Chapter 10: 10

Chapter 10 – The Sanguine Alliance

Now that we were done eating, I had to do the dishes. This was extremely upsetting. The dog ate most of my food, so why did I need to do the dishes alone? What kind of world is this? What terrible lands are these?

Oh right, I live in the Military State. I forgot this place is a joke of a country.

As Azzy was lazing around on the floor, yawning, I finished cleaning the kitchen. She didn’t even react to my hard work. At least her dishes were mostly clean from her licking it.

「I guess he is human. He ate.」

Right on time, I heard a thought from the corridor outside the kitchen. The regressor was sneaking up, flattening herself to the wall. Hearing her thoughts, I grimaced.

What? You thought I wasn’t human? You?

Hey. If normal people train hard enough, they can use magic or imbue energy into their sword. Their body can also grow tougher.

Some people can observe precisely, guessing one’s thoughts through their expressions and mannerisms. Not as well as I do, of course.

But no matter how hard you try, a human can never turn back time. It’s preposterous to think you, of all people, would doubt other people’s humanity.

「…Why does Azzy follow such a vulgar man like that? They ate together, so she must’ve opened her heart to him. Could I also…?」

“Ehem!”

The regressor revealed her entrance with a cough as she came into the kitchen. Looking at Azzy, and with a slightly higher tone of voice than usual, she greeted the Dog King. It was very awkward to watch.

“H-Hey, Azzy. How are you doing?”

“Woof…”

They said the laziest creature in the world was a well-fed dog. Azzy merely wagged her tail in response to the greeting as she lazed around the floor. The regressor was disappointed.

「She… didn’t react. Is it because I’m dressed like a man? No, she likes that man. Just what did he do…?」

‘Fetch. Fucking fetch. You saw that too! Before you go on speculating about my secrets, play some fetch with her. I swear, all the people who claim to like dogs don’t actually want to be responsible for the less fun parts of having a walk. If you want to get close, play with her!’

Sigh.

‘I can’t ignore her, so I should at least say hi.’

Turning away from the sink, I greeted the regressor.

“Good morning, Trainee Shei. Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

I realized that there was still some stew left in the pot. If she hadn’t eaten yet, I should offer her the stew. Otherwise, it’d look as if I was mocking her.

A can of beans made enough to feed a family of four for an entire day. Unfortunately, some pig ate most of it, so there was barely any left. To think I would need to give that away…

Nonetheless, it was probably a good idea to get on her nice side. I offered the regressor some stew.

“If you haven’t eaten yet, would you like some of my specialty canned bean stew?”

“Don’t worry about me. I get food on my own.”

“What? The cafeteria’s the only place with food. Did you smuggle some food from here already?”

“I’ve got something for myself.”

Refusing to elaborate, the regressor shot a disgusted look at the beans.

「Canned beans… I don’t ever want to eat those beans again unless I need to. I’ve eaten so much already. Thank god I obtained the Bountiful Table, a treasure that makes me a full meal each day. It only works for one person, but I can secure food for myself.」

Reading her mind, I realized that the poor person being mocked was me.

I was spending my morning wrestling over shitty beans with a dog, but she apparently had some treasure that made her a full meal every day.

Fuck this.

I may be a mind reader, but the human mind fascinates me to this day. Technically, I should hate Azzy more, who was actively stealing my food. But for some reason, knowing that the regressor had nothing to worry about made me more upset than before. God, I hope she loses it and starves.

Is this the selfish nature of man?

The plate I was washing looked even more pathetic now. All I had was some beans in a dingy bowl. Before I ate, I felt like I had the whole world. Now, I felt very insignificant.

“How much longer on the dishes? Finish up and get ready.”

While I was staring into space, the regressor spurred me to hurry up.

“Get ready for what?”

“To meet with Tyrkanzyaka, obviously. We need to learn bloodcraft.”

“Why do I need to learn bloodcraft?”

At my retort, the regressor shrugged.

“Because Tyrkanzyaka said so?”

“Fuck. If it weren’t for how old she was, I would…”

Tossing the cleaned plate to the side, I shook the water off my hands. The regressor seemed curious about my behavior.

“It’s an opportunity to gain that power without becoming a vampire. It’d be beneficial for you too.”

“So what? It’ll take forever to learn. And even if I do, it’s just a worse version of a vampire’s abilities.”

It was an art that the Progenitor had only mastered centuries after she became immortal. Especially considering it was required to control your own blood. If you messed up, you might die. It was an art meant for people who had tons of time and extra lives lying around.

Like a regressor, for example.

In the first place, my goal was to survive, not to get stronger. Getting stronger wouldn’t particularly help me out here.

“I don’t really want to get stronger.”

I murmured without thinking about what I was saying. The regressor caught on immediately.

「…He doesn’t seem like he’s lying. I thought soldiers of the State were mad for power. What’s up with him?」

I regretted saying it, but there was nothing I could change. The regressor started thinking as she observed me while I left the room.

「I’m clueless about him… He acts so light and vulgar compared to his strength, and he seems to dislike authority… He doesn’t treat Azzy as human, but still treats her nicely enough for her to like him…」

After a moment of thinking, Shei came to her own conclusion.

「I think he may be a soldier who resisted the orders of the State. He must’ve been sent here as a form of demotion. He’s definitely at least an officer. Otherwise, his strength and attitude don’t make sense.」

Sometimes, a thought came up when I interacted with the regressor often.

That woman really needed to be thankful for the fact that she had multiple lives.

「I haven’t tried to change the State ever since I demolished the country on my eighth run. But maybe with him, I could infiltrate and dig deeper into the secrets that the State holds!」

‘Never mind. If she can destroy a country by herself, she’s fine. More importantly, she was able to take down the Military State? If I figure out how she did it, could I do something similar? I, too, want to try fucking up this garbage country.’

As I was about to dig deeper into the regressors thoughts, a strange groan broke my concentration.

「Ugh…」

I flinched at the sudden thought, staring at the direction it came from. The regressor looked at me, confused. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The thought I just heard.

It wasn’t the regressors nor Azzy’s. It was a barely conscious, faded consciousness that I couldn’t recognize at all.

‘Did I mishear that? No, somewhere here… There has to be a person.’

“What? Why’d you just freeze up?”

“No, I just… thought there was someone else.”

“Where?”

The faded thought cut off.

Did they die? Or go to sleep?

It bothered me, but if the thoughts stopped, I doubted I could find the source. The vampire needed to be taken care of. Putting my mind off of the unknown thought, I came out to the garden with the regressor.

Tantalus was a dark place. Even the rays of the sun, which traveled millions of kilometers to get to Earth, faded in front of the wrath of Mother Earth. The abyss, a bottomless hole. One that didn’t even have a defined depth. Light may get through the tiniest of holes, but it couldn’t surpass infinite depth.

Because of that, Tantalus needed lights for itself. Surprisingly, humans were able to create a lit plane with mana. They could replace God’s grace with human ingenuity.

The spotlights didn’t point towards the L-shaped building and the yard that filled the boundaries. Low, illuminating lights provided vision fairly evenly. However, the moment one stepped outside of the boundary, the spotlights would chase them down viciously.

While Tantalus lacked the troops to chase escapees, nor was there any place to escape at all, they seemed intent on taking away as much freedom from the prisoners as they could. As if they were emphasizing that they would never be able to leave.

“Where is Tyrkanzyaka… Oh.”

The land that the spotlights controlled. Tyrkanzyaka was resting there.

Actually, I wasn’t sure if she was lying down because all I could make out in the dark was that ominous crimson cross.

The vampire who hated light kept to a place without light. Normally, the spotlights should be pointed on her for leaving the designated area, but they continued on as normal. It was as if the lights were scared of the ominous aura and pretending not to notice her.

“…I guess we’re headed there?”

“Obviously.”

“The spotlights are really bright, so I don’t know if I want to…”

“What, do you want me to slice the light rays?”

I didn’t even want to know how that would work. I hesitantly made my way over to the coffin that was waiting for us.

When my foot touched the boundary of the spotlight zone, I clenched my eyes shut in anticipation for the blinding light that was soon to follow.

However, the lights didn’t chase after me. Pretending to ignore me as well, they continued to illuminate random places.

Huh? What’s up with that?

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[I have blocked their sights.]

A dark voice resonated across the abyss. I didn’t need to explain whose it was. Using the darkness to lift herself up, Tyrkanzyaka continued to talk.

[I dislike the light, and those things are even more of a nuisance than the sun itself. I assume you two feel the same way.]

I nodded in agreement.

“Yes. Do as you please. We can see fine with a dim light. We should let you decide the brightness since we’re more flexible.”

[…]

「I feel… strangely insulted. I feel as if I am being treated as a senile old woman whose eyes are growing dim…」

Listening to her thoughts, I wasn’t sure what to do.

Why is she so defensive about that? I mean, I do think she’s a senile grandma, and also that her eyesight may not be the best, but I’ve been really polite!

The vampire glared at me in silence before continuing to speak.

[Anyhow, this lesson will be extremely harsh. To control blood, you need to lose blood. You will be in danger while you learn.]

Droplets of blood trickled through the crack of the coffin, as if foreshadowing our fate.

[But do you still wish  to continue? Would you like to overcome the hardship?]

It was a strange offer, like one from an old legend of the stories you hear about the woods. The test that the Progenitor inflicted on foolish mortals.

Without any hesitation, the regressor nodded.

“I’m ready.”

For someone who had died and revived thirteen times, the fear of facing the Progenitor of Vampires wasn’t much. Even whilst observing the wavering shadows and quaking blood, the regressor remained expressionless. The vampire was satisfied with her attitude.

「This boy has some guts. He’ll be fun to teach.」

Then, the vampire looked at me.

[What about you?]

Hmmm. What do I want to do?

I couldn’t see the vampire’s expression because she was still in the coffin. The darkness she gathered around it was so thick that I could barely make out the outline, despite only being five steps away.

Most people wouldn’t be able to figure out what the vampire’s intentions were without even being able to see her expression. But I could read her thoughts.

「A pupil does everything their master says. I shall make him do all kinds of strenuous things.」

And the vampire had her sights set on making me miserable.

「I’ll show your insolent mind what the meaning of respect is. You treated me like some hag, so you shall see how a hag handles her students.」

Even her way of thinking was very dated. She only wanted to teach me so she could mess with me.

Is she childish for being so petty or mature for not having crushed me to pulp on the spot?

I didn’t plan on learning, and this only reinforced my opinion. I shook my head.

“I don’t want to learn bloodcraft.”

[…What?]

The vampire was shocked. She seemed so surprised by my refusal that even her voice was shaking.

[You don’t want to learn…? Despite my offer to bestow my teachings…?]

“Nope.”

[I have had only a handful of pupils in my life. It’s a rare opportunity to learn from someone like me. You really don’t want to learn bloodcraft?]

She asked again and again in disbelief. I really didn’t need it. I scratched my head and gave her a more detailed response.

“So, we got rid of the master-pupil thing even before the Military State was founded. That system was causing way too much trouble.”

[How?]

“What do you mean, how? It’s because the pupils were being extorted. They would uphold their masters like kings and queens for years, and all they would get in return was often some shitty martial art or magic. Master-pupil arguments caused so many lawsuits that countries ended up banning the whole thing due to how many problems it caused. That’s some ancient bogus from the Mien Empire over a thousand years ago.”

The vampire laughed in disbelief. With significant anger this time, she muttered out a threat.

[It is bloodcraft. The art, the authority that birthed me into this immortal being. You dare treat it as some… paltry trick?]

“No, no, I wasn’t talking about bloodcraft. I never said bloodcraft was outdated. I was talking about the master-pupil thing. Also…”

I wasn’t sure whether I should continue, but I had no other choice. I didn’t want to be tied to something just to keep her happy.

Maybe if the collar was a shining golden collar, I would try it on, but a tattered collar made a thousand years ago didn’t seem worth it.

I decided to give my honest opinion.

“Bloodcraft isn’t garbage… but, like, it’s kind of really old, isn’t it?”

Rumble.

The temor that shook the ground probably wasn’t just my imagination. Blood boiled. The vampire’s rage was beginning to manifest itself in reality. I was tempted to kneel down and beg her to accept me as her pupil. Just so I could escape this pressure.

But in that case, the only future I had was one of endless training. Just tending to the vampire’s needs without any free time.

Actually, the lifestyle wasn’t too different from right now. The bigger issue was that she would continually ‘test’ me during her teachings.

If I were to reveal how weak I was through the training… my bloated image would lose all air and deflate. The image I had constructed with only confidence would disappear.

It would reveal that I was just a normal person.

While it was a fact, it was one that I could never allow to be discovered. In order to prevent the death prophesied through the regressor’s memories, I required authority.

Even if it meant risking my life.

[Oho.]

Whether she liked it or not, the vampire was ancient. Of course, the elderly said they didn’t like being treated old, but you couldn’t exactly talk to them like you would to your friends. Thankfully, her maturity was befitting of her age; she wouldn’t immediately swing her sword at any provocation, unlike a certain someone I knew.

I added to what I said.

“I mean, it’s an amazing art for you, who has practiced it for over a thousand years. But the technique itself is already a thousand years old.”

[So… you continue to mock my—]

“No, I wasn’t criticizing it for it. I just meant that it doesn’t really fit this day and age.”

[You mean… you think bloodcraft is wrong?]

Crunch.

Something devoured the space above my shoulder. I slowly turned over to look.

The sanguine horse was blowing steam from its nostrils, glaring at me. I wasn’t quite sure what it was chewing on, but I was pretty sure I knew what it wanted to chew. The sanguine horse glared as it spat on the ground.

Ptew.

The concrete floor where his saliva ended began to melt.

‘Oh, I was wondering. I guess I can’t read a familiar’s mind…’

[Leave him be, Ralion.]

Neeeiiigh~

The steed’s hooves shook the ground. The red hooves left clear marks onto the concrete, almost like a letter getting sealed with a wax stamp.

‘Hm. This may be more than I can handle. Did I choose incorrectly?’

[Alright. Then you may just stand there and observe. Don’t think you can change your mind later.]

‘If I say I don’t want to watch, will she actually kill me? Alright, I should accept this.’

The upset vampire turned her gaze back to the regressor. The large coffin slid smoothly across the ground, stopping right in front of Shei.

[What is your name, boy?]

“My name is Shei.”

[Alright, Shei. Shall you follow my path? The process may be painful, but the end shall be extravagant. I shall teach you to the best of my ability, so are you doubtless in your desire to learn?]

The regressor didn’t even reconsider. Even if she died, she could just try it again. She shrugged before responding.

“Of course, I’ll swear on it. However…”

The regressor added a couple conditions.

“I’ve picked up a lot of things from all kinds of places, so I can’t be the pure successor you desire.”

[No matter. Just swear to one thing.]

“If it’s reasonable, sure. What is it?”

Blood drops gathered, ballooning in the air. The bloated orb morphed into the shape of a hand pointing straight at me.

[That you will crush that insolent brat!]

The regressor grinned.

“I was already planning on it.”

‘Huh? Me? Why?’

Blinking at the fact that I had just become the common enemy of the two women, I could only watch.

—————

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