Mistaken for a Masked Munchkin

Vulgar Slaughter, Cowardly Survival (7)

"Wait a moment..."

"Hmm?"

"I'm with the Border Knights. Third Knight Kantas."

A strong, weathered face.

Now that I thought about it, someone had mentioned the knights had people taken too.

I answered him.

"Nice to meet you. Garulik."

"Sir Garulik, please accept my thanks. If you and your companions hadn't stepped in, I can only imagine what might have become of everyone here..."

"Yes... disappearances in this area have been frequent lately. I came to investigate, but..."

"And got swept up in it yourself."

"To my shame..."

"Did you come out here alone?"

"No. I had three unit members with me, but..."

"Their status is unclear."

"That's right."

A brief back-and-forth.

Kantas had been hesitating the whole time. Finally, with some effort, he got the words out.

"More than anything... the Slayers. Are they truly on our side?"

"Truly on our side. I'm not sure what you're getting at."

"You said they were vampire hunters. But..."

Eyes darting sideways.

He was looking at Carmilla, standing beside me. The girl wearing the red mask I'd handed her before we entered the ranch.

"Ah. You're wondering why a vampire hunter is traveling with a vampire."

"Y-yes..."

"This is Manre. A member who assists me. A vampire by race, yes, but she works with our organization. One of the Slayers' top operatives, in fact."

"M-Miss Manre? But why would a vampire hunt other vampires...?"

"Personal reasons."

Has this man never seen Blade?

A vampire with personal reasons to hunt other vampires is practically a staple at this point.

Which would make a vampire who hunts vampire vampire hunters a vampire vampire vampire hunter hunter, wouldn't it?

"The details are difficult to get into. It's a sensitive matter. What I can say for certain is that she's an exceptional vampire hunter."

"I see. I'm sorry. I was suddenly suspicious..."

"A perfectly natural reaction. You've been through quite enough at their hands."

I nodded.

Kantas's expression turned serious.

"The Slayers... vampire hunters who operate in secret..."

"We work across the entire continent. Countless members, all risking their lives."

"In secret, you say. Well... revealing your identities would make you easy targets."

So that's why they wear those strange masks.

He nodded to himself, apparently having worked it out.

Not that I'd actually said any of that.

But if he filled in the blanks himself, that was fine by us.

"Then... Sir Garulik. What happens now?"

"All the vampires stationed in this facility have been subdued. We've rescued the survivors as well, so the next step is to tear the place down. We'll blow it apart so it can never be used again."

"Tear it down..."

"Though there is one more place to check first."

"And that would be...?"

"The ghouls."

Humans who had drunk vampire blood and become monsters. The very victims of this whole incident.

Kantas's face darkened.

"There's a pit dug behind this building. It seems they were herding the ghouls into it."

"Ghouls..."

"Let's go. We should at least take a look."

We moved.

Kantas followed, and the survivors drifted behind me with hesitant steps. Whether they'd come to see me as their protector or simply didn't want to be left behind, they stayed close.

The pit wasn't far.

"Here it is."

-Grrr...!

-Eeeaagh!

Dug deep. Whatever sounds reached the surface came up warped and wrong, groans, shrieks, shapes writhing far below in a dense tangle.

At least a hundred. Maybe more.

"Ah..."

Kantas, beside me, let out a quiet exhale.

Had he spotted a familiar face?

He couldn't pull his eyes away from the pit.

Behind that tight expression, his gaze wavered.

He bit down hard on his lip. Pointed into the press of ghouls.

"......Those are my unit members. So this is where they ended up."

Honestly, they were packed so tight down there I couldn't tell who he meant.

"Damn it... those bastards, why would they do this..."

"You must have cared for them very much."

"They were like children to me."

"You have my condolences."

Maybe it was the guilt of being the only one to walk out alive.

He couldn't speak for a long time. Tears were building at the corners of his eyes.

That grief wasn't his alone.

"No, no! My son, my son is down there...!"

"Let go of me! I have to save my brother!"

"How could this happen..."

"Mama..."

Some of the survivors, the ones peering into the pit, broke down completely. Taken at the same time as the people now trapped below, probably.

"No... Papa, Papa was turned into a monster..."

"I have to go down! My son reached out to me!"

"Snap out of it! That's not your son anymore!"

"Aaahh...!"

Hard to watch any of it.

The others wiped silently at their eyes.

Those who had been rescued. Those who hadn't.

"Your Highness."

I turned to Carmilla.

She had been staring down into the pit with a hollowed-out expression.

"...Oh. Did you call?"

"There's really no way to turn ghouls back into humans, is there."

"No... it's impossible. Vampires don't have that kind of power."

"You can turn a human into a ghoul. Just can't turn it back."

"Isn't that the way of things? Easy to make a mess of something. Near impossible to undo it."

"......"

Things that couldn't be undone.

Healing magic wouldn't reach them, and holy power would only burn them alive.

No way out, then.

Over a hundred victims. Trapped in those monstrous, hollowed-out forms, their selves long gone.

"The New Kingdom's vampires... why did they stockpile so many ghouls?"

"Preparing for war, I'd imagine. Building their forces."

"Makes sense. Ghouls would be perfect cannon fodder."

"Just how far are they willing to sink..."

A thin, drawn-out breath through the red mask.

Neither of us spoke.

Kantas had been pacing near the edge of the pit. He came over.

"Sir Garulik. Miss Manre."

"Yes?"

"Leaving them like this, the ghouls, the victims, it doesn't sit right. It's a desecration of the dead. So I'd like to cremate them. Let them go in peace."

"Cremate them."

"They can't be brought back, can they? The people down there, my unit members too... none of them would want to be remembered like this."

Those who could not be brought back.

But I couldn't say yes to that.

"I'm not so sure."

Who decided it couldn't be done?

Watch.

This goddamn world. This goddamn sight. This goddamn tragedy.

I'd use every last thing I knew to tear through it.

A miserable ending to this episode, and I'm supposed to just sit with it? As a veteran? Not a chance.

I walked up to the edge of the pit.

Rummaged through the inventory and pulled out a colorful balloon sword.

"Your Highness."

"Hmm?"

"Could you fish one of the ghouls out with Blood Manipulation?"

"There's nothing difficult about it, but... all of a sudden?"

"There's something I need to test."

"Understood."

Clap, clap.

Two light claps, and ribbons of blood surged around the girl.

The blood compressed, then shaped itself into a great hand and reached down into the pit.

A moment later, it snagged a ghoul and pulled it free.

-Grrr, eeeek!

The ghoul dangled there, thrashing.

Through the frantic flailing, a woman's voice broke through.

The mother of that small ghoul, maybe.

"My son! My son...!"

"That isn't your son anymore! Your son is dead!"

"Someone hold her! She's going to jump in...!"

Screaming, the woman lunged forward.

Chaos rippled through the survivors on all sides.

I tuned it all out and kept my eyes on Carmilla alone.

"Is this all right? I picked a small one on purpose..."

"It's enough."

Slow breath out. I raised the sword and settled into stance.

"Your Highness. Could you throw it to me?"

"Hmm...?"

"Exactly as you heard it. Just throw it."

"Th, throw it? Even if it used to be a person..."

"Your Highness. Am I the kind of person who asks for something like this without a reason?"

"W-well, no, but..."

She hesitated, then nodded.

She took hold of the ghoul through Blood Manipulation. Not too tight, not too loose.

"All right. I don't know what you're trying to do, but...!"

-Grrk?

Carmilla threw the ghoul.

It came sailing through the air like a baseball.

Fwwwooosh!

This is a gamble.

The bug had definitely worked in the game, but I'd never tested it in reality. Then again, there hadn't been many chances to get close to a ghoul before now.

But it's worth trying.

Click.

I pressed the pocket watch. The world slowed.

I swung the balloon sword at the ghoul hurtling toward my face.

Rotating in a smooth motion, like peeling an apple. Parry executed.

Thwump!

The parry activated. The ghoul's trajectory wrenched sideways and it shot straight up.

On its way back down, I stepped forward and caught it.

Everyone watching went still.

From the outside, it must have looked exactly like the ghoul had tackled me.

"Vi, Viktor...!"

She must have decided it was dangerous.

The princess came sprinting toward me.

But I already knew, from the moment I caught it.

Ding!

[Windfall Collector has reacted!]

Something stirring against my chest.

Not the thrashing of a ghoul. More like the half-asleep mumble of a young boy.

"Ngh, mmh..."

Warm to the touch.

I looked down at the small shape in my arms.

"Mmn... M-Mama?"

Half in a dream. Still not tracking properly. Clear eyes blinked up at me.

I smiled.

"Morning, little one."

"Mm... who are you, mister...?"

Human.

The boy had come back.

Color flooding back into his skin. The red that had swallowed his pupils faded away.

Ding!

[A new Windfall has been discovered.]

-Windfall Name: Status Ailment Parrying

-Description: Status ailment effects applied to a specific target are classified as 'attacks.' When the system user executes 'Parrying,' the status ailment effect can be removed from the target.

A few messages blinked up in front of me.

I didn't read them. Just turned and held the boy out for everyone to see.

"Ta-daa!"

Blank stares from all around.

Carmilla with her wide eyes.

Kantas with his floating question marks.

And the boy's mother, already sprinting this way.

I gave them all a light wink.

"Just a little magic trick."

Not that they could see it through the mask, of course.

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