EP.96 The Immortal and the Vampire
The Immortal was greatly satisfied by the feeling of fullness he hadn't experienced in a long time. Having finished off a whole can of beans by himself, he smacked his lips and headed towards the courtyard.
"The canned food here is damn terrible, but to think you could bring it to life like this! Delicious ingredients are tasty even when eaten raw, but turning something tasteless into something delicious is true skill and the essence of cooking! The Lieutenant is also excellent at cooking, so you'll make a fine bride!"
The military officer walking alongside him, Lieutenant Callis, didn't look particularly pleased by the praise. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, the officer replied coldly.
"Tsk. By that logic, the Chief Warrant Officer who makes a hundred dishes out of a single can of food must be the bride of the century. Stop spouting nonsense and help with my mission, trainee."
"A hundred dishes! I'm envious. Is that Chief Warrant Officer as beautiful a woman as the Lieutenant?"
"He's a bald old man with a mustache. He saw his granddaughter this year."
"Hahaha! Then that's fine! I'll just be satisfied with the Lieutenant's cooking!"
The officer's face contorted so much that it was visible even beneath the deeply pressed brim of her hat.
"Don't assume I'll cook for you every day, trainee. This is a special one-time occurrence."
The Immortal made an expression as if the world had ended.
"Why!"
"I'd like to ask the same. Why should I, the instructor, be responsible for a trainee's meals?"
"You can do it along with your other duties! I have no talent for cooking, and this country has no delicious ingredients! I'm sorry to say, but even if I tried to grow attached to this country, I'd shudder just thinking about canned beans, so I couldn't! But with the Lieutenant by my side, it seems like it would be a bit better!"
As if annoyed by this situation, the officer pressed her forehead above her hat and answered.
"Just finish your work. Then I'll think about it."
"Understood! Now let's see, you said you wanted to build a rapport with the dog miss? You must be very shy, Lieutenant!"
"Stop with the useless talk!"
"Haha. Got it. Cooking for me—is a promise between friends, so make sure you keep it!"
That was when the two of them walked right out of the Tartarus main building, conversing ordinarily, or even affectionately, one might say.
The Immortal, who had been chattering away as he came out, finally spotted me and waved his hand.
"Oh! Teacher! It's been a while... Eh!"
Just as he was about to approach happily, the Immortal's right arm flailed of its own accord and shot up threateningly, as if trying to strike me.
There was still a considerable distance between him and me, but that threatening attitude was clearly conveyed. Not only to me and him, but also to Tyr.
Startled, Tyr's eyes glowed red.
"Hugh!"
At the same time, thousands of troops rose from the darkness according to Tyr's will.
The Abyss is a place where the sun doesn't shine. Everything is submerged in shadow.
That is why Tyr's power can stretch in all directions. As long as it's connected to shadows, her authority over darkness reaches it.
The countless shadows existing in the Abyss were Tyr's commissary, her barracks, and her soldiers. The darkness gathered all at once to protect me.
Tyr shouted in fury.
"Toin...! How dare you try to harm Hugh!"
"Wait! This is not my will!"
It seemed even the Immortal, the owner of the body, hadn't expected it. The Immortal grabbed his right arm tightly with his left arm, as if his ego was split, and said.
To none other than his own right arm.
"God of Offerings! Why are you angry? Huh? What?"
Having a conversation as if his right arm was a separate entity, the Immortal spoke to me with a puzzled expression over the shadow army that had risen like a wall.
"Teacher. My right arm says it wants to punch you after seeing you! Did you have some kind of conflict with my right arm while I was unconscious?"
"Huh?"
Roughly reading his thoughts, it seemed he had something like a conversation with his right arm.
It could communicate? That's amazing.
Anyway, a conflict?
I only used that right arm like a rag to wipe away blood in order to deal with Tyr. When it got dirty while wiping, I'd scrape it off and use it again, and occasionally I'd gouge out flesh with a skewer and scatter it everywhere.
...If the right arm had consciousness, it would be justified in clenching its fist. Haha.
I let out an awkward laugh and trailed off.
"Ahaha. Well. It's a long story."
"This right arm, which I obtained by offering my original right arm to the Earth Mother Goddess, is a great hand symbolizing mercy! But for it to be so angry! I'm curious as to what on earth happened!"
"While I was swinging that, um, right arm around, it got a little cursed..."
"A curse? Hmm. It says that's not the end of it? Did you try to cook with my right arm, or offer it as a sacrifice?"
The right arm has a good memory. It seems to remember even better than a regressor.
Unsure of my ability to deceive the right arm, I answered honestly.
"Because a crazy vampire named Finrei was running amok, I borrowed the power of that right arm. I took down several familiars made of clotted blood and darkness."
"Isn't that enough to be considered a sacrifice?"
"Ah, is that so?"
As I scratched my head and laughed haha, the Immortal, who laughed along with me, made a magnanimous suggestion.
"Alright! Teacher, just take one hit!"
I refused without a second thought.
"Sorry. No. If I get hit wrong, I'll die."
"I'll hit you softly! Otherwise, it seems my right arm's anger won't be relieved!"
"That's at the right arm's discretion, isn't it? You're not the one hitting me, so how are you going to hit softly?"
"Is that so? Haha! Then brace yourself and take it softly!"
That was when the Immortal and I were chatting away happily. Tyr, who took these words seriously, was outraged and shouted.
"Ridiculous."
Her influence was incomparable to anyone else in the Abyss. With a single word, the ground rumbled, the shadows stirred, and the darkness shook ominously.
Even the Immortal grew frightened and clamped his mouth shut, as Tyr warned him with a voice that seemed dragged up from the very bottom of the Abyss.
"Hugh only chose those methods to save me! So if you must blame someone, blame me, Toin."
The shadow legion parted before Tyr. It was an organized and perfectly coordinated movement, as if they had rehearsed the exact same formation in the light.
Leaving the army of darkness behind her, Tyr stepped forward in front of the Immortal. Her blood-red eyes fixed on the Immortal.
"If you truly want to hit someone, hit me. If that relieves your anger, I will take your place. However, if you intend to harm Hugh... I will stop you by any means necessary. Even if it means eradicating you from existence."
A walking army, the progenitor of all vampires. The Queen of Shadows.
Her blood is an authority filled with dominance, and to Toin, who absorbs life force to maintain his immortality, it is no different from a curse that prevents regeneration.
Facing the legendary Tyrkanjaka, the Immortal scratched his head in embarrassment and laughed loudly.
"Haha! It was to save your lover? Then I acknowledge it!"
Right after that.
"L-lover?"
The massive presence that seemed to be eroding the Abyss vanished as if washed away.
The surging darkness calmed down, and the trembling earth held its breath. The shadow troops looked at each other for a moment before seeping into the ground all at once, as if they had made a pact.
All that remained there was a girl who didn't know what to do out of sheer bewilderment.
Amidst the collapsing army of darkness, Tyr panicked as if she had been burned, clenching and unclenching her hands several times.
"W-what nonsense. H-Hugh. Look at that frivolous Toin. S-saying such bizarre things."
While everyone watched Tyr's actions in disbelief, the Immortal nodded his head vigorously and shouted.
"What a truly cute lover! Alright! I'll contact my right arm separately and resolve this well! My right arm will understand this much! How about it, my God of Offerings?"
The right arm, which had been fiddling with the Immortal's chin, rolled its fingers into a short circle as if dissatisfied. Then, as if flicking something away, it retracted and fell silent under the shoulder joint.
The Immortal shouted refreshedly.
"My right arm says it understands too! You were lucky, Teacher!"
I replied apathetically.
"You were the lucky one. If it hadn't understood, Tyr would have physically injected understanding into it until it did."
"Haha! That's not wrong!"
"Well, anyway, that's how it turned out. Please tell my right arm I'm sorry for swinging it around without permission."
"Your apology seems a bit late!"
"I didn't know the subject of my apology would be a right arm. I haven't yet developed that level of separatist thinking."
"Hahaha! I understand!"
Originally, the Immortal had no intention of hitting me. If he were truly angry, he would have lunged at me.
The Immortal, who wouldn't die from most things, was equally insensitive to damage.
Even if he's slashed by a sword, pierced by a skewer, or even if his arm is severed. To him, it was essentially no different from physical contact. In the sense that it was physical contact that couldn't kill him.
In other words, he was a good-natured man who would just laugh and easily let it go if someone hit or injured him. As long as his and his tribe's honor weren't touched, he would be safer than anyone else in the world.
That was why he could maintain a cheerful attitude even toward the officer.
That was also why I woke him up.
"Now then, I have things to do, so I'll be taking my leave!"
"Goodbye. I hope your work goes well."
"See you later! Have a fun time together, you two!"
"You too."
The Immortal, who waved his arm broadly, went back the way he came and approached the officer who had been keeping out of sight, speaking to her. His loud voice completely flowed out into the courtyard.
"Oh. Just now, I almost really died! It looks like it'll be difficult to pass this way!"
As the Immortal answered casually, the officer looked at him with displeased eyes and growled low.
"...Rash. Can't you even endure the Progenitor's simple bluff?"
"Of course not! The Progenitor is truly, damn strong!"
"Is that something to say so proudly!"
'I thought he'd be at least a little reliable, even if he wasn't transcendentally strong like the Progenitor or the Beast King...!'
It was obvious. In a land where a regressor, the Beast King, and the Progenitor of vampires resided, a single trait of 'immortality' was a shabby card to play. No, looking at their backgrounds from the start, they were all transcendent beings who each possessed their own form of immortality.
The Immortal, who had merely been left with his arm torn off, lacked the weight to deal with them.
Of course, the Immortal wasn't particularly saddened by that fact. The fact that he wasn't stronger than a natural disaster wasn't something to hurt his pride over.
"Haha! Even if it's a friend's request, what I can't do, I can't do! That beautiful girl looks harmless at first glance, but she's actually the Progenitor of vampires! She's not an existence that a mere warrior like me can fight and win against!"
Hearing the confirmation from his own mouth, the officer tightly clenched her trembling hands.
'I thought as much, but I didn't expect him to tuck his tail this easily...! This guy is my assistant? With this, he can't even serve as a minimum deterrent!'
"Well, if I burn this body, I might be able to tickle her a bit! But if I do, my body will be cursed and I'll never be able to revive again! Haha, it's best we don't touch each other if possible! And that applies not only to me, but to the Lieutenant as well!"
The Immortal stated the facts calmly. Eventually, the officer reined in her emotions and spoke.
"...Enough. I had no intention of antagonizing the Progenitor in the first place. I was also planning not to approach that laborer if possible."
"Laborer? Are you perhaps referring to the Teacher?"
"Teacher? A laborer is just a laborer, isn't he? What does that mean?"
"He's an instructor, isn't he? When he introduced himself, he called himself an instructor. So then, isn't he my Teacher?"
"That bastard, he even impersonated an instructor...!"
I could feel a sharp gaze from beyond the wall. Even though she couldn't see me, the officer hurled all kinds of curses at me.
'He's insolent, but as long as the Progenitor is protecting him like that, there's no way I can touch him. Calm down, Callis. Don't waste mental energy on useless things.'
The vampire shield was reliable today as well. I was right after all.
The officer quickly collected herself and spoke to the Immortal.
"As I said, the target is the King of Dogs. You know about the King of Dogs, right?"
"Of course! You mean that dog miss!"
"Yes. It's not that the King of Dogs doesn't follow me... but for some reason, when that laborer calls the King of Dogs, she runs straight to his side. Regardless of where she is."
"Oho! The Teacher has such an ability? I'm quite envious!"
"This is quite important. If the King of Dogs continues that attitude, the entire plan will be ruined."
The goal of the Lord of All Creation was to obtain the Beast King. The reason she infiltrated Tartarus was also to secure Aji, the King of Dogs.
The reason she, who was merely a Lieutenant (at least compared to the residents of Tartarus), came as the vanguard, was because the objective of securing the King of Dogs itself was very easy. To seduce the King of Dogs, who was loyal to humans, all she needed to do was make eye contact and speak, so Lieutenant Callis was going to test it once.
But then she encountered the obstacle named 'me'.
'Our plan did not account for the possibility of the King of Dogs resisting. The King of Dogs is loyal to humans, and especially since we currently have a pact with the Military Nation, she would have followed us if we demanded it. But... if that laborer keeps getting in our way until the end, we have no method.'
Forcibly binding the Beast King with strength and taking her away? That was an entirely unrealistic story. If they had that kind of power, why would they try to use the Beast King? They would just use that power to take over the world.
The reason they aimed for the King of Dogs was because that level of power was easy to wield.
But the world is universal; if it's easy for me to wield, it's bound to be easy for others to wield too.
"Then wouldn't it work if you just confessed the truth to the Teacher and asked him? Explaining the circumstances that you need the dog miss for this and that, and asking him to yield!"
If that were possible, the Lord of All Creation wouldn't be a secret society.
When the officer fell silent, the Immortal nodded as if he understood.
"Hmm. So you're saying you have to get past the Teacher in the end! I always feel this, but being better than someone else is truly a hard thing!"
"He is nothing special. But for some reason... right now, he has..."
The Progenitor, Tyrkanjaka.
The officer recalled her power.
The darkness encompassing all of this land, and the Progenitor's power that ruled it. That was truly a power that could physically tip the scales of a nation by itself.
'A mere laborer... removing him is not a difficult task. But the Progenitor behind him will never try to negotiate. And fighting the Progenitor is...'
The officer finished her judgment. Unless the Lord of All Creation could project all its power, that is. At least within this Abyss.
'Impossible. Rather, if it were the surface where the sun rises, maybe, but fighting the Progenitor here is... suicidal.'
*Click. Click.*
The officer's jaw trembled.
The mission will fail.
Because I will interfere. Aji, already accustomed to the bell and the entertainment I provide, will not just blindly follow along if the Lord of All Creation calls her.
But to eliminate me, the Progenitor behind me is too frightening.
Perhaps, if she reported this fact as it was, the Lord of All Creation, realizing the difficulty of this task, would...
'Make me the scapegoat... and wash their hands of this task.'
She had worked viciously hard. As a result, she obtained her father's legacy, which was on the verge of being incinerated.
She joined hands with the Lord of All Creation, overcame life-threatening crises multiple times, and obtained the meritorious deeds they provided. She even received two medals.
Like that, Lieutenant Callis's life, built up steadily toward Level 4 citizenship.
Was on the verge of collapsing from a single stroke of bad luck.
The officer's body shivered. She pressed her hat deeper down, clenched her teeth, and repeated to herself.
'I won't break down here. I will find a way somehow. Even if what I have right now is... an unreliable assistant.'
Having made a firm resolution, the officer moved slowly.