Vamp!

Vamp! III - Chapter 4 E

'What is this place?'
Ferret looked around in the darkness.
It was pitch black, but she could hear the others' voices around her.
"Wh-where are we?" "What's going on?" "All those bats came out of nowhere..." "Then there was a hole in the ground, huh?" "Hey, this feels kinda familiar." "I think we fell into a hole. Definitely." "You all right, Ferret?" "Hey, where's Selim?!" "I'm over here! Please don't worry about me." "Eek! It's so dark! Places like this are no fun without Master Watt!" "Hey, keep your mind out of the gutter! You're making me start imagining stuff!" "Shut up!"
With a mumbled, "I am all right", Ferret once more attempted to find out what had just happened to them.
Although they were surrounded by darkness, from the echo of everyone's voices, they were probably in a rather open area. The walls seemed to be made of dirt, but there was one thing she knew for certain:
'This space is moving.'
The moment she came to this conclusion, a very familiar voice piped up in the darkness.
"Sorry, everyone. I didn't really understand what was happening, so I just pulled in everyone I knew."
"Honored Brother?!"
As soon as Ferret and the others realized that the sheepish voice belonged to Relic, they heaved a sigh of relief.
'Then this place must be...'
"Oh! We're underground right now. I turned part of the ground to fog and made us a little space in the dirt." Relic said. Ferret laughed, astonished.
When a vampire transformed into fog or a flock of bats, those with greater power could also transform the clothes they wore and small objects around themselves. It was essentially the act of labeling inanimate objects as part of one's own body, altering its composition through the power of the soul. Relic was born with an immense capacity for this ability, known as 'synchronization'. At one point, he had synchronized with the entire island of Growerth and nearly transformed the island itself into fog and bats.
"I'm getting better and better at controlling my abilities now. I didn't think I'd end up getting to use it so much, though."
He was now controlling rocks and earth as he pleased, moving his friends as though operating an elevator. It was an unbelievable act by most standards, but none gathered there doubted the veracity of his powers.
Soon, a ray of light pierced the darkness. Ferret's line of sight quickly widened. And a moment later, the vampires and werewolves emerged into a humid space and fell onto a hard surface one after another.
"Whoa! I'm sorry! I must've gotten my calculations mixed up. We shouldn't have come out this high up..."
"Damn it, Relic! I was just starting to think you were pretty awesome, y'know?" One of the freeloaders cried, rubbing his aching head and looking around.
There was a sturdy stone wall lined with silver suits of armor.
"Oh. This is..." Val started,
"The storage area in the castle basement." Selim said. The others soon grasped their current location.
"The humans might find us here, so let's head for the caverns for now." Relic said. He had barely finished his sentence by the time he recited an incantation before the large suit of armor that guarded the door.
"...I wanted to hear your side of the story on the way, but there's something I need to ask you first." Relic said to everyone, his assuringly cheerful voice quickly giving way to worry.
"Has anyone here seen Hilda?"
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The mayor was left alone.
The human audience that had been screaming in excitement at the two singers on the stage had gone silent in an instant, departing the courtyard like children led by the piper.
Even the VIPs took to their feet one after another. They leapt off the balcony where they were seated and disappeared into the crowds, hobbling along with their ankles twisted.
The singers seemed to be shocked at the sudden development, but they showed no signs of stopping their performance. In fact, their singing grew even more passionate as they poured out all they had into bringing back the departing crowds.
'So those two're vampires too. That's some professionalism they've got. Maybe I'll actually take care to remember their names.'
Listening to the singers' exceptional voices, the mayor followed the VIPs off the balcony. He cracked his neck loudly and turned his gaze to the mass exodus.
The wave of humans looked almost like a giant amoeba threatening to swallow the entire castle.
The crowd was moving.
Anything this crowd so much as grazed could be affected with ease, in many senses of the word. It was a great mass of energy, one that could cut down everything in its path if the will to destroy were to be imposed upon it.
'So you've finally made your move.'
At this point in time, Watt had no way of knowing where these people were headed.
'Boring as shit.'
At this point in time, Watt was capable of nothing. All he could do was run simulations in his head of the many different scenarios that could result from this occurrence in an attempt to ascertain just how much work he would have to put into the cover-up job that would inevitably happen afterwards.
"Excuse me, Mayor."
Someone was talking to him.
If someone still possessed free will here that would allow them to speak, the speaker was clearly a vampire.
Watt then realized that the vampire was both a complete stranger and a familiar face.
"It's nice to meet you, sir. My name is Loa."
It was the girl whom he had encountered earlier at the viscount's parlor. He had seen her several times now in the crowds.
Wondering about her nationality from the sound of her name, Watt attempted to figure out why this girl would approach him.
But before he could say a word, Loa revealed her intentions to him without hesitation.
"Sir, how would you like to make a deal with me?"
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Underground, Waldstein Castle. The laboratory.
<What's going on here?>
Even knowing that there was no one to answer, Professor could not stop herself from uttering a question.
A strange scene was unfolding on the monitors she had checked to find Doctor's whereabouts.
According to the cameras, there were almost no humans in the castle courtyard--this, on the first night of the Carnale Festival.
In order to solve this mystery, Professor cycled through the monitors one by one. And eventually, she found one camera that had captured some familiar faces.
Displayed on the monitor was the entrance of the castle's storage room. It was the room that housed the entryway to the underground caverns, and the camera was installed inside the suit of armor that acted as the gatekeeper.
Many faces were being displayed on the camera, all of them familiar to Professor.
The jester. Selim. Val. Relic. Ferret. And...
<That's...>
His white lab coat had been replaced by a red one, but Professor knew from the single glimpse she had caught as his face flashed by the monitor. It was the vampire who had disappeared from the lab several hours earlier.
<DOCTOR~!>
Ecstatic at their impending reunion, Professor leapt out of the laboratory without even bothering to get dressed--of course, she was already only wearing a lab coat to begin with--but there was one thing different about her appearance this time. A single photograph had been affixed to one of her arms with a magnet.
She left the room excitedly, not knowing that this single picture would unleash tragedy.
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Underground storage area.
"If they are indeed below the earth, they have nowhere to run but the underground caverns stretching underneath the castle." Melhilm said, looking around the storage room in the castle basement.
Once Theresia had reported that the vampires were moving underground, he had come to the storage area without a moment's hesitation. He had the subjugated masses stand in a formation around the castle, and was currently accompanied only by the two Eaters and approximately a dozen of Sigmund's Leaves.
"The cavern entrance is hidden in a place like this, sir?"
"Hmph. I used to cavort through this place centuries ago in my youth." Melhilm answered, and added to himself: "I was expecting the maids to get in our way. It's almost eerily silent here."
In spite of his worries, Melhilm quietly stepped over to the cavern entrance mechanism and looked at the suit of armor.
"...This is a new addition."
There were no other pathways in the area. The suit of armor was likely a locking mechanism, but Melhilm considered breaking it down by force. But just as he prepared to give his Eaters the order, the armor creaked and began to move aside as though permitting them entrance.
"What is this?"
Shocked at the sudden movement of the suit of armor (which was easily twice the size of Rudy's), they glared up at it. There they found the master of the castle.
The pool of blood was hovering in midair, as though there were nothing more natural than his presence in this place.
[This suit of armor was a rather recent installation. I'm afraid I would prefer to keep it intact. I shall lead the way, old friend.]
"Gerhardt." Melhilm said, looking slightly surprised. Theresia and Rudy, on the other hand, were clearly astonished at the letters of blood being woven in midair, turning to Melhilm for an explanation. The vampire sighed.
"It seems I didn't even have the time for a proper explanation. This pool of blood is Gerhardt von Waldstein, the master of Waldstein Castle and the lord who governs the island's vampires. He is also my sworn friend."
'...Another Waldstein.' Rudy frowned at the mention of the name. Normally he would have lashed out without a second thought, but he was stopped by the fact that Melhilm called this vampire a friend, and the fact that he had no idea how he would go about attacking the pool of blood. All Rudy could do was grind his teeth and glare at the viscount.
[Ah, I also happen to have some business underground at the moment. I shall guide you to the execution area. After all, they say that no journey is complete without a companion, do they not?]
"If I remember correctly, it's a straight path to the execution area... Never mind. Do as you will, Gerhardt." Melhilm said with a chuckle. Theresia was shocked by the two vampires' affable interaction.
"Sir, isn't this vampire our enemy? What if this is a trap...?"
"Hold your tongue, Theresia." Melhilm said sternly. Wearing on his face a sort of condescension different from the one he had shown Shizune, he said to the two Eaters:
"You would dare show distrust towards my friend?"
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