Chapter 423: Elder, Ain, Yeiling, and Human - 6
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 423: Elder, Ain, Yeiling, and Human - 6
Nights feel short because they are empty. For humans seeking hollow slumber in the dark, and for vampires mired in listless boredom, the night is always short.
But when you begin to fill the dark, quiet night with something, so much can fit inside. Like pouring something into a bottomless jar, you find yourself wondering if the nights that always came and went were ever this long.
A long night had passed. The Lady of the Plenilune Castle. The Queen of Shadow. The Progenitor of Vampires, Tyrkanzyaka, lay blankly in bed, recalling the previous night. In the nearly thousand years she had lived since becoming a vampire, she had passed countless nights, but none had ever been as memorable as last night.
‘It was for therapeutic purposes. Strictly a method to restore sensation to my body. I know that. And yet…’
No matter how many times she repeated this in her head, Tyrkanzyaka's heart insisted on pounding wildly. Tyrkanzyaka found the fluttering burdensome, yet at the same time, she discovered a part of herself that enjoyed it.
‘…But was it truly, purely for the sake of treatment?’
The more she thought about it, the redder her face became.
Before, it would have stopped the moment she wanted it to. Now, even if she begged it to stop out of sheer embarrassment, it ignored her and kept racing. She could forcibly restrain it with Bloodcraft, but doing so would make her heart burst. Tyrkanzyaka gave up on controlling her emotions and buried her face in the bed.
‘How could it be! We kissed the entire night. We kissed while sitting in the chair, while lying on the desk, while holding each other. And then, his tongue, tongue, tongue. In, inside my mouth…!’
“...!!!”
Thump, thump. Tyrkanzyaka repeatedly punched the bed. With each blow, the bed burst open, sending the feathers inside scattering in every direction. Even as the antique bed of historical value was being reduced to junk, Tyrkanzyaka was too busy reliving the events of last night.
‘I was too flustered, and too embarrassed… I couldn't ask. But Hu, too…’
A good deal of time had already passed, yet Tyrkanzyaka was still rolling around in bed. With just this one piece of a happy memory and the pounding heart it caused, she felt she could go on for days without feeling a shred of boredom.
Still, she couldn't just roll around for days on end. After all, he had promised to come again tonight. Yesterday it was her mouth, but today, another place….
“...!!!”
Thump, thump. The bed now looked as wretched as a bird pierced by an arrow. Tyrkanzyaka continued to roll around on the feather-spewing bed….
But then, she felt a strange sensation in her mouth.
It was a feather. A dry feather was tickling the inside of her mouth, feeling coarse and dusty. At first, Tyrkanzyaka didn't even realize what was strange, pausing for a moment to identify the unfamiliar sensation.
After mulling over the feeling for nearly thirty minutes, Tyrkanzyaka realized.
‘It tickles.’
The inside of my mouth tickles.
She hadn't experienced such a feeling since becoming a vampire. After his tongue had painted every nook and cranny of her mouth yesterday... her senses had returned.
“Now… I can taste.”
She would be able to taste. Whether she could digest it was another matter, but at the very least, Tyrkanzyaka's tongue had earned the right to enjoy fine cuisine. Tyrkanzyaka toyed with the corner of her mouth, contemplating the significance of this.
An ability once gained must be tested immediately. Tyrkanzyaka lifted her head and called for her handmaiden.
“Katalina.”
“Progenitor. Did you call for me?”
The handmaiden standing outside the door replied. Tyrkanzyaka sat up and gave her command.
“I must go to Kavila. Make the preparations.”
“As you command.”
Kavila was the most skilled chef the Progenitor knew. She was also the Elder with whom she could most freely open her heart. Unlike the other Elders, Kavila had become a vampire as a child, and Tyrkanzyaka had practically raised her herself.
Until now, Kavila had only bestowed her culinary skills upon humans, but today, she would have the chance to serve the revered Tyrkanzyaka.
*
Sunlight veiled by mist, a vast but barely visible prairie, and a damp wind blowing in from the sea.
In a fog that could turn even the fine weather that came once every few months into something mediocre, I, weary with fatigue, let out a long yawn.
“Hwaaaam.”
As I stood yawning in the middle of the prairie, Lunken stopped and asked.
“A yawn? Are you tired?”
“Yeah. I didn't sleep well because I was in a different bed last night.”
Should I say I didn't sleep well? I was with Tyr all night restoring her senses, and only caught a wink of sleep before coming out, so I'm exhausted.
Choosing to kiss her was the right answer. Tyr was extremely conscious of it, so the sensory response was good, and I quite enjoyed it myself. If I had tried to restore her senses by, say, holding her tongue, it would have taken over a week.
“Humans are so particular! It's strange enough that you have to sleep every few hours, but to think you get tired if you don't even do that properly! How do you live with such an inconvenience?”
Lunken, unaware of the circumstances, laughed heartily. I wondered how he would react if I told him I was tired from kissing his Progenitor all night.
Hmm, knowing Lunken, he might just accept it easily. Not that I have any intention of testing that theory.
“From a human's perspective, vampires who don't sleep normally and then hibernate for months at a time are even stranger.”
“Every day, in that short span between sunrise and sunset, you keep falling asleep and waking up? What a hassle! Sleep is a habit. Cut back on it!”
“It's not a habit, it's a biological necessity. How am I supposed to cut back on that? Don't you remember your human days?”
“It was too long ago, I forgot!”
“You say that so proudly.”
I grumbled before returning to the main topic.
“So, Lunken, you're the one who governs the shepherds and ranches of the prairie, right?”
“Of course! My underlings handle all the trivial stuff! I don't get involved, except to chase off wolves or tigers when I'm bored!”
“Tigers, too?”
“Hmph. They don't come down often, but the newly matured ones haven't learned their place and try their luck. I can't trust my subordinates with them, and if I send a pack of humans to scour the mountains, a few are bound to get bitten. It's better if I just run over and beat them to a pulp myself, isn't it!”
An Ain could probably hold their own against a tiger. But wandering the mountains looking for one would be foolish even for an Ain, which is likely why an Elder steps in personally. What's that? Isn't it foolish for an Elder, too? For a foolish Elder, it's perfectly normal, so it doesn't matter.
Lunken is reckless and powerful. He isn't skilled in Bloodcraft, but he can smell blood better than anyone. Furthermore, his ability to sense the blood of beasts is unparalleled among the other Elders. This must be possible because his own blood is mixed with that of a beast. The prairies and ranches, managing beasts over a vast territory, could be called a domain well-suited for him.
In other words, each Elder has a slightly different specialty. And the people they associate with differ accordingly.
“Lady Kavila and her Ain protect the humans along the coast. From what I understand, each Elder is primarily in charge of a different group of humans. Is that right?”
“There are definite differences in disposition!”
“In that case, what kind of humans was the late Elder Luscynia in charge of?”
Lunken answered readily, without much thought.
“The sick!”
“The sick? You mean ill people?”
“That's right! That bat-freak used to mess around with bodies! It might be one thing for vampires, but humans died left and right. Any healthy humans he sought out had already gone under other Elders! Only the dying, prepared for the worst, would entrust their bodies to him! One wrong move and they'd die, but if it went well, they might just survive!”
So healthy people avoided him, but the injured went to him, clinging to a last shred of hope. A peculiar outcome where the most pitiful people flocked to the cruelest Elder. It makes sense that the Doctor Sage came from under Luscynia's wing.
“Was that helpful, Consort!”
“Yes. It was certainly informative. Luscynia's domain was filled with desperate, sick people, most of whom were likely experimented on, so there's plenty of reason to hold a grudge against the Elder. I can see why Lyre, who became a Yeiling, is a suspect.”
“I don't know who killed him, but I'd love to have a fight with them! They must be pretty strong!”
After his bold declaration, Lunken suddenly licked his lips and looked at me.
“On that note, how about a fight!”
“I told you I can't fight. I'm weak.”
“When the hell are you going to get strong?”
“Getting stronger or weaker isn't something you can just decide to do, but just you wait. When I awaken, I'll become strong enough to bring about the end of the world.”
I was telling the truth, but Lunken's reaction was unimpressed.
“All talk, aren't you? Guys like that are usually nothing special.”
“That's why I'm all talk, because I'm nothing special.”
“Hmph! That makes sense! An empty shell, is that it!”
Leaving Lunken to nod to himself in understanding, I fell into thought.
I hadn't expected anything, but as I thought, Lunken knew nothing. The information he gave was about what I'd get from grabbing a random person on the street and reading their mind.
I'd scanned his memories with my mind-reading, but Lunken hadn't killed Luscynia; he hadn't even paid him much mind. Even after his death, he'd just accepted it as a thing that happened.
Hmm. Who could it be? No matter how many minds I read, the culprit doesn't show up. An Elder died, but it couldn't have been an accident or a misstep, right? Even if it was ten years ago, a vampire wouldn't have died of old age in that time….
Ah, in that case. Could the culprit be an Elder who was around ten years ago, but isn't now?
While I was pondering this newfound possibility, Lunken straightened up.
“Heading back? I'll take you! Follow me!”
“Huh? What's with the sudden kindness?”
“It's the least I can do for the Progenitor's Consort! If you got hurt, how could I face the Progenitor!”
Just what kind of being was the Progenitor's Consort that a boar beastkin had learned consideration?
I was about to gratefully accept his offer when Lunken suddenly stared into the distance and sniffed the air. His tusks, a characteristic feature of a boar beastkin, twitched as if agitated.
“Besides, I smell something rotten. Not that anything dangerous would happen to the Consort, but it can't hurt to be careful. Humans die so easily, after all.”
“I thought you couldn't smell?”
“Krhung! I can smell blood better than anyone! And this thrill that comes before a storm of blood! Something is coming! I can feel it!”
I read his thoughts but found no specific memory. His excitement was purely animalistic instinct. He let out a sharp snort and muttered while looking up at the sky.
“The bats are flying. Be careful, King of Humans. Kindred who have lost their Lord of Lords are prone to rampages.”