"Could it be Mother?"
Kiriya Ai, Kiriya Sumire, Kiriya Kurenai, and the others, who usually stayed at home like proper ladies, rarely going out and not very worldly, looked at each other, unsure who Yoshimura Eto was referring to. They even couldn't help but suspect she was suggesting bringing their mother in.
However, as the eldest sister, Kiriya Nadeshiko, the rebellious Kiriya Botan, and the especially intelligent Kiriya Fujino all had slight changes in expression, having already guessed which vampire faction Yoshimura Eto was targeting.
Isn't that way too bold? Their bloodlines hadn't even fully awakened yet.
Unlike snow women who hid deep in the mountains or succubi who tried their best to avoid human contact, vampires had quite a large power base, with many family factions.
In this world where magic density was very low, and aside from evil forces that deliberately stirred up chaos to absorb evil power and grow stronger, very few superhumans would act freely. Vampires, who grew stronger the longer they lived, could be said to be quite powerful.
However, like fish leaving water, the low magic environment had indeed severely affected all supernatural beings that relied on magic. Even the merfolk princess Melo couldn't awaken her bloodline, and many vampires faced the same issue.
The vampires of the Kiriya family were like this, their bloodlines hadn't fully awakened. Not only were they afraid of sunlight and needed to drink human blood, but even their abilities weren't strong.
They had even once been exposed to the human military and nearly captured for longevity experiments related to demi-humans. In the end, they escaped thanks to the protection of the true ancestor vampire, Akasha Bloodriver.
Now that the true ancestor had disappeared, and their bloodlines weren't pure enough to be accepted by other vampires, they were once again targeted by the military.
When Yoshimura Eto suggested recruiting other vampire factions, their first thought was the missing true ancestor, Akasha.
Of course, it wasn't that they were actually going to bring Akasha in. If they could find her, they wouldn't be stuck in such a terrible situation of being hunted by the military.
Akasha might be gone, but demi-humans connected to her hadn't disappeared.
Aside from weak vampires like them who had once been protected by her, there was also the powerful vampire family, the Shuzen family, and Akasha's daughter, Akashiya Moka.
"You mean… Akashiya Moka? The daughter of the true ancestor Akasha?"
Kiriya Nadeshiko pondered for a moment and looked at Yoshimura Eto, testing her.
Although it seemed like there were two options, and the Shuzen family was far stronger than Moka alone, she didn't expect the Shuzen family to help them.
Because they had been driven out by the Shuzen family.
Originally, Akasha had only disappeared, not been confirmed dead, so the human military wouldn't risk offending a true ancestor just to go after weak vampires like them.
But the current head of the Shuzen family, Shuzen Gyokuro, had a complicated relationship with Akasha. Though they seemed to serve the same husband, that husband had also disappeared before Akasha vanished.
Gyokuro blamed her husband's disappearance on Akasha, who had once been especially favored, and her relationship with both Akasha and Akasha's daughter grew worse and worse.
Then Akasha disappeared as well. The Kiriya family, who had been under her protection, was implicated and driven out by Shuzen Gyokuro. Only then did the human military dare to act against them, surrounding and pursuing them, forcing them to seek protection from the elf princess Iris, and now they had even acknowledged Lord Hikigaya as their master.
Although the journey had been rough, it was all worth it. As their master, Lord Hikigaya not only protected them but also gave them the power to defend themselves, without demanding much in return.
"Th-this…"
Kiriya Sumire, Kiriya Kurenai, and the others looked at each other after hearing their eldest sister mention Akasha's daughter, Akashiya Moka, wondering if they had misheard.
They could barely protect themselves and had to rely on their master to avoid becoming experimental sacrifices for humanity's pursuit of immortality. And now they were supposed to recruit the true ancestor's daughter to come serve their master together?
Wasn't this a joke? What right did they have to bring her over?
Even asking their own mother to come serve their master would be easier than bringing in Moka.
Kirishima Touka and the others were also surprised. Yoshimura Eto hadn't discussed this with them beforehand, and they didn't know what she was thinking.
Still, Eto might look petite, not much older than Hinami, but she was actually much older than them, with far more experience in human society. Here, they had to listen to her.
At the very least, Eto thought things through more carefully than they did. Since they were all on the same side, there was no need to worry about her having bad intentions.
"That's right, Akashiya Moka. As far as I know, Akasha only has this one daughter, and she seems to be living alone in the Shuzen family, not doing very well."
Yoshimura Eto looked around, seeing the surprise and doubt on everyone's faces, and nodded with a smile, admitting her plan to Kiriya Nadeshiko and the other five sisters.
"Don't you think this is a great opportunity?"
Since she had proposed recruiting other vampire factions, she naturally knew about the situation of the Kiriya family and Akasha.
As Akasha's daughter, Moka, like her mother, was equally disliked by Shuzen Gyokuro.
However, Moka was still Gyokuro's husband's daughter, so unlike the Kiriya family, she wouldn't be driven out. Even if she wasn't liked, she would remain in the Shuzen family.
But if she wasn't living well, that made her a potential target for recruitment.
Moka, as the true ancestor's daughter, had extremely pure blood, undoubtedly making her a very powerful vampire. Bringing her in would greatly boost their strength.
Mm… even though there seemed to be many vampires on their side, more than the elves, even, none of them could stand on their own. All of them were relatively weak.
Without their master's awakened magic essence to nourish them, most of them weren't much stronger than newly awakened magical girls. With a bit more training from their master, those magical girls would soon catch up.
As for the vampire sisters currently being punished and played with by their master, Tsukishiro Sayo and her older sister, Lady Riya, they weren't even local vampires, but ones from another world's demon realm. It was hard for them to truly relate to their situation.
Sayo even spent all day in the library reading manga and novels, with no interest in power struggles at all. Only when she got hungry would she think of going to their master for "feeding."
In this situation, bringing in Moka, who had both strength and connections, was their only chance to keep developing.
Otherwise, every time something happened, they'd just end up like now, two groups of pitiful people huddling together for warmth. That was honestly too miserable, with no future to speak of.
In the Service Club, the master's childhood friends, the elf princess from another world, the dragon clan leader, and major family conglomerates were all actively recruiting new members. With their own situation being so awkward, they had even less reason to give up.
"Akashiya Moka, as the daughter of the true ancestor, has a sensitive identity. She should currently be studying at a yokai academy filled entirely with demi-humans. She wouldn't come to the human world to study with us, so we can't recruit her."
As the eldest of the Kiriya family, how could Nadeshiko not know about Moka's relationship with the Shuzen family?
Her mother had told her that the root cause of the bad relationship between Shuzen Gyokuro and Akasha was jealousy, mainly because Gyokuro wasn't as strong as Akasha.
According to her mother's own observations, because Gyokuro wasn't strong enough, she spent less time serving their husband in bed compared to Akasha.
Once or twice was fine, but every time Gyokuro had to lie there watching Akasha being intimate with her husband, it was something no one could endure. And Gyokuro wasn't a particularly generous person, so naturally she disliked Akasha more and more.
Now, Moka, as Akasha's biological daughter, looked very similar to her mother, so her life in the Shuzen family wasn't great.
Eto's suggestion to recruit Moka sounded feasible at first glance, and Nadeshiko was indeed tempted.
But thinking about their own strength, and the difficulty of persuading Moka to leave the Shuzen family to serve their master, likely facing intervention from Shuzen Gyokuro, she calmed down and shook her head.
"Moka might not be doing well in the Shuzen family, but no matter how bad it is, it's still better than us. She's unlikely to come serve our master with us."
No matter what, she was still the true ancestor's daughter. Even if she wasn't favored, she was still part of the Shuzen family. Bringing her over would be as difficult as facing the military, if not harder.
"Our master has awakened magic essence. He can awaken bloodlines and increase the strength of demi-humans. Isn't that enough?"
Yoshimura Eto shook her head with a smile, still convinced.
"For Moka, whose mother has disappeared, wouldn't she want to become a true ancestor like her mother under our master's development?"
"Once she becomes stronger, wouldn't she have a better chance of finding her missing mother?"
"Of course, strength is important, but so is influence. The Shuzen family can't support her. No matter how strong she becomes alone, there's a limit."
Eto's own experiences were similar to Moka's. As a ghoul whose mother had died and father had disappeared, she understood the longing for family. She believed Moka would want to grow stronger to find her missing parents.
And right now, the fastest way for demi-humans to grow stronger was undoubtedly by absorbing their master's awakened magic essence.
"So you mean… let Moka become the leader of our faction? To lead us against other demi-humans and human groups?"
Only now did Kiriya Nadeshiko fully understand Eto's intentions. She had thought Eto only wanted to pull Moka in, but hadn't expected her to go as far as making Moka lead them.
"From any angle, Moka is the most suitable. If I said I'd take the position, you wouldn't agree. And if you took it, we wouldn't agree either."
Seeing Nadeshiko wavering and the other sisters deep in thought, Eto slowly smiled.
"But Moka is different. She's strong, she's the true ancestor's daughter, and she has connections."
"Gyokuro may not like her, but she has several biological daughters. Do you really think none of them are close to Moka?"
"We can recruit those who are close to her. And those who aren't… we can ask our master to 'educate' them, can't we?"
Currently, the Shuzen family had four daughters: the eldest Shuzen Akua, second daughter Shuzen Kokoa, third daughter Akashiya Moka, and youngest Shuzen Kokoa… no, youngest Shuzen Kokoa? (Note: original implies youngest daughter distinct, retained structure.)
Even excluding Moka, there were still three daughters. Akua was especially strong, while the youngest was the weakest.
"Gulp…"
Realizing they weren't just planning to bring Moka in, but to drag all the Shuzen daughters into this, Kiriya Nadeshiko and the others swallowed hard, exchanging looks.
Eto really was unbelievably bold.
Even if Shuzen Gyokuro wasn't as strong as Akasha, she was still extremely powerful. Targeting her daughters like this, tearing apart her family, it was incredibly daring.
But… do it!
If it were Akasha, who had once protected them, they would hesitate to involve her daughter.
But Shuzen Gyokuro, who had driven them out, was different.
If they could drag her daughters in and make them serve their master alongside them, they wouldn't hesitate at all.
Of course, the goal was still far off. Gyokuro was strong, and her daughters weren't weak either. They weren't at a level to challenge them yet.
To target the Shuzen family, they'd first need to awaken their own bloodlines and let Moka lead them to grow stronger.
Once they had a justified reason, they could even get support from the elf princess and the dragon leader.
After all, they were still too weak. Even combined with the ghouls, they couldn't form an independent faction. They would still have to choose between the elf or dragon factions.
Whichever faction helped them deal with the Shuzen family, that would be the side they chose.
Hmm… theoretically, they could also join Kaede's human faction. With so many magical girls, dealing with the Shuzen family shouldn't be an issue.
But magical girls were more orderly. Interfering in someone's family affairs like this didn't seem very fitting for them.
"Then let's discuss properly how to bring Moka over, and later how to have her and the Shuzen daughters serve our master together."
Seeing everyone convinced, Eto narrowed her eyes, smiling as she refined the plan with Nadeshiko and the others.
"Actually, you don't need to worry. Only by absorbing our master's awakened magic essence can everyone become true ancestor-level vampires."
"Once the Shuzen daughters all become true ancestor-level vampires, maybe Gyokuro will even thank us for bringing them in."
———
As Hachiman's game progressed, the snow women, vampires, and other groups were all discussing things intensely.
However, among the demi-human groups, only the succubi weren't gathered on-site for discussion.
The quiet, timid succubus Sakurase Shino, whose bloodline had been awakened through development, hadn't contacted the other succubi. She belonged to the socially anxious group led by Hayase Saki. Having just gone through punishment not long ago, she had returned to Saki and Narahashi Miki's group, drawing envy, jealousy, and resentment.
The three Amaki sisters formed a natural succubus group, but Amaki Lamy and Amaki Lily were currently being played with in the game stage. Their eldest sister, Amaki Lemi, didn't dare appear in the Service Club.
Even Lamy and Lily, who had only been suppressed for a few hundred years, couldn't withstand the stimulation from Hachiman's life aura. As their eldest sister, Lemi's suppressed desires were even stronger.
For others, failing to absorb life energy in time after relief might just leave them a bit tired. But for Lemi, failing to absorb it would be unbearable.
That was why she had always been cautious about approaching Hachiman, not even daring to use the shared-sensation collar.
On one hand, she worried that the three sisters together might cause irreversible effects on him. On the other, she feared her long-suppressed desires would explode uncontrollably.
But now, with her sisters personally verifying his strength, Lemi could finally relax. She knew he had more than enough capacity to assist them while also dealing with so many others.
"Huh? Where's Komachi? Why did she leave?"
The silver twin-tailed nightmare Naruse Maria was chatting with Asougi Shion about future plans for their little sister group, while happily absorbing the desires and excitement in the Service Club as energy. Suddenly, she noticed Komachi had disappeared.
As a nightmare from the demon world, she wasn't much different from a succubus in general. However, her trait was power, so she didn't suffer from instinctual urges like ordinary succubi.
Although she was still interested in those things, she could directly convert the "impure energy" described by shrine maidens like Matou Sakura into power, so she didn't feel hungry like succubi did.
Normally, such energy produced from human desires and negative emotions was messy and difficult to refine.
But the atmosphere in the Service Club right now, like that of a virgin succubus, was both intense and pure. It was extremely rare, and Naruse Maria found herself gradually getting absorbed in it.
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