Chapter 416: The Culprit is Among Us
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 416: The Culprit is Among Us
The Progenitor's return sent Plenilune Castle into a fervor for several days. The elderly, who had lamented they would never see the Progenitor in their lifetime, were moved to tears, constantly dabbing their eyes with handkerchiefs, while curious children loitered around the castle, hoping to catch even a distant glimpse of her face. There was none of the fear one ought to feel for vampires, nor the helplessness of a dominated human. For the humans, there was only peace. I wondered if this was how a flock of sheep felt, gazing beyond their fence.
The vampires were overjoyed, but the emotions simmering beneath were slightly different. The few who knew of the Elder's death were afraid of what might happen. And as for the vampires who hadn't been informed of the Elder's death...
"The Progenitor's..."
"...consort!"
They would stare at me with curiosity, then fall silent and whisper every time I passed.
Seriously. Stop calling me her consort. It's not exactly pleasant for the human hearing it. I'm not her consort; I'm here as a guest who did Tyr a favor...
"Hu!"
Tyr spotted me from the other end of the hall and approached me warmly. Her gentle expression was full of goodwill, and her slightly quickened pace betrayed her excitement. The vampires who managed the Progenitor's castle covered their mouths in shock at her unfamiliar behavior.
'The Progenitor... smiling at a mere human!'
'For a thousand years, she hasn't even touched a human, let alone taken a consort...! Just how delicious must his blood be!'
No, this makes it impossible to deny the whole consort thing. Show a little more Progenitor-like dignity. Stop making it so obvious you like me.
The voice of my heart did not reach her. Dressed in comfortable, casual clothes instead of her usual dress, Tyr approached me as familiarly as her attire was light.
"You're awake early. Did you sleep well? Was anything uncomfortable?"
"It's so dark everywhere, I didn't even know it was daytime. Sorry for oversleeping... huh? Early?"
"Waking up in a single day is early. It's common for a vampire to lie down and not wake for a month."
"That's by vampire standards. For us, if someone sleeps more than twelve hours, we start to wonder if they're dead. If it passes twenty-four hours? We just hold a funeral."
"By your standards, I suppose we would already be dead."
"Well, you are. Vampires are the perfect example of why that standard is correct."
"Hehe. Indeed."
'Is this joy I feel just from talking because my heart has been revived, or is it because it's Hu...? Perhaps there's no need to distinguish. All these stirrings of emotion are a gift from Hu.'
Hearing her inner thoughts, I guess the consort thing is kind of true. But it still sounds weird. Makes me feel like a kept man.
"We were supposed to look at the documents together today. I already felt bad that it was delayed because of me, you should have woken me up."
"How could I wake you when you were sleeping so soundly? We can look at the documents later. It is not a matter of great urgency."
"What? But it's a murder case. Isn't it urgent?"
"It is the highest priority. However, it has been over ten years since Luscynia died. Rushing now will change nothing."
Is that really something a Progenitor should say?
Even in the Abyss, Tyr's words and actions had an unhurried quality to them. She never rushed and spoke of a week or a month as if it were the blink of an eye. I didn't really notice it back then since we were in the Abyss, but now that I'm in the Duchy of Mist, I get it.
The entire country is laid-back.
Nothing is ever urgent. Vampires lie about, untroubled by time, occasionally strolling the streets to toss out Blood Coins and drink blood. Humans use these Blood Coins, the price for their blood, to engage in economic activity. They visit ranches or fisheries to trade for food, or browse and purchase goods brought by traveling merchants. The Blood Coins spent in this way eventually return to the vampires in various forms.
Before seeing it, I had imagined it to be a hell on earth. But the Duchy of Mist I saw with my own eyes was a nation of pastoral livestock. Like passing clouds, like growing plants.
With a great fence placed between humans and vampires.
"All the evidence must be long gone by now. This is a problem. How are we supposed to investigate like this?"
"Is there not evidence remaining? The vampires who remember the events of that time are still here."
"Testimonies always need physical evidence to back them up."
"Physical evidence... as well?"
Seeing Tyr tilt her head, I had an ominous premonition. Physical evidence. An object that explains the truth of a case, something obviously necessary when delivering a verdict. It was only natural to ask for it.
But for Tyr, the judge, to tilt her head?
"I'm genuinely curious, how were you planning to conduct the trial?"
"I listen to both their stories. Then, I select the suspicious one and punish them. That is all."
"That's all? Is that enough?"
"What more must be done? Would a vampire of the Duchy dare to lie before me?"
"And what if they do? Do you have mind-reading powers or something?"
When I shot the question right back, Tyr seemed to lose some of her confidence and asked back.
"...Is that not how verdicts are delivered these days?"
'Has the way of delivering verdicts changed without my knowledge? I do not know what hasn't changed at this point.'
"It's similar these days, but for such an important case, your investigation method seems a bit... careless."
Even the Military State's judges, who might hand down punishments far exceeding the crime, still demand evidence. They might raid a house unannounced based on a neighbor's report, but if they don't find what they're looking for, they let it go. If people were arrested indiscriminately even after following the State's orders, they would ignore any strict punishments and just go around committing crimes.
A verdict is the state's right to retribution, not a means to prevent incidents from happening in the first place. Whether it's justice or the rule of law, trust that it will be carried out is what's important. In that sense, the Elder's murder case must also be approached cautiously, in a way that builds trust.
"Well, this isn't some squabble between children; it's the death of a key figure. We have to uncover the truth as much as possible. We should listen to testimonies but not believe them blindly, investigate for contradictions, and then deliver a verdict, don't you think?"
"...Hmm."
'I had planned to handle this after spending some pleasant time with Hu. We could have had a year or so of peaceful daily life.'
A year isn't "some time." At that point, shouldn't we be worried about the statute of limitations?
I had decided to stay, but I had no intention of just killing time. I said to Tyr.
"Since I agreed to help, let's put our heads together and think about it."
"Together... If you say so. Let us put our heads together and think... Together, that is. Hehe."
"Yes. But before we look at the documents... I'd like to hear the story from you first, Tyr. Who Luscynia was, and who could have killed him."
"The documents should be in my audience chamber. Let us talk on the way there."
Tyr led the way. Two vampire maids stood in the hall with their mouths covered, bowing their heads, but Tyr passed them as if they were folding screens.
Plenilune Castle was a massive fortress, over ten stories high. It had hard floors and high ceilings that would make a human worry about their joint health, but for vampires who could swim through the darkness, it was hardly a problem.
Above all, the bricks of this castle were hardened with human blood when they were molded. The darkness that filled the halls was not an absence of light, but the Progenitor's power. In this great castle, built from a balance of various powers, vampires could navigate with their eyes closed, like bats in a cave.
Tyr guided me to the Progenitor's audience chamber at the very top of the castle. I wondered if we were going to walk all the way up, but thankfully, a red carpet lifted me and floated gently upward.
It's convenient, which is nice. But this red color is probably... hmm.
As the carpet moved, Tyr began her explanation.
"Luscynia was a practitioner of Blood Aura. That may be difficult to grasp, so to put it more clearly... he was one who combined Bloodcraft and Qi Art to mend and improve the human body."
"Mend and improve? The physical body?"
"Yes. Breaking and regenerating muscles, splitting and reattaching bones. In that way, he gradually made the body stronger, piece by piece. He also recreated Qi Art with Bloodcraft, pioneering the field of Blood Aura, and was the grandmaster of its school. His knowledge was vast in many areas, and I too often learned much from him."
"Breaking muscles and splitting bones. Should I think of him as being similar to Lady Kavila?"
"No. They may seem similar at a glance, but the two were polar opposites. From their abilities to their dispositions."
Tyr pondered for a moment how to explain it before speaking.
"Kavila combined it with black magic and devoted herself to puppetry that utilized her power of domination. To Kavila, her puppets are her creations, objects of her affection and care. And the humans under her protection are no different from her puppets."
"That's kind of scary. ThinKing of Humans as puppets."
"It may be difficult for you to accept, Hu, but Kavila is one of the kindest Elders to humans. She does not kill humans for personal reasons and listens to their desires with all her heart. Furthermore, Kavila's Dragonfang Puppets were created to perform dangerous tasks in place of humans. They are often employed in the most dangerous workplaces in the Duchy of Mist."
Is that so? Then again, she did use Dragonfang Puppets to cook in the carriage on the way here. Cooking is for the living. That means Kavila at least had the consideration to care about a human's sense of taste.
Even in Claudia, only Kavila paid individual attention to each of the Guardians as she killed them. You might ask what's so kind about that, but compared to Lunken, who sought strong enemies regardless of who was underfoot, or Valdamir, who treated them merely as 'military assets'... Kavila was at least more human. Which is why she had the least presence.
As I mulled over my memories, a thought struck me and I asked.
"Wait a minute. You said the late Mr. Luscynia was the opposite of Lady Kavila? If Lady Kavila is the kindest Elder, then the late Mr. Luscynia was...?"
"Your guess is correct. Luscynia was the cruelest Elder to humans. To hone his Blood Aura, he would not hesitate to dissect a living human, and would destroy their bones and muscles in the name of 'improvement'."
"Wow. It feels wrong to say this, but should I be glad he's the one who died? I might have been dissected myself."
"Would he dare do such a thing to my guest, unless he wished to die? In any case, Luscynia was widely resented even among vampires. It was because he killed so many humans that blood became scarce."
"The more you dig, the more horror stories you find..."
It's ironic that the one who inherited his original blood is the Doctor Sage. No, perhaps seeing him as a cautionary tale made her focus even more on saving people.
"Thus, his coven possesses the ability to manipulate their bodies in unique ways with Blood Aura. Like Ain Jazra, whom you saw before, they can fly by flapping their capes like wings, or leap high into the sky by twisting the bones and muscles in their legs. If you see someone using their body in a bizarre way, keep in mind they are of Luscynia's coven."
"I'm not sure what the standard for 'bizarre' is anymore. I know a vampire who tore open her own chest to show me her heart."
"There were circumstances then. And thanks to that, a bond was formed between us."
Tyr continued after her coy rebuke.
"However, no matter how much resentment he incurred, an Elder is an Elder. Luscynia's power was heaven-shaking, and his regenerative ability was second to none. Neither vampire nor human would dare even think of harming him."
"But someone did harm him, right?"
"...They did."
"Since it's already happened, such assumptions are meaningless. Now, someone killed an Elder. That means the culprit must have had the means to kill an Elder. Tyr, what are the ways to kill an undying Elder?"
Even Tyr needed a long time to ponder this. As the blood-red carpet carried us to the front of her audience chamber, she thought deeply before finally speaking.
"Even an undying Elder can face annihilation if their very existence becomes faint. For example, though this is likely not the case, if one were to subdue him and cast him into the depths of the Sea of Leviathan. His body would disperse into the sea and vanish forever."
"That makes sense. The saltwater would make him bleed, and the scent of blood would draw Leviathans from all directions. The sea itself is like one giant beast. If swallowed by it... he'd be completely digested, impossible to find."
"Or, if his entire body were torn to shreds and left under terribly powerful sunlight for about a week, he would suffer irreversible damage."
"Sunlight changes all things. If a vampire's body were exposed and sun-dried, even an Elder would be in danger."
Vampires are immortal, but not invincible. The sun, garlic, running water. There are reasons vampires hate those things. In extreme cases, they can threaten a vampire's very existence.
However...
"However, that's not the cause of death, is it?"
Tyr made an impressed sound, then looked at me with eyes full of expectation.
"Astonishing. Why do you think so?"
"Because a vampire who inherited his original blood has appeared."
Luscynia was dead, but a new Elder who inherited his original blood had appeared. Lyre Nightingale. Not yet, but the Elder who would be called the Doctor Sage in the Regressor's future. Lyre certainly wielded Bloodcraft with enough skill to call herself an Elder.
It must be an undeniable fact that she inherited the original blood. In that case...
"The fact that the original blood was passed on means he wasn't drowned in the sea or burned by the sun... It's more likely that someone attacked and defeated the Elder, then used Bloodcraft superior to his own to take the original blood."
Dun dun dun. The culprit is a vampire. This is the blood-red truth I have reached.
Hughes, the King of Humans, can produce such a deduction with just this many clues. Tyr was genuinely impressed by my reasoning.
'As expected of Hu. I thought it would be difficult for him to grasp the affairs of vampires, even as the King of Humans. My expectations were pleasantly overturned... Perhaps Hu might even uncover the truth behind Luscynia's death.'
...Uh, I only figured that out by reading your mind, so please don't have too much faith in me.