“Well said. I shall take this opportunity to say something myself. You asked me to teach you. Carried away by the mood, I accepted you as my pupil and have been instructing you, but...”

Cold fire existed. Otherwise, the vampire’s eyes, as red as flames, could never have been so chilling. Moving a step closer to my side, she reprimanded the Regressor.

“You show me no respect whatsoever.”

“Re... spect?”

“Or esteem, a symbol, a token, a gesture. Anything at all.”

The jet-black parasol settled lightly against her shoulder. With a quiet sigh of lament, the vampire cast the Regressor a sidelong look.

“Even a small gift would have sufficed. A single word of thanks, a simple expression of gratitude would have been enough. Yet you, Shei, have given me nothing.”

“That’s...”

“In contrast...”

This time, her gaze turned toward me. I promptly raised a hand and waved, and the vampire gave a faint smile. She was playing along to make a point to the Regressor.

A clear difference in warmth. Even if that expression was only for show, it was enough to shock the Regressor.

“This fellow may be impudent, but he has at least shown me respect in words. Rude as he is, he gave me what I needed. When I asked, he told me stories. When I wished it, he shared his knowledge. But what have you done for me?”

She had learned blood manipulation. That was all.

To the Regressor, the vampire was a harbinger of the apocalypse. Whenever the world came to ruin, the vampire was invariably named among its causes.

In the previous run, however, after tremendous effort, the Regressor had succeeded in freeing the vampire from her shackles and making her an ally. They had been comrades fighting shoulder to shoulder, as well as companions who could trust each other. Both were castaways in the flow of time, and that common ground had allowed them to grow close quickly.

So the Regressor had come down here to acquire blood manipulation and, while she was at it, “protect” Tyrkanzyaka. For her sake.

But...

“If, if it’s payment you want... Well, some treasure, perhaps...”

“Treasure? Because my gold has become useless, do you imagine I am asking for treasure now?”

At this point in time, the vampire was not the piece of the apocalypse she knew. She existed as none other than Tyrkanzyaka, the Progenitor.

“I, too, once stood at the head of the world. I adorned my head with every manner of precious thing, draped my body in beauty, and laid softness beneath my feet. A being of darkness though I was, I acquired everything that shone. Save the sun. Would someone such as I desire power? Covet wealth? Or seek some paltry honor? A little sincerity would have been enough.”

In truth, the vampire did not dislike the Regressor all that much. This was merely a complaint born of disappointment.

But the Regressor, who had built her relationships solely through regression, seemed to have little experience with this sort of situation. She had no idea what to do.

“T-Tyr...”

“Enough. Blood manipulation was all you wanted from me in the first place. If you have taken what you wanted, simply leave.”

At the vampire’s cold declaration, the Regressor trembled, then hung her head. Resting the parasol on her shoulder, the vampire spun around. The jet-black canopy divided her from the Regressor.

As if to drive the point home, she looked at me and spoke gently.

“Let us go.”

“Just a moment. Let me say one thing to Trainee Shei.”

“Keep it brief.”

At my words, the Regressor slowly raised her head. Suspicion lingered in her gaze.

'What are you going to say now?'

I cleared my throat softly, looked at her, and gave a despicable smile. Planting my feet apart and tilting up my chin, I grinned broadly like a third-rate villain.

“Well, there you have it. Heh heh heh. Don’t worry, Trainee Shei. I’ll take excellent care of that teacher of yours.”

'... Is he making fun of me?'

Only figuring that out now? You really were beyond clueless. No wonder even someone as easy to handle as the vampire had scolded you.

Oh, while I was at it.

I took the ace of diamonds from my pocket. A strange light, difficult to describe in words, flashed within its bright red diamond-shaped symbol.

Recognizing that color for what it was, the Regressor cried out.

“You, that’s...! True blood!”

“Kyahahaha! Only just noticed? I asked for a single drop, and she gave it to me without hesitation. Your teacher has already given me everything, her heart and her blood! You’re fini—!”

“You little rascal.”

A bright red fist suddenly swept past the back of my head. While I groaned in pain, the vampire frowned and scolded me.

“You need to keep your mouth shut. How do you manage to make such a mockery of my anger?”

“Why? I’ve had plenty of grievances building up too. I was just getting a little payback.”

“When an elder is angry, keep quiet. When a junior adds this and that, it dilutes the original point.”

“Huh? What’s this? You seriously want me to treat you your age? Shall I?”

'Until now... he has not been serious? He means he can go further than this?'

Frightened by my words, the vampire hastily shook her head.

“... No, no. You are free to do as you please. How could I fault you? Do whatever you like.”

Having made the vampire surrender in an instant, I lifted one corner of my mouth and thoroughly mocked the Regressor. I could make the vampire back down with a single remark. You couldn’t, could you?

“See that? I’ll be going now. And sorry, but next time, I’d rather you didn’t ‘make a nuisance of yourself’ over the affairs of ‘other people’ that are ‘none of your business.’ Don’t be so ‘clingy’... Heh, kih, kah, kyahahahaha!”

'That bastard...! Just you wait! I swear I’ll tear off that mask and expose every last bit of the ugly face beneath it!'

Leaving the furiously blazing Regressor behind, I walked away with the vampire. Thinking I might provoke her a little more, I tried to put an arm around the vampire’s shoulders. But as I reached out, her parasol billowed up, caught me firmly, and pushed me away. Its touch was polite but powerful, leaving me unable to lay a hand on her.

Why was a parasol stronger than me? And why was it moving on its own? Was I so weak I couldn’t even beat a parasol?

Meanwhile, the vampire walked slowly, deep in thought.

'Shei. A child of outstanding ability, but something is wanting. Nothing to do with strength or talent. Something that makes up the self is a little lacking... But what is it? I simply cannot put my finger on it.'

We call that social skills. The Regressor, who had destroyed the world and fled to the next run whenever things didn’t go her way, seemed so deficient that even the vampire worried about her.

Of all the people in the world to get lectured by... Tsk, tsk, tsk. A bloodsucking vampire worrying about someone’s character. What a joke.

'How did I come to accept that child as my pupil? The diligent training, even when no one is watching, is truly admirable. But that is something I have observed as a teacher. The child is not naturally affectionate. Ordinarily, I would never have given such a child a second glance... Why did I?'

Following her train of thought, the vampire’s gaze gradually turned toward me. A stark white question filled her red eyes.

'It was this fellow then, too. He prodded me into taking Shei as my pupil. And whenever something happens, he is always the one muddying the waters and shaping the situation... Could it be?'

Proactive thinking was all well and good, but settling the bill came first. They say even the sights of Mount Kumgang must wait until after a meal, but you still ought to settle the meal bill in advance. I held out a hand to the vampire.

“So, where’s the artwork?”

My question brought the vampire out of her thoughts. She lifted her parasol slightly and gestured.

“... Ah, yes. I did say I would give you a sculpture.”

Her coffin stopped before me, and its lid clunked open. From within the still-surging darkness, statues emerged one after another. Jet-black currents carefully caught them and lined them up in front of me.

A totem carved from jade. A marble figure with even the folds of its clothing delicately rendered. A bronze statue of a warrior mounted on a horse with its forelegs raised high.

Every single sculpture was precious.

“These are the statues I own. I did not know what you would like, so I made a rough selection and brought them along...”

The vampire spoke cautiously, but there was a grain of pride in her heart as well. This seemed to be a collection she cherished. Her claim to have selected them was apparently no idle boast: even the materials looked precious, and every sculpture was delicately wrought in fine detail.

Jackpot. The inside of the vampire’s coffin really was a treasure chest. No, a whole treasury!

This was an age when even the tombs of illustrious emperors were stripped bare by treasure hunters. Yet these sculptures, which had skipped across a thousand years alongside the vampire, still possessed astronomical value.

Classical techniques, but not dated. And not so much as a speck of a scratch. Perhaps influenced by the vampire’s aura, they remained exactly as they had been when first created.

If their historical value were recognized, this would be a veritable land of gold where I could make a fortune.

“Wow...!”

However.

This called for some thought.

When dealing with a sucker, you must not immediately clean out the stake they bring to the table. Do that, and they leave the game for good, with nothing to show for their money but unpleasant memories.

The foundation of fishing is teasing the line. Scatter bait, coax them gently, let them go a little at a time, then snatch them up the moment they take the hook.

The vampire had already given me true blood, even if it was only a drop. The reason she was offering her cherished artwork as well was that she felt indebted to me. I had told her entertaining stories, and I was giving her heart massages. In contrast, the crown she had given me before was fake gold, and she was caught in a sense of inferiority because her knowledge and possessions were so far behind the times.

Telling her the truth and promptly accepting was certainly one option.

But a true gambler would let her off a little here, in pursuit of greater gains.

My expression clouded, and I set down the sculpture.

“This is a heretical idol...”

“What? Heretical?”

“Local faiths and the like... Druidism, totemism, worship of Beast Kings, and so on. Relics of those times. All these are treated as heretical idols and are often destroyed on sight.”

At my regretful tone, the vampire grew displeased.

“What? Who, who dares brand relics of the past heretical on a whim?”

“Who do you think decides what’s heretical? The Holy See.”

“The Sky God’s messengers... Those bastards! They are never of any use!”

It wasn’t untrue. I had merely mixed in a little exaggeration.

Not everyone in the world was an apostle of the Sky God, so it wasn’t as though these were impossible to sell. The Military State, in particular, was the only country that taxed temples. With my mind reading, getting a fair price would be child’s play.

But.

What if I pretended it would be difficult and turned down this treasure?

“Just in case, let me ask. You don’t have any paintings or divine statues that resemble illustrations from scripture, do you?”

Fidgeting with her fingers, the vampire replied.

“... If you mean those stained with my blood, I still have some.”

“Oh dear. The moment those saw the light of day, there’d be an extermination order.”

I put on a troubled expression. An expression suggesting that the payment she had brought was unsuitable for me. And so the vampire, who had lost her ability to pay—or at least believed she had—felt sorry toward me.

“Once again, I have been of little help.”

“Not at all. It’s the thought that counts.”

I pretended to hide my disappointment and decline. Pretended I wanted to accept, but that the payment offered was unsuitable. Drawing out my words little by little, I added to the burden on the vampire’s heart.

'In the end, nothing I possess has been of any use.'

Listening to that brief pang of guilt quietly transmitted from within her heart, I smiled to myself.

“I told you, it’s all right. Don’t be so down. I wasn’t doing it for a reward in the first place. Well, I’ll keep giving you the electrical massages!”

Despite my reassurance, the shadow over the vampire’s heart did not lift.

“It is because I feel sorry. I never thought I placed much value on wealth, but looking back, the years are so fleeting. Even if I remain unchanged, everything I own crumbles with time.”

“You’ve already given me true blood, haven’t you? I’ve received plenty, so don’t worry about it.”

“But...”

“Oh, come on. I said it’s fine.”

Good. I had put enough pressure on her. Now it was time to ease it a little.

I smiled brightly and raised my index finger.

“Now, enough gloomy talk. Let me give you a massage. Open up your chest. Hold it with both hands and spread it wide, and I’ll push my finger deep inside and fill you with my mana.”

A joke so blatant even an idiot would understand it. The vampire, who had been thoroughly depressed by her guilt toward me, abruptly scowled as though she had never felt that way at all.

“Could you not choose your words more carefully? You make it sound as though we are committing some lewd act. It is uncomfortable.”

“Then should I describe it seriously? Now, let’s see. The ribs and fascia are firmly enclosing the heart... I need to turn the lung over, but I can’t get the angle, so please move it a little—urgh. Wait. My stomach. Bleurgh.”

“... Ha. I simply cannot win against you in words. Enough. Do as you see fit.”

I had lightened the mood enough. With a disbelieving chuckle, the vampire promptly opened her chest.

Not long afterward, the vampire, her face flushed red, closed up the front of her clothes and moved away from me. She asked me to help her again next time.

After she left, I let out a long sigh. The finger that had discharged the electricity was trembling faintly.

... Heart massages, an easy way to win the vampire’s affection... All well and good. But they were bad for my mental health. I could still feel that squishy sensation lingering on my finger.

I might peer into people’s inner selves, but I had never wanted to peer into their biological insides.

I cooked meat that day, but every glimpse of red flesh made my stomach turn. Unable to bring myself to eat it, I gave it to Azi. Without the slightest idea why, she let out a happy cry.