Vol 4 Chapter 2 (2/2)
”Why, that's not a problem at all That's when you step in to work and support your lady with your oo hands!”
”Yeah! That's it! That's perfect, Doubs!” Mihail said with an innocent glint in his eye But he quickly withdrew his smile and added worriedly,
”Coician in this castle nae Your characterization overlaps”
”What?!” Doubs cried, spinning around with his gaze fixed on the ceiling He finally fell to his knees as he supported himself by his cane
”To think there would be another stageall this time has come upon us! To lose my unique idiosyncrasy is to lose proof ofabout, but I live by no rule, no ideology other than that ofless than death! My bodycorpse, but this death will also be the death of my soul!”
”That's terrible!”
”Urgh… Now that things have coe that vaic duel! I'e' character here on e!”
”Oh, right!”
Mihail did as he was instructed, running out into the hall with his cell phone in hand
Watching hihed and took a seat in a nearby chair
”…It will be at least ten s hi, but it'd be best for you to disclose your business quickly”
”My, lad you're quick to understand” The ain ”Well, then Let anization, here as a lowly officer My color is iridescence—the moniker I received from the viscount is 'the Iridescent Extra' It's a pleasure”
The ain
But Doctor's response this ti an old man—his new tone was still more er than before
”You Organization officers and your obsession with these monikers Do all Colors have nicknames like a team of cartoon superheroes?”
”Yes Some choose their naiven one by a coone And speaking of which, don'tyou also have the recklessly remarkable nickname of 'Mass Murderer'?”
”…I didn't come up with that”
'Mass murderer'
The id
The self-proclaimed 'Iridescent Extra' spread his arrin, one quite different from the smiles he had shown Mihail
”That nickname of yours has more than a little to do with the reason I'm here today”
”…Did Melhilm order you to kill me?”
”Positively preposterous! I may be beloved by the vampires of this world, but Melhilm despises me! And why in the world would he task an unrelated third party to take care of the reanization have any reason to kill you at this point Do I look like the old you, the kind of valess murder?”
”Then what does the Organization ith me now?”
Passing over Doubs' obvious provocation, Doctor pressed on to the point without batting an eye
”Have you heard about the mysterious incident that took place last week in the mountains in southern Germany?”
”…”
”Ah, so you do Then you knohat I'm here to-”
”It wasn't usted He did not even hear Doubs out to the end
But the vanored him and continued on with his own discussion
”You couldn't possibly not know about it! After all, every channel is positively swae in the mountains! What was the disaster that struck this little settles from another diirl! It's a superbly sensational news story, perfect for blowing away the boredom of peaceful existence”
”…”
”But there's so that the media hasn't announced even now, as real estate prices take a nosedive in es Did you know, by any chance, that a certain ru around the area?”
”No” The boy shook his head, displeased Doubs answered energetically
”They say that the villagers were killed by a vampire”
”…!”
”It's understandable that such a rumor would pop up in the wake of an incident like this But the Organization can't take this lightly After all, we have your precedent”
”So I' his fists
Although it did not show on his face, his conflicted emotional state was plain from the look in his eyes
The colors of his eether, and could not be described in a single word
Anger Sadness Hatred Regret Despair
His negative e behind a disgusting gunk of senti beneath his beautiful exterior
But Doubs neither apologized nor er with a constant smile
”Tut, tut, tut There certainly are soanization's members who suspect you, but the viscount cleared it all up with a whole wall of words saying, 'That is not possible' And even Melhilm, who turned you into a vampire, says that your involvement is unlikely And above all else…”
Doubs paused, wagging his finger
”…Above all else, I don't suspect you, either”
”…?”
Doctor was at a loss Doubs continued
”You probably don't know anization’s members other than Melhilm But we know quite a bit about you And frorasp, we can reach a certain conclusion…”
Before Doctor realized, Doubs earing an expression at once joyful, sad, and nostalgic
”From what I recall, your crimes were much more atrocious”
”…”
Doctor maintained his silence in the face of many provocations
But co back to life in hispast at a speed unthinkable for humans
The memories of the sins he committed as a vampire
And the sin he co
<=>
The past
About twenty years ago, there lived a human boy in a city in northern Germany
His name was Theodosius Waldstein
At the time, he was seven years old
The name 'Waldstein' came from the noblemen who lived in Waldstein Castle on the island of Growerth, and the boy often traveled to the island with his parents
But in the modern world, the boy was not an aristocrat He had no claim to the castle
Even so, he felt a strange draw to the island and the castle He begged his parents and visited Growerth tiain
And it was as he walked the island alone one day that he irl
It was a typical story
The sun was setting, and stars were beginning to sparkle overhead The boy was crying, having been separated from his parents
The one who helped the lost boy and took hi black hair
She was nearly ten years older than he was, but the girl was not quite a 'young woman' On the way to the castle, she expressed surprise at the naently
”You must be a relative of the viscount”
The boy thought her words strange
The title of viscount did not exist in Ger to know this, had been confused by the phrase 'relative of the viscount'
In the light of dusk, the girl put on a mysterious smile and softly leaned in towards his face
Until that point, Theo had grown up hearing that he was pretty enough to be a girl
But even he found his heart being stolen away by the girl
By her ethereal beauty
Her skin was porcelain white, too natural to have been covered in powder
Her gaze was powerful and piercing One look was enough to make him feel like she had tapped him on the back
There was no war froh a colorless fog was stroking his face
The girl's fingers, softly entwined with his, were at once naturally and artificially beautiful, like a doll or a painting given life His nerves tingled at the san to lose himself in her allure
Beautiful Pretty Cute Cool
Could a seven-year old boy have the vocabulary to describe her?
In the end, unable to say a word, the boy froze
He had no other choice
When he had grown, Theo went on to say,
”If that's what it feels like to be paralyzed, I don't think I wouldthat way for the rest of my life”
All she did was lean into his face
But that alone was enough to drive her ie into his heart and enslave him, whether he liked it or not
”Let me tell you a secret”
The girl smiled faintly, and…
”You see, I'm a vampire”
<=>
Present day
Her face Her voice Her beautiful black hair, fluttering in the wind of dusk
Hisback to him in perfect detail
But the hts reached that point, Doctor's reminiscences came to a sudden stop
”hello? Are you listening?”
”Ack!”
Doubs' face was right before Doctor's eyes The brim of his hat touched Doctor's forehead
With an uncharacteristic scream, Doctor pulled back his chair and prepared to raise his voice But…
”I brought him!”
Mihail's voice echoed from the laboratory entrance, followed by the sound of rushi+ng feet
”…Has it already been so long?”
”Yes My riotous ra took up quite a bit of time But really I used every provocation in the book to try and get you angry, but you ended up falling asleep! The reward for your patience is a bonbon”
”I’ve already told you that I have no need for such things!” Doctor responded, reverting to the tone of an old man At that very moment, Mihail pushed open the door
”Sorry to keep you waiting, Doubs! He'll be here in a sec” He said, not knohat kind of conversation had been taking place here until just o Of course, even if he knew, he wouldn't have let the atmosphere dictate his attitude
”By the way, I' that stuff about your characters overlapping Even if you lose to Mr Mage, I'll still think you're a swell guy! No one who notices my relationshi+p with Ferret could possibly be a bad person!” Mihail said, disturbing the atmosphere of the room Doubs chuckled
”I'rateful to hear that! But that attitude of yours won't last very long”
”Why not?”
”Once you learn who I am, you'll come to hate me I can't wait to see the look on your face when I reveal the truth”
Just as Mihail tried to respond to Doubs' reater disturbance piled into the lab
”Yo!” ”Hey, where's Professor?” ”Maybe she's asleep”
”I see So there's no one around today to chase us out”
”Then again, not even Professor's a et serious” ”Our seriousness is a pretty big deal” ”The probleh, huh?” ”Anyone who can get serious is a genius” ”We don't need to be geniuses… determination and effort are the true motivators of life!” ”That's pretty awesoet serious, nothing will be a challenge”
”Now, let's settle down and watch this ic duel while we slowly extort ic duel will involve getting the money out of Doc's safe and into our hands as fast as possible” ”Great idea”
The intruders were a group of vainally subordinates of the , a dhampyr named Watt Stalf But a certain series of incidents left them here as freeloaders
Before they were vampires, they were unemployed bums And by nature they were also lazy
They were long-lived NEETs who neither lorded over nor subjugated humans
This hy they constantly battled the de out their heads at the mention of any entertainment
They had heard about this duel from Mihail as he passed by, and had come to the lab with carefree excitement
”So who's this ician s'pposed to be, anyway-”
At that ure in the corner of the room
The vampires froze simultaneously
”…” ”…” ”…” ”…” ”…”
As they went silent at once, Mihail frowned in confusion
”What's wrong, guys?” He asked, now on friendly enough terms with them that he could treat them like equals
That hen a straggler eed into the lab
”Heh heh heh… Whoa claim to my title?”
He was an Asian vaic was not only a hobby but also an integral part of his own identity He had rushed over to the laboratories, thrilled at the news of a fellow vaician
”…”
But the , his thrill turned to despair
”Uh… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK?!”
”Oh, so it was you Now this is quite the quaint encounter I'ic has i for Watt Stalf”
Thefroe could only tremble blankly
Mihail looked back and forth between Mage and Doubs
”D'you know each other?”
”Do we know this guy?! dauy is?!” One of the freeloader vampires cried
”Of course I do His name's Doubs Hewley”
”If you'd told us that earlier, we'd never have come here in the first place!”
”?”
”That guy's one of the Colors at the Organization! Mr Watt doesn't couy!”
Before Mihail could respond,
”That's correct”
Doubs himself took the reins of the conversation
”I aanization that created the Eater who attacked your beloved and took away the use of your right hand The very group that used this Eater to wreak havoc on Growerth”
His tone had done a 180 His voice dripped with malice
Doctor, atched from the side, could tell with painful ease exactly what Doubs Heas intending
Though it had only been a short ti, Mihail had already shown Doubs trust and friendshi+p
Doubs went out of his way to declare that he was the ene to relish Mihail's dismayed reaction
'Dispicable…'
Mihail's back was turned to both Doubs and Doctor
Curious to see what kind of a face he earing, the former slowly circled round to take a look
Just as Mihail did not know Doubs beforehand, Doubs also knew nothing about Mihail other than the fact that he was Ferret's friend and a victim of the Eater attack
He truly knew nothing about Mihail
After all, when he finally glimpsed Mihail's face,
He saw to his surprise that there was no change in his expression
With the very same smile from before, Mihail responded,
”Wow, that's a!”
”…What?” Replied everyone else
They looked around at one another, and even Doubs opened wide his shadowed eyes
”So you're a friend of the viscount! Could you pass on a e to him? Relic and Ferret've been worried about him since he hasn't been back to the island” He said, as cheerful as ever
He was not pushi+ng himself to behave in this way
He was not avoiding reality
Although he talked as though nothing rong, Mihail's actions were absurd for the situation
”Young man… Did you not understand? After what happened to you and Ferret…” Doctor said
”What about it?” Mihail asked, titling his head
”The injury to your ar, was it not?”
”Oh, that's what you're trying to say But the guy who attacked me was the man in the armor His voice was different, and uy was the worst of the worst—he put down me and Ferret's love! There's no way he's the sauy who called me Ferret's sweetheart” Mihail said with a chuckle Doctor still looked astonished
”Young anization? If not for them, neither you nor Ferret would have been injured so!”
Mihail seeh and put on a more serious look
”Hs like that And besides, the viscount said that Ferret's parents anization never existed, neither would Ferret So really, I should be thankful I think”
He thought for some time, but found no answer Mihail turned to Iridescence and srin of pure innocence
”I'll take ic duel going to be like? Sawing yourself in half? …Wait, vampires could cut theuess that wouldn't becrucifixes into a box, or teleportation? Oh, but you'll need soes to score your performance This is just e and me the assistant who sits next to her, and…”
Mihail's ra turned into a whisper at the very end The Iridescent Extra was silent for a moment
Was he upset that he had been denied a show of despair, Doctor wondered He broke out into a cold sweat, fearing that Doubs would attack Mihail
But the emotion that flashed by Doubs' eyes was a hint of confusion,
And unparalleled excitement
”Interesting…”
Suppressing the thrill ean at a mumble but quickly let his mouth run wild as he cried out to the heavens
”STUPENDOUS! How astonishi+ng! You, Mihail, are a human possessed of a pathetic flaw that also works as an incoth! Marvelous! I would reward you witha price on this show seems despicable to me! Ah, the viscount did say that I would find so about you!”
”Huh? What? Uh… I don't really get what you're saying, but thanks!” Mihail said, very lost
He was not the only one The other va Doubs and Mihail laugh without knohy
”Oh! That re open as he turned to Doctor ”Doctor, I saw some help wanted ads last ti for soht now”
His oblivious nature was practically a talent The vampires wanted very much to point out his blindness, but they were beaten Iridescence tapped Mihail on the back
”Were you looking for part-time work?”
Giving Mihail a thumbs-up, Doubs winked and put on his most excitable face yet
”Actually, there's going to be a rather large event taking place at the end of thefor some help!”
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