Chapter 181: Pajama Party Between The Girls, Vladimir’s Past

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As Label finally calmed down a little while realizing she was no longer alone, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching outside her door. She panicked slightly. Right now she really wanted to be left alone with her thoughts.

Creaaak...

The door opened slowly. Label immediately thought it might be Riven coming to check on her, but when a smaller figure was revealed — that of a young, clear, brown-skinned girl with green-haired twin tails — Label was genuinely surprised.

It was none other than the young Pierrot, Daniela.

"D-Daniela?" Label wondered, tilting her head slightly. "What... do you need?"

"Hey Label, wanna do a pajama party?" Daniela asked cheerfully while stepping into the room. "Girl’s night and stuff, so we can get to know each other more! Look, I even brought her!"

"U-Uh..." A young Japanese girl stepped in behind her, wearing simpler everyday clothes that completely revealed her face. Label almost did not recognize her at first.

But that was definitely the young kunoichi who always followed Kagehisa along with his two other retainers. "Ah, Hinata...?!" Label gasped in surprise.

"What’s... a pajama party?" Hinata wondered, tilting her head in genuine curiosity. "And, um... Lord Kagehisa allowed me to come here. He said I needed to ’act more normal’ for now, whatever that means. So I’d gladly learn more about what’s considered ’being normal’ or something like that."

"Heheh, it’s when girls get together at night! We eat snacks, listen to music, chat about boys, and watch movies or play games! Board games are really fun too!" Daniela explained happily while bringing along her own collection of games and snacks.

"S-Sure..." Label muttered nervously as the two girls fully entered the room.

Daniela was extremely sociable — the complete opposite of Label — yet the two of them somehow got along very well right away. Hinata remained mostly reserved at first, but she was clearly curious about what "normal girls her age" actually did. Little by little she grew more confident in herself and began discovering an entirely new side of her personality that she never knew existed.

Meanwhile, outside in the hallway, Goki pressed his ears against the wall as he silently tried to listen to what the girls were talking about. Ren stood nearby and looked at him with mild curiosity.

"Are they talking about boys?" Ren asked quietly.

"I don’t know..." Goki answered. "Damn, these walls are kind of soundproof?"

As the two of them continued trying to spy on the girls, Kagehisa suddenly appeared behind them and placed a firm hand on Goki’s bald head, lifting him completely off the ground.

Goki’s face grew pale with pure horror the moment he realized they had been caught.

"Oi, Goki, what do you think you’re doing?" Kagehisa asked with a threatening glare. "Ren, you too?!"

"N-No! That’s not the same at all!" Ren muttered nervously. "Goki dragged me into this."

"Liar! He’s lying!" Goki cried out, only for his skull to nearly get crushed under Kagehisa’s iron grip. "Kuuuaaggghhh!"

As he screamed in pain, Kagehisa dragged both of them back to their assigned large room, which contained three separate beds.

"Here’s your room," Riven said calmly when they arrived. "About personal stuff, well, you can buy whatever you need once we go shopping tomorrow."

"Thanks," Kagehisa nodded respectfully.

"Woah, this is really damn spacious," Goki muttered while looking around.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Ren added with a formal bow.

Riven simply nodded and began walking away. "Make sure not to make too much noise. Goodnight."

Once he finished handling everything, Riven returned to Elisa and climbed into bed beside her. Elisa immediately hugged him tightly and fell asleep pressed against his chest, feeling completely safe.

Meanwhile, outside in the yard, Vladimir played around with Noir. He threw a bright frisbee for the wolf, who caught it mid-air while teleporting between shadows and small portals with increasing skill.

"Oho! Young Master, you’re becoming better and better at controlling your powers!" Vladimir declared with a fascinated smile.

As he continued playing with Noir, Vladimir glanced back at the house and carefully felt the various presences of everyone inside. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully before looking down at the wolf crest resting in his hand.

"..."

The reason he had even joined that dark cult in the first place was because he truly had nothing left in his life. He had been born in the deepest slums, orphaned at a young age with an absent father and a mother who died while giving birth to him.

A nearby orphanage nun had found him crying behind a pile of trash in a dark alley. She brought the baby back home, gave him a warm bath and clean clothes, and fed him formula.

Despite the kindness of the orphanage staff, however, Vladimir still faced many difficulties such as constant hunger, bullying from the other children, and a growing sense of not belonging. Eventually he ran away from the orphanage entirely, fearing that all the problems he had caused over the years by being such a reckless and aggressive child would eventually bring disaster upon the only people who had ever shown him kindness.

When he had absolutely nothing left, he found the cult during his teenage years — a group that welcomed someone as aggressive and driven by pure selfishness as he was.

He completed many missions for them, killing and robbing without hesitation... steadily rising through the ranks by stalking low-ranked hunters inside the Gates and attacking them when they least expected it.

When the opportunity to catch a big fish like Riven appeared, he truly believed he had finally succeeded. He thought his life would change forever once he captured someone so valuable.

But in the end, that mission only brought about his own death.

He had thought that was the end of everything. He expected to go straight to hell and pay for all his sins. In a strange way he had even wanted eternal damnation.

Yet what awaited him after death was... a second chance. One he never asked for, and one he knew deep down that he did not deserve.

Fenrir, as an Authority, held dominion over his soul after death. Although the wolf god originally planned to devour it, he instead offered the soul to Riven, turning Vladimir into a permanent servant for his new "toy."

Vladimir still did not know what he was supposed to do with this second life. But once he had been allowed to leave for a short time, he reunited with the remnants of the cult — all of whom had believed he was long dead.

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