The Mistress of the Tower
“Greetings, my prey. I am Bellarne la Serdia, mistress of this place.”
Tap… tap…
The vampire Bellarne’s heels echoed through the tower like a death knell. With every step that brought her closer, Celine felt goosebumps race across her skin. Cold sweat trickled down the back of her neck.
“H-Harnok… sir…!”
Her voice trembled despite herself. The woman who had called herself Bellarne seemed to split into two, her vision swimming. Yet the nun’s fear did not last long. The shaking stopped the instant a thick, powerful arm wrapped around her waist.
Celine looked up. Harnok was staring down at her, his expression unchanged from usual. Yet in those deep eyes she found an inexplicable sense of safety.
“Harnok… sir…”
“Sister Celine.”
“Y-Yes…!”
“Hold on tight.”
Before she could answer, Harnok kicked off the ground. Celine’s scream tore through the air.
“Kyaaaaah—!”
Wind whipped past them. When she finally forced her eyes open, the spot they had just occupied was being shredded by a swarm of black bats. The creatures extended from Bellarne’s arms like living whips.
The vampire lifted her gaze. When she smiled, fresh sweat beaded on Celine’s brow.
“My, my. Dodging that? You’re quite capable, human.”
Harnok did not reply. He landed lightly, unslung the supply sack from his back, and tossed it aside. With practiced ease he drew the hoe from his right hip and leveled it at the vampire.
Bellarne let out a shrill laugh at the sight of the farming tool.
“Ahahaha—! What is that, human? A hoe? You intend to face me with a hoe instead of a sword?”
“I ask you, vampire! Are you the one who ordered the attack on the village?”
Bellarne licked her crimson lips with an equally crimson tongue and smiled.
“And if I am? What will you do?”
She burst into laughter again, so hard that tears welled at the corners of her eyes. Wiping them away with a long nail, she tilted her head.
“When one wakes from a long sleep, hunger is only natural. And when prey happens to gather right at one’s doorstep, what fool would refuse the meal? I was a little surprised my lovely children failed to bring any back… but I suppose I had only just woken and was still half-asleep.”
Her tone was leisurely, as though she were simply reaching for a tempting muffin on the table. Harnok’s face hardened.
“Then you admit to attacking the village.”
“And if I do?”
Bellarne rested her left elbow on her right hand and propped her chin on her knuckles, looking more like a spectator at a play than a combatant.
“Repent.”
“……What?”
Bellarne’s voice dropped to a razor-sharp whisper. Only the right corner of her mouth had risen; the rest of her face remained frozen in an unnatural expression that was neither smile nor blank stare. Her red lips parted slowly.
“You… what did you just say?”
“Did you not hear me? I shall repeat myself. Repent. Though you attacked the villagers with malice, you have not yet committed the unforgivable act of slaughter. Repent your sins even now. If you sincerely regret your actions and apologize to the villagers, the Lord will surely grant you forgiveness.”
At Harnok’s unflinching declaration, Bellarne’s frozen lips finally curved—yet it was no smile. It was a grimace. What escaped her throat was closer to a cold sigh than laughter.
“Ahahahahah────────!”
The sound sent a fresh wave of terror crawling up Celine’s spine, far greater than anything she had felt facing the familiars. Even though she stood right there, she felt like a distant observer, watching events unfold from behind an impenetrable glass wall. The only thing she could do was cling to the man holding her.
When she looked up at him with trembling eyes, Harnok spoke in a deep, steady voice.
“As I said before, hold on tight, Sister Celine.”
Celine nodded weakly. Before she could ask where to hold, she realized she was already securely tied to his back with the rope that had once bound the supply sack.
…Huh?
By the time she grasped the situation, Harnok had drawn the holy book in his left hand and gripped the hoe firmly in his right. As Celine blinked rapidly, trying to understand what was happening, Bellarne’s shrill voice rang through the tower.
“How amusing! Repent? The Lord will forgive me?! Ahahaha—! Am I still half-asleep? I thought something interesting had come to my tower, but you’re spouting nonsense beyond anything I could have imagined! Still… separate from that…”
Bellarne narrowed her crimson eyes and slowly swept her gaze over the barbarian.
“That size and those muscles… certainly more appealing than the scrawny girl on your back……”
“Eek!”
At the sight of Bellarne licking her lips, Celine instinctively ducked behind Harnok’s broad back, even though the gesture had not been aimed at her. Everything about the vampire screamed hunger. Yet the greater shock came next.
“Of course the Lord surpasses your imagination! He alone can wash away the tumors of sin that cling to us!”
That is not what she meant at all—!
Celine desperately wanted to shout it, but her body was too busy cowering behind Harnok’s back. Bellarne let out a small chuckle at the sight of the barbarian brandishing his hoe and preaching. Celine, however, could see that the vampire’s narrowed eyes held no trace of mirth.
“Ha! Then why don’t you teach me this wonderful Lord’s words?”
“Hah! A desire to learn the Lord’s teachings! A most excellent attitude!”
Hearing the barbarian’s booming, delighted reply, Celine felt tears well in her eyes.
—Shraaaak—!
“The price of this lesson is your life—!”
Bellarne’s voice echoed from every direction. Nearly a hundred bats had surrounded them. Celine tried to cry out a warning, but her soft voice was completely drowned out by Harnok’s thunderous shout.
“To stake your life in order to hear the Lord’s words! Very well! I swear I shall preach to you with everything I have!”
—Shraaaak—!
Long blades erupted from the bats’ bodies. No—Celine realized she was mistaken. They were claws. Hands tipped with razor-sharp nails burst from the bats and lunged toward them.
‘Hah, you fool! What nonsense is this about your Lord? A typical idiot who knows nothing but brute strength and size! The woman on your back looked like a nun… Have you been corrupted by associating with her? Well, thanks to that I get to feast, so I suppose I should be grateful!’
Bellarne sneered inwardly and stretched her arms in every direction. The hundred bats were her split selves, and the hundred arms reaching out were likewise her own. She intended to turn the pair into skewers and savor them slowly.
A rare delicacy that appeared the moment I woke—complete with dessert. The vampire could not hide her glee.
Until every single claw bounced away with a resounding clang.
……Huh?