Vol 1 Chapter 3 (2/2)
”…What is this shi+zune Where did you find this thing?” He asked seriously shi+zune only answered as she could
”That cloas killed by the frozen viscount over there”
Silence Although it was ilasses, Watt was quiet for a fewat shi+zune
”Hey, hey Cut this crap You're supposed to always turn into fog How the hell do you die when the sun's not even up?”
His tone was still light, but his eyes were fixed on the hat on the floor
shi+zune shtly and described only the outcome
”She must've been absorbed into the viscount's bubble without even getting a chance toblood, in a sense”
”…Hold it I told you to cut the crap I did not tell her to pick a fight with the viscount”
Watt's voice began to quicken But in contrast to his growing unease, shi+zune remained inscrutable
”I said… cut the crap This is not funny”
Watt cut off there for aall the way around towards the pillars of ice at the foot of the stairs
”…Listen up! The Count would not--! …Gah… Urgh…”
His furious remark was cut off Watt's eyes, hidden beneath his shades, widened in shock
Ferret and the others happened to be facing his back head-on as he turned And from the middle of his back--to be precise, at a spot just over his heart--soh
It was a steak knife With superhuth shi+zune had forcibly driven that weapon--by no means sharp--into Watt's chest
She pushed the knife in deep, until it pierced through and cah his back
”This isn't stainless steel It's custom-made, made of pure silver I don't haveblow It's no wooden stake, so it ht hurt I'm sorry”
”You… bitch…” Watt spat hoarsely
Blood dripped frorip of the knife and onto shi+zune's hands
Taking her hands off the knife, shi+zune looked at the blood on her hands
”You've surpassed your half-blood nature and becoed vampire That already makes you my enemy”
<=>
The ht me about Eaters
Strangely enough, he'd asked me the same question as Gerhardt did today
”Kid, if the one who killed your fao on and kill every human in existence?”
”…I would” I said I was co
”…I like you, kid” He said, and told me about Eaters
Then, he tore off his flesh and let me drink his blood
Now that I think about it, that was so long ago we didn't even have this plan in the first place
Half man and half vampire
Normally someone like him would have been cast out from both worlds Or he would have hidden in one or the other
But Watt tried to becoreat in both worlds
Not for sooodwill It was all for his own ambition
For someone who never sucks up to his superiors, he uses their influence to wield power In one sense, he's the lowest of all humans and vampires
But by then, I'd already come to a realization about myself as an Eater Because I realized that I was neither hue was just an excuse I realized that I enjoyed watching vampires fall to despair as they died Watt's actions back then almost made me feel refreshed
I used him, and he used me
He would tell me where I could find powerful va the ones that posed the greatest threat to himself
But that didn't matter Watt and I had a purely utilitarian, symbiotic relationshi+p
After I ate the vampire named Melhilm, Watt drank my blood He didn't bite me, but I cut my hand and let him drink it So he received Melhilm's power and became a true vampire
And now, I've stuck a knife through his heart Because he's a vampire, a creature I have to destroy
It was a professional relationshi+p, but it's true we had a bond of trust
That hy I decided to tell him
As he fell to the floor before my eyes, I would say it
It was not an insult This was my duty, and courtesy to those I devour
”Watt--Watt Stalf Thank you for the meal”
<=>
Watt lay on the floor, un shi+zune muttered to herself blankly
”…Too bad I think that clown girl actually noticed I was targeting you”
Blood was splattered all over her white jacket in a strange pattern shi+zune looked into empty space for a moment, then turned to Relic and Ferret as if she had re
”Looks like you're next So… thinking of resisting?”
Her face was the picture of cal clearly inhuman about the way shi+zune carried herself
Ferret did not know very much about this Eater, but her father's order to run and the fork sticking out of the ground near her feet was enough to inforer shi+zune posed
But she desperately sed the welling fear and feigned composure as best she could
”Striking him as he mourned his fallen friend--an excellent tactic”
Hatred was clear in Ferret's voice, but shi+zune's expression did not change
”That's right But it's not like I've never done this before Wouldn't it be stranger forat Ferret with a nostalgic look ”It's only been a month, but you've lost all that bloodlust froht?”
”…?”
Ferret's eyes widened as she looked directly at shi+zune
'So I have seen her before But a o? Then-'
”You atching me from the shadows like you could kill s--under scrutiny like that, you can't even get a vampire to drink your blood, let alone kiss you”
'…! I reo in Yokohalasses and her hair was down, but it was this woman!'
But by the time Ferret came to this realization andby her
”…What?”
Only a o, there were several metres between them That meant shi+zune had traversed that distance and more in the second it took for Ferret to remember her face
Mihail, standing beside Ferret, made an apt observation
”I… I saw her afterie just now”
And the fact that she had passed them by could only mean--
”Relic!”
By the ti Relic's chin
”Relic! …Eek!”
Hilda, who had been clinging to Relic, was pushed aside towards her parents shi+zune held a table knife in her left hand, aiiven moment
”…You understand, right? Try anything funny, and…”
”…Yeah” Relic replied without resisting, looking like he had come to a resolution
His expression prompted Hilda to try and rush towards shi+zune, but her parents held her back
”Stop! Let go, let go of me, dad! No! Please, no! Relic! Relic!”
”It's all right I'll be fine” Relic said, s to reassure Hilda shi+zune bowed her head aardly
”Remember e met in Yokohama? When I approached you on Watt's orders? Back then, you reminded me so much of my brother I couldn't stand it He would have been just about your age if he were still alive That's why I gave up on hunting you For a vampire, you looked too innocent You didn't look like one of those monsters”
She sain
”But today you showed ht before my eyes I saw the monstrous power of Relic von Waldstein I'd never seen anything like it”
The range of e replaced by childlike curiosity It was as though they were being overridden by her desire for Relic's power and flavour
”It's all right Just let me drink your blood, and I'll let your sister live for now And I still have my promise with the viscount, too”
With a wry grin, shi+zune repeated what Relic said to her that day oneabout his family
”Don't worry I'll be gentle”
A second later, there was a flash of silver by Relic's neck His throat was torn Blood began spewing out
Hilda and Ferret screa would not let theestures he was trying toto keep them away
shi+zune sucked the blood froht that alh no one could stop shi+zune now
But at that very roup of heroes
Suddenly, a door leading in froroup of what looked to be tourists crowded into the ballroom
The roughened roup wore an army jacket
He glanced over at the second level of the ballroom
”Wait… wait a sec”
The people who had walked in on the situation was Cargilla and the other exterminators, who had been hired to kill the viscount
Seeing the strange spectacle before him, shi+zune at the centre of it all, he vacantly spoke up
”What the hell's going on here?”
shi+zune slowly drew her face back from Relic, and wiped the blood from her mouth with her sleeve
Relic's bleeding had already stopped It did not seem like he had been badly hurt
Turning her eyes froilla and the others with a bored expression
”…You're finally awake You know, the civilian couple here regained consciousness earlier than you”
The exterminators looked at one another, their co them As none of them could speak japanese, they had no idea what shi+zune was saying to them
shi+zune chose her words carefully, explaining in what little English she knew
”I' a vampire”
”Hey, hey You sayin' that kid's a vampire? And what's with these red icicles?”
As the exterminators looked at shi+zune dubiously, they climbed up to the second level one by one
”…? What? Don't bother me”
So Why were they all ar straight for her?
But from their complexion they did not seeht But this conclusion was mistaken, to her detriment
”Well, we just couldn't leave you, Missy”
”…?”
”See, we're still being controlled Hahaha!”
At that very le exterminator spewed blood from their mouths
”?!”
At the saain filled the ballroom
The blood that had burst fro very clear letters of blood before the shocked shi+zune
[Let us not be too hasty, Miss shi+zune Now, let us deal with entlemen once more!]
'How did this happen?!'
shi+zune glanced over at the first level without even thinking The frozen lu into the air
[Ah, a true gentleets to keep his weapons in reserve!]
”How…?!”
[Ah, well, to be frank, I was so earlier When you asked to hter the second time Why, I had never specified that they were brother and sister, so how could you know such a thing in the first place, I wondered!]
shi+zune shook her head, acknowledging her mistake
”I did regret putting it that way a second later…” She began, but trailed off Her breathing felt strange It as as though so terribly dangerous--
”Urgh?!”
The collapse began
Her breathing becas, like they were filling ater She was literally on the verge of drowning, though she was standing in a ballroom in a castle on the mountains
The discoave way to pain, and the more she tried to breathe the further she fell closer to death
”…Gah!”
shi+zune desperately bent her body forward and struck her own ribcage With a loud cough, she spat out red fluid
”Hah… ah… You… you can do solared at the viscount, who tilted his for dumb
[Ah, though it is certainly within my power to do so, I'm afraid that is not part of my body]
”…What?”
shi+zune frowned The red liquid she had spewed out suddenly grew hazy, then melted into the air
”?!”
When she turned around, she ca She suddenly sensed the presence of another vampire
At that
The fog was the same colour as the jester's costume
”…!”
Before shi+zune could put two and two together, the fog began to gather at her mouth
Realizing as happening, shi+zune hurriedly turned her gaze to Watt's collapsed forular hat she had tossed to the floor had disappeared
Seeing the exterured out the identity of the being enveloping her
She backed off, getting away fro, and yelled at the viscount
”I thought you said you killed her!”
The viscount's body shook as he answered shi+zune in unnecessarily bold font
[I do not recall claiirl dressed as a clown]
The ballroo
The air itself, filled with a light haze, was filled with silent fury at shi+zune
The jester was not the only one filling the hall now
The viscount spread his body over the floor and the walls, spreading hih the ballroom at incredible speeds Red spouts of blood traveled froiant net
The ballrooh the blood had been put up there fro fork like shi+zune had thrown earlier would do little to harm the viscount now
As the fog spread through the ballrooan to sense the viscount and the jester from every direction around her She was now open to surprise attacks
”Ugh…”
Realizing that the tides were turning, shi+zune turned in order to take Relic hostage
He was indeed a powerful vampire, but he was still possessed of many weaknesses If shi+zune could use his iaining chip, she thought
But Cargilla and the others, under the jester's control, stepped between her and Relic one by one
”Move!”
shi+zune ruthlessly threw aside the exter any weapons She did not consider theet wrapped up in Watt's peculiar hobby They had looked down upon her for being an Eater, without realizing their own hypocrisy And since shi+zune had no interest in thein with, she did not even try to remember their names, much less their faces
And so she was caught off guard
She could never have known the fact that the exterminators, minus Val the newbie, had been joined by one more person
shi+zune kicked and shoved the exter between her and Relic
She swung out her ar to strike the man in the neck
But theshi+zune's attack
”?!”
Though he was almost too late, the th shi+zune then sensed a va under control--he himself was a vampire
The fog and the blood filling the roo the vampire until it was too late
She hurriedly swung up her other arm and made to drive a knife into the man's heart
”One, two, three”
With these quiet words, the man's vampiric presence ballooned exponentially At the sa themselves into shi+zune's face
”What?!”
Pain shot up from her left arm
shi+zune's hand, clutching the knife, was caught in a set of wolf teeth that had eed from the man's chest
”Ugh!”
shi+zune grihed
”It worked! This was the first tiic tricks, you see” The bespectacledpressure into the jaws he had transformed part of his body into, he tore off shi+zune's left hand with ease
”Ah…!”
Most people would have screae with deteric Man excitedly got into character
”Oh, hello there! I've heard so much about you, but this is the first time we meet face-to-face You really are quite powerful I never would have been able to beat you without causing a little distraction”
'What's going on?!'
shi+zune was lost in confusion She had hunted va like this had ever happened before
She had in the past devoured countless enemies,she assumed to be the jester
Tooher by surprise
Until now, she based her strategies on Watt's infor vah countless battles she had anticipated to a certain extent, but she did not have the skills to craft strategies on the fly
'Why is this happening? I just drank Relic's blood; I should be ht off those teeth easily!
She realized that her poere not greatly enhanced after drinking Relic's blood Relic, a vah to synchronize with an entire island
”Ugh!”
Bracing herself, shi+zune forcibly pulled back her aric Man
”Oh, that's not good!” The Magic Man cried, but shi+zune drew back her right arle try
Her flesh tore between the wolf teeth with a revolting noise
Even still, she ran as fast as she could for a spot where the fog was still lightest She could feel waret away
The fog was lightest in the vicinity of Watt's corpse, so she would catch her breath there--
That hen she came to a realization
'Watt's… corpse? A vampire's corpse? Wouldn't he have turned to ash? Is it because he's a dhampyr, or…!'
Her mind was not as quick as her body
By the time she sensed a faint presence from the fallen Watt, it was too late She was already up close to him
Watt's presence surged rapidly
There was an impact
shi+zune's body cah she had hit an invisible wall
Watt had gotten up without warning, springing forward like a jack-in-the-box
His hand had driven itself into her stomach Watt hi so fast that she had essentially rammed herself into his attack
”…That hurt, you bitch…” Watt spat
With that, he opened his hand inside shi+zune's stoans
”Gah… agh…”
shi+zune fell li up blood and unable to even scream
'How…? I know I stabbed through his heart…'
As her consciousness faded, she realized that a dark shadoas darting towards Watt
It was a large bat with hu doards Watt's chest, it disappeared into the hole she had created earlier
It was a bizarre sight, but shi+zune now understood what had happened
”shi+t, and I was saving this trick for the count, too” Watt sighed shi+zune glared at hi in shock
'…He separated just his heart?! Impossible! Not even Melhilm-'
The moment before she lost consciousness, shi+zune heard him answer her unspoken question
”…'Cause I'h effort, humans can evolve infinitely”
”Well, now…”
Watt picked up his sunglasses off the floor, put thes
[Allow rowth' and 'evolution']
The letters of blood floated up to him before he even asked It was very difficult to read properly because of the red stains all over the walls
[Evolution is not growth, nor is the reverse true How could you fail to make such a simple distinction?]
”'Cause I'm an idiot” Watt replied half-heartedly
[Certainly not How could you not understand? You have not evolved--you are growing of your own strength Step by step Little by little Slowly but surely]
Watt laughed ly
”You tryin' to lecture ain?”
[Not at all I am merely happy to see someone I've known for years as he matures Whether physically or mentally]
”That's what I mean by 'know-it-all old man'”
Watt brought his bloodied hand up to his lips and slowly licked off the blood--shi+zune's blood, the blood that should have received Relic's power
If what he said earlier was true, he would now have Relic's power at his disposal
Ferret gasped without thinking, but the viscount did not so much as twitch
Silence
Each individual, holding their own thoughts and hypotheses, watched as time passed
Watt stood still for athe effects of the blood
”…I knew it” He said, gritting his teeth and nodding at Relic
”You're not Relic, are you?”
[Correct You are no fool, Watt In fact, I would go so far as to claient man!]
”What's so good about being complimented by an idiot like you, huh?”
Watt shook his head weakly and continued, looking like he had figured out everything
”…Val, right?”
The being that had been in Relic's fore He transforreeted Watt Everyone but Watt and the viscount was taken by surprise--Hilda and Ferret found the in astonishment
”Then the real Relicfroic Man instead of killing hiic Man had disappeared It seemed he had escaped the ballrooain
And--
”Oi Clown” Watt said, looking at no direction in particular But there was no response
”Come on out I'm not mad at you”
Still no response He waited for a few s at the viscount with a bitter grin
”Never mind So, let's continue this, Count”
[…If only you would pour thisour city's industry…]
”Shaddap I feel like shi+t Hah, so this is what youshi+zune was the only traitor working for me And now it turns out there's three times as many backstabbers around me”
Watt's voice had becoly cold after his revival
”Don't you ever get tired of this, Count? Spoiling ht? You're always one step ahead of ainstto betray me when you set up this trap, didn't you? So what, you sayin' you're o?”
He took a step forward
”But listen up, Count Who the fuck do you think you are? Look at yourself You lost your chance at d