AFTERWORD

Writing this novel has been a long-cherished dream.

Ever since the Vampire Hunter D series began, I have yearned to depict D’s world from the perspective of the Noble vampire.

It was only natural, given how the world was created not by humanity, or by D, but by vampires.

In this world, humans are less than slaves—nothing more than livestock in the eyes of the Nobility. Noble vampires, on the other hand, are superior beings. In which case, the protagonist had to be a cold-blooded and arrogant SOB who doesn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for the lowly humans. “Ordinary” humans and “ordinary” vampires are not the stuff of heroes in my book.

This explains why, as I penned this story, Greylancer grew more arrogant toward his Noble compatriots. In fact, he draws a clear line between himself and his brethren, holding only the Sacred Ancestor in veneration. As for the rest of the Nobility, he regards them as nothing more than scum, regardless of rank, profession, intellect, or character.

As much as Greylancer, a military man, is forced to keep his destructive self-righteousness in check, he still manages to inspire fear in those around him. He might explode at any moment. Perhaps the only reason keeping Greylancer at his position as Frontier overseer is that he is always in the thick of the action.

The world is teeming with anti-Nobility groups, Noble haters, beasts and monsters roaming the Frontier, thieves and bandits. No friends or allies. To Greylancer, humans and Nobles alike are all enemies to be slaughtered.

Does that not make him a crazed murderer? Close, but not exactly. In fact, his compatriots hold him in awe, according him the appellation Noble Greylancer because he stoically refuses to allow others to rival him. This is manifested in his sense of duty as overseer to his subjects.

He is bound to protect the human weaklings.

It is Greylancer’s responsibility to defend humanity—beings that a vampire might typically trample on, tear to shreds, and feed upon—from the clutches of monsters, villainous humans, and wayward Nobles. In other words, Greylancer must protect humanity from himself.

Tragedy or comedy?

It doesn’t matter which. Either suits Greylancer just fine.

As Greylancer kills, feeds upon humans, turns savior, feels anger, laughs and cries, I believe readers experience his journey along with him. That is the kind of character the Noble Greylancer is.

—Hideyuki Kikuchi
December 2010,
while watching Dracula (1958)