Chapter 423: Elder, Ancilla, Neonate and Human (6)

The reason night feels short is because it’s empty.

Whether for humans trying to sleep away the void or for vampires doing nothing out of boredom, the night always feels short.

But once you start filling the dark, silent night with something—anything—it becomes so overwhelmingly full.

Like pouring into a bottomless jar, you begin to wonder if nighttime has always been this long.

A long night had passed.

The Lady of the Plenilune Castle

The Queen of Shadows.

The Progenitor of Vampires, Tyrkanzyaka, lay dazed, recalling the night before.

Though she had lived more than a thousand years as a vampire, staying up through countless nights, there had never been a night quite as memorable as this last one.

｢That was for treatment purposes. It was merely a method to deliver sensation back to my body. I know that, and yet…｣

No matter how many times she tried to reason with herself, her heart kept pounding on its own.

Tyrkanzyaka, while burdened by that fluttering feeling, also discovered she was enjoying it.

｢…Still, was that really only for treatment?｣

The more she thought about it, the redder her face grew.

In the past, she could have stopped it the moment she wished for it—but now, even if she begged for it to stop out of embarrassment, her heart kept beating inside her chest.

She could restrain it with Bloodcraft, but at that rate, her heart might burst.

Giving up on controlling her emotions, Tyrkanzyaka buried her face in her bed.

｢Of course it was not! We spent the whole night kissing. We kissed sitting on chairs, lying on the desk, even embracing each other. And the tongue! The tongue—it was inside my mouth…!｣

“…!!!”

– Thump, thump.

Tyrkanzyaka punched the bed repeatedly.

With every hit, it burst open, sending feathers flying in all directions.

Despite the antique bed’s historical value deteriorating quickly into a pile of scrap, Tyrkanzyaka remained busy reminiscing about the events of last night.

｢I was so flustered, so embarrassed… I never got to ask, but Hu must have felt it too…｣

Even though quite some time had passed, she was still rolling around in bed.

With this one happy memory—and the heartbeat it brought—she felt she could spend several more days like this without ever getting bored.

But alas, she couldn’t lounge around forever.

He had promised to come again tonight.

Last night was the mouth… tonight, it might be somewhere else—

“…!!!”

– Thump, thump.

The bed now looked no different from a poor bird pierced by arrows.

Tyrkanzyaka kept rolling around among the feathers pouring out from it…

And then, a strange sensation tickled her mouth.

It was a feather.

A dry feather gently tickled the inside of her mouth.

At first, she didn’t even know what felt off and paused to identify the foreign feeling.

After nearly thirty minutes of chewing over the sensation, Tyrkanzyaka finally realized.

｢It tickles.｣

The inside of her mouth tickled.

Since becoming a vampire, she’d never felt anything like this.

But after his tongue had thoroughly painted every corner of her mouth last night… it had regained sensation.

“…I can taste again.”

She could taste.

Whether she could digest it was another matter, but at the very least, Tyrkanzyaka’s tongue was now able to enjoy gourmet cuisine.

She touched her lips and reflected on what that meant.

And what was the point of gaining a new ability if you didn’t use it right away?

Tyrkanzyaka lifted her head and called for her handmaiden.

“Katalina.”

“Yes, my Lady. Did you summon me?”

The maid answered from beyond the door.

Tyrkanzyaka sat up and gave an order.

“I shall visit Kavila. Make preparations.”

“Your will shall be done.”

Kavila was the finest cook known to the Progenitor.

And also the Elder with whom she could speak most openly.

Unlike the others, Kavila had become a vampire as a child, and Tyrkanzyaka had practically raised her herself.

Until now, Kavila had only ever used her culinary skills to serve humans.

But today, she would have the chance to serve the one she revered—Tyrkanzyaka.

The sunlight above was always veiled by fog, shrouding the vast yet obscured plains while the damp wind blew in from the sea.

Even the rare clear weather that comes every few months was dulled by the ever-present mist.

Exhausted, I let out a long yawn.

“Haaaam.”

As I paused mid-step across the field to yawn, Lunken stopped and asked.

“A yawn? Are you tired?”

“Yeah. I didn’t sleep well last night because I had to sleep in a different place.”

Well—if you could even call that sleep.

After spending the night clinging to Tyr and restoring her senses, I only got a short nap in.

Choosing to do it through kissing was the right move.

Because Tyr was so hyper-aware of it, the response to the sensory restoration was good, and I even enjoyed it quite a bit.

If I’d stuck to just grabbing her tongue, it might’ve taken over a week.

“Humans are so fragile! It’s strange enough that you sleep every few hours, but to get tired just from not sleeping well? How can you live with such inconvenience?”

Completely unaware of the context, Lunken laughed heartily.

I wondered what kind of reaction he’d give if I said I was tired because I spent the whole night kissing the Progenitor.

Well, knowing Lunken, he might actually accept that surprisingly easily.

Not that I plan to test that theory.

“From a human’s perspective, you vampires who barely sleep and then suddenly sleep for months are the strange ones.”

“To think you sleep every day—just for that short period between sunrise and sunset? How tedious! Sleep is a habit. Cut it down!”

“It’s not a habit, it’s a biological necessity. You can’t just cut that out. Don’t you even remember your human days?”

“That was so long ago I forgot!”

“How proud of you.”

Grumbling, I returned to the main topic.

“So, you manage the shepherds and ranches on the plains, right, Lunken?”

“Of course! Though all the minor tasks are handled by my lackeys! I don’t get involved unless I’m bored or need to chase off wolves or tigers!”

“Tigers too?”

“Hah. They don’t come down often, but young adults who’ve just matured will sometimes try their luck. I can’t leave it to my underlings—they’re unreliable, and if I gather a bunch of humans to comb the mountains, some are bound to get mauled. Better for me to just go and bash them myself, no?”

An Ancilla might well be able to match a tiger in combat.

But even for an Ancilla, wandering through mountains searching for one is foolish—so it makes sense that an Elder would handle it personally.

What?

Isn’t it still foolish even for an Elder?

Well, if the Elder is also foolish, it becomes perfectly reasonable.

Lunken was bold and powerful—but not particularly skilled in Bloodcraft. However, his nose for blood was unmatched.

Especially the blood of beasts.

Compared to other Elders, his hunting instincts were incredible.

Surely, there’s some animal blood mixed into his own.

The plains and ranches, full of wild creatures, suit him well.

In short, each Elder has their own domain—and the people they’re suited for are different.

“Ms. Kavila and her Ancillae protect the people along the coast. From what I understand, each Elder takes care of a different group of humans. Right?”

“There are definite differences in our inclinations!”

“In that case, what kind of people did the late Elder Luscynia usually handle?”

Lunken answered without hesitation.

“The sick!”

“Sick? As in, the ill?”

“Exactly! That bat bastard liked to mess with bodies! It might’ve worked for vampires, but humans died left and right. Whenever he went looking for more, they’d already been taken in by other Elders! Only those on death’s door entrusted their bodies to him! The dying gambled on their survival. If they were lucky, they lived.”

So healthy people avoided him, but the injured or dying went to him as a last resort.

A unique outcome: the most desperate flocked to the harshest Elder.

It explained why Doctor Sage emerged from under Luscynia’s care.

“Was that helpful, consort?”

“Yeah, that was definitely useful. The ones in Luscynia’s care would’ve been desperate and sick, and most of them probably underwent bodily modifications. They would’ve had plenty of reason to resent an Elder. I can understand why suspicion fell on Lyre, who became a Neonate.”

“Whoever killed him, I’d like to fight them! They must be a powerful opponent!”

Lunken roared with excitement, then suddenly smacked his lips and looked at me.

“Speaking of which, care for a spar?”

“I can’t fight. I’m weak.”

“When do you plan on getting strong?”

“Well, strength isn’t something you just will into existence… but just wait. Once I awaken, I’ll be strong enough to bring about the end of the world.”

Even though I told him the truth, Lunken’s reaction was unimpressed.

“Talks big! People like that usually amount to nothing.”

“That’s exactly why I talk big—I’m nothing special.”

“Hah! Fair point! An empty shell, eh!”

Letting Lunken nod to himself, I fell into thought.

I didn’t expect much, but Lunken really didn’t know anything.

His intel was the kind you could get just by reading someone’s mind at random along the road.

Even when I scanned his memories with Mind Reading, Lunken hadn’t shown any interest in Luscynia, let alone the intent to kill him.

Even after his death, Lunken had just brushed it off.

Hmm. So who was it?

No matter how many people I read, the culprit never shows up.

An Elder died—there’s no way it was an accident.

Even if it happened ten years ago, it’s not like vampires grow old and die…

Ah. Then maybe—someone who was an Elder ten years ago, but isn’t around now?

As I was starting to suspect a new possibility, Lunken rose to his feet.

“Time to head back? I’ll take you. Come along!”

“Huh? What’s gotten into you, being so kind all of a sudden?”

“You’re the Progenitor’s consort! If something happened to you, how would I ever face her again!”

What is it about being the Progenitor’s consort that even a wild boar beastkin learns to show courtesy?

I was about to gratefully accept his kindness when Lunken suddenly sniffed the air, his tusks twitching restlessly.

“Besides… I smell something foul. It’s probably nothing dangerous for you, consort—but better be careful. Humans die too easily.”

“You said you can’t even smell properly.”

“Snort! I can smell blood better than anyone! And this tingling sensation before a bloodbath begins—something’s coming. I can feel it!”

I read his thoughts, but found nothing concrete.

His excitement came from pure animal instinct.

He blew out a strong puff of air and stared at the sky, muttering.

“Bats are flying. Be careful, King of Humans. A retainer that’s lost its master… always goes berserk.”