Chapter 409: The Shepherd Doesn't Know the Sheep's Heart
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 409: The Shepherd Doesn't Know the Sheep's Heart
Suddenly, the street grew dark. Visibility hadn't been great before, but the fog that abruptly rolled in was so thick you could barely see ten meters ahead. Yet, the people in the market street went about their day as if the fog were a familiar companion. They believed the fog was not their enemy, and that those hidden within it would not harm them.
Something emerged from a crack in that peaceful routine. Valdamir, the Lord Sanguine who had brought the fog with him, approached with a deep bow.
“My Progenitor. Forgive the intrusion.”
“What is it, Valdamir?”
I told him not to disturb me, as I would be going out with Hu.
Tyr’s reply was tinged with annoyance. But it was fleeting. Valdamir presented a pouch heavy with coins and a red stick.
“A few things have changed while you were asleep. I will explain the details at a later time, but for now, please use this instead of gold coins.”
“This is?”
“It is the recently introduced currency, the Blood Coin. It is minted from the Alchemic Gold of the Fallen Dominion, mixed with blood.”
Even though the coins were in the pouch, Tyr’s Bloodcraft allowed her to discern their number and type. She also intuitively understood their value. It was a coin made exclusively for vampires, one that only vampires could create. To a vampire with Bloodcraft, the blood mixed into the coins would feel like an extension of their own body.
Tch. So much for trying to pickpocket vampires here. While I was clicking my tongue at this technological advance, Valdamir presented another item.
“This is a Blood Ink Pen, given only to those of Ain rank or higher. Should you feel thirsty, or require anything, please write with this. Any request written in this ink will be fulfilled to the best of anyone’s ability, be they human or vampire.”
Valdamir seemed accustomed to Tyr being out of touch with the world after her long slumber. The support he offered was too useful for Tyr to be truly displeased. Accepting the coins and the pen, she replied.
“You have done well.”
“It is merely my duty. Please, enjoy your first outing in a long while.”
With that brief farewell, Valdamir melted into the darkness and vanished in an instant. Tyr gazed in the direction he had disappeared, a hint of dissatisfaction on her face.
My dominion over blood has weakened, so I failed to notice Valdamir’s approach. Regaining my heart is a bit inconvenient at times like this. I gave him a stern order, so he shouldn't be watching me, but still…
Before she regained her heart, Tyr’s senses had encompassed the entire Abyss, but now, all she could feel was the blood in her immediate vicinity. She had only just learned that their money contained blood.
She had gained dominion over her own body but lost her dominion over the world outside it. To gain one thing is to lose another. Like any ordinary human, Tyr felt a brief pang of regret for the power she had lost.
But that wasn't what was important right now. I took Tyr’s hand. She flinched at the sudden contact. Through our joined hands, we could feel the blood move. Both of us.
Tyr felt the current of blood more vividly now. Narrower, and therefore more precious.
“Now that our pockets are full, shall we? Time to live lavishly on someone else’s dime.”
Tyr asked in return.
“…Am I ‘someone else’ to you?”
“In this world, everyone is either you or someone else. What matters is what kind of ‘someone else’ they are.”
“What kind?”
She had lost things, but she had also gained something. Something more precious to her than anything else.
Emotion. For Tyr, who had longed for a tremor she could not control, a small part of her wish had been granted.
“The kind who shares a heart with you.”
“…Indeed.”
“Alright, shall we go? Let’s teach that owner a lesson about not judging people by their money.”
“I am not certain that qualifies as a lesson.”
The fog on the street had begun to thin. Hand in hand with Tyr, I headed back toward the food stall.
With the fog clearing, the owner was back to hawking his wares. I shed my earlier servile attitude and held my head high. The owner recognized me and scowled.
“You’re that beggar from before, aren’t you? What, did you come back with some cha— Huk! This is! A Blood Coin…!”
What a materialistic man. His attitude flipped the moment he saw money. As he stood frozen, I answered him coldly.
“Enough. The food.”
“Aigoo, of course! How many servings would you like!”
“Two.”
“Uh, wait. Then, the change…”
“Keep the rest. Pin it to your chest as a reminder to never look down on someone who seems poor again.”
The owner, overwhelmed by my completely transformed demeanor as I tossed down the Blood Coin, collapsed to the ground with a thud. With an air of dignity devoid of arrogance, I collected the plates and turned away, leaving a single Blood Coin behind.
I could almost hear an eagle screeching somewhere in the distance. I returned to Tyr and offered her a plate.
“Here. You have one, Tyr.”
“You hold both. I have no need to eat.”
“No, I need you to hold it for me. Because I’m going to eat both.”
Thrusting it into her hands, I watched as Tyr accepted it with a sullen expression. With my free hand, I began to devour the food on my plate. The sauce, soaked into the warm meat, exploded in my mouth. The desire to savor the taste clashed with the urge to swallow it immediately and make it a part of me. I wanted to gulp it down, but considering my body’s condition, I chewed as thoroughly as possible.
A profound satisfaction washed over me, as if to assert that humans were, by nature, carnivores. It felt like the holes in my body were being filled with the same kind of meat. The savory sauce only added to the fulfillment. The sensation of filling my body with the flesh and blood of another living being. It was a pleasure beyond compare.
To think there’s enough of this meat to feed everyone. The Duchy might be a good country after all.
Seeing me eat so voraciously without a word, Tyr grumbled in discontent.
“Maintain some dignity. Who eats so ravenously while walking down a market street?”
“This is how normal people eat. If we’re traveling incognito, we should act normal.”
“Of all the people to imitate, must you choose the slovenly ones? With such a lack of decorum, how can I boast anywhere that you are my honored guest? One who receives such treatment should behave in a manner befitting it…”
Her complaints grew longer and longer, fueled by some unknown dissatisfaction. Having finished one plate, I considered just tossing it, but it felt wrong, so I turned it into a card and stuffed it in my pocket. Tyr, unable to watch any longer, chided me again.
“How filthy, putting something covered in food into your pocket. Your trousers will be stained with grease when we return.”
“It’s my way of dealing with it. There’s nowhere to throw it away here.”
“You might as well have thrown it on the street. Someone would have cleaned it up eventually.”
Grumbling, Tyr handed me the remaining plate. But as they say, things are different before and after you’ve eaten. Having finished one plate, I suddenly had no appetite for another. My empty stomach even ached a little now that it had food in it.
Ugh, what should I do? It feels like a waste to just throw it away. If Azzy were here, she could finish it… Ah, maybe this will do?
“I feel a bit guilty eating alone. Would you like some, Tyr?”
“…Are you foisting it upon me because you cannot eat anymore?”
“Hey, of course not. Usually, if something is just okay, you eat it alone. But when something is truly delicious, you want to share it. I wanted to share this joy with you.”
“Joy or not, I cannot taste.”
However, they say family is people who share meals together. Though I am in this state, perhaps I should at least make the gesture.
It is a common belief that vampires cannot eat food, but that is not true. Vampires have teeth and throats, so they are mechanically capable of chewing and swallowing. However, the food does not assimilate into their bodies and only taints their blood, which is why they avoid it if possible.
If she forced herself, it wasn't impossible. Tyr spoke.
“They say even the taste of wine changes depending on who pours it. Let us see if what you offer is any different.”
“Just a moment. It’s a bit much to give it to you with my bare hands, so I’ll use a card to pick it up.”
“Never mind that. Give it to me with your hand.”
I paused, my hand halfway to my pocket, and looked at her. Tyr quickly added.
“I need some insurance, do I not? If it is tasteless, I will bite your finger and take your blood instead.”
“I thought you said my blood tastes bad?”
“Tasteless as it may be, it would be better than this.”
I didn't want to lose any more blood. I guess I have no choice. I might as well make it delicious.
Tyr opened her mouth slightly. It was amusing how she only opened it a crack, trying to maintain her dignity. As requested, I carefully rolled up a strip of meat and brought it to her lips.
She could not taste. All Tyr felt was the dull texture on her tongue. A sensation that was there simply because something was there. That was the only sense permitted to Tyr…
Until now.
“Alright, be delicious. Be delicious.”
“?!”
A thin thread of lightning flowed through my finger. The amount of power was embarrassingly small. Its only merits were its minuteness and precision, a force so weak it could do little more than tickle Tyr’s body.
So I tickled her. Forcing a sensation into a body where all senses had died, using the power of the Divine.
“Ngh…!”
Ticklish… It tickles? Me?
So it works. I suppose the possibility was there ever since I made her heart beat.
The only difference was that now, having encountered the Divine, I had moved beyond simply making things ‘beat.’
The thread of lightning forced its way through her dead nerves. This current, finer than the smallest insect, was too weak to harm her body. Instead, it spread out like a spiderweb before converging on a single point. It hammered a sensation she had long forgotten—'taste'—directly into her mind.
Tyr tasted it. A part of the senses she had lost centuries ago.
“How is it? You should be able to taste it now.”
“Hu, Huu…!”
Feeling the ticklish sensation, Tyr squirmed. The most extravagant of her long-discarded senses had returned to torment her. It wasn't real, merely a fleeting spark I had sent her, but that touch of humanity put Tyr to the test.
She could taste. Not the feeling of her body accepting or rejecting blood, but the pure taste her tongue craved. Shaken by the sensation rocking her body, Tyr couldn't bring herself to pull away. The sensation, regained after so long, was like a distant childhood memory—a little embarrassing, yet faint and precious, something she never wanted to lose again.
Tasting the food, Tyr instinctively tried to chew what was in her mouth. But I had no intention of losing any more of my already scarce blood, so I quickly pulled my finger back. The thread of lightning that had stimulated her senses withdrew. The taste that had enveloped her tongue faded.
Tyr hastily covered her mouth. Looking up at me with an expression of disbelief, she seemed as bewildered as someone whose lips had just been stolen.
“Hu… what was that…?”
“It’s the power of the Divine I obtained in Claudia. I didn’t think it would be this effective, though.”
“You, what on earth…”
Confused, Tyr belatedly looked around. Passersby had stopped in their tracks and were staring at Tyr and me. Some were merely curious, but a few with sharper eyes were observing us with a mixture of doubt and recognition.
Like it or not, vampires exuded a unique aura. And since there were so few of them, they were easy to identify. Moreover, a vampire as beautiful and distinctive as Tyr was one of a kind, making her an inevitable center of attention.
“Let us leave this place at once.”
"What? But I haven't finished eating."
“You can eat as we go. Hurry!”
Though there was no real reason to flee, Tyr unilaterally cloaked us in darkness and pulled me away.