Episode 113. ceryl (6)

“Dad, where are they going?”

Unlike other vampires who avoid sunlight, Rahne loved sunbathing.

Sitting on the window sill to warm her body, Kegar glanced at the scenery she was pointing at with her finger, then turned her eyes back to the mana reduction theory research data and said:

“To the forest… . It is intended to move all other personnel in the area to the forest, confining the range of activities of the wardens to the hotel and laboratory.”

“Did the princess say that?”

“yes. So, those who fought the Dipels yesterday are also mixed in with the search team.”

“I see… ! So, is Daddy hunting himself in here!?”

“no. I wait here.”

“yes? Then I will wait with my father.”

Rane, who responded calmly to Kegar, climbed down from the window sill and began to read the papers she had spread out since yesterday.

Kegar asked her as she read the intricately written sentences about the characteristics of her own blood.

“… Are you reading it while understanding what it means?”

“no? I honestly have no idea.”

“Didn’t you just hold on to that thesis all day yesterday? Why are you doing that?”

“Because Dad wrote it?”

“Your actions are difficult to understand.”

When I spent a long time with an insane being, I used to think that I was going crazy too.

Kegar soon escaped my understanding and waited for Dana, leaving Lane laughing bashfully.

Even in his private room, he could feel that the scholars were covering the forest with only wild beasts with detection magic.

‘Suddenly, Seril’s assassins will begin to move.’

They were executioners from the shadows, personally selected by the previous emperor.

Human hunters who were famous for relentlessly pursuing the Stella family, who were trying to carry on a strong family line, and throwing eggs at the gates of those who had insulted the imperial authority.

Their members were kept in top secret until the moment the organization was disbanded at the hands of Zel-sama.

Their identities confirmed this time were all blood donors who offered blood to high-ranking vampires.

‘Aren’t all blood donors the vampire’s faithful servants?’

they… . Among blood donors, there are those who want to live a life of serving vampires, but there are many who contract with vampires to gain the power that Esca bestows.

‘Vampires must have willingly allowed blood donors to leave in order to get closer to humans… . Didn’t think they would point their swords at them… ? It’s fun.’

As human beings, the blessings of Esca that they received were not at the level of following the faithful wardens among vampires.

They were veterans who had operated as the emperor’s memorization for decades, and were far outnumbered.

‘The assassins alone should be enough to catch the wardens.’

If the prisoner Cheryl brought with them joins them… .

Ian. His life is like a candle before the wind. Even if you don’t move yourself, you will be able to see his end.

He recalled the oozing skin from being crushed by the prisoner’s chains and the eyes covered with a black cloth.

‘I expected Seril to reach out to that side as well, taking control of the Imperial Academy. I didn’t expect it to be this fast.’

The time when Rane continued reading and Kegar was planning how to deal with Ian after dealing with it.

“Kegar. I’ll send two knights to escort Dana to your private quarters. After that, they’ll have to be sent to the forest too, so you know that you and Dana will have to face off one-on-one.”

“All right.”

Rane asked with round eyes to Kegar, who briefly answered the crystal ball through which Seryl’s voice could be heard.

“Dad, is that sister coming here?”

“yes. Since we are in the position of being mediated by each other’s caldera, we can’t harm each other… . We have to get out of the battle together.”

If Dana stands in her way and attacks Kegar in an attempt to help Ian, Caldera will turn against her.

Even socially, they will be punished with a capital punishment for violating the order of the emperor’s deputy.

He also didn’t want to collide with Caldera or give up his social status, so he couldn’t attack Dana recklessly.

It was very clear where the weight would fall if neither of them participated in the battle.

Rane, who had heard that far, raised her hand.

“Then I can fight!”

“You are different from the other Dipellins. We cannot send them back to a place where their lives are in danger to the enemy.”

“… .”

“There is still a lot of information to be obtained from you, so there is no misunderstanding. … Oh, I see.”

After saying that, Kegar sighed as if he had remembered it a little too late, and checked her pulse.

“… Rane, how much blood magic can you use with the blood stored in your body right now?”

“Um~? It’s been too long since I ate… . I guess being strong is a bit difficult, right?”

“is it.”

He pondered for a moment, then rolled up his sleeves and held out his forearm to her.

To Rane, who was admiring his slender wrist on top of it, Kegar said as if he was annoyed.

“Drink.”

“… yes?”

“If Dana attacks me at all, there is a possibility that you will be caught next to you too. Drink my blood and replenish your mana enough to protect yourself.”

“… Can I really drink it?”

“You’d better drink little by little.”

A stinging electricity rang at the tip of Rahne’s sharp tongue as he carefully drove his fangs into his arm.

“This is amazing… !”

The sensation soon spread throughout her body, and she fell facedown on the desk, flushed red from the amount of blood that was too small to hold in her mouth.

Dragon blood does not reproduce like humans do.

As time goes by, the high concentration of mana dissolved in blood is expressed as magical power, and on the day when both blood and mana in the body are converted into magical power, dragons die.

“Blood is the same as lifespan for dragons. Please use it carefully.”

“Uh, about that-”

Throwing Rane, who couldn’t come to his senses, on the sofa, he continued.

“The amount of blood you drank, in terms of lifespan, would be less than a few days.”

“A few days, that’s enough-“

“quiet. Dana is coming soon.”

* * *

“Why are you so soggy?”

Dana, who had been tightly held by the imperial knights, was full of dissatisfaction.

“From the first time we met, I showed a lot of dislikes, but he kept coming to me without even noticing. Now they even call me to the place where I live?”

Dana grinned, but Kegar’s expression was as still as the surface of a lake where not a single leaf had fallen.

“It must be in a bad mood to fall into self-infestation.”

“What?”

“It was none other than you who brought Caldera into this situation. Thanks to that, you were able to escape from a head-on fight with me… . Instead, you have been put in a position where you have no choice but to watch your comrades die miserably.”

‘… I didn’t do that.’

It seemed unlikely that anyone would believe him if he told the truth, so instead of answering his provocation, Dana asked another question.

“What are you doing this for? There must be some reason why they are trying to expel a guardian deity that exists in its entirety from the world.”

“Because I opened my eyes to the truth of the world.”

“… ?”

“Elma designed the dragons to be observers of the times. Precise populations and lifespans, and indifference to the world, have kept us from ravaging the earth.”

“yes. Do you think it would have happened if it were me? If all the dragons were guys like you, the world would be-”

“Is it good to live a life as a puppet for the sake of the world?”

“… .”

To the speechless Dana, Kegar said.

“Elma is using us as consumables in the cogwheel of the world. Not just dragons, but all other races.”

“What is that… .”

“Under the law of order, we have lost too much freedom. Why do we have to watch as humans gradually expand their power, not longing for a longer lifespan, and pursuing only unattainable goals?”

“So, what you mean is, after all. Dragons want to live as they please, like the Dipels, right?”

“no. Quite the opposite, Dana. Our Laplace… . I want to create a perfect world where I can fully fulfill my duty as a dragon serving the god of truth.”

“It’s your duty… ?”

“Dragons are a race that hates variables. So we have continued our research to find the truths that never change.”

However, since Elma designed the world to be constantly changing from the beginning.

Their goal of gathering all truths and finding inner peace is like a scattering star, an illusion that can never be reached.

“Elma’s power, mana, scattered around her, moves irregularly and creates infinite chaos. Dragons used to suffer from errors and variables that constantly occur due to the oscillating mana, and then passed away.”

“… .”

“What a tragic species this is, dedicating one’s life to a goal that is forever unattainable.”

but… . Dana was uneasy when she said that if all dragons felt the same problem, it wouldn’t be impossible to create a world without variables.

“Hey, then please… ! You’re not trying to say something like that you’re going to get rid of everything in the world that goes beyond your predictions, right?”

“You understand quickly.”

“God, I thought they were crazy, but they were really crazy… ?”

“It is the great principle of all experiments and our nature to exclude unpredictable variables.”

Kegar’s frosty eyes pierced Dana.

“It’s a proposal that I originally tried to take out of the train, but… . Now that I have realized the truth, I will try again.”

“… .”

“Dana, join Laplace.”

Dana raised her middle finger without a moment’s thought.

“no.”

“… It seemed so.”

“I can understand why you guys are angry with Elma after learning about the structure of the world.”

“… If so, why-“

“However, I don’t like that you don’t care what happens to all the other races in order to solve the dragons’ problems.”

Dana met Kegar’s sharp eyes, recalling the faces of Charlotte and the students following Ian.

“I also think that if there is a problem with the dragons’ goals, they should be fixed… . I don’t want to sacrifice my people for that.”

Dana clicked her tongue as she looked back and forth between Rane and Kegar.

“Looking at it like this, the two of them look so alike. He doesn’t care what other people do because of him.”

Seril’s assassins passed by the window, and I began to hear the sound of daggers clashing.

Breaking through that grating sound, Kegar’s low voice reached Dana’s ears.

“Dana, at the root of all your arguments is the suspicion that we are demanding unnecessary sacrifices in order to reach the ideal we aspire to be as dragons.”

“no… ?”

“Rather, what we want is the stability of the world, because a world that is heading towards destruction will become more and more chaotic.”

To the confused Dana, Kegar advised as if she should know this.

“It is not we who want the end of the world.”