Volume 2, Chapter 8 – What It Means to Be a Vampire

The next morning, we dragged the immobile Alfred toward the Second Royal Knight Order’s garrison.

“Holy Knight Christina here. I’ve apprehended a scoundrel who attempted to harm Saint Fiene-sama. I request your assistance.”

“Christina-dono! I’ll summon the captain immediately! Please, come inside.”

We were promptly welcomed inside and shown to a reception room.

Then, a man who appeared to be the captain entered and saluted.

“Saint Fiene Argentata-sama! It is an honor to meet you! I am Hadley Turner, captain of the Third Northern Division of the White Moon Kingdom’s Second Royal Knight Order!”

He was a large, stern-looking man with a beard.

“Nice to meet you. I am Fiene Argentata. You may already know her, but this is Holy Knight Christina, and this is our traveling companion, Lumia.”

“Christina-dono, it has been a long time. And Lumia-dono, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Before we speak, could you prepare a separate room for Lumia? I will be discussing things that might remind her of her ordeal.”

“Yes! Understood.”

After confirming that Lu-chan had moved to another room, I began to speak.

“So, the reason I’ve come to see you is…”

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We explained the whole story.

How we had busted a slave trading operation and handed over those involved and the victims to the guard post; how Alfred had kept Lu-chan as a slave; and everything that happened at the Count’s mansion.

When we finished, Captain Hadley spoke.

“Saint-sama, I am relieved to see that you are safe. And that power of yours, to dispel an Enslavement Curse Mark… I can only say it is truly remarkable. We have currently dispatched fifty knights to the Count’s mansion, but it is likely Count Maynard himself is uninvolved. If he were involved, he would have disposed of this criminal last night.”

“I see.”

That was true. In that case, taking my eyes off him last night might have been careless.

“The investigation will take at least a week to complete. I sincerely apologize, but would you be able to stay in Illumi City until then? If there are other victims who were enslaved, there is no way to save them other than to rely on you, Saint-sama. The Order will cover all lodging expenses, and we will also assign several knights for your security.”

“Understood. I also wish to help any victims who have been branded with the curse mark, so I will gladly cooperate.”

I wanted to help people who had their wills twisted and were forced into slavery. I’d gladly cooperate with that.

That was just too tragic.

“Thank you for your assistance. Also, if you sense the same anomaly again, please, by all means, bring us with you. I believe what you sensed was the powerful Dark Mana released during the ritual used to register the master of an Enslavement Curse Mark.”

“A ritual, you say?”

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“Yes. I have heard that dripping blood onto the curse mark is an act to designate its master. To sense that from a distance and pinpoint the exact location is truly splendid. My word, Christina-dono performing the Knight’s Oath with the Holy Sword was already the talk of the Order, but you truly are someone worthy of being called Saint-sama.”

Saying this, Captain Hadley laughed heartily. And I smiled ambiguously.

◇ ◇ ◇

Thanks to the Knight Order’s arrangements, we were able to stay in a suite room at Illumi City’s finest hotel.

And now, I was gazing at the fountain in the square from the hotel room window.

“Fiene-sama, you look troubled. Is something the matter?”

Chris-san, concerned about my state, called out to me.

—Honestly, Chris-san really is…

“Last night was the first time I stabbed someone with a blade. But…”

“Were you shocked?”

“…Yes.”

“The opponent came to kill you, Fiene-sama, so defending yourself was only natural. There is no reason for you to feel guilty—”

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“That’s not it.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t feel any guilt over stabbing him. On the contrary, I even thought I wanted to drink that blood.”

Yes, I had thought I would be more shocked. Of course, I had never stabbed anyone in the real world, and while I had laid Zombies to rest in this world, I had never stabbed a person or an animal.

Yet, even though I was attacked, my reaction to stabbing a person was ‘I want to drink the flowing blood’—that was shocking in a different way.

It’s true, I chose the Vampire race myself.

But I believed I would return to being human when I went back to the real world, and that my essence was human.

Despite that, I had become aware that what I was feeling wasn’t human at all—it was the sort of impulse a Vampire would have.

What if this isn’t a game world, but I’ve actually been reincarnated into another world? What if that punishment setting I picked on a whim back then is actually coming back to bite me?

Those anxieties flashed through my mind.

“Can I really continue living as a human like this? What guarantee do I have that I won’t lose myself? Vampires are supposed to be hunted down on sight, right? Then—”

“Onee-sama! Please stop!”

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“Lu-chan?”

“Even if Onee-sama really is a Vampire, Onee-sama is still Onee-sama! The one who saved us after we were cursed and turned into slaves was Onee-sama! The one who helped me when that man attacked was Onee-sama! The one who’s always so considerate so I don’t have to remember painful things is Onee-sama! If there’s anyone who tries to hunt Onee-sama down, I’ll hunt them down! So, so…”

Lu-chan began to sob.

“Please… don’t say such sad things…”

“Lu-chan…”

I gently embraced the little sister I’d only just gained yesterday and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

She was only a little shorter than me, and as she pressed her forehead against me, her long Elf ears brushed against my chin.

“That’s right, Fiene-sama. Fiene-sama will absolutely never become like that. And even if, hypothetically, you did, I would stop you.”

Chris-san smiled gently at me.

To the two of them, I murmured softly.

Thank you.

For the first time since last night, it felt like the weight on my heart had eased, if only a little.