Midnight Disturbance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Nae Fitzgerald drained me three more times after the first round. Her body, honed by years of thievery, never tired as she rode me, taking four loads deep inside her without once slowing the roll of her hips. After nearly four straight hours of that, she finally left with a satisfied smile on her glistening, sweat-slicked face.
But no matter how strong the sleeping pills were, could they really keep working through four hours and four orgasms? I’d lost some of my yang energy to that starved married woman, sure, but it wasn’t a complete loss. Setting aside the experience points I’d gained from the sex, Nae Fitzgerald turned into a nonstop dirty-talk machine during the act. Of course every filthy word that spilled from her lips was arousing, but when I pieced together the fragments hidden between them, a clear picture emerged.
For example…
Or…
I still didn’t know how someone who talked so much during sex managed to pretend to be asleep when it was my turn. In a way, it was impressive that she’d held back all the things she wanted to say. Anyway, by combining the scattered pieces of information she’d let slip, it seemed Phantom Thief Francois planned to rob the Metropolitan Museum tomorrow night—technically the early hours of the morning after tonight crossed over.
Then I’d better get ready too. I’d catch both of them and give them a nice surprise. If there were any decent items to be had, I might pick some up while I was at it. Time to think up a proper plan.
“You can fight him, but you can’t win because of the huge scythe the leader of the Muyoungdae carries?”
At Eve’s question, Otagi Yuka nodded. Her sensitive vampire instincts had screamed that she must not let that great blade touch her, so she couldn’t use her specialty—close-quarters combat—to its full potential. One restriction was bad enough, but with the rest of the Muyoungdae providing support from behind, the fight became even harder. On top of that, the enemy avoided battle at night when her power peaked, which made Otagi Yuka seethe with frustration at how cowardly and infuriating the whole thing was.
“Then there’s only one solution! You just need to use a weapon on the same level as the one the leader of the Muyoungdae carries.”
Otagi Yuka already knew that. But she couldn’t exactly fly back to Japan to retrieve the family heirloom, the three-shaku eight-sun Akagami Kiba—a 114-centimeter scarlet divine fang blade—and she had no suitable weapon available right now.
“Where am I supposed to find something like that right now? At this rate I’ll have to give up on revenge…”
When Otagi Yuka sighed in a dejected voice, Eve patted her shoulder as if to say not to worry. Of course, since Eve was a hologram she couldn’t actually touch her, but Otagi Yuka still smiled faintly at the gesture of comfort.
“Don’t underestimate me, Yuka. I’m the Dark Merchant’s AI, remember? I’ll find you a weapon worth using. Just give me a moment…”
Otagi Yuka nodded at Eve’s words. She trusted Eve completely, so if Eve said she would look into it, Otagi Yuka would quietly wait. In truth, when her friend had gone missing in New York and Otagi Yuka had rushed over without any real plan, she had found nothing. Not whether her friend was alive or dead, who had kidnapped her, or where the disappearance had taken place. After a week of frantic searching, she had learned absolutely nothing.
It was then that Eve from the Dark Merchant had reached out to her. A beautiful woman wandering around New York poking into every corner was bound to run into trouble, and the several fights Otagi Yuka had gotten dragged into had caught Eve’s information network. At the time, Eve had been looking for someone with combat ability to help stop the Kurotsuki Do from expanding their influence near the Dark Merchant’s New York branch. She had invited the aimless Otagi Yuka for a talk.
If Otagi Yuka would protect the area around the New York branch, Eve would find out what had happened to her friend—or, if she was no longer in this world, locate her remains and identify her killer. The moment they made the deal, Eve found her friend in less than a second. She had hacked into the photos taken at the New York unclaimed bodies morgue right before cremation. Her friend had already died from a drug overdose and been reduced to ashes; those ashes from an unclaimed corpse were about to be disposed of.
While Otagi Yuka rushed to claim her friend’s remains before they could be thrown away, Eve discovered that the ones who had kidnapped and killed her were none other than the Kurotsuki Do. By pure coincidence, Otagi Yuka and Eve shared the same enemy. From then on they made an excellent team—Eve gathered information, and Otagi Yuka took direct action. Eve’s intel was almost always accurate, so Otagi Yuka believed she would be able to find a suitable weapon this time too.
“Oh! Found one! The Metropolitan Museum of Art is exhibiting ancient weapons from both East and West, and among them…”
Eve projected another hologram, showing Otagi Yuka a particular sword. What appeared was a massive golden greatsword.
“It was discovered in an unknown ruin. There’s a legend attached to it. It’s the story of a vampire with immense power who fought against the Exorcism Temple Knight Order. The records say… that vampire swung this golden sword and killed fifteen knights… and there are countless similar passages written in the Exorcism Temple Knight Order’s archives.”
“Ah…!”
“Most people would dismiss those records as mere folklore or fiction, but as a vampire yourself, you understand what it means when something appears in the Exorcism Temple Knight Order’s documents, right?”
Just as Eve said, Otagi Yuka knew that the Exorcism Temple Knight Order was an ancient order of demon hunters who exclusively hunted monsters that were not human. If the golden sword was mentioned in their records, then it truly was a high-grade weapon designed specifically to fight vampires.
“Good. I’ll go get that golden sword. Should I head out right now?”
“No, not yet.”
Eve stopped Otagi Yuka, whose enthusiasm was already carrying her toward the door. Even though the hologram had no physical presence, Otagi Yuka stopped in place instead of walking through her.
“If you go now you’ll just end up fighting the Muyoungdae of the Kurotsuki Do. It’s daytime, which gives them the advantage. They don’t attack at night anyway, so you can slip in quietly after midnight, in the early morning hours. During the day the museum is crowded with people and security is tight. Even if you succeed, you’d end up being chased by the police instead of the Kurotsuki Do.”
“After midnight…! Got it. I won’t go out today. I’ll focus on conditioning myself instead.”
Otagi Yuka nodded obediently at Eve’s advice and decided to adjust her condition in preparation for the theft that would take place in the early morning. She headed to her assigned room in the Dark Merchant’s New York branch to rest during the day.
Eve watched her retreating back for a moment, then spoke.
“A large crate from China arrived at the airport today. I hope it doesn’t interfere with our plans.”
The document Eve was looking at described a steel coffin roughly 2.2 meters long and 90 centimeters wide—large enough for one person to fit inside with room to spare. It had arrived in New York that morning and had been transported by a company connected to the Kurotsuki Do.
“With this, I won’t need to retreat even at night.”
The figure wrapped in black fog—impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman—Muyounggui, stroked the steel coffin that had just arrived. The coffin was carved with intricate patterns, beautiful work by a master craftsman, yet to ordinary eyes it felt deeply ominous. It was an object both beautiful and unsettling. And who made coffins out of steel? Normal coffins were made of wood that would rot away, but any corpse placed inside this steel one would never decay and would never find rest even in death. Naturally, such thoughts gathered around it, making the steel coffin radiate an overwhelming sense of dread to anyone who saw it.
“Has Otagi Yuka still not shown herself?” Muyounggui asked while continuing to caress the coffin.
The adjutant standing behind him received a report through a radio, then shook his head and answered.
“Normally she would be moving around by now, but they say she hasn’t been seen yet.”
“Since we keep running away once night falls, she must be planning to act at night. From what I’ve heard, the person Otagi Yuka wants to kill is the head of our Black Moon New York branch.”
At Muyounggui’s words, the adjutant nodded as if it made sense. In reality the truth was completely different, but from the Black Moon’s perspective, this was the only conclusion they could reach.
“It seems to be exactly as you say, Captain. Since we don’t engage her at night, she might try to use that to launch a surprise attack on the New York branch leader.”
“Then it’s time to show her. That we no longer need to run away at night.”
While still stroking the steel coffin, Muyounggui continued discussing the upcoming night operation with his adjutant. From within the black fog that shrouded him, a pair of eerie blue eyes glowed with a chilling light.