Sanghrila was a vampire city near the Valentine House Training Center, yet it was completely silent that night.

Victor realized this a few minutes after crossing the enormous black gates that separated the outer territories from the vampire urban core.

It wasn’t a natural silence, nor a peaceful one. It was the kind of artificial quiet created by people too accustomed to constant danger.

The streets were wide, built with dark stones polished by time, and the buildings possessed that excessively refined architecture typical of ancient vampires, mixing aristocratic luxury with structures that resembled fortresses disguised as ordinary shops.

Even so... there were few people.

Some vampires walked the streets wearing clothes too elegant for the time and place, but everyone seemed too busy to pay attention to their surroundings. No one spoke loudly. No one laughed. There was no disorganized movement like in human cities.

Everything seemed... controlled.

Victor kept his hands in his pockets as he walked beside Serafall, observing the city without much interest. His eyes scanned the buildings, the ancient symbols carved into some walls, and especially the few vampires circulating there.

"So this is a vampire city..." he murmured after a few minutes. "It’s quite... monotonous."

Serafall walked calmly beside him, wearing a dark dress that was too simple for her absurdly luxurious standards. Even so, she still naturally drew attention simply by her presence.

She made a small, amused sound through her nose before answering.

"Sanghrila isn’t exactly an ordinary city."

Victor glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"It’s more exclusive." The answer explained absolutely nothing.

Victor maintained a neutral expression as he observed the practically empty streets again.

"Exclusive just sounds like a fancy way of saying nobody lives here."

Serafall chuckled softly. "You’ll understand soon enough."

They continued walking for a few minutes until they entered a narrower part of the city, where the old buildings practically obscured the artificial bluish light used to illuminate Sanghrila during the Vampire Realm’s eternal night.

The alley they entered seemed completely ordinary.

Victor was about to comment on that when Serafall simply placed her hand against a black stone wall.

The entire structure vibrated slowly, and then a door appeared.

It didn’t magically appear out of nowhere. The wall simply rearranged itself silently, revealing a narrow entrance decorated with ancient symbols carved into the dark wood.

Victor raised an eyebrow. "...Okay."

"You’ll see," Serafall replied with a small smile before pushing the door open and entering.

Victor followed right behind her.

The interior contrasted completely with the cold silence of the city.

The place resembled an old tailor’s shop, filled with expensive fabrics neatly arranged on tall shelves, partially disassembled mannequins scattered throughout the hall, and antique sewing machines powered by blood magic. The scent of new fabric mixed with refined blood filled the air in a strangely comforting way.

Then the small bell above the door rang, and chaos immediately ensued.

"LADY, WE HAVE CUSTOMERS—!" A small vampire girl emerged running from the back of the shop at an absurd speed, practically flying through the narrow aisles while clutching a huge pile of fabrics in her arms.

She didn’t notice Serafall immediately.

The little vampire girl slid violently across the waxed floor right at the entrance, spinning twice in the air before stopping on her knees directly in front of Serafall.

The silence lasted two seconds.

Then she slowly raised her face, her eyes met Serafall’s, and... the color instantly drained from her face.

"L-LADY, RUN—!" She tried to flee at that very moment.

She couldn’t even take two steps.

Serafall simply grabbed her head with one hand before the little vampire even finished turning around. The movement was absurdly casual.

The little vampire froze completely.

"If you run, I’ll catch you," Serafall said calmly while holding the girl by the head like someone holding a disobedient cat.

The little vampire was visibly trembling.

"M-madam...?"

"You’d better come here, Melina," Serafall called toward the back of the store without changing her tone of voice.

A few seconds later, footsteps could be heard coming from inside the establishment.

A woman appeared, walking calmly through the aisles while wiping her hands with a dark cloth. She was tall for female standards, had long silver hair partially tied back, and extremely noticeable pointed ears.

Victor looked at her for a moment before speaking naturally.

"...An elf?"

The woman looked up immediately.

Her eyes first went to Victor.

Then to Serafall.

"SERA!"

She practically dropped the cloth on the floor before running across the entire hall and literally leaping at Serafall like an uncontrolled emotional projectile.

Serafall barely had time to react before the woman wrapped her in an absurdly tight hug.

Victor heard a small crack come from her spine.

"You disappeared!" the elf complained while rubbing her face against Serafall’s shoulder without any dignity. "You selfish wretch!"

"Melina... I can’t breathe."

"GREAT."

The little vampire was still being held by the head during all of this.

She slowly raised a trembling hand.

"M-madam...?"

Melina finally realized the situation. Her eyes slowly lowered toward the terrified little vampire.

Then she smiled.

It was an extremely gentle smile.

Which somehow made everything worse.

"Why didn’t you say you were my best friend?" Melina asked calmly as she slowly released Serafall.

The little vampire immediately began sweating.

"I-I thought that—"

"Sorry, Sera," Melina interrupted with a weary sigh. "Things haven’t been very pleasant with the army around here lately. So forgive this idiot."

She then grabbed the little vampire by the head.

And slammed her into the floor... hard.

The impact echoed throughout the entire store.

Victor watched in absolute silence as the little vampire trembled on the floor with tears in her eyes.

"Apologize," Melina said calmly.

"S-sorry..." the little vampire replied immediately between sobs.

"Fufufu~" Serafall chuckled softly as Melina finally released the girl’s head. "Still managing everything the same way, huh?"

"Of course," Melina replied, crossing her arms. "If I stop scaring employees, this place will collapse in two days."

Melina let out a tired sigh and lazily waved one hand.

"Okay, okay... go inside before someone sees you standing at the entrance like normal customers." She partially turned toward the employee still lying on the floor. "And wipe that scared drool off the floor. You look like an abandoned dog."

"Y-yes ma’am..."

The little vampire practically crawled away immediately.

Victor watched this for a few seconds before simply following Serafall through the store’s inner corridors.

As they moved forward, the atmosphere slowly began to change. The front of the shop looked like a relatively normal tailor’s shop by vampire standards, but the inner corridors felt much more like the back rooms of an aristocratic clandestine organization.

Magical symbols were discreetly engraved into the walls.

Some doors had locks made entirely of crystallized blood.

And every now and then, Victor could sense presences watching from within the walls, probably living security systems.

"You know strange people," Victor commented as he walked behind Serafall.

"I’m strange," she replied naturally.

"Fair enough."

Melina, who was walking ahead of them, opened another hidden door at the end of the corridor without even looking back.

"You two are still alive, so clearly my friendships are excellent."

The door opened.

Victor entered the room.

And immediately fell silent.

The VIP room looked less like a private salon and more like an aristocratic vault transformed into a relaxation area. Gold literally decorated parts of the walls. Not just golden details—real gold. Ornamental bars served as trim between the furniture, red crystal chandeliers hung from the absurdly high ceiling, and small mountains of ancient coins were scattered across shelves as casual decoration.

"Finally," Melina retorted immediately.

Then something happened.

Victor was looking at a huge decorative sword hanging on the wall when he noticed movement in the corner of his vision.

Melina simply began changing clothes in the middle of the room.

Without warning.

Without shame.

Without even going to another room.

A wave of magic coursed through her body as her previous dress simply dissolved into luminous particles before Victor’s eyes.

For approximately two full seconds—

Victor saw everything.

The vampire elf stood completely naked before another outfit magically appeared, enveloping her body in an absurdly rapid sequence of black and gold fabrics.

Victor blinked slowly.

"...Okay."

Melina finished adjusting her new outfit as if absolutely nothing had happened before casually sitting down in a luxurious armchair with her legs elegantly crossed.

Then she looked directly at Victor.

Her eyes gleamed with immediate interest.

"Who is this handsome man?" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The silence lasted exactly half a second.

Then—

SPLASH.

A ball of blood struck Melina in the face with absurd speed.

The impact slammed her head against the back of the armchair before she tumbled backward like a theatrical corpse.

Victor slowly turned his head.

Serafall still had her hand outstretched after the throw.

Her murderous aura was completely real.

"It’s my son," Serafall replied calmly. Then she narrowed her eyes. "And my husband."

Melina remained slumped backward.

"..."

"Take your eyes off him or I’ll kill you."

Silence lingered for a few seconds.

Then Melina’s muffled voice emerged from the armchair.

"...You’ve become much more possessive since motherhood."

"And you’re still a whore with no survival instinct."

Melina slowly rose from the armchair, blood streaming down her face as she pouted indignantly.

"I just asked a question!"

"You literally started glowing while looking at him."

"Because he’s handsome!"

"Melina."

"Okay, okay..." She immediately raised her hands in surrender before looking back at Victor. "Sorry. I’m not going to try to steal your son-husband."

Victor stayed silent for a few seconds, processing that particular sentence.

"...That was probably one of the worst combinations of words I’ve ever heard."

Serafall seemed strangely pleased now.

"Great."

Melina wiped the blood from her face while huffing irritably.

"You’re being very aggressive today."

"Because I know you."

"That’s prejudice."

"That’s experience."

Victor watched the two argue for a few more seconds before finally raising a hand to interrupt them before Serafall could start another personal war in the middle of the room.

"Okay," he said, looking around again. "But what the hell is all this anyway?"

His gaze swept over the piles of decorative gold, the antique weapons hanging on the walls, and especially the countless strange fabrics scattered throughout the luxurious hall. Some of them clearly possessed blood energy circulating through the fibers like living organisms.

Serafall slowly crossed her legs on the sofa before casually pointing at Melina.

"My professional stylist."

Victor slowly turned toward the elf.

Melina immediately broke into an absurdly proud smile and tossed her silver hair back like someone receiving long-overdue public recognition.

"Finally, someone respecting my art."

"You literally called my son hot two minutes ago," Serafall retorted dryly.

"And I still stand."

"Melina."

"Hostile silence accepted."

Victor partially ignored the argument and looked around again.

"...Wait. Stylist?"

"Professional," Melina corrected immediately, pointing at herself. "Don’t compare me to ordinary seamstresses." She grinned proudly. "I make clothes that can survive war."

Serafall nodded slightly.

"Elves are excellent stylists when it comes to magic. Especially enchanted armor. And Melina is one of the best in the Vampire Kingdom."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"She?"

Melina placed a hand on her chest, dramatically offended.

"What tone was that?"

"The tone of someone looking at a woman who beats employees into the floor."

"Discipline improves productivity."

"That sounds like a labor law violation."

"That sounds like a poor person’s opinion."

Serafall let out a small laugh before finally explaining properly.

"We’re here to order armor for you."

Victor looked at her without any immediate reaction.

"...Armor."

"Yes."

"Like a medieval knight?"

"No."

Serafall rested her face against one hand while smiling slightly.

"A battle suit."

Victor remained silent for a few seconds. Then he looked at Melina again.

Then at the room.

Then at Serafall.

"...Does this really exist?"

Melina practically jumped out of her armchair in outrage.

"OF COURSE IT EXISTS!"

She quickly walked toward one of the walls and tapped her hand against a golden symbol carved into the black wood.

Immediately, several hidden compartments opened throughout the hall.

Victor watched dozens of outfits emerge, mechanically arranged behind magical glass display cases. Some looked like extremely refined formal suits, others resembled aristocratic military uniforms, and some were clearly armor disguised as elegant clothing.

Every single one emanated supernatural energy.

"Vampires haven’t worn traditional armor for centuries," Melina explained as she proudly walked among the pieces. "It limits mobility, regeneration, and blood flow. So we evolved."

She pulled one of the black suits from its display case.

The fabric looked alive.

Literally alive. Small crimson veins slowly pulsed beneath the inner layers of the suit, resembling artificial blood circulation.

Victor narrowed his eyes.

"...Is this breathing?"

"Yes."

"...It is."

"This one can absorb impacts equivalent to heavy artillery without losing flexibility," Melina explained casually as she tossed the suit onto a sofa. "This other one reduces blood energy consumption during prolonged combat. That one over there has its own regeneration. And that one—"

She pointed toward a red outfit hanging near the bottom.

"—explodes if someone without a blood tie tries to wear it."

Victor stared at the suit for a few seconds.

"...Why would anyone make an explosive suit?"

"Because it’s funny."

"Melina," Serafall said tiredly.

"The previous client asked for it!"

Victor slowly massaged his forehead.

"This is stranger than I expected."

"That’s because you haven’t seen the live models yet," Melina replied naturally.

Silence fell.

Victor slowly turned his head toward her.

"...What?"

Serafall immediately raised a hand.

"Don’t show him the living ones."

"But they’re the coolest!"

"Melina."

The elf huffed dramatically before crossing her arms like a disgruntled child.

"You never let me show you the fun stuff... I made a new one called Lilith. You’d love it..."

"You made a dress with the Succubus Queen’s name on it?"

"No, I made it with her wings. Seriously, that material is hard to get, okay? I had to wait for her to shed her skin and go through body reconstruction. She sold it to me for one billion eight hundred million Vels."

Victor sighed deeply as he looked once again at the countless magical suits scattered throughout the room.

Then he finally understood...

This wasn’t simply a shop.

It was an arsenal disguised as a tailor shop.

And considering the Ascension Ritual that was approaching... Serafall probably wanted to make sure he entered that massacre wearing something capable of keeping him alive.

[Note: Vel’s is the universal currency of this world. Let’s say it’s equivalent to the Dollar, but consider that the economy of this world is much richer in terms of money. Gold is a luxury, but it’s easily found.]