Chapter 780 – Absence Case Log -4-

000

The eyes of those sitting around the table in the middle were shining with tension as they looked at each other’s gaze.

What can be heard is regular breathing and the sound of someone swallowing saliva. It was a sharp sound made when sheets of paper collided as they passed through the hands.

Everyone knew very well that one mistake in judgment and one moment of inattention would lead to destruction of one’s fate.

After one by one, one by one, they are freed from that unbearable tension, the last two remaining, like knights about to fight a duel, risk everything.

Instead of a sword, shield, or spear, the weapon was pulled out from the opponent’s hand.

And then, silence for a moment.

Widely! When the sound rings out, Dry Ne raises his voice by throwing the two trump cards he was holding on the table.

“End! As promised, last place Berlin will do the dishes!”

＂Kuh…!＂

Unlike Draine, who was soaking in the sweetness of victory, Beirlin, feeling the bitter taste of defeat, crumpled his face and threw the hateful clown he was holding in his hand onto the table.

＂With this, Berlin breaks its record with 4 consecutive losses~＂

“Just wait and see… Someday I’ll let you know that the clown’s curse exists.”

Berlin gritted his teeth while looking at Dryne who was making fun of him, and Maybelle was stroking Berlin’s head.

“Don’t worry, Berlin. I will help you too.”

“No, it’s okay, sister. Because this is the punishment given to me who loses the game.”

Regardless of his frustration with the game, Baylin says he will not shirk the responsibility given to him.

Diora, who had escaped early and was watching their match, turned to Kanan, the white-haired elf sitting next to her, and spoke.

“Rather than that, isn’t Kanan too strong? “She really didn’t know the rules?”

＂Elves also played games using cards, but this is the first time I’ve played a game with these rules…”

Kanan was embarrassed by Diora’s praise, but answered cautiously.

Diora speaks with admiration as if it is hard to believe.

“Even though it was my first time, I took first place three times in a row… Is it too strong to be considered beginner’s luck?”

“He probably read the other person’s gaze and facial expressions with a hunter’s unique observation skills.”

Schrödinger responded to Diora’s words like that, organizing the scattered cards and putting them back into one bundle.

“Oh, that’s right… When I was playing with cards with Kanon when I was young, I kept winning like that, so Kanon got upset…”

In response to Kanan’s response, Diora asked Kanan’s younger sister, Kanon, who was working on her writing while locked in her room, to play a card game with her. Upon hearing that her older sister was participating, Diora said without the slightest hesitation that it was okay.

I thought they just didn’t want to come out because there were a lot of people, but was there a reason for that…

＂You guys…＂

As Diora was nodding her head in understanding, a voice came from the side saying she was tired.

When the group turned their heads in that direction, there was Illenu sitting a little away, looking at them with her arms crossed.

＂What’s wrong, Illenu?＂

“What’s the matter? No! I said I would rest until the sun sets to preserve my stamina, but instead of sleeping in that time, I wasted my time catching thieves… It’s too much without tension!”

When the only one who didn’t participate in the card game said that, Diora just shrugged her shoulders and continued.

“Don’t be so sharp. I know very well that you are worried about Emma. Now she has to get together for the first time and go do her mission. Let’s think she was like an icebreaker before that.”

When Diora answers Illenu’s words without being intimidated, Illenu snorts ‘Hmph’ and thinks she speaks well.

However, the time to say anything about their carefree attitude had already passed.

She got up from where she was sitting, went near her window, and pulled back her curtains.

Then, the sky, which had been bright just a moment ago, had now turned dark blue as the sun had completely set, and the moon was shining instead of the sun.

After checking that the moon was approaching full, but not yet fully full, the group looked at each other and stood up.

“Good. Then it’s time to leave.”

When Draene said that, Illenu took out a talisman in the shape of a cross from her pocket as if she had been waiting.

If he placed the symbol of the Initrad mercenaries on one hand and bit the finger of the other hand with his sharp fangs, it would pierce the skin very easily and blood would flow out.

Now that the sunlight has disappeared and her powers as a vampire have strengthened, those wounds will heal quickly, but they are still falling on the tips of her fingers.

It falls on top of the cross held in the other hand.

“… Cursed blood flowing through this body. Show me a hateful enemy with the same blood.”

Rather than a chant, after the short incantation is over, the traces of the vampire’s blood clinging to her pendant combine with Ilenu’s fallen blood drops, creating a red mist visible only to her eyes.

“Oh, but didn’t the owner of that pendant have Berlin sunbathe and Selena take him in and seal him?”

When Diora asks if that kind of tracking method is okay, Berlin answers Diora on Illenu’s behalf.

＂That is not a spell that simply tracks the owner. It is the ability to track all the same people who have ever touched the object without missing even a small trace of blood attached to the object. … However, it requires considerable training and detailed magic control to handle it.”

“In other words, it is the result of Illenu’s efforts.”

When Dryene says so, Illenu speaks to them.

“… As the tracking continues, the traces in the Talisman will gradually disappear. You have to move quickly. Everyone, are you ready?”

When Ilenu asks that question, the other party members pick up their weapons and nod, wondering where the loose atmosphere from earlier has gone.

“Then. Shall we start hunting?”

001

The space was surrounded by complete darkness without any light.

A space where there are no windows to let in the bright light of the moon rising outside, and no candles to brighten up the surroundings.

The only things that can be heard in such a space are the sounds of paper hitting each other and clicking one’s tongue.

If there are people in a place like this, how good must it be at night? Just think for a moment.

When you hear the sound of paper being thrown again, a man’s voice echoes in the space.

“Okay, I won with this. Go get a drink.”

＂Damn.＂

Surprisingly, there were men inside playing a card game.

And, as in the previous conversation, what the person who won the match and lost must do is bring the alcohol that was stored in a small warehouse in the retreat.

The loser, who cursed briefly, perhaps because he was angry at losing or because it was a hassle to return, got up from his seat and walked over to the door of a warehouse a short distance away from where he was playing the game and opened it.

Then, unlike the outside, a small lantern was illuminating the inside, and thanks to this, the figure who opened the warehouse door could be seen to some extent.

A pale-skinned man wearing a black gothic-style leather coat had two daggers at his waist.

The flowing black hair like seaweed, slightly pointed ears, and red eyes showed that he was not human.

While he was looking for their drink with a lantern, he made eye contact with a human girl sitting in the warehouse looking towards him.

“Wow, what is this guy that doesn’t even make him cry?”

Even though her own people had kidnapped her, the vampire looked at the girl in disbelief and crouched down to make her eye level with her.

A girl who was kidnapped on a mission to threaten a group of adventurers.

Until now, they have kidnapped or killed people several times, but most of the time, the kidnapped subjects were crying, screaming, and begging for their lives to be spared.

If that kind of crying gets on your nerves, you can either cover her mouth or accidentally kill her, but this time, the girl they brought in didn’t cry at all and just looked at them with bright eyes. It was amazing. Br〉

‘Besides, for a guy this young, the taste of blood must be fantastic…’

Well, she is a vampire, but the reason she can’t make what she imagined into reality is because of the strong curse placed on her body.

The moment he drank the blood of a woman who was cursed by a vampire of the same race as himself, there was no doubt that the curse would flow to him as well, so he and his colleagues could not even taste the fresh blood of the young girl they had saved. It was placed in a warehouse as if it could not be seen and would rather not be seen.

＂Damn…＂

He, too, had to exercise great patience to resist her rising desire to drink blood, and he had no choice but to turn his eyes away from her, find her bottle of liquor inside her storage room, and take it out.

“Hey! Not yet!”

The moment he heard an urging sound from behind, he sighed, turned and left the warehouse, closing the open door.

＂Okay, okay. I’m going now. You bastards.”

As she complained, the vampire returned to the chair she had been sitting on a while ago, holding a bottle of alcohol in her hand, and was about to sit down on her own chair.

Something pushed his chair with his foot, so he couldn’t sit down properly on her chair and fell behind her.

Clink! As you hear the sound, the liquor bottle you brought is smashed.

＂What is this, Mr…＂

She probably wasn’t in pain as she was a strong vampire, but as she cursed at what had happened so quickly, her eyes flashed as if she had killed someone.

When she realized that it wasn’t her colleagues sitting around her table, and that it was a woman she had never seen before who had kicked her chair, her eyes widened.

＂What are you!?＂

＂…＂

However, to think that the sharp blue blade was swung without any answer to his question.

The man’s head, which had been attached to his neck just moments ago, falls to the ground and separates.

The reason he was still alive even in that situation was because he was not a human, but a vampire, a being that transcended human life force.

When he thought that the cut part gradually became hot, blue flames started to stick from there and burned his body and head at the same time.

＂Ashes to ashes.＂

When the woman who did not answer his question mumbles like that, the people sitting around the table also stand up and continue talking.

＂Dust to dust.＂

At the same time, the vampires they seemed to have subdued and kept alive also had their heads ripped off, meeting the same ending as their comrades who had just met death.

Golden eyes that glow in the dark.

After confirming that the vampire they had punished had disappeared from the world, they quickly began to clean up the place.

Gather all the items they had in one place and burn them as if purifying them with the same blue flame as before.

Only one thing, the talisman of the cross, which can be said to be evidence of the Initrad mercenary group, is recovered.

They passed the talisman around to each other, nodded, and finally went to check the warehouse where the man had taken out the liquor bottle a little while ago.

Shake! When the door to the warehouse opened with a loud noise, Emma couldn’t help but widen her eyes as she realized that it wasn’t the vampire who had kidnapped them.

＂… A human girl? Was he kidnapped?”

The woman who muttered that went closer to Emma, ​​hugged her, and stood up from her seat.

＂Over there…＂

＂Shh.＂

Preventing Emma from saying anything, she came out of her shed, poured ash and liquid from her pockets into the shed, and burned it down once again with blue flames.

＂Like this again. Through one destiny, we come to accept a new star.”

After saying that to her Emma, ​​she returned to where her colleagues were and disappeared from the spot without making a sound, just as she had appeared with them.

And all that remained in the dark place were traces of vampires disappearing, engulfed in fantastic blue flames.

002

A little while later, Illenu and his group arrived at the hideout where the vampires had gathered just a moment ago, and when they saw the scene unfolding in front of them, their mouths were wide open, and they were embarrassed.

While tracking, Illenu felt that the traces were weakening faster than expected, but they could not have guessed that all the Initrad vampires they were chasing had disappeared.

＂Did you run away?＂

“That can’t be possible. Look at the burnt marks on the items piled up here.”

When Berlin raised his hand as if to tell him not to be foolish in response to Dreyne’s words, there were certainly things there that looked like vampires’ items, charred and turned to ashes.

And another thing that stands out is the table where it doesn’t look strange no matter who was sitting there a moment ago.

Ashes scattered around.

Ilenu carefully approached it, picked up some of the ash with the tip of his finger, and smelled it.

When he realized that it was what originally made up the vampire’s body, he shook off his hand.

＂… The ashes of a murdered vampire.＂

As Illenu muttered that, Kanan, who was next to her, asked Illenu a question.

“If the vampires were killed, wouldn’t it be better to think of it as the same vampire’s work?”

Could it be that there was internal strife within Initrad?

When Kanan muttered that, Illenu just looked down at the ash for a moment and shook her head as if she didn’t understand.

“I don’t know. Originally, vampires killed by vampires turned to ashes, but they only did so because they were on the verge of extinction, not because they actually physically turned to ashes. Rather, the wealth of such vampires disappears over time. But look, these things here really have ash left on them, just like when human remains were cremated.”

＂I don’t know much about the ecology of vampires… If Illenu says that, then it must be like that…”

After hearing Kanan’s answer, Illenu scratched his head, then stood up and looked back at Beirlin.

“You’ve lived in Berlin longer than me. Don’t you know something?”

“… Maybe it was the work of other vampire hunters. As you know, there are people among humans who have hatred for vampires.”

＂Humans hunt vampires this way…?＂

While muttering as if he had no clue at all, Schrödinger quickly took a look around the hideout and came back panting and talking.

“Emma, ​​you weren’t anywhere…!”

＂Kuh…＂

Ilenu sighs and clenches her fists at Schrödinger’s words.

＂… Seeing as there is no talisman left and all the remaining items are burned, it seems like they did it thoroughly.＂

Diora looks at the situation and mutters as if it is not that good.

＂Then… The trace is broken?＂

Ille Nu thought for a moment about Schrödinger’s question, then shook his head and answered.

“No. The vampires here are probably only a small number. If you catch another Initrad member lurking in the village and go to another hideout, you can chase Emma.”

“As long as it’s not too late this time.”

“So we have to move right now. It will be noticeable, but if Initrad doesn’t have Emma with him right now, you don’t have to worry. If you catch them as soon as you see them and take the talisman-“

As Ilenu was talking like that, the sound of something clattering and moving in her bag was suddenly heard.

＂… What?＂

She thought she didn’t put anything strange in her bag, so when she opened it, something about her came out of there and rose into the air.

It was Emma’s magic tool that glowed and moved on its own.

＂The magic tool began to move on its own…?＂

When Schrödinger also muttered that in surprise, the magic tool flew towards another pile of ashes while the party was in a daze.

“Come on, let’s chase after it!”

The group chases after the magic tool that suddenly starts moving and approaches the ashes.

Then, the Demon Dog began to move round and round on top of the ashes, then turned his gun toward the sky.

It made a sound like something was being loaded.

“Now, wait a minute! Everyone moves aside!”

Ilenuga, who is well aware of the sound of the Madogu being loaded, runs after it and shouts to the party in panic when she sees her gun turned towards this direction.

As soon as the group moved aside her body, flames erupted from the magic tool and flew through the air.

＂Aaaaah…!＂

The sudden roar made Drayne scream, but what soon caught the group’s eyes was the illusion that the flame had begun to create.

A warehouse that is presumed to have been here before, and Emma trapped inside.

And then, it was a woman who found Emma and lifted her up.

The brown-haired woman, with her white, shiny full armor draped over her body, carefully lifted her up, as if she considered it a miracle for her to have found her.

＂What, where is that female knight?＂

Because of the armor the woman wearing as Dryene lifted her Emma, ​​did she think she was a knight?

However, Diora, who was actually a knight of the kingdom, answered Draine’s question by shaking her head.

“A knight… I’ve never seen a knight with that type of armor in the kingdom. Of course, they are not people from the Eastern countries.”

While Illenu was also taken aback by the appearance of people wearing armor of a type she had never seen before, Kanan cautiously raised her voice.

＂… I know about that armor… Although the last time I saw it was quite a long time ago…”

＂As expected, an elf…! “I’m glad I know so much!”

When Schrödinger raises his voice like that, Kanan adds, “But…” And she looks back at the group.

＂… The thing just now is the armor of the Holy Knights of Kabalon, a nation that existed in the distant past… That no longer exists. ＂

＂Kabalon…?＂

Everyone in the room, including Berlin, looked at each other as they heard the name for the first time.

Only Ilenu continued to look at the image of the woman in Madougo’s vision and the image of her Emma in her arms.