“So you just went out and ate deliciously by yourself?”
“No. It was part of gathering information. A meal can help open a tight-lipped mouth, you know.”
“Could you wipe your mouth before you speak?”
“Ah.”
When I went outside, Hilde scolded me for eating alone. I do feel a bit sorry, but what was I supposed to do when Cabilla served me?
“Since vampires cannot eat food, you must have been the only one whose mouth was opened. What did you blabber to the vampire? Confess, Father.”
“Nothing much, I just mentioned that the culprit of the Elder murder case might not actually be an Elder.”
“…Father, do you have two lives? How could you say you suspect an Elder in front of an Elder?”
“They acknowledged it as a valid argument.”
“I guess that’s a vampire for you… So, what did Cabilla answer?”
“She said to be careful of Valdamir.”
It was a statement that made even the fearless Hilde look around. The god of the Mist Duchy is the Progenitor Tirkanchaka, but the king is the Red Blood Duke Valdamir. The absolute being with fearsome power and pinnacle martial arts also possesses great administrative skill, having run this abnormal duchy for nearly hundreds of years.
Honestly, in terms of political power alone excluding his divine abilities, he had already far surpassed Tir. Vampires who by nature cannot defy their Progenitor… but what if they cast off the shackles of blood?
Hilde opened and closed her mouth before asking again.
“Father. What on earth are you doing?”
“Wait. That view is unfair. This incident happened before I even arrived. If there’s any fault on my part, it’s only that the timing of my entry into the duchy was wrong.”
“Goodness. Why does everything go awry whenever you’re involved, Father?”
“No, I’m telling you it’s not my fault?”
Hilde grabbed her head and made a pained expression.
The Progenitor Tirkanchaka is the god of the duchy in name and reality, and I, who receive that god’s favor, am the king of humans. And Hilde is a powerful figure deeply entrenched in the military state’s secrets. With these three, Hilde drew her plans and moved.
But wasn’t a suspicious incident waiting for us as soon as we came to the duchy? Sighing, Hilde stretched and said.
“Well, there shouldn’t be any problem~. The vampires who sustain their lives with the Progenitor’s true blood are all caught in the homunculus’ dilemma. The reason they could be revived from death when they became corpses is all thanks to the Progenitor’s power. Just as their own hands cannot betray their bodies, they cannot defy Tirkanchaka.”
“Hmm. Is that really so.”
“There you go again, making me anxious! What on earth are you worried about, Father?”
Tir’s power remains the same. However, because Tir’s heart happened to revive, the influence directed outward was lost. That’s why vampires can now defy Tir’s will.
…If they defy it and Tir’s heart stops again, it would be a bit funny. Tir escaped the shackles of blood, but the Elders haven’t become free.
But Hilde doesn’t know the truth about Tir’s heart yet. No matter how indiscreet I am, I wouldn’t reveal inner bodily matters to a complete stranger. Cabilla? She’s an Elder, practically Tir’s minion, so whatever.
“No. Just. What if there was such a method~. That’s all.”
“Do you have something in mind?”
“Not at all. However, there might be room to consider it in relation to this incident.”
‘Father wouldn’t speak nonsense. He probably figured out something he can’t tell me…. Sigh. I came to do politics, but it looks like I’ll be gathering intelligence here as well~.’
It was hard to talk about Tir’s heart, so I casually changed the subject pretending not to know, but Hilde jumped to conclusions too wildly. Hilde pulled a hat out from somewhere, pulling it deep over her head, and said.
“Go in first. This ‘starving me’ needs to wander the streets and fill my hungry belly~.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Next time I’ll buy you a meal at a restaurant.”
“I’ll be expecting a useful meal~.”
Hilde, returning to her role as the military state’s Minister of Public Security, waved her hand and disappeared into the streets. There probably won’t be anyone who looks like Hilde in the duchy for a while. She’ll be skulking around the streets, scraping together all sorts of information.
And Hilde’s information will become my information. Even if I didn’t intend it.
The sun is gradually setting. In the Mist Duchy, it’s hard to see the sun setting, so when it gets roughly dark, you have to head home on your own. Unlike the military state, there are no streetlights here, so unless you’re a vampire, you can’t even wander around freely at night.
The streets gradually become deserted. The streets were originally dark because of the fog. When even the clusters of light filtered through the fog wane, humans tried to leave the streets before this visibility disappeared.
“Wow! Did Lady Cabilla catch this for you?”
“Yes. She stopped the tidal wave and caught it with a Dragon Fang soldier.”
As I was walking, I heard the bouncy voice unique to a young child. The child, grunting as she lifted a large fish, said with a bright smile.
“I want to become Lady Cabilla’s Ayn when I grow up! I want to help Lady Cabilla by her side too!”
In the Mist Duchy, vampires are the nobles and administrators. In a country ruled by Elders, Ayns, and Yaylings, the only dream a child could have would be to become a vampire.
It was an answer derived from a world seen through a child’s eyes, but sadly, the girl’s dream could not come true. The girl’s mother replied with a detached smile.
“…No. How could you become Lady Cabilla’s Ayn? Not just Ayns, but even the Yaylings have been full for over 200 years, with not a single spot open.”
“But I could become a Twawit!”
“What nonsense. Twawits aren’t vampires. That’s a punishment created to discipline very bad humans. If you become a Twawit, you become stupid and have to become a doll that obeys any command. As a Twawit, you won’t even be able to get near Lady Cabilla, so don’t even say that.”
The girl’s mother was faithful to the parental role of crushing the dream of her immature child. Having been told “no” twice in a row, the girl spoke with a sullen face.
“Then? What do I have to become?”
And the girl’s mother gave her child a cliché answer, like all other parents.
“…You don’t need to become anything. Just grow up healthy.”
Not because that was what she wanted, but because it was all they could do.
Arriving at the Castle of the Full Moon, I was greeted by a vampire maid. The Elder, Viscountess Erzebüt’s Ayn possessed fearsome blood manipulation arts, and sensing the moment I set foot in the castle, came to find me.
Should I call it the Progenitor’s castle indeed. Using an Ayn like a maid. Seeing this, Tir’s power still seemed intact.
Anyway, thanks to being guided, I reached the top floor without needing to walk. Before I could even knock briefly, the door swung wide open and Tir welcomed me.
“Welcome. Was your walk enjoyable?”
Tir, whom I saw again after a few hours, had changed quite a bit. A nightgown dress with cascading ruffles reached down to her ankles, and a faint floral scent emanated from her bare skin. Even for a vampire who is dead and lacks a body odor, applying perfume to the skin made it feel like the scent of a living person.
Tir ushered me inside and said.
“I wanted to guide you myself, but unfortunately, since it’s been a while since I visited, there were things I needed to newly learn.”
“You actually work too. I thought you just lounged around doing nothing.”
“Really. How could I proudly call it my country if I don’t even know about it?”
300 years is almost history. Tir too was trying to catch up with the sleeping years by looking at the data that Erzebüt’s Ayns had selected and organized. Still, it would probably take a few days.
“So. Did you learn anything new?”
“I went to the coastline an hour east.”
“That is Cabilla’s domain. What are your impressions?”
“I thought it would be dangerous because of the Sea of Calamity… I don’t know about anything else, but it looked like a better place for humans to live than I thought. Seafood is scattered all over the ground, so you just have to pick it up, and if anything dangerous happens, the vampires protect them.”
“Cabilla pays a lot of attention to humans. It’s not just Cabilla, though. Humans are a precious resource of the country, and there is no wasting them.”
Getting the reaction she expected, Tir spoke as if delivering an indictment.
“Those wicked Holy Church bastards slandered my country with all sorts of defamation and schemes. A country of monsters that squeeze and drink human blood. A country of corpses where the living enter and the dead come out. A barbaric country where the stench of blood never ceases…. Hmph. Nonsense. We who need humans the most, how could we treat humans harshly? Rather, it’s the Holy Church that forces one-sided sacrifice, isn’t it. I dare say, most of the Holy Church’s domains cannot even match the foot of the poorest land in the duchy.”
She has an attachment to the work she created, and also anger towards the Holy Church. When those two mix, it manifests as emphasizing how good the country is to live in. A vampire preaching about how good it is for humans to live—it feels ironic.
However, there is one thing I’m curious about.
Carefully, I asked Tir a question that might potentially be sensitive.
“I saw it in the documents earlier, but what is a Press Execution?”