Chapter 36

◈ Chapter 36 — Sea of Blood

"Help? Is that what you're asking?"

One of the soldiers spoke up.

"Words are cheap. Seeing's believing."

I pulled out a firecracker.

Struck a match against the fuse and lit it.

Set it upright in the dirt.

Then stepped to the left.

"This way."

I positioned the soldiers behind me.

A moment later, the firecracker burst.

Light shot high into the air.

Then came the thunderclap — a flash of lightning splitting the dark.

Nothing remained where the firecracker had been but a charred black scorch mark.

Just as I'd expected. Madam Anne had sniped it instantly.

Seven arrows she'd shot tonight. I'd witnessed four of them myself.

That meant she had three arrows left at most.

"What... what the hell...?"

"Madam Anne's magic tool...!"

"How are you making her dance to your tune?"

I pointed at my senior again.

"It's not me. It's the firecrackers I gave to her. I just took them back. The deal is: lightning strikes wherever a firecracker goes off. I'm using that arrangement."

I drew my sword.

Drove the tip of the scabbard into the ground.

My senior stared at the cross-shaped blade, then lowered her head.

"You said it yourself earlier. Madam Anne halted the Entertainment District's operations to hunt me down."

She stayed silent.

"Those firecrackers aren't just sniper bait. They're rallying points for the vampires who started late."

I bent my knees and lifted her off the ground.

"You're not allowed to die yet."

I offered her my arm.

"You're still useful."

"I won't... let you have your way, Mago..."

"Then die right here. Be my guest if that's what you want."

"Khh..."

Her fangs sank into my forearm.

She drank.

Color returned to her face.

And the wound that had nearly cut her in half began to regenerate.

"Madam Anne sent her vampires after me, but she herself hasn't moved. You'd think someone who can snipe from anywhere would just relocate — moving herself is the fastest way. So what's she cooking up back there?"

"I... don't know."

She shook her head.

"If you knew something, it might give you a reason to stay alive."

I let the words hang.

"What...?"

Her eyes went wide.

"You mean you're not sparing me... you're going to kill me?"

"Obviously. I'm just not killing you right now."

"Mago... you...?"

"Do you think I'm just some staff member at the Anaconda? I'm a soldier of the Imperial Army. We've marked you as the enemy. Did you think this was a game of tag where nobody dies?"

"W-Wait... you're seriously going to kill me...?"

I looked down at her waist, now almost completely regenerated.

She'd survived this long in that broken state. The idea that a human might finally take her life probably hadn't even crossed her mind.

"No... I don't want this..."

"Of course you don't."

"Mago, hold on! You said you'd wait!"

"How many did you kill like that? Trapping them like slaves after they foresaw their own deaths? How many times have you done it?"

"I don't know! I was just following Madam's orders!"

I ignored her and stood up.

*

"We'll go alone, sir."

Two soldiers raised their hands. The same pair that had stopped me at the checkpoint earlier.

"We'd like to help you with numbers, but we can't leave the checkpoint unmanned," one added.

"Two is enough."

A moment later, one of the soldiers brought a rope.

I used it to bind the senior staffer. Then I wedged my sword between the rope and her body.

She froze instantly, as if turned to stone.

The effect was perfect.

I lifted her onto a horse.

"Let's move."

"Yes, sir."

The two soldiers mounted their own horses.

"Where are we headed?"

"The wine brewery."

"The brewery...?"

"I've been there before. I know the way. Back then, I was also on my way back from the brewery, wasn't I?"

"Ah... you had a wagon loaded with wine..."

"We need to finish this quickly. Right now, Madam Anne is busy striking lightning down at the firecracker positions... but that's exactly what bothers me. I don't know what scheme she's cooking up out of sight."

"Yes, sir. We'll give it our all."

I held the reins with only my left hand.

My right hand — the one the senior staffer had bitten — hung loosely at my side.

Blood dripped steadily from it, leaving a trail on the ground.

A deliberate invitation for the pursuing vampires to follow me like hounds on a scent.

*

The Head Chef of the Anaconda tavern narrowed his crimson eyes.

He knelt down and examined the ground.

"Madam Anne's lightning struck twice. Once over there."

He pointed at a black scorch mark — the spot where Mago had called down Madam Anne's electric strike.

"Search as I might, there's only one trace. That means one of the two shots hit its mark..."

He looked around.

No sign of anyone.

The Head Chef had intended to recover Mago's body and return. But Mago wasn't here. Neither was the senior staffer who oversaw the serving.

All that remained on the ground were the black burn and a trail of blood.

He lifted his head slowly.

A trail of blood, dotted with droplets, stretched out before him.

"Vampire blood mixed with human blood. Both are still here, somehow."

He sniffed the air.

The Head Chef raised his right arm.

"Let's move."

The vampires of the Entertainment District spread their wings and took flight.

"R-real vampires..."

Inside the checkpoint, the Imperial soldiers watched them ascend.

One of them spoke first.

"That's at least thirty..."

"I've heard a vampire's strength is four times that of a man."

"No, I heard it was five..."

"How the hell is he supposed to handle thirty of them? Three men against that. Even if he can call down Madam Anne's lightning..."

"Maybe we should have just left him alone..."

"What? What are you saying?"

"Better one man dead than three!"

*

"You want to borrow my brewery?"

The Brewery Owner stared at me as if I'd lost my mind.

"Yes. And the wine in your cellar as well."

"No, absolutely not. The Imperial Army using my brewery? You'll leave it in shambles!"

He practically yelled, veins bulging in his neck.

"Hmm... I can't promise we'll keep it intact."

"See?!"

"I'll compensate you when it's over. You have my word."

I bowed my head in request.

"And what guarantee do I have that you'll—"

"You're under an exclusive contract with Madam Anne, aren't you?"

"That's right. Ah... ah! You're that wagon driver from before!"

The owner finally recognized my face and pointed a finger at me.

I pushed his hand aside and answered.

"Took you long enough. White hair isn't exactly common. Or should I say, thank you for not being prejudiced..."

"Didn't you drive the wagon for Madam Anne's orders?"

His eyes scanned the uniform I was wearing.

"I did. But as you can see, I'm with the Imperial Army. I was just playing the part of a wagon driver back then because of circumstances."

"The Imperial Army, and you were working for Madam Anne... why?"

"I'll be blunt. I'm going to tear down the Entertainment District — the Anaconda and everything connected to her. Her entire operation."

"Wh-what...?"

His voice shot up.

"I'll compensate you using Madam Anne's assets. What do you say?"

"Madam Anne's assets? Don't talk nonsense!"

"It's not as far-fetched as you think."

"Not long ago, there was a man who stole money from Madam Anne and ran. He was struck down by divine lightning — dead in the blink of an eye, I heard!"

"None of that will matter once Madam Anne is dead."

"Hah...! You're going to kill her?"

"That's why I'm here."

"No one can kill Madam Anne—"

"You seem to trust her a great deal."

"Without trust, there's no deal. Isn't that right?"

"I don't care about any of that. I'll take this as your cooperation."

"No, wait—"

"The Empire regulates how much alcohol gets supplied to the Entertainment District. You knew that, didn't you?"

"What?"

"And yet you kept supplying wine. Do I really have to make a federal case out of this? Let's end this cleanly."

"Well, no, but—"

The owner folded immediately.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

"Hey, hold on — you said you're borrowing the brewery and the wine. How exactly are you going to use them? At least tell me that—"

Before I could answer, one of the Imperial soldiers who'd come with me spoke up.

"We brought them!"

He was holding a two-handed axe. The other soldier had one too.

"Ah, no way..." The owner seemed to catch on and shook his head frantically.

"Thank you. Now we just need to break them open."

I took one of the axes.

"No, don't—!"

*

"Mago!"

My senior thrashed against her restraints. But with the cross sword pressing against her, all her struggles amounted to the strength of a child.

I dragged her down to the basement where the wine was stored. The same basement with the broken floor I'd almost fallen through.

"Let me go!"

"You still haven't answered me. How many did you kill?"

"Khh..."

She didn't answer — just kept writhing.

"The war started nine months ago. That's probably around the time humans started coming to the Anaconda to receive blood and become vampires. Should I do some simple math?"

I pulled her into a corner as I spoke.

"There were five half-breeds locked in that storage room. Even if you cleared it out once a month, that's roughly forty-five people."

"That's nothing."

"Is that so?"

"That many people can die in a war easily."

"Yeah. What's the point of saying more?"

"Compared to the soldiers who die every time the Imperial Army retreats in defeat... it's a drop in the ocean! You know that?"

"Believe what you want."

"You have nothing to say, do you!"

"How many of you have died? How many vampires have died in nine months? None, right? You had the strength to fight the Demon King's army, but you were too busy killing humans in the shadows and stuffing your faces."

"Ha — just because we have power, we have to fight?"

"That doesn't give you a reason to kill humans. You can survive just fine on monster blood or animal blood."

"Those things taste like shit."

"That's a perfectly valid reason."

"What do you know... what do humans know..."

"Looks like you're the one who has nothing to say now."

I tightened my grip on the axe handle.

On both sides of the basement, oak barrels full of wine stretched out in endless rows. Stacked so high I couldn't see the end.

I swung the blade into the nearest barrel.

The wounded oak barrel coughed up red wine like blood.

The liquid squelched under my boots.

The more barrels I smashed, the higher the level rose.

From my soles to my ankles.

Ankles to knees.

Knees to waist.

I waited until it was deep enough to make movement difficult, then climbed out of the basement.

"I'm... I'm ruined..."

The Brewery Owner dropped to his knees, his face blank with devastation.

Back on the first floor of the brewery.

Blue moonlight streamed down from above. I looked up.

The moon itself was fully visible through the gap.

The two soldiers had torn open the roof, swinging their axes tirelessly.

That should be enough.

"I think you can stop now!"

"Sir?"

"Come down!"

"Ah, yes sir!"

They climbed down the ladder. Halfway down, one of them got impatient and just jumped.

The moment his boots hit the first floor—

The floor gave way.

"Kyaa...!"

A short scream, and he plummeted.

A heavy splash echoed up.

"Uhn?"

I walked over to the hole he'd punched through and peered down.

He looked back up at me, submerged in wine.

"The floor is cracked. Any impact and it breaks."

"So it seems..."

"I noticed it last time I was here. I fell through it myself."

"Yessir... I'll get out right away."

"Good. It's almost time anyway."

"Yes sir!"

He swam to the stairs connecting the first floor to the basement, then climbed back up on foot.

"Wait at a distance from now on."

"Sir... are you sure you'll be alright alone?"

"No problem."

They nodded and exited the brewery.

I stayed inside, positioning myself at the far end of the first floor, waiting for the vampires.

I didn't have to wait long.

They came.

I counted quickly.

Exactly thirty.