episode_0033

The Soul Pledge, a kind of contract where souls are at stake.

Since it involves the soul, there’s a binding force to the Soul Pledge.

Thus, one must unconditionally adhere to the terms of the contract.

The reason Luna and I are making this pledge is exactly that.

It’s the only way we can establish trust between us, just after meeting for the first time.

“Hey, it’s all written down. Take a look.”

Luna seems to have written everything on the parchment. Let’s check it out.

“I’ll review the contents, give me a moment.”

“Sure, take a look.”

———-

A) Bern Flame does not reveal B) Silia’s true identity to anyone.

Until A) violates the pledge, B) will not cause harm to A)’s life.

Furthermore, if B) discloses A)’s identity to another, B) gains the right to A)’s life and death.

A)

B)

———-

Hmm, they’ve been quite lenient in writing this.

Perhaps because I’m in a lower position compared to her, I tried to understand even if it was unreasonable.

This seems fine.

No, it almost feels like she’s being too generous towards me.

If I just refrain from revealing her identity, wouldn’t all threats to my life be blocked?

The terms of the pledge seem overly favorable to me.

But wait, Silia? Wasn’t her name Luna?

Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked her.

“Silia? Was that your name?”

“…What’s it to you? Your own name has to be included in the pledge, you know? If not, it won’t be valid. And what’s wrong with my name?”

“No, I thought it was a beautiful name.”

It truly is a beautiful name. I’m not lying.

But there’s so much information I don’t know about.

Well, not all information is disclosed in the original work anyway.

Come to think of it, didn’t I mention selling expansion packs a few days before possessing her body?

Lost in my thoughts, Silia, looking slightly flustered, exclaimed,

“What, what? Enough, hurry up and stamp it!”

“Alright. But, Silia.”

“What, what now?”

I asked because the conditions of the pledge seem too advantageous to me.

“If you don’t like it, we can change it. It’s a bit too accommodating…”

“No, let it be.”

There’s no need to change it.

If that’s what you want, then so be it.

Now, all that’s left is to stamp it.

I retrieved a knife I had previously stored from my inventory.

Seeing that, she looked at me with slightly enlarged eyes, resembling a cat.

“Is this your first time seeing a magic pouch?”

“No, not really. It just feels somewhat unfamiliar.”

Can a vampire’s senses truly be deceived?

Certainly, I find it odd myself.

But since it’s a pre-existing feature, I just use it thinking, ‘It shouldn’t matter much.’

Anyway, I grasped the handle of the knife and lightly nicked the tip of my thumb.

The red blood starting to flow from my fingertip.

By stamping each other’s blood and burning the parchment with fire, the pledge will be fulfilled.

“Silia, take this. Aren’t you supposed to do it too?”

“Fine, I can just use my nails.”

What? Is she saying she’ll tear it with her nails?

Indeed, vampires have a different way of thinking altogether.

Well, Luna, or rather, Silia, wouldn’t allow such a crude knife near her body.

Even if she’s a hybrid, a vampire’s body is incredibly resilient.

Nevertheless, once again reverting to her original form, she made a small cut on her thumb with her sharp nails.

All vampires inherently possess red eyes and hair in the white color spectrum.

Nearby, there are vampires with silver hair akin to a silver snowflake like Silia and those with hair almost resembling silver. Initially, it was too sudden to properly appreciate, but upon closer inspection, they are truly beautiful.

No, incredibly stunning.

The aloof aura exuded by the white hair and the seductive feel of the crimson eyes.

Seeing them in person, it truly fills one with awe.

Hmm, is there a sense of accomplishment in this possession?

Back to the point, now we must form a bond.

How do we go about forming this bond?

“Silia, once we form this bond and stamp it, there’s no turning back.”

“Alright, give me your hand. Let’s get this over with quickly.”

Taking my bleeding hand, Silia began shaping something with my hand.

‘This is…’

Something we used to do when making promises as kids.

Hooking our pinkies and finally stamping with our thumbs.

Memories.

But even this forges a bond.

Just touching each other’s blood seems enough.

As I stare intently at our joined hands, Silia starts speaking.

“Don’t stare so bashfully. We just need to form the bond somehow.”

“I know.”

“By the way, your hand is quite rough. Calluses here and there, plenty of scars. Are all guys’ hands like this?”

“Oh, my mistake. Sorry,” Silia apologizes.

Well, Bern’s hand is indeed rough.

Rougher and more scarred than boys his age.

It’s probably natural for someone who has lived a hard life for a long time.

Her hand, which seems to have a painful past, feels so soft and warm that you wouldn’t think it holds any painful memories.

No matter how small her hand is, thinking of a girl with such delicate hands dying is really…

Silia, I want to see you smile.

You have the right to enjoy a normal life.

Yes, I’ve made up my mind. This is my new goal.

To save my favorite character.

I hope everyone on the path I’m taking will smile.

Anyway, it’s time to stamp.

We released our hands and stamped our seals on our respective signature lines.

The seal engraved in blood turned the writing on the parchment red.

The parchment exuded an eerie atmosphere.

It almost feels like there’s a purple aura lingering around.

Is this the work of dark magic?

To conclude, I conjured a flame of magic.

A blue flame burning brightly.

I brought the parchment with the oath to the flame.

As the flame began to catch, after a while, the parchment burned completely.

The burnt remains of the parchment turned into ashes and started seeping into our right wrists.

A black mark engraved on our wrists.

It seems the oath has been successfully fulfilled.

Now that the oath is concluded, it’s time to part ways.

“Silia, it seems the soul’s oath has been successfully completed.”

“We probably won’t meet again from now on.”

“Well, that might not be entirely true.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re students of the same academy; we’ll probably meet often.”

“We’ll meet often? What do you mean?”

We should meet often.

You’re in danger.

You’re being targeted by a terrorist group, aren’t you?

Do you think I’ll just leave you alone?

“Why did you enroll in this academy?”

“….”

“Well, I don’t know your circumstances perfectly, but there must have been a reason.”

“Ugh, this is ridiculous. Are you stupid? It hasn’t been that long since we met. Who do you think you are? I’m a vampire! A demon! I could kill everyone here, couldn’t I?”

“No, if you wanted to kill me, you would have done so already. From sparing me, I knew you weren’t the kind of person to do such a thing.”

“That’s… I could still be part of Requiem, right?”

“No, earlier you were being attacked by a Requiem officer. So, you’re neither a Requiem officer nor a monster sent to massacre these people.”

“You’re just an ordinary person. In that sense, Silia, perhaps the club…”

“…Since the pledge is over, I’m going back.”

-Swish

Silia, transformed into a bat, flew out through the window.

Wait, leaving all of a sudden? What am I supposed to do?

The old-timer, Bi-gi, was trying to recruit me for a surprise club entry.

Hmm, looks like I have to go back alone.

It feels eerie being alone.

It’s almost 11 o’clock. Let’s quickly head back to the dorm.

I have to start working part-time again from tomorrow morning.

There’s still a lot to do.

Let’s go there today and just rest without doing anything.

Well, it’s been a tiring day.

A refreshing breeze blows into the classroom where I am alone.

A cool spring breeze enters through the window left open by Silia.

Looking outside the window, the sky appeared as peaceful as ever with no clouds, and small stars shining in the cloudless sky.

Silia, a girl shining like a star in the night sky.

If there’s someone trampling on the future of such a girl, I’ll trample them the same way.

A half-vampire girl who desires normalcy.

Normalcy is something everyone possesses, but she couldn’t enjoy it.

Yes, normalcy is her goal and dream in life.

I hope she lives to achieve her dreams.

The wind blows.

….

“What, what are you doing? Seriously.”

Can you really trust a vampire like that?

Am I the weird one? Or is it that guy who’s weird?

He’s really strange.

Not even scared of me, treating me like a human…

Apart from the principal and the kids, no one else knew my true identity.

A fascinating man. The black-haired man who piques curiosity.

“Bern… Bern Flame… I’ll remember that.”

Looks like Bern Flame is also a second-year student.

He’s a vampire too…

I’m slightly… intrigued.

….

“Silia.”

Oh, cancel that bit about being intrigued.

“Silia.”

I said cancel it.

“Sili…”

“Okay, okay, stop calling me..!”

Making people tired since Monday morning.

“Silia, join the club.”

Ugh, seriously… should I just kill him?