Chapter 420: Elder, Ancilla, Neonate and Human (3)

There wasn’t any visible shock—but the words had clearly struck home.

As expected of a vampire with a cold heart, Kavila didn’t react emotionally. She instead calmly assessed the implications.

“…Are you saying sis suspects me?”

“More accurately, she suspects ‘an Elder.’ I mean, really—what kind of Neonate could kill an Elder on their own? Either another Elder helped, or they did the killing and framed Lyre. Tyr, as the ruler, wouldn’t be able to overlook that possibility.”

“The suspicion itself is fair, but did sis really say that?”

Sharp.

Very vampire-like.

She wasn’t so easily misled into jumping to conclusions.

“No. Tyr doesn’t want to doubt someone who’s both a loyal aide and a cherished companion, but it’s better to resolve suspicion properly, right? So I’ve taken it upon myself to investigate, to ease her burden.”

“You don’t value your life much, do you? So audacious…”

Still, once Kavila confirmed this was my initiative, she actually seemed to like it.

“So this is the kind of blood bag she’s picked up, huh? Turns out you are useful as a consort. You’re right—my sister isn’t good at suspecting us.”

“Exactly. I thought vampires were cold and rational. Figuring out the culprit should’ve been easy.”

“We’re just not swayed by emotion. That’s not the same as being suspicious. Besides, to my sister, we Elders are her limbs. Your own hands and feet aren’t usually subjects of suspicion. To her, the body is something more precious than anything else…”

Kavila muttered briefly, then answered in a more serious tone.

“Fine. Audacious consort—what is it you want to know?”

“I want to know who might’ve held a grudge against the late Luscynia.”

“As I said, we Elders are vampires. We’re not emotional. Sudden, impulsive murder is a human excuse. No Elder would devise a risky, pointless murder plan just out of vague resentment.”

She spoke with conviction.

She truly believed what she said—and, as I already knew from reading her mind, she wasn’t the killer.

Still, I came here to dig up clues.

“I think Tyr feels the same way, but I’m here to consider the worst-case scenario, remember? Let’s change perspectives.”

“Change how?”

“Let’s say the culprit is one of the Elders. Then who could it be?”

When you assume something exists, certain things come into view.

A shift in hypothesis brings a shift in perspective—and that might draw new insights out of Kavila.

Even if she didn’t know the answer, conclusions drawn from her eleven centuries of experience were clues in themselves.

I didn’t even have to wait long.

“…I honestly don’t know. It’s such a stupid act that only Lunken comes to mind—but Lunken’s too dumb to hide evidence. Probably wouldn’t even think to hide it. So yeah, I’ve got nothing.”

“I heard Luscynia treated humans harshly.”

“Hmph. Yeah. That damned bat probably thought humans sprouted from the ground if you just dug enough. He’d use them roughly, kill them, and then just go looking for another. He also always nagged me to sell him my humans, hand them over… He acted like a bat and ended up blind. Does he think I should hand over the humans I’ve spent centuries feeding and sheltering?”

Kavila spoke like a ranch owner bragging about her livestock—but truthfully, she wasn’t far off.

Bloodweaver Kavila was gentle toward humans.

It was partly her personality, but also a kind of wisdom refined through nearly eleven centuries of experience.

To her, humans posed no threat.

A slight increase in numbers didn’t make them harder to manage.

She handled the coastal region, where resources were easy to gather.

Her subordinates dealt in blood and bone, and with a few more traps laid by the shore, she could feed hundreds.

However, just to avoid any misunderstandings—Kavila didn’t see humans as equals.

Her gentleness was the result of cold, meticulous calculation born from a delicate disposition.

…But does that change the fact that it is kindness?

Honestly, at that point, you might as well just call it love.

“Anyway, that answers that.”

“So, you’re not suspecting me?”

“I’m going in order—from least to most suspicious.”

“Your reasoning?”

It probably wouldn’t be proper to say, “You looked the weakest in a one-on-one back in Claudia.”

I made up something more appropriate.

“Because you’re devoted to Tyr. I don’t believe Ms. Kavila would ever cause something that would trouble her.”

Kavila snorted.

“Hmph. You sure know how to flatter.”

“That’s how I got the consort title.”

“There’s probably more to it than that… Anyway, I’ve nothing more to say about the culprit.”

Hmm. I’d already read her thoughts, so I knew she wasn’t involved.

Still, I didn’t walk away empty-handed.

It seemed the late Luscynia had made quite a few enemies—among Elders, no less.

So how bad was it with humans?

That’s probably why no one questioned Lyre Nightingale’s motive.

Because Luscynia himself was the motive.

Hmm… So then who was it really…?

I scratched my chin in thought when Kavila stood and asked.

“Humans get hungry all the time, don’t they? Want something to eat?”

“Yes, please.”

Can’t say no to that.

Kavila personally prepared the seafood she’d just caught.

The teddy bear puppet she controlled hopped onto a cutting board, where it deftly scaled and filleted the fish with a sharp bone knife.

Meanwhile, her apron-wearing Dragonfang Puppet steamed a huge crab in a pot.

The cooking was swift and efficient.

Within minutes, a full meal of fresh seafood was laid out before me.

Kavila shooed the puppet aside.

“Eat. I’ve prepared food that’ll interfere with your blood flavor as little as possible, so eat as much as you like.”

“You’re so thoughtful about my health… I’ll accept your care and do my best to stay healthy.”

“For the last time—it’s not your sake, it’s for sis! Don’t get it twisted!”

The sashimi drizzled with fruit juice had an extraordinarily luxurious taste.

Fresh fish may be edible raw, but that only applies when it’s truly fresh.

The firm flesh stimulated my tongue with a rich umami different from meat.

Then came the steamed crab—and its flavor was downright violent.

The warm meat melted on my tongue in an explosion of taste.

This is life.

All this time, living beside a chef like this without any sense of taste?

I’ve made up my mind.

Tonight, I’m reviving Tyr’s tongue first.

Kavila watched me eat for a moment, then asked offhandedly.

“…Did something happen to sis?”

She’d clearly been curious for a while, yet it took her this long to ask.

I played dumb.

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t feel her dominance anymore. Ever since our first meeting—there should’ve been a tremor, a presence… but it’s gone. She’s not leaving it undone on purpose. I can tell. Do you know anything about that?”

Hmm. What should I do?

Should I just play dumb?

Say I’m just a regular human—how would I know anything about a vampire’s biology?

｢There’s no way someone became her consort for no reason. There must be something. There has to be. I need to know what happened to her… how she changed.｣

But that would only postpone the suspicion.

Might as well tell her.

I’ve already exposed myself as the King of Humans.

I casually took another bite and said it as offhandedly as possible,

“It’s nothing major. She just got her heart back.”

“Her… heart?”

“Yeah. After a tremendous adventure, not only did she remember the heartbeat she’s long forgotten—she succeeded in making it beat again.”

The idea of a dead heart starting to beat again was so unprecedented that Kavila needed a moment to process it.

I gave her more context to help it sink in.

“Life is the separation of self from the world, and death is becoming one with it. When her heart started beating again, Tyr’s power—Bloodcraft—also began to distinguish between self and the world. Her dominion weakened a bit as a result, but Tyr herself hasn’t changed much. So don’t worry.”

“…You helped her with that. That’s why you’re her consort…”

Vampires are surprisingly perceptive.

Whether it’s due to long experience or because they don’t gloss over things with emotion, I can’t say.

But I nodded reluctantly.

“Well, yeah. Not that it’s a big deal.”

“…Good for her.”

“Tell that to Tyr directly for me. I think she’d be happy to hear that.”

That aside, food is food.

I wiped the last of the meal clean and rose from my seat in satisfaction.

“That was delicious. I’ll be going now. I’ll investigate the culprit as carefully as I can, so don’t worry too much.”

Just as I turned to leave, Kavila made her teddy bear puppet move.

Its mouth opened and, like a ventriloquist act, a voice came out—as if it weren’t her speaking.

“Be careful of Valdamir.”

“Valdamir? The Crimson Duke? Do you suspect him?”

“It’s not a question of suspicion.”

A vampire is still a vampire, no matter what anyone says.

They are monsters with cold blood and motionless hearts who drink human blood.

With that cold rationality, their emotional fluctuations are nearly nonexistent.

You might call it cruelty.

They don’t hope for the best, and they don’t reject the worst.

“You can’t say for sure who the culprit is. But—if Valdamir is harboring sinister intentions…”

Just like I came to Kavila first—because she seemed the least dangerous—Kavila used the same logic to maintain her guard.

If everyone else betrayed us, we’d survive.

It wouldn’t be the end of the world.

But that one man… The strongest Elder, the true power behind this land: the Crimson Duke, Valdamir.

If he ever decided to cast off the shackles that bound him—

“…Then even sis, now that she’s freed herself from the shackles, might be in danger.”