27. The Inhuman Being Called Human

Author: Kiki
Raw: https://novel18.syosetu.com/n2498fn/29/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

Nothing is more unwelcome than kindness forced upon you.
Even if you try to explain that it is wrong, the other person will never stop believing that they are right.
That is why I cannot deny that what I am about to do is nothing more than selfishness.

There are two choices.
One is to accept Chigusa’s offer, turn Lina into a Demi-Vamp, and restore her body.
The other is to kill Lina with my own hands and let her life end as a human.

I have no way of knowing which one Lina wants.
Whichever I choose, it will surely be an act of selfishness.
Even the standard by which I make that choice will be nothing more than my own values.

Which is right: humanity or vampirism?
I came to Count Fenburg’s estate to find out.
He was the man who led the troops that rescued me from my ruined village. Immediately afterward, he retired from active service, and his son inherited the territory.
Apparently, he had always been close to the king. Now he lives quietly in retirement on the outskirts of the royal capital.
For a while after I first came to the capital, he acted as my guardian and looked after me.
That is why I affectionately call him “Uncle.”

Given our relationship, the guards let me into the estate without trying to stop me.
A maid immediately showed me into a drawing room.
I settled into a plush chair and sipped tea as I waited. A few minutes later, Uncle appeared.

“This is unusual. Leia, coming here without so much as a message.”

Uncle stroked his neatly trimmed beard, then patted my head with one of his large, rugged hands.
Normally, that would have made me happy. Today, his hand felt like an inanimate object.

“You look awfully troubled. Is there something you want my advice about?”
“There is … something I want to ask you, Uncle.”
“Me? I should warn you, I know nothing at all about magic. As you can see, I have always been more a man of action.”

Uncle spoke as he sat in the chair opposite mine.
He certainly was large and muscular.
He had apparently weakened considerably with age, but in his prime, he had been a warrior renowned throughout the kingdom.
When he rescued me from my home, he had commanded the soldiers from the front line.

“I want to know … what happened when my home was attacked.”
“Your home? Surely you know more about that vampire attack than I do, Leia. Shamefully, we did not arrive until it was all over.”
“Was it … really the work of vampires?”
“Ha! Leia, surely you have not taken those strange rumors spreading through the castle seriously?”

Uncle knew about the rumors too.
That was hardly surprising. As one of the king’s advisers, he visited the castle often.

“Rumors are only rumors. There is no proof whatsoever. Your home was attacked and destroyed by vampires.”
“Then let me ask you something. Do vampires ever abduct people … and sell them to humans?”
“… What?”
“Hypothetically—if someone who was supposed to have died in my home village had instead been bought and sold as a slave … I could not believe vampires were responsible.”
“Naturally. I have never heard of those creatures doing business with humans. Rather than sell their captives, they would drain them of blood and kill them.”

At last, I had heard it from Uncle’s own lips.
If that was true, then she—the Lina I had seen—

“You are overthinking this, Leia. There was not a single survivor from that town—”
“There was. I found one.”

A muscle twitched in Uncle’s cheek.
It lasted only an instant, but I did not miss it.

“A large number of noblemen were found dead at a party venue the other day, weren’t they?”
“Yes. It is still causing a tremendous uproar. But what does that have to do with this?”
“I think you already know … that it wasn’t a party venue. A slave auction was being held there.”
“… Yes. That is true.”

Every noble knew about it.
And they all knew that, by tacit agreement, it was never to be discussed.

“The truth is, I made contact with the culprit.”
“What—where did you meet them? Who did it!? Do not tell me the culprit was a survivor from that town!”

It was rare to see Uncle so agitated.
Perhaps that was only natural. So many nobles had died at once; if the culprit could not be found, the kingdom’s prestige would suffer.

“Calm down, Uncle. The survivor has nothing to do with the culprit. What matters is … one of the slaves they rescued.”
“Surely not …”
“Yes. Exactly that. My best friend Lina was among them. Her entire body had been brutalized beyond recognition.”

Uncle covered his face with his right hand.
Between his fingers, I saw that he had gone paler than I had ever seen him.

“You’ve turned terribly pale. Is there something you don’t want me to know?”
“… No. It is nothing. Go on.”
“All right. The culprit was a vampire—the same kind that attacked the castle the other day.”
“Then it was that vampire called Camilla, the one who previously tried to ensnare the princess?”
“No. A knight defeated her, so this was someone else. I don’t know whether there is any connection, but she was a very unusual vampire.”

I deliberately did not tell him that Chigusa was a Demi-Vamp.
I still did not know who was my ally and who was my enemy.

“And that vampire told me something. She said it was strange … that everyone from my home had been slaughtered.”
“There is nothing strange about it. Monsters kill humans.”

That is merely a selfish human assumption.
Even before I spoke with Chigusa, I knew monsters were not invariably hostile to humans.

“Why do monsters kill people? Sometimes it is to defend their territory, and sometimes it is to secure food. And vampires … attack humans to drink their blood and increase their numbers.”
“Exactly. They kill—”
“If they kill people, Uncle, they accomplish neither purpose. That was why the vampire said the destruction of my home was strange.”
“… And what of it? Perhaps such vampires exist. No, one clearly did exist—that is the reality of it. Is that not why your home was destroyed?”
“Then how do you explain Lina surviving as a slave?”
“Perhaps there are some vampires who trade with humans.”

Looking at Chigusa, I could almost believe that such a vampire might exist.
But why would one sell a girl as lovely as Lina into slavery rather than make her one of their own?
Was it not far more plausible that the king, hungry for power, had ordered it done so that I could be abducted?

“First of all, even if the rumors were true, why would we need to destroy a town in our own territory merely to abduct you?”
“The king wants power so he can invade other countries. Summoning people from another world was part of that. And … I know that he is perfectly willing to sacrifice his own people to gain power.”

In fact, the women forced to serve those who had been summoned had all been taken from their towns against their will.
No existing family or relationship protected them; anyone who caught a summoner’s interest could be abducted, regardless of age.

“I think my parents refused.”
“Refused what?”
“An order to hand me over. That … incurred the king’s wrath, so he destroyed the entire town.”
“That is preposterous. An outrageous accusation.”
“Outrageous conduct is the king’s specialty. You know that, Uncle.”

Even I knew what the king was like after only a brief acquaintance. Count Fenburg had known him for years; there was no possibility that he did not.

“Even so, you have far too little evidence for these suspicions. This is not like you, Leia. If you continue insulting the king, even I will lose my temper with you.”

His tone was the same one he always used when admonishing me, yet today it sounded strangely false.
My instincts told me he was lying.
Come to think of it—if the king had ordered the attack on my home, then Uncle had played the father before a girl whose parents he had killed with his own hands.
How had that made him feel?
Had he looked at me and secretly laughed at what a foolish child I was?
I wanted to believe Uncle. I wanted to conclude, “Oh, so I was wrong after all. The vampires really were to blame.”
But after seeing what had become of Lina, I could not turn back without learning the truth.

“Every place the light does not touch is shadow. That idea opened my eyes to a much wider world.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m still not convinced. I cannot trust you, Uncle.”
“Leia, that is enough—”
“So … I am going to use a method befitting a witch. If I am wrong, you may scold me until I wish I were dead.”

I raised one hand toward Uncle, focused my mind, and poured magical power into his “shadow.”

“… Gah!?”

His eyes flew open. Clutching his head, he began to writhe in pain.

“Wh-what are … Ngh, Leia, why …!?”
“Because I want the truth.”

Uncle could no longer defy me.
It was all right. I was not going to hurt him.
He would simply be unable to say anything but the truth.

“Uncle … were vampires the ones who destroyed my home?”
“… Nngh … ah …”

Normally, my magic should have compelled an immediate verbal answer, but a master of martial arts was not so easily overcome.
It seemed he had not retained complete control of his body, however.
Uncle shook his head.
In other words, no.

“Uncle, the one who destroyed my home—”
“S-stop …”
“Was it you?”
“…!”

Uncle’s head moved slowly up and down.
Despair washed over me.
I clenched my teeth against the pain, as though a hand had closed around my heart.
Every memory I had made since coming to the royal capital became a flimsy stage set, collapsing around me.

“… There is no point resisting anymore, Uncle.”
“You … damned witch …!”

It was the first time Uncle had ever looked at me that way.
His eyes were full of hatred and contempt, like those of a noble looking down upon a commoner.
That was the moment I knew my spell had been broken.

“Then it really was …”
“Yes … I destroyed that town on the king’s orders. He promised to recognize my family’s hereditary succession in return.”
“Why was Lina enslaved?”
“Losing an entire town was a financial blow. We sold some of the women and children who looked likely to fetch a high price. That is all.”
“… You are a perfect example of human filth.”
“It only proves that the lives of commoners have no value.”

He spoke with his true nature laid bare.
In the end, he had treated me like a beloved daughter only because it served his interests. There had never been any love in it.
He was rotten.
And it was all being proven—everything Chigusa had said was right, and every word of hers was being vindicated.

“But Leia, now that you know, what will you do? Surely you do not imagine that you can make enemies of me and the king and still survive in this country.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
“Yes. We kill anyone who becomes inconvenient. There is no harm in killing those beneath you. That is the rule.”

Uncle gave me a petty, self-satisfied grin, and the drawing-room door burst open.
Armed private soldiers rushed inside.
They surrounded me and leveled their spears at me.

“Even a witch cannot escape this situation without making preparations.”
“You’re absolutely right. I couldn’t do it without any preparations. If I hadn’t made them, that is.”

I crooked my index finger, and every soldier turned his spear toward Uncle.

“Even you cannot escape this situation unarmed, can you, Uncle?”
“Impossible … Why …!?”
“I suspected you would try to kill me if my fears proved true … so I made preparations. And you behaved exactly as I expected.”

I rose from my seat and smiled at Uncle.
Though I do not know whether I managed to smile properly.
In truth, I was so heartbroken I wanted to sob.

“Goodbye, Uncle.”

Goodbye, human.

“W-wait—wait, Leia! We can talk about this. I had my reasons!”

I left the room, abandoning the human who was so disgracefully begging for his life.
A moment later, I heard his death scream and the grisly sounds of several spears repeatedly piercing flesh.
Uncle was dead. There could be no doubt.
This was my final break.
With the kingdom—and with humanity.

“As long as humans remain human, tragedy will never disappear. Those who cannot become nobles will always remain the weak …”

I wanted no part of that.
If even the humble wish to live happily with Lina could never come true—
—then I did not care if I ceased to be human.
Clenching my fist, I strode back to the church, one long step after another.