was completely clueless, but being seventeen years of age, she already was instilled with abilities that put her at the top of the True Blood tribe. Basically, any humans, elves, dog-eared people—no matter what race she picked from, it would be no exaggeration to say that any girl that gained Ristia’s favor would rule this continent. There was no way he could frivolously give the okay to his daughter to create a kinsfolk little sister, all things considered.
“Why not? I swear I’ll take extremely good care of them.”
“No means no.”
“And I’m asking why. I want to know the reason~”
“If I say that no means no, then it means no. Plain and simple.” In order to explain why he was forbidding her, he would need to also explain that Ristia’s powers towered above the entire tribe. Although he was fairly confident that it wouldn’t happen in Ristia’s case, he couldn’t guarantee that she wouldn’t grow arrogant if she was aware that she was the strongest of them all. Hence why her father could not reveal his reasoning, opting to staunchly refuse her instead. Ristia had been practically begging her father, but the unreasonable response he displayed was starting to irritate her.
“Grrrrr, you’re being mean, mean, mean~! You’re being a big meanie and I hate you~! If you’re not going to say yes, then I have an idea that’ll change your mind~!”
“‘H-Hate’ me?!”
The True Blood King was positively shocked. His beloved daughter had just screamed that she “hated” him. It was enough damage to nearly turn the mighty ruler to a frail pile of ash.
“I’m going to run away! And I’m not coming back until you let me make a little sister!!”
“R-Run away?! But I won’t be able to shower you with love and affection if you do that to me! Wait, wait just a minute! Ristia?!”
Taking a glance at her father as he scrambled to keep her in check, Ristia flew from her family’s castle.
—After that, Ristia gave her pursuers from the family the slip, using magic to fly to an underground labyrinth located in a corner of the continent. While technically a “labyrinth,” Ristia herself was the one who had created it. She had dug out the passages for this labyrinth while practicing her Eighth-Level magic, and inside of it existed a location unknown to anyone else.
“The nerve, after I told him that I would find one on my own and take care of it. Father is an uncaring jerk! Now that it’s come to this, I’ll fight this injustice to the bitter end!” Ristia said, spewing remarks in an abrasive yet adorable manner as she pondered over how she would go about making her new little sister.
The first thing she brainstormed was creating her sister without her father knowing. There was always the option of going to an inhabited town, picking up a girl with no relatives off the street, and giving her as much love as she could muster.
“That... isn’t going to work.” Ristia abandoned that plan.
With Ristia’s power and energy, the act of making her little sister was a simple task, but if she made a little sister fueled by rage just to have her family object to her, it would probably just make her new sister sad. Those thoughts drove her against the idea.
Ristia had a rather outrageous personality, but she was a kind-hearted girl by nature.
Ristia decided to move on to her next idea: Playing the long game. She could stop time with her with chrono magic, and either a little sister would be born, or she would continue to sleep until her father cracked.
“That’s... actually an option.” Ristia decided to carry out that plan. With her powers, stopping time for herself was a simple task. If she kept that up for a few decades, then even her father would crack and allow her to create a little sister for herself. Those thoughts drove her to do it.
Ristia was a kind-hearted girl by nature, but she had a rather outrageous personality.
She then put her pointer finger to her cheek, cocked her head, and started to concoct the details of her plan while waving her long black hair. As long as she had her True Blood power, stopping time for herself was easy. The flipside to that, however, was that Ristia’s family could just as easily break the spell. To start with, she needed to apply a seal to fend off against that happening. There was naturally a chance that even that seal might be broken as well, but they would still need considerable time to brute force the seal off. Even if they employed a sorcerer with skills greater than her own, it should buy her at least a few decades worth of time. Plus, even if they were to immediately crack the seal, all she needed to do was repeat the process again until her father cracked. That was the conclusion she drew since she herself was clueless to the fact that she was the strongest among the True Bloods. She also couldn’t overlook the chance that her potential little sister might be born while she still had time stopped for herself. It would also be unbearable for her if her sister were to be born and grow older than her while she had her own time halted.
Ristia then decided to take measures for that part of her plan. All that was left was to stop time for herself, but... stopping time was a wearisome task. Although it was unlikely, there was also the chance of her little sister coming to meet her, so she figured that she should prepare just in case she had to greet her. She pulled out the materials for her spell from her Item Box and started preparing the Eighth-Level spell which she was well-familiar with by now. She compressed the carbon under high temperatures, forming a transparent cage that reflected rainbow light and encompassed herself within.
“Crystal Cage, complete~♪”
Since she used high-temperature compression on carbon, it was actually a diamond cage, but Ristia thought that “Crystal Cage” had a snappier ring to it than “Diamond Cage.” It was material quality fraud at its finest. “Hmm, maybe I should have my eyes shut when I put this seal on myself?” While having time stopped only felt instantaneous to the person involved, to any visitors’ eyes, she would basically appear asleep, so she took that part of the process into consideration, as well.
“Right, let’s see... I’ll make it so that, if a certain condition is met, the cage will shatter into a million pieces. Theatrics are important, after all.”
The conditions for her waking up, her sleeping pose, et cetera—all things she was trying to take into account for a perfect execution. Finally, seemingly satisfied, she ran her fingers through her tresses to straighten out her hair and assumed a praying pose.
“Eheh, now we’re all set. Yup.”
With the perfect pose all picked out, Ristia used the highest level magic she had to stop time for herself, hoping that she would have a younger sister awaiting her when she next awakened.
Seasons then passed, and passed, and passed some more. A countless number of years rolled by into the ether.
“These are ruins from a once-prosperous ancient era... if I’m not mistaken.”
A band of adventurers appeared in Ristia’s constructed labyrinth.
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