How many times in a lifetime does one get to see an Elder? For an ordinary human living outside the Duchy, seeing one once in their life is usually all they get. After encountering an Elder, they would likely lose their life—either becoming a thrall or a meal.
In that sense, how lucky of a human am I to have drawn the interest of three Elders and still be alive.
"Sniff, sniff. An unimpressive male. He looks weak. Is this truly the King of Humans?"
"Hmph, why did Sis bring such a suspicious thing?"
"Are you good at fighting? Care to test your strength against me?"
"If he happens to break, give him to me. I'll fix him up and put him to use."
Then again, perhaps I am an incredibly unlucky human.
The boar beastman rolls his eyes and snorts, sniffing at me. The little witch with stitch marks sewn into her body circles around me. Caught between the two, I felt like I could be crushed to death at any moment. I'd rather just give them some blood if that was what they wanted and be done with it, but unfortunately, it wasn't that kind of interest, leaving me with no way to shake them off.
Look at this mess just because Tir stepped away for a moment. Is there no one to save me?
"That is enough."
Did my prayers reach the heavens? Valdamir, who had just approached, restrained them with a low voice. At the words of the Elder possessing unrivaled power and status among them, the two Elders backed away from me, albeit reluctantly.
Duke Redblood Valdamir spoke without even looking my way, feigning disinterest.
"Whether he is the King of Humans or not is of no consequence to us. There is only one fact of importance to us: the Progenitor brought him here."
"Tsk, that's exactly what I don't like!"
At his cold deduction, Kabila scowled and whipped her head around. Even so, Ruken couldn't let go of his lingering obsession.
"Valdamir! Aren't you curious? They called him the King of Humans! I've seen Kings of Beasts countless times, but this is my first time seeing a King of Humans! Whether it's true, what kind of power he possesses, why he appeared alongside the Progenitor!"
"We are vampires, Ruken."
If Ruken was a blazing fire, Valdamir was like a freezing, sunken sea. Even against such compelling questions, Valdamir answered with boundless tranquility and coldness.
"Our King, our God, is the Progenitor alone. The King of Humans has nothing to do with us."
A flame might evaporate a drop of water. However, no matter how massive the flame, tossing it into a lake will inevitably extinguish it. Before Valdamir, even Ruken's vigor quickly died down.
"Tch. I got it, I got it!"
Ruken stomped away with heavy footsteps. Seeing the two keep their distance, I tried to let out a sigh of relief... but couldn't. Instead, I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at the tiny droplets of blood floating around my body.
Disinterested, my foot. The most dangerous person here is the one paying attention to me!
'The Progenitor has shown interest in humans a few times before, but until now, it was merely a passing curiosity. However, now something is different. I must find out what that difference is.'
The blood droplets are watching my every move. It's not a live dissection... but Valdamir is observing and evaluating me, pretending otherwise.
Disinterested? Sure, that's not incorrect. He has no interest in me, the 'King of Humans'! But he's overflowing with curiosity toward me as 'the guest brought by the Progenitor'!
The only relief is that he has absolutely no intention of harming me. He purely intends to observe me only to the extent that it doesn't interfere with me. The reason for that is, of course, his loyalty to the Progenitor...
But can that truly be driven by loyalty alone? Even for a vampire?
I can read human minds, but that doesn't mean I know everything. Does reading a book once make you grasp all its underlying meanings and principles? Telepathy only goes so far as reading a human like a written record. That's why the process of watching and observing is necessary. Sometimes it's also to satisfy a little curiosity.
Ah, I can't stand it anymore. I suddenly stepped forward with a smile and asked.
"Duke Redblood. Where did Tir go?"
It was a simple question, but it was layered with various implications. The thickest emotion among them was provocation. I was subtly emphasizing, as if by accident, that I was someone who could call Tir—their God and King—by a nickname.
At first, even the Elders failed to catch on. To them, even the name Tirkanjaka was not something to be uttered lightly, so they couldn't immediately associate it with the name 'Tir'. It was Kabila who realized it a beat late, her eyes going wide.
"Whaaaat? Tir? I'm asking just in case, like, really, really just in case. You. You weren't calling Sis that, were you?"
"That's right. Tir. I mean your Progenitor, Tirkanjaka."
"Do you want to die?"
She was a monster who had devoured humans for hundreds of years. A threatening aura naturally emanated from her, but it was all talk; she couldn't actually kill me. I was Tir's guest, after all. Instead of cowering, I replied with ease.
"No, we agreed to speak casually with each other, so what's the problem? You call her 'Sis' too, don't you?"
"The Progenitor is my older sister, so calling her 'Sis' is a given! But for a snot-nosed brat like you to call her by her name, let alone a nickname...!"
Kabila rather yelled back in outrage.
"I'm so jealous I can't stand it!"
"You're jealous? Then you can just do it too."
"How? How could I dare utter Sis's honored name...! Anyway, if I say don't, then don't! You don't have the right!"
"What kind of right do you need to call someone by their name?"
"First of all, age! Sis is 1,208 years old, and I'm 1,108 years old! We're a whole century apart! If anyone's going to call Sis by a nickname, it's only proper that I do it before some wet-behind-the-ears brat like you!"
...Given that her blood has literally coagulated, 'wet-behind-the-ears' was probably meant in the most literal sense. Dumbfounded by a statement only a vampire could make, I replied.
"Is age really that important? What, do you want me to call you 'Grandma' then?"
"Not even close! Sis is way older than your great-great-great-grandmother! Do you get it?! The gap between you and Sis! So don't you dare call her familiarly ever again!"
She's the exact opposite of Tir. I didn't expect her to actually emphasize her age. Anyway, that was the extent of Kabila's reaction. As for Ruken, while he thought it was insolent, he wasn't sensitive enough to bicker over it like Kabila.
Then... what about Valdamir's reaction, which I had been anticipating?
"As the Progenitor stated earlier, She has gone to the Lighthouse of Darkness."
Huh? He's completely calm?
It was baffling even while reading his mind. Valdamir was curious about me, but that curiosity didn't cross any lines. It wasn't like Kabila's jealousy or Ruken's apathy, but pure, unadulterated curiosity.
'A unique human. It seems it will be worth reading him.' I met his gaze as an equal and spoke.
"I heard she went to the Lighthouse of Darkness. But I've never heard the term Lighthouse of Darkness in my life, and I don't even know where it is. Without any explanation, naturally I'm curious?"
"There is no need to be curious. It is difficult for you to comprehend, and even if you did, it would be useless."
"What if I ask you to tell me simply out of curiosity?"
I expected some sort of reaction, but boringly enough, Valdamir answered amicably.
"It is composed of a darkness difficult for humans to grasp, so I will not explain its outward form or structure. However, I will clearly state its purpose. The Lighthouse of Darkness is a beacon signaling the Progenitor's return."
"A beacon?"
A beacon implies lighting a fire, doesn't it? How can darkness be a beacon? It was already dark enough as is; even if you lit a fire, let alone the smoke, not even the light would escape...
Just as I tilted my head in confusion.
Darkness exploded from the pitch-black tower.
If light can flash brilliantly, then darkness, the absence of light, can do the same. Vampires are damaged by sunlight. In other words, they are more sensitive to light than anyone else.
Even if it looks like the same darkness to human eyes, to vampires, it is visible. Where this darkness came from, and whose it is.
The Progenitor Tirkanjaka, who had set out to find a place for vampires to live, passed the Cloud Falls and discovered a mist-shrouded land. She decided to build a nation on that land, but mere water mist was not enough to completely block the rays of the sun peeking over the horizon.
Thus, Tir shared her own darkness. She dyed the mist with darkness and scattered it across the entire Duchy. Thanks to that, vampires were able to live in the Mist Duchy regardless of whether it was day or night.
The Progenitor Tirkanjaka was the racial god of the vampires and the eternal King of the Mist Duchy. This was also the reason why the Duke of Redblood, who was virtually a King in practice, insisted on retaining the title of 'Duke'. To honor their great Progenitor, the vampires built lighthouses of darkness all across the Duchy.
Only a single vampire could wield darkness: the Progenitor. So that if the Progenitor ever returned, everyone would know, and so they could prepare to welcome her.
Tir darkened the Lighthouse of Darkness.
Leaving the pulsating darkness behind, Tir emerged, pushing through the darkness that faintly took the shape of a tower. First, her crimson eyes flickered, followed by her pale white skin, and finally, a parasol floating as if assimilated into the darkness revealed itself. Alongside the darkness of the Duchy, Tir looked more powerful and mystical than ever before.
The exact opposite of light. Illuminating the land with darkness—that's why it's a Lighthouse of Darkness. So this is how vampires operate. As expected, reading minds alone isn't enough to understand everything.
"Now that I have announced my return to all of this land, the entire Duchy will welcome us. Let us go, Hu."
Tir spoke gently to me. The God of the Duchy was smiling at me.
Honestly, is an invisible, intangible celestial god really a god? A being who can move an entire nation with a single word is a true god. I certainly picked the right backing. I reached my hand forward and spoke up.
"Then I won't hesitate to rely on you. I'm allowed that much, right?"
Reaching out first was a request for an escort. It was an act of a visitor to her domain entrusting their safety to her. It was a slightly old-fashioned gesture, but Tir liked these sorts of things.
Sure enough, Tir answered my request with a delighted smile.
"As much as you wish."
She took my hand without a moment of hesitation. Feigning reluctance, I followed behind Tir and cast a glance backward. Ruken and Kabila were staring at me, filled with shock.
'Sis... smiled? I haven't even seen anything resembling a smile from her in hundreds of years!'
'The Progenitor didn't just invite this man on a whim? Sniff, sniff. Something smells fishy.'
Well, how about that? I'm someone who went to prison with your Progenitor and even fondled her heart, you know? There's a gap between us that mere time alone can't fill!
I flashed a smug smile at the two Elders. Heh, this is what you call connections. If you're going to leverage a connection, you might as well aim as high as possible. Who's going to say anything to me when I've won the Progenitor's favor? The Duke of Redblood? Haha, I wonder what the Duke of Redblood, who is so loyal to the Progenitor, could possibly say to me...
'King of Humans. What did the Progenitor see in him? What could have swayed the Progenitor's will?'
Valdamir was still observing me. Unswayed by my words and actions, solely with the red and dark eyes of a vampire.
...Ugh. This one seems a bit tough to crack.
And so, guided by Tir, I set foot on the land of the Duchy.
The Mist Duchy. A nation of vampires where humans are treated as livestock.