Chapter 48: I've Been Tailing You This Whole Time
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 48: I've Been Tailing You This Whole Time
It had been a few days since I’d figured out the vampire’s secret desire and failed in my attempt to grant her deepest wish. I was quite satisfied with having at least established some kind of connection with her, feeling I had taken a great step forward in building relationships here in Tantalus…
…Or so I thought, for a time.
“Could you spare me a moment?”
“Again?”
Familiarity doesn’t always breed fondness. More often, it breeds annoyance and irritation. Lately, the vampire had been seeking me out in my room or the cafeteria whenever she had a spare moment, and it was becoming a real headache.
There was only one reason she came looking for me. I scowled and shot back.
“This is an addiction. A serious addiction.”
“It’s hardly any trouble for you.”
“Even so, coming to find me after every single meal is a bit much.”
“You need only insert your fingers. I shall take care of the rest.”
It didn't seem like she would listen to reason. I sighed and nodded, and the vampire approached me, untying the sash of her clothes as if she’d known I would agree.
To an outsider who didn’t know the full story, it would be an enviable sight. A woman beautiful enough to turn every head brightens up the moment she sees me, pulls me into a secluded corner, and takes my hand to bury it in her chest.
However.
“Here. Quickly.”
She wasn't loosening her clothes, but parting her own flesh.
If you knew that she wasn't burying my hand in her bosom metaphorically, but literally inside her chest, you might see things a little differently.
I pushed my fingers deep into the gap between the parted flesh. I could now find the path to her heart without even looking. Acknowledging this unwelcome new skill, I expertly rummaged around inside.
“Bolt.”
Electricity flowed from my fingers into her heart. No matter how weak the spell, it was magic applied directly to the heart. The shock was enough to stop a person’s heart.
But my patient was a vampire whose heart had stopped long ago. To her, this shock was a welcome stimulus, evoking a sense of nostalgia.
“Hhngh. Hah…”
A flush spread across the vampire’s face. The jolted heart pulsed, fiercely pumping blood. So much blood rushed to her once-pale, ivory face that her complexion changed, and for a moment, a pleasure from an entirely different genre washed over her.
The vampire let out a heated moan and gripped my arm tightly. It felt as if her entire body was hanging from me, yet the weight on my arm was impossibly light.
After savoring the afterglow for a long moment, the vampire leaned against me, practically clinging to my body.
“Huuuh… You are becoming… more and more… skilled.”
“Humans are creatures of learning. We’re both just getting used to it.”
“Thank you… I shall ask you again next time.”
“Please come a little less often. It’s a pain for me.”
“You once spoke of respecting your elders. Now you don’t even bother with the pretense.”
“I didn’t know you’d be visiting this often. I’m pretty sure I told you not to expose your heart so carelessly, but I guess you have no intention of listening?”
“This body is already dead. It matters not if I expose my heart to the open air, so why should I not?”
The vampire seemed ready to pull it out and show me right then and there. I quickly reached out to stop her. She chuckled, gently pushing my hand away as she adjusted her clothes.
“Besides, I only show this to you. You should be proud.”
“Proud? I’m not exactly thrilled about it. What I’m doing is respecting an elder, not performing labor. And extra labor is something everyone, everywhere, throughout all of history, has hated.”
“What if there were compensation for this labor, then? I shall give you some gold I have kept in storage.”
“No thanks. Gold from before the Alchemic Revolution isn’t trustworthy. Its actual value is about the same as a pretty rock you’d find lying on the ground.”
“Ugh… It seems a great deal of time has passed…”
The dejected vampire rested her chin on her hand and muttered.
“What to do… All I have left now are gold and some sculptures. I wonder if they would suffice as payment.”
“Huh? Sculptures?”
“Yes. Paintings, sculptures, and the like. If I had one hobby, it was collecting art. Feelings are fleeting, but art remains. Still… I do not know how much value they hold in this era.”
“They’ve got to be better than the gold. Could you show me?”
“Very well. I shall bring them. Wait here.”
The vampire left to retrieve her art. Watching her retreating back, I let out a triumphant smile.
See? What a sucker. I give her a little touch, play a little hard to get, and now she’s ready to hand over her fortune with her own two hands.
And art, no less. One of the few things that grows more valuable with age. Art that’s been stored in a coffin with a vampire for a thousand years? Art that belonged to an absolute ruler who once dominated the world? Its value would be immeasurable. It’s a treasury greater than most gold mines.
You never know what might happen in Tantalus, so it’s good to have a treasure or two tucked away. I turned around, picturing a rosy future.
‘Th-th-th-that… that guy. What is he doing with Tyrkanzyaka?!’
…First, I’d have to deal with the Peeping Tom spying on me from around the corner.
I walked down the corridor, pretending not to notice anything. The Regressor followed behind me, her body concealed with a camouflage technique.
‘Should I reveal myself? Or not? It’s best to catch him in the act and interrogate him. No, what if he realizes I was tailing him?’
What do you mean, what if? You were tailing me. Did you leave your conscience behind in the last timeline?
While I desperately fought the urge to say that out loud, the Regressor came to a conclusion after a flurry of thoughts.
‘No! Focus on your original mission, Shei! I came here to find out what happened in this Abyss and to prevent Azzy’s and Tyrkanzyaka’s corruption! For that reason… it’s okay to interfere!’
Whoosh.
The Regressor leaped out and landed in front of me. Then she strode forward, staring daggers at me.
So she finally decided to make her move. I’ve been waiting. I greeted her nonchalantly.
“Hello, Trainee Sh…”
“What did you do to Tyrkanzyaka?”
Straight to the point, I see. I feigned ignorance.
“Have you been tailing me this whole time?”
“Of course… I mean, no! I just happened to see you heading somewhere with Tyrkanzyaka, and I witnessed you doing something strange!”
“Something strange? I haven’t done anything that warrants criticism.”
“Are you trying to deny it? I saw everything from start to finish! I even heard what you two were talking about!”
What the hell. That’s just a stalker.
“What the hell. You’re just a stalker.”
Oops. Said that out loud.
“I am not!! If you think about it, yeah! I’m like an undercover detective!”
“Trainee Shei. Are you a police officer by any chance?”
“Huh? W-well, no.”
“What the hell. Then you’re just a stalker.”
“No…!”
The Regressor, who had been jumping up and down in agitation, took a deep breath and glared at me.
“Don’t change the subject. This is a very serious matter!”
“I’m the one who should be dumbfounded. What do you think I did to Trainee Tyrkanzyaka? I can assure you I haven’t done anything against my conscience.”
“So now you’re going to play innocent?”
“The only one playing innocent here is the trainee who claims tailing isn’t tailing.”
“That’s not what’s important right now!”
“Sigh. Fine. Let’s hear what’s so important. What is it?”
It seemed she thought she had me cornered just because I’d humored her a little. The Regressor shouted, looking even more triumphant.
“You… you forcibly groped Tyrkanzyaka!”
“Excuse me? I forcibly did what to who?”
“You forcibly… touched… Tyrkanzyaka…”
Her voice trailed off as she realized how ridiculous her own words sounded. I narrowed my eyes and glared at her.
Of course it was ridiculous. Forcibly grope Tyrkanzyaka, the Heaven-Defying monster, the Queen of Darkness, the Progenitor of Vampires, by threatening her?
If I could do that, why would I be living like this?
My gaze turned cold. The Regressor, sensing my unspoken thought, shrieked.
“B-but I saw it clearly with my Jade Eyes! I saw you… you bastard… putting your hand into Tyrkanzyaka’s chest!”
“Yes, well. I did touch her heart.”
“What nonsense! Are you trying to say, in some poetic sense, that you melted her frozen heart or something?”
What is she talking about? I meant it literally. As in, I made physical contact with this very hand.
“And you said you were getting more skilled at it…!”
“It’s not a pleasant experience.”
Do you have any idea what it feels like for your hand to naturally part flesh and touch a heart? I know she’s a vampire who can control her blood at will and regenerate even if her body is torn to pieces, but sticking your hand inside her is still a truly bizarre feeling. The slick inner flesh, the twitching muscles, the strangely warm and damp interior. It feels like being inside a whale’s stomach.
Blood, organs, muscle, bone. Humans have evolved to find everything that fills the inside of a body nauseating. Exposed viscera is basically a harbinger of death, after all. I’m no different. My sanity points have been draining in real-time lately.
“You… you. Whatever. To be honest, I don’t really know what you’re doing with Tyrkanzyaka, but.”
As if she hadn’t already reached a conclusion in her head. I feigned ignorance, tilting my head as I asked.
“You really don’t know?”
“I don’t, buuut!!”
‘At this rate, both Azzy and Tyrkanzyaka will be too heavily influenced by this man! I don’t know if this is corruption yet, but if it leads to that result in the future, there’s a chance it will be his fault!’
What am I even doing? Corruption? Why would I corrupt them? Do I have a death wish?
Seeing her wild imagination run amok, I could tell she really didn't know. Then again, she probably couldn't even imagine that I was giving her an electric massage by directly touching her heart.
“It must be some strange act that you can’t let others see!”
She’s right about that one. I have no rebuttal.
“Your silence proves I’m right! I’ll put an end to your little game today…!”
“I do this of my own free will. Who are you to decide when it ends?”
Nice timing. The vampire, who had just returned dragging a large coffin, approached with a deliberately angry expression. She walked right past the Regressor and stood in front of me, blocking her way.
The Regressor was deeply shocked that Tyrkanzyaka, who had treated her like a master of sorts, was now taking my side.
“Tyr…kanzyaka?”
‘Tyrkanzyaka is… standing with her back to that man, confronting me?’
Her eyes trembled in disbelief. The vampire’s gaze, however, was cold and frosty.
“Enough. Why must you meddle in every single one of my affairs? How dare a student raise her voice at her master’s activities.”
“No. I’m doing this for you!”
‘In the last timeline, you were betrayed by someone, suffered immense pain, and ended up participating in a great war that set the world ablaze!’
Her desperate voice was filled with sincerity. Those words were undoubtedly true, something that had happened in a future that once was. The Regressor clearly wanted to prevent Tyrkanzyaka’s downfall and wished for her happiness.
Whether it was for the sake of the world, or for her own.
But I was the only one who knew that. The vampire didn't have the ability to read minds.
“For me?”
As if to mock that sentiment, the vampire scoffed.