WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 422

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Elder, Ain, Yeiling, and Human - Conclusion

When a murder suspect's identity comes to light, the usual response is denial. That's only natural. Killing has been taboo in every country, every civilization that has ever existed, and even before civilization it was never something widely encouraged. Any human who goes around proudly boasting about having killed someone is, if you look closely enough, missing a few screws.

Valdamir's response, by contrast, was cold. He neither denied it nor admitted it. He simply asked for grounds.

"Evidence?"

"I looked and couldn't find any. It's nothing more than a hunch."

"Even as the Progenitor's favored consort, you cannot pin a crime on someone based on a hunch."

"But think about it. No matter how talented a Yeling might be, how would a mere Yeling kill an Elder? It's impossible. Set aside what you want to see and consider only what's actually possible."

An Elder did the killing. To account for every question in this case, there was no other conclusion.

But among the Elders, was there anyone interested enough in others to kill a fellow Elder? They all kept to their own territories and left the rest alone, unconcerned with anything beyond their own borders.

Only one. Only Crimson Duke Valdamir, who held dominion over the entire Duchy. The others likely didn't even know what each other was doing. Vampires were simply too far apart from one another to kill out of grudge.

"In this Duchy, is there an Elder who could kill another Elder while keeping it hidden from your eyes? Is there a vampire who knows as much about each Elder's powers and thralls as you do? You are the only one who keeps track of every vampire in the Duchy. Only you could have killed Luscinia and passed his true blood to Lir."

"Meaning there is no evidence that I did it."

"Anyone who could bring evidence of a murder committed ten years ago would have to be either the killer themselves or the Holy Maiden. I've simply laid out the most plausible scenario."

And then there's me, a mind reader. Ten years buries everything. Valdamir was no fool, he wouldn't have left behind evidence or witnesses.

It lived entirely in the realm of conviction. And in that realm, evidence was no longer necessary. The Crimson Duke admitted it cleanly.

"Correct. I killed him."

"You admit it quite readily."

"Outside this room I will deny it. There is no evidence, so nothing can be proven."

"What if Tyr ordered you to tell the truth?"

Refusing would be disloyalty. Accepting would be confession. A loyalty test. Caught in that trap, Valdamir answered without any particular deliberation.

"I have not been ordered yet."

Meaning hypotheticals don't matter. I liked that.

There was no point pressing further. The truth had only been available to hear because there was no evidence. Nothing would remain from this conversation. The only thing worth taking from it was confirmation of each other's intentions.

"Aren't you grateful to me? I severed the blood shackle."

When I asked whether this wasn't what he had wanted, the Crimson Duke answered with indifference.

"It wasn't the method I had anticipated. I don't know what variables this might set loose, so I'll withhold judgment. And you, aren't you anxious? If the Progenitor has lost her hold over others, your position as her consort becomes uncertain."

"Being the King of Humanity doesn't leave much room for that. And isn't that just what it means to be a consort? A position that can vanish easily with a change of heart."

"Pragmatic."

"Like you."

Valdamir and I looked at each other and smiled like mirrors of the same expression. He was a vampire, so that smile was manufactured. Was mine any more natural? No, not really. We were both putting one on.

Valdamir asked, "What is it you want?"

"I want all of you to want things. I don't want those desires to disappear simply because you are thralls."

"I suppose that includes me."

"Yes. You are human too. My subjects, in a way. Now go on, show what you intend. Every Elder in this country has shed the shackle."

He would act on it regardless of what I said. The Crimson Duke had too much left to do. He studied me steadily and asked, "Only the Elders have broken free of the Progenitor's influence. The Ain and the Yelings still remain."

"Yes. For now."

I answered with a smile, and Valdamir exhaled a short sound, somewhere between admiration and resignation.

For now meant it would come to pass someday.

"As I thought...."

Without a trace of performance, Valdamir spoke in earnest.

"You are dangerous."

"But this is what you wanted too, isn't it? You need me."

Silence is agreement. Valdamir said nothing.

Each other's intentions had been confirmed well enough. What had been said here would disappear, like Luscinia's death, swallowed by ten years of time.

I rose from my seat and left one parting word, just in case.

"Leave Count Erte alone. I'm curious to see how he behaves after the shackle is cut."

"I'll assign him as your personal attendant. Erte, you are to follow his commands."

"Yes, my lord."

I say spare him, and he says check for yourself whether he lives? I hadn't expected that.

"You're having him watch me, aren't you."

"Kill him if you dislike it."

He said it as though losing a loyal and capable subordinate cost him nothing.

Outmaneuvered. Well, having an attendant was better than someone insisting on escorting me somewhere every single day.

I stood. Count Erte, following Valdamir's orders, fell into step behind me. As I moved toward the exit, Valdamir's belated farewell reached me.

"Welcome to the Duchy, King of Humanity. Your existence is a poison, but... to move a stopped heart, even poison has its uses."

Same to you. I'm dangerous too.

He resembled me. We each understood to the bone that we were dangerous to each other. But because we were moving in the same direction, we tolerated that danger and let each other be.

I walked out of the alley into a dim street. I was a well-known figure in the Duchy, but the fog-draped roads hid me well enough. Even a light pace was enough to make my clothes grow faintly damp, and in that mist I let my thoughts roam.

Tyr's power was something extremely close to that of a Demon God. Even in the old days, the Sanctum had called her the seed of a Demon God the moment they encountered her.

So the Sanctum had tried to cut that seed out at the root and killed Tyr, and Tyr had become a vampire and wandered the world. Her power, which had not yet reached the underlying truth of things, did not scatter into the world, instead it was held inside her blood. The truth of "blood" that Tyr knew was confined to her own body alone.

Those who have already died lose their perspective. Tyr, whose boundary between self and outside had grown blurred, who had become the phenomenon itself, gave her true blood to everyone. That was how the Elders and the vampires were born.

She had altered history alone-a course that came very close to that of a Demon God, but she fell one step short. Just one step. Her power had remained inside her blood.

If Tyr had been fully alive when she came to understand others' bodies. Not the limited existence of a vampire, but...

"Hyu?"

The main gate of the Castle of the Full Moon. Just as I was heading in, I came face to face with Tyr, returning with Cabilah in tow. Tyr had her hand on the gate when she spotted me and moved to come closer, delighted, then seemed to remember something from the previous night, her cheeks flushing just slightly, and she hesitated. Cabilah's gaze smoldered with what looked like displeasure.

She went to Cabilah for a chat? Calling her the Progenitor of vampires felt a bit much at this point. Between the two of them they'd lived twenty-three centuries and still couldn't fill a first-year calendar from the original era.

"Coming back from an outing? What a coincidence."

"Ah, well, er, yes. Hyu, right, yes. Have you eaten? Are you, are you tired?"

"Quite tired, actually. Didn't sleep well last night, and I've been out two days in a row."

"Is that so? We had better get you to bed right away."

She had probably never felt fatigue herself. When I mentioned being tired she took it seriously and started toward me. No sense of caution, even after getting her heart back. Meet the wrong man and she'd be used up and thrown out without a second thought.

Wait. Is that me?

"I suppose so... ha. Shall I rest a little."

I let my hand settle naturally on Tyr's shoulder. The sudden closeness made her flinch, and at that sight sparks flew from Cabilah's eyes.

"Don't just put your hands on unni without asking! How bold, even a consort should ask permission before touching!"

"Cabilah. Enough. I have already given Hyu leave to do so."

"Tch...!"

A ferocious glare turned on me. I gave Cabilah an almost triumphant little wave right in front of her. From her perspective, I was the conniving consort who had bewitched the entire country.

Tyr, having reined Cabilah in, gave me a mild scolding.

"You're a tease, Hyu. We haven't even set foot inside the castle yet and you're already touching me without a care. My fondness for you aside, that sort of thing waits until we've crossed the threshold."

"So once we cross the threshold, I can touch as much as I like?"

"That is not what I said!"

Tyr denied it quickly, then glanced my way and continued, just a little flustered.

"...W-well. If it is necessary, there are times when touching is called for."

"Right. We finished with yesterday's work, so we should tend to your face next."

"Let's do that inside, inside! Honestly. Making a scene in front of everyone, shameless...!"

Tyr is a special vampire. Being the Progenitor, that goes without saying, but unlike any other vampire, Tyr had staved off death through her own power alone. The homunculus's dilemma applied only to other vampires, not to her. If I, having restored Tyr's heart, went further and revived her senses as well, Tyr would gain true life, and the stopped clock would begin to move again.

If the Tyr who came back that way took one more step forward, drawing on twelve centuries of experience... she would become a Demon God.

I was going beyond simply finding Demon Gods.

I would bring back even the dead ones.

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