Episode 102. Difel (4)

About five minutes had passed since Rane came out of the Dipeln camp.

As soon as her little feet touched the lab outside the cage, an alarm sounded, and the lab members who grasped the situation immediately evacuated to the ground.

The institute was quickly closed, but she, who had no interest in the outside world from the beginning, quietly waited for her father on the spot.

“Nana~♪”

The obnoxious alarms stopped, and the screams died down.

In the underground laboratory where all the lights were turned off, only the sound of her song without lyrics lingered.

At the dreary melody flowing from the misty darkness, the Dipels hid in the corner, ignoring the corpses that were ravenously biting at them.

The Dipellins in the camp she was imprisoned with were silently watching the pieces of black robes torn to pieces and rolling on the floor.

“mmm-♪”

“… .”

The Dipellins were all boys and girls who looked about the same age as Rane, but one of them, a Rang boy with a large body, opened his mouth after noticing Rane.

“Nuna, is it okay if I just send them away?”

“Second, don’t you remember? Because you will only get one chance. My dad also told me to catch just one, instead.”

“That, I think. Since they were so good at escaping, wasn’t it just telling me not to miss them all while aiming for several?”

“… therefore?”

“So, um… . The guy my sister caught and ate was an insignificant child, so he shouldn’t have been slow to run away. Leave that guy to us, and sister takes the others-”

“Fang, Dad didn’t say that. Didn’t I tell you that you shouldn’t be your own way normally?”

When she lowered her voice, Fang immediately closed her mouth.

Still, as she slowly approached the glass wall with a stiff face, the other Dipelns shuddered and pushed Fang forward, who was trying to hide behind.

Pushed by the annoyance, he met her murderous eyes, and immediately lowered his tail.

“mi… . sorry. sister. I was wrong. do not be angry.”

“… Guys.”

Rane warned all the Dipellins.

“Dad hates us the most when we don’t act the way he wants. Even if it brings good results.”

“… .”

“So, never forget the words Daddy taught you, and do whatever he tells you to do. Dad believes we will and makes all the plans. Pang, do you understand?”

“Ah Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Everyone be careful. Don’t try to betray Daddy’s trust.”

After confirming that everyone nodded, Rahne started collecting the scraps of black clothes scattered on the floor again.

And soon after, Kegar, who arrived at the scene after receiving an emergency report, found Rane running towards him without even wiping the blood from his mouth.

“… Rane, is this a gift?”

“yes!”

At the very center of a piece of black robe lying on the floor in the shape of a heart, was a head with a vivid expression distorted in pain.

She looked up at him, twisting around distractedly like a puppy carrying a ball.

“I kept the head because my dad needs to know who he killed. Did you do well?”

Looking down at her innocently smiling faceless, he tossed the head she left behind to the Dipellins in the cage and said,

“Rahne, was there any other rat you could most definitely catch?”

“No, the other guys were a bit distant, and the woman close to this guy had something sinister.”

“I will trust your judgment.”

Although the trap he had set was for the rats who tackled every step of Ian or Eclipse.

Rane always acted as he taught, so there was no doubt about his actions.

“Then, praise me!”

“… yes. You did well.”

* * *

Of course, Kegar wasn’t like Rane’s father.

The two were bloodless, and he didn’t bother to understand why she was following him.

Flawed in many ways, she was still a useful tool.

It can be used until its usefulness is exhausted, and when it is broken to the point where it is no longer usable, it is simply discarded.

“So, instead of the woman next to her wearing glasses… . Dad? Are you listening?”

“I am listening.”

Rane, who was confined to the lowest floor of Esca Castle until twenty years ago, was a natural Dipellen.

It is unclear not only the object’s parents or year of birth, but also when it was confined there, but the person himself claimed to have been subjected to biological experiments by vampires while being sealed for over 200 years.

Suffering from malnutrition while confined, perhaps because of the strong mental shock.

She had stopped growing, both physically and mentally, at the level of a child.

‘Did you say it was an experiment to bring Dipel back to normal?’

Since it was a unique case in which conversation was possible even while disconnected from the guardian deity, from the perspective of high-ranking vampires, Rahne must have been an experimental subject that was too worthy of being killed.

But, ironically… . Under Kegar, she became the core of the research to cut off the guardian deity and the different races, and became the existence that shakes the entire Esca Castle.

He absolutely obeys his orders, controls other Dipellins, and actively participates in the research to bring down the guardian spirit.

As long as she remained as loyal as she is now, Kegar could have tolerated her foolishness.

“So, the man in black shared his meal with the kids.”

“… Let’s wrap up your story.”

Kegar cut out exaggerations, metaphors, and unnecessarily large gestures from Rahne’s explanation of the situation and concisely summarized the main points.

“Those who infiltrated through the vent are seven vampires and two human males. Their ally is a human woman disguised as a rookie. Am I right?”

“that’s right. Were you listening?”

Even with the members of the infiltrator, Kegar could sense that the enemy was massing.

“Ian and Dana joined.”

The migraine I felt on the train began to creep back.

Seeing him frowning for the first time, Rane asked with worried eyes as if the sky had cracked.

“Dad, why? Did things not go as planned?”

“No, no.”

He had noticed from before that there was a death squad trying to stop Eclipse’s research within the Imperial Society, and vampires cooperating with them to track down mana reduction researchers.

It was predictable enough that they might have discovered the existence of this laboratory.

But, Ian doesn’t know. It was a bit risky for Dana to join the faction.

“That must have been them earlier… . But, Dad is very strong. Couldn’t you have caught them before you got here?”

“At the headquarters of the society, which has many eyes, you cannot act recklessly. In addition, among the vampires, the wardens are those who are good at stealth, and they are evaluated as being equivalent to special warfare experts under the direct control of the imperial family. If I do my best to find them, other scholars will find out about the existence of this institute.”

The nature of the race was not an issue that could be easily seen, and only because of its secrecy, Kegar took the trouble to set a trap.

Dipel is the most hated and feared creature by vampires.

No matter how cold-blooded the guards were, he had predicted that there would be no way they would ever overlook the scene where Dipel was created artificially.

Among the vampire test subjects that have been secured so far, there were several wardens, so it was a reasonable inference based on the data obtained through them… .

They kept their composure, and eventually made him use his last card, Rane, in case his prediction went wrong.

“No matter how humanized she is, there’s no way Dana would have done that. I can’t explain anything other than that Professor Ian was in control of the situation.”

“… ?”

“I wasn’t the owner of the magic power to do that… . I don’t know how I managed to win the sympathy of the wardens in that short amount of time, but I can’t help it now that it’s like this.”

Even if it was a little overdone, it was necessary to rectify the situation.

“The separation between the world and the guardian spirit is not far off. Lane, tonight. Lead the Dipelins and kill everyone who invaded this place.”

“really!? Can I eat them all?”

“yes. without exception.”

Rane, who was jumping and jumping with joy, asked him how long it had been since he had eaten, and after a while tilted his head and asked him.

“… But, Dad. Will it work? Our existence is still a secret from others.”

“Don’t worry, just run wild. I will set the stage for you.”

Currently, not only the Eclipse members, but also the troops and servants supported by the imperial family, and Kiruna’s professors were staying in this research complex.

There were too many people to keep his mouth shut for Kegar, who still had no intention of giving up his position as a Rubedo-class scholar or the support of Princess Seryl, to directly deal with the intruders.

‘therefore… .’

Rane and the other Dipellins were needed.

Few people know of the existence of Dipeln.

Even if the incident is revealed externally, the faithful servants of the fake gods will take responsibility for the actions of the different races who infiltrated the laboratory.

“If you do this right, you will see the world you want.”

Rane shuddered as she met his eyes that glowed blue in the dark.

* * *

“Junior, this is not normal.”

Nearly an hour had passed since I returned to my room from the white hell-like underground laboratory.

Since the luncheon welcoming the professors wasn’t over yet, if you go down to the second floor even now, you’ll be able to check the skills of the court cooks dispatched along with the servants.

We had to look out the window with dazed expressions before we could even share the joy that everyone had survived without any casualties.

Leaving behind the vampires who tapped the receiver again and again, Dana, who observed the sky through the telescope for about a minute, spoke to me with a firm face.

“Right now, around this research complex, something like a transparent membrane has been overlaid. I guess that… . I don’t think it’s a normal barrier.”

“Is it because of that barrier that the connection between the guards and Esca Castle is severed?”

“I guess. It seems to completely block the flow of mana, but it’s probably an application of the technology studied here underground. When the vampires reach there, um… . There is a high possibility that it will change like the ones we saw before.”

“Unless Kegar is an idiot, that barrier must have been designed to be lethal to humans. then… .”

“… Yes, we are trapped here.”

“Looking at the reaction coming so quickly, it seems that the results of this infiltration have been quite significant.”

To the naked eye, the sky was extremely clean.

Lewen kept trying to report the secrets she had recorded to Esca Castle, but the receiver was still dead.

“It looks like the Eclipse side will be on the offensive soon. It would be nice to be prepared.”

“What do you think, junior?”

“I’m stuck in the middle of enemy lines, and I can’t even ask for help… . He’s probably even thinking of killing him and shutting his mouth.”

“… .”

The caldera’s nest seen by the window was as white as a cloud, and it was absolutely still.

‘How far are you going to cross the line? Crazy old man.’

Dana was silently staring at the white stone mountain.