WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Chapter 136: Converted Vampires
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The Senior Pastor's office at Gangnam Holy Temple Church.
Pastor Park looked exhausted when I saw him after he finished preaching at Friday service.
"You were supposed to catch a few vampires and draw some blood. You brought back the whole lot?"
"It just happened."
"It just happened that you took over an entire clan?"
When Pastor Park glared at the Dake Clan survivors, the vampires flinched.
Apparently, Pastor Park's reputation was known even among vampires.
Someone muttered, "Mad Preacher..." under their breath, then met Pastor Park's fierce glare and flinched.
"But when they entered the sanctuary, there was no real problem... Actually, there is."
Pastor Park's gaze turned toward several vampires.
They were all sweating coldly, but a few looked like they were struggling to breathe.
"Well, evil spirits and demons cannot enter a sanctuary, but it doesn't seem to reject everyone who is merely evil."
Normally, an evil spirit or demon would be crushed flat and burst apart the moment it entered a sanctuary.
Yokai, on the other hand, seemed to be affected retroactively. They instinctively felt reluctant to approach, but they did not explode and die on the spot.
They avoided coming near it at all because of that instinctive rejection, so it was clean enough.
"Some of them did show a rejection when entering the sanctuary."
The moment they entered, an unspoken pressure descended from the sky.
Pastor Go and I were fine. The vampires had felt it, but this was the first time I had seen living beings, rather than demons or evil spirits, receive that kind of pressure.
"Eek! W-What is happening?!"
"Uh, you're fine! Calm down! I figured some of you might have a hard time entering a sanctuary!"
Tsk. The particularly foul-smelling vampires among the ones I had felt uncertain about were gasping for breath.
"Are they okay? They look like they're about to die."
"Hmm... I suppose it will be difficult for them to live normally inside the sanctuary like this."
They all seemed to be struggling under the sanctuary's pressure, though to different degrees.
"If we let them outside, though? Ah, they're enthralled, so they will only listen to Yohan anyway. They will be fine, right?"
I had told Pastor Park about Beleth's Power of Love.
It was certainly powerful magic that made anyone who met my eyes love me, but...
"I released it."
"Hm? Why?"
"Maintaining it outside a sanctuary wastes spiritual power, and more than that... I didn't like how it seemed to forcibly mess with people's hearts."
I had seen Paimon dominate everyone with Paimon's authority.
Kohaku and Mountain Lord had apologized afterward, but it was not really their fault.
Could it really be right to make someone ignore their own feelings and thoughts, then force them to act through another's command?
They had been plotting a nasty conspiracy, so I had stopped it. But did I have to keep doing that in the future?
"It felt questionable, so I released it for now."
"What if they escape and cause trouble?"
"Then I'll take responsibility."
"Ha ha."
Pastor Park smiled broadly.
"Yohan, you would make a fine clergyman."
"Do you think so? What would you have done, Pastor?"
"Well, I won't know until I am the one who has to decide."
Pastor Park looked at the vampires and shrugged.
"If you people spent your lives playing aristocrat in the West, you know Latin, right? Kneel."
When Pastor Park spoke in Latin, the vampires who understood glanced at me before slowly kneeling.
Pastor Park took holy water from a drawer and opened it.
"You have lived by blood and sinned through blood. Do you acknowledge those sins?"
"I-I do."
"Like hell you do. I can see you are thinking, 'What can I do when this is my nature?'"
"N-No, sir."
"But it does not matter."
Pastor Park dipped his finger in the holy water and touched it to a vampire's forehead.
"No one can proclaim that your sins have been forgiven. Whatever you become from this point on, what defines you is not your nature, but your actions."
"..."
"I will not tell you to make some grand apology or sacrifice. Carry coal briquettes and share them with your neighbors. Sweat while serving food onto meal trays."
"..."
"I sincerely hope you gain the humanity to help others and smile. I will pray that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit remain with you."
With those final words, Pastor Park took out a bottle of holy oil and poured it over the vampires' heads.
"Today, I have anointed you in Christ's name. Even if you are prodigal children who have strayed from the path, I will gladly welcome you. Christ will gladly welcome this as well."
"Amen."
I added the last word.
The anointed vampires seemed to breathe far more easily than before.
"But Yohan, what do you mean by taking responsibility?"
"It's simple."
I had brought them here, so the vampires were my responsibility now.
If they left the sanctuary and caused trouble?
"I'll hunt them down and kill them, even if I have to chase them to the ends of Hell."
Hic!
That was how I took responsibility.
* * *
Even after we decided to relocate the vampires, there were still problems.
First, their housing.
They needed to live near my house, but property prices around here were no joke.
"You have money, right?"
"Y-Yes... Some of the clan's funds remain."
The Dake Clan had more assets than I expected.
That was despite how much money they seemed to have poured into this conspiracy.
"Vampires are rich."
"Uh... yes. It is easy to become wealthy when you can just buy land and leave it alone."
Well, if you had been an immortal since the fifteenth century and still looked like a beggar in modern times, you might as well walk into the sunlight and kill yourself.
They could probably live lavishly just by digging up a few antiques they had buried somewhere.
"Fine. For now, I'll buy a multi-family house and use it as your lodging. Once you sort out your cash, move into nearby apartments or villas."
They would probably need to launder some money under the immigrants' names first.
As for visas... I would need to ask the Mystic Association.
"What about food?"
"Ah, we can handle that ourselves."
"How? Are you going to eat people?"
"N-No! We do not often hunt directly!"
The vampires shook their heads in horror.
Apparently, modern vampire clans received a stable blood supply through hospital foundations.
That was why almost every vampire clan owned at least one hospital.
These guys were seriously rich.
"Korean blood won't work?"
"Th-That is because of the garlic..."
"Ah."
I had wondered whether they could get blood from local Korean hospitals, but apparently not.
"Wouldn't it be difficult to bring in blood one shipment at a time from hospital foundations in Europe?"
"If the cold chain is never broken... it remains drinkable for up to a month."
So that was why vampires generally avoided going abroad.
"Have it delivered to Serbia in Eastern Europe. Once it gets there, I can fetch it quickly and use Spatial Leap to get it here right away."
"O-Oh... Th-Thank you very much."
When I brought the vampires in, we had used Spatial Leap through the Serbian sanctuary, so there was no need to transport the blood by plane.
With their food, clothing, and housing sorted out, I expected the Dake Clan vampires to manage on their own.
Officially, they would have to disguise themselves as European young people who came to Korea on work visas and commute to work, though.
A few evenings later.
Outside was noisy while everyone else was asleep.
"What? What's going on... Hm?"
Outside the house, ghosts were lined up with their faces to the ground.
I dismissed the ghosts in the evenings because of work, so why were they gathered here?
Looking closer, they were not ghosts.
They were vampires lying prostrate on the ground.
I recognized them immediately because they were Westerners.
"First, His Majesty Yohan! Second, banzai! First!"
"His Majesty Yohan!"
"Two!"
"Banzai!!"
What was this? Why was Kohaku putting the vampires through punitive drills?
Kohaku was not alone.
Eight-Foot Sister stood there holding Benkei's Iron Staff against the ground, keeping them in line, while Mountain Lord smoked a long pipe as he watched.
Even Jinju was letting out Caw! cries as it pecked vampires who were not doing their drills properly.
"Gari, can you explain this situation?"
Clack?
"Right. What kind of explanation was I expecting from you?"
As I watched, Kohaku strutted between the vampires and continued the drills.
"You lot survived only through my lord's grace, and what? You skipped Friday service? You have no sense!"
"S-Senior Kohaku! Our master does not even attend Friday service..."
"Hey! You little brats! Mountain Lord! You explain it!"
Mountain Lord flicked his pipe. Tap, tap. Then he went on in a bored tone.
"My lord has been born and raised in the church since before he was even born. To follow someone like him, converts like us must attend Sunday services, Wednesday and Friday services, and dawn prayer meetings without missing a single one, should we not?"
"B-But..."
"But what? You brats really have no sense!"
Kohaku smacked one vampire on the crown of the head while they were doing drills.
Even with a tiny fox scolding them one-sidedly, the vampires did not dare raise their heads.
Kohaku, now looking triumphant, continued.
"My lord is a devout man who has attended dawn prayer meetings, Holy Spirit revival rallies, church-plant revival meetings, and even completed three Thousand Burnt Offerings, praying and giving an offering every day for a thousand days since childhood! Kirishitan Shogun... No! He is His Majesty Kirishitan Tennō, whom God Himself chose and raised as king!"
"No, what kind of grotesque title is that..."
"What should we, the retainers of such a man, do? Should we not attend Sunday service, Wednesday and Friday weekday services, and dawn prayer meetings without fail?"
"H-How many times a week are you telling us to go to church?"
"You brats have no sense! What, are you saying, 'Can't we make up Sunday service by watching HyuTube live?' Huh?! Even twice a day is not enough for you lot!"
Kohaku climbed onto one vampire's back and spoke with a haughty expression.
"I, Kohaku, as the right-hand retainer of His Majesty Kirishitan Tennō Yohan, have been entrusted with managing you. Until you become faithful Kirishitans, I will hold prayer meetings!"
I had never given her that authority.
"B-But how far are we supposed to go?"
"Well, first... you need to show proof of your faith."
"Proof of faith?"
The vampires looked puzzled, and Kohaku made a gesture with her fingers as if they were hopeless.
"Give donations properly at every service! Starting today, you will also begin the Thousand Burnt Offering that King Solomon supposedly did! You have a lot of offerings you have not paid yet, do you not?"
"What does that even..."
"Hey! What is wrong with you dense idiots? You Europeans with big noses do not even know that? Tithes! Tithes! Pay every last bit you have not paid so far!"
One of the vampires objected.
"Th-That was a means of supporting the Levites, who handled sacrificial duties in Judaism, not something meant to be used for church operating costs..."
"Hey! If I say pay, you pay! Why are you talking so much? I am sure it will be used somewhere good! Why are you not paying tithes when even my lord pays them?"
Well, I had plenty to say about tithes too.
Still, I paid them.
Pastor Park had said the same thing.
Pay tithes if you want, do not if you do not. But if you have a lot of money, just pay them. We will use them somewhere good.
So I paid them.
I had not used to, but I had so much money lately that it was not much of a burden.
"Also, pay building fund offerings. Would it not look nice to build a few churches in this sanctuary?"
"But Korea already has more than enough churches..."
"You people have plenty of money. Try giving only a thousand yen in donations, and I will smash you to pieces."
"..."
I turned to Gari as I watched.
Was this really okay?
Clack?
Yeah. It would probably be fine.
Not long after, Kohaku brought me a heavy offering envelope she said she had collected from the vampires.
I looked at the amount...
Hmm.
Should I keep taking these in the future?
* * *
There was still plenty to do after the vampires relocated, but the highest priority was stable production of vampire elixir.
After getting some real field experience in Europe, I had realized that vampire elixir was definitely useful in close combat.
I did not prefer close combat, but vampire elixir increased regeneration too. It was worth keeping around as insurance, just in case.
"We can produce intermediate and lower-grade elixir steadily. We can make enough high-grade elixir for a few people. There will be more than enough for you, Yohan."
"What about you pastors?"
"Pastor Park only uses it for treatment, and as for me... It is nice to have."
The remaining production would be used by Holy Temple Church's exorcists.
They had suffered a lot as ordinary flesh-and-blood humans, so they seemed pleased.
"The vampires do not have anything to do besides give blood. Why not put them to work as exorcists too?"
"They are not experts in this field, and they have no faith, so we cannot use them for exorcisms. Still, they should be good at hunting yokai."
"I hear they have been going to church diligently lately. Let's raise them well. Who knows? We might get a Christian vampire exorcist."
"Pastor Park seems positive about it. Apparently, there is a precedent."
A precedent?
Who besides me had considered turning vampires into clergymen and bringing them along?
"Oh, and Yohan. How much money have you saved?"
Pastor Go suddenly asked about my savings.
It was an unexpected question, but I answered honestly.
"I have not counted exactly, but probably a little over 300 billion won?"
Europe had given me a huge reward too, while Russia... when I said I would not meet the president, they quietly decided there would be no compensation after all.
Cheap Russki bastards.
"Really? Then Pastor Park wants to do some real estate shopping."
"Can real estate and shopping even belong in the same phrase?"
"When you have money, what is impossible?"
Still, it could not really be for speculation.
The reason Pastor Park had brought it up was probably...
"A new sanctuary, right?"
"Big enough to cover all of Seoul."
It was about time we expanded Korea's sanctuary too.
Footnotes:
The Thousand Burnt Offering is a Korean Protestant devotional practice inspired by Solomon, involving a long series of offerings and prayers. Kohaku's claims about Yohan are intentionally extreme.
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