Chapter 64: The overqualified rookie, part 6
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
Come to think of it, my conversations with Dee at the guild had been somewhat… different compared to the day she came. We hadn’t been on the same wavelength — she would repeat the questions I asked her, or simply go off on a tangent. They were little signs that I would’ve missed if I hadn’t been alert.
Dee’s eyes now confirmed everything for me, however. She had been under a form of hypnosis similar to ‘Real Nightmare’ and had become a different person altogether.
Contrary to what many believe, vampires can be incapacitated in one way or another. In fact, paralysis and tranquilisation are a few of the recommended ways to deal with them.
「Man, it hurts… what just…?」, groaned Dee as she woke up as herself again.
「It’s because I just slammed you onto the floor a while ago.」
「Huh…? Ara-ara, it’s you, Roland-sama. What is this place…?」
「Do you not remember?」
Lending her a shoulder to lean on, we left the revolting abattoir.
「What on earth happened…?」
「You weren’t yourself. Someone hypnotised you.」
「Ara-ara, I see」, she said, nonchalant as always. 「This means that Roland-sama came to rescue me, didn’t you?」
「No. Quite the opposite, in fact.」
「?」
In a way, she had helped me by confirming that my worst fears weren’t true.
As we climbed back to ground level, I peeked into the dining room. We discovered a young man from a nearby village there. He was blindfolded and gagged, but alive, so we freed him. Even though they had only targeted adventurers at first, perhaps they now kidnapped people indiscriminately, I thought to myself.
Finally seeing the moonlight again, I told Dee what had happened as we headed for the cottage.
「I… did such a thing…」, she muttered in shame.
According to her, the last thing she remembered was the quest I had assigned her a month ago.
Reaching our destination, I smashed the lock and went inside. We were greeted by the sight of around ten kidnapped men, women and children.
「If what Roland-sama said is true, then… these people would’ve been my food…?」
「Not necessarily.」
「Hm? What do you mean…」
「Let’s hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.」
I had sensed that someone was approaching. Turning around, we saw Darton in the doorway, accompanied by around ten men who looked like members of the royal cavalry.
「What are you doing here, of all places?」
「I was about to free these kidnapped individuals.」
Almost as if he was wearing a mask, he smiled without moving so much as an eyebrow.
「So, who are you? I don’t know where you came from, but don’t you think it’s rude to just trespass on private property?」
This Darton person, being well-versed in magic, was the commander of a unit of mages. Despite being unable to put his knowledge to good use most of the time, he could probably still cast a decent spell or two.
「I am Roland Argan, a guild employee. I have assigned the adventurer you see here, Candy, many quests. Noticing that something was off, I followed her here. Please think of me as an investigator under Lord Bardell.」
I pointed at the hostages behind me.
「You should explain this to the baron.」
Darton put his hands together.
「Ah, about those people. I gathered them here under the orders of Candy-san. Although I don’t know what she wants with them, it’s not like I can disobey her.」
「Eh…」, said Dee incredulously with furrowed brows.
I can’t blame her for being surprised — she had been hypnotised after all.
「Very funny」, I replied, laughing in his face. 「I know what lies underground. All of it is to camouflage your twisted hobby, isn’t it?」
「…」
「It’ll tarnish your family’s reputation if you don’t keep your sadistic tendencies under wraps.」
A few of his facial muscles finally began twitching.
「So she used her magic eye to make you procure all sorts of torture equipment and torture these people? What could you possibly hope to learn from adventurers and ordinary villagers by torturing them?」
There had been no real reason to torture them since the beginning, for the torture itself was the reason. I know what a serious Dee can do — I just saw the bodies for myself a while ago.
Not only is Dee an otherworldly beauty, but the opposite gender also has no way to avoid the effect of her magic eye. On top of that, vampires are known to crave human blood. Knowing this, Darton had hypnotised her. Everything had been engineered to frame her as the vampire who seduced and controlled a helpless noble to do her bidding.
She was the perfect scapegoat for when things eventually went south.
Even I had been fooled until now.
I had been considering two possibilities — one of which was that Dee was conspiring with some noble to get her fill of human blood. The other was that Dee had used her magic eye to hypnotise a noble to round up humans for herself.
Now that I had seen everything for myself, I knew that neither was true.
「The magic eye of a vampire really does leave targets in a ‘Charmed’ state. Especially for the opposite gender.」
「What are you saying? This woman said that she wanted blood, so how could I go against her orders –」
「A vampire’s need for blood is far greater than what humans imagine. In fact, if they don’t feed, the effects of hypnosis might even be dispelled.」
Darton tut-tutted in annoyance, for I had made him slip up. I now knew that he had been letting her drink people’s blood so that she would remain hypnotised.
「Wait, so what does all this mean?」
「To put it simply, Dee, he’s been using you. Since you’re a vampire, he set you up as a cover to torture and kill people for fun.」
「Ara-ara, I’m speechless. Not only did you use me, but you also made me drink the blood of some random male?」, she said icily.
You could feel the anger radiating from her very being.
「I highly recommend leaving while you can」, I said, looking at the knights.
Even though Dee was staring them in the eye, the knights simply smiled at her. Perhaps they didn’t believe me or they didn’t think that she was really a vampire.
…Well, don’t say we didn’t warn you guys.
「I do not just drink anyone’s blood, especially since humans are an inferior species. Except for Roland-sama, of course. As such, I only drink the blood of those I care about or those I am interested in」, she explained, placing her palm on the ground. 「Although it’s great to drink blood, if I drink too much, it basically feels like I’m in heat. That’s why I only choose a partner that can feel that way with me. It’s not just me, really — this is how all vampires operate.」
At long last, Darton gave up on keeping up appearances.
「How dare you call us inferior! Your side lost during the war! You’re only a vampire, and all alone, too — don’t be so cocky!」
Dee’s blood-red pike began to materialise from the ground. As she whirled it around a few times, colour drained from the knights’ faces.
But it was already too late.
「Don’t get me wrong — I love humans’ blood. But that blood will become part of me, a proud vampire, you know? I hope you get it. Food and mere sustenance are different things!」
Dee made her move.
Before anyone else could react, the business end of her pike had already pierced one of the knights’ heavy armor, coming cleanly out through the other side. He was already dead before he could even scream.
「I hope you’ll stop treating vampires like mere animals.」
The pike throbbed with what looked like veins. As they squirmed animatedly, the knight shrivelled up until only a dry husk was left.
「The blood-sucking spear of a vampire that you took for a fool. Look at it. Taste it.」
In the blink of an eye, four more knights suffered the same fate as their fallen comrade. Needless to say, none of them were a match for her.
「Gyaaaaaa –!?」
「Dead men shouldn’t talk.」
With another whirl of her pike, the impaled knight slid off of it. His face resembled a dried-up tree.
「Shit! Don’t think you can beat us so easily!」, said Darton as he began to conduct an aria unfamiliar to me.
「Hypnosis again?」, I cut in.
「Wha –!?」
I suppose he had thought that Dee was his only opponent.
With all my strength, I slammed my fist into Darton who was still trying to cast his first spell.
「Gya –!?」
Accompanied by a squelch that sounded like a frog being squished, he was thrown into the air. When the wall finally broke his fall, his face was nothing but a bloodied mess, with his nose broken and having a few teeth less.
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