Vol 5 Chapter 3 (1/2)

The Killer Doth Steal Through Darkness

Night On the outskirts of Neuberg

“Hold on, Watson We’re almost at the castle” Hilda said Watson nodded

They had stepped off the tram, and made it to the foot of the mountain where Waldstein Castle was

‘Once we get to the castle, I’ll use the phone at the maintenance office to call home

‘Moht because of that serial killer, but they won’t be worried if I’m with Relic’

Although the area was nearly deserted, Hilda was already used to this street—she had no reason to be afraid If anything, Watson’s hunger was her biggest concern But believing that Watson was still satiated with the ht earlier, Hilda decided to press onward

“Just a little further I’ about your friends”

“Relic…” Watson repeated, tilting her head “A vampire?”

“Yes, he’s a really strong vauess what? He’s the Lord of Growerth now!” Hilda sh Watson remained unexpressive as ever

Suddenly, Watson sniffed the air and latched onto Hilda’s arm

“Eek! Th, that tickles, Watson! What’s wrong?”

“…I smell Humans”

Watson looked on curiously Hilda was at a loss

“What is it?”

Watson only tilted her head; she did not voice any specific questions

But Hilda knew that so mystified Watson

‘I guess it really is strange for hu with vampires’

Even for a olf like Watson, a hu nonchalant about vah many people on Growerth knew that vampires existed, and Gerhardt ell-known to the islanders, very few people in Hilda’s generation believed in the people who actually interacted with vae who knew about vampires never actively tried to involve the the truth to theabout the world of Night

Of course, Hilda didn’t think any reputable newspaper would believe someone who claimed that there were vampires on the island

Outside of Growerth, people probably only thought of vampires as myths It must be natural for va

Though she was never alone, Hilda was lonely

She was human, and Relic was a vampire

Counting Mihail and Ferret, there were four of the made her uneasy

She was not uneasy about Relic, the vampire

She was uneasy about herself, the ordinary hu

Could a hus work out with Relic? She wanted to look to other human-vampire couples for reference, but there were no such pairs around her She couldn’t even reference Mihail and Ferret because the two of them were so close already

She began to feel as though she were all alone in the world in her position But Relic would always ease her loneliness

Yet even with that contradiction filling her thoughts, Hilda could not hold back her feelings for Relic At the sa a burden to him

Naturally, Hilda was the most important person in Relic’s life He was savedperson, Hilda did not think of her own actions as anything extraordinary She still did not know just hoell Relic thought of her

Because her house was far from the school, Hilda had lived the unusual student life of coht after class to study under her parents alongside the Waldstein twins

Perhaps that hy she had so few friends her own age Hilda was drawn ht than human society

Perhaps she ht not be so conflicted if she were like her brother, who treated humans and vampires exactly the same

But Hilda knew that she was not such a good person

Of course, she was not discriainst vampires

In fact, as a huainst her fellow humans Part of the blame lay with her parents

Hilda and Mihail’s parents were incredibly fearful of vampires At first, they did not know the secret of the Waldstein twins They took the tutoring job thinking that the children were ht

Hilda was also ignorant at first She treated the siblings like she would any other hu their childhood friend

When she and Mihail came home from school, Relic and Ferret would coer in the evenings, which delighted her But because they did not get to spend a great deal of ti more than a childhood friend

If she had grown closer to him at that point and coht never have fallen in love with hiht struck an interesting balance to their budding connection

But things changed one day

Their parents said that they would teach the Waldstein siblings away from home Hilda and Mihail were to watch the house while they were out

Hilda noticed soe about her parents’ behavior then That h the island’s rumors that Relic and Ferret were vampires Perhaps they did not believe at first, but happened to catch sight of Relic using his abilities

Not knowing a thing about the circumstances at the time, Hilda could only wonder why she was not allowed to meet Relic and Ferret When she asked her parents if she could go over to their house during the weekend, her parents sternly told her that they shouldn’t trouble the Waldsteins

Because the ordinary presence of Relic and Ferret had been so suddenly cut off froap left behind made a deep impression in her life

<=>

Several years ago

“Mihail? Why won’t they come to our house anymore? …Do you thinkso cold to you?” Hilda asked Mihail replied with a smile

“Nah It’s Ma and Pop who don’t like ‘em”

“What?!”

“Don’t tell, okay? I snuck out at night a few tio see Ferret”

“Mihail!”

Hilda’s eyes turned to dinner plates Mihail did not seem fazed in the least

“Ferret’s still flingingthe door inbit by bit At least, that’s the way things’ve been working out the past few times”

“She’s ‘flinging you out’?”

Hilda knew Ferret e that Ferret started behaving rather arrogantly around Mihail since the twins stopped coo But what did Mihaillessons not only froott as well?

As questions overwhelmed Hilda’s mind, Mihail replied matter-of-factly

“Hive you a lot of details o together tonight”

“…Go? To their house? But we can’t go out so late”

‘Coain?’

Hilda was struck by the fact that she did not even know the basics about her friends Were they really so distant? Was that all the Waldstein tere to her?

Noticing Hilda’s unease, Mihail chuckled

“C’ht about their house either, since they’re the ones who always came to us But I needed to know Ferret’s address to send her a love letter, so I asked Relic”

Hilda already knew that Mihail was doggedly pursuing Ferret in a ro from a distance, convinced that she had no part in it However, Hilda did get the impression that, in spite of Ferret’s icy attitude, Mihail’s prospects were not particularly bad

Thankful for her dependable brother, who seemed to know more about the twins than she did, Hilda followed up with another question

“So where do they live?”

Mihail answered nonchalantly, as though his incredible ansas nothing unusual at all

“Where else? Waldstein Castle!”

<=>

Present day, on the slopes of Mt Wasserspitze

Just as Hilda’s thoughts reached that point, she and Watson arrived at the slopes of the biggest mountain on the island

During the day, the area was filled with sausage stalls and souvenir stands targeted at tourists But at this hour, it was quiet and empty—only a few bars were open

“…The viscount’s castle and the streets around here never change”

Looking up at the castle, which was partway up the mountain, Hilda remembered the first ti The night she followed her brother there, in the cool evening air lit by dim street lamps

‘That ht’

Hilda tried to lose herself in her memories once more

“…”

But Watson silently tugged on her sleeve, bringing her back to reality

“Sorry, Watson I was just thinking about soood olves and va hungry?”

Hilda remembered how Watson had wolfed down the chunks of raw ht But Watson shook her head

“Five…”

“What?”

Hilda was confused by Watson’s answer

But that was quickly addressed by the figure entering her line of sight

“Excuse me, miss Do you have a moment?

The wo a microphone at her

“We’re from ZZZ Network Could we ask you for a brief interview?”

“?!”

Hilda finally looked around Standing there acco the bespectacled reporter were four men, likely part of a television crew One of the a camera in her direction—Hilda reflexively stood between it and Watson

“S-sorry But I’d rather not—“

assu that the reporter was here to ask about the serial murders, Hilda took Watson’s hand and tried to leave But the reporter got in her way

“Um, what are you—“

“Don’t worry, this isn’t a live broadcast If you’d like, we’ll respect your privacy and edit out your face That is, if you and your friend here really are human”

“…!”

This was no normal interview, Hilda realized immediately But Watson obliviously sniffed the air and looked at the TV crew

“I don’t knohat you’re talking about”

“We’ve received reports claiirl behind the co a tram headed for Waldstein Castle… and here you are”

The reporter, standing off-camera, smirked and landed a decisive blow

“Just now, you said, ‘there’s lots of good olves and vampires up in that castle’, didn’t you?”

“I…”

“Would you like a re we made?” The woman asked matter-of-factly Hilda shrank

“…You actually believed a joke like that?”

She wanted to end the conversation somehow, but the other crew members just watched in silence If this were a live broadcast, at least, they would not try anything—but this footage being recorded could be edited to suit anyone’s needs

As Hilda hesitated, the reporter continued with a gleam in her eye

“We ca that vampires and olves aren’t mere myths”

“What… are you talking about?”

“I’ on this island …Sorry, but could you turn off the camera?”

The reporter gestured to the cameraman, who nodded and turned away

Hilda glared suspiciously at the reporter, unwilling to let her guard down

‘I won’t let these people reveal Relic and the others’ secrets… I can’t’

Afraid that she would end up burdening Relic, Hilda was even considering dis the police

“There’s nothing to be scared of I’ that vampires and olves exist, I just want to let everyone know that they aren’t enemies of humanity”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about And hoould you know if they’re enemies of humanity or not?”

Hilda reuarded, but asked the questions that came up in her mind

ZZZ Netas a relatively new television station infamous for its ends-justifies-the-h their ed to uncover all sorts of incredible stories Public opinion on ZZZ Netas polarizing, to say the least

Having heard the rumors herself, Hilda could not allow herself to open up to the woman

But the woman did not react with frustration—instead, she quietly looked up at the castle on the mountainside

“You see… I received some help from them once”

“What?”

“A few years ago, I came to this island to cover a story on olf myths That’s when I was attacked But someone saved me—someone I couldn’t call human A humanoid… creature A creature with a patch of blue fur on his head I was dazed fros”

“…!”

Hilda was astonished

A ith blue hair She remembered him

Although she didn’t know if the man had dyed his hair or if it was natural, there was a blue-haired ho had lived in Waldstein Castle for a very long ti the castle’s olves under Grandmother Job’s couard When Hilda stayed late at the castle, he even took her home by motorcycle

“Sorry, Missy This should be Relic’s job, but our young master’s still a bit dense when it co that to his appearance, Hilda had a very clear ie of him in her memories

‘Then… is this wo the truth?’

Realizing that this woht, Hilda lowered her guard ever-so-slightly

But still unable to trust the reporter completely, she cautiously approached the subject

“Then… what do you want to interview me about?”

“Well, I’d actually like a feords from your friend here”

Throwing a glance at the girl, as sniffing the air with an inscrutable expression, the reporter turned to Hilda

“I want to know the castle’s secrets”

“…”

“It looks like you were headed to Waldstein Castle You’re going to see soht?”

The woman based her questions off the audio she recorded Hilda was taken aback, but refused to give an answer

“…Who knows?”

But that aard ansas as good as a confirmation

“Hee hee You’re really being stubborn You must trust that vampire very much Is he a man?”

“What?”

“Is he your boyfriend? Is he a prince living in that castle?”

“…?”

Hilda sensed so reporter

The way the woman acted and asked questions was somehow different from the way reporters behaved on television Hilda then realized that the other crew

‘So What is this?

‘It’s as if this woman knows about Relic

‘And the rest of the at so far away’

Certain that so was off, Hilda decided to escape fro that she had to take the girl next to her as well, she glanced at Watson

But the olf tilted her head expressionlessly

“What’s wrong?” Hilda asked quietly, ignoring the reporter

Watson sniffed again

She then mumbled to Hilda, her face still a blank

“Strange”

“What?”

“The people They se”

“?”

Perhaps her superior sense of smell detected a small difference in the scents of the crew

But the creas fro unusual about the a little different

Hilda, however, was not so naive as to dismiss a olf’s sense of smell

“How are they strange?”

“Umm…”

The reporter asked absolutely no questions of the girls whispering to one another in front of her

It was as though she aiting for the

Hilda could hear her own heartbeat rise in a crescendo

Her experiences arning her of danger

Her hu off alarm bells in her head

Co of her pulse, blood puh her body and her muscles tensed, ready to move in an instant

Hilda desperately held back her fear and waited for Watson

Soon, the olf tilted her head and—

“A bit like Dorrikey and Mirald But different There’s human smells Mixed with them”

“…Dorrikey? Mirald?”

The na dry, but she had a vague idea as to what had happened to the crew around her

‘They s else And they’re acting strangely

‘What if they’re saying things they couldn’t possibly know… because so them say it?’

And as though proving Hilda’s assumptions correct, Watson mumbled ever-so-plainly

“Dorrikey Mirald I came with them They’re vampires”

The word sent a chill down Hilda’s spine Her entire body reacted at once

‘We have to run’

As Hilda leapt, Watson’s hand in hers, one of the crew rabbed her by the shoulder

“Let o!”

“So you do know, don’t you? You know about vampires, and the feeble little Lord of Waldstein Castle”

The reporter cackled, her eyes positively glowing

But the words she spoke could not possibly have co that she was being controlled

The other crew h as well

“No! Let go of me!”

Desperately wresting herself free froliht have written the bites But Hilda knew the significance of the marks

‘They’re under subjugation!’

Hilda was fully convinced now

When a vampire drank the blood of a human, they could exert a certain amount of control over the hureatly a the skill at all—but Hilda’s parents had been subjugated this way in the past, and Hilda herself had been subjugated mund

Hilda was on edge because she assu vampires to the world But that was perhaps preferable to the current situation

‘Why a TV crew? Is it just them? What if this is just like the Carnale Festival, and everyone on the island is being subjugated? What about Mom and Dad?’

Even as countless questions flashed through her mind, Hilda searched for an escape route

Meanwhile, Watson seemed to have realized that Hilda was in so ‘the nice person who feeds me’

“…Can I bite them?”

“What?!”

“…Are these bad people?”

Watson’s eyes were narrowed and there was no erim

“They’re only being subjugated, and they’re not vaet out of… Ahh?!”

Two of the crew members pounced on Hilda mid-sentence and held her down The cameraman turned the camera back toward her

“It irlfriend getting raped”

The bespectacled reporter was no longer present in her oords Fear ran through Hilda’s veins as she took a deep breath to scream

But at that uttural whisper filled the air

“No Bad people”

A second later, Watson’s body began to change rapidly

Silver fur covered her entire body and her face transfor wolf

Her body expanded slightly with y clothes

Watson completed her transformation, human only in her stature

Hilda gasped, though not out of terror Her breath was taken away by the beauty of the sight

Watson, her silver fur fluttering in the wind and dressed in hu carnivore and more like an artistic masterpiece

And for soation, the reporter’s eyes turned to dinner plates at the sight of the transformed olf

While Hilda lost herself in awe at the sight, Watson leapt with nigh-invisible speed at thethem into the distance

Theconsciousness with pained gasps

Watson then turned to the reporter and the cae

“No, Watson! You don’t have to hit the at the mountain path

Watson nodded and turned

But at that ed from the darkness and swept over her

“Watson!” Hilda yelled Watson spoke at the same time

“…Run”

“But Watson—“

“I’m fine”

With an emotionless nod, Watson leapt away from the bats

Although the bats werea racket, the sound didn’t seem to reach the bars on the street The deserted road was treated to the unusual scene of a flock of bats chasing after a olf

“Watson…”

Hilda wanted to re here, she ran for theup to the castle

If she had a cell phone, she would have called the castle’sone when Mihail did, Hilda shouted at Watson

“Hold on, Watson! I’ll go get some help!”

Seeing the olf nod, Hilda turned and ran with all her strength, refusing to look back—chased by the footsteps of the subjugated reporter and her crew

She desperately drew up the ie of the Lord of Waldstein Castle—the va no financial or political poas the most dependable person she could think of

<=>

“This is getting exciting”

A figure watched the co beloith a clap of the hands

Mirald stood atop a power line on the rin on his face

He was too far to read the thoughts of Hilda and Watson, but he had a good look at Hilda’s thoughts before he climbed up to this location

“That huhly of Relic von Waldstein Now I know exactly what he looks like—he’s a lot older now than he was in the picture Mr Gerhardt showed me”

Perhaps it was a side-effect of his telepathy—Mirald had a habit of speaking his internal leefully in the deserted woods

“Instead of a knight in shi+ning armor, we have a vampire lord cloaked in bats But will he make it in time for a dra… Where are you, Relic von Waldstein, and what are you thinking?

“I hope you’re at least aware that soirlfriend is in danger”

<=>

Waldstein Castle

Relic sat on the rooftop and thought to himself

‘I’lad Pirie’s injuries are healed’

She had screaate the subjugation, but Pirie ultimately made a complete recovery She thanked shi+zune with a pout and flew off on her own

Though Relic was relieved that his friend was all right, his thoughts were filled with all sorts of worries

‘Maybe Watt was right

‘Do I really cherish anyone?’

The faces flashi+ng through the teenaged boy’s thoughts were those of the countless va in the castle, and an ordinary pair of huered longest in his mind

One of the witches ent in and out of the castle had once said to her, “You know, you have potential You ood witch” But Hilda had declined the offer, saying that she was happy with the current state of her relationshi+p with the castle

Witches made contracts not with demons or spirits, but with certain vampires and olves Because some witches underwent rituals that couldn’t even be described torelieved that Hilda declined to become one

‘Hilda always stood on the human side of the world

‘But she still accepted me’

Mihail and his utter lack of prejudice was an exception to the rule The islanders who knew of vaenerally looked at theh the older humans were quite fond of Gerhardt, that was only a result of their age and experience Most looked at vampires with fear or curiosity

Others, of course, were like Hilda’s parents—openly disdainful

That was the ie of vampirekind prevalent in the world

Their very existence was deeures of malice who devoured humans Relic was once bitter that he and fellow vampires were so hated, when their only crime was their existence But his bitterness never turned to hatred at the world

It was fortunate for Relic that he was born and raised on the unusual environment of Growerth Very few vampires in the castle hated the world—in that sense, it was a utopia of sorts When Relic was younger, he even considered living in the castle forever without having any contact with humans

But he was fortunate yet again to have irl named Hilda

When his tutors found out that he was a vampire, he desperately tried to hide it But he could see the terror and disgust in their eyes And putting their fear into action, Mr and Mrs Dietrich began to hold lessons at a different location so Relic and Ferret could not meet Hilda and Mihail