260 Who created this chaotic situation!?
A disoriented Vampire Child stormed into the manor.
Well, that’s fine.
Not ideal, but it’s a Vampire Child, after all.
I already know roughly what happened from the fragmented surveillance data.
But, hey?
I stopped surveillance as soon as the situation turned suspicious. Yet when they emerged, the number of vampires had increased.
I stopped watching after thinking peeking into the private moment was inappropriate—what are you doing now?
For now, I kick the screaming Vampire Child into silence.
“Gfuh!”
The Vampire Child displays her elegant, looping signature mark once again today.
The boy accompanying her opens his eyes wide upon seeing it—
“You!”
He charges forward.
Draws his sword and attempts to slash at me.
Ah, perhaps the Vampire Child and her familiar haven’t been properly disciplined?
At the moment I attempted a casual evasion, a shadow landed abruptly between me and the boy.
The shadow immediately slammed the boy onto the floor, locking his arm at the joint in a hold resembling a judo throw.
A vampire should be able to deliberately break their own arm and escape, but this one is still fresh—just warm and newly awakened.
No grotesque methods come to mind.
“Gh—let go!”
“No. This is for Lord Wald’s sake. You must not defy him.”
“That voice… Could it be, Fermina!?!”
Oh, he noticed.
Yes, indeed.
The one currently on top of you is your former fiancée, Fermina.
The poor boy, so entranced by the Vampire Child, fought valiantly to save him—only to have every effort crushed, ignored entirely, and abandoned by the fiancé he had struggled so hard to rescue.
How kind of me to take such a pitiful creature in and raise him.
Even more kind to train him and provide him with work—truly, I am exceptionally attentive.
"Lord Wald, please remain still. You’ll be killed."
Is that boy looking at me with terror in his eyes?
Must be my imagination.
I won’t kill you.
He’s supposedly a child of a high-ranking noble family among the demons.
Killing him would be inconvenient.
So there’s no need to fear.
Really.
"Geh— u-unh. Cough. My lord, please don’t kick me every time."
Ah, the Vampire Child has revived.
Wiping the blood leaking from his mouth with a handkerchief.
Don't worry about the details.
You're not going to die anyway.
"By the way, my lord, who is that child? Seems familiar with Wald."
"Eh?" ← Fernina
"Eh?" ← Wald
"Eh?" ← Me
"Eh?" ← Vampire Child
Heavy silence.
Um, Vampire Child, you don't remember Fernina-chan at all?
Or even recognize her?
How pitiful...
I'm sorry, my Vampire Child's mind is a bit… that's why.
No ill intent.
Still, the lack of intent makes the situation worse, somehow.
Fernina-chan trembling uncontrollably, shivering beneath Wald as he sits on her.
Wald's expression—unbearable, eyes fixed on the floor.
The Vampire Child clearly aware something happened, but clueless about why, desperately trying to stay calm while visibly flustered.
This is a triangle relationship.
I have nothing to do with this. I’ll retreat.
That’s what I’ll do.
“Don’t run away!”
Damn it—Vampire Child grabbed my sleeve.
Even if you look at me like that, pleading—there are things I can’t do anything about!
Specifically: friendship, effort, victory, romance, obsession, messy communication—most of all, I don’t understand human hearts!
Ugh!
Let go!
I’m leaving this place!
More importantly—don’t pull me into this!
You’re the one who planted the bomb!
It’s already exploded—deal with it! Kneel and apologize!
Though, frankly, he doesn’t even know what he did wrong.
“Um… what exactly happened to get us into this situation?”
Oni-kun!
Perfect timing!
Help me!
“Essentially, the root of the problem is that Sophia turned Wald into a vampire.”
“Yeah.”
A decision was made to calm down, so an interrogation began in a relatively small room within the mansion, resembling a conference chamber.
This mansion—its large rooms are spacious enough to host university lectures, one might imagine.
Though I have no knowledge of university lectures, the image I have is simply that of a vast classroom filled with students, all moving about.
Oni-kun, looking weary, receives a response from the Vampire Child, who stands with confidence—though it is only how the child perceives itself.
Trying to conceal distress with such a pained expression is futile.
“So, Wald directed hostility toward Shiro after kicking Sophia, and Fermina stopped him.”
“Yes.”
“Indeed.”
Here, Wald appears outwardly calm, while Fermina still seems slightly dejected.
“So, Sophia told Fermina who she was.”
Silence.
The Vampire Child is grimacing, and Wald-kun is keeping his expression still, but he is clearly not calm inside. Fermina-chan, meanwhile, has started crying again.
“Fermina-san tried everything to reclaim Wald-san from Sophia’s influence—but failed. Wald-san blamed her and cast her down. Afterward, she was found by Shiro and has since operated as one of his subordinates.”
“Yes.”
Fermina-chan affirms the Oni-kun’s words through tears.
To have fought so hard against someone who didn’t even acknowledge her existence—of course she would break.
“Conclusion: Sophia is at fault.”
“Objection!”
“Overruled.”
The Vampire Child objects to Oni-kun’s verdict.
Oni-kun dismisses it immediately.
No mercy.
"Regardless of perspective, Sophia is at fault. To begin with—using enchantment to brainwash a person? What kind of nonsense is that? This is not the behavior of someone like her. The lowest possible conduct."
A scathing critique delivered with utter contempt.
Slight surprise.
Oni-kun, who usually maintains a calm demeanor, did not expect such overt emotional expression in speech.
No—upon reflection, it is predictable.
Oni-kun is the sovereign of wrath.
Beneath the surface, an unyielding anger persists.
Perhaps his usual gentle manner is merely temporary. This may be his true nature.
The Vampire Child, struck by unexpectedly harsh words, flinched and lowered their head.
Fermine watched the Vampire Child's posture with detached eyes. Wald remained silent, unable to interject.
Even Wald, who had resolved to stay by the Vampire Child’s side despite the waning enchantment, seemed to harbor thoughts of his own.
Rather, if he had come here without a single thought, he would have been nothing but a fool.
“……not that.”
Muttered softly, the Vampire Child.
So quiet that only my hearing could detect it.
Yet clear. A whisper charged with intent.
“What?”
“Not the same!”
This time, a shout.
“I am a vampire. Not human. Not the same.”
Perhaps only I understood the weight of those words in this moment.
For they were the Vampire Child’s complete renunciation of humanity.
But then—
“So what?”
The air in the room turned as dense as lead.
Anger pressed down, as if it possessed mass.
There are things that are permissible and things that are not. No matter the reason, evil remains evil. What you did—no matter how you justify it—was still evil.
Fermina-chan gasps.
Wald-kun's poker face falters; his expression tightens.
"That evil is how a vampire lives. To reject that is to reject me. Evil is fine. That is who I am."
Only one—Vampire Child—stood firm against that anger.
Gaze locked.
Time passes.
That one, I’m getting hungry. May I be excused?