Chapter 28
After the fierce battle in the corridor.
A lull descended, accompanied by a cold silence.
“......”
I stood where I was.
In front of me lay a caterpillar in a grotesque state.
It was the Director, who had been locked in a life-or-death struggle with me until moments ago.
The Director's arms and legs had been blown off, and it writhed on the floor.
“Ue, eee...”
Had its mind been broken?
Its red eyes were unfocused.
Drool dribbled from its mouth.
‘Well... It probably can't recover.’
It was a complete mess.
Its limbs had been sliced off, its entire body was burned, and every one of its teeth had been shattered.
To make matters worse, most of its wounds had been caused by fragments of the stakes.
Even if it drank blood later, it would not recover.
It would probably have to live the rest of its life in a body like that.
‘Though before then, the New Kingdom might execute the Director for failing to protect the ranch...’
It was none of my concern.
Leaving it alive had already been the limit of my patience.
“Bastard.”
I discovered the Director's workshop.
I had only glimpsed it, but even that was enough to make my stomach churn.
The Director had played with them so thoroughly that it was difficult even to recognize their forms as human.
They were displayed as the Director's “works.”
Perhaps the most horrifying part was that every one of them was still barely alive.
“......”
I heard it.
The faint sound of wind.
Blood bubbles boiling in their throats, and breaths barely exhaled.
The meaning was unmistakably the three words, ‘Kill me.’
Unable to react in any particular way, I crouched down, pressing my fingers between my brows.
‘Wouldn't this bastard be better off just dying?’
Desire surged up for a moment.
But soon, a voice caught me by the sleeve.
-Muro.
-I hope Muro will always believe in me.
Who knows whose stubbornness I had caught this time.
I forced down my murderous intent.
Right. There was no way a person had the right to kill another person.
After taking a deep breath, I finished the remaining work.
I picked up the fragment of the stake I had dropped.
‘......Yes, this should do.’
Squeeze—.
Holding the Director by the hair, I seared both its eyeballs with the stake.
I melted its pupils so it would never be able to see again.
Even if I could not kill it, I could punish it.
It did not twitch at all, even from the pain.
Once I had finished, I tossed the Director back onto the floor.
“Haa... This is tough. So damn tough.”
Only then did I let out a series of weary breaths.
I had overdone it.
I should have remembered that my body was made of glass, with an overall stat rank of E.
My lungs were hot as though burned, and my vision was spinning, perhaps because I had spammed Bug too much.
I slumped down where I was until the nausea passed.
“Tch, it hurts.”
My fist throbbed.
Could it have cracked?
It was the price of being swept away by emotion, unlike my usual self.
I flexed my hand and wiped the sweat beading on my forehead.
“Phew... Still, does this mean we've finished taking over the ranch?”
The suppression inside the control room was over.
Carmilla must have handled everything outside.
There were only small fry left, so Carmilla should have been more than capable of dealing with them all.
‘Carmilla... I wonder if she's all right.’
They say speak of the devil.
Just as I began to worry, a figure peeked around the end of the corridor.
“Victor.”
Her silver hair was slightly disheveled.
Her red eyes looked somewhat haggard.
When our eyes met, the girl's complexion brightened a little.
Carmilla ran straight over and checked my condition.
“Are you all right? You look very tired...”
“I'm fine. How are things outside?”
“I have just finished sorting everything out.”
“Good work.”
“What... Victor did all the hard work alone.”
“It would have been impossible without Your Highness.”
A brief exchange.
I asked Carmilla quietly.
“Are you feeling all right?”
“......There is no problem.”
Her eyes had sunk, contrary to her answer.
Her feelings must have been complicated.
The peace her father had sought to protect.
She had just seen it ultimately go unrealized and shatter to pieces.
The attempt at harmony with humans had failed, and she lacked the power to stop it.
“......”
How could I begin to comprehend such helplessness?
I merely reached out and carefully stroked Carmilla's head.
“Victor...?”
“You did well, Your Highness. You did your best.”
“What are you suddenly saying... Do you think I am a child?”
“Of course not. I just thought you were admirable.”
“......I definitely told you not to pat my head, yet you do it all the time.”
Though she grumbled like that, Carmilla did not actually refuse my touch.
I silently stroked her a few more times.
The troubled atmosphere eased a little.
“So, what comes next?”
A voice asking about what came next.
The takeover of the ranch was complete.
The vampires spread throughout the facility had also been subdued.
“First... Shall we rescue the survivors?”
I brushed myself off and stood.
Every muscle in my body ached, but there was no time to rest.
The night we had been given was short, after all.
“Let's move.”
“All right.”
Afterward.
Our footsteps brought us to a large warehouse.
“This seems to be the place.”
“......Good heavens.”
What awaited us inside were people locked away in rows of cells.
Abysmal conditions.
Iron cages, each barely a single pyeong in size, were packed tightly above and below one another.
It was a space filled with humans, reminiscent of a chicken coop.
Each had their limbs restrained while thick hoses sucked out their blood.
“Your Highness.”
“I know.”
Carmilla stepped forward at my call.
Her slender fingertips began to deploy blood manipulation.
Clap-!
When she clapped her hands, the flow through the hoses stopped.
The blood-collection devices operating throughout the ranch had come to a halt.
Before long, the people's restraints were released.
“Everyone.”
“......”
I stood at the center of the human chicken coop.
Eyes stared at me from every direction.
Their eyes were unfocused, their gazes drained even of hope.
I reached out to each of them and opened their doors.
“You have been rescued.”
Clink, clack-.
There must have been at least a hundred of them.
Perhaps because they had been imprisoned for so long, they struggled even to move.
Whenever that happened, our capable princess lent them a hand.
“Stand still.”
“Eek, eeeek... Gasp, a vampire!”
“Be still.”
“......”
One of them was utterly terrified.
He was simply unable to flee because his arms and legs had gone stiff.
Carmilla's fingertip touched the man's forehead.
“Urgh, uhk...?!”
“It will sting.”
Blood manipulation.
She forcibly accelerated the blood flow throughout his body, straightening out his stiffened form.
A delicate manipulation. She performed a technique said to be difficult even for long-lived vampires.
Carmilla truly possessed an innate talent for blood manipulation.
“Uh, uuh...?”
The man's physical condition recovered.
He was not completely restored, but he could at least walk with a limp.
The others were the same.
The cage doors opened one after another.
Some walked out of their cages on their own, while others received Carmilla's help.
“I-I'm out...?”
“What will happen to the other vampires...?”
“Are we going to die? Could they be planning to dispose of us...?”
“That masked person over there looks human, like us...”
“They definitely said we were rescued earlier...”
Confused murmurs-.
As expected, the people were confused.
I suppose it was difficult to accept all at once.
They had been floundering in despair until just moments ago, after all.
“Everyone.”
Besides, we even had Carmilla on our side.
A girl belonging to the same species as the vampires who had tormented them so horribly.
It must have been difficult to trust her based on first impressions.
“It's all over. We've come to rescue you.”
Every one of them was frightened.
Thus, I stepped forward.
I had to reassure them.
“All the bad vampires have been dealt with.”
I repeatedly mentioned things that would reassure the people.
What mattered here was making them feel that they were “under protection.”
If so, I needed to make up some details.
“We are vampire hunters belonging to Slayers. We operate secretly in the shadows of the continent, helping people like you who have become entangled in horrific incidents.”
“S-Slayers...?”
“Yes, it is an organization that has carried on the legacy of the ancient vampire hunters. We handle vampire-related incidents and accidents exclusively. Today, we identified the location of this [Ranch] and were dispatched to carry out our mission. By mission, I mean dismantling the facility and rescuing survivors.”
“A-an organization? Rescue...?”
“That's right.”
By nature, people are beings who find comfort in something greater than themselves.
Rather than thinking that just the two of us had stormed in, they would feel much more reassured believing they had received the aid of some far greater organization.
“You are safe now.”
““......””
The people's expressions changed little by little.
Their bodies and minds were exhausted. And in the midst of that, an organization had appeared to rescue them.
For ordinary people, this was a situation in which they could not help but rely on it completely.
“I am Garuric, the deputy commander of Slayers. I will take responsibility for your rescue and safe return home.”
I emphasized that I was someone of high rank within that organization.
At the same time, I treated the people I had rescued with the utmost courtesy.
A situation is the product of many overlapping factors.
My voice had already seized control of the crowd.
The fear that had gripped them seemed to have faded considerably.
“Slayers? I've never heard of them.”
“An organization that operates in secret...?”
“A-are we really rescued? Are we going to live?!”
“Good heavens! Sob, sob... Mom, I want to go home.”
“I haven't seen my daughter for three months. Can I finally go home now...?”
Now the people were immersed in joy rather than fear.
Someone stepped out from among the sobbing people.
Unlike the others' loose, shabby clothing, he wore heavy armor.
“Wait...”
“Hm?”
“I am Kantas, Third Knight of the Borderland Knights.”],
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