Immediately after finishing his alchemy work, Ian asked the Godmother’s understanding and made a phone call.
It was to find out Dolores’s disposition. Since he had already received Dolores’s permission, the Godmother readily told Ian the disposition she had tested in the past.
[She’s closer to good than evil. However, if someone commits an act that goes against the goodness she pursues, she has an extreme personality that makes her try to eliminate them rather than teach them.]
It was close to midnight.
Bathed in moonlight slipping in through the crack in the window, Ian let out a low hum. Perhaps because it was a residential area where few people lived, there were no pedestrians to be seen on the street. Only the streetlamps illuminated the dark pavement.
[Still, the goodness she believes in isn’t so far outside common sense, so you shouldn’t have much to worry about. Her energy is a bit high, so she might drain you, though.]
“Then it should be fine.”
[Yes. Dolores is a good mage.]
With the Godmother’s endorsement, there was no reason to refuse to accompany Dolores. He nodded in satisfaction and quietly let the cold wind blowing in from outside the window wash over him.
The wind was colorless and odorless. It carried no pollen, no scent of dust, no fragrance of flowers. It was simply cold.
Ian stood in that wind for a moment, looking up at the sky, then shut the window and turned around.
“Thank you for telling me, Eunha. If I get the chance next time, I’ll repay you.”
[No, it’s all right……]
The Godmother tried to refuse Ian’s words with a faint laugh, then trailed off for a moment as if something had come to mind.
After a short pause, she spoke again.
[Then could I ask you to get just one item I need from the Owl? I’ll pay all the costs, with an extra fee on top.]
It was not such a difficult request. Ian drew the curtains over the window and answered calmly.
“Ah, I can do that much for you. What should I buy?”
[I think a female goat’s heart, thread spun by a virgin, and a plant raised on a virgin’s blood should be enough.]
“Mm…… There are many things related to purity.”
Goats had long been regarded as symbols of demons, and there were in fact quite a few demons that took the form of goats, so they were rather distant from purity. To begin with, wasn’t a bicorn an animal with two horns just like a goat? Occult hatred of goats was practically orthodox.
On the other hand, things like thread spun by a virgin and a plant raised on a virgin’s blood were objects closely connected to purity. They naturally had to be far removed from goats.
“They’re contrasting items, but if it isn’t rude to ask, may I know what you’re going to use them for?”
Ian asked carefully. Eunha answered readily.
[It’s nothing much. I’m thinking of summoning a demon. Amducias—do you know it, by any chance?]
“Amducias…… Ah, isn’t it the demon that resembles a unicorn? The one said to grant knowledge of plants and talent in music.”
[That’s right. You know a lot about demons too, don’t you?]
Eunha murmured with a small hehehe. Between her words, there was the faint rustling sound of blankets. It seemed she was lying in bed.
After turning off the light in his room, Ian roughly pushed the grimoires strewn across his bed into a corner and lay down on the bed as well, just like Eunha. The soft sensation gently enveloped his body.
“I once looked into them personally. I don’t know the details very well.”
[Everything you said is correct. Amducias is a demon of purity who only contracts with virgins, so materials related to purity have to be used in the summoning. The goat’s heart is included to signify the symbol of impurity being purified into a symbol of purity.]
“Ah, I see.”
[Yes. If possible, it would be best to use a plant that has absorbed my blood and thread I spun myself, but that would take a long time. And I don’t really know how to spin thread either.]
Eunha said as she shifted around. Instead of answering right away, Ian fell silent for a moment.
‘……If she can do it herself, doesn’t that ultimately mean she’s a virgin too?’
“Mm.”
Information he had learned unintentionally. Ian did not show it, simply letting out a vague hum and changing the subject.
“Understood for now. Then if they have the materials you mentioned, I’ll buy them and bring them to you. If not, I’ll place an order.”
[Yes, thank you, Ian. If you let me know the price of the materials, I’ll transfer the money right away.]
“Understood. Then……”
[Ah, yes. Have a good night. I hope your transaction goes well tomorrow.]
“Yes. Have a good night as well, Eunha.”
[Hehe, yes.]
At the same time as Eunha answered, a rustling sound came through. Ian hung up the phone, set his alarm, and closed his eyes.
Wriggle, wriggle.
The grimoires crawled over to his side and pressed themselves against him. The Hand of Re-Creation climbed onto Ian’s stomach, while the Deep-Sea Travelogue clung to his side and vibrated as if pleased. The Blue Shackles and the Book of Contracts timidly approached and attached themselves to his other side, opposite the Deep-Sea Travelogue.
“……”
It was quite uncomfortable, but since he knew they would cling to him again at dawn even if he pushed them away, Ian did not push the grimoires off.
However, when he thought that he would have to live like this for the rest of his life, his head did throb a little.
Still, what could he do? It was all fate. He had no choice but to accept it.
Thinking that, Ian fell asleep together with the grimoires.
They were not particularly warm. Instead, they were hard.
*
The next day, 8:50 a.m.
Ian arrived about ten minutes earlier than the appointed time and waited for the group on a nearby bench.
The weather had eased up quite a bit, so it was not very cold. The air was unusually clear as well, and there were not many people near the station. Unlike the packed public transportation, it was thanks to there being few people who rode the train.
Well, it was a weekday morning, so that was only natural.
“……Phew.”
Ian drank an iced Americano he had bought at a nearby café and watched the street.
Perhaps because he usually immersed himself more in the extraordinary, watching ordinary daily life like this tended to make his heart feel fairly at ease.
It felt as though he was not being alienated from everyday life. It was not a bad feeling.
Slurp.
He sucked on the straw stuck in his coffee cup and stared beyond the crosswalk. Then, among the countless people, he spotted a woman with light brown hair.
A woman whose waist was bent forward by about fifteen degrees, whose fingers fidgeted over her stomach, and whose defining feature was an overwhelming chest that could not be hidden even by rather loose clothing.
It was Han Yuna. Ian threw the nearly empty Americano cup into a nearby trash can, loosened up his stiff body, and started walking toward the crosswalk.
Just then, the light turned green. Han Yuna shuffled awkwardly among the people as she walked over, then spotted Ian standing on the opposite side and quickened her steps with a toddling rush. Her expression changed from moment to moment.
Surprise. Excitement. Thrill. Embarrassment. Shyness. Fear. Acceptance. Resolve.
Those rapidly shifting emotions were all plainly revealed on her face. Ian chuckled and waved at her as she approached.
“You’re early.”
“Y-yeah. I woke up e-early…… Good morning……”
She answered in a voice that seemed to sink into the ground, her ears dyed bright red. Ian took her back to the bench in front of the station.
“The others aren’t here yet. I was first, and you’re next.”
“R-really……? Then the two of us can talk for a bit……”
“Mm, I guess so? Why? Do you have something to say?”
“N-no! Nothing special. Just, um…… Hehe, I was wondering if you’d been doing well…… It’s been a while since we saw each other……”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, the last time he had seen Han Yuna’s face was when she had acted as his fake lover.
That had already been nearly two months ago, so it had indeed been quite a while. Ian smiled bitterly and leaned back against the bench.
“Sorry. I should’ve contacted you in the meantime.”
“N-no, it’s okay. You’re busy too…… You don’t need to match yourself to me.”
Han Yuna answered while kneading the fingers resting on her thighs. Ian nodded.
“Yeah, thanks. More importantly, have you been doing well?”
“Y-yeah. Nothing really special happened. I just waited until you c-called me…… You said we were going vampire hunting.”
“Ah, that. Some circumstances came up, so I went by myself. So, can I charge it as something else instead?”
“Uh…… Yeah. I think that’s fine. As long as it isn’t too d-difficult a request……”
Yuna let out an awkward ehehe and lightly stroked the guitar case she had brought.
It was then.
“Hmm, the young lady has arrived. Where are the other members of the party?”
“I think we’ll have to wait until they come find us first, Sister Dolores. They know your features, but we don’t know theirs.”
The word “young lady,” something not often used in everyday speech, came from behind them. Ian’s head turned on its own.
“That’s true too, Ari! I’ll give you a special pat!”
“Ugh. Don’t, Sister.”
The owners of the voices were one petite girl and one woman as tall as an adult man.
Of the two, the tall woman was wearing a red dress.
Yes, a red dress. It was indeed the extravagant kind of dress one might see in a romance fantasy. It was so dazzling it made one’s eyes hurt just to look at it.
“Woohoohoo.”
Perhaps because of her flamboyant appearance, the people around her all glanced at her at least once. It would have been understandable for her to feel embarrassed, yet she instead seemed to enjoy those gazes, smiling coyly as she spun around once. Her red hair fluttered lightly, just like the skirt of her red dress.
“……Ah.”
Ian felt his head go faint for an instant and desperately hoped she was not Dolores.
+
This is the Dolores illustration!