Camilla

Ian would stay the night in the room at the far end of the second floor of the village hall. As if no one had stayed there long, there was no lived-in feel to the room at all. At most, there was only a bed and a table standing there.

“It’s not a very good room, but it should be enough for one night.”

Camilla was in charge of showing him the room. With a bright expression, she stamped on the floor and shivered all over.

“Brr, look how cold the floor is. I’ll ask the grandmas and grandpas to turn on the heat. This is way too cold!”

“I’d appreciate that.”

Ian followed her into the room and casually brushed a finger over the desk. Dust that had piled up was swept away wherever his finger moved.

“Is your room right next door, Miss Camilla?”

“Ah, yes. If you’re curious about anything, you can come ask me. I’ll answer as best as I can!”

Camilla said with a confident expression, clenching both fists. Ian smiled faintly.

“Thank you. Then I’ll unpack my things.”

“Ah, should I help?”

“No, thank you. I think I’d be more comfortable doing it alone.”

“Hmm... all right. Then have a good night!”

With that, Camilla waved to Ian and left the room. Ian kept smiling until she was gone, then let his expression drop the instant she disappeared. His face turned cold in an instant.

‘So far, so good.’

He brushed off a chair thick with dust and sat down on it. The wooden chair creaked and swayed.

‘So there are two options now.’

He took the pistol hidden inside his coat and set it on the table. The heavy, cold lump of metal gleamed in the moonlight.

Clack.

When he pulled the slide back slightly, silver-shimmering bullets came into view.

Bullets made specifically for vampires, crafted with pure silver, bone ash, and a little holy water.

High-ranking vampires naturally had some resistance to their weaknesses, so unless he used something this high-grade, it would be hard to land a proper blow. That was why he had paid a bit extra to buy these.

He didn’t regret it. For a client paying such a high reward, spending a little of his starting capital wasn’t a major expense.

“......Hah.”

Ian left the silver-bullet pistol where it was and leaned back with a cigarette between his lips. The chair slid back with a creak.

The two options he could take now were clear. First, storm into her room and ambush her with, ‘I know what you are, you bastard!’ The other was to wait until she came looking for him. Two options. The pros and cons of each were obvious.

Honestly, it didn’t make much difference which one he chose. Either way, she wouldn’t make it through the night.

‘No need to make a scene. I’ll neutralize her at dawn, take her alive or grab the body, and get out of here.’

Naturally, he had no intention of greeting the elders. The day after an outsider showed up, a child had gone missing—how could they calmly exchange pleasantries? Even a stray mutt would know who the prime suspect was.

Of course, he wasn’t worried about any public wanted notice. Even when he’d hunted vampires at the club, he hadn’t ended up on the police’s wanted list, so why would this be any different? The cartel really did handle things thoroughly.

“......Even if I hand over the corpse, I should probably tear off a few limbs.”

Ian muttered that to himself and busied himself packing his things. He turned off all the lights and gathered what he needed using only the lighter’s flame.

Just like that.

Midnight arrived.

*

“......The time has come.”

The moment midnight struck, Camilla sprang up from the floor.

The pouring moonlight bleached her pale face even whiter.

Her eyes were blood-red all over, irises and whites alike. It was a trait that appeared the stronger her bloodlust grew.

If it had been usual, she would have been able to hold back. But the sweet scent of the man sleeping right next door was unbearable. Right now she felt like rushing into his room, sinking her teeth into his neck, and ripping out his blood vessels.

There was no need to hold back. Camilla drooled as she carefully left the room and stood in front of the door to Ian’s room.

Just in case, she activated telepathy, but there were no thoughts coming through. It was proof that he was asleep.

It was true that telepathy didn’t work on people with thick mental barriers, but she didn’t think that man was that kind of person. There hadn’t been even a hint of it.

If she wanted to be sure, she should have used telepathy much earlier. But there hadn’t been a proper time, so it couldn’t be helped.

Well, whatever. In any case, she could kill most mages, psychics, and vampire hunters without breaking a sweat. Even if she got a little hurt, ripping out a throat was nothing.

‘He’s pretty good-looking too. Since it’s come to this, should I make him my toy?’

Thinking that, she split her lips into a wide grin and opened Ian’s door.

No sound.

“......”

Inside the dark room, with the lights off, only a strangely shaped lighter remained, spewing flame. And on the bed, the man with the blanket pulled over his head was writhing with his eyes closed. Camilla curved her eyes into crescents and slowly approached him.

No sound.

Camilla drooled as she carefully stared at Ian’s face.

The sight of him sleeping soundly, completely unaware of the intruder, was too much. The teeth visible between his slightly parted lips and his red tongue made it impossible to hold back any longer. With her long nails, she slowly cut away the blanket covering Ian.

No sound.

In the silence, Ian’s upper body was revealed through the torn blanket.

He was wearing a black coat instead of pajamas.

“......?”

Camilla’s face went blank. Her lips parted as if to say, “Ah?”, but Ian was faster at grasping the situation. He narrowed his eyes and aimed the hidden pistol at her abdomen.

Then he smiled and pulled the trigger.

Bang.

What spilled from between those lips, as if they were saying it, was only a dreadful silence.

In the quiet room, the muzzle flashed and a silver bullet slammed into Camilla’s abdomen.

“......!”

Her face twisted in pain. Seizing the opening, Ian bashed her face with the pistol and put bullets into her knee and shoulder. Her joints gave out in an instant, and she collapsed to the floor with a thud. Ian kicked her in the abdomen and shoved the pistol into her mouth.

Krrk.

Hot metal forced its way between her parted teeth. The pistol even took damage from the sheer force, but Ian didn’t care. He brought a finger to his lips in a gesture to shut up.

“......!”

Camilla didn’t obey. She glared at Ian with bloodshot eyes and slashed with her long nails.

Ian backed away at her blatant decision to throw away the opening and kept pulling the trigger in rapid succession. He blocked the incoming attack by raising the grimoire like a shield. Sparks flew as the cover of the Deep-Sea Chronicle and her nails collided, and one of Camilla’s still-intact arms dissolved into black seawater.

Her eyes flew wide open. Only then did she register the grimoire’s presence. But it was already too late.

Ian let go of the pistol, now out of bullets, without hesitation and kicked Camilla in the head.

A loud thwack seemed to ring only in his head as several of Camilla’s teeth flew through the air. A hole had been blown open in her neck by the bullets.

‘Looks like she’s got another airway now.’

Ian gave a low chuckle, grabbed Camilla by the hair, and slammed her into the floor. Maybe because she was a vampire, a huge amount of blood gushed out.

“Haa...”

Only then did Ian close the lid of the Zippo lighter he had kept lit. At the same time, sound returned to the world.

“Kahk, kehk...”

“Thanks for coming to me. You saved me the trouble.”

Squelch...

Ian said as he pressed down on Camilla’s back with his foot. Since all the air was escaping through the new hole in her neck, Camilla could hardly manage anything beyond a wheezing breath. At most, she could only mutter in a tiny voice.

“Y-you were a mage...?”

“You can see that, can’t you?”

Ian tapped the grimoire against his shoulder and plopped down on top of Camilla. With her chest and abdomen crushed flat, she let out a strangled gasp.

“Ughk...!”

“Still, I guess a high vampire doesn’t die from silver bullets alone. Though these were pretty top-shelf.”

“You damn mage bastard...!”

“Yeah, nice to meet you too.”

Ian smirked and drove the stake he’d kept in his inner coat pocket through Camilla’s thigh. She let out a silent scream.

“......!!”

“I’m not exactly the type who enjoys watching people suffer. If you behave, I’ll take you with me, so keep your mouth shut. Can you recover?”

“...If I drink blood...”

“Roughly how much.”

“...About 1 liter.”

“I’ll give you just a quarter of that.”

“...Bastard.”

Camilla slammed her head into the floor and spat out a curse. Ian let a little blood flow into the hole in her neck, then rested his elbow on his knee and propped his chin on his hand.

“You probably have quite a lot of information to give me. If you want to die painfully, don’t answer. I won’t force you.”

That’s coercion, you crazy spell-casting bastard.

Camilla felt the words rise all the way to the back of her throat, but she held them in with miraculous patience.

“Now then, first question. How do vampires increase their numbers? Is it through sex after all? Have you ever given birth?”

“You insane bastard...!”

This time, she couldn’t hold it back.