Arknights: The Scarlet Devil of Terra — Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Flandre’s Food

The pair of bat wings, adorned with what looked like brilliantly colored, diamond-shaped crystals, slowly unfurled. They stretched outward, catching the afternoon sun in a dazzling, terrifying display of prismatic light.

In an instant, the noisy, bustling amusement park ground to a suffocating halt.

“V-Vampire!”

Someone in the crowd reflexively swallowed hard, the sound loud in the sudden quiet. Panic rippled through the onlookers, and the people below quickly scattered, fleeing in absolute terror at the sight of the legendary Blood Fiend.

The woman standing closest turned deathly pale the moment she saw those crystalline wings. Yet, standing entirely oblivious behind her, the chubby little boy was still shouting at Flandre Scarlet.

“What ugly wings! But the shiny things hanging underneath them are quite pretty. If you’re willing to give them to me as compensation, I might forgive you for now!”

Just then, the amusement park manager came sprinting over, gasping for breath.

“Eldest Miss, what happened?!”

He skidded to a halt, his eyes catching the bat wings hovering behind the little girl standing next to Beatrice Swire. He gulped heavily, his professional demeanor cracking for a fraction of a second before he awaited his orders.

“Throw this mother and son out, then record their appearance,” Beatrice ordered, her green eyes flashing with absolute fury as she pointed a manicured finger at the trembling woman and her brat. “Every single project, property, and facility under the Swire Family is to be completely closed to their family from this day forward.”

“Does Flandre really not need to kill them? Flandre is very fast!” Seeing Beatrice’s angry expression, Flandre Scarlet opened her mouth to reveal her sharp little fangs, her crimson eyes locking onto the pair with predatory innocence.

“No need, Flandre. Attacking trash like this will only get your hands dirty,” Beatrice said, her icy tone melting instantly as she reached out and gently pressed down on Flandre’s shoulder.

“Oh!” Flandre blinked, the killing intent vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. She didn’t press the issue.

The manager immediately waved over several burly security guards, who practically dragged the wailing mother and son away from the premises.

Beatrice looked around. Because of the sudden appearance of a Vampire, the vast majority of the crowd had already fled screaming. The plaza, which had been packed with laughing families just moments ago, was now completely deserted.

“I’m so sorry, Flandre. I brought you out to have fun, but then this mess happened.”

“It’s okay. But can we still play?” Flandre tilted her head, indicating that she wouldn’t waste unnecessary emotions on unimportant people. She was far more concerned about what other attractions remained untested; she had promised Alina that she would tell her about every single ride she went on today.

“Of course. As I said, this is Swire Family territory. I have the final say.” Beatrice bent down to pick up the little cloak that had fallen on the ground, elegantly flicking the dust off the fabric before draping it over her arm. “Since we’re going to play, let’s play openly. So what if you’re a Vampire? Flandre, you’re a good girl; you should have fun together with everyone else.”

After declaring that, Beatrice took Flandre’s small hand and marched confidently toward the nearest towering amusement facility.

The park manager wiped a thick layer of cold sweat from his forehead. While trailing a respectful distance behind them, he frantically ordered his subordinates to notify the head of the Swire Family about the situation.

Perhaps because Lungmen was indeed a sufficiently inclusive city, or perhaps because Beatrice stubbornly held Flandre’s hand the entire time, the rest of the afternoon went smoothly. During the subsequent attractions—even though the remaining staff and patrons kept a wide berth, leaving the two of them completely alone on the massive pirate ship—the blind panic from earlier did not repeat itself.

The message the amusement park manager eventually received from the upper echelons of the family was simple and absolute:

“The decisions of the Swire Family are not to be questioned by outsiders. If someone does not allow them to play, throw that person out.”

Reading the text, the manager’s back was instantly drenched in cold sweat. He thanked his lucky stars that he hadn’t tried to stop the two ‘great ancestors’ from having their fun, otherwise he would have been the one permanently invited to leave Lungmen.

The two played until the sun began to sink below the skyline, painting the clouds in shades of violent orange and purple. After thoroughly testing out every single facility in the park, they finally walked out together, reluctant to end the day.

“Did you have fun today?” Beatrice asked while driving her luxury car through the neon-lit streets, her face still slightly flushed with lingering excitement.

“Flandre is very happy! Flandre saw many things she had never seen before!” The little Vampire kicked her legs in the passenger seat, humming a cheerful, off-key melody.

“That’s good. By the way, let’s go to your place and play video games together for a bit. I recently found a very interesting title called ‘Happy Kitchen.’ It’s supposed to be a simple, relaxing little game suitable for two people to play together, so it’s perfect for us.”

“Okay, okay!”

Playing games wouldn’t affect her telepathic chatting with Alina, so Flandre eagerly agreed.

A short while later, the two arrived at Flandre’s residence with the game disc in hand. They booted up the console, settled onto the plush carpet, and started the game.

Ten minutes later, the illusion of a ‘relaxing little game’ was utterly shattered.

“Hurry, hurry! I’m cutting carrots over here! Flandre, you go watch the stove!”

“Oh, don’t block the way!”

“Oh no, the pot’s on fire! Get the extinguisher!”

“What do you mean the ingredients weren’t added?!”

“Total failure!”

Beatrice lay sprawled across Flandre’s lap like a boneless heap, her eyes completely lifeless as the ‘Game Over’ screen mocked her from the television.

“Whatever happened to that simple and relaxing little game?” Beatrice groaned, turning her head to look at Flandre, who wore an expression of absolute, unbothered calm. “Aren’t you even a little bit sad that we failed?”

Flandre looked down at her curiously. “Since it’s a game, why should Flandre be sad?”

The little Vampire indicated that the only thing she would ever be sad about was having no one to play with. Winning or losing a virtual cooking match meant absolutely nothing to her.

Beatrice thought about it for a second, realized that made a lot of sense, and aggressively grabbed her controller to start another round.

At that exact moment, the sharp chime of the doorbell echoed through the house.

The two abandoned the burning virtual kitchen and went out to the foyer, pulling open the door to reveal Ch’en Hui-chieh standing on the porch.

“Sausage Dragon, what are you doing here?!” Beatrice’s hair practically stood on end the moment she saw her rival.

“You’re playing here?” Hearing the chaotic cartoon music blaring from inside the house, Ch’en blinked, somewhat startled by the domestic scene.

“So what? You’re a busy person with no time to accompany Flandre. I’m not as busy as you, so I’m doing your job.” Beatrice crossed her arms, lifting her chin haughtily as she glared at the L.G.D. officer.

Hearing the biting words, Ch’en looked at Flandre with a deeply apologetic gaze. “I’m sorry, I really have been quite busy lately…”

She sighed, adjusting her collar before pointing to a heavy, insulated, medical-grade sealed box resting next to her parked vehicle. “This is the… food that Madam asked me to bring you.”

“Food?” Beatrice raised an eyebrow. She remembered inviting Flandre to eat at high-end restaurants more than once, but the little girl would only ever take a tiny, disinterested nibble of the finest cuisine.

“It’s blood. Fresh.” Flandre only spoke when Ch’en effortlessly hoisted the heavy box and carried it inside the living room.

Hearing Flandre’s blunt assessment, Beatrice froze. It took her a full second to remember that the adorable, harmless-looking girl whose lap she had just been using as a pillow was, in fact, a terrifying apex predator.

“So Flandre can only eat fresh blood?” Beatrice realized she had somehow never actually asked this question.

“Yes. But in the past, Sakuya would make the blood into various small pastries for Flandre,” the girl said, her eyes lighting up as she opened the heavy latches of the box and inhaled the rich, metallic scent wafting from within.

“Sakuya?” Ch’en asked, her investigative instincts flaring at the unfamiliar name.

“My sister’s butler. The Head Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion,” Flandre answered naturally, recalling the elegant woman who kept a perfectly straight face most of the time—someone who would speak and chat with her softly, but would never actually play games with her. “She is a very serious, gentle, and loyal person.”

“This is fresh blood that just arrived at the central donation station today,” Ch’en explained, bringing the conversation back to the heavy container. “Wei Yenwu arranged for someone to intercept twenty-five liters of it and had me deliver it directly to you.”

Just as Beatrice was about to ask Ch’en where on earth they had sourced that much blood, the sheer volume registered in her mind. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers. She immediately grabbed Ch’en’s uniform sleeve, pointing a trembling finger at the medical box.

“Wait, this is all human blood?!”

Ch’en nodded grimly.

“No way. Those voluntary blood donation vans running all over the city these past few days… that massive public health campaign… that was all just to get food for Flandre?!”

Beatrice felt her worldview crumbling a bit. The entire city’s infrastructure had been mobilized just to feed one child.

“We inquired thoroughly. Flandre needs to consume at least this much blood every single month to remain stable,” Ch’en answered, her voice calm and measured. “also, non-human blood is very hard for her to drink. It lacks the necessary properties. But Lungmen cannot allow a Blood Fiend to go out and feed on her own citizens in the streets, so Wei Yenwu made this arrangement to keep the peace.”

Beatrice was no fool. Even if Ch’en hadn’t spelled it out, she could guess the terrifying political and physical reality behind the compromise. It still made her feel a bit deceived by the city’s administration, though.

However, seeing Flandre’s completely indifferent, happy expression as she stared at the red liquid, Beatrice let out a long, defeated sigh.

“Then, Flandre, how are you going to eat it…?”

Before Beatrice could even finish her sentence, she watched in absolute horror and awe as Flandre picked up the massive, heavy container. The little girl tilted it back and simply started gulping it down.

Twenty-five liters of fresh, thick blood vanished down her throat in a matter of seconds. When she finally lowered the empty container, her tiny stomach hadn’t bulged in the slightest. It defied all laws of physics and biology.

“Flandre finished it just like that?” Beatrice hesitated for a second, her brain short-circuiting, before she mechanically reached for a tissue on the coffee table to wipe a stray drop of red from Flandre’s mouth.

“Mhm!” Flandre squinted her eyes happily, leaning into Beatrice’s gentle wiping like a pampered cat.

“Such a large box… won’t Flandre get a stomach ache?” Beatrice stared at the little tot in front of her. That container was almost as heavy as Flandre herself. The fact that the liquid had seemingly vanished into a black hole caused Beatrice’s intense curiosity to completely override her previous gloom.

“Flandre won’t. But so many different types of blood mixed together feels a bit strange. It’s not that tasty.” Flandre gave a serious, critical review of the city’s collective donation.

“There’s no other way. Wei Yenwu cannot ignore the fundamental laws of Lungmen and send a live person here for you to suck dry,” Ch’en stated firmly, indicating that the Chief Executive had already pushed his political power to the absolute limit to secure this much.

“Flandre understands.” Flandre knew that from a fragile human perspective, what Wei Yenwu had done was already bordering on the extreme edge of what their society could tolerate.

“Hmph. Sausage Dragon, are you planning to leave already?” Seeing Ch’en adjust her sword and turn toward the door, Beatrice spoke up, her tone dripping with sarcastic challenge.

“Char Siu Cat, I’ve tolerated your attitude for a long time today!” Ch’en snapped, glaring back at the wealthy feline.

“Hmph, you’ve had a cold, deadpan face since we were kids! And after coming back from your advanced studies at the Victorian Royal Guard Academy, you’ve become even more cold-blooded and boring.” Beatrice didn’t give Ch’en a single inch of quarter, stepping right up into her personal space.

“Char Siu Cat, what exactly do you want?” Ch’en gritted her teeth, her hand twitching near her scabbard.

Beatrice rolled her eyes dramatically. “What do you mean, what do I want? Flandre has been living here for so long, and have you ever bothered to come by except for today? Now that you’re finally here, can’t you stay a bit longer? What are you rushing back to that empty office for? Is there gold hidden in your toilet?!”

With every mocking sentence Beatrice fired off, Ch’en’s expression grew darker and more strained. Finally, just as the two were about to physically lunge at each other’s throats, Ch’en suddenly deflated, the exhaustion of her job catching up to her.

“Fine. I’m not going anywhere tonight. I’ll stay here and keep little Flandre company.”

After declaring her surrender, Ch’en kicked off her boots and walked deeper into the house.

“Hey, Sausage Dragon, why are you coming in so casually?! Did anyone actually invite you?!”

Seeing Ch’en look like she was planning to make herself at home, Swire instantly decided she wasn’t happy about that, either.

The two immediately resumed their fierce, back-and-forth bickering right there in the hallway.

Sitting comfortably on the sofa, Flandre happily reported the live broadcast of this fierce verbal battle to Alina via telepathy, all while sipping from a steaming cup of hot water.

Speaking of which, the habit of drinking hot water was formed back at Alina’s place. Every time Flandre returned from a long day out, Alina would have a warm cup prepared, always fearing that the little Vampire might catch a cold.

Although Vampires rarely ate ordinary human food because it tasted like ash to them, drinking water was absolutely no problem. After all, water originally had no taste anyway.