Chapter 87: A Setup...?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 87: A Setup...?
The back alleys of the Military State—a merciless district where the clumsy don't survive. Did you think a veteran of that place like me would meekly bow to the Military State?
The reason I risked losing my own ego to revive Tyr's heart was all for this very moment!
"Tyr! Show them your power!"
Even if a vampire is indifferent to the ways of the world, she wouldn't turn her back on the one who revived her heart. I shot to my feet and shouted.
Tyr rose with me, then stepped half a pace in front of me.
"Indeed. It is as he says."
A jet-black parasol cast a shadow over my head. Tyr had tilted it slightly, leaning it against me. Having conveyed her intentions through the parasol, she looked down at the officer.
"I shall declare it here and now. If so much as a single scratch appears on Hu's body, if even one drop of blood is spilled from him... I will collect a blood debt from you, and from your nation, a million times over."
The weight of a warning is determined by its credibility.
No one would be on guard if you threatened to kill all of humanity. It would obviously be a bluff, and even if you had the will, you would fail.
But what if you singled someone out and growled that you would kill them, and them alone? The target wouldn't sleep soundly at night.
That was why the Progenitor's warning was etched so clearly into everyone's minds. Because Tyr had the power to back it up.
Even the officer was overwhelmed by her presence.
"...He is a petty criminal. Progenitor, are you willing to make an enemy of the Military State for a mere criminal?"
"Soldier, I ask you this. Are you prepared to create a conflict with your nation just to keep a single petty criminal imprisoned?"
"The nation...?"
As the officer faltered, the smoke that had been encroaching on the room began to churn. The hazy, gray cigarette smoke froze in place, then, upon touching the vampire's aura, was dyed pitch black.
The Progenitor of vampires. Her power was Bloodcraft, honed to its absolute peak.
But that wasn't all.
For centuries, she fought the devotees of the Sky God. Her blood energy was seared by light, her flesh set ablaze by heat. Every time she drew blood from an opponent, countless retainers were burned to black ash and vanished.
Those who had offered their bodies to the demonic arts simply to live were annihilated, leaving behind only agonizing screams. The Progenitor shouldered the echoes of them all.
And at some point, she learned to command the darkness.
The shadows forsaken by the light.
Darkness filled the room. The entirety of Tantalus began to tremble. Within it, only Tyr's dignified voice rode the shadows to our ears.
"I am the Progenitor, Tyrkanzyaka. The monster that will swallow the world, the Queen of Shadow, and the beginning of all vampires. I am the vampire, and every vampire that walks the earth is an extension of my own body. I ask you again, soldier of the Military State. Do you, a mere soldier, possess such power, such authority, such resolve?"
"Ugh...!"
Even a high-and-mighty officer of the Military State couldn't dare to face that power and took a step back. Though he was mustering what little Qi he had, it was all he could do to simply withstand Tyr's presence.
Meanwhile, I, standing under Tyr's parasol, was unaffected by her aura. Even as Tantalus, the very prison meant to contain me, trembled in fear, I was perfectly fine.
I crossed my arms and thought to myself with a broad smile.
...This is weird.
Something, something feels heavy.
I expected her to protect me, but this is a bit much. I thought she'd just end it with a stern warning not to harm me.
"...I underst—no, understood. I will take it... into consideration."
The officer clicked his tongue and turned away. Anyone could see he was fleeing, but it was impressive that he managed to save face until the very end.
As soon as the officer was gone, the overwhelming presence that had filled the space vanished in an instant. The churning aura subsided, leaving only Tyr and me in the room.
A moment of silence. Tyr, who had been glaring quietly toward the door, kept stealing glances at me. Then, at some point, she called my name a little awkwardly.
"Hu."
"Yes?"
Why my name all of a sudden?
When I answered, Tyr smiled with satisfaction.
"Huhu. So you respond to this name as well. Is your original name Hughes?"
"Yes. I'm registered under the name Hughes."
"I prefer calling you Hu."
"Why?"
Tyr hesitated for a moment, then snatched the parasol from my grasp and blurted out.
"...Because I heard it from your own lips. Besides, it's short. Isn't that nice?"
"Ah."
Heavy. I felt it again, so heavy it would break the scales.
I can read minds, but I can't see the future. What choices a changed person will make, what feelings they will develop—that is all unknown territory.
I thought she was a bit of a pushover, but I never imagined her feelings would become this heavy while I was unconscious. Maybe it's because a 12-century-long blockage has finally been cleared.
"Well? Was I helpful?"
"Of course, more than enough."
Not that it's a bad thing. The person before me is the Progenitor of vampires, a walking catastrophe who only appears sporadically in the history books. If a living legion has my back, that's great for me.
Just as I was thinking that, Tyr spoke in a slightly lower voice.
"If that soldier troubles you, tell me. I can make a single soldier disappear without leaving a corpse."
Even if it is a little heavy... right. Haha.
I waved my hand and trailed off.
"Hey, now. How can you just kill someone like that? Don't say such things. You shouldn't carelessly kill someone who wants to live."
Tyr asked, puzzled.
"Does that mean it's fine to kill someone if they have no will to live?"
"Well, I guess it wouldn't matter? Still, is there really a need to kill them?"
"You speak strangely. Where would you find someone who wishes to die? And even if you did, how would you distinguish between those who want to die and those who want to live?"
"No one can, normally."
"Then it's useless, isn't it?"
"Haha, I suppose so."
I shrugged. Tyr made a peculiar expression for a moment before letting out a dry laugh.
"You are a kind person."
"Wow! That's the first time I've heard that since my mom disappeared!"
"...Didn't you say you were an orphan?"
"Yep!"
Tyr stared at my cheerful reply, dumbfounded. She slung the parasol back over her shoulder and muttered.
"I understand. You mean I shouldn't kill him. Even when great power is placed in your hands, even when you have the chance to wield it against those who oppressed you, you have no intention of doing so."
"It's not like he tried to kill me."
"Judging by that rigid attitude, he won't bend easily. He could treat you poorly at any time."
"You never know what the future holds for people. Why kill them in advance just because there's a chance of that? That's just barbaric."
Unless they're a violent schizophrenic, I can read killing intent directed at me beforehand. It won't be too late to deal with it then.
And... there are things I need to find out from the officer. I can't kill him just yet.
Putting that aside for a moment, since it was just the two of us, I asked Tyr something I was curious about.
"By the way, did you do anything while I was unconscious? Are you really not hiding anything from me?"
"O-Of course not! What would I possibly do?!"
Where did her earlier composure go? Tyr raised her voice, desperately trying to hide something, but it was no use.
'Phew. What a relief he didn't find out. If he knew about that...'
My mind-reading ability was slowly returning. Now, shall I take a look at what she did while I was out?
I read back through Tyr's memories.
The not-so-distant past. Tyr was sitting side-by-side with me in my room. It was when she was preparing to feed me breakfast while my ego was faded.
As she was about to help me up, Tyr paused, her eyes fixed on my hand.
For some reason, she stared intently at my hand for a long while before cautiously glancing around.
It was the suspicious behavior of a child about to steal something, the kind you show right before doing something wrong. If she'd shown that attitude in the back alleys, people would have swarmed her demanding a cut...
Not that it would matter. They'd all be sent flying with a single gesture.
In any case, Tyr, who had been fidgeting so restlessly while staring at my hand, seemed to make up her mind and snapped her fingers in the air.
The room filled with darkness. It was the Progenitor's power. Having blinded the world with her supreme authority over shadows, Tyr reached out with both arms toward my empty hand.
In the darkness, I reacted to the stimulus.
"...Who's there?"
"Shh. It's me."
"Tyr?"
"Yes. It's Tyr. Stay still for a moment."
After quieting me down, Tyr carefully began to pull my hand toward her chest.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The closer my hand got, the more fiercely Tyr's heart pounded. There were probably several reasons for this: her body remembering the electric massage, and the card embedded in her heart reacting.
In any case, to Tyr, my hand was like a magnet, a stove, or perhaps a drug.
Which is to say, it was something that couldn't be adequately described by the shallow history of humankind.
From a thump, to a thud, to a boom.
The small ripple disturbing the water's surface soon became the sound of a drumbeat that reverberated through her entire body. The pulsation was so strong that the vibration even reached my hand.
As Tyr savored this proof of life she had regained, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
"If just being this close causes this, what if it were to touch just a little closer..."
It was already almost touching, what more could she mean? How could it get any closer?
Ah.
A dangerous glint flashed in Tyr's eyes.
"Stay still, Hu."
My egoless self at the time, though slightly wary, nodded. Tyr, after checking her surroundings one more time, placed a finger on her chest and drew it downwards.
Ah, wait a minute. Surely not.
Tyr's finger parted the skin of her chest, revealing what was inside.
Even with a beating heart, her Bloodcraft was still potent. Though it took more effort than before, even when her chest was split open, Tyr's blood didn't spill out, but merely circulated within her.
And into that wide-open chest, my hand drew closer to Tyr's heart...
"Hah..."
Around that point, I stopped reading her thoughts.
Normally, when you read a major figure's weakness... you're supposed to think about how to use it to extort something from them...
For the first time in my life, I decided to bury this colossal secret deep within my heart.
Because some secrets are better left unrevealed to the world.
*
'He's not from the Military State. That means the warden who caused Tantalus's fall and him are two different people! Tch, how confusing!'
A gloomy thought flowed out from the dark room.
'Right. No matter how powerful the Military State is, there's no way they could corrupt Azzy and Tyrkanzyaka like that. They're extreme control freaks. They'd sooner use it as blackmail than let them run rampant outside. That's not the Military State's way. It's not what they want.'
She tilted the blade of Chun-aeng. Sparks flew from empty space as dimension scraped against dimension.
Chun-aeng was a sword without thickness. Therefore, it was infinitely sharp and could cut anything in existence... or so they say, but that wasn't entirely true. A biting wind can sometimes chill you to the bone, but that doesn't make it the sharpest spear in the world.
'The fundamental cause of the corruption was him... To be precise, the Military State killed him, and the others went berserk.'
If the user's skill was lacking, if they couldn't hold the sword's form together with Qi, Chun-aeng would become nothing more than a hilt.
Conversely, if the user's skill was sufficient, it was the most powerful sword in the world.
The Regressor sharpened her blade in the darkness-shrouded space. The edge returned to the blade, which had been gradually worn down.
Sharpening her mind along with her sword in the dark, Shei repeated her thoughts.
'...A common laborer is completely unexpected. I thought he was a prisoner impersonating the warden. But just a laborer? Or is this, too, a deception...? One that could even fool the Military State's administration? Or did he switch places with a laborer named Hughes?'
It was a shame her conclusion was off the mark, but for the Regressor, it was a sufficiently interesting topic.
'His identity and purpose are still unknown... I still don't know what he plans to do by charming Azzy and Tyrkanzyaka.'
The sharpening was complete. The Regressor swung Chun-aeng through the air once. The sword that could slip through even the cracks in the wind was silent in the darkness.
'But it's okay. I still can't trust him, but at least I know his death is the trigger for the tragedy. From now on, I just need to focus on keeping him alive.'
Click. The scales tip. A small, yet irreversible, shift.
The judgment made in a single girl's heart was trivial, yet at the same time, incomparably heavy.
For in all futures that would ever exist, a certain being had just secured his life.
'I've made progress. Now.'
It was enough to have taken one step further than before.
It was enough to have learned one more thing than before.
In any case, what awaited the Regressor was a path of suffering, one where she could die dozens more times and still never reach her goal.
The Regressor smiled, filled with a sense of accomplishment, and gripped Chun-aeng tightly in one hand.
'Now I can die as much as I want.'