By the time he had returned to town, there were stars twinkling in the sky.
While preoccupied with thoughts of the sorrowful parting of his fleeting encounter, Sirok went to the aristocrat at the council hall to hand over the letter just as he was asked. He was of a far greater status than those who employed him. Sirok had heard the reason behind creating the resident ledger was also because this aristocrat had something they were particularly interested in investigating.
The aristocrat's name was Enu the Distant Mirror, Thirteenth Minister of Aureatia.
"Hmph. And you were told to give me this letter, then?"
All of his hair was combed to the back of his head, and with his true age being outwardly inscrutable, the man left others with a shady and suspicious impression of him.
However, it was rare for an aristocrat not to despise children like Sirok, without any kith and kin.
"Yes. I definitely heard the name Obsidian, too. Do you believe Linaris was lying?"
"I'll need to see the contents of this letter before I can make any judgment."
He was neither perplexed by nor distrustful of Sirok's full report, and simply opened up the seal to Linaris's letter.
"Take a look." "What's going on…?"
"This is a blank piece of parchment, Sirok."
Nothing about Enu's tone suggested he was reproaching the young man, but Sirok's mind quaked with astonishment.
He thought there must have been some mistake.
"…That can't be! I'm not lying! I went into that mansion! Even the letter, she left it behind with me…and L-Linaris! She was there, I swear, Lord Enu!"
"Calm yourself. The truth. Not the past or the future. Let's start with the current facts. Just as I've taught my own men."
"But…!"
"Look at the facts. Until I opened this up, there was a seal stamped down here, yes?"
Enu continued matter-of-factly, fiddling with a fragment of the broken wax seal.
"You said that this letter wasn't a lie, yes? You're right. So long as you didn't miraculously stumble upon a letter sealed with the Obsidian crest somewhere, that makes it clear there must have been someone to hand you this letter."
"Still though, why…? Why ask me to deliver a blank piece of paper…?" "Therein lies the main point of inquiry. That's all we need to think about."
She had said to make sure the letter was passed along. He didn't understand what her aim was. How much of what happened that day had been reality, and how much had been a dream?
Pondering over something, Enu quickly rapped his finger on his temple. "Then… Well. If you're not in the mercenary trade, then it's reasonable
you wouldn't be familiar with this either. I will let you in on one more fact." Enu's expression was as disimpassioned as a wax doll's.
However, even someone who counted their name among Aureatia's Twenty-Nine Ministers was having difficulty weighing the facts from the events Sirok was describing.
"Obsidian Eyes has already been eradicated."
The following day. Just as he promised, Sirok met with Linaris once again.
It proved to be a reunion far more gruesome than anyone could imagine.
"The Visitors have brought many types of knowledge to this world. Among that knowledge, what do you think proved to be the most useful of all?"
It was the dead of night.
Before getting to the topic at hand, Aureatia's Thirteenth Minister introduced his argument.
Sirok didn't know exactly what school was like, but the thin cane Enu held appeared almost like a teacher's pointer in his hands.
"I didn't actually get much schooling. The visitors brought guns…and, what was the other thing…? Oh, right, they brought the metric system, too."
"Unexpectedly sharp observation there. You seem familiar with the story of Victor the Miser, right? That marked the arrival of the metric standard. Over there it's nothing more than a measuring system, though. Combining all the measuring systems into one was truly a huge achievement. However, the advent of this system did not go a long way toward saving the world."
The visitors possessed enough strength and vitality to overpower the people of this world, and many times they would use the knowledge from their world to forcibly rewrite society through a single general.
The wealthy businessman who brought the unifying system of measure to this world, Victor the Miser, was one of the most extreme examples. Nevertheless, there was another similarly big shift that Enu had in mind.
"Then, what is the answer?"
"Epidemiology. Accurate foundational understanding of epidemics is the biggest reason why recent generations have seen a striking increase in the average lifespan of us minia. Surely you know that disease is carried by small organisms that are invisible to the naked eye. It's been so fully established in our world that there are some who learn this in academic halls, while others are told by their parents. However, this understanding was only brought to us as recently as a hundred years ago."
"…Wouldn't you say a hundred years isn't quite 'recent?'"
"Of course it is. Up until then, there was only a vague concept of hygiene. From the time the royal family was established and onward, no one had any ideas regarding the true nature of disease."
With his hard, serious expression unchanged, the Thirteenth Minister humorously raised one of his eyebrows.
Sirok remembered the story from a fellow student who arrived from Aureatia. He was a boorish man and had no talent with the sword, but there was one story he would occasionally tell that was entertaining. It was about sewer system maintenance.
In the past, water reservoirs and sewage that hadn't spread beyond the world's urban areas were thoroughly maintained out of fear of disease. Conversely, farther out on the frontier, there were still villages with pit latrine–style toilets, but Sirok had never seen these for himself.
"Still, though, is this a necessary part of the topic at hand?"
"It is, because this topic involves the form and nature of vampires." "..."
"I will tell you the truth. The leader of Obsidian Eyes, Rehart the Obsidian, is rumored to be a vampire."
Vampires. When he heard the word, the first thing that came to Sirok's mind was Linaris.
White, as if she detested sunlight, nigh-impossible beauty, and a dreamlike charm…
"Vampires are one of the races whose true forms remained unknown until the modern era. Even the vampires themselves didn't truly understand the nature of their own existence… In truth, vampirism is a deviant and deadly strain of disease."
"Disease…?! Wait, but she looked minian… I could see her with my own
eyes, and I touched her."
"It's the truth. The vampire's main body is the pathogen in their blood. They think like people, but that is because their host is an animal capable of thought, and they are simply making use of their structural makeup. On top of this…vampires can infect others with the disease through mucus membranes or wounds. Then, similar in structure to the way ants work under command from their queen, the infected are turned into slaves that are fully influenced by the pheromones from their 'parent.' Manipulating them to be soldiers, forcing them to go beyond their physical limits, making them commit suicide
—whatever they see fit. They're referred to as a 'thrall.' That's the first stage."
Dragons. Ogres. Slimes. Many of the deviant species across the land came to them as Visitors and established themselves as a separate species. Inanimate enchanted swords and magic tools were another variety of these deviant and abnormal species. Exactly how much was included within this categorization was something not a single person living in their world could theorize on.
Supposing a virus, invisible to the naked eye, were to depart from its normal evolution, and deviate enough to jump between worlds, what shape would it take in that situation?
"Phase two. Regardless of whether they're a vampire or a thrall, the infected's child naturally contracts the pathogen, and their body is remade in the womb. Then, they become able to generate the vampire pathogen themselves. That makes them a new 'parent.' The next generation of vampire. Through blood transmission and infection from mother to child, they increase the numbers of infected."
"The unborn child…is remade? D-does something that horrifying really happen?"
"You see, Sirok, our genetic makeup, well… It's decided by a chain of factors, even more minuscule than our cells, which are passed on by our ancestors… To explain even further, the vampires are specialists, far beyond our capabilities, when it comes to recombining these linking factors. Specialized, and shrewd. They can easily construct these parents to more easily accomplish their blood infections, both by giving them forms that are alluring to others, and through physical abilities that cause bloodshed."
They were unable to cross moving water. They died when bathed in
sunlight. They loathed germicidal herbs. It was possible to combat them with weapons of silver. The various elements described as weaknesses in legends from the Beyond largely didn't apply to actual vampires themselves.
However, these legends brilliantly hit the mark on the truth behind one certain aspect of their physiology.
"Now, my introductory explanation ran a bit long. But I needed to explain all of this to you beforehand in order for you to understand the truth."
"Well…I'm sorry to say but I didn't really understand most of what you were talking about. Why are you telling a kid like me all of this? Are you trying to say Linaris is dead?"
"You are."
"…I'm…what?"
The civil servant smiled callously and put a piece of fabric on top of the table.
It was the one Linaris had used to wrap his wound…which Enu had then changed after he listened to Sirok's story.
"I had a soldier examine your blood. You've already been infected. With this, we know for a fact that there was a vampire in that manor you visited."
"Th-that can't be…! I'm not dead! I'm here, talking to you right now! I have a will of my own!"
"That much is true. The undead simply obey the commands of their parent. They aren't the mindless, shambling corpses they're generally believed to me. As long as your parent unit remains, you'll be able to return to your minian life… Though you'll be in a hospital ward for a little bit. It requires a variety of different treatments, of course."
Sirok clutched his head from dizziness. He wasn't minian. He was a worker drone under the control of a shapeless disease. Was he fated for such a disappointing end?
His left middle finger… Had her blood been mixed into the ointment she had used on him? He had also drunk the amber tea she prepared for him. Did that mean…
"L-Linaris.…was deceiving me…from the very start…?!"
"Considering all the facts, I am obliged to come to that conclusion. Both Rehart the Obsidian and Linaris are nothing more than threats to the minian races. You'll cooperate with us, won't you, Sirok?"
Sirok nodded, stricken with grief. Even now, with his burning adoration
for Linaris unabated, it was the only choice he had.
…Or perhaps, it was the same with his feelings, too.
His feelings for her might have been entirely fabricated, brought on by the disease, exactly as Enu had described.
Then, the next morning arrived. Inside Sirok's enormous mansion, an assembled troop of field soldiers waited eagerly for the raid to begin. The space inside his home was being filled for the first time, as a garrison for the Thirteenth Minister's soldiers.
"It's barely been four and a half days since your call to arms, and there's already so many…"
"Oh, did I forget to mention? I came here to Itaaki in order to put down Obsidian, who we suspected was hiding out here. We didn't want to put our enemy on alert while we didn't yet know where he was hiding, after all. I had them on standby in the next town over."
"Wait, are you saying my resident survey job was part of it…?! Then, then I…"
Thanks to that, he was now a thrall.
While he wished to lash out in reproach, he immediately understood the root cause lay in Linaris's deception, and Sirok's chest tightened, without any outlet for his anger.
If he was only confirming whether or not a home had residents, he would have been able to go back after seeing Linaris in the garden.
He knew about vampires. He had plenty of chances to realize the truth for himself. He let his guard down.
The root cause that led him to expose himself to danger was unmistakable. "Sirok. We'll rely on you to lead us to the manor, but we're going to bind both your arms. Also, in order to check if you're under the influence of her pheromones or not, we will be regularly checking your pupils. These measures are to defend us from attacks, but we also want to protect you from
committing suicide, or something similar. Will you be okay with that?" "…Yes. Can a vampire's control make me tell lies?"
"That's a reasonable concern to have. It seems that vampires have
techniques for mental control as well. At your current stage, the parent will be unable to have advanced control over your responses without directly passing them on to you with their own words. As long as we're able to prevent you from going berserk, I believe there will be no problems with having you guide us to the manor."
Meanwhile, Enu had been using his vast knowledge, far greater than Sirok could possibly understand, to lay precision tactical groundwork for the raid. Ever since he put on the charade of preparing the trifling resident ledger.
Such were Aureatia's Twenty-Nine Officials. Sirok had believed that the path of the sword was the only way to make one's way through life, but there were also those who never once picked up a blade.
They departed for Linaris's mansion at daybreak. The field soldiers concealed the sounds of their steps as they advanced, and thus, the only people who witnessed the passing army were ranchers milking their cows out in the road.
After a short distance, and once again in front of the gloomy mansion, Sirok posed a question.
All around him, Enu's soldiers appeared to be moving along with the operation, but he still didn't understand what they were doing.
"Do vampires hate the sun?"
"Generally speaking, yes. Not to the point that they're unable to move beneath it. Nevertheless, if there is something that might tip the scales even the slightest bit in our favor, I will employ it. That is all."
Encircling the mansion while the sun was out, all Sirok could do was watch the soldier's performance, like flowing water, while his arms remained heavily bound. Enu the Distant Mirror was planning on butchering Linaris without a sliver of mercy.
…I'd like to talk to her again.
The thought surely must have been influenced by her hold over him.
If Linaris was the one who had turned him into a corpse, then as long as there remained the fear of being under her control, Sirok was unable to return to his minian life. These thoughts were nothing more than irrational delusions.
Will I see you again?
As the men surrounded the mansion, they watched as flames suddenly erupted from every window.
It had been completely set ablaze. "Linaris…!"
"I understand what you're feeling. I've heard that vampires have an almost otherworldly beauty."
The Thirteenth Minister had a pipe in his mouth and watched the blaze with a solemn expression.
"That's why I want to bring her down before she reveals herself to us. Your information was truly a big help. As a reward for your cooperation, I'll pen a letter of introduction for your hospital stay."
Everything burned. All traces of the property were charred black. The dark and dreary mansion, the rose garden, and everything else.
He would never be able to exchange words with Linaris again.
The size of the field soldier troop wasn't enough to surround a terrifyingly powerful vampire and bring it down with numbers. This was so they could all take part in the instantaneous fire attack and bring things to a close immediately before their targets had any time to react.
…Still, that letter.
Even though there had been nothing but a blank piece of paper inside, if that was Linaris and her father's way of seeking to open some sort of dialogue…
Then Enu had instead seen that as a golden opportunity, and showing up with this terrible surprise attack…
The fire continued to burn, like the sun overpowering the moon with its light.
Nevertheless, the flames failed to burn through the black curtain in his heart.
"Sirok the Sextant. There are two burnt bodies. Though you really can't tell the faces from one another. Want to try confirming if it's them?"
"...No."
Even when he had heard the soldier's report, his mind was still enshrouded by a black curtain.
He didn't want to see Linaris's beautiful body cruelly burned to ash.