==============================
Chapter 109. I Said It’s a Partnership, Didn’t I?
After letting it all out in one big bout, Aster and Shine talked calmly.
Of course, “calmly” here was only by Aster’s standards.
For Shine, it was a conversation streaked through with violence.
‘…You rotten bastard.’
Shine rubbed her throbbing forehead and looked at Aster sitting across from her.
“Hmm. So that’s how it happened? This is… honestly, it’s hard to believe.”
Leaning back in his chair, his toes casually bobbing. For someone claiming it’s hard to believe, he was far too composed.
It was hard to believe he was the same bastard who’d charged at her the first time they met with wildfire killing intent!
‘…Demon of a bastard.’
He was going to hit her again.
- Hmm, you got proof?
- Proof? Isn’t this body the proof, you stupid—agh!
- Stupid? Stupid? Who’s stupid?
If she gave him even the smallest opening, he’d flick her forehead, and it hurt like hell.
And if she tried to block it clumsily?
- Blocking? Blocking?
Two, three flicks in a row.
Humiliating.
‘How the hell did Shine von Lehmann end up like this….’
If he just punched her in the jaw or kicked her, it would be less humiliating, at least.
But he kept stacking those flicks obsessively, in the exact same spot, like he was scolding a little kid.
The tears that gathered at the corners of her eyes weren’t because it hurt, but because it was so damn humiliating.
‘…Just you wait. It’s only because I haven’t been a vampire for long. Once I’ve built up enough power….’
She would pay this disgrace back without fail. Tenfold? No—hundredfold, thousandfold, with interest piled on!
“Then, to sum it up….”
Anyway, while Shine burned with vengeance, Aster spoke.
“You received a mission from that Elder—revival of the vampires.”
“…That’s right.”
“And in exchange, you were able to come back to life like this.”
“…Correct.”
“And from here on, you have to increase your clan in order to revive the vampires, is that what you’re saying?”
How many more times did he need to make her say it?
At the question—already repeated several times—Shine felt her anger surge. But only for a moment.
“Thaaat’s right.”
Superhuman patience.
‘Ask me one more time… and I don’t care about revival or whatever—today, even if I die, I’ll definitely—’
Her hatred was desperate.
But maybe he sensed it. Aster didn’t repeat the question again.
“Hmm. So that’s how it is.”
“……”
He really had a talent for pissing people off.
She was ready—just once more, one more time, and she’d explode no matter what happened—but he cut it off at the exact moment, like a ghost.
‘Endure. I must endure.’
Meanwhile, as Shine tested the limits of her patience, Aster sank into thought.
‘Does this… make sense?’
Contrary to Shine’s expectations, he hadn’t asked so he could beat her up.
He’d asked again and again because the story really was hard to believe.
Because think about it.
‘…A vampire?’
Sure, fine. Let’s say they could exist.
People called them imaginary races, fiction that only appeared in fairy tales, but reality was always stranger than imagination.
But a bastard who died twice comes back as a vampire?
‘Is that even possible?’
He didn’t know.
By her account, it was possible because of the vampire clan’s racial characteristics, several special conditions, and the fact that the vampires had paid an enormous price in ancient times.
Well, even if he sat down properly and listened to the details, he probably wouldn’t understand the mechanism, so he was just thinking in terms of common sense.
But by “common sense,” it was impossible to believe.
Even with the result—Shine—sitting right in front of him proving everything, it still felt hard to accept.
But that only lasted a moment.
He had no choice but to believe.
‘So, me regressing and borrowing my previous life’s body and power when I fought Destrow makes sense, but this doesn’t?’
If we’re talking about things that don’t make sense, wasn’t that even worse?
Following that rough train of thought, he eventually accepted Shine’s revival too, but….
A question suddenly popped up.
“Then why did you come here?”
“…What?”
“No, I mean. You said you have to revive your clan. Doesn’t that mean you’re busy?”
“Uh, well….”
A brief silence.
“…Yeah. Why did I?”
In a way, it might’ve been a question that could sting.
One way or another, Shine was Aster’s lifesaver. Weren’t they comrades who fought together? And yet, what he said to the lifesaver was, “Why did you come here?” Seriously?
And yet Shine couldn’t answer, because she didn’t know the reason herself.
‘Yeah. Why did I come looking for this crafty bastard?’
That was the truth.
It hadn’t been long, but their time together hadn’t been bad.
But she had an urgent task ahead of her, so why had she come to find this crafty bastard?
Because I saved your life, so I came to rub it in? …No, it wasn’t that.
If she’d wanted compensation in the first place, she wouldn’t have volunteered to sacrifice herself like that.
Flash.
At that moment, a streak of light passed through Aster’s eyes.
“You don’t have anywhere to go, do you?”
“Why would I not have anywhere to—…I don’t.”
Thinking about it, she really didn’t.
Any ties she’d had in life were people from two hundred years ago. Unless they’d become undead like her, they’d all be buried nicely in coffins by now.
So, go find the descendants’ houses? And then say what?
— It’s me, okay! Your ancestors and me, okay! We ate together, huh! Drank together, huh! We did it all!
As if.
She’d be lucky if she didn’t get stabbed.
And as for going to where the Lehmann family members were buried, like she’d originally planned….
‘How?’
Back when she was a Death Knight, she’d vaguely thought, “Once I get out of the great forest, I’ll go find it,” but now that reality was right in front of her….
It was overwhelming.
A noble house that had been exterminated. Even though she became an Emperor-slayer after her house had already been wiped out, would a traitor’s family have left behind their traces intact?
And then there was this, too.
After her house was destroyed, as Shine wandered the continent alone, she became absolutely certain of one thing.
‘…Everything is money.’
Eating, sleeping, taking a piss.
Even just breathing cost money.
So, did she have money? No.
Did she have a clear identity, then…?
“Hey.”
“…Speak.”
Shine folded away her confused thoughts at Aster’s voice.
But why was it?
‘This bastard’s eyes….’
They were dangerous, somehow.
It was like… yeah. The look he had before making a contract with the Bracelet of Subjugation.
“You don’t know how harsh the outside world is, do you?”
“…I do.”
“You said you have to revive your clan. But these days the world isn’t that easy. A vampire? Hey—if the mages find out, you know how happy they’d be?”
“……”
“From what I see, it won’t be ‘revival of the clan.’ It’ll be ‘locked up in some unknown mage’s lab and used as research material for a thesis.’”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Do you even know who I am—”
“Ah, I know. You’re a Master Knight who had a fistfight—dragon-and-tiger, evenly matched—with a mage who had internal injuries, right?”
“……”
True.
“And you’re also a vampire who got beaten into a pulp by some Pathfinder.”
Also true.
But Shine did not yield to violence grounded in fact.
“It’s only because I’m weak right now, since I can’t even drink a single drop of blood—!”
“Ah, right. But you said drinking one or two people isn’t enough. When are you ever going to manage that, huh?”
“……”
Had she run out of things to say?
Shine clamped her mouth shut.
Aster looked at her and let out a small laugh.
As if he had no intention of hiding it, the look in his eyes shone more and more blatantly.
“You’re a Lord and all that, so your lifespan is basically not set, right?”
“……”
“Then a hundred years or so is fine, isn’t it?”
He’d heard that even if you weren’t a Lord, vampires’ lifespans were incomparable to humans.
And this was something Shine realized naturally the moment she became a vampire, even without anyone telling her.
Common sense of the vampires, injected by the Elder for the sake of a human-born Lord.
“Do one job with me.”
“You crafty bastard…!”
That was when Shine finally exploded.
“How much are you planning to use me again? When I think about how I got fooled by your slick tongue and ended up treated like a freeloader and a slave, even now I—when I’m lying down, I still jolt—!”
“You don’t even sleep.”
Shine’s aura turned vicious, sounding truly aggrieved. But Aster, picking at his ear, brushed it off casually.
That’s how it always went.
Once you started losing to violence grounded in facts, the only thing you could do was raise your voice.
“I’m not saying, huh, that I’m going to use you for free. It’s a kind of… yeah. Partnership. Huh? I said it’s a partnership, didn’t I?”
“…A partnership, you say?”
Aster nodded.
“Think about it. How hard would it be to live in the world as a vampire all by yourself? And how are you going to increase your clan? And if you do increase it—where are you going to sleep? How are you going to get blood?”
“That’s true, but….”
“I’m not telling you, ‘Do only my work until you die.’ Let’s help each other. You help my work, and I help your work.”
Shine’s eyes wavered.
‘She’s almost swallowed it.’
But maybe because she’d been tricked once already, Shine didn’t fall for it so easily.
“Do you know what it is you’re trying to do? What if you’re planning to found an empire? What if you’re planning to wipe out some noble house?”
“Hey now. Do you take me for a con artist?”
“I can’t trust you. So… right. There’s something called a ‘Blood Oath.’”
“Blood Oath?”
Shine nodded and lightly bit the tip of her index finger with her fang.
Tap.
A drop of blood fell onto the table. But was this really vampire blood? The mana clinging to the blood was anything but ordinary.
“This is the authority of a Lord. While we attune this oath, we cannot speak even a single inch of a lie, and after we are bound by the oath, we must carry out its terms with our lives at stake.”
Zzzzz—
The strangely glowing drop of blood spread, drawing an unknown magic circle.
“If you are truly so upright, then drop a drop of blood onto it. And if you swear to this oath… I will consider partnering with you.”
For Shine, this was a fairly bold move.
The Blood Oath was a Lord’s authority.
Once you make an oath, you cannot make a new one until that oath is released.
Using such an authority on Aster without hesitation carried two meanings.
One.
‘…He’s someone I absolutely cannot trust.’
Not that he lacked faith. Just that she couldn’t trust that crafty three-inch tongue of his.
And the other.
‘Putting aside the tongue… his skill is not lacking.’
She didn’t know why he covered his face.
But to a mage, realm was power.
Regardless of origin, if he had that level of realm, it was certain he would be holding a position somewhere, no matter his affiliation.
Strength and background.
A play that considered both.
“Do we really have to go this far?”
“Ha! Spit another lie, did you?”
“No, it’s not that, but….”
At Aster’s weak-looking reaction, Shine wore a triumphant smile.
“As far as I’m concerned, aside from you, I have no other options. If you need my help, then this time, let’s join hands on equal terms.”
In other words: give and take.
I’ll repay what I receive. That was what she meant.
Of course, that was the most natural form of a deal. So in a way, her triumphant smile was ridiculous.
But Shine couldn’t help feeling smug, because she’d grown accustomed to slave life.
“…Well, if you put it that way, I guess I have no choice.”
As if he couldn’t help it, Aster drew blood from his finger and dropped it onto the oath.
“Now, what do you want from me?”
“Me? Well… it’s not anything that grand. Tsk. You really don’t recognize the goodwill in me trying to help a companion.”
“Shut up and start talking.”
Shine watched Aster’s blood seep into the oath, then grinned.
‘Goodwill? Do you even know what the concept of goodwill is?’
A man who kept up pretenses to the very end.
But this time, those pretenses wouldn’t work.
The oath would reveal every last one of his lies and lay his true intentions bare.
And so, as she looked at Aster with a smug gaze—
Aster scratched his head and spoke.
“I’m just… modest, you know.”
“Modest?”
“Yeah. Just opening a library and living peacefully. That’s all I want.”
“What kind of bullshi—ah?”
Woooong—
The oath’s magic circle shone.
At the clear hum, Shine tilted her head.
‘That… is true?’
“This is… how could…!”
That bastard opening a library? He’d burn a library down before he’d open one. Peace, my ass. There was nothing farther from peace than that crafty bastard!
But Aster’s words didn’t stop there.
“I was planning to use every bit of status and power I have right now to help you revive the vampire clan.”
Woooong—
‘…That’s true?’
At the clear hum ringing out again, Shine’s eyes shook violently.
And then Aster’s desolate voice reached her ear.
“…Hoo. You still can’t believe it?”
“Wh-what is….”
But her flustered moment was brief.
“I… I think I misunderstood you.”
“So do you believe me? Or not?”
At Aster’s sharp question, Shine steadied herself. A few deep breaths. And when she finally opened her mouth—
“I belie—kgh.”
Jjiing—!
A sharp ringing trembled in her ear.
“……”
“……”
Aster didn’t speak, and Shine didn’t speak.
After a short silence passed, Aster was the first to open his mouth.
“Yeah. Considering what I’ve done, that’s fair.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Apology dripping from her voice.
‘…Well. As long as he’s human, would he really stab the lifesaver who saved his life in the back?’
She had insulted pure goodwill with misguided suspicion. Even if she wasn’t the type of knight who prized honor, it was still rude enough.
“I sincerely apologize. And even though I’m shameless… you might be upset, but can you still help me? We don’t have to proceed with the oath.”
Shine was serious, rarely so. At that, Aster curled the corner of his mouth upward.
“That’s what friends are for.”
“You…!”
“And let’s proceed with the oath, too. That’ll make you feel more at ease, right? The contract period is… yeah. How about until my library is built? Ah, of course, even before that, if something comes up regarding the vampire clan, I’ll help as much as I can whenever I have room to.”
At that merciful 모습, Shine’s eyes turned wet.
“…I’ve been looking at you with too twisted a gaze all this time.”
“What matters is what comes next.”
Aster’s generous smile.
No—he wasn’t generous.
The smile hidden beneath that mask was as rancid as could be.
In truth, what was twisted wasn’t Shine’s gaze toward Aster.
…it was Aster himself.
