Interlude 6[แก้ไข]
---The last few rays of the setting sun felt so hot on the skin that it seemed to vaporize the very blood from their bodies.
And what welcomed Leticia who had returned victorious after a fight with a Demon Lord wasn’t the cheers and music to praise her triumph but the cries and wails that seem to make up a hellish orchestra.
“Hah…ah…”
The comrades that had returned with her had also breathed their last as they collapsed to the ground. If it weren’t for the protection of her loyal subjects, Leticia would have lost her life as well. The situation was just so sudden that they could not come up with any other idea to go about it.
“Why…Why did it come to this……?!”
Leticia was dragging her left leg that had been badly burnt to a reddish black color as she ran with all her might. The commercial and industrial zones that had been bustling with activity just the other day, were now filled with the wails and screams of her comrades that were writhing on the ground in pain.
They were citizens who had inherited the blood of the Vampires. Although not of the purest bloodline, they were still one of the stronger species. Even if they were to be impaled all over, they wouldn’t be able to die that easily.
The sight of all her Vampire comrades’ bodies littering the streets could only be likened to the manifestation of Hell on Earth---
“Carla?... Knight Master?... Otou-san, Oka-san, Imouto where are---!”
“---Oh, those people you’ve just mentioned? I think they should be dead by now?”
Leticia stopped her hobbling run abruptly at that. As for the person who sprouted those ominous words, it was a man whom she hadn’t seen in her Citadel before.
Focusing her hatred and anger in her stare, she accosted the owner of the voice:
“You Bastard……!”
“Oi, Wait up. Let me say it first to clear up the misunderstanding. The culprit isn’t me. And just saying on a side note, I’m not one of their accomplices too.”
The man who had long and narrow eyes held out his index finger while saying it in a very calm voice.
This man who was slim and tall in physique was sitting at the side while his dressing was something that was very difficult to be put into words. And Leticia decided to suppress the turmoil that was her feelings in her mind for this moment as she started to assess the man’s demeanor.
---It was a strange dressing that made one wonder about questions like “Where’s that from”, “What is it” and “Why is it so”.
Leticia had initially thought that her cognitive abilities had been hampered but she soon realized that it wasn't the case.
And she came to the conclusion that ‘In other words, this man--- was a no body and wouldn’t have had mattered if it weren’t for the location and time that he chose to appear’ and with that, she decided to listen to the other calmly.
“Good, as expected of the [Dragon Knight]. I guess that’s part of your charm as well, to be able to maintain your sense of self even in anger.”
“……Get straight to the point. What do you want to say by coming to this place?”
“Of course. That would be for my job as the [Storyteller]. If you so wish it, I can recount to you about the tragic scene of the twenty thousand comrades of yours having painfully struggled while detailing their deepest thoughts and their darkest history to you. For it isn’t a problem to me you know?”
“……Are you speaking the truth?”
Leticia didn’t really care about this man---[Storyteller] ’s claims for all she wanted was to know the truth. And [Storyteller] who had been cheerful during his self-introduction had dropped his shoulders in disappointment, but perhaps Leticia’s forlorn look seemed to have touched him as well as he wiped the elusive smile off his face while giving a shrug.
“Come to think of it, do you know what had happened here?”
“Of course. To cause us Vampires---[The Knights of Little Garden] to be pushed to this state of death within a few minutes, there can only be one way!”
Leticia’s bloodshot eyes were streaked with the dilated blood vessels as she stared angrily at the setting sun.
---The large veil that was used to prevent Sunlight from entering Little Garden directly.
The mechanism that was created to allow races that couldn’t live under the direct Sun’s rays. To say that it was specifically made for the Vampires wouldn’t be an exaggeration as well.
The veil to cover the biggest weakness of the Vampires---Sunlight while helping to conduct the heat and warmth through the Little Garden, had now been drawn aside by a certain someone.
“But the drawing of the veil requires a Sun Authority---One of the [Ecliptic path of the Twelve Zodiacs] or [Ecliptic path of the Twelve Chén]! Why would the current holders of the Sun Authorities do such a thing?!”
Leticia bared her teeth as she shouted angrily. It was precisely due to the Sky Shroud that prevented the direct rays of the Sun from entering Little Garden that they of the Vampiric Race had worked so hard to protect its peace.
And now those Sun Authority holders had trampled on their pride!
“---The culprit is a Vampire.”
“……eh?”
“I’ve said it before and I will say it once more. The culprit is a Vampire. In other words, this is an internal strife. Haven’t you heard of it? The rumors that to reward the contributions of the Vampires, they have decided to design and set up a Thirteenth Elliptic Zodiac?”
Leticia was in a daze as she shook her head.
Before this, she hadn’t heard of such a thing as a new Elliptic Zodiac.
“But……eh?”
“For some of the Vampires, it’s like the manifestation of their dreams isn’t it? To be able to receive the Authority of the Demonic Star that tortures them for so long, that’s a chance in a lifetime that might not come by twice. And with that in mind, a conflict breaking out from within shouldn’t be much of a surprise.”
Leticia was tongue tied as she couldn’t find a way to command it to make a reply.
That’s because this sort of thing did not make sense to her. Vampires trying to kill Vampires by bathing their opponents in the Sun, as long as they did this sort of thing……they would also face the threat of being exposed to the same fate too.
And with just a few minutes of releasing the veil, it shouldn’t be able to cause the Royalty and Purebloods to be annihilated!
“Hm? Oh, I see. I guess you got the sequence mixed up.”
“……?”
“Look over there.”
The man shrugged his shoulders in that same vague attitude of his as he jerked his chin towards the highest point of the Citadel.
Rather dubious about it, but under his prompt, Leticia decided to turn her gaze towards the Castle’s tip.
Because of the architecture and choice of color, the whitewashed sharp peak of the castle was also visible from the Outer walls.
And on its peak, her sister, mother, father and all the people closest to her had their clothes nailed there while streaks of dark blackish residue that might have been their blood stains or ash trailed out from the bottom of those clothes---
“Those are your family.”
“Aa-----!”
“The pure-blooded Vampires will not go down that easily. So running them through a thousand times with swords and nails before piercing through their hearts! And lastly to use the Sun to cremate them, it sure is a thoroughly thought out process! The guys in the Outer walls should be utterly shocked by this! For its surely unthinkable for them to imagine this sort of craziness just for the killing of the purebloods--- To draw back the veil just for the sake of killing out the Royalty!”
[Storyteller] hugged his sides as he laughed about it.
In other words, while she had been engaged in a death fight with a Demon Lord, the revolution had already ended.
Leticia’s knees went soft and she knelt to the ground with her head bent low. Her left leg that had been burnt by the Sun was starting to make its way up to her body and giving her a sharp piercing pain in her bones.
The previously warm and gentle sunlight under the veil was no longer so. The Setting Sun was currently similar to the doors of hell that trapped all who were under it.
The Vampires…… the [Knights of Little Garden] had fought so hard till today to prevent such a tragedy .
“Right! The rebels had also generously passed out the message that they would be taking your head after sun down. It’s said that the true ritual to obtain the Thirteenth Zodiac can’t be held successfully if they do not have your head. And there isn’t much time left before sun down. You should start thinking on the next step to take right? Whether to rebuild your Community or to run away, it’s your choice.”
“……”
Leticia got up unsteadily as she continued forth while dragging her useless left foot to the destination she had in mind---the Community Grounds of the Vampires.
“Oi! What are you planning to do with that kind of body?”
“……there’s no hope for this Sun-wasted body of mine anyways.”
“That’s not true you know? As long as you get the proper treatment, it’s still salvageable……So here’s the thing. Let’s have a deal! Join my Community [Grimm Grimoire]---”
“I reject.”