Chapter 29
“Wait...”
“Hm?”
“I am Kantas, Third Knight of the Borderland Knights.”
A rugged-looking man.
Come to think of it, they said some members of the knights had been kidnapped too.
I answer the man's greeting kindly.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Garuric.”
“Sir Garuric, thank you, first of all. If you hadn't stepped in, who knows what would have happened to all these people...”
“It was our mission. You needn't worry about it. More importantly, you said you're with the Borderland Knights.”
“Yes... I heard disappearances had been frequent around here lately. I came to investigate, but...”
“And got caught up in it.”
“Regrettably...”
“Did you come to investigate alone?”
“No. I was definitely with three other members, but...”
“Then their fate is unknown.”
“That's right.”
A few brief questions and answers.
Kantas, who had been hesitating all along, finally managed to ask something.
“More importantly... is this organization called Slayers definitely on our side?”
“Definitely on your side? I don't understand what you're getting at.”
“You said you were vampire hunters. But...”
A sidelong glance.
He seemed to be looking at Carmilla standing beside me.
The girl was wearing the red mask I had given her before entering the ranch.
“Ah, you're wondering why I'm traveling with a vampire.”
“Y-yes...”
“This is Manur. She's a member who works as my assistant. She's a vampire by race, but she helps our organization. She's considered one of the aces within Slayers.”
“S-Sir Manur? But why would a vampire hunt vampires...?”
“Personal circumstances.”
Has this guy never even seen Blade?
A vampire vampire hunter with personal circumstances is a common trope, you know.
Then a vampire who targets a vampire vampire hunter would be a vampire vampire vampire hunter hunter?
“I'm afraid I can't explain the details. It's a sensitive matter. But I can assure you that she's an excellent vampire hunter.”
“I see. I'm sorry. I was simply suspicious all of a sudden...”
“It's a natural reaction. You must have suffered terribly at the hands of vampires.”
I nod.
A serious look enters Kantas's eyes.
“Slayers... vampire hunters operating in secret...”
“We operate across the continent. Countless members are risking their lives as we speak.”
“In secret, you say? I suppose... revealing your identities would make you easy targets.”
So that's why they wear those strange masks.
Kantas nods as if he has reached a conclusion on his own.
Well, I never actually said anything like that.
But if he was going to misunderstand things on his own, all the better for me.
“Then... Sir Garuric, what will you do now?”
“All the vampires stationed at the facility have been subdued. We've also rescued the survivors, so now we need to dismantle the facility. We'll blow it up so this place can never be used again.”
“Dismantle it...”
“Of course, there are places we should inspect before that.”
“Places to inspect...?”
“Ghouls.”
Humans who had become monsters after receiving the vampires' blood.
They were also victims of this incident.
Kantas's complexion darkens.
“There was a pit dug behind this building. It seems they herded the ghouls in there.”
“Ghouls...”
“Let's go. We should at least inspect it, shouldn't we?”
We set off.
Kantas, and the survivors as well, followed hesitantly behind me.
Perhaps they saw me as their protector; they acted as though they didn't want to stray too far.
The pit was not far away.
“Here it is.”
-Grrr...!
-Kyaaah!
Judging by how deep it had been dug, cries rose from the bottom.
Though blurry, I could see things swarming inside.
There had to be at least a hundred of them.
“Ah...”
Kantas, who had been standing beside me, suddenly let out a groan.
Had he spotted a familiar face?
He couldn't tear his eyes away from the pit.
His eyes wavered beneath his ashen expression.
He bit his lips tightly, then pointed among the ghouls.
“......Those are my men. So they were all here.”
Honestly, there were so many ghouls packed together that I couldn't tell who he was pointing at.
“Damn it... You bastards. Why did this have to happen...”
“It seems you cared for your men very much.”
“They were like sons to me.”
“You have my condolences.”
Was it because of the guilt of being the only one who survived?
Kantas couldn't say a word for a long time.
His eyes glistened with tears.
The same tragedy was unfolding for the others.
“N-no! My son, my son is in there...!”
“Let go of me! I have to save my little brother!”
“How could this happen...”
“Mooom...”
Some of the survivors.
Those who had been examining the pit began to sob.
Were they people who had been dragged here alongside them when they were kidnapped?
“No... Dad, Dad has become a monster...”
“I have to go! My son waved at me!”
“Get a hold of yourself! That's not your son anymore!”
“Aaaaaah...!”
It was a sight too painful to watch.
The other survivors wiped away their tears as well.
Those who had been rescued, and those who had already been broken beyond saving.
“Your Highness.”
I turn to Carmilla.
She, too, had been staring down into the pit, dazed.
“......Ah, did you call?”
“There isn't, by any chance, a way to turn ghouls back into humans, is there?”
“No... It is impossible. Vampires possess no such power.”
“So humans can be turned into ghouls, but ghouls cannot be turned back into humans.”
“Is that not the way of all things? It is easy to throw something into disorder, but difficult to set it right.”
“......”
Things that couldn't be undone.
Healing magic wouldn't work, while divine power would only burn the ghouls instead.
‘Is there really no way?’
No fewer than a hundred victims.
Reduced to such horrifying forms, turned into mindless monsters.
“Why do you think the vampires of the New Kingdom piled the ghouls up like that?”
“To prepare for war, presumably. They must have been trying to swell their forces.”
“That makes sense. Ghouls would be perfect for use as cannon fodder.”
“How much more vile do they intend to become...”
A thin breath leaked through the red mask.
We fell silent for a moment.
Soon, Kantas, who had been pacing beside the pit, approached us.
“Sir Garuric. Sir Manur.”
“Yes, did you call?”
“The ghouls... No, the victims. I don't think we can leave them abandoned like that. Their condition would be an insult to the dead. So I would like to cremate them, so they can let go of their lingering attachments and depart in peace.”
“Cremate them.”
“They are beyond saving, are they not? The people swarming down there, and my men... They wouldn't want to remain in such a state.”
Those beyond saving.
But I couldn't agree with that.
“I'm not sure.”
Who says they're beyond saving?
I'll show you.
This fucking world, these fucking sights, these fucking tragedies.
I'll smash them apart using every bit of knowledge I possess.
‘As a veteran player, how could I accept an ending this unsatisfying for the episode...?’
I approach the front of the pit.
I rummage through my inventory and pull out a gaudy balloon sword.
“Your Highness.”
“Hm?”
“Could you pick up one of the ghouls with blood manipulation?”
“That would not be difficult... But why all of a sudden?”
“There's something I'd like to test.”
“Very well.”
Clap, clap-.
With two light claps, streams of blood rippled around the girl.
The blood compressed into a straight column, then descended in the shape of a giant hand.
It then snatched up one of the ghouls from inside the pit.
-Grrrk, kkeek!
A ghoul dangled in midair.
Amid its struggles, a woman's voice could be heard.
Perhaps she was the mother of that young ghoul.
“My son! My son...!”
“That's not your son! Your son is dead!”
“Grab this woman, everyone! She's about to jump into the pit...!”
The sobbing woman charged forward.
The survivors were thrown into an uproar.
Ignoring the commotion, I stared only at Carmilla.
“Will this do? I deliberately chose a small ghoul...”
“It's enough.”
Hoo-.
After taking a short, deep breath, I raise my sword and take a stance.
“Your Highness. Now, could you throw that ghoul toward me?”
“Hm...?”
“Exactly as you understood it. Just throw the ghoul to me.”
“Y-you want me to throw it? Even so, it was once human...”
“Your Highness. Do you think I'm the sort of person who would make a request like this for no reason?”
“N-no, but...”
The princess seems to hesitate for a moment, but soon nods.
She gently grasped the ghoul with blood manipulation.
Neither too tightly nor too loosely.
“All right. I don't know what you're trying to do, but...!”
-Grrk?
Then Carmilla threw the ghoul toward me.
The ghoul came flying like a baseball throw.
Whoooosh-!
‘This is a gamble.’
The Bug had definitely activated in-game, but I had never tested it in reality.
Then again, I hadn't had many opportunities to encounter ghouls.
‘But it's worth a shot.’
Click-.
I press the pocket watch in my hand, and the world slows for a moment.
I swing the balloon sword at the ghoul flying straight toward my face.
Then I twirl it as if peeling an apple, executing a parry.
Thwock-!
The parry activates, sending the ghoul off course and soaring into the sky.
Then I catch the falling figure in my arms.
Those watching could do nothing but gape in shock.
It looked as though the ghoul had pounced on me.
“Vic, Victor...!”
Had she judged the situation dangerous?
Her Highness hurriedly ran over.
But I had been certain from the moment I caught it in my arms.
Ding-!
[The Mistaken Belief Collector is reacting!]
A feeble struggle came from within my arms.
Unlike the sound of a ghoul, it was the voice of a young boy.
“Ah, ugh...”
His body was warm, not cold.
I carefully looked down at the small body in my arms.
“Mmm... Mom?”
Half-asleep.
Perhaps he was still hazy, because the child couldn't respond properly.
Clear eyes looked up at me.
I greet him with a bright smile.
“Did you sleep well, little one?”
“Uhh... Who are you, mister...?”
Human.
The child had returned to being human.
His skin had returned to a pale color, and his pupils, which had been dyed red, had also returned to normal.
Ding-!
[A new misconception has been discovered.]
-Misconception Name: Status Effect Parry
-Description: A status effect applied to a specific target is judged to be an ‘attack.’ When the system user activates ‘Parry,’ the status effect can be removed from the target.
Several messages appeared before my eyes.
Without even checking them, I held the child up for everyone to see.
“Ta-da~!”
The people stared blankly at me.
Carmilla, her eyes opened wide,
Kantas, with nothing but question marks floating above him,
And the child's mother, who came running toward us.
I gave them all a light wink.
“It was just a simple magic trick.”
They couldn't have seen it through the mask, though.