The Road to the Vampire
The basket laden with stones shook violently—thud! thud!—as though struggling to rise. Through the gaps between the slats came a piercing shriek that brushed past the nun’s ears.
“Eek!” Celine let out a strangled cry and scrambled backward on her seat. When her back struck the wall of the hall, she flinched violently. “Kyaaah!”
It was not merely the wall that startled her. A single leathery claw had thrust through the basket’s weave and was scraping across the floor.
Scritch! Scritch!
—Kreeeeaaah—!
At last a pair of crimson eyes appeared in the gap. The moment the bat spotted Celine’s pale skin, its gaze sharpened with unmistakable hunger, as if it longed to sink its fangs into that flesh and drink.
—Kreeeeaaah—!
—Thud—!
…Yet the bat’s fervent desire went unfulfilled. The instant Harnok realized the creature had awakened and extended its claws, he slammed his foot against the floor with tremendous force. The barbarian’s deep black eyes met the bat’s sharp red ones through the narrow gap.
—Krrk…
After blinking several times, the bat meekly withdrew its protruding claw back inside the basket. Celine, who had been staring blankly at the scene, jumped when Harnok called her name.
“Sister Celine.”
“Y-yes?!”
“Since the familiar has awakened, I would ask you to summon the villagers. We must inform them of our intentions. Ah, and if you would be so kind as to bring more stones on your return. It seems this amount is insufficient to restrain a familiar.”
Nod! Nod!
Celine bobbed her head rapidly and hurried out of the hall. The bat watched her retreating figure, then, once she was gone, turned its trembling gaze toward Harnok. The barbarian grinned broadly, baring every tooth. It was a sight that seemed to gather every terror in the world into one place. The bat could do nothing but stretch its claw pitifully toward the exit Celine had taken and let out a mournful cry.
—Piiiii—!
“The familiar has awakened, you say?” Chief Perdo’s cautious voice echoed through the hall. Several more stones brought by Celine and the villagers now rested atop the basket. Though the basket itself no longer shook, occasional sounds of agitation still came from within. Each time, Harnok would stamp the floor, and a sorrowful whimper would follow before silence returned.
Celine, who had been staring in a daze, unsure how to interpret the scene, gave an awkward nod. “Yes…”
“Then what do you intend to do now?”
“Naturally! We must go to the vampire and spread the Lord’s word!”
The final words were Harnok’s. Suppressing the strange urge to burst into tears, Celine turned to the gathered villagers with a grave expression.
“First… if what Harnok says is true, we must head toward the vampire’s location.”
“B-but, Sister, we don’t even know where the vampire is, do we?”
At the question from a middle-aged villager, Celine turned her gaze toward him. The man felt his breath catch. Though the woman before him looked small and fragile, her eyes were unwaveringly steady. Those clear eyes now pointed a slender finger at the basket containing the bat.
“That is why we need this familiar.”
“…That bat?”
“Yes.” The nun nodded and looked back at the crowd. “Strictly speaking, a familiar can be considered an extension of its master. In this case, that master is the vampire. And an extension means it belongs to the original body—in other words, it is part of the original. If my reasoning is correct, then in its current weakened state, this bat will try to return to its master, the vampire.”
The chief drew a sharp breath that echoed loudly inside the hall.
“Th-then… you mean to deliberately release the bat and follow it to the vampire?”
“Exactly.”
A murmur rippled through the villagers. What the nun proposed was little short of a gamble. How could they possibly find the vampire by releasing the bat somewhere in the vast wilderness beyond the frontier village? Yet after a brief discussion, the villagers realized they had no better option. The chief spoke at last.
“…Understood. Will you depart immediately?”
Celine glanced at Harnok instead of answering. The barbarian, who had been sitting cross-legged with arms folded, nodded the moment their eyes met. She sighed. “Yes… I suppose we should.”
The chief nodded solemnly. “Very well. I shall instruct the villagers to prepare provisions.”
“What? No, there’s no need for that…!”
“There is. You have only just arrived in our village, Sister, yet you have already worked tirelessly for our sake. This matter is merely an extension of that. The same goes for the knight who has been helping us since eight years ago. This is the least we can do to express our gratitude. Please allow us.”
Faced with Chief Perdo’s earnest expression and the sincere faces of the villagers, Celine found it difficult to refuse. When she finally nodded, the chief’s usual warm smile bloomed across his face.
“Then please wait a moment.”
“Are you certain this is all right, Chief?” Harnok asked, brow slightly furrowed as he studied the older man’s face. Though tracking the vampire was necessary to prevent future attacks, he worried that another assault might strike the village while they were away.
“It is, Sir Knight. Even before you arrived, we managed to survive on our own to some degree. Even if you and the Sister are gone for a while, we will be fine.”
Despite the absence of their two most important defenders—healer and fighter alike—Chief Perdo shook his head firmly. Seeing the quiet confidence in the chief’s gentle smile, the barbarian nodded as well.
“Then let us be off, Sister!” Harnok called out in his rough voice to Celine, who was still earnestly explaining something to the villagers.
“Ah! Just a moment…! Did you all understand? Once again, for puncture wounds, crush this herb and apply it… For burns, use these petals…!”
“We’ve got it, Sister. The knight is calling you—go on.”
“You won’t forget, right?!”
Only after seeing the villagers nod did Celine finally exhale and walk over to Harnok. “Then—”
After bidding farewell to the villagers, the barbarian and the nun set out beneath the starlight. They walked in silence for some time. Only when the villagers had all returned to their homes did Celine speak.
“…By the way, are you really planning to travel like this?”
“……?”
At Harnok’s puzzled look, Celine nearly felt dizzy. The barbarian carried the food pouch the villagers had given him on his back, with the holy book and hoe slung at his sides—exactly as usual, save for the added provisions. The only truly unusual sight was the bat tied to his leg by a rope, flapping its wings desperately and crying mournfully.
—Piiiii—!
After staring for a moment at the utterly nonsensical spectacle of a familiar being used as a guide on a leash, Celine decided to simply ignore it. If she kept looking, she really would collapse from vertigo.
The moonless sky glittered with countless stars like scattered fragments of sunlight. It was then, carried on the cool wind of the western wilderness, that Celine voiced the question she had been holding back.
“…What did you mean earlier, when you said His Holiness saved you…?”
“……”
Even as she asked, Celine secretly hoped Harnok might not have heard. After all, “Bahon tribe” and “paladin” were two things that could hardly coexist. The most warlike tribe on the continent and the holy warriors who existed to help others seemed almost contradictory. So when Harnok’s voice dropped, heavy and solemn, Celine felt her body tense.
“I was dying.”
It was the heaviest voice she had ever heard from the barbarian.
“No— I thought I was already dead. Living was nothing but pain; death would have been a mercy. I had already accepted my end.”
Then strength returned to Harnok’s tone—the same cheerful vigor she had grown used to.
“That was when His Holiness found me. I was nearly unconscious. I thought it was a dream. When I woke, I was lying in His Holiness’s own bedchamber. At the time I still thought only of my tribe’s ways, so I assumed some mad old man had captured me and was planning to beat me to death—after all, it would be easier to kill me properly if I were still alive. Hahaha—!”
Laughter had crept back into Harnok’s voice.
“When I told him to just kill me already if that was his plan, His Holiness never once scolded me. Even when I threw a golden cup from the bedside and nearly struck his face. When I was panting from exhaustion, he only smiled kindly and embraced me. Then he said, ‘I am glad you survived, child. I feared you might suffer lasting aftereffects. Seeing you so spirited puts my mind at ease.’”
Harnok drew a deep breath. Celine found herself smiling as well. Hearing of the Pope’s gentle nature after so long brought a quiet warmth to her heart.
“His Holiness is my benefactor. He is my father.”
“…Your father…?”
“Yes. My tribe has a custom of treating benefactors as parents. Just as my birth parents gave me life, he gave me a second life. Therefore he is no different from them. Though I have left my tribe, I have not abandoned its name. That is why I chose to serve His Holiness as my father and receive his teachings.”
“Then… becoming a paladin as well…”
“His Holiness personally ordained me! The Holy Kingdom’s teachings are a bit old-fashioned, but there is certainly much worth learning!”
Harnok nodded vigorously and raised the holy book slung at his side for emphasis.
“…Did no one around you object?”
“Hm? Now that you mention it, perhaps they did… But what does it matter if they grumbled! The fact that His Holiness acknowledged me remains unchanged!”
“Do you happen to remember when His Holiness rescued you?”
“Of course! It was the year I turned eleven. By my tribe’s standards, I was undergoing the warrior’s rite!”
If Harnok had been eleven then, and he had been ordained at fifteen, that meant roughly four years ago. Celine nodded heavily.
“…So that was before His Holiness’s health began to decline.”
“Hm? What do you mean by that, Sister? His health…?”
Celine slowly lifted her head. Harnok’s deep black eyes and her own brilliant golden ones met in the air.
“Perhaps… you already know this as well. Before ascending to the papacy, His Holiness was one of the heroes who marched to subjugate the Archdemon.”