Ch.203Chapter 203 – Five Orange Pips (9)

“By the way, are you perhaps a vampire hunter?”

As I quietly follow the man wearing a badge that appears to identify him as a KKK official, he suddenly glances back and asks me in a low voice.

“Well, not particularly.”

“…Surprising. If you captured a vampire without being a professional vampire hunter, you must be quite skilled.”

“Ahaha…”

As I awkwardly answer his question with a laugh, the man glances at me and continues questioning.

“I’ve seen vampires a few times myself, but I’ve never seen one with such powerful abilities.”

“…Is that so?”

“Of course, I’ve killed all the vampires I’ve encountered so far. To be honest, I could eliminate that woman anytime if I wanted to.”

Upon hearing his disturbing words, the Princess immediately begins to emit a murderous aura.

– Gritting teeth…

Fortunately, perhaps because of the promise she made with me earlier, instead of acting on her thoughts, she just quietly grinds her teeth.

“I see you’ve trained your prey well.”

“…I suppose so.”

“The logic of power is always right. The weak should naturally be ruled by the strong. The history of the world has proven this.”

The man glances at her briefly and continues speaking with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Of course, the positions of the strong and weak can always be reversed. Just look at the French Revolution that happened recently.”

“Um, the French Revolution isn’t exactly what I’d call recent…”

“…The American Revolutionary War that occurred around the same time is similar. We live in a dynamic era. One can lose hegemony at any time, or conversely, seize that hegemony and reign.”

At first, I thought he was just rambling, but as I listen, his words seem ominous.

I’m also feeling an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

‘Hmm…’

Because of this, I narrow my eyes and scrutinize the man’s face, but without any particular result.

He has an ordinary, delicate appearance that could be found anywhere—ambiguous features that make it difficult to determine if he’s young or old.

His body shape is hidden by his uniform, and he seems to be deliberately concealing his mana, making it impossible to detect properly.

In other words, I couldn’t deduce any information about the person before me.

The only thing I could determine was that he was someone with enough skill to warrant caution.

‘…Having someone this skilled around could be troublesome.’

“And from here on, this is just my personal speculation.”

As I watch him with wary eyes while quietly walking, he averts his gaze from me and continues in a low voice.

“I believe the great currents created by these turbulent times will soon trigger a major event.”

“What do you mean…?”

“…A worldwide war.”

Upon hearing those words, I couldn’t help but pause my steps.

“According to my calculations… we might soon witness the world burning.”

“………”

“Before such an era arrives, the key is to expand the organization as much as possible.”

“Who exactly are you…?”

“These days, even the strongest must strive not to lose their hegemony to the weak.”

As I look at him with slight cold sweat, the mysterious man quietly raises the corner of his mouth and mutters in a low voice.

“…Well, that’s the first time I’ve seen that reaction.”

He begins to mutter with an amused voice.

“You’re the first person who didn’t laugh upon hearing this story.”

“What are you…?”

“I’ve been rambling too much, haven’t I?”

Suddenly stopping his steps, the man quietly points to a door beside him.

“The room where the officials are gathered is through here. You can enter with that woman, but it might be a better choice to leave her here.”

“……..”

“…What are you doing? Why not enter already?”

After saying this, he tilts his head with an enigmatic smile on his face.

“Who, who the hell was that guy…?”

The Princess glances at him with suspicious eyes and whispers to me.

“Do you know him, Adler?”

Ignoring her bewildered whisper, I stare at the man whose expression I still can’t read for a long time, then quietly head toward the door and speak.

“Wait outside.”

“…Huh? Okay?”

While the identity of that mysterious person concerns me, the danger looming before us is more important right now.

[Are you really going in?]

“……..”

[I really can’t help you if something happens.]

After all, I’m about to face someone who could potentially destroy not just Sharlotte, but this entire world.

It would be better to have the Princess wait here rather than taking her to such a place.

If necessary, that seemingly skilled man might intervene, and she could help counter him.

“…I’ll be back soon.”

“W-wait a moment…”

After finishing my words, I quietly opened the door and was about to enter the room.

“Whoa?”

The Princess, who seemed a bit anxious and tried to grab my arm, happened to lose her balance slightly and tilted toward me.

“…You should be careful, Princess.”

“Ah…”

“I’ll handle this alone, Princess, you should…”

Fortunately, before the Princess fell to the floor, I grabbed her waist and pulled her into my arms. As she looked up at me with a blank expression, I whispered those words and tried to send her back outside, but…

– Click…!

At that moment, the door closed, and the room was engulfed in darkness.

“”………””

And then, silence began to fill the air.

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“Hii, hiik…”

“Why are you so startled?”

The Princess, who had been blankly nestled in my arms, begins to tremble with a pale complexion.

“I-I… hate darkness.”

“…You’re a vampire?”

When I ask that, slightly incredulous at the words that just came out of her mouth, she mutters in a tearful voice.

“I-I’m a half-blood, so I’m not that affected by sunlight. I actually prefer the bright day…”

“Still, I wouldn’t think you’d have reason to fear darkness.”

“…When I made mistakes at home as a child, I was locked in a coffin all day. Without food or water.”

“I see.”

Yes, that could certainly be traumatic.

Traumas experienced in childhood often persist into adulthood, as is the case with many people, including myself.

“Then I’ll keep holding you, so please get up slowly.”

“…Hik?”

“Don’t let go of me carelessly. It’s dangerous here.”

So, whispering those words, I stood up, and the Princess, tightly hugging me and trembling slightly, stood up with me.

“How did someone like you think of digging a tunnel back then? Ah, come to think of it, is that why you gave up?”

“…S-shut up.”

“You have a surprisingly cute side.”

“I said be quiet…”

As I slowly moved forward with her, I narrowed my eyes and stopped walking.

“Why, why did you suddenly stop…?”

“…Shh.”

“Hup.”

When the Princess asked in a low voice, I quietly raised my hand to cover her mouth and held my breath.

“There’s something ahead…”

In the darkness where I couldn’t see even an inch ahead, I began to sense a presence.

[You can still turn back.]

As I took a deep breath and composed myself in that situation, a message in a scribbled handwriting appeared before my eyes again.

[It might be strange to say this now, but you don’t need to push yourself this hard. You’re already doing well enough…]

“…Do you like me?”

[……..]

Slightly frowning at the message that kept blocking my view, I muttered those words, and the system window that had been abruptly cut off quietly disappeared from my sight.

“…N-no, I don’t!”

Hearing the Princess answer in a shrinking voice, thinking I was talking to her, I quietly took a deep breath.

– Shaaaaaa…

Then, I quietly drew golden mana into my hand to illuminate the room.

“……..!”

And then, I saw ‘it’ filling the room.

“…Kugh.”

Numerous eyeballs simultaneously shift their gaze to me, filling the surroundings.

At the same time, tentacles writhe and rise from all directions, gradually wrapping around my legs and beginning to climb up.

Simultaneously, my body begins to sink into the darkness.

– Grinding teeth…

“A-Adler…?”

That overwhelming sensation, as if I had encountered that indescribable being from the ‘Creeping Man’ case again.

“Why did you cover my eyes…?”

In that sensation, while covering the Princess’s eyes with my hand and biting my tongue until it bled to maintain my consciousness, I closed my eyes tightly and began to chant the spell I had prepared in advance.

“……..”

And after some time had passed.

“…Hah.”

When I opened my eyes again, the world had become pixelated, like a classic game.

“It worked…”

The ‘cognitive filter’ spell that I had been researching whenever I had time, to avoid being helplessly subjected to mental attacks like before, had successfully activated.

“Ugh…”

And only then did the situation before my eyes begin to become clear.

“S-save me…”

“Darkness… darknessdarknessdarkness…”

“Ah, aah…”

In the center of the eyeballs and disgustingly sticky tentacles that filled the surroundings, people who appeared to be KKK officials were sprawled and writhing here and there.

‘…Stupid fools.’

Looking at the huge magic circle drawn beneath them that filled the room, it seemed that they had tried to summon something for their next terror attack and ended up like this.

‘If that’s the case, would eliminating this magic circle solve the problem for now…?’

So, even though I had filtered all the sensations affecting me, my mind was still becoming distant. As I tried to hold onto my consciousness and bent down to erase the magic circle, at that moment.

“…Huh?”

I discovered an ordinary-looking paper in the hand of a member who was writhing right in front of me.

“…….”

Of course, it wasn’t really an ordinary paper.

– Hello, Adler?

That paper was addressing me by writing letters on its own, just like System would.

– I’ve been wanting to talk to you.

“……..”

After staring at it for a long time, I finally opened my mouth with a cold voice.

“…What kind of mischief is this in my world?”

It seems that after about half a year of being here, I’ve finally encountered the culprit trying to destroy this world right before my eyes.

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Meanwhile, at that time, in the corridor in front of the tightly closed door.

“…Acting as a man is quite difficult indeed.”

The man from earlier, who still hadn’t left the place and was leaning against the wall.

“By the way…”

No, she who had now revealed her original appearance with her gray long hair, mutters with a chilling smile.

“…’My world,’ he says?”

– Excuse me, when do we move in?

In her ear, she could hear the radio communication from her subordinates who had been surrounding the hideout from outside for several hours already.

“That sounds like something a god would say.”

– Professor? Can you hear me?

“…Don’t you think so? Mr. Adler?”

– Professor?