Editing Kaze no Kishihime v2c6

Dulcinea had a personality unusual for a vampire. This young vampire girl was, simply put, the sort who could not bring herself to kill. In human terms, one might call her a vegetarian. She simply could not bring herself to kill humans, who all looked the same to her.

Among vampires, who existed as an independent race, she was one of those rare "heretics" born from time to time.

The same was true of her twin younger sister, Amais. As a result, the two of them had a rather unusual way of "hunting." Ordinary vampires used what was known as "nature magic"—magic that harnessed the forces of nature—to capture their human prey.

In forests, they would use branches to entangle humans; in villages, they would kill people with stones and drink their blood. Or they would rely on cunning to lull their prey into dropping their guard.

Dulcinea and Amais excelled at the latter approach: making their targets let down their guard completely. The two looked like nothing more than innocent young girls, and if they dressed appropriately, they could pass for wandering nuns. There were always wealthy men eager to "help" them, and the sisters would use that opportunity to gain entry into their homes and skillfully drink the blood of any man who tried to take advantage of them.

But they never drained anyone to the point of death. They would flee once the victim merely began to think, ''Hm, I do not feel very well''..., and then repeat the same trick elsewhere. Because they lived that way, their true identities were discovered fairly often, and each time they would have to run.

The last time they were captured by Eustache's men, they had infiltrated the village chief's house as servants. Strangely enough, when the chief learned what they really were, he showed them sympathy and promised to let them drink his blood regularly. Since vampires were beings despised by all, a man like him was rare.

However, one day his family caught them in the act of feeding. Having been careless, Dulcinea and Amais were quickly seized and brought before their lord, The Grand Duke Eustache. With Amais taken hostage, Dulcinea had no choice but to obey whatever the Duke commanded...

"...I can't do it. There's no way I can unleash a corpse thrall and make it rampage."

Vampires could turn one person whose blood they had drunk into a familiar called a corpse thrall, controlling them like a golem.

Eustache's order was simple: turn a designated individual into a corpse thrall and use them to annihilate the Mage Guard.

"...How am I supposed to do that?"

Dulcinea let out a weary sigh.

Night was beginning to fall, and the road was crowded with people returning home after finishing their work.

As she watched them pass by, Dulcinea thought that she and these people looked no different at all.

And yet, why were they forced to drink only human blood...?

The moment that thought crossed her mind, her stomach growled.

"Auu... I'm hungry..."

Without thinking, Dulcinea clutched her stomach and crouched down. Her neatly trimmed black hair fluttered in the breeze, brushing against her cheeks. Her drooping eyes were so charming they could make one's heart skip a beat, and in that posture she drew the attention of every man nearby.

"What's wrong, little miss? Feeling sick?"

One man crouched down and peered into Dulcinea's face. She glanced at him. Would it be all right if she took a little blood from this man?

He was powerfully built. Dulcinea shook her head internally.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

He did not look very bright, so she could probably pretend to go to bed with him, put him to sleep with a ''Sleep'' spell, and drink his blood without difficulty.

But if he happened to wake up...

Looking at his arms, thick as tree trunks, Dulcinea began to tremble.

"I-I'm fine."

Forcing a smile, she shook her head. But perhaps taking her for an easy mark, the man suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Come on, don't say that. I'll buy you something good to eat."

Oh no, what should I do?

Still, Dulcinea looked at the man's face. She had her own preferences when it came to taste. His cheeks were flushed, and he clearly looked like a heavy drinker. The blood of drunkards was thick and unpleasant.

Just imagining the taste made her cover her mouth.

"I'm really fine..."

She said it timidly, but the man ignored her, dragged her by the arm, and hauled her into a tavern. Then he began ordering dish after dish.

"Here! Eat!"

The moment Dulcinea saw the food laid out before her, nausea rose in her throat.

To humans, it might have looked like a delicious feast. But to Dulcinea, a vampire, it looked like nothing more than the corpses of animals and plants. Those corpses had been boiled and roasted into grotesque forms.

And yet Dulcinea envied humans.

Why was I born a vampire?

If only she was born human, like the man before her and all the other people around them...

Then she would not have had to struggle so much over something as simple as food...

"Eat. Go on."

"N-No, thank you..."

When Dulcinea still refused to touch the food, the man finally lost his temper.

"You're a spoiled little thing! What kind of pampered princess are you?!"

Apparently, he intended to feed her and then have his way with her. Without warning, he grabbed Dulcinea by the hair.

"Auu! Auuuu!"

"I said eat! You can't turn down a meal I'm paying for!"

"B-But I'm already full..."

"That's a lie! Your stomach was growling!"

This is exactly why I hate cities..., Dulcinea grumbled inwardly.

Karin burst out of the Angel's Ark Inn and trudged down the street. By now, all her energy had drained away, and she didn't care what happened anymore.

Had she done something wrong? She could not help asking herself that.

No... if she didn’t draw her wand back there, she felt she would no longer be herself. The outfit had certainly been ridiculous enough to invite laughter, but it was filled with Marianne's heartfelt feelings. As a woman, Karin simply could not forgive what had happened.

But because of that, she lost her dream of becoming a knight.

Maybe I really was wrong...

More importantly, what was she supposed to do now?

Become Cendrillon's servant and let him work her to the bone?

Np way. It’s all his fault...

No, that's not it! It's because he's so pathetic!

Karin was seized by the urge to scream. Anger welled up inside her. Because he refused to acknowledge her. Because he kept dragging around the memory of some woman from the past, brooding over her forever.

"Glad she’s alive," huh?

That phrase echoed through Karin's mind again and again. She could understand the feeling. But it was not the sort of thing one should say right in front of Karin after she had nearly been killed by that woman.

And then there were Bacchus and Narcissus. Where on earth did they take her? Did they seriously think that sleeping with a woman would somehow make her feel better?

What simple-minded idiots!

Truly idiots! You call yourselves knights, acting so mighty, but all your worries disappear just as soon as you sleep with a woman? I'm not that simple!

She felt an almost irresistible urge to shout those words at them. If they were standing in front of her, she might have drawn her wand again.

Uh.

Were the knights she admired really nothing but pathetic men like that...?

Still feeling deeply disillusioned, Karin was walking along when a scream reached her ears.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Looking over, she saw a black-haired girl of about sixteen or seventeen being manhandled by a drunken man in front of a tavern.

It was Dulcinea.

"You little brat! After I was nice enough to buy you food, what gives you the right to run away?!"

Already in a foul mood, Karin could not stand the sight.

She strode over and, without the slightest hesitation, kicked the man in the backside.

The man turned and looked at Karin with open contempt for a moment, but the instant he noticed the wand hanging at her waist, he quickly fled.

"Are you all right?"

When Karin offered her a hand, Dulcinea looked up at her with tearful eyes.

"Thank you so much..."

Karin was about to leave after saying, "Be more careful."

"U-Um! Your name!"

"Karin."

The moment she gave that curt reply, Dulcinea's expression changed.

"Ah, so you're—!"

"You know me?"

Karin asked suspiciously, and Dulcinea immediately put on an innocent expression.

"Huh? N-No, well, um! It's just that Apprentice Karin of the Mage Guard is famous, after all! You distinguished yourself in the duel, and you rescued the princess—you're a real hero!"

Her eyes sparkling, Dulcinea exclaimed excitedly.

"Well..."

Scratching her head awkwardly, Karin tried to walk away. At once, Dulcinea latched onto her from behind.

"Please let me repay you!"

"No need."

Karin answered coldly, but Dulcinea refused to let go.

"I cannot allow that! I must thank you for helping me!"

At that moment, Karin's stomach growled.

"Are you hungry?"

That was undeniably true. Come to think of it, she had not eaten a proper meal in several days. Until now, despair kept her hunger at bay, but perhaps her anger reminded her body of what it needed.

Karin's knees gave way beneath her.

"I'll treat you to anything you want!"

Dulcinea promptly dragged Karin into the very tavern where she herself was taken.

"Is it... good?"

Watching Karin devour the food with total concentration, Dulcinea asked hesitantly. Her mouth stuffed full of food, Karin nodded vigorously.

After draining a cup of wine, Karin let out a satisfied breath.

"Here, please, have some more."

Without missing a beat, Dulcinea refilled her cup.

"I see... So that's how you ended up getting kicked out of the Mage Guard..."

Before she knew it, Karin told Dulcinea everything: how she came to Tristania dreaming of becoming a knight, and how the recent duel incident finally costed her her position.

Dulcinea was such a good listener that Karin found herself telling her anything and everything.

"So, what are you planning to do now?"

Asked that question, Karin was at a loss for words. For the moment, she had just run out of the brothel, but she had no desire to return to Cendrillon. More importantly, what was this nonsense about becoming his servant?

And yet she could not simply go home to her homeland either. She was completely trapped, with nowhere to turn.

Karin's small heart felt as though it were on the verge of being swallowed by despair. And if she let herself be consumed by that deep darkness, she had the unsettling sense that she would never return.

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

But she must not cry.

If she cried, it would mean admitting defeat to despair.

Biting her lip, Karin fought desperately to hold back her tears.

Seeing her like that, Dulcinea seemed deeply moved.

"How awful..."

She began to cry herself.

"M-Don't cry," Karin murmured as she took another drink of wine.

Before long, her consciousness began to drift away.

After carrying Karin up to a room on the second floor, Dulcinea let out a long sigh.

What luck. To encounter her target so quickly...

Now all she had to do was drink Karin's blood, kill her, and turn her into a corpse thrall.

But as she looked at Karin's innocent sleeping face, all strength drained from her body.

"I can't," Dulcinea whispered.

There was no way she could do such a thing. She had never created a corpse thrall even once. To her, it was a desecration of life itself.

And yet, unless she transformed this girl into a corpse thrall and unleashed her upon the Mage Guard, she would never see her twin sister Armais again.

Knowing the cruel Eustache, it was entirely possible he would take Armais's life.

Resolving herself, Dulcinea lowered her mouth toward Karin's neck.

At once, sharp fangs extended from between her lips. Vampires like her could conceal their fangs until the very instant they fed.

That was why they were known as the most terrifying fiends in all of Halkeginia.

After all, they were indistinguishable from humans.

Her fangs touched the smooth skin of Karin's neck.

Closing her eyes, Dulcinea drove them in.

A bead of blood welled up against Karin's pale skin and moistened Dulcinea's tongue with exquisite sweetness.

And then Dulcinea realized something.

This taste... this isn't a boy's blood.

What?

This child is a girl?

She stared closely at Karin's sleeping face, but it matched the appearance she had been told to expect. The name was correct. So was her status as an apprentice of the Mage Guard.

Then it struck her.

There must be some reason Karin had to conceal her sex.

A woman living as a man...

Suddenly, Karin's circumstances overlapped with her own.

I am the same.

I cannot survive unless I hide what I truly am.

Otherwise, I would be killed at once.

The moment she thought that, she could go no further.

Dulcinea pulled her mouth away from Karin's neck with a soft gasp.

At that instant, Karin's eyes snapped open.

"Huh?"

She stared at Dulcinea.

Then she noticed the blood on her lips.

"...What? ...Blood?"

Touching her neck and feeling the dampness there, Karin's face went pale.

"A v-vampire..."

Even Karin knew what that word meant.

Vampires.

The most dreaded fiends in the world.

Dulcinea saw the flash of revulsion in Karin's eyes and recoiled with a frightened squeak. An ordinary vampire would have instinctively cast a spell, but timid Dulcinea only thought of running away.

Karin reacted instantly.

She cast Blade and thrust her wand against Dulcinea's throat.

"Don't move."

Nobles were taught that vampires were to be killed on sight.

To them, it was as natural as swatting a mosquito.

The moment Karin raised her wand to strike, Dulcinea broke down in tears.

"...Ugh... ngh... waaah..."

Vampires looked exactly like humans.

Karin's hand hesitated.

But she had no reason to show mercy.

They were a cruel and cunning race.

Entire towns were wiped out by them.

No matter how meek and shy Dulcinea appeared, Karin's father had taught her that such appearances were merely tools used to lull humans into a false sense of security.

"U-Um... I don't mind if you kill me. I really am a vampire. But... but..."

"But what?"

The fact that they could understand one another only made things more difficult.

Predator and prey.

There could never be any true understanding between them.

And yet language still remained.

"Please... save my sister. I beg you... ugh..."

"Your sister?"

Dulcinea nodded tearfully.

"M-My sister has been captured... I have to obey them... sniff... Why was I ever born a vampire? I hate it. I hate having to drink the blood of humans who all look exactly the same... So please, kill me. But... but... please save Armais..."

Something about her demeanor felt strangely sincere.

Karin lowered her wand.

She had heard that vampires were cunning deceivers.

But there was something about Dulcinea that felt different.

"Can you tell me exactly what's going on?"

Still sobbing, Dulcinea explained everything to Karin.

When she finished hearing the story, Karin clenched her fists.

"Eustache!"

He had intended to turn her into a corpse thrall and unleash her against the Mage Guard.
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The sheer vileness of it made Karin feel dizzy.

"You're willing to believe my story?"

Looking up at her, Dulcinea searched Karin's face. Karin gave a firm nod.

"I don't really have much choice, do I? If you had truly wanted to, it would have been effortless for you to drain all of my blood while I was asleep. The fact that you couldn't do it means you're exactly the kind of person you say you are."

Karin found it hard to believe that a vampire could exist who was incapable of killing humans, but after seeing Dulcinea's actions, she had little choice but to accept it.

At those words, Dulcinea nodded in visible relief.

Just as there are all kinds of humans, there must be all kinds of vampires as well, Karin thought.

In any case, the one she could not ignore was Eustache.

Should she report this to His Majesty?

But...

At the moment, the only evidence she had was the testimony of this vampire, Dulcinea. Even if she told the king, there was no guarantee he would believe her. As a noble, Karin knew all too well how deeply vampires were hated in this world.

Which meant...

If she were to rely on anyone, it would have to be Cendrillon and his companions?

Karin shook her head.

They would certainly tell her to leave it alone. Worse, they might lock her away somewhere to prevent her from acting on her own.

As she recalled Cendrillon's face, Karin frowned.

That overly cautious man was exactly the sort who might do something like that. In any case, her whole body still burned with anger.

In that case, she would do it alone.

Even now, her heart was still that of a knight.

And a true knight could never overlook injustice happening before her eyes.

More than that, this felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to strike back at Eustache, who had been toying with her all this time.

I will expose him, no matter what.

And to do that...

Karin began thinking as hard as she could.