Nun Route? #3
Since we've high-fived, the nun and I can be considered true comrades. The kind of relationship where we can trust each other to watch our backs. Thinking about it, among the factions I know, the Vatican is probably the least suspicious. Anyway, as a celebration of becoming comrades, I'd love to throw a party, but there are too many other important things to do right now.
"Are you any good at fighting?"
"I don't exactly go around getting beaten up. I can throw a punch or two."
I've crossed countless battlefields without ever tasting defeat. Not a single loss. I've fought against the anomalies.
"How long are you planning to keep up that shadow boxing?"
"Until my burning fighting spirit burns out."
"Wow, that'll be forever then. Keep going. Don't stop."
Whoosh whoosh, thud! That vampire bastard! If he shows up, I'll pound him like this—bam bam bam!
"Forget that nonsense now. You need to fight vampires. It's on a completely different level from fighting humans, so give up that weird boxing."
"Don't churches have monks too? The kind that punch demons with their bare fists..."
"As if! This isn't Dungeons & Dragons!"
That's a shame. "How strong are they? Blades? Have you seen any Blades?"
"I've seen them. Even the lowest-ranking ghouls are quite strong. Regular firearms don't work on them, and they're as fast as carnivorous animals."
"Hmm."
She's right. Back at the Bureau, I'd just shot them with silver bullets and killed them, so I hadn't really felt it, but those ghouls really did have impressive specs. As fast as big cats, and they could climb walls too. Plus, bullets other than silver ones barely worked, so to a regular person, they'd be nothing short of a disaster.
"I'll protect you for now, but unexpected situations can happen at any time. Let's go. I'll give you some basic combat training."
"Combat training?!"
She's really going to teach me that?! "You need to know how to protect yourself. Let's get going."
This is getting serious. "Understood. Let's go. But are we taking the motorcycle?"
"That would be romantic, but we're taking the Damas today."
"Damas? Is it some kind of Vatican edition, like Divine Damas or something?"
"Where would something like that exist!"
"Well, Lamborghini has a Papal edition, doesn't it?"
"As if a Damas would! Let's go!"
So the nun and I headed to the parking lot. "It really is a Damas." "It's good for moving luggage, isn't it?"
Looking inside, sure enough, it was packed with all kinds of boxes. "What's in all these boxes?"
"Weapons and exorcism tools and the like."
"Exorcism? Don't tell me you hunt ghosts too?"
"More like demons, but our main specialty is vampire hunting."
"Demons! So demons really do exist in this world?!"
"You don't need to know the details. Nothing good will come of learning about demons. Let's go."
"Yes."
The nun started the engine.
On the way, we chatted about this and that. The nun was quite the peculiar person—she'd consumed every piece of vampire-related media from every country, so her knowledge on the subject was incredibly rich.
"Even though vampires actually exist in this world, people just think of them as movie monsters."
"That's because organizations like ours control the information. Every country has something like that."
"Every country?"
"Ah, I should say developed countries. Honestly, poorer countries barely have anything like that. There are local shamans, but they're not enough. That's why the Vatican operates internationally."
This was the hidden mystery of this world.
"Then, Sister, does that mean wizards, werewolves, and all that stuff exist in this other side of the world too?"
"That's right. They all exist."
Truthfully, while chatting, I was steering the conversation. The grimoire. I needed to find out about that. I hadn't been able to ask Salhyeong, but after being beheaded, I knew for certain that I shouldn't carelessly reveal such things to the clergy. So I'd have to ask indirectly.
"Hmm... Then, do things like Harry Potter magic wands or grimoires exist too?"
"Don't try to dig too deep."
"But I've already dipped my toes in. Can I really back out now? Honestly, it seems difficult, so just tell me a bit."
"Huuung. Well, fine."
Got her. "Wands—some use them, some don't, so let's skip that. Grimoires... yes. Grimoires are the most dangerous."
"The most dangerous?"
"A grimoire is a book that lets you use magic just by opening it and reading."
What?! Just by opening a book and reading, you can use magic? Then if I could just decipher these bizarre characters, it would mean I could freely wield wicked magic whenever I wanted.
"That's an enormous thing. Even an ordinary person could use magic right away if they could just read it."
"Who on earth... made something like that? It's too incredible."
"Some insane wizard or an extremely evil being. Maybe even a demon. Because of that, the Vatican keeps a close watch on them. We always track grimoires."
"You track them?"
"Yes. If a grimoire is discovered, it has to be retrieved or destroyed. If a mage appears? An extermination order is issued immediately. The Pope himself recites the proclamation."
At this point, I nearly swallowed my breath. The nun was just like Salhyeong. If she realized the existence of a grimoire, she'd try to kill the person no matter who they were.
"That's how wicked a grimoire is. Extremely dangerous. If you ever learn anything about a grimoire, report it to me immediately."
"Yes. Though I'm not sure if I'll ever get the chance."
"It's better if you don't."
While having that conversation, we arrived at our destination. "A shooting range?" "It's a decent place. Now, I'll teach you how to fight them."
The nun began unloading boxes from the Damas. I helped with the work, and she pulled out a pistol from one of the boxes. "A Tokarev. Familiar, right? Here are some silver bullets too. I'll give you these."
"Oh...!"
So this is a Tokarev. Its crude appearance really appeals to me. "Honestly, we don't have much time. It's impossible to turn you into a professional combatant. But I'll at least make sure you can put up minimal defense against vampire forces."
In other words, basic training. "You should save the silver bullets for later, so just keep them for now. Here." Click. The nun loaded live rounds for me. "Try assuming a stance."
Then she handed me the pistol and guided my hands into position. I already knew everything, but since I was supposed to be ignorant, I quietly accepted the instruction. Once the lesson ended, the nun went into the control room. Whoosh. A total of eight targets rose up. "Alright, now shoot. Try to hit as many as possible, starting from the left."
The nun came back out and stood behind me. Good. Time to show off my shooting skills. I aimed and fired in rapid succession. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The Tokarev's muzzle spat fire. In an instant, I'd emptied the magazine, and all eight targets went down. "Eh?" The nun's eyes widened. "Huu."
I blew on the smoke rising from the barrel. Perfect. "What...? You're this good? Were you in some kind of unit before?" "The Kim Il-sung Unit." "You were a defector?!" "Just kidding. I'm pretty good with pistols."
"Pretty good doesn't even begin to cover it...? Do it again."
Reload. The nun went into the control room, set up new targets, and came back out. "Let's see if you can do the same this time."
At the same time as those words— Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Once again, all eight targets dropped in an instant. "What the— are you insane! How is this possible?! Why are you so good at shooting?! You're better than me!" "Don't nuns do shooting training?" "We do! But not this good! Wow, amazing!"
Quite the intense reaction. "At this rate, there's nothing left to teach you about shooting. Just load silver bullets and hit them all like this. Most of them will die." "I see." "But... well. These are stationary targets. Both ghouls and vampires are extremely fast. You'll need to take down charging enemies quickly."
"I've never tried it, but I'm confident." "Good. Let's give it a shot. Reload." While I was reloading, the nun moved the boxes toward the targets. "When I give the signal, try to hit them! I'll launch the targets!" "Yes!"
Launch them? What's she planning to do? Throw them? Fwoosh! In an instant, a blue radiance burst from the nun's body. The moment she kicked the box with all her might— BOOM! Overflowing with holy power, the targets soared into the air! Then, wrapped in sacred light, they came flying toward me...! "Are you crazy! What is this, Detective Conan?!"
Even as I shouted that, Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! I shot down every single one of the incoming targets. All eight, cut down. "Huu." "..." The nun stood there with her mouth hanging open. "Sister, you can do that too?" "I've never seen a marksman this good in my entire life..."
Of course, marksmen on Kurosuna's level aren't common. "Incredible. Good. You seem to already be trained. With just a pistol and silver bullets, you should be able to handle most ghouls and low-ranking vampires on your own." "That's a relief." "Of course, they come at you from hiding. But with your level of reflexes and dynamic vision... I don't think there'll be a problem. And your will to kill them is obviously overflowing." "If we're only talking about murderous intent, I'm a tier above that guy Han Se-geon." "You really love that analogy! Anyway, at this level, we could probably treat you as a quasi-combatant? Let's do a proper evaluation today." "Yes."
So the nun and I spent time at the shooting range measuring my physical abilities. Apparently I passed, because the nun looked satisfied. After that, I learned theories on anti-vampire combat. "Here." The nun held out a silver dagger in the shape of a cross. "It's quite a precious dagger. Even low-ranking vampires will fall into great confusion just from seeing it. It won't work on the Red Woman, though." "So it's perfect for taking down her subordinates. Could I wear it around my neck like a cross necklace normally?" "It's a dagger, so wearing it like that on the street would be a bit much. Just attach a string to it and wear it during combat."
Oh. I like this. A large cross necklace. "If I stock up on this along with garlic necklaces and garlic packs, it'll be perfect." "The more thorough the preparation, the better." "Hehehe, I agree. Man, this really makes me feel like a vampire hunter."
Meeting the nun had netted me silver bullets, a Tokarev, and a cross-shaped dagger. If I added a wide-brimmed black hat and coat, it'd be truly perfect. I could match outfits with my true friends, the vampire hunters. We'd all hunt vampires together diligently, and the MVP with the highest score that day would get to wear the Groucho glasses. The MVP could even cut the victory celebration cake with this silver cross dagger while wearing the Groucho glasses! The cake would be divided equally among everyone, but since it's the MVP, they deserve special treatment. Any extra cake would all go to the MVP. Even if the others get jealous, it wouldn't matter. More cake is solely the MVP's right.
"You look quite pleased." "Does it show on my face?" "I can tell you're in a good mood, but don't get too carried away. What we have to do from now on is going to be quite horrific."
Horrific, huh... Well. Where exactly is the horror in killing vampires? Killing them is just a joyful thing... "I'll be careful. By the way, Sister, you mentioned vampire hunters exist, right?" "Yes? Well, they do. You're classified as one too, after all. Once you witness a vampire and start arming yourself to protect yourself, that makes you a vampire hunter." "There seem to be quite a few of them?" "Like I said, there are some. Why?" "How would I go about meeting them?" "Wouldn't you just go to a mental hospital?" "No, not that! I mean normal vampire hunters!" "Where would you find normal vampire hunters! They're all psychos!"
This woman dares to insult my friends!!!
The nun and I steadily proceeded with preparations to eliminate Secrem. "..." Would I hesitate? I have my doubts. I have to acknowledge the possibility that I might hesitate, given that the memories and emotions from the first loop have been passed on to me. That's why I need to act together with the nun. She won't have any hesitation.
"Good. Preparations complete." The preparations were finished. "Now, where do we charge in?" "What are you talking about? Did you forget already? They're the ones who'll come looking for you, remember? We just need to find a suitable spot and wait quietly." "Ah, that's true, but..."
It was about time. I couldn't just sit still. I needed to find out whether Geun-hong would descend or not. I had to go down with the nun. This was my only chance. "But there's something that's been bothering me." "What is it?" "Well, actually... before I went to buy the cross that day, I was living on the run for a while. I ended up entering a certain village then? And there, I felt an especially strange sensation..."