With breakfast over, the dishes fell to me. This was seriously unfair. That so-called King of Dogs had stolen half the food I cooked, so why did I have to do all the washing up? What kind of world was this? What kind of country?

Oh, right. The Military State was a sham that barely qualified as a country.

While a well-fed Azi sprawled on the floor yawning, I grumbled my way through the cleanup. She didn't so much as acknowledge my hard work.

The only consolation was that her bowl was spotless and gleaming, as good as new.

'So this man does eat, at least. He seems to be human, anyway.'

Just then, a thought reached me from the corridor outside the dining hall. The Regressor was pressed flat against the outer wall, peering inside. I scowled as I read the thoughts drifting in.

Who was she to question whether I was human?

Listen. With training, a human can project sword energy. Cast magic, too. Even toughen up their body.

Some people can study another person's expressions, gaze, and breathing closely enough to guess what they're thinking. Not as well as me, of course.

But no amount of effort lets you turn back time. The least human person here had some nerve judging me.

'... More importantly, why does Azi follow such a frivolous man? If she's even eating the meals he makes, she must have warmed up to him already. Maybe I could...?'

"Ahem!"

Having finished that train of thought, the Regressor entered the dining hall with an unnecessary clearing of her throat. She met Azi's eyes and greeted her in a slightly higher voice than usual. She couldn't have been more awkward.

"H-hi, Azi. Did you enjoy your food?"

"Woof..."

But as they say, nothing in the world has it easier than a well-fed dog. Sprawled out, Azi offered no particular response beyond a wag of her tail. The Regressor lowered her raised hand, looking a little dejected.

'Not much of a reaction. Is it because I'm dressed...as a man? No. She follows that man just fine. Tch, what on earth did he do...?'

Fetch. That goddamn game of fetch!

You saw it yourself!

Before going on about how she follows me, could you please throw the ball for her a few times? People who claim to love dogs always want the privileges without doing any of the work. If you want to be friends, play with her properly and take responsibility all the way through.

Ugh. Still, she'd announced her presence, so I ought to acknowledge her. I turned from the sink to look at the Regressor.

"Good morning, Trainee Shei. Have you had breakfast?"

After that routine greeting, I happened to notice the bean stew left in the pot. If she hadn't eaten yet, common courtesy would oblige me to offer her some. Otherwise, I'd just be rubbing it in: 'You haven't eaten? What a shame. I have!'

Properly prepared, one can of compressed beans made enough to keep a family of four well fed for an entire day. But that pig had just gobbled down half of it, so there wasn't much left. And now I had to share this precious food.

Still, better that than get on her bad side and be wiped out. Feeling as though I were carving off a piece of my own flesh, I made the offer.

"If you haven't, could I get you some of this special Military State canned-bean dish I've cooked myself?"

"Don't worry about me. I eat just fine on my own."

"What? This is the dining hall. Where exactly are you eating so well? Have you been siphoning off food supplies?"

"I have my own emergency rations."

After that brief reply, the Regressor cast a thoroughly weary look at the canned-bean dish in the pot.

'Canned beans... Unless it's the beginning of a run, I don't even want to touch that tiresome stuff. Getting the treasure, the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast, was a stroke of genius. A full spread every single day. It only serves one, but at least my own meals are guaranteed.'

I'd read her mind without thinking, only to have her rub my nose in it instead.

Here I was, competing with a dog for food and scraping by from one day to the next, while someone else had a treasure that laid out a feast every day. Seriously, what kind of country was this?

I may be a mind reader, but the human heart really is a strange thing. Rationally speaking, the Regressor taking care of her own meals was far better than a dog stealing mine. Yet seeing her live so well all by herself made my stomach twist. I hoped she'd lose that Manchu-Han Imperial Feast and go hungry. Was this human selfishness?

The bowl I was scrubbing looked especially pitiful today. All I'd had to eat was the food in this little bowl. When it was full, I'd felt like I had the whole world. Now both the bowl and my heart were empty. Was this relative deprivation?

"How much longer are those dishes going to take? Finish up and get ready."

As I stood there blankly, the Regressor hurried me along.

"Ready for what?"

"What do you think? We're going to see Tyrkanzyaka. We need to learn blood manipulation."

"Why do I have to learn that?"

At my irritated reply, the Regressor shrugged.

"Because Tyrkanzyaka decided you would?"

"Damn it. Age really is a badge of authority, isn't it?"

I carelessly tossed down the bowl I'd been washing, shook the water off my hands, and prepared to leave. The Regressor seemed puzzled by my reluctance.

"It's a chance to gain that power without becoming a vampire. That can't be a bad thing for you, either."

"What good is that? It'll take ages to learn. And after all that, all I get is the ability to control blood. What's so great about that? No matter what I do, I'll just be an inferior vampire."

This was a technique the vampire called the Progenitor had perfected long after acquiring a body that couldn't die. And what you controlled was your own blood. One wrong move could cost me my life. It was a technique for people with time or lives to spare.

Like the Regressor, for instance.

My goal was to survive in the first place, not grow stronger. Being stronger didn't necessarily mean living better, either.

Besides...

"I don't particularly want to get stronger."

A stray bit of honesty slipped out. I regretted it the moment I said it, but the keen-sensed Regressor had already heard.

'... That doesn't sound like a lie. He really doesn't seem to see any point in growing stronger. But a soldier from the Military State, where ability comes before everything, saying that?'

I wondered whether I should have kept my mouth shut, but there was no taking it back now. Hiding my reaction as best I could, I walked past her. Watching me head calmly toward the door, the Regressor sank into thought.

'I've said I can't figure him out, but I really don't know anything about this man... He's detached and easygoing despite his power, and oddly seems to reject authoritarianism... He doesn't treat Azi as human, but he's actually kind to her. If even someone as particular as Azi follows him...'

After a brief assessment, the Regressor reached her own conclusion.

'Could he be a soldier who was relegated to this post for resisting orders from the Military State's leadership? An officer at the very least. Nothing else explains it. Not his power, or his attitude toward Azi and Tyrkanzyaka!'

I'd hardly been here long enough to call this an occasional thought, but once again I found myself thinking something that had kept occurring to me.

Thank goodness that woman could regress, at least.

'I left the Military State alone after destroying it once in my eighth run, but perhaps I could use him as a key to get deeper inside!'

No, scratch that. What was there to be thankful for when she could casually destroy an entire country?

More importantly, she'd destroyed the Military State? If I learned how, could I pull off something similar? I'd love to wreak some havoc on this country myself.

I was just about to focus on the Regressor's thoughts when it happened.

'Uuurgh...'

I flinched.

Whirling around, I stared farther inside. The Regressor gave me a puzzled look at the sudden movement, but I couldn't tear my eyes away.

That voice of the mind I'd just heard belonged to neither the Regressor nor Azi. A faint consciousness, impossible to identify, that seemed liable to fade at any moment.

Had I imagined it? No, impossible. It meant there was definitely something in there—a living person.

"What are you doing? Why'd you stop?"

"No, it's just... I thought someone was there."

"Where?"

The faint thread of thought broke off. Had they died? Fallen asleep? Tch. It bothered me, but with my mind reading cut off, I had no way to find them.

The vampire came first. I put it out of my mind and stepped into the yard with the Regressor.

Tantalus was dark. Even sunlight arriving from far away could only scratch its head awkwardly and fade before Mother Earth's stern wrath. The bottomless pit had no bottom, and thus no height either. Even sunlight, which forced its way through the tiniest hole, could not cross the insurmountable barrier of infinite space.

That was why Tantalus had to supply its own light. Astonishingly, humanity had reached the point of creating light through mana. Divine grace could be replaced by human achievement.

Even if the quality was infinitely inferior.

There was a boundary in Tantalus's yard. The prison building formed an L, with the yard fitting neatly inside its outline. Within that space, the searchlights didn't track people. Broad daylight lamps illuminated the interior evenly, scattering the fruits of humanity's efforts to overcome the night.

But beyond it lay the slightly more outlying ground where I'd first landed. Step outside the angular rectangle laid down by the Military State, into the cut-off area, and the searchlights would begin their relentless pursuit.

Tantalus had neither soldiers to pursue escapees nor anywhere for those escapees to run. Yet the Military State policed them with stubborn persistence, as if to emphasize that they were prisoners forbidden to leave.

"Where's Tyrkanzyaka... Oh."

Tyrkanzyaka lay on ground where the searchlights should have fallen.

Actually, I couldn't be sure she was lying down. All I could see so far was a bright red cross glowing ominously even in the dark.

The light-hating vampire had positioned herself beyond the reach of the lamps. Normally, the searchlights should have pursued her outside the designated area. Instead, as though frightened by that ominous, red-burning presence, they merely turned their gazes away and pretended not to see.

"... We're supposed to go over there, aren't we?"

"Of course."

"Ugh. I don't want to. It's blinding over there..."

"Why? Want me to cut the light for you?"

I didn't even want to ask how that was possible. Reluctantly, I set off toward the coffin waiting for us in the distance.

We walked and walked, until we stepped into the searchlights' territory. Expecting light to chase me as though to scorch my back, I squeezed my eyes shut.

But no light pursued me. The searchlights pretended not to see me either, shining off in entirely unrelated directions. Huh? What was going on?

["I have covered their eyes."]

A dark voice reached us. There was no need to say whose it was. The vampire lying motionless in her coffin, Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka, spoke calmly through the medium of darkness.

["I detest brightness, but that light is more irritating still. Its harshness surpasses even sunlight. I imagine you feel the same."]

I nodded at once.

"Absolutely. Please, do whatever makes you comfortable. We can see perfectly well with only a little light anyway. In situations like this, we should accommodate you."

["..."]

'How oddly unpleasant... Why does it feel as though he is treating me like an old woman with failing eyesight?'

Hearing the vampire's thoughts, I felt my heart sink.

What was wrong with her? Did she have a persecution complex? Yes, I was treating her like an old woman, and yes, I did think her eyesight was failing, but I hadn't let any of that show yet!

After fixing me with a terrifying glare, the vampire slowly spoke.

["Regardless, these lessons will be exceedingly harsh. To control blood, you must first shed it. You will face danger along the way."]

The vampire's voice sounded eerie from inside the coffin. Red blood dripped through its slightly open gap, as though demonstrating the fate awaiting us.

["Will you still proceed? Will you prove yourselves capable of overcoming hardship?"]

It was the sort of offer found in fairy tales told by mischievous adults, or legends passed down in dark forests. A trial offered by the vampire called the Progenitor to unwitting humans.

It should have been frightening, yet the Regressor nodded without a trace of fear.

"I've accepted that. I'm ready."

For someone who had died and returned thirteen times, even the terror of the Progenitor was simply another wall to overcome. Neither the surging presence nor the writhing blood altered the Regressor's expression in the slightest. The vampire was pleased with her attitude.

'A boy of considerable spirit. Hmm. He should be rewarding to teach. That much, at least.'

Now the vampire's gaze turned to me.

["And you?"]

Hmm. I'd rather not.

I couldn't see the expression of the vampire inside the coffin. The darkness she had gathered was so thick that even the coffin itself looked hazy from barely five paces away.

With neither face nor expression visible, an ordinary person wouldn't dare guess what the vampire was thinking in there.

But I could read her thoughts.

'It is a disciple's duty to obey their master's commands. They dare not refuse, whatever the order.'

The vampire's mind was full of plans to torment me.

'Such is the bond between master and disciple. I shall instill some respect in you, insolent wretch. Since you treat me as an old woman, I shall discipline you in an old woman's fashion.'

How could her thinking be so antiquated? A master-disciple bond? What century was this?

She'd volunteered to teach me just so she could torment me legitimately. Should I call her petty, or give her credit for being mature enough not to lash out indiscriminately even now?

I hadn't wanted to learn in the first place, but reading her thoughts only strengthened my resolve. I promptly shook my head.

"I have no intention of learning, actually."

["... What?"]

The vampire was deeply shocked. Apparently, she'd never imagined I might refuse her offer; even her voice was trembling.

["You will...not learn? Even when I offer to teach you myself?"]

"Ah. That's right."

["I have taught very few people in all my life. This is a chance to become my disciple, and you would reject it?"]

She kept asking, as if she truly couldn't believe it. Look, I really didn't need it. Scratching my head, I answered.

"Well, the master-disciple bond was abolished back in the kingdom's day, never mind the Military State. There were too many abuses."

["Why?"]

"Why? Too many people took the benefits and ran. They'd invoke the master-disciple bond, demand lavish treatment, and work their disciples like slaves for years, only to grandly teach them some worthless martial art or magic. It happened so often it caused an uproar. About half the cases going to court were lawsuits between masters and disciples or apprentices. The state got sick of hearing them. That's why they banned it in the end. You can't keep bringing up something that only survives as a relic in countries over a thousand years old, like the Mien Empire."

The vampire snorted in disbelief. With a faint undertone of anger in her voice, she threatened me.

["This is blood manipulation. The power that made me immortal. You dare treat it as some trifling art?"]

"No, no. When did I say blood manipulation was an outdated technique? I said the master-disciple bond was an outdated custom. Besides..."

I hated to say this, but I had no choice. I couldn't let myself be leashed for life just to humor her.

If it were a brilliant golden leash, perhaps I could shut my eyes and accept it. But putting on a worn-out leash made over a thousand years ago would only cost me.

I decided to be honest.

"Blood manipulation isn't exactly a scam, but, well...it is a little outdated, isn't it?"

RUMBLE.

I doubted the shaking of Tantalus was merely my imagination. Blood was boiling up, the vampire's displeasure made manifest. Within the surging darkness, she was expressing her anger.

I wanted to drop to my knees even now. To beg, "Please...accept me as your disciple!" Anything to escape this pressure.

But the future I pictured if I did was training that continued until I was at death's door. A life much like slavery, attending to the vampire with no time for anything else.

Honestly, that life wouldn't be much different from my current one. The problem was being "tested" as I learned.

If the Progenitor's instruction drove me to my limits and exposed how little I had...the bubble of my wildly inflated reputation would burst. The image I'd built on bluff alone would be used up.

They would discover that I was just an unremarkable, ordinary person.

It was the truth, but one that could never be discovered. To prevent the death I'd seen for myself in the Regressor's future, I needed to preserve at least some influence.

Even if I had to risk my life for it.

["Oh, indeed."]

Like it or not, the vampire was a person of the past. Older people might say they disliked being treated as old, but actually treat them like a friend and they'd get angry at your disrespect.

I'd like to believe nobody was stupid enough to take an elder's invitation to be casual at face value.

The one saving grace was that she had dignity to match her age. A little anger wouldn't make her draw a sword, unlike a certain someone.

I hastily added,

"It's useful for someone like you, Trainee Tyrkanzyaka, who's spent a thousand years accumulating power and reaching your present stature. But honestly, the technique itself is already a thousand years old."

["Oh...? You persist to the very end..."]

"No, I'm not criticizing anything in particular. It's just that the power itself is somewhat out of step with the times."

["Are you calling blood manipulation a sham?"]

CRUNCH.

Something bit into the space beside me. Wondering what it was, I slowly turned my head.

A vivid, blood-red horse was staring down at me, chewing its cud. I had no idea what it was chewing. What it wanted to chew, however, was perfectly clear from the blood steed's eyes boring into me. It spat, and the concrete floor melted beneath its spit.

Ah. I'd wondered, but that confirmed it. I couldn't read a familiar's thoughts...

["Leave him be, Ralion."]

NEIGH.

Its snorting shook the ground. Like a stamp coated in red ink, its crimson hooves left clear impressions in the concrete floor.

Hmm. This side was a bit too strong. Had I made the wrong choice?

["Very well. Then you shall merely watch. Even if you regret it later, there will be no changing your mind."]

Would she actually kill me if I said I didn't want to watch either? All right. I'd nod to this one for now.

When I remained firm, the disgruntled vampire turned her attention from me to the Regressor. The large coffin glided over the ground and drew right up beside her.

["Boy. What is your name?"]

"Shei."

["Very well, Shei. Will you follow my teachings? The process may be painful, and it may be dangerous. But its outcome will assuredly be magnificent. I shall teach you with all sincerity. Will you learn without doubting my intentions?"]

The Regressor didn't hesitate. Dismissing the matter with the simple reasoning that she could regress even if she died, she shrugged and said,

"Of course. I swear. But..."

The Regressor added a few words.

"I've learned a lot from all sorts of places, so I won't be able to devote myself entirely to carrying on your legacy."

["That does not matter. Promise me just one thing."]

"If it's something I can do. What is it?"

Blood gathered in midair. Swelling like a bright red balloon, it took the shape of a finger and pointed at me.

["That you will defeat that insolent wretch!"]

The Regressor accepted the challenge with a broad grin.

"That's exactly what I wanted."

Huh? Me? Why, all of a sudden?

Having abruptly become their common enemy, I could only blink and watch the two women form their alliance.