In the past, the vampires of this city had been ordered to attack Ariella and me, and they refused.

But afterward, they had not been ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) able to refuse even the order to kill themselves.

'That was only possible because Ariella was there.'

If Jinlei came back now, there was no way they could refuse an order to attack us.

The fortunate part was this:

“Even if that bastard comes looking for this place, it’ll take him quite a while.”

I’d poured that much poison into my cooking for him...

and made him spit out all the blood he’d stored up.

“Right now, he’s no different from an ordinary human. It’ll take a long time for him to recover.”

Once he’d lost all the blood he had stored up, he would be the same as any ordinary human.

Even if that mist dragged him somewhere safe, it would still take a very long time before he came back to his senses.

He would have to recover from those injuries through the recovery ability of a pure human body alone, and then regain his mind afterward.

And the moment that recovery was complete, there was a high chance Jinlei would point to this place as suspicious.

...I had to solve the problem before then.

And to do that, first—

“Kangil.”

“Yes.”

I turned my head and asked the vampire,

“Do you know where Ariella is?”

It was an extremely dangerous question—

asking a retainer the whereabouts of the master who meant more than anything to it.

***

I didn’t know exactly what the Grand Duke’s objective was.

But I did know what was necessary for that objective.

“Do you know where Ariella is?”

The one it was currently most obsessed with, the one it had taken from me.

The blood of retainers originates from their master.

And

for beings like these, the relationship between retainer and master carried even more influence than I had expected.

'I realized that from Karhin’s case.'

Right now, after overexerting itself to stop that explosion and then walking too long beneath the sun, it had weakened.

Because of that, it couldn’t even attend this gathering and was instead hiding among the other wounded in the infirmary, receiving Luca’s treatment.

Even so, the power it had shown in stopping that explosion had been tremendous.

And that was because—

'That man Kirchhoff’s realization had been passed down to Karhin.'

He had not conveyed it through words or anything like that.

The moment he attained that realization, the knowledge had been transmitted to every member of the bloodline.

It showed just how powerful that connection through blood really was.

And because of that—

“Yes. I do.”

they, too, could know the location of their master, even from far away.

“Actually, before that, we probably wouldn’t have been able to know the location itself.”

“Huh?”

But then, it seemed my assumption that it would naturally know her location had been mistaken.

“The former power our mistress possessed was certainly strong... but not enough that we could sense her presence from such a distance.”

Until not long ago, it seemed they had been unable to identify Ariella’s location when she was somewhere far away.

But—

“That is no longer the case.”

Kangil turned its head, then looked off into some distant place and said,

“We can keep sensing it. Not just me—all of our mistress’s retainers must be feeling it.”

In its eyes there was even a trace of fear.

“That the master of my soul... is growing stronger at a speed that is difficult to comprehend.”

“......”

After using Jinlei for that growth had failed, the Grand Duke would be putting even more effort into driving Ariella’s growth.

“The power of our bloodline is becoming greater and greater...!”

The stronger Ariella became, the stronger the Karshtein Bloodline became as well.

'...Just how much stronger has she become?'

To beings who were retainers of that bloodline, the presence of the head of the house was becoming more and more distinct.

“Tell me where she is.”

And I—

I had to go find that overwhelming presence.

At those words,

“...I am still my mistress’s retainer. If that would cause harm to my mistress, then no matter how well you have treated us, Sir Knight, I would not obey such an order.”

Kangil looked at me as it said that, and then,

“But.”

it nodded and continued,

“By my personal judgment, I believe obeying your command would also benefit my mistress.”

“...!”

“I will tell you my mistress’s location. I will also select the strongest among us to accompany you, Sir Knight.”

Thankfully, it trusted me.

“Old Man Yang. Old Man Yun.”

“What is it?”

“Could you select only the strongest among the awakened whose injuries are lighter?”

“...To use them for what you just spoke of?”

“Yes.”

Even after hearing that, the two old men seemed to think for a moment.

“Then two are already decided.”

As if they had reached a decision, they said it plainly.

“The two of us.”

“...What?”

“You seem to have been thinking of us as a pair of old men tucked away in the back room, but we didn’t rise to this position for no reason. When you say strong fighters with lighter injuries, the first two that come to mind, no matter how you look at it, are us.”

Grin.

“There are already a few who handle the secret art skillfully. Take them with you as well.”

“...Thank you.”

They too, without the slightest hesitation, had chosen to step forward themselves and help us.

'If I go with troops specialized in covert operations...'

Then somehow, we should be able to reach Ariella without being detected by the enemy.

“If things are as urgent as we’ve been saying, then it looks like we don’t have much time.”

“We’ll make preparations as quickly as possible. We’ll leave as soon as everything is ready—”

With the greatest force we could possibly mobilize, we would head out to reclaim Ariella.

Just as I was about to settle on that course—

-Guide.

A voice rang in my ear.

-Before you depart, there is something I must tell you.

***

I had been about to head out at once to reclaim Ariella.

Instead, I turned my steps toward a place in the city.

“Bear with it even if it hurts!”

“Aagh...!”

A space the vampires had cleared out as they withdrew so the patients could be treated.

In the middle of the healing light Luca had created, the healers who had recovered first under Luca’s care were moving here and there, checking the wounds of the injured.

After entering the building, I opened the door to one hospital room.

Creeeak...

Inside that room were two beds.

“Why did you call me?”

And then I looked toward one of them and spoke.

“Karhin.”

-Thank you for answering.

Unlike when it had overused that power of mist, it had now returned to that statue-like form again.

Bowing its head to me, it said,

-I know it was an impertinent summons. But... before you leave, there were several things I absolutely had to tell you.

“Things you had to tell me?”

-First, let me apologize. I was listening in on your conversation from here.

“...Ah.”

Eavesdropping was certainly a sensitive matter, but I had no choice except let it slide.

This creature was originally a monster that must once have possessed a staggering rank.

With that level of ability, it was entirely possible it had heard us whether it wanted to or not.

-One of those things... concerns General Jinlei.

“...?”

-About that matter, not I.

And then, as it turned its head, -my disciple says he has something to tell you.

There,

lying down and breathing roughly, was a huge man.

“I heard... that Jinlei was being discussed.”

General Kaio.

Still speaking awkwardly, though a little more coherently than before, he continued,

“You said... that at present, he has lost most of his power, and that it will take a long time... for him to recover.”

“...?”

“That is certainly... not incorrect.”

Come to think of it, this man had once been called a general.

After meeting me, he had done nothing but show a state where he could barely speak.

But according to the two Vice Chairmen, he had originally been quite a wise man.

“However... there is one flaw in that logic.”

And then—

perhaps the talk of his wisdom had not been an exaggeration after all.

“...Ah.”

The moment I heard that, I could only think, inwardly, damn.

'He’s right.'

The reason I had thought his recovery would take a long time was because, after draining every last bit of vampire blood from his body, he was nothing more than an ordinary human.

Even if he tried to gather blood again with that ability, he would first have to regain consciousness before he could do it.

But just as Kaio said—

'If Jinlei stops being human, the situation resolves itself.'

Because no matter that he was still unconscious right now,

“Turning him into a vampire... would have nothing to do with his mental state or his own will...”

making someone like that into a retainer, and bestowing on him enough regenerative power to heal any wound in short order, would not be difficult at all.

But then—

something was strange.

I quickly rose and looked around.

Far off in the distance, I could see the scenery outside the city.

But—

“...It’s quiet.”

If Jinlei had regained the regenerative power of a vampire and gotten back on his feet, he would already have realized this place was suspicious and sent troops here.

And yet—

“They... did not do that.”

“...Ah.”

That had not happened.

Which meant the odds were high that Jinlei was still human.

“Jinlei lost in the battle against us... But it is also certain that he fought deep beneath that sun... If Jinlei is awakened, it would not be difficult for him to figure out the identity of the one who raised that sun.”

And then, after hearing Kaio’s next words, I finally understood.

“There is no way they do not know that. And yet... they still intend to leave Jinlei as a human.”

What Kaio was trying to say was not a warning that Jinlei could wake up at any time and put this place in danger.

It was the opposite.

“That they are unwilling to turn Jinlei into a vampire...”

A warning of the kind that said such a thing was not going to happen.

“There must be... a reason for it.”

A warning that there had to be some reason they wanted to keep Jinlei human, even at this cost.

“Haah...!”

And then, after hearing that much, I suddenly realized something else.

“You.”

Kaio’s speech was awkward as always.

It sounded like the speech of someone with severe health problems.

That was why I hadn’t noticed it, but—

“Your complexion...”

Beyond the way he spoke, his face was far too dark.

'Even if he overused his strength, he should’ve been receiving Luca’s treatment and getting rest.'

In fact—

rather than someone resting, he looked like someone who had been in a fierce battle until just moments ago,

sweat pouring down him in streams.

“Until I could meet you again... I did not close my eyes.”

Just as he said, his eyes were trembling as if they could shut at any moment.

And yet they had endured without closing even once.

“Why?”

“If I closed these eyes...”

A single blink.

No matter how strong someone’s will was, that was not the sort of thing one could simply prevent.

And yet Kaio was accomplishing that impossible feat.

“I was afraid... that this world, which had finally grown bright again... would sink back into the mist.”

“......”

“I was afraid that in that mist... I would never escape again.”

If he was only going to sink into that mist again anyway, then instead of painfully holding out, it might have been easier just to surrender himself to it quickly.

But Kaio had not done that.

The reason was simple.

“At the very least, after I have finished everything I still must do...”

For him, there was still something left he had to do.

“I will tell you... what happened beneath that castle.”

“Castle?”

“To me, it is nothing but an unpleasant memory...”

In a state where it looked as though he might collapse at any moment, he ground his teeth and kept speaking.

“But for you... it may be different.”

And then, like that, Kaio continued his story.

How he had managed to go on living on this continent.

And at the end of it, what had happened in that Melchiorn stronghold.

“That is everything...”

All of it.

“Since that day... I have lived in the mist with nothing left in me except the single thought that I had to kill that traitor.”

“......”

“But there was also a question I felt from that time onward. In that fogged state of mind... I could not think deeply about that question...”

And then, after finishing his story, he lowered his head and said,

“No, that too is only an excuse. The truth is, I did not want to think seriously about that question, so I deliberately avoided it.”

“What question?”

“That day, I gritted my teeth and escaped from that castle... but perhaps. No, very likely.”

In his eyes, a strange light appeared.

“The truth may be... that I did not escape, but that he allowed me to escape...”

“......”

“That was the question I had... khh.”

And then, those eyes slowly began to close.

“There must be a reason... they are keeping Jinlei human. I do not know what that reason is... but it cannot be a good one.”

“That much is obvious.”

“And the one who may be able to interfere with that objective as well...”

The head he had been holding up through willpower alone slowly began to droop.

“So... I am asking you.”

That body tilted gently onto the bed.

“Guide...”