EP.48 I’ve Been Tailing You All Along
It was a few days ago that I noticed the vampire’s secret desire and tried to grant her wish, only to fail. I was greatly satisfied that I had at least tied a single strand of connection to the vampire, having made a great stride in building relationships here in Tantalos...
There was a time when I thought so.
“Could you spare a moment?”
“Again?”
Familiarity doesn’t always breed fondness. More often it turns into tedium or irritation. Lately, the vampire visited my room or the dining hall at every opportunity to seek me out, and I’d been racking my brains over it.
There was only one reason the vampire came to me. I grimaced and retorted,
“That’s an addiction, a serious addiction.”
“It’s hardly a hardship for you.”
“Still, this is too much. Three meals a day, and every break you come looking for me?”
“You just slip your finger in. I’ll handle the rest myself.”
It didn’t look like she’d listen even if I dissuaded her. I sighed and nodded, and the vampire, as if she’d expected it, untied her clothes and approached me.
If someone watched from a distance, unaware of what was going on, it would be a spectacle worthy of envy. A beautiful woman who could turn anyone’s head, lighting up at the sight of me, dragging me off to a secluded corner, and pulling my hand to her chest.
Except that.
“Here. Quickly.”
She wasn’t untying clothes but parting her own flesh.
If you knew that, not metaphorically but literally, my hand was buried inside her chest, it might feel rather different.
I slipped my finger deep into the incision. By now I could find the path to her heart without even looking. Though I felt that unwelcome change within myself, I deftly stirred inside.
“Bolt.”
Lightning flowed along my finger into her heart. A spell cast in direct contact with the heart, no matter how weak. It was a shock that could stop a heart.
But the recipient was a vampire whose heart had long since ceased to beat. To her, this shock was a welcome stimulus, one that stirred up old nostalgia.
“Ah... haaah...”
A flush spread across the vampire’s face. Because her heart, struck by lightning, convulsed and pumped blood fiercely. The blood rushed even to her pale, ivory-hued face, changing its color, and for a moment an altogether different kind of pleasure washed over her.
The vampire let out a breathy moan and grabbed my arm tightly. It felt as if her entire body clung to me, yet the weight on my arm was impossibly light.
After savoring the afterglow for a long moment, the vampire leaned against me as if hanging onto me.
“Haaaa... you’re getting... more and more... skillful.”
“Humans are creatures of learning. We’re just getting used to each other.”
“Thank you... I’ll ask again next time.”
“Come more sporadically. You’re a bother to me.”
“Once you preached respect for the elderly, and now you don’t even pretend.”
“I didn’t expect you to come this often. I distinctly told you not to bare your heart recklessly, and now it seems you have no intention of protecting it?”
“I am already dead. Putting my heart outside causes no harm, so why should you forbid me?”
The vampire, as if she’d really take it out and show me, I hurriedly stretched out my hand to stop her. She chuckled, removed my hand, and straightened her clothes.
“Moreover, am I not showing it only to you? Consider yourself honored.”
“Honored, my foot. I’m not thrilled about that either, you know? What I set out to do was respect for the elderly, not labor. People everywhere, regardless of era, age, or gender, hate extra work.”
“Then, what if labor came with compensation? I shall give you the gold I’ve kept separately.”
“No, thanks. Gold from before the Alchemical Revolution is unreliable. Its actual value is about that of a slightly pretty stone rolling on the ground.”
“Ugh, ugh. Seems the times have really changed...”
Disheartened, the vampire rested her chin in her hand and murmured.
“What to do... All I have left now is gold and sculptures. I wonder if these can serve as payment.”
“What? Sculptures?”
“Yes. Things like paintings or sculptures. If I had a hobby, it was collecting artworks. Inspiration is fleeting, but art endures. Yet even that... I’ve no idea how much it’s worth in this era.”
“Still, it’ll likely be better than gold. May I see them?”
“Very well. I shall go and bring them. Wait here.”
The vampire left to fetch her art. Watching her retreating figure, I flashed a sly smile.
Look at that. She’s a total pushover. I give her a little touch and a little cold shoulder, and she comes offering up her possessions with her own hands.
And artworks at that. One of the few things that increase in value the longer they age. Artworks that had been kept in a coffin with the vampire for over a thousand years, once belonging to an absolute ruler who dominated the world? Their value is beyond estimation. It’s a treasure trove surpassing any gold mine.
You never knew what might happen in Tantalos, so I should tuck away at least one treasure. As I envisioned a rosy future, I turned around.
‘Tha-tha-tha-that bastard. What’s he doing with Tirkancaka?!’
...First, I’d deal with the voyeur peeping at me from beyond the corner.
I walked down the corridor, pretending not to notice. Behind me, the regressor followed, concealing herself with stealth.
‘Reveal myself? Don’t? Catch the criminal red-handed and interrogate right away. No, what if she thinks I was following her?’
What do you mean, what if? You were following her. Did you leave your conscience behind in the last regression?
While I desperately bit back the urge to say something, the regressor wrestled with all sorts of thoughts and finally reached a conclusion.
‘No! Focus on the original goal, Shei! I came here to find out what happened in this Abyss and to prevent Aji and Tirkancaka’s corruption! For that! It’s okay for me to step in!’
Whoosh.
The regressor leaped and landed in front of me. Then, staring intently at me, she strode forward.
So she finally mustered the nerve to confront me, huh. I’d been waiting a while. I calmly greeted the regressor.
“Hello, Train—.”
“What did you do to Tirkancaka?”
Straight to the point. I replied, feigning ignorance.
“Were you tailing me all along?”
“Of course... I mean, no! I just happened! I just happened to see you heading somewhere together, and witnessed you doing something strange!”
“Strange? I’ve done nothing that warrants anyone’s reproach.”
“You’re going to deny it? I saw everything from start to finish! I even heard what you two talked about!”
What the hell. That’s just stalking.
“What the hell. That’s just stalking.”
Oops. That slipped out.
“It’s not!! If you think about it, right! It’s like being an undercover detective!”
“Trainee Shei. Are you by chance an officer?”
“Huh? N-no, that’s not it.”
“What the hell. Then that’s just stalking.”
“No...!”
The regressor, who had been jumping up and down in self-imposed excitement, took a deep breath and glared at me.
“Don’t change the subject. This is extremely serious!”
“I’m the one who’s dumbfounded. What exactly did I do to Trainee Tirkancaka? At least I’ve done nothing against my conscience.”
“So you’re going to deny it now?”
“The one doing the denying is Trainee Shei, who claims she wasn’t tailing.”
“That’s not the point right now!”
“Sigh, fine. Let’s hear what’s so important. What is it?”
Giving her a little answer seemed to make her think she had me cornered. Flushed with even greater confidence, the regressor shouted,
“You forcibly groped Tirkancaka!”
“Huh? Who, forcibly, what?”
“Tirkancaka, forcibly, touched... and...”
Even as she spoke, the regressor realized how absurd it sounded, and her voice gradually trailed off. I narrowed my eyes and glared at her.
Well, of course. Threaten and forcibly grope Tirkancaka, the Heaven-Defying Monster and Queen of Darkness, progenitor of vampires?
If I could do that, why would I be living like this?
My gaze turned icy. Sensing my true feelings, the regressor yelled,
“B-but I saw it clearly with these green eyes! Y-you, you bastard, putting your hand inside Tirkancaka’s chest!”
“Yeah, well. I even touched her heart.”
“Nonsense! What, are you saying in some poetic sense you melted her frozen heart?”
What’s she on about? I meant it literally. Really, with this hand, I made physical contact.
“And what’s more, she said you’re getting more and more skillful...!”
“It’s not a particularly pleasant experience.”
Don’t you know what it feels like when your hand naturally parts living flesh and touches a heart? Even if a vampire can freely manipulate her blood and regenerate even if her body is torn to pieces, putting your hand inside is genuinely bizarre. The slippery flesh, the writhing muscles, the oddly warm and damp interior. It felt just like being inside a whale’s belly.
Blood, organs, muscles, bones. Humans have evolved to find everything that fills the inside of the body nauseating. Because exposed innards are a kind of omen of death. It’s the same for me. Lately, my sanity stat has been dropping in real time.
“Y-you. Whatever it is. Honestly, I don’t know exactly what kind of things you’re doing with Tirkancaka, but.”
Wondering why she was acting like that when she’d clearly formed a tentative conclusion in her head. I tilted my head and asked, pretending to know nothing.
“You really don’t know?”
“Of course I dooon’t!!”
‘At this rate, both Aji and Tirkancaka will be too heavily influenced by this man! Whether this is corruption, I’m still not sure. But if it leads to such an outcome in the future, it might well be this man’s fault!’
What’s she saying I’d do? Corruption? Why would I corrupt them? Do I have a death wish?
If she’s making such wild guesses, she really doesn’t know. Well, she’d never imagine I’m giving electric massages by directly touching the heart.
“It must be something strange that can’t be seen by others!”
Well, that’s a correct answer. I can’t refute that one.
“Seeing as you can’t respond, I must be right! Today, I’ll put an end to that...!”
“This is something I do willingly. Who are you to decide it’s over or not?”
Nice timing. The vampire, who’d just arrived dragging a huge coffin, stepped forward with a deliberately angry expression. She walked straight past the regressor and stood, blocking me.
The fact that Tirkancaka, who had once treated her as a mentor of sorts, now stood on my side, dealt a great shock to the regressor.
“Tir...kancaka?”
‘Tirkancaka is... standing against me, shielding that man behind her back?’
Her eyes trembled, unable to believe the situation. But the vampire’s gaze was cold and frosty.
“Stop it. Why must you meddle in every single thing I do? How dare a pupil raise her voice at her mentor’s affairs?”
“No. I’m doing this for you!”
‘In the last regression, someone betrayed you, causing you immense pain, and you ended up joining the great war that burned the world!’
Sincerity filled that desperate voice. That statement was clearly the truth, something that happened at some future time. The regressor undoubtedly wished to prevent Tirkancaka’s downfall and hope for her happiness.
Whether for the world’s sake, or for the vampire’s own.
But only I knew that. For the vampire had no mind-reading ability.
“For me?”
That sincere feeling went to waste. The vampire scoffed.