Ryuuchiro strode through the dimly lit hallway, walking past every frame of huge portraits hanging on each wall. The sole of his shoes knocked the floor covered with red carpet with golden floral and French curves sewn along the hallway. He set his eyes on a solo metal door ahead with a metal wheel attached to it. He inserted his ID card into a thin vertical strip on the metal frame of the door. The glass dragon head beside the strip flashed green light accompanied by a bell sound. The metal wheel turned anticlockwise completing one revolution.
The door opened slowly inward. He stepped into the wide room. The seven legislative council members in black robes and black mitres on each head were there, sitting around the oval table. They stared at him with revulsion drawn on each face. He walked straight to the empty seat around the oval table. He clasped his hands together and rested his elbows on the surface of the table.
"Tsukiyama-kaichou, do you have any idea about the vampire's revolution? We as the members of the legislative council won't just sit here and do nothing about it!" The oldest member started the session without a proper opening.
"An arachnid monster with the head of a man emerged from the North Coast and perturbed the sentinel's game that it has to be out to a halt, wounding more than a thousand people and they are civilians. What will you do regarding this? You don't just sit on your throne and do nothing about the vampire," an old woman added with blue gems with golden metal dangling on her ears.
"City of Mitsuremon needs us, the VSO. We need to protect the city or more damage would be predicted in random areas. We have the seven sentinels in this island, they might be useful in this matter," a man of 50 added.
Ryuuchiro stood and slammed the table with his hands. He snarled then exhaled slowly and sighed. The legislative council members stared at him without reprimanding his sudden attack. He looked at his vague and dark reflection on the smooth surface of the table then glared at each furious face. He locked his hands on his back and began to surround the table.
"Japan is a big country or I must say, a huge island. The vampire might just attack us from any district or zone. We can't rely too much on the sentinels, they have their own countries to protect and they're needed to send back! Japan has two strong sentinels, and that won't be enough. I'm aware of the need of our organisation," Ryuuchiro stopped behind the old lady with dangling gems on her ears and leant closer, "I say, we can only send our men to fortify the coast. We are outnumbered to protect the whole city."
"Without the rest of the sentinel here, Japan will be nothing but a deserted island and nest for the vampire. With the vampires revolving, our stronghold won't withstand their further attacks. Even when the government were to be involved, they are invincible to bullets without curse," another member added.
"Tsukiyama-kaichou, we must protect the city and persuade the government to perish the vampire fortress in Kyoto! There's a high possibility that this is part of her move to conquer our land once again,"
Ryuuchiro sighed and put his steps to an abrupt halt. He knew that the queen of vampires had no intention to conquer the world again. It was written in the testimony and part of their agreement with the government to stay within their fortress.
"Accusing the innocent queen, are you either mad or afraid of the vampire's domination upon us?" Ryuuchiro asked in disgust.
"Are you mad?! The queen is not innocent, as long as she is alive and her heirs, the vampire's domination won't end until they all perish! She may dismiss the deal, the agreement with the government may mean nought to her," he replied with dissatisfaction.
"Your testimony? To accuse the guilty of a mastermind, concrete evidence is required," Ryuuchiro replied.
"Testimony?" Laughed the oldest member then followed by the others. "It is not needed, vampires have been conquering the world for millennia and you need more evidence to prove they are guilty? That's absurd, Tsukiyama-kaichou."
"If the government refutes, we must act, put an end to the vampire's lair. The organisation has the right to interrupt the government's affair regarding the vampire,"
"It's decided as stated, we perish the fortress and annihilate every vampire in the fortress," a woman of age 30 raised her hand.
The oldest member raised his wrinkled hand to vote for her then followed by the old lady with dangling gems and the other. All of the legislative council members raised their hands as they all agreed. They stared at Ryuuchiro who didn't raise his hand. He plunged his hand into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out an envelope. He stomped it on the table and demanded each of the members to analyse the red solid wax on the envelope.
He took out his cigar from a box he took out from his inner pocket. He cut the end of the cigar with a shear and lit it up with a lit match. The match breathed out thin black smoke after he shook it and extinguished the small fire. He sucked the smoke and exhaled puffy light gray smoke into the clean air. He removed the cigar and tapped his finger on the table. The legislative council members looked at the red stamp in disbelief.
"Where on earth did you get this letter? Who is the sender?" Asked the oldest member with a hoarse and angry tone.
Ryuuchiro leant closer to the table, put the cigar back to his mouth. He clasped his hands and grinned.
_______________
"Why are we in this inconvenient truck? And the road is bumpy and the seat is uncomfortable! Why am I sitting on a metal seat?!" Victoria complained while embracing her wooden staff.
She closed her eyes tightly as she kept bouncing. Nobara grinned and laughed over her silly actions while stroking Yuu's soft black fur. Yuu was sleeping soundly on her shoulder like a sleeping human infant. Era who sat beside Victoria smiled and embraced her like her own daughter and patted her hair. Her huge breasts bounced and shook smoothly, following the movement of the truck.
"There there, Miss Rothschild. The upper refused to send a limousine or any other luxurious car to a battlefield," Era coaxed the teenage girl.
Hayabusa, who sat beside Nobara, ate a bar chewy sweet and offered one to her. Nobara took it and continued stroking Yuu's head. Benditto, who sat on the opposite side tried to balance himself, the inconvenient ride made his head spinned. Ruthbert who sat in between him and Adalbert slept with his cat-like toxic blob buried in his head.
"Where does this truck take us to?" Adalbert asked while staring at Nobara.
"We're going to Vampire over Vehicle, Ryuuchiro sent us," Nobara replied.
"Isn't that the vampire fortress? Are we going to annihilate the vampires?!" Hayabusa asked with excitement and punched the air.
"Why are we-" Benditto covered his mouth as he almost vomited.
He burped and held Ruthbert's shoulder. "There then?"
Before Benditto could spray his mess, Ruthbert's adorable blob engulfed his head and swallowed his vomits. The blob released him and its colour varied, from dirty green to blue and red. It shook itself and returned to Ruthbert's face. It closed its eyes and hissed slowly. Benditto massaged his head with his hands while staring at the floor.
"This is ignominious," he whispered to himself.
Era saw him and took a pink packet of tissue and passed it to Nobara and she passed it to Hayabusa and Hayabusa offered it to Benditto. He took it and hastily pulled one pink tissue out and rubbed the remaining mess on his lips. He straightened his body as he felt better but Era offered her another mineral water. He took it and thanked her.
"Mrs Era, I don't see any voluminous bag beside you but how can you cram everything in it?" Hayabusa asked.
"Oh this? This is Jannat, my moth assistant. She can transform into any object but I tend to carry a lot of things in my bag so I use her. Unlimited objects can be out in, even this truck fits in this bag," Era covered her lips with her fingers and laughed.
"That makes sense," Hayabusa replied.
"We have been in this truck for so many hours. This jaunt hurts my bum," Victoria complained and rubbed her bum.
Era lifted her and let her sit in her fat thick thighs. Victoria's face turned red, she looked like a little girl sitting on her mother's laps. The other sentinels looked away and laughed, especially Nobara. Nobara looked at Yuu as he whined. She rubbed his body and put him to sleep like her own child.
"Nightmares," Nobara uttered.
Hayabusa rubbed Yuu's little head slowly. Benditto watched them who looked like a married couple on their journey together with their infant. He envied Hayabusa and staring at Nobara embracing her little puppy, he had the feelings of making children with her. He rested his head on his fist with his elbow resting on Ruthbert's shoulder.
"We're here," the driver of the truck informed them.
They immediately set their eyes on the windscreen and saw a wide and tall concrete wall a hundred metres ahead, covered with thick trees. They were mesmerised by the huge wall as it was their first time seeing the fortress.