The reason the Holy Emperor's Court rejects vampires is but one.
Because vampires are not human.
This is neither a literary nor an academic approach. It is not a result of merely embellishing the expression or setting clear standards and meticulously analyzing them.
Simply put, it is because vampires are different from humans.
Vampires possess long lifespans and powerful strength, and they drink human blood to sustain their existence. Naturally, vampires become predators. In other words, their very existence places humans in the position of prey.
'...Come to think of it. The priest who killed me called me the seed of the Demon God. I thought it was just his usual cursing.'
Right. If Tir had been left alone, humans would have changed. Killing Tir and causing the emergence of vampires was their miscalculation, though.
"Hmph. So you failed consecutively. Seeing their plight, it seems those Holy Emperor's Court bastards are in trouble, which brings me joy. However, Hu."
Tir, harboring mockery toward the Holy Emperor's Court who wasn't even here, asked me.
"If they truly wish to protect humans, is there no reason for them to oppose you, the King of Humans? Why does the Holy Emperor's Court attack you, and why do you avoid them?"
"That is simple to explain. It's because the 'humans' defined by the Holy Emperor's Court are not human."
The Holy Emperor's Court created gods and established taboos. They divided good and evil and eliminated heresy. All of that was to make the 'humans' they desired into the only humans.
"To me, humans encompass all humans. Vampires, beastmen, and even the priests of the Holy Emperor's Court are all human. But the Holy Emperor's Court treats vampires as if they are beings that shouldn't exist. On whose authority?"
"...Right."
"I would understand if they at least intended to kill all humans on the opposing side and survive alone. But to prevent sin before it happens through prophecies, and to arbitrarily define good and evil to change the future... I have no choice but to resist."
'So that was the reason Hu treated me ordinarily. Because I am the same human, whether I am the Progenitor or a vampire...'
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Before the King of Humans, any human is ordinary. Tir vaguely understood that.
"...And, there is another reason the Holy Emperor's Court tries to stop me."
I reached out my hand. Tir didn't understand why, but naturally placed her hand over mine.
And once again, I drew out the power of lightning.
"The Demon God understood the profound logic of the world, but could not understand humans, who are incomplete and capricious mere beasts. That is why even that Demon God could not properly create or change humans. The homunculus dilemma. The reason why, even if one tries to replace humans with magic, they can only end up as a homunculus. Even if one comprehends the profound logic of the world and wields magic, they do not know how to create a human with it."
To oneself, there is only oneself. One cannot understand others through their own subjectivity.
Can a great mage even guess the world of a snot-nosed child? Can a painter paint the visual field seen through colorblind eyes? Because one sees the world entirely through one's own eyes and interprets it through one's own subjectivity, understanding another's world is extremely difficult.
"But, I, the King of Humans, know."
Lightning strikes through our clasped hands. It is exactly the same as before. The lightning crawled through Tir's body, tickling her. Something no one else, not even the Demon God the Lightning Thief, could achieve. They know that microscopic lightning flows within the body, but they do not know in what way it must be realized to become another person.
However, I know. And the moment I gained the power of the Demon God, I could fully use that forbidden knowledge on humans. Regardless of the homunculus dilemma.
As sensation returned with my lightning, Tir trembled slightly. But having experienced it once, she was used to it. Instead of pulling away, she gripped my hands tightly, feeling the sensation lingering within her hands.
'Just like when you revived my heart, my body...'
"If only I were given the means to do so, I could change humans. The Demon God is that means. If possible, I will only listen to their wishes and not actually change them directly, though."
Tir's wish, who had died too early. That is an ordinary life with a beating heart. So I fulfilled Tir's wish. Thanks to that, she clearly distinguished between inside and outside, but within Tir's wish, an ordinary life still remains.
"Since you have also helped me. If Tir earnestly wishes for it... I will make you into an ordinary human."
It is a heavy and frightening proposal. If she accepts this, it means Tir is entrusting every nerve in her body to me.
It cannot be dismissed as empty bravado. I already have a track record of making Tir's heart beat, and I am exerting that power even now. It might be a dangerous act of entrusting one's existence to another.
'I have already entrusted my heart to Hu. And now that I have regained my heart and can feel emotions, Hu is the only one I want to be with. What is there to fear in entrusting myself to the one I wish to entrust myself to?'
Tir made up her mind and, instead of withdrawing her hand, reached out her other hand and overlapped it. Tir, with her lips tightly pressed together, looked up at me and said.
"Hu. I..."
At that moment, mist billowed from the distance. An unmistakable presence. Tir, who had barely been about to speak, closed her mouth at the sudden appearance of an uninvited guest. Piercing through the darkness, Tir shouted.
"Who is it?"
"Oh, Great Progenitor!"
It was a vampire, spreading a pitch-black cloak like bat wings. Gliding on the dark mist, the vampire recognized Tir and nose-dived. Thud, falling to the ground knees-first, the vampire regenerated his broken leg and approached on his knees.
"Progenitor. I apologize for my rudeness. However, there is something I must bring to your attention!"
He was certainly respectful. Otherwise, he wouldn't have kneeled, injuring his own joints. Even if one can regenerate their body, dragging shattered joints along is a hard act to perform without considerable resolve.
That was why Tir, though displeased, couldn't bring herself to ruthlessly drive him away.
"Knowing it is rude, you interrupt my outing? Are you not afraid of eternal annihilation?"
'We were just at the important part...! How am I supposed to continue this conversation if not for this atmosphere!'
"I am afraid of eternal annihilation. However, even if I must face eternal annihilation, I must tell you this! Please grant me permission to speak!"
The vampire prostrated himself once more and pleaded. At the desperate and frantic appeal, Tir softened her anger and said.
"I permit it. Speak."
"This humble one is Jazra, a vassal of Elder Lord Ruskinia. I sincerely worship the Progenitor's return, and like all vampires, I am so overwhelmed with joy at seeing you again that I do not know what to do with myself...! However! I cannot fully enjoy this joy due to the tragedy that occurred recently!"
"Is this regarding Ruskinia's death."
It was the matter of the kin of the deceased Elder coming to appeal directly to the Progenitor. Since it was already known, Tir retorted with an annoyed attitude.
"A decision has already been made. I have summoned Lir Nightingale and those around her, and a trial will be held at the Castle of the Full Moon. All you need to do is wait for the trial and testify."
"But, Progenitor! Lir has fled outside the duchy!"
"I was told she left before I could find her. I have ordered Erzebut and Dogo to bring her, so they will handle it well. If your curiosity is satisfied, then withdraw."
'I told you because of the nature of the matter, but I cannot have my precious time interrupted by a mere kin. Once we go to the Castle of the Full Moon, it will be hard to be alone with Hu until the trial is over. If you still don't understand and interrupt my time...'
Perhaps because he failed to notice Tir's gradually worsening mood. Instead of bowing his head and stepping back, Jazra shouted in an even louder voice.
"She will not return! Having killed Lord Ruskinia, she has escaped the vampires' control! Because the Blood Fetters were twisted, she can neither exert any control over us, Lord Ruskinia's kin, nor is she subject to our control! She is a rebel who, trusting her meager talent, has raised a flag of rebellion against the duchy, and furthermore, against the Progenitor!"
It was an appeal filled with his own sincerity, but the timing was terrible. Tir coldly settled her gaze and spoke low.
"Do you truly wish to die?"
Cold fury surged. Tir's irritation had now escalated into murderous intent.
"I had to summon her, and I did. I must know the truth, and I will uncover it. I will conduct the trial and deliver the verdict. I will fulfill my obligations, so what more do you demand of me? A mere kin!"
"P-Progenitor?"
"There is a limit to rudeness. There is a line even to anger. You dare to spill your emotions to me? Know your place. Do not try to manipulate me with the likes of your emotions!"
The Progenitor's wrath is solemn. With merely holding murderous intent, the kin's blood would all drain out, killing them. As the one who created the vampire race, the true master of their true blood, the Progenitor Tirkanjaka, possessed such power.
This piercing killing intent that seemed to deny the very existence of vampires... Jazra did not notice it. Rather, he harbored doubts.
"What..."
'Is she angry? But my blood cannot feel anything?'
She possessed such power. Before her heart stopped, when the boundary between inside and outside was blurred, even the blood outside her body was under the Progenitor's control. Therefore, just by the Progenitor thinking "Is this so?", she could turn her kin and Yeirling into a handful of blood.
But now, having regained her heart. Having perfectly separated the inside from the outside, and as a result feeling only her own emotions, Tir... cannot kill vampires with this anger. If she wants to kill them, she must move her own body to execute that will. Just like other humans.
'If the Progenitor were displeased, my blood would have trembled first. But my blood is still calm. The Progenitor must have permitted my speech...?'
Jazra's clueless pleading to the Progenitor was also an action based on his own reasoning. In the common sense of a vampire who had lived for hundreds of years, being able to speak meant that it was allowed to speak.
However, the world changed not too long ago.
Quite a lot.
"...?"
Only then did Tir feel something was off. A vampire, who should be trembling in fear and obeying before even daring to speak, kept failing to understand and provoked her mood. It was an absurdity. To do something the Progenitor wouldn't permit was not something a vampire two ranks below could achieve.
'My control doesn't reach...? Is that why the kin went against my emotions?'
The absolute ruler who could decide life and death just by thinking became an ordinary ruler after regaining her heart. Faced with this rapidly changed reality, both Tir and Jazra looked at each other with question marks on their faces. At first, they didn't understand why, but they gradually realized the truth.
Jazra, who realized it first, slowly raised his body and asked.
"Progenitor. Don't tell me... you are also under the Blood Fetters..."
And that became Jazra's last words. A sharp bone saw tore through Jazra's chest and drank up the blood.