Chapter 35

This time, I really hammered home the completely part.

She looked completely sure of herself.

And it was true—at least up to that point. Captain Simena could listen to all that and not bat an eye. As long as you don't interfere or threaten us, fine. Do whatever you want. I could almost hear him saying it.

But what I knew was different.

Madam Anne had sided with the Demon King Army. She'd butchered humans. Killed them, drank their blood. Anaconda—the city that prided itself on coexistence with humans—had ended up that way.

"And if it reaches this far?" I pressed.

"This far?"

That would mean the humans... The Imperial Army's defeat had paved the way.

"If the Demon King Army attacks again and we have to give up this place too..."

"Then..."

"Anaconda collapses. The guests in the Entertainment District, the rumors about becoming a vampire—all of it vanishes. Anaconda gets left behind. Like a building turned back to dust, you'll all return to the beginning."

"Mago."

"What will you do then? Can you still promise you won't harm humans, won't join the Demon King Army?"

"That... I can't say for sure."

"You trust the Imperial Army? Believe they'll protect even the Entertainment District?"

"Yeah. I trust humans."

"I can't believe that."

Anaconda was going to get crushed in the third invasion anyway. Blood supply had been comfortable only as long as the Entertainment District existed. The moment it dried up, their true nature came out. Those vampires became part of the Demon King Army just to fill their bellies.

"Stop dodging the question and answer me. Faith isn't a solution. I'm asking what you'll do when that happens."

"Then I'd just live off monster blood or animal blood."

She answered with a straight face.

"I know you have a lot of questions. I get it. But still, Mago—I didn't expect you to dig this deep on your own. Kind of disappointing. That you turned out to be Imperial Army after all."

She looked up at the sky.

"Like I said, nothing changes regardless."

Everything is fine. The Entertainment District is flowing smoothly without a hitch. She said it with confidence, but she left out the most important part.

"That shop she's preparing—the warehouse. Humans halfway through the transformation into vampires were lined up in there. Tied at the wrists and ankles."

I raised both hands, palms facing each other, then brought my wrists together.

Like they were handcuffed.

"That's how slaves are sold too. No sunlight, no food, kept bound until the auction opens. One by one. Do you even know?"

She couldn't possibly know.

What it feels like to be the lowest of the low.

"I was locked up in a place like that. From the time I was five. I know that feeling better than anyone."

"Mago...?"

"You're all enemies as far as I'm concerned. Shut up and tell me your purpose. Why come now to reveal everything?"

"Madam Anne is hunting you, Mago. You're already finished."

"What, are you saying a thunderbolt is about to strike me?"

"That's right. Once you become Madam Anne's target, there's no escape. That lightning reaches all the way to hell."

Her red eyes flared even brighter.

I caught the gleam of sharp fangs.

*

"Hmm......"

Madam Anne crouched down.

She lifted her head to meet the eyes of the two men.

The Thief Boss and his Right Arm.

"You two seemed pretty close with Mago. Like you've known each other for a while."

Both of them were tied up in the warehouse.

Down in the basement, alongside the humans who had become half-breeds.

"Tell me everything you know about Mago. Everything."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Why are you asking about that white-haired guy?"

The Thief Boss asked, his head still lowered.

"I don't recall telling you to ask questions."

"Fine, we do know the white-haired kid. But so what?"

"That iron door down to the basement over there. Well...... she might have thought she opened it easily enough, but that door can't be lifted with ordinary strength."

Madam Anne's voice dropped low.

"For a grown human, you'd need three or four times their maximum muscle power to even budge it. Easy for a vampire, not for a human. No vampire from Anaconda would have come in here. So that means a human did it...... And as far as I know, there's only one human strong enough for that. Mago."

Madam Anne reached out a finger and lifted the Thief Boss's chin.

"I've laid it out clearly enough for you by now. So, it's your turn to answer."

*

"Madam Anne has shut down every shop in the Entertainment District as of today."

"That money-grubbing old bat?"

"Every staff member who worked under her is going to be used to catch you."

Just as I expected.

A full mobilization.

"I don't care."

"Mago, it's still not too late."

"It's a simple matter. You take blood as payment. But what comes next? A half-breed has nothing to offer you. Whether they become a half-breed or not, the moment you drink their blood, the deal is done. You suck them dry and throw them away."

"Listen to me!"

"Sucking them dry and throwing them away—that's just what you vampires do. Maybe it's only natural."

I grabbed the senior vampire by the throat.

I squeezed with enough force to crush it.

"Ghk......"

"The other guests on the third floor probably didn't suspect a thing. They all believed what you told them—that they'd become vampires to escape. They thought you just turned into half-breeds and left town. They never imagined they'd be tied up in the basement, killed off one by one when their turn came."

I slammed her down to the floor.

"Ngh!"

"I don't care what Madam Anne does. Let her come for me all she wants."

The senior passed out in an instant.

Maybe she was faking it.

I didn't bother checking.

As I turned to leave, I felt her move.

Still lying on the ground, she slowly raised her arm.

"Too bad, Mago."

In her hand.

A single long firecracker.

The fuse caught fire.

With her other hand, she grabbed my ankle.

I was about to stomp that hand when—

The firecracker went off.

A streak of yellow light shot high into the sky.

Straight up, a perfect line.

She'd signaled her position.

Then came the thunder.

Back when I was still a soldier in the 63rd Company.

We were marching through the night, trying to hold formation, when a firework blazed into the sky.

The Company Commander's face turned ashen.

"Spread out! Open the formation...! Clump together and you die, scatter and you live!"

It was an order to avoid chain electrocution.

The moment the firework exploded—

Blue lightning came crashing down.

One soldier was too slow to move. The bolt hit him, and in an instant, his comrades nearby were dragged to the brink of death as well.

"Retreat! Fall back...!"

Madam Anne wasn't just unleashing devastating lightning—she was controlling the Imperial Army's entire formation. If we packed together, chain lightning killed us. If we scattered, our fighting strength was split.

We were helpless.

"But if my theory is right..."

The next day.

I went to see the Company Commander.

"Mago, what is it?"

"It's about Madam Anne's magic tool, sir. I think it has a weakness."

"A weakness?"

I opened the notebook I'd written myself.

I'd drawn Madam Anne's bow and arrows. Next to the crude sketch, the page was crammed with dense writing.

"Is that a violin?"

"It's a bow and arrows, sir."

"How is that supposed to look like...?"

Let's skip over my hopeless drawing skills.

"First, please listen, sir. Last month, September, Madam Anne fired seven bolts of lightning."

"Did she?"

"Yes, sir. And the month before that, August, and the month before that, July—also exactly seven shots."

"You were counting all that?"

"I've been studying magic tools, sir."

"What are you trying to say?"

"She only fires seven shots a month. It could be her limit—only seven per month. Every magic tool has a weakness. The same goes for Marjelo Arnis's spear and sword, and Captain Simena Extin's magic tool. For Madam Anne, the limitation of firing only seven shots per month could be that weakness."

"Mago, you've been investigating the Special Forces' magic tools too?"

"I put whatever I see into my notebook, sir."

"That's a quiet little hobby you've got."

"It's not a hobby, sir. It's my own tactical analysis...!"

"Just filling a notebook with information doesn't prove anything."

"Repeated data becomes a pattern, sir. Madam Anne's magic tool—from July through today, October 20th—has fired exactly seven bolts this month too. Four months with no variation. That makes it highly likely that seven is her limit. If that's true, she might have no arrows left this month, and we're just sitting here scared...!"

"Then go collect a bit more data. Four months isn't enough."

"Company Commander!"

"If someone else had investigated, maybe I'd listen. But Mago..."

"What does that have to do with—"

"You can't even see weapons properly. For you to talk about any kind of weapon..."

"That has nothing to do with researching magic tools! Sir, in this next operation, we must not spread out the formation."

"So we can all get electrocuted together?"

"She's used up her arrows this month, so it should be fine, I...!"

"Enough."

He kicked me out.

The next operation.

The 63rd Company advanced with their formation stretched as wide as possible.

That day, Madam Anne's lightning never fell.

No firecracker signal either. I started to wonder if she was simply ignoring us.

We were advancing so carefully when—

The Demon King Army's pikemen, packed tight in a solid wedge, charged right through us.

Madam Anne had crushed the Imperial Army without lifting a finger.

The result of fear buried deep in their bones.

Even after I'd exposed her weakness, no one listened.

It was a war fought alone.

*

I pressed my throbbing forehead.

"Ghhh..."

The senior vampire crawled along the floor.

Half her waist was gone.

The skin around the wound was charred black.

But she was still alive.

After the firecracker went off.

I'd grabbed her, lifted her up, and used her as a shield.

"Did you think I wouldn't know your tricks?"

Unlike my past life, I wasn't helpless anymore.

With everything I knew.

I could move exactly as I wanted.

That was the point of this solo mission.

If Madam Anne planned to snipe me from a distance, I could use that against her.

Her magic tool's defining trait was a seven-shot limit.

I didn't know when her last reload was, but at least—

The man who stole Anaconda's money and ran.

The third-floor guest who became a half-breed.

And just now, me.

Counting only what I'd witnessed with my own eyes: three shots.

I searched the senior's pocket.

The same one she'd pulled the firecracker from.

"Ma... go..."

I ignored her groaning.

I opened the pocket.

Three more firecrackers, identical to the one she'd fired.

And a box of matches.

I pocketed them all.

From now on, I'd be the one calling the lightning.

"H-hey...!"

Soldiers stationed at the checkpoint came bursting out.

The thunder must have startled them.

They swarmed around me, surrounding me in a tight circle.

"What happened..."

"A bolt of lightning came straight down from the sky. That has to be Madam Anne's..."

They glanced between me and the senior vampire, muttering.

"A trainee?"

One of them pointed at my uniform.

The insignia sewn onto the chest and shoulder—a single sword planted upside down.

"What's a trainee doing all the way out here...?"

I was about to correct him when—

"He's not a trainee. This man is Special Forces."

The soldier who'd delivered the letter answered for me.

"Oh, I'm on my way back from sending the letter," he added.

"Thank you."

I dipped my head in a brief bow.

Then I straightened up to meet the soldiers at eye level.

"This uniform is just because I haven't been formally deployed yet..."

I tugged at the collar of my navy-blue coat.

"Not deployed, but you're already Special Forces? I've never heard of such a case. Are you... really Special Forces?"

I had no choice but to pull out the official documents.

Once they confirmed the seal, the soldiers nodded reluctantly.

But I had one more thing to tell them.

The senior vampire was barely clinging to consciousness, collapsed on the ground.

"This person..."

One soldier started walking toward her.

"Don't get close!"

I shouted to stop him.

She could still muster enough strength for a final bite—snapping at his ankle.

"That's not a person."

"Excuse me...?"

"I couldn't tell you before," I said, turning to the soldier who had delivered the letter. "But now I can."

"A vampire."

"A vampire...?"

"Madam Anne, and the taverns in Anaconda—the other shops in the Entertainment District too. Vampires have been hiding their identities and working there."

"Then your mission..."

"The final stage is to hunt them all down. I need your help."