WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 433: Heaven-Defying Trial - 3

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"The blood bond is a power that exerts absolute control over lower vampires. Because a blood master directly controls a thrall's blood, it strips away both the ability and the will to rebel. A thrall can never betray their blood master. However..."

Murmurs spread through the hall.

A few vampires looked to Tyr, wondering whether she should silence Lir even now. Tyr, however, listened without stopping her. With the Progenitor's tacit permission, Lir continued.

"Father wanted Mother to rebel, break the blood bond, and stand on her own. Only then could he taste Mother's blood again as a connoisseur. He made Mother into an Ain, had me, who shared her blood, made into a Yeiling, then gave me blood again and made me an Ain. He twisted the bonds and tangled the hierarchy in an attempt to defy heaven. Not only that, he forced us to attempt it as well."

A bond being severed from above was shocking, but understandable enough. It made sense that the one who imposed it could remove it.

But for a thrall bound by the blood bond to break free on their own was unacceptable. They had thralls of their own, and a thrall defying heaven meant their own limbs running wild. No one would be happy to find their hands and feet moving of their own accord.

The vampires looked at Lir with icy eyes.

"...In the end, it became the noose around Father's neck. Father did prove his ability. He was annihilated by my hand."

Perhaps she had read the mood in the hall, because Lir did not mention the method.

Was that really a wise choice? Hadn't she considered that the vampires would become even more determined to kill her before the method could spread?

Or did she simply not care whether she lived or died?

Her words had felt strange from the start. I thought she was pleading to survive, but all she had done was lay out every one of her father's crimes in court. Even an Elder's scandal was still a scandal. Lir's goal was to tarnish the reputation of someone already annihilated.

That woman was subtly twisted. She cared deeply about the lives and deaths of others, yet remained detached from her own. Even now, I couldn't feel any fear of death from her.

"If I am a criminal who dared to defy heaven, then Father, who made Mother and me defy heaven, is a criminal as well!"

Silence.

Only stillness filled the hall. Having delivered her lengthy speech, Lir waited for the Progenitor's response without an expression, as befitted a vampire.

It was a truly unexpected revelation, and every vampire had been shaken by the scandal... but the outcome did not change.

"So you're saying you did kill Luscinia."

"That is correct."

"This trial is meant to uncover the truth behind an Elder's murder. Whatever circumstances you may have had are unimportant. Your circumstances do not erase the result."

Like the Progenitor she was, Tyr did not dwell on a minor scandal. Even if her heart had begun to beat again and her senses had returned, the years she had lived and the experience she had gained had not vanished. Tyr knew better than anyone that if she concerned herself with every little circumstance, she would never be able to make a judgment.

The crime was clear. Tyr pronounced her verdict in a low, solemn voice that everyone could hear.

"Nothing has changed. I shall pronounce sentence upon the criminal, Lir Nightingale..."

"I object."

The voice came from nearby. Tyr whirled around as if caught by surprise. Before her stood... me, with one hand thrust forward.

"Hyu?"

"Tyr. Things have changed."

"What has changed?"

"That statement. If everything she said is true... this trial is overturned at its foundation."

I descended from the platform and stopped in front of the defendant. Looking up at Tyr, I asked, "Your Honor. According to Lir Nightingale's claim, Elder Luscinia also attempted to break free of the blood bond. Is there no room for mitigation there?"

Tyr was a little flustered, but she calmly played along.

"Even so, nothing changes. Only I may judge an Elder. Whatever crimes Luscinia committed, Lir cannot escape punishment after killing an Elder on her own. That is aside from the fact that we cannot establish the crimes of a dead Luscinia in the first place."

"Only the Progenitor may judge an Elder? Then what about an Elder? Can one Elder not judge another Elder?"

As I spoke, I glanced at Valdamir. He was a vampire too. He did not show the slightest sign of being shaken by my words. Though judging by how intently he watched my every move, he was paying close attention.

"Of course not. Even an Elder cannot kill another Elder."

Then what about this? The truth hidden between the two culprits?

"What if it wasn't another Elder?"

"...What?"

To vampires, a thrall was like their own limbs. Defying heaven meant those limbs moving on their own and strangling their master.

"All of you know that a thrall cannot defy their blood master. That is why what Lir did is so astonishing and difficult to believe."

But hands and feet were part of oneself. If a thrall, whose body and mind were controlled through shared blood, moved and killed their master...

"What if she hadn't defied him?"

We called that suicide.

"What if Elder Luscinia's death was something Luscinia planned? What then?"

Unfamiliar murmurs rose around us. Even vampires with cold hearts could not remain silent in the face of my statement. The hall was in an uproar, and the thoughts inside their heads were several times louder.

The trial, expected to end with no evidence, distorted memories, and a verdict guided by the prevailing opinion, was taking a turn no one had anticipated. Unrestrained shouts erupted from every direction, mostly from bloodlines that had lost an Elder.

"That is absurd!"

The Ain whom Valdamir had made put on that detachable upper-and-lower-body show shouted. She flared the feathers implanted in her body and puffed herself up before approaching me with an imposing air. Smiling, I welcomed my opponent.

"Oh, the opposing side has stepped forward. Are you my opponent?"

"A vampire committing suicide? How can you even say such a thing?"

"Since you're a vampire, you may not know this, but there are quite a few people in the world who attempt suicide or something close to it."

"Only weak and foolish humans would do that. Duke Luscinia would never do such a thing! Powerful and cruel Duke Luscinia choosing annihilation?"

"Well, it isn't only weak and foolish humans. Some climb dizzying cliffs with their bare hands, challenge opponents they cannot defeat to duels, or charge alone into the middle of an enemy army. Those who wish to test their limits throw themselves into danger."

An insane Elder who implanted feathers into his thralls, gave them double elbow joints, and attached membranes so they could fly like bats would not hesitate to tangle the blood bond as well.

"From what I've heard, the late Duke Luscinia was quite adventurous. What do you think? Was the Duke Luscinia you knew someone who might attempt something like that?"

"Hmph. It is only speculation. There is no evidence anywhere."

A vampire was still a vampire. She did not get swept up in my words and accurately pointed out their weakness.

"What the favored consort is suggesting is only a possibility. As you said, there would be nothing strange about Duke Luscinia doing anything. It is plainly true that such a possibility exists for that person... but."

The Ain pointed a finger at Lir.

"Lir Nightingale. If she is the culprit, we need not even consider possibilities. She had a motive, she made an attempt, and she truly took Duke Luscinia's true blood. She even confessed to her crime! It is beyond doubt that she did it."

The listening vampires nodded. I heard comments like, "That's right," and, "It's obvious," joining in. Backed by the audience, the Ain bowed toward the Progenitor.

"Forgive my presumption, but I question the favored consort's intentions in muddying the issue. I ask that the Progenitor render a clear judgment."

"Hmm..."

'I feel sorry for Hyu, but they aren't wrong. A judgment cannot be overturned simply by presenting a possibility. If he wanted to save that child so badly, he should have told me beforehand. I could have spoken to Valdamir and Cabilah to have her declared innocent.'

Huh? If I had told her beforehand, Lir would have simply been acquitted? That idea was so novel it had never even occurred to me. The Progenitor could do that.

Don't worry. I hadn't volunteered to defend Lir to save her. I did it to learn the truth.

The truth mattered. Curiosity could not be satisfied with lies.

"Motive. Attempt. Evidence. You said the defendant has all three."

The Ain's three grounds were reasonable. If this were a military state court, they would have delivered a guilty verdict even setting aside the fact that convictions were considered achievements.

But this was the Duchy, a nation of vampires.

"I will refute those grounds on the question of capability."

"Capability?"

"Yes. Whether Lir was capable of any of it."

In this country, where a thrall could neither defy a blood master nor even think of doing so, where absolute control was exercised...

"Lir Nightingale herself could not have intended to betray her blood master, attempted such a thing, or succeeded in taking true blood. All of it would have been impossible."

Footnotes:

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