Chapter 456: One For All

The Elder rebellion was brief, but its impact was intense.

Dozens of humans were killed or injured just from the brief rampage of Erzsebet.

If there was any silver lining, it was that Lyre turned those who should have died into mere wounded.

Thanks to her miraculous efforts—almost as if the heavens had recorded the wrong names in the death registry—many survivors now had the chance to tell their tale.

Those who had been bleeding from every inch of their body now groaned in anemia, their wounds sealed.

Hilde moved swiftly among them, murmuring.

“As long as they don’t die, she keeps them alive… Quite the enviable ability, no? I’d like to keep one of her in the Military State too~ like emergency medicine.”

“What do you take an Elder for?”

“Maybe not just any Elder, but she might be different! She’s saving people, isn’t she? In that case, wouldn’t the Military State, where more humans die, be more fitting for her cause than the Duchy?”

“Now you’re just bragging about having more deaths in your country.”

“Of course it’s a brag! More people dying means more people living! We don’t fret over a few dozen deaths!”

Hilde glanced over the wounded.

Those who had almost died giving their blood to Erzsebet were trembling in fear.

Having narrowly survived, they began recounting what happened.

“It was Madam Erzsebet! The Elder tried to kill all of us!”

“What? Why would an Elder do that?”

“She… she said she’d use our blood for power…!”

“Still, did she really need to kill…”

The Duchy’s order was that of livestock.

The humans here were notably peaceful and docile thanks to the vampires.

As predators, rulers, and guardians, vampires managed them all, so the humans lived peacefully as livestock.

But sadly, humans are not livestock.

They will never accept such a truth.

｢We were prey from the start.｣

｢We barely survived, but if another fight breaks out, we’ll be consumed as food.｣

｢We can’t depend on vampires. We humans must unite.｣

They were more lively now.

A good sight.

Sure, if you wanted to be livestock, that’s one thing.

But living like cattle while never accepting what you are… that’s just denial.

Hilde’s eyes sparkled like a child who’d found a new toy.

“Father, ‘I’ want her, Lyre Nightingale! Won’t you try negotiating with Tyrkanzyaka for her?”

“Stop relying on me for everything. It’s about time you learned to stand on your own.”

“Huh? How could someone who would have died long ago without ‘me’ talk like that?”

“Did I ask for your help? You did it on your own, didn’t you? It’s not like I issued a promissory note. Next time, try charging up front.”

“Wow! What trash!”

That’s life.

And from someone who’s lived this long, no less.

Though she said it to me, the matter of the Doctor Sage’s fate wasn’t something that shouting here would change.

Now that the tension had eased, Hilde let out a long yawn.

“Aaah~ I’m tired. ‘I’ want to rest for now~”

“Your stamina’s weak. I’m not that tired.”

“You’ve been lounging in the Progenitor’s chambers until recently! ‘I’ couldn’t even sleep properly while running the investigation!”

“Why did you bother doing all of that anyway? Things would’ve worked out and you could’ve taken it slow.”

“How was ‘I’ supposed to know that?! ‘I’ was anxious the whole time thinking you might just die!”

…Okay, that was touching.

Honestly, I didn’t expect Hilde to go this far to help me.

I thought all she wanted was to sell me off for the highest price and use me.

And… she still does.

But somewhere in her heart, there’s something she hopes for from me, or rather, from the King of Humans.

Maybe part of that is because I figured out her true identity, though whether I can meet that expectation is a whole other matter…

Still, it’s nothing bad for me, so—

“Ugh~ Still, ‘I’ did contribute quite a bit, so my standing must’ve gone up, right? With this incident, the new God of the Duchy, Tyrkanzyaka, is now in a weaker negotiating position! Future talks should go much smoother!”

“That would be nice.”

“What? There’s something more? If you know something, spit it out. I’m not up for any more of this hellwork, you know?”

“I don’t know for sure. Just… something the Crimson Duke said stuck with me.”

It’s not betrayal until it happens.

That wasn’t a warning because he thought I’d betray Tyr.

Valdamir doesn’t say things like that.

It was a declaration that even if I betray Tyr’s trust, he won’t stop me.

Seriously?

Why’s he acting like I will betray her?

Just like Hilde said, I helped Tyr.

Thanks to that, not only did I gain value, I earned my place in this power structure.

Why would I throw that away?

No, hold on.

This power vacuum?

Let’s dig in deep and enjoy it to the fullest.

Sure, I say I hate order and all that…

But if I’m the one establishing the order, why reject it?

Soon after, commotion stirred from the other side.

A group of people was making a straight path toward me.

When they got close enough to make out, a familiar voice rang out.

[Hu!]

See? Tyr came looking for me on her own.

Now I can finally live a life of power and—

…

Wait.

Tyr is approaching us.

Of course, she’s unscathed.

Even if she had been wounded, she would’ve regenerated, but from her thoughts, it seems she wasn’t really hurt at all.

Tyr has now learned to wield her power entirely for her own sake, even amidst internal conflict.

Yeah.

She’s finally learning how to live not as a god, but as a human.

That was part of my goal, sure…

But I’m starting to think that might not be such a good thing.

[Hu…! Are you unhurt? Are you alright?]

Tyr ran straight into my arms.

Her body felt slightly warmer than before.

Valdamir followed behind slowly, but she didn’t care.

She didn’t mind the stares from the many humans around us either.

She touched my face, eyes locked only on me.

“Ah… yes. I’m fine.”

[Thank goodness. If you had died… I…]

Tyr, eyes brimming with emotion as if she might cry any moment, suddenly rose onto her toes and kissed me.

Caught off guard, I froze.

But a kiss was nothing new by now, so I accepted it.

Her lips, softer and somehow warmer than before, overlapped with mine.

“Wow~ How shameless~”

Hilde, watching nearby, muttered with her usual clueless ease.

Seriously… completely clueless.

The long kiss ended.

Tyr wrapped her arms behind my neck and exhaled a soft breath with a gentle smile.

[Hu….]

Beyond her gaze, a long shadow quivered.

How odd.

With the mist in the Duchy, you don’t usually get such sharp shadows.

So what is that…?

As I wondered, Tyr cupped my face with both hands, drawing my attention back.

[Are you satisfied now?]

“Huh? Satisfied with what?”

[The Elder rebellion you orchestrated. Was this enough amusement to please the King of Humans?]

As if I had planned all of this, Tyr stroked my face and asked.

Who the hell made her like this?

“Amusement, you say? With such tragedy… I—”

[Shh.]

Just as I was about to reply at length, Tyr leaned in again and gently bit my lip.

The sharp sting showed she had broken the skin a bit.

As the metallic scent rose, she licked the blood off my lips and gave a pitiful smile.

[Hu, I’m thinking only of you. I’m only watching you. I know you enjoy watching the sparks fly when humans clash.]

“N-no, it’s not like that—”

[I also know that you like to give the hesitant a push and that you do not discriminate against who receives it.]

Tyr had lived a thousand years as a vampire.

What she learned through eternity was how to observe the world and let it flow past her.

If she had truly felt pain and loneliness during that time, she wouldn’t have stayed sane.

Luckily, a vampire’s dull emotions helped.

Even if she hadn’t wished for it.

And now, with all her feelings and sensations awakened—Tyr…

[Did you not push everyone forward? Luscynia’s Ancillae, Erzsebet… and even Finlay.]

She let nothing slide, not even the smallest detail.

She examined every minor doubt thoroughly, even more so when it involved me.

[The trial was just a trigger. You already knew the answer but said nothing… because you believed something would arise from it.]

“Well, I mean… There was procedure—”

The moment I tried to say something, her lips sealed mine again.

As if punishing my lie, she gently drank from the small wound she’d made earlier.

Though she claimed my blood was tasteless, she still sampled it bit by bit, whispering close:

[Was it not the same back then, Hu? When you struck me with lightning in the Abyss. You whispered hope to me who had given up and let me taste its sweetness. Why did you do that?]

“Because… you seemed to want it.”

[And so, recalling an old desire, I threw myself into a gamble. Back then, it was the only move I had.]

Commanding one’s own retainer to dominate oneself— It was a remarkably effective tactic.

If Finlay, still just a Neonate, hadn’t been so disgustingly weak, he might’ve succeeded like Luscynia.

I still think the attempt itself wasn’t bad.

[…Even though you already had a way to save me.]

That’s true.

There was no obligation to save her, but I did have the means.

Tyr spoke as if she had read my thoughts.

[Salvation of others is not one’s duty, so I never blamed you. Even without shame, I could not question why you did not save me sooner, but just one thing… There is only one answer I want to hear from you.]

“What is it?”

[Who was it for?]

Over the crown of Tyr’s head, I could see a shadow stretching across the sunless land.

She was in my arms, yet her shadow clung to the ground.

I didn’t understand why.

It looked alive… and unsettling.

But then again, even though the shadow resembled Tyr, it wasn’t surprising.

Then my eyes met the shadow’s.

Within the pure blackness, red eyes stared back at me, and then curved like a crescent moon in a smile.

A chill shot down my spine.

Cold sweat slid down my back.

I couldn’t read its thoughts.

Despite clearly being something born of Tyr’s power, despite supposedly moving by her will— it had moved of its own accord.

Tyr…

What exactly did you create?

[Finlay? Erzsebet? One of the other Elders?]

Something like Ralion?

But Ralion had been created from the corpse of the horse buried beside her.

That thing… was practically human.

She’d included the components of a human in it.

It bled like Tyr did.

And not only that—it carried within itself the various powers of the vampires.

It was a personification of vampire-kind.

Yet even though Tyr had created it…

Just now, she didn’t issue any command.

That shadow had moved entirely on its own.

[Or did it not matter who it was? So long as it was human?]

Tyr asked calmly.

Yet the pressure around me was suffocating.

It wasn’t killing intent.

It wasn’t mana.

It was pure will.

As someone who could read her heart, I was feeling it secondhand.

But… this will could manifest into form at any moment.

[Am I someone special to you?]

The greatest dilemma of my life.

I had to answer well.

Tyr knew she couldn’t read my heart completely.

She wasn’t asking because she believed the words I spoke.

She was asking because she had decided she would believe them, or make them the truth.

Where did she even learn that?

It was a method utterly immune to deception.

Even a Mind Reader would be helpless against it.

…Not that I was trying to deceive her anyway.

“You are special.”