Chapter 23 : Study In Crimson (3)

Eleonora’s research finally ended at dawn the next day.

No, to be precise, it hadn’t really ended.

“Come back to this workshop again on the next holiday morning, Aiden.”

“…Eli, you’re not seriously planning to do more, are you?”

“There’s still a lot we need to check. Honestly, it’s a mountain of work. If you cooperate, we can reduce the hunters’ casualties too.”

Although Eleonora claimed it was for the benefit of her fellow hunters, it was clear her personal curiosity was a much bigger motivation.

I didn’t bother pointing that out.

I simply nodded obediently.

Color returned to Eleonora’s gaunt face.

“Good! Aiden, you’re truly my only supporter!”

“Supporter, you say…”

“You’re the only vampire who’s ever been this cooperative with my research.”

Well, what kind of vampire would willingly participate in experiments that involved branding their living flesh with heated iron?

I barely swallowed down the words that had risen to my throat.

“And speaking of which, Aiden… there’s one ultimate curiosity I’d really love to test.”

“Hmm… and what would that be?”

“There’s a rumor that vampires lose their reproductive ability, you know?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Are you the same, Aiden? Does it… not work?”

Eleonora tossed out her outrageously rude question as casually as breathing.

I frowned for a moment, but her expression was dead serious.

So, instead of reacting emotionally, I found myself thinking unnecessarily about it.

Back in the mercenary days, prostitutes often sneaked into the camps to sell their bodies.

Senior mercenaries would push me toward them, telling me to lose my virginity already.

‘I’m not doing it.’

‘What’s wrong, are you impotent?’

‘I just won’t.’

I simply refused.

Not because I had no interest in women.

But because I just couldn’t bring myself to pay for sex, much less embrace a prostitute.

It wasn’t because of some noble reason.

It was simply because… my mother had been a prostitute.

That was the only reason.

“…Well, I don’t think it doesn’t work.”

With that in mind, I answered Eleonora’s question.

She looked even more intrigued.

“I see. In that case, can I make a suggestion?”

“…What suggestion?”

“Would you be willing to have a child? I mean, you’re a guy, so you just need to do the deed and leave the rest for about ten months.”

“…A-Are you serious?”

This crazy researcher was seriously suggesting we make a child for the sake of her experiment.

“Since you’re a vampire, Aiden, I’m curious. Would the child be a vampire too? Or a human?”

“Do you realize how insane it sounds to create a child just to satisfy your curiosity? And more importantly, who would even agree to carry a vampire’s child?”

At my reasonable retort, Eleonora furrowed her brows slightly, as if hit right where it hurt.

“Hmm. You’re right. Finding a suitable woman would be tough.”

“Exactly, so—”

“Well, if we can’t find anyone, I’ll do it.”

“…Come again?”

“I’ve never had a child before, but it shouldn’t be impossible. I guess I’ll have to gain some weight first, right? This frail body wouldn’t handle it well.”

“P-Please hold on a second.”

I hastily placed a firm hand on Eleonora’s shoulder.

“E-Eli, I really don’t think this is right.”

“Why not?”

“You said you were raised by vampires as a tool to infiltrate human society.”

“That’s right.”

“This is the same. Having a child purely for research purposes… it’s treating that child like a tool. Eli, you’re thinking just like the vampires who raised you.”

At my earnest plea, Eleonora blinked.

After a moment, she seemed to understand and let out a quiet breath.

“…Ah.”

“You’re right, Aiden. I guess I got ahead of myself. I’m sorry. That must have been too sudden, huh?”

Eleonora gave a bitter smile and placed her hand on top of mine, still resting on her shoulder.

“Thank you. Sometimes, when I lose perspective, I need you to stop me, Aiden.”

“Y-Yes, of course.”

And with that, our business was concluded.

From the last conversation, it seemed Eleonora had grown even more fond of me.

She even packed me some of her usual food scraps to eat on the way, saying I must be hungry.

I tried a bite just in case, but immediately spat it out.

It wasn’t fit for human consumption.

“So, how was it working with our little eccentric?”

As I was trudging back toward the guild building, Aila approached me.

“How should I put it… she’s a really fascinating person.”

“You’re being way too polite. You can just say she’s a crazy woman.”

At Aila’s words, I shrugged.

Honestly, Eleonora wasn’t exactly normal.

In fact, if you only judged by appearances, she seemed more like a vampire than I did.

“Eleonora’s madness is pretty famous even within the guild, you know. She’s a lunatic who’s willing to ruin her own body just to research vampires.
Hmm, did you also hear about her past?”

“I heard she was raised by vampires.”

“Oh, so she told you everything? That’s surprising. She usually doesn’t talk about herself.
Seems like Eli really took a liking to you.”

Aila stroked her chin thoughtfully, clearly intrigued.

“Why don’t you just date her? A vampire researcher and a vampire — wouldn’t that be an interesting pair?”

At Aila’s teasing, my shoulders twitched.

And who could blame me?

Eleonora had just made a very similar “proposal” not long ago.

‘Would you like to have a child with me?’

“Oh my, why’s your face all red?
Still just a kid, huh?”

Aila chuckled and teased me, but I didn’t even have the strength to argue back.

If I told her the truth, she would probably be the one stunned.

I frantically waved my hands.

“Guildmaster, I’m really not in a position to think about dating right now.”

“Oh? And why not?”

“Lily is still being held by the Vampire Queen.

I have to become stronger than anyone else so I can rescue her.”

At my words, Aila smiled slyly.

“I see. Well, you’ll be hearing some new information about your sister soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know the priest? Why do you think that old man hasn’t come back yet?”

Now that she mentioned it, the priest who had gone out on a hunt with Camilla still hadn’t returned, even after Camilla had come back to the guild.

Even after the mortician and I captured the vampire hiding in Barrington, the priest was nowhere to be seen.

All I had heard was that he had gone on a dangerous hunt — I didn’t know any details.

“Where exactly did the priest go?”

“To the Vampire Kingdom.”

“…”

“Well, technically, it’s the Imperial Territory. There’s a sprawling network there, like a spider’s web, that connects deeply into the Vampire Kingdom.
If you catch and interrogate the Progenitor who holds the center of that web,
information will start to pour out one piece after another.”

“So the priest went there to hunt a Progenitor?”

“More or less,”

Aila nodded.

The Progenitor.

Even vampire viscounts like Jursach and Hoover could not interfere with the blood of the progenitor.

Rather, they seemed to fear the very existence of the progenitor to an extreme degree.

In the theory classes at the Training Institute, I had learned that the progenitor stood at the pinnacle of all vampires.

Beyond that, there was little detailed information.

However, Guildmaster Aila would surely know things that weren’t taught in the Institute.

So I asked,

“Guildmaster, what exactly is a progenitor vampire?”

“Hmm. Good question,”

Aila leaned against the railing, bending forward slightly. In doing so, her deeply exposed cleavage came into full view.

At that moment, I became certain.

Unlike what Eleonora had told me, I was still fertile.

Aila, seemingly enjoying my flustered reaction, then spoke.

“A progenitor is like a vampire’s direct bloodline.”

“Direct bloodline, you say?”

“A vampire that has existed since the beginning of time. They possess a special blood called the Royal Blood. Regular vampires can have children with humans and still produce vampires. But if a progenitor bears a child with a human, their blood’s special qualities are diminished.”

This meant that to preserve the purity of their blood, progenitors must only pair with other progenitors.

“The partner of a progenitor must also be a progenitor. Always. It’s a rule.
So if a vampire is a progenitor, both of their parents must have been progenitors as well.”

I realized what Aila was telling me.

She was giving me information about Lily.

“That’s right, Aiden. You’re correct. You and Lily—your father and mother—are completely different. It couldn’t have been otherwise.”

Aila grinned mischievously.

Lily and I…

We weren’t related by blood at all.

Saying I wasn’t shocked would be a lie.

But even so, my purpose didn’t lose its meaning.

Blood-related or not, Lily was still my little sister.

My only family.

My first salvation.

And the vampire queen who took her away —

I had to kill her.

I calmed my simmering anger as I headed toward the Training Institute’s cafeteria.

“Hmm?”

There was an unusual commotion.

At first, I thought people were reacting to me, but that wasn’t the case.

The trainees were nervously eyeing a small girl with chestnut-brown hair, who had taken a seat right in the middle of the cafeteria.

At that moment, her green eyes met mine.

“Ah, Aiden!”

Her crescent moon-shaped green eyes curved sweetly.

There was no need to say more.

It was Sophia.

However, Sophia’s demeanor was completely different from before I went on the hunt.

Her brown hair was neatly arranged, her once dirty face was now sparkling clean, and her skin gleamed.

She wore a brand-new trainee uniform instead of ragged clothes, and even wore a shining crystal earring that caught the light.

The Sophia standing before me was no longer a shabby little girl—

She looked every bit like a glamorous noblewoman.

“Welcome! I saved you a seat.”

The seat she pointed to was none other than the central table—

A place usually reserved for senior trainees.

“…Hey, Sophia.”

“Yes?”

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“Okay? I’m happier than ever these days!”

She certainly looked it.

Sophia couldn’t stop smiling.

“And it’s all thanks to you, Aiden.”

But the trainees surrounding Sophia were not smiling.

Later, I heard the story—

That the “basket girl” had completely taken over the order of the Training Institute.