Vampire Lord
As a proud member of the Meyer family, Cabin had grown up learning the weight carried by that name.
The progenitor of the race, the pinnacle of all things. A living myth who, in ancient times, had even occupied the seat of the Demon King.
A great being who had taken the heart of the former Demon King, gained immortality, and then fallen into an eternal sleep after leaving behind 666 forms of wisdom that encompassed magic, swordsmanship, spirit arts, sorcery, and everything in between for the sake of his descendants.
Any creature with blood would fall to its knees before him, overcome by a terror that reached back to the very root of existence merely by meeting his gaze.
At any moment, if he so desired, every drop of blood within one’s body would come under his control, regardless of one’s own will.
As Cabin recalled the words engraved atop the Meyer family’s stone monument, he swallowed dryly without meaning to.
This is… this is what a Lord is…!
BOOOOM—!
“Y-yeep!”
Penrix, King of the Wolves, was slammed into the ground with a pitiful shriek.
The pure white fur that had gleamed like silver under the moon when he first appeared was now stained with dirt and dust, turning a bedraggled yellow, like a tattered rag dragged through the mud.
The domineering roar that had shaken the mountain range was gone, and—
CRASH—!
“Kyaaaah!”
Only the miserable yelps of a house dog being stepped on came bursting out in intervals.
So naturally did the image of a neighborhood dog come to mind that the once-stately King of the Wolves now seemed no more than a giant feather duster in the Lord’s hand, being whipped against the ground again and again.
Before long, Cabin found himself pitying Penrix.
To be seized by the forepaw and flung about like that, with not even a proper attempt at resistance—
his tail already drooping limp, dragging helplessly over the earth.
It was a sight so ugly and wretched that the title King of the Wolves felt laughable.
“P-please…! Stop!”
“And yet you still know how to speak.”
BOOOOM—!
“Kiiiyeee!”
There was not the slightest mercy in the Lord’s hands.
The first few times, Penrix had hurled himself back at him with furious howls whenever he was flung aside, but the result was always the same.
No matter how he charged, the outcome never changed.
As if the fearsome blood magic the Lord had shown just moments earlier had been nothing more than a luxury held in reserve.
The giant white wolf would leap in, only to be caught by the leg and hurled away by the Lord. However many times that pattern repeated, it never changed.
To think a fight against the King of Wolves would look like this…!
Cabin felt a lava-hot reverence surge up from the depths of his heart toward the Lord, separate from the pity he felt for Penrix.
Blood. Blood Manipulation—blood sorcery, said to be one fragment of ancient magic taken a step further.
Unlike the other members of the family, who took pride in that power and used it in all manner of forms, the Lord had not used so much as a single drop of it since emerging from underground.
Instead, with nothing but those slender limbs no different from a human’s, he handled a wolf the size of a small hill as if beating dust from a rug.
As though to show that a filthy wolf like him wasn’t even worth the trouble of using blood on.
WHAM—!
“Kheh…!”
“Hmm.”
At last, the Lord’s movements came to a stop.
Unable to hide his swelling emotion, Cabin looked at Penrix, who had completely lost the will to fight.
The King of Wolves reduced to such a pitiful state.
Exhausted, he lay on his back without moving, panting weakly as if he had run out of strength altogether.
White wolf Penrix was white in fur only; by now, he was nothing more than a country mutt coated in grime.
The King of Wolves… brought down so easily!
Thump. Thump.
Cabin brushed his hands off and stared blankly at the Lord’s back, at the way he indifferently looked down at the fallen Penrix. A nameless thrill and excitement filled him.
Though he said he would go to the empire for the sake of a greater cause, he would return one day.
With the noble sacrifice of the elder, the Lord who had awakened would surely become the last hope of our Meyer family.
Elder… your gamble succeeded.
Cabin gave thanks to the elder in his heart, then held his breath and watched the Lord’s next move.
Brushing back hair whiter even than Penrix’s fur, the Lord spoke.
“It seems you’ve settled down a little.”
Keuugh…
In contrast to Penrix, who lay belly-up and could not so much as twitch, the Lord stood there without the slightest disturbance in his breathing, and Cabin felt a shiver of near-ecstatic awe.
The rest of my life will be spent only for Lord!
Cabin was utterly captivated by the sight of the Lord trampling the King of Wolves like a dog, his loyalty rising from the deepest part of his soul.
He did not realize in the slightest that the state he was in so closely resembled the elder in his youth, long ago.
*
He’s calmed down now.
The foul heat seething within me had finally subsided. I drew a slow breath and looked down at the King of Wolves sprawled in a cross on the ground.
“Penrix.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
At my call, he jumped in fright and hauled his injured body upright, bowing low before me.
Indeed, his earlier arrogance was gone without a trace, replaced by the appearance of someone properly trained in manners. With both forepaws neatly gathered and his head lowered, he looked exactly like a hunting dog submitting to its master.
The battle with Penrix had been both easy and difficult.
The fight itself had not been hard. Learning how to deal with a four-legged beast without a sword had been drilled into me until my ears rang from it since cadet days.
And just as my opponent was no ordinary beast but the King of Wolves, I was no ordinary human either.
The body of this Vampire Lord was stronger than anything I could have imagined. Strong enough to seize a massive creature that looked to be the size of a full-grown tree and hurl it around with bare hands.
What had truly been difficult was the fight against the other me inside myself.
All through the struggle with Penrix, a chilling whisper had never left my mind.
Drink that bastard’s blood.
It was a primal instinct no different from hunger for food when starving, or yearning for sleep when exhausted.
If I hadn’t drunk the blood of dozens of trash-tier creatures before the fight, I doubt I could have kept my reason intact at all.
And once I had actually subdued him, the thirst I’d been forcing down surged back up, making my stomach turn and my head swim.
And… the moment I lose my patience, I lose control of my body.
I knew it instinctively, though no one had ever taught me.
If I were to taste even a single drop of his blood, I would be trapped once more behind that crimson veil.
And if that happened, I might even begin to covet the blood of the boy standing beside me now, gazing at me with admiring eyes.
Of course, along the way, I might be able to discover one power of this body after another.
But there was no chance that being under someone else’s control would be pleasant.
…Not good.
That faint unease might well have led straight into hesitation.
I hadn’t been able to ask Penrix exactly how to get to the Bernice Empire.
After fighting him, I understood even more clearly.
I was no longer human.
If I met Silvia and failed to restrain my impulses as I had before—
I clenched my hand again in the air.
Time was pressing, but my order of priorities was wrong. Before going to the empire, I needed to find a sword first.
Only the cool touch of steel, like a limb of my own body, would calm this boiling blood.
“By human standards, this place is in the Kron Mountains in the north of the continent.”
“Hmm.”
The northern mountains of the continent.
I had expected as much, but it was hardly a pleasant answer.
After all, this was the land where I—Evan Erche—had met my end.
On the other hand, seeing the giant wolf Penrix standing obediently before me and answering my questions was oddly astonishing.
Cabin had looked like a vampire, but because he had a human shape, it hadn’t felt very real.
A monster haven created by monsters fleeing the continent-wide Purification War—the Demon Realm. I had come here more than once on extermination campaigns when I was commander of the knights, but I had never imagined such an organized society existed this deep within it.
“How long would it take to reach a human village from here?”
“If one knows the way, only half a day. But if one does not, then even wandering for days and nights would not be enough to reach it.”
Penrix answered with impeccable politeness. It was a completely different demeanor from the one he’d shown when he charged at me, intending to tear me apart.
“Lead the way.”
“Lord! I shall accompany you as well!”
Though I had clearly addressed Penrix, Cabin, who had been standing nearby, hurriedly cut in.
Come to think of it, even earlier Cabin had insisted that he would follow me no matter what.
In his own way, this boy was troublesome.
I understood his position, so leaving him alone here felt wrong, but taking a vampire boy to the empire was dangerous too.
As if reading my thoughts, Penrix continued cautiously.
“…Are you leaving the mountains entirely?”
“Yes. If I’m to achieve my purpose, I must go to the Bernice Empire.”
It was a statement directed at Cabin and Penrix, but also at myself.
Even if the thought of seeing Silvia again frightened me, I had to go.
“Please, give me your orders. I shall rebuild this mansion and strengthen our forces until the day you return, Lord.”
Well, well.
Penrix had lost to me completely and now occupied the position of a full-fledged subordinate.
It was strangely amusing.
It wasn’t common to see someone so immediately submit after defeat, but perhaps that was because he wasn’t human.
“…Very well.”
Even though I had no intention of ever returning.
I glanced at Cabin, who was blooming with happiness at Penrix’s words, and swallowed the rest of my thought again.
“Cabin.”
“Yes, Lord!”
Looking at him, he resembled a newly inducted cadet in the knights’ order.
A cadet who had passed the grueling entrance exam and joined the Imperial Knights, brimming with passion and determination.
The sight was both endearing and pitiful.
That pure light would someday be broken to pieces before the wall of reality.
“…No matter what happens, I want you to continue serving the Lord. Please!”
Ha.
And I had always been weak to people like this.
“For now… I’ll allow you to accompany me only as far as the edge of the mountains.”
“Thank you, Lord!”
Cabin knelt beside Penrix and cried out with emotion.
So long as he didn’t come with me to the empire, that would do. I decided to set the troublesome matter aside for the moment.
“Lo, Lord.”
“What is it?”
Perhaps he had noticed the way my hand had been feeling through the air. Penrix called to me awkwardly.
“If… you need a human sword.”
As expected, he’s quick on the uptake.
I had sensed it during the fight as well; he was intelligent and sly.
“I can give you the human swords I have. Our cave is piled high with things stolen from humans.”
Oh?
“So you’re saying it isn’t a trap, and you’re just going to hand it over.”
“Of course! Please, come personally and take whatever suits your liking. If you stop by on your way out of the mountains….”
He’s definitely after something.
He was bowing in submission now that he had lost to me, but I couldn’t let my guard down.
I also knew he had deliberately mentioned the possibility of a trap and then dismissed it, as if telling me to mind my own judgment.
“Our cave” probably meant their den.
Cabin, hearing Penrix’s words, also seemed uneasy and his expression darkened.
“I swear I have no other intention! But if you still find it suspicious, I can carry the two of you there on my back myself!”
“Oh?”
Even if he was acting humble now, the fighting spirit and pride he had shown were real.
Just like the northern barbarian warriors, perhaps wolves like him rarely bent their heads in the first place.
The King of Wolves would willingly become a mount?
Then perhaps this was worth trusting, after all.