The place where Ian would stay for the night was the room at the end of the second floor of the town hall. Perhaps because no one had stayed there for a long time, the room held no particular sense of habitation. At most, a single bed and a single table sat in lonely emptiness.
“It’s not such a great room, but it should be enough to sleep for a day.”
Kamilla was the one who showed him the room. With a bright expression, she stamped her feet on the floor and shivered.
“Ugh, look how cold the floor is. I’ll ask the grandparents to turn on the heating. This is too cold!”
“I would appreciate that.”
Ian followed her into the room, lightly tracing his finger across the desk. The accumulated dust wiped away wherever his finger moved.
“Is your room right next door, Miss Kamilla?”
“Ah, yes. If you have any questions, feel free to come find me. I’ll do my best to answer them!”
Kamilla clenched both fists tightly, speaking with a confident expression. Ian smiled faintly.
“Thank you. Then I shall unpack a bit.”
“Ah, shall I help?”
“I’m fine. I believe I’d be more comfortable doing it alone.”
“Hmm… alright. Then have a good night!”
With those words, Kamilla waved her hand at Ian and left the room. Ian maintained his smile until she disappeared, but the moment she was gone, his expression completely dropped. His face turned cold in an instant.
*So far, so smooth.*
He roughly brushed off the thickly dusted chair and sat on it. The wooden chair creaked and wobbled.
*Now there are two courses of action I can take.*
He took out the pistol hidden inside his coat and placed it on the table. The heavy, cold chunk of metal gleamed, reflecting the moonlight.
Click.
When he pulled the slide slightly, silver-gleaming bullets were visible.
Vampire-exclusive bullets made by adding pure silver, bone powder, and a splash of holy water.
High-ranking vampires basically possessed a certain resistance to weaknesses, so without such high-grade ammunition, it was difficult to inflict proper damage. That was why he had paid a decent sum to acquire these.
He didn’t consider it a waste. Since the client paid a high reward, spending some money as basic funds wasn’t a major expense.
“……Hoo.”
Ian left the pistol loaded with silver bullets as it was, put a cigarette in his mouth, and leaned back. The chair creaked as it slid backward.
There were two stances he could take right now. First, the method of barging into her room and ambushing her with *“I know what you are, you son of a bitch!”* and second, the method of waiting until she came to him. Two options. Both had clear pros and cons.
Honestly, whichever he chose wouldn’t make much difference. In any case, she wouldn’t survive past tonight.
*No need to cause a commotion unnecessarily. Neutralize her at dawn, then take her captive or collect the corpse and leave.*
It went without saying, but he had no intention of greeting the elders. An outsider arrives, and the next day a child goes missing—who could calmly exchange greetings? The prime suspect was obvious enough that even a passing mutt would know who it was.
Of course, he wasn’t worried about a public manhunt. He hadn’t been caught in the police net even when hunting vampires at the club; there was no reason it would be different here. The Cartel certainly handled its affairs reliably.
“……I’ll hand over the corpse, but I should tear off a few limbs for myself.”
Muttering thus, Ian busily organized his luggage. He extinguished all lights and gathered only the necessities, relying solely on the lighter’s flame.
And so.
Midnight arrived.
*
“……The time has come.”
The moment it struck midnight, Kamilla shot up from the floor.
The pouring moonlight bleached her already pale face even whiter.
Her irises and sclera alike were dyed red—a trait that appeared when the urge to feed was felt strongly.
Normally, she would have endured it well. However, the sweet scent of the man sleeping in the next room was something she simply could not bear right now. She felt like she would go mad wanting to barge into the room immediately, sink her teeth into his neck, and tear out his veins.
There was no need to endure. Kamilla drooled as she cautiously left her room and stood before the door of the room where Ian was sleeping.
Just in case, she activated mind-reading, but no thoughts reached her. It was evidence that he was asleep.
It was true that mind-reading didn’t work on people with strong mental barriers, but she didn’t think that man was that type of human. There hadn’t been the slightest hint of it.
If she wanted to be certain, she should have used mind-reading earlier. But there hadn’t been a suitable opportunity, so it couldn’t be helped.
Well, whatever. She could kill ordinary mages, espers, or vampire hunters without any trouble. Even if she got hurt a little, biting his nape would be no trouble at all.
*He was fairly handsome too. Since it’s come to this, shall I make him my toy?*
Thinking thus, she stretched her mouth into a wide, tearing grin and opened Ian’s door.
Not a sound was made.
“……”
In the dark room with the lights off, only a single strangely shaped lighter remained, spewing fire emptily. And on the bed, a man who had pulled the covers completely over his head tossed and turned with his eyes closed. Kamilla’s eyes curved into crescent shapes as she slowly approached him.
Not a sound was made.
Kamilla dripped saliva as she carefully gazed at Ian’s face.
Completely asleep without knowing he had been invaded. Gazing at the teeth and red tongue visible between slightly parted lips, she could endure no longer. She slowly cut through the blanket covering Ian with her elongated fingernails.
Not a sound was made.
In the silence, Ian’s upper body was revealed through the torn blanket.
He wasn’t wearing pajamas—he had a black coat draped over him.
“……?”
Kamilla’s face blanked. Her lips parted as if to say “Huh?”, but Ian was faster than she could grasp the situation. He cracked his eyes open, aimed the concealed pistol at her abdomen.
And smiling, he pulled the trigger.
Bang.
What flowed between those lips that seemed about to speak was only terrible silence.
In the quiet space, the muzzle spat fire, and a silver bullet lodged in Kamilla’s abdomen.
“……!”
Her face twisted in pain. Ian seized the opening as Kamilla staggered, striking her face with the pistol and burying bullets in her knees and shoulders. Joints severed in an instant, she collapsed to the floor with a thud, and Ian kicked her abdomen before shoving the pistol into her gaping maw.
Crunch.
Hot metal drove between her bared teeth. The pistol itself bore a wound from the fierce force, but Ian paid it no mind. He brought a finger to his lips, making a gesture to shut up.
“……!”
Kamilla did not comply. She glared at Ian with bloodshot eyes and swung her elongated fingernails.
At her blatant rejection of the opportunity, Ian stepped backward and pulled the trigger continuously. The incoming attack was blocked by holding the grimoire up like a shield. Sparks flew as the cover of the Chronicles of the Deep Sea clashed with the fingernails, and Kamilla’s one remaining intact arm transformed into black seawater and melted away.
Her eyes shot wide open. Only now did she recognize the grimoire’s existence. But it was already too late.
Ian unhesitatingly released the empty pistol from his hand and kicked Kamilla’s head with his foot.
A cracking sound echoed only inside his head as several of Kamilla’s teeth flew through the air. A hole had formed in her throat, pierced by bullets.
*Got myself another breathing hole.*
Ian smiled faintly, grabbing Kamilla’s hair and slamming her into the floor. Perhaps because she was a vampire, a large amount of blood gushed out in a surge.
“Hoo……”
Only then did Ian close the lid of the Zippo lighter he had kept lit. At the same time, sound returned to the world.
“Kk-hack, kkehk……”
“Thanks for coming. Saved me the trouble.”
Squish……
Ian spat out as he stepped on Kamilla’s back. Perhaps because air was escaping entirely through the new hole in her throat, Kamilla could not speak properly aside from wheezing breaths. At best, all she could do was mutter in a tiny voice.
“You…… you were a mage……?”
“Isn’t it obvious when you look?”
Ian tapped the grimoire against his shoulder and sat down heavily on top of Kamilla. She coughed up air at the sensation of her chest and abdomen being completely crushed.
“Ugk……!”
“Still, I suppose a high-ranking vampire won’t die from mere silver bullets. They were fairly high-grade ones, though.”
“You damned mage bastard……!”
“Yeah, nice to meet you too.”
Ian smirked and pulled out the stake he had kept in his coat pocket, driving it through Kamilla’s thigh. She let out a silent scream.
“……!!”
“I’m not exactly the type to enjoy watching someone suffer. If you stay still, I’ll take you away myself, so shut up and stay put. Can you recover?”
“……B-blood, if I drink blood……”
“Approximately how much?”
“……About 1 liter.”
“You’ll get a quarter of that.”
“……Bastard.”
Kamilla planted her forehead against the floor and spat curses. Ian let a trickle of blood flow through the hole in her throat, resting his chin on his arms folded over his knees.
“There must be quite a bit of information you need to tell me. If you want to die painfully, don’t answer. I’m not going to force you, either.”
That’s forcing right there, you crazy spell-slinger bastard.
Kamilla felt those words surge up to the tip of her throat, but she held them back with miraculous patience.
“Now, first question. How do vampires increase their numbers? Is it through intercourse after all? Have you ever given birth?”
“You insane bastard……!”
This time, she couldn’t hold back.