Chapter 74
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 74
The night, like a rich wine, possessed a certain power to intoxicate. The darkness, the deserted streets, the strange sense of unease, and the soft moonlight all conspired to drag up the dirty desires hidden deep within the human heart.
Many were addicted to the night itself. Like nocturnal animals, they only truly came alive when darkness fell.
The people heading toward the theater called the Garden of Roses were of that very sort. Though dressed in fine clothes and affecting polite manners, an impure desire lurked behind their unsettling smiles. Strangely, they were all young, handsome, and beautiful. Even the oldest among them didn't seem to have passed their early twenties.
Rickert and Ice could have easily blended in, yet for some reason, they felt a profound sense of alienation. Though they looked similar on the surface, it felt as if they were of a different species entirely—as if they would be exposed as outsiders at any moment.
As they stepped inside the building, a brilliant light washed over them, bright enough to make them momentarily forget it was night. An usher, dressed as impeccably as the patrons, checked their invitations. His skin was unnaturally pale and his eyes were blood-red, as if he were openly advertising his vampiric nature. The other guests, however, didn’t seem to mind, perhaps dismissing it as theatrical makeup or part of the show’s concept.
When Rickert handed over the invitation, the usher grinned, baring his fangs.
“Welcome, travelers. Please enjoy the show.”
Rickert, clad in a black cloak and a top hat, tipped his hat slightly in acknowledgment.
Past the usher hung a heavy curtain. When they drew it aside and stepped through, a deep darkness seemed to swallow them whole. Only a thin sliver of light filtering through the gap behind them illuminated the interior, revealing a vast theater. There were, however, far fewer seats than they had expected. The seating was arranged to keep groups far apart from one another, and the stage was hidden behind a closed curtain, awaiting the performance.
Rickert and Ice took seats in a suitable spot and looked around. Suddenly, wet, smacking sounds echoed from the surrounding darkness. Wondering what someone could be eating, they looked closer, only to find couples engaged in heavy petting all around them. Rickert was beyond dumbfounded; he was utterly shocked, his eyes widening. What is this? Are they beasts?
Perhaps because he was from the conservative inland, Rickert was left speechless by the liberal sexual culture of the coastal city. He even felt a twinge of hostility. What shocked him even more was that men were with men, and women were with women, all doing the same.
“I think we came to the wrong place,” Ice said.
Request or not, he too seemed to feel that this was no place for them. While they didn’t fear vampires, this alien culture was hard to stomach. In an era where transportation and communication were still developing, encountering a different culture was akin to meeting aliens. Even people from different towns within the North felt that way about each other; the feeling was bound to be more pronounced for those from so far away.
The wet, smacking sounds from all around grew louder, and just sitting there was becoming excruciatingly awkward.
Just as they were seriously considering leaving, the curtain covering the stage finally parted.
The beautiful sound of a harp filled the air. The plucked strings instantly captured Rickert’s ears. Special lanterns illuminated the stage from below, casting a dramatic glow upward. Soon, a man in skin-tight clothes and a flower crown leaped lightly onto the stage like a butterfly. As if boasting of his perfect physique, he struck several elegant poses before addressing the audience.
“When God created the world, in the beginning, there was Paradise. Behold, the man and woman who walk in Paradise.”
With that, he leaped lightly back off the stage.
A backdrop of wooden boards painted with bushes and trees appeared, and a male and female actor emerged to begin their performance. Interestingly, both the first man and the actors who followed were all vampires. They recited their lines with dramatic flair in what anyone could see was a play depicting biblical events. Do vampires dare perform such a holy story? Rickert wondered.
But putting all that aside, it was Rickert’s first time seeing a play, and he found it incredibly novel and striking. Despite the crude stage props and stiff, formal dialogue, he felt as if he had traveled through time to witness the dawn of creation. The vampires were putting their heart and soul into it, breathing life into the performance.
As the play continued, a loud sound effect, like the clashing of a massive brass tray, suddenly erupted. It sounded like a clap of thunder right before their eyes.
Crash!
“Ah!”
“Eek!”
The audience gasped in surprise, and even Rickert, who had been fully immersed in the play, flinched. The scene of the first man and woman gaining knowledge of good and evil and being expelled from Paradise unfolded.
Then, right after, as if to relieve the audience’s tension, an acrobatic show began out of nowhere. A female vampire on a trapeze hanging from the high ceiling swung back and forth over the audience’s heads. Then, she leaped through the air to swap places with another acrobat on the opposite trapeze.
“Wow!”
“Ooh!”
The audience was completely captivated, thoroughly enjoying the play and the acrobatics. Rickert, however, found himself growing bored during the circus act.
“They should have just stuck to the play. What is this nonsense?”
“Ricky, don’t forget our request,” Ice warned.
Rickert nodded. Though he wasn’t as captivated as the others, it was true that the play had left a deep impression on him.
Once the trapeze act ended, a female vampire was strapped hand and foot to a large wooden board. A knife-thrower stepped forward, spinning daggers in his hands. The audience watched with bated breath as the daggers landed with terrifying precision right next to her face and between her legs. Then, the performer addressed the crowd.
“Are there any volunteers?”
Rickert wondered who in their right mind would volunteer for such a thing, but surprisingly, hands shot up all over the room. Most of them belonged to women.
“Pick me! Pick me, Adam!”
The vampire stepped down into the audience, selected a volunteer, and led her up to the stage. The crowd applauded in amusement as the woman was strapped to the wooden board. Sharp daggers flew toward her. One, two, three, and then—
Whoosh! Thud!
A dagger plunged straight into the woman’s heart, sinking so deep that only the hilt remained. The audience froze in horror. The knife-thrower, however, merely pulled a playful, clownish “oops” face.
A split second later, with a loud clatter, the wooden board flipped completely around. When it spun back, the dagger in her heart was gone. Only then did the audience sigh in relief and applaud.
“They swapped the woman. Did you catch that?” Rickert whispered to Ice.
The woman from just now had actually been killed, and another woman who had instantly disguised herself to look just like her had taken her place. And this new woman was a vampire.
As the vampire escorted the woman back to her seat, the man who had accompanied her didn’t seem to notice the switch. Or perhaps he knew and simply didn’t care.
Rickert realized it instinctively. That guy is a vampire slave. Vampire slaves were humans who served vampires as their masters.
Then, the female vampire who had taken the dead woman’s place turned to look at Rickert and Ice, flashing a grin. Her long fangs gleamed in the dark.
Though the dim, eerie theater was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl, Rickert merely chuckled and grinned back. He sent a silent warning with his eyes: Keep it up, and you’ll die.
Surprised by his reaction, the female vampire’s smile vanished, and she tilted her head in confusion.
The play resumed, but having witnessed such despicable deception, Rickert lost all interest. The acting was decent, but now it all felt utterly fake. They really should have just stuck to the play.
Expelled from Paradise, the first man and woman wandered the desert, endured all kinds of hardships, and eventually settled down to bear children: Cain and Abel.
And then, the tragedy that would forever divide humans and vampires began.
“And so occurred the first murder! A deed committed between brothers! Crush his head with a stone! A new world shall open!”
Crash!
Another loud crash erupted. Suddenly, a man was dragged onto the stage, looking utterly terrified. The actor playing Cain pinned him down roughly and began to bash his head in with a real stone.
Thud! Thwack! Thud!
It was no performance; it was actual murder. Yet, the audience couldn’t tell the difference between illusion and reality. Or rather, they chose to believe it was fake, convincing themselves that there was no way it could be real.
The man died in an instant, and vampires clad in black cloaks swarmed the stage to feast on the fresh, warm flesh. It was happening right before everyone’s eyes—a perfect, sickening deception.
Then, with a sharp bang, smoke billowed from the back of the stage, and a female vampire materialized. She wore a highly unusual outfit and was breathtakingly alluring. She had porcelain skin and crimson lips, and her dress featured a high slit that exposed her long legs. Her voluptuous figure curved like rolling hills, her hips swaying dramatically with every step.
Rickert recognized her instantly. That woman is Lehman’s sister, Remania.
Wearing elbow-length black gloves, she held a bright red apple, gazing at it as she addressed the audience.
“God gave us the wonderful gift of instinct. To suppress it is utter foolishness. Restrain your appetite? Shun lust? Suppress your anger? No! Eat to your heart’s content, ravage to your heart’s content, and destroy to your heart’s content. That is what makes us truly human, and that is why we are all brothers and sisters.”
With that, the curtain fell. A thunderous curtain call erupted from the audience. The crowd cheered and gave a standing ovation, completely oblivious to the fact that they were applauding monsters. Or perhaps it didn’t even matter to them. They had enjoyed the performance, were thoroughly satisfied, and passionately agreed with the message to surrender to their instincts.
The blasphemous performance thus came to an end. The crowd applauded for a long time before trickling out of the theater.
However, a select few did not leave, instead heading backstage. Rickert and Ice followed them.
Suddenly, a hand shot out from the darkness, grabbing Rickert by the collar and pulling him close. A face loomed near, as if about to kiss him. It was the female vampire who had closed the show. Ironically, he could feel the thick, heavy breath of a creature whose heart had long stopped beating.
Yet, before she could draw any closer, a drawn dagger was already pressed against her throat. Had she pulled him a fraction of an inch further, her neck would have been sliced open.
Remania let out a satisfied laugh and released her grip.
“You smell wonderful. I’ve never encountered a scent as fresh as yours.”
Ice, who hadn’t realized Rickert had been pulled away, caught up a moment later. They were now in the dressing room. Remania sauntered over and sat on a chair, crossing her legs. Because the slit of her dress was so high, her shapely legs were fully exposed, revealing the smooth skin all the way up to her hip.
Rickert didn’t let himself get distracted. He held the dagger, letting it gleam in the light for a moment, before sheathing it back beneath his black cloak.
Under the watchful eyes of Rickert and Ice, Remania drew a long pipe and placed it between her lips. Just as she began to puff out smoke, a scream echoed from somewhere in the distance. It was hard to tell whether the person was crying or laughing.
“What’s happening to those people?” Rickert asked.
“They are volunteers.”
“Volunteers for what?”
“Those who wish to taste ultimate pleasure, or hope to become vampires. We don’t force anyone. That wouldn’t be elegant.”
“……”
“How is my old brother? Is he doing well?”
Remania seemed to know exactly why Rickert and Ice were here. How clever of her. Do high vampires gain the ability to read minds?
“For starters, I liked him better than you,” Rickert replied.
“What a unique taste you have.”
“The play was worth watching, but the deception was distasteful.”
“A play is a reflection of reality. But conversely, if necessary, even reality can become a part of the play.”
“Is that so? I wouldn’t know about that. But why did you invite us?”
Remania knew their purpose, but Rickert did not know hers. He only knew that she had kidnapped her own father.
Remania exhaled a slow puff of smoke and spoke. “Your pure blood. I won’t devour you. Just a little will do.”
“……Me? Or him?” Rickert asked, seemingly not taking the situation seriously at all as he gestured between himself and Ice.
“That one only has a pretty face; his inside is rotten. His smell is foul. But not you. What caught my attention was your pure scent. From the moment you entered the city, I could smell you. Like a subtle floral fragrance wafting from a sewer. There was no way to miss it.”
Remania couldn’t see into Rickert’s previous life as her brother could. However, she seemed to sense its traces. Through scent.
“Why do you need my blood?”
“If my father is not swayed even by the scent of blood like yours, then I lose. Do whatever you want with him—kill him or let him live.”
Looking closely, Rickert could see that Remania also seemed exhausted in her own way. Perhaps she had tried to persuade, threaten, and use every method imaginable to get her starving father to drink blood, but to no avail.
There was one catch to her proposal.
“What if he is swayed by my blood?”
“Then you’ll have to die.”
“Honest. I like that.”
If Remania had clumsily plotted behind his back, Rickert might have just fought her then and there. But since she laid everything bare, all that remained was his own choice.
“I’ll go alone,” Rickert said to Ice.
But as expected, Ice shook his head. Knowing Ice wouldn’t listen even if he tried to stop him, Rickert pondered in silence.
By the time Remania’s pipe had burned down, Rickert spoke again.
“I’ll gather my weapons and return in the morning.”
“Fine.”
Rickert set his terms, and Remania accepted. With that, Rickert and Ice safely made their exit from the theater.
“She says you smell,” Rickert teased Ice. The situation was tense and serious, but he seemed to be trying to lighten the mood.
“That woman reeked of face powder. Who is she to point fingers?”
“Her skin is already pale. Why does she wear so much powder?”
“Probably to hide her wrinkles. She’s an old hag, isn’t she?”
“Pfft, haha…”
Talking smack about Remania, Rickert and Ice returned to their lodging to pack their gear. Just in case, they made sure to pack the Holy Oil of Ilya, staying awake through the night as they waited for dawn.
When morning finally came, Rickert and Ice stepped out of the inn once more. Outside, the brilliant sunlight was sweeping away the night’s dirty desires. No wicked thing would dare survive under its intense, piercing gaze.