Chapter 52

"Return to the Duchy of Germania and make contact with Ergo, disguised as the Führer."

Killing the king of the Holy Kingdom was an easy task, so I did it. It wasn't technically an assassination, but that's how it would appear to the world.

At the same time, the shock of discovering the identity of the assassin and the truth is just beginning.

"Soon there will be war between the Holy Kingdom and the Duchy."

I said.

"And in that war, you, as the Abandoned Holy Maiden, will stand against them in the uniform of the Duchy's Imperial Guard."

"─Yes, my lord."

Holy Maiden Jeanne replied. She wore the black uniform of the Black Snake, stained with blood and lovingly caressed the slave imprint on her body.

"Whatever you command me to do, I will do it with my life."

There was no longer any hesitation in her voice.

"Even if it means picking a star in the sky-."

A puppet, questioning nothing and blindly obeying.

"Why."

So it was up to me, and no one else, to question Jeanne's loyalty.

"Why would you do that?"

The contradiction of questioning the subject I had brought her to this point with my own hands, and yet she stood before me, obedient.

Jeanne giggled at the contradiction.

"Hoo-hoo, what a silly question."

After giggling, she answered.

"Because I have no reason not to be loyal."

Abandoned by her goddess, abandoned by her country, abandoned by her king.

"...."

"Just as a man does not ask why he believes in a god."

The holy maiden replied as if I were a god.

*

It is not difficult for the Black Snake to bring down a nation if it sets its mind to it.

It just doesn't do it.

Princess Charlotte was right: with all their power, they never overthrew nations or lusted after power. They didn't need to.

The man named Rain Gray's vision was much more far-reaching than that.

And I see the same landscape now.

─I can only believe that for now.

*

Whatever the purpose of the Black Snake, there is no doubt that the organization revolves entirely around Rain Gray.

As long as the purpose of the Black Snake was clearly defined, there was no reason for the rest of the organization to be reluctant to move.

"It's going to be a bloodbath."

Aria said from beside me, as I stood silent and lost in thought. I didn't answer, but I understood what she meant and nodded in silence.

"Then we'll have plenty to eat!"

Alice exclaimed, smiling innocently, whether she knew what she meant or not.

No, of course she does, she probably knows better than I do.

~A county far from the capital of the Holy Kingdom~

Unlike the Breton Empire or the Duchy of Germania, their country was steeped in an archaic, medieval image that belied the advances of the times.

A pre-modern feudal society where powerful local lords still held sway, unlike other countries that had become more centralized.

"If it's the blood wind, I'm all for it."

And 'she' was one of them.

"Welcome, master. To my estate."

Jinzo Scarlet, a female noble known to the world as Countess Scarlett Bathory.

A vampire who officially holds the title of a noble of the Holy Kingdom and is ranked sixth in the hierarchy of the Black Snake.

"Hehe, the leader is visiting my territory. Has it been 200 years? I miss you."

Two hundred years. Of course, I had thought that Rain Gray was no ordinary human, but it was still a strange realization to hear such words from the mouth of an immortal vampire.

He had already lived far beyond the time allowed for a normal human.

From the time the first installment of the Heroic Century was released, even unfathomable heroes had been born and died throughout the history of this continent—Even as those heroes were forgotten by the passage of time and buried in mausoleums.

That man, Rain Gray, was always there, with Aria the Black Sword, always by his side.

"The bedroom that the master and Lady Aria used to share is still there."

"Alice is here, too! Alice is here!"

"Hoo-hoo, we'll have to get our little lady a nice room too."

"No! Alice wants the same room as the boss!"

Alice's childlike behavior makes her look like a daughter pampered by her father.

"The bed won't be big enough."

"Don't worry. The closet is big enough!"

"How about a coffin? I have one just the right size."

Scarlett and Alice chat as they traverse the grounds of Count Bathory castle. Two outsiders, each with a coffin and a closet, unique places to sleep.

But I'm not in a position to comment, and neither is Aria, who stands by my side.

Beyond the stone windows of the count's chateau, darkness had fallen, and the full moon, pale in the darkness, hung hollow against the starless night sky.

"I'm hungry."

Then, Jinzo Scarlet spoke and a vampire being hungry could only mean one thing.

"Phew, but I'm in the presence of master, even I can discern that much."

"...Yes."

I blurted out, not really caring.

"Oh my God, you're not complimenting me?"

Scarlett asked, cocking her head at my answer but I didn't answer.

"You know, Rain–I'm not that immature kid anymore."

She said my name, as if to show off our friendship.

As she says this, Scarlet steps in front of me. As she does so, a maelstrom of magic swirls beneath her feet, engulfing her in a blood-red glow.

Then the swirling blood color subsides.

The figure of the girl, who had just appeared to be a middle-schooler, transformed into that of a bewitching woman.

"Oh, Scarlett's become an auntie!"

"...I'm not an auntie, I'm a young lady."

"Okay, Auntie!"

"...."

Scarlett's face falls again as Alice continues. The fact that she didn't say anything to Alice shows that in many ways, they were a horizontally organized group of villains, which is probably a good thing.

It was then.

"Oh my God."

Scarlett, now a mature woman, smiles, her eyes wide.

"You said it was a market day, and on a day like today."

"What's going on?"

I ask.

"Apparently, there's been an uninvited visitor at the manor's meeting."

"Perhaps you have a pursuer."

I reply, frowning.

An uninvited visitor just as we arrived? Given what had happened, there was only one thing to expect.

"Fufu, it can't be."

Nevertheless, Jinzo Scarlet laughed in an absurd voice.

"─What kind of fool in this world would dare to follow in the footsteps of the Black Snake?"

I fell silent again.

While I was silent, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

"So who is it?"

"A vampire hunter."

Scarlet answered.

"Someone who has heard rumors that the Countess of this land is a 'vampire who sucks human blood' and has come to punish such evil. He's probably been waiting for me to return to the manor."

She shrugged, her voice saying it was nothing new.

"I don't like persistent men."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, maybe I should be nice and escort him to the castle?"

Scarlet asked.

"I will do as I am commanded."

I didn't answer, because I didn't know any other way than to remain silent in the face of the unknown.

"Do as you will."

*

Vampire hunter.

The job, as the world calls it, was never meant for just anyone.

A person who loses a loved one to a vampire, and then, undeterred by the pain, dedicates his or her life to revenge.

With the existence of the Organization, an organization that contacts, educates, and trains such special individuals, the world has produced generations of vampire hunters.

The hunters here, right now, were part of them.

'Please wait, Mother-.'

'My love, Sylvia.'

Each of them had lost loved ones at the hands of vampires, and had lived to this day with the despair and pain of that day etched into their skin.

They were the ones who had come to the estate of the most infamous and vicious vampire in the world to exact their vengeance.

A vampire so infamous and terrifying that they could not imagine the existence of "someone" who could make them bow and offer their loyalty.