The Regressed Demon Lord is Kind

Joachim’s eyes became wide.
He had seen that object before; it was the red marble that the leader of the assassins had tempted him with.

“Blood Vessel.”

“I saw this rolling around on the ground by chance.”

Zich’s smile was completely shameless.
His servants, Hans and Snoc (especially Snoc), seemed like they had a lot to say, but even till the end, they didn’t say anything.

“Do you know what this is?”

“If you are asking me about what or where it came from, or who made it, I don’t know anything about it.”

“Then…”

“But I know its abilities and side effects.” Since he heard it directly from Joachim before he regressed, Zich was sure of his information about the Blood Vessel.

“…You really have a lot of strange and mysterious knowledge.”

“I’m happy to help people using my knowledge.”

By his reply, it seemed as if Zich was not going to tell him where he got his information from.
But Joachim did not deeply pry into the matter.

“What is its ability?”

“It makes your body healthy and helps you overcome your hemophobia.
But most of all, you get a power called ‘Blood Domination.’”

“Blood Domination.
It doesn’t sound too good.”

“As the name implies, it lets you control people’s blood according to your will.
It’s an extremely powerful skill.”

With that ability alone, Joachim had become one of the four subordinates of ‘The Demon Lord of Strength, Zich Moore.’ But Joachim scrunched his face after hearing that he would gain the ability to control blood. 

“…Other than Blood Domination, everything else sounds extremely attractive to me.
Then what is the side effect?”

“You will become crazy for blood.”

“…”

Joachim pursed his lips.
The people around him also looked at Zich with surprise.

Sponsored Content

“…That wasn’t a clear explanation, although it sounded rather negative.
Could you explain it to me in more detail please?”

“To say it simply, it’s like becoming a vampire.
You are going to become a monster who will do anything to see blood.”

Before his regression, Zich thought that Joachim’s love for blood was innate.
However, the present Joachim was an ordinary human who hated blood much more than most people. 

When the past Joachim explained to Zich that his love for blood came from the Blood Vessel, Zich had brushed it off as nonsense—but now, Zich realized that Joachim had been telling him the truth.

“…But Mr.
Zich, there must be a solution to that issue, right?” Joachim still trusted Zich, so he asked calmly; but if Zich had offered him the ‘Blood Vessel’ thoughtlessly, he was going to get angry.

“Don’t worry.
When you absorb it, you won’t feel a great thirst for blood at first.
Maybe not at all.
But as you use your powers more and more, things will change.”

“You’re saying that my desire for blood will increase as I use more power.”

“It won’t matter if you use your own blood.
But of course, if you use too much of your blood, you will die.
Thus, you will only be able to utilize your power to the maximum if you use other people’s blood.
However, the more you handle other people’s blood, the desire for blood will increase until it eventually consumes you.”

“To what extent?”

Zich recalled how Joachim was before his regression.
“I think you may reach a point where you would want to kill a bunch of people to just bathe in their blood.”

An eerie silence filled the whole area.
People looked at the Blood Vessel that Zich was holding with fear, and some gulped their dried-up saliva back down.

Joachim fell into contemplation; in his mind, he balanced the scale between risk and return and thought about what decision he should make.

“…If I start to crave blood, it will cause great chaos.”

“Are you worried that you would be consumed by your desire for blood and cause chaos in the world?”

“I can’t help but worry.”

“Don’t worry about that.
I’m not someone who will turn a blind eye to something I suggested.”

Joachim asked hopefully, “Is there some kind of way?” 

However, Hans knew that Zich probably wouldn’t give Joachim a normal answer.

“If you become corrupt, I will personally come to kill you.”

His response was extreme.
Hans and Snoc stared at Zich in shock, but Joachim laughed.

“Haha! I see.
I’m glad to have a foolproof, preventive measure like you.”

Sponsored Content

Surprisingly, Joachim looked pleased, and his eyes landed on the Blood Vessel.

“Alright.
Let me accept your favor.”

Joachim ended up absorbing the Blood Vessel as he had done so before Zich’s regression, yet there was a low probability that he would abuse his power and cause havoc all around the world like before.
Zich had changed Joachim’s past which led him into becoming a vampire.

*    *    *

Not long afterward, Joachim officially announced his position to inherit the Dracul estate.
No one protested Joachim’s succession, but what he did after that stirred up not only the estate but the whole kingdom—he revealed all the immoral misdeeds his father, the previous Count, had committed.

As expected, they received all kinds of criticism and insults, and public sentiment turned sour.
Still, the new Count Dracul completed the tasks he had to do calmly and efficiently.

“Haa!” Joachim sat in Count Dracul’s office and sighed. 

He placed down the document he was holding and looked up at the ceiling.
There was a mountain of documents in front of him, and there were a lot more unattended documents piled on the opposite side of him.

Knock! Knock!

“Come in.” Joachim muttered quietly because he was still not used to talking informally.
When he saw Brod come in with an armful of documents, Joachim sighed.

Brod commented, “You seem tired, sir.”

“I’m confident that if I lay down on a bed right now, I will wake up the next afternoon in one blink.”

“Still, isn’t this what you wanted to do, sir?”

“You don’t have to remind me.
I’m doing all this work without complaining because I know that.”

“Fufu! But it’s fortunate that the Blood Vessel seems to be having an effect.”

Joachim placed his hand on his head.
He felt exhausted, but it was understandable, considering all the work he was doing right now.

“If it were like before, I would have collapsed onto the bed by now.”

“I am happy to see how healthy you’ve become, sir.”

“Really? Isn’t it because you are happy that you can continue to make me work?”

“Forgive your unfaithful servant, as I am unable to deny that claim.”

Then, Brod took the documents he brought and placed them on top of the document pile.
Joachim groaned as the mountain pile of documents grew even higher.

“I didn’t think I would miss the time when I used to be sickly.”