The Barbarian, the Vampire's Lifesaver
"The weather is truly splendid! Surely the Lord rejoices at the birth of yet another true believer!"
The two women lacked the strength to reply and merely nodded in unison.
"Then let us hasten to the village and spread this joyous news!"
"Waaah……."
"Waaaah……."
Harnok thrust his arms skyward with vigor, while the vampire and the nun managed only feeble, fluttering gestures. The contrast extended to their footsteps. Where Harnok strode with the buoyant energy of a child heading to a festival, the two women dragged their feet like soldiers returning from endless marches.
Nor was their exhaustion purely of the mind. The wilderness was a vast, unbroken plain devoid of obstacles or shelter. Without cover, the sun's rays struck them with unrelenting force. What had been a gentle morning glow had, by noon, transformed into a merciless weapon hurling blades of light and heat from its zenith.
The first to falter was the vampire, Bellarne.
"Hah… hah…!"
Vampires were creatures of shadow by nature, resting through the daylight hours and emerging only after nightfall. Their power swelled beneath the moon, yet the deeper reason lay in their skin's fatal vulnerability to sunlight. The stronger the light and heat, the sharper the agony. A faint ray might only sting; at noon, when the sun reached its peak, it felt as though their flesh were aflame.
Bellarne, in particular, had only recently awakened from a prolonged slumber akin to hibernation. Such rest left her vitality depleted, much like an animal emerging from winter torpor. Her attempt to hunt and replenish her strength had already been thwarted by Harnok, and the "evangelism" that followed had forced her to expend even her carefully hoarded reserve of blood.
Now, trudging beneath the blazing sun with nothing but a thin blanket for protection, she was in torment.
—Thud.—
Her collapse was inevitable.
"Hmm?!"
At the sound, Harnok whirled around at once.
"Vampire!"
He called out, but no answer came—only ragged, labored breaths.
"Haaah… haa……!"
Her hands, clutching the blanket as though in a final act of defiance, had gone deathly pale, the color drained even from her already pallid skin.
Celine, watching in dismay, cried out.
"This is……!"
"Do you understand what ails her, Sister?"
"It resembles heatstroke……. I am sorry; vampires are so rarely seen these days that I know little of their kind. We should move her into the shade at once."
"Nonsense! Do not trouble yourself, Sister! The vampire's condition is hardly your doing!"
Harnok nodded, scanned the horizon, and soon fixed his gaze upon a distant point.
"A great boulder lies yonder! We shall make for it!"
He moved to lift Bellarne, then hesitated. Brow furrowed, he turned to Celine.
"Come to think of it… for heatstroke, must one not avoid sunlight entirely?"
"Yes? Yes… of course…?"
"Then we shall do this!"
With a decisive nod, he altered his approach. He gathered Bellarne into his arms so that she faced forward, her head resting against his left forearm while her legs dangled over his right. The blanket and his massive frame shielded her from most of the sun's glare.
Still holding her, he addressed Celine.
"Climb onto my back, Sister!"
"What?"
"Onto my back! The journey to the boulder will not take long, yet leaving you alone here would be unwise. Likewise, if I carried you first, the vampire would be left unattended—an equally poor choice."
His reasoning was sound. They were far from the village, near structures raised by the Archdemon's forces. Monsters could appear at any moment.
Celine carefully looped her arms around Harnok's thick neck and solid trapezius. The arrangement left him carrying the holy book and hoe on his left side and the food sack against his right hip—an ungainly burden, yet he broke into a run without faltering.
The sun stood directly overhead. Bearing two women and their supplies was no easy feat, even for Harnok. Sweat beaded along his nape—sweat Celine had never seen during his evangelism—and his breathing grew rough and labored.
She glanced at Bellarne. With the sunlight reduced, the vampire's frantic gasps had softened into quiet, rhythmic breaths.
"……."
Many strange events had unfolded, yet Harnok had saved Bellarne's life time and again since their first meeting. Watching her savior struggle was anything but pleasant for Celine.
Her gaze upon the vampire narrowed. Harnok was suffering, while that vampire lay comfortably nestled against his chest, her face buried there. Even pressing her face into his chest.
Celine found the vampire far more irritating now than when she had attacked them earlier. Fortunately, Harnok could not see the glare from his position ahead.
"U-um……."
"You are awake!"
Bellarne's eyes flew open at the sudden, gravelly voice. Harnok's face hovered above her, watching intently.
"Huh……?"
She pressed a hand to her spinning head and sat up. In a dry, hesitant voice she asked, "Did you… bring me here?"
Harnok thumped his chest and nodded firmly.
"Indeed!"
"Why… why……?"
"Is it not obvious? How could I abandon a fellow believer?"
Bellarne blinked her rose-colored eyes, stunned by his matter-of-fact reply. She had expected condemnation as a sinner…… yet something warm and unfamiliar stirred within her.
Observing her reaction, Harnok spoke gently.
"So then, can you move about now?"
"Actually… well……. There is something I must ask…. Could you spare me a little blood…?"
"Blood?"
"Absolutely not!"
The sharp cry made both Harnok and Bellarne turn. Celine stood glaring at the vampire with icy eyes.
"Blood is to a vampire what food is to us! It is their very source of power! If we give her blood, who knows what she might do? How could we possibly allow it? Just as we do not perish from missing a few meals, a vampire will not die from going without blood for a short time. Once we reach the village, we can obtain a few drops from animals. Endure until then!"
Bellarne lowered her gaze, unable to meet their eyes.
"A-actually… I… have been in hibernation… I-I have not tasted blood for so very long… so I am terribly hungry… I tried to raid the village… but even that failed… s-so… right now… without blood… I fear I cannot go on… p-please, just one sip… may I not…?"
Harnok regarded Bellarne in silence for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"Of course!"
"What?"
"What?!"
"You may drink!"
Over the two women's startled cries, Harnok's permission rang with unshakable certainty.
"Drinking blood itself is no sin. Just as a lion takes an antelope, it is the natural order the Lord has ordained. None can be blamed for it. Yet what you did before—seizing the villagers' blood without consent—was no different from robbery. That can never be called righteous! If you drink with permission, as now, who could object? There is no fault in the act, and since I have granted leave, you may proceed!"
He extended his forearm as he spoke. Celine sighed in resignation and looked at him helplessly. The vampire, however, stared with wide, tear-filled eyes; droplets soon spilled down her cheeks.
At last she burst into sobs and threw her arms around Harnok.
"Waaah! You are my lifesaver!"
"Get off him this instant—he is exhausted!" the nun shrieked, rushing forward in panic to check on the barbarian.