Qiuyun Yuhe let out a sigh of relief after looking at the mission that had appeared on the light screen before him.
It seemed this game mode didn't always follow a rigid, step-by-step path.
Since he hadn't expected to experience the maternal warmth missing in the main world when he first entered the world of Seraph of the End, he hadn't filled in any "abilities" during character creation.
Had he known better, he would have assigned himself an ability to cure the Apocalypse Virus.
Regret was useless now, however; he would just have to let Miku properly bend the rules to help him complete the mission.
Speaking of the mission, Qiuyun Yuhe furrowed his brow slightly—this task was no simple matter.
Putting aside the fact that his current six-year-old human body hadn't yet fully attained the strength he set before departure—meaning he couldn't beat a vampire if he went now—even the location was terribly vague. In his memory, he only recalled that Krul's Third City, Sanguinem, was located in Japan.
Yuichiro had escaped from Krul's territory, and Qiuyun Yuhe remembered the exit being somewhere in a snowy forest.
Yet human society was still normal right now; he had to go to school, so when on earth was he supposed to find the time to scout out snowy regions?
"Two years?"
Qiuyun Yuhe stood in a daze for a moment.
"There's always a way."
Glancing at the sun overhead, Qiuyun Yuhe walked toward an orphanage in the city.
The Hyakuya Orphanage.
"Mika-nii, you have to cheer for me! I'm definitely going to win!"
"Don't cheer for him, Mika-nii! Cheer for me, I'll be the last one standing!"
The innocent, playful voices of children drifted from in front of the orphanage gates.
Two four-or-five-year-old boys stood before a six-year-old blonde boy.
"This is a tough one. Taichi and Genma are both really strong. Who should I cheer for?" Mika cupped his chin in a deliberate display of deep thought, putting on a troubled expression.
The two little boys in front of him widened their eyes, brimming with anticipation as they waited for Mika-nii's encouragement.
"Yo, Mika, Taichi, Genma." A sudden voice broke into the conversation just as Mika was about to speak.
Mika looked toward the source of the voice.
"Ah, it's Yuhe-nii!"
Genma, who had just been demanding cheers from Mika, immediately bolted toward Qiuyun Yuhe.
"Good afternoon."
Tossing Genma's hair, Qiuyun Yuhe smiled and said.
"Yuhe, you're here again. Akane has been looking forward to seeing you all day."
Mika looked equally delighted to see Qiuyun Yuhe.
Ever since he and Akane had first arrived at the orphanage, this guy had constantly dropped by to play with them. Over the past few years, they had become very close friends.
"Taichi, go get Akane-nee and tell her Yuhe-nii is here. Yuhe-nii will definitely tell everyone the story of Journey to the West again later."
Mika said to Taichi.
"Okay~"
Taichi replied crisply, his face glowing with excitement at the prospect of hearing another story from Yuhe-nii, before scurrying into the orphanage.
"Yuhe, how have you been lately?"
Mika walked up to Qiuyun Yuhe.
"Pretty good."
Qiuyun Yuhe answered with a smile, then asked:
"Mika, is Mr. Saito at the orphanage today?"
"Mr. Saito? He seems to be chatting with the director about something, I think. Is something the matter, Yuhe?" Mika asked, curious as to why Yuhe was looking for Mr. Saito.
"Sort of. I heard Mr. Saito travels often, so I wanted to ask if he knows of a forest in Japan covered in snow."
That was right—Qiuyun Yuhe intended to ask Saito for the location of Sanguinem.
Besides being the manager of this Hyakuya Orphanage, Mr. Saito was also the Second Progenitor of the vampires, otherwise known as Kijima Makoto, formerly known as Rigr Stafford.
Furthermore, the Hyakuya Orphanage was not just an ordinary orphanage; the children here were all experimental subjects of the Byakuya Sect.
The Byakuya Sect was the very organization Saito belonged to, and the outbreak of the Apocalypse Virus two years later was intimately connected to one of the sect's experiments.
The virus hadn't broken out yet, and Yuichiro hadn't joined the Hyakuya Orphanage either.
Saito hadn't yet become a hands-off manager, so he would occasionally visit the Hyakuya Orphanage to forge closer ties with the children.
Qiuyun Yuhe didn't see why matching a location to a set of criteria should be a big deal—surely the Second Progenitor would know? As long as he described the environment outside the exit of Sanguinem, Saito would certainly think of that place.
As for whether Saito figured it out and refused to say—that was a whole other matter.
"Yuhe!"
A light, melodious female voice drifted over.
Qiuyun Yuhe turned his head and saw a brown-haired girl with her hair tied up and resting over her left shoulder, running toward him with Taichi, who had just left moments ago.
"Good afternoon, Akane."
Qiuyun Yuhe greeted the girl with a smile.
"Good afternoon!"
Seeing the purple-eyed boy before her, Hyakuya Akane felt a surge of joy.
"Akane, have you ever thought about changing your hairstyle? This one looks nice, but... uh, it's not very safe."
Girl, your hairstyle is dangerously flag-heavy!
"Eh? But I've been growing my hair out for so long," Hyakuya Akane said, looking puzzled.
"I'm not telling you to cut it off entirely, you know. Like, maybe you could tie it into twin tails or something."
Qiuyun Yuhe explained.
"Twin tails? Would I suit them?" Hyakuya Akane asked, lacking confidence.
"Of course you would! Right, Mika?" Qiuyun Yuhe offered an affirmative answer.
Never expecting to be asked for his opinion, Mika was caught off guard.
"Ah? Oh, I suppose they'd suit you pretty well. After all, you're a cute girl like Akane."
As expected, your answer is so heartwarming, Mika!
Qiuyun Yuhe sighed inwardly.
"Is that so? Yuhe, do you like twin tails?" Hyakuya Akane asked another question.
Qiuyun Yuhe was momentarily stunned by Hyakuya Akane's question.
"Um... well, I suppose I like them pretty well."
Thinking of his favorite anime characters, Qiuyun Yuhe realized twin tails certainly took up a large proportion of them.
"Let's put that aside for now, I'm going to go look for Mr. Saito."
"If it's Mr. Saito, I just saw him in the director's office."
Hyakuya Akane informed Qiuyun Yuhe of where she had just seen Saito.
"Is something wrong, Yuhe?"
"It's nothing major." Qiuyun Yuhe waved his hand dismissively and, without paying any mind to the others, dashed toward the director's office.
Watching Qiuyun Yuhe run off into the distance, Hyakuya Akane opened her mouth, wanting to call out to him, but quickly dismissed the thought.
She turned to look at Mika standing beside her.
Seeing Akane looking at him, Mika could only say: "Yuhe said he wanted to ask Mr. Saito if he knew about a forest located in a snowy area. I don't know anything else."
Seeing Mika shrug helplessly, Akane didn't press further, simply lowering her head to look at her hair in silence.
...
Knock, knock, knock~
"Come in."
Inside the director's office, the two people who had been conversing stopped talking when they heard the knock.
Qiuyun Yuhe opened the door and walked into the director's office: "Pardon the interruption. Good afternoon, Director. Good afternoon, Mr. Saito."
"Oh, it's Yuhe. Did you come to play with Mika and the others?"
Upon seeing who it was, the woman feigned casualness as she straightened her collar, then asked gently.
Qiuyun Yuhe looked at the spot on the director's neck where a bite mark had just been hidden by her collar, and shook his head.
"No, I came to see Mr. Saito."
"Oh? You're looking for me?"
Leaning against the desk, Saito clearly hadn't expected this. In recent years, he had only crossed paths with this boy a few times.
His first impression of the child was that he smelled exceptionally alluring.
Saito had once considered secretly killing Qiuyun Yuhe's mother and adopting Qiuyun Yuhe as a new experimental subject—or at the very least, tasting his blood.
Yet his instincts as the Second Progenitor of the vampires told him not to do so.
"Director, have you two finished talking? I have some questions I'd like to ask Mr. Saito for guidance on."
"You can step out first." Saito waved a hand at the director.
"Understood, Mr. Saito."
The director left the room, pulling the door shut behind her.
"Now then, what is it you want with me?"
Dressed in a suit, Saito looked curiously at the boy before him.