Chapter 36

“Help, you say?”

Another soldier asked.

“Seeing is faster than explaining.”

I pulled out a firework.

Struck a match and touched the fuse.

Stuck the rocket upright in the dirt.

Stepped to the left.

“This way.”

I moved the soldiers behind me.

A heartbeat later the firework screamed skyward.

Light flared high overhead, and with a crack of thunder a bolt of lightning split the night.

Where the rocket had stood, only a black scorch-mark remained.

Just as I’d expected, Madam Anne snapped off a shot.

Four of the seven rounds I’d actually seen—three arrows left in her quiver.

“W-what in the...”

“Madam Anne’s arcane device...!”

“How are you making it fire at will?”

I pointed at Senior again.

“I didn’t give it to her; I gave it to this woman. I only took it back. The rocket’s burst is the signal: lightning strikes the launch site. We’re using that promise.”

I drew my sword.

Jammed the scabbard’s tip deep into the ground.

Senior glanced at the cross-shaped blade and lowered her head.

“You said earlier Madam Anne shut the red-light district down just to hunt me.”

She gave no answer.

“The rocket marks her sniping spot, but it’s also the late-comers’ rally point for the Vampires.”

I knelt, hoisted Senior upright.

“You’re not dying yet.”

I offered her my arm.

“I still have a use for you.”

“I won’t... let you have your way, Mago...”

“Then die here, if that’s what you want. Be my guest.”

“Ngh...”

She pressed her fangs into my forearm and drank.

Color returned to her face; the half-severed waist re-knit before my eyes.

“I sent the city’s Vampires chasing me, yet Madam Anne herself never moves. They say she can snipe from anywhere once she knows a location, but if speed mattered she’d come in person. What is she plotting?”

“I... don’t know.”

She shook her head.

“Shame. A scrap of knowledge might have been your ticket out.”

I tossed the words casually.

“What...?”

Her eyes flew wide.

“‘Won’t let me live’... you mean you’ll kill me?”

“Obviously. I’m simply postponing it.”

“Mago... you...?”

“I’m no tavern clerk; I’m an Imperial soldier. We’ve classified you as the enemy. Did you think this was tag?”

“W-wait... you’re really going to kill me...?”

I looked down at her newly whole waist.

A body that heals like that can’t easily imagine death at human hands.

“N-no...”

“Of course you don’t like it.”

“Mago, wait! You said to wait!”

“How many have you killed like this? How many times did you chain them like slaves after showing them their death? Which number am I?”

“I don’t know! I only followed Madam’s orders...!”

I ignored her and stood.

* * *

“We’ll go alone, sir.”

Two soldiers raised their hands—the same pair who had stopped me at the checkpoint.

“We want to help, but we can’t leave the post unmanned.”

“Two is plenty.”

A moment later one of them returned with rope.

We bound Senior; I slid my sword between the coils and her skin.

She froze instantly—still the perfect restraint.

We loaded her onto a horse.

“Then let’s move.”

“Yes, sir.”

The soldiers mounted up.

“Where to?”

“The winery.”

“The brewery road, you mean...?”

“I’ve been there once; I know the way. Last time I was coming back with a wagon full of wine, remember?”

“Ah, right—you had the barrels stacked high...”

“We need to finish this quickly. Right now Madam Anne is calling lightning down on the fireworks, but that only makes it more suspicious. She could be plotting something out of sight.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll do our best.”

I gathered the reins in my left hand.

My right hand—

The same hand I’d used to drain the Senior Clerk—hung slack at my side, dripping blood so the floor carried a trail.

A scent-trail to make sure the vampires followed me like hounds.

* * *

The Anakonda’s head chef knelt, red eyes glowing as he studied the floor.

“Madam Anne’s lightning struck twice. One hit there.”

He pointed to a char-black scorch.

That was where Mago had summoned her bolt.

“I can only find the one mark, so one of the two shots landed... yet there’s no second trace.”

He glanced around; not a soul in sight.

He’d come to retrieve Mago’s body, but Mago—and the head waitress—had vanished.

All that remained were the burn mark and a splash of blood.

He lifted his gaze.

Droplets of red led away like breadcrumbs.

“Vampire blood and human blood—both in the same puddle. Why?”

He wrinkled his nose, then raised his right arm.

“Follow it.”

Across the red-light district, vampires unfurled wings and took to the air.

“Th-thirty real vampires...”

Inside the checkpoint, Imperial soldiers watched them rise.

One finally found his voice.

“That’s at least thirty...”

“Four times a man’s strength, they say.”

“Five, I heard...”

“How are three of us supposed to fight thirty vampires? Even if Madam Anne can call lightning...”

“Maybe we should’ve left just one guy behind...”

“What? What kind of talk is that?”

“Better one corpse than three...”

* * *

“You want to borrow my brewery?”

The owner gaped as if I’d spoken nonsense.

“Yes. And the wine in the cellar as well.”

“Absolutely not! The Imperial Army using my place? It’ll be rubble by morning!”

Veins stood out on his neck.

“I can’t promise the building will stay intact,” I admitted.

“See? I knew it!”

“I’ll pay for every broken brick when we’re done—word of honor.”

I bowed my head.

“W-what am I supposed to trust, then?”

“Doesn’t this brewery have an exclusive contract with Madam Anne?”

“Well, yes. Ah—! You’re that white-haired coachman!”

He finally recognized me and wagged a finger.

I brushed the finger aside.

“Took you long enough. White hair isn’t common; I should thank you for not holding prejudices.”

“You drove her wagon on her errands, right?”

His eyes swept over my uniform.

“I did. But as you see, I’m Imperial Army. I played coachman for reasons of my own.”

“Why would the army care about Madam Anne...?”

“Plainly? I’m going to tear down her whole operation—Anakonda and every den in this district.”

“Y-you’re serious?”

His voice cracked.

“I’ll pay the damages out of her estate. Fair?”

“Her estate? That’s insane! Lightning smites anyone who steals from her—remember the thief fried last month?”

“Won’t matter once she’s dead.”

“You’re going to kill her?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“No one can kill Madam Anne...”

“You trust her that much?”

“Without trust there’s no business. Am I wrong?”

“Not my concern. I’ll take your cooperation as given.”

“W-wait a minute—”

“The Empire caps how much liquor enters the district. You knew that, yet you kept supplying her. Must I bring it up in court? Let’s keep this friendly.”

The owner’s tail went between his legs.

“F-fine. Thank you for your... cooperation.”

“Tell me at least—what are you planning to do with my brewery and the wine?”

As I opened my mouth to answer—

“Borrowed them!”

The Imperial Soldier who’d come with me announced.

He already had a two-handed axe in his grip.

The other trooper was the same.

“Ah, surely not...”

The owner sensed something and shook his head.

“Thanks. Time to start smashing.”

I took one of the axes.

“No, don’t—...!”

* * *

“Mago!”

Senior thrashed, kicking.

The Cross Sword left her with the strength of a child.

I dragged her down to the basement where the wine was stored—

the same basement whose floor had cracked and nearly dropped us before.

“Let go...!”

“You still haven’t answered. How many did you kill?”

“Ngh...”

No reply, only frantic writhing.

“Nine months since the war began. When humans at Anakonda tried to turn themselves into Vampires by drinking blood, it must’ve been around this number. Shall I do the math for you?”

I hauled her into the corner.

“There were five Hybrids locked in the warehouse. Even if they cleaned it out once a month, that’s roughly forty-five.”

“That’s all?”

“Really?”

“In wartime that’s nothing—people die by the thousands.”

“True. Keep talking, it won’t change a thing.”

“Every time the Imperial Army retreated, the dead piled up in heaps...! This is a drop in the bucket! Got it?”

“Think whatever you like.”

“You’ve got nothing to say, have you...!”

“How many of you died? In nine months, how many Vampires? None, right? You had the strength to fight the Demon King’s Army, yet you hid in the shadows, killing humans to fill your bellies.”

“Hah, just because we’re strong means we have to fight?”

“Still, there’s no reason to murder humans. You can survive on Demon Beast or animal blood just fine.”

“That stuff tastes like dirt.”

“A fine excuse.”

“What would you know... what could a human possibly understand...”

“Nothing more to say, then.”

I tightened my grip on the axe handle.

Along both walls of the basement, oak barrels of wine stood in endless rows, stacked higher than the lantern’s light could reach.

I swung the axe blade into the nearest barrel.

Gashed, it spat red wine like blood.

The puddle kissed my soles.

Barrel after barrel, the tide rose.

Ankles.

Knees.

Waist.

When the flood reached the point where moving became hard, I climbed back upstairs.

“I... I’m ruined...”

The brewery owner dropped to his knees, face blank with despair.

First floor of the brewery.

Blue moonlight streamed in.

I looked up.

Through the ragged hole the soldiers had chopped in the roof, the moon stared straight down.

The two troopers had split the rafters apart, axe strokes flying wild.

“Think that’s enough!”

“Huh?”

“Come on down!”

“Ah, yes, sir!”

They started down the ladder, then, impatient, jumped the last stretch.

The instant the second man’s boots hit the planks—

the floor groaned and gave way.

“Gyaa—!”

A short scream, then a splash.

“Huh?”

I walked to the fresh hole and peered through.

He floated in the wine, looking up at me.

“The boards were already cracked. A good jolt snaps them.”

“Looks that way...”

“I found out last time—fell through myself.”

“Y-yes, I’ll be right up!”

He swam to the stairs that linked basement and first floor, then climbed out, dripping.

"Please wait a safe distance away."

"Are... are you sure you'll be all right alone?"

"I'll be fine."

They bowed and filed out of the brewery.

I stayed on the first floor, deepest room, and waited for the Vampires.

It wasn't long before they arrived.

A quick count showed exactly thirty of them.