Well. What am I going to do?

How do I explain this?

No, before that, I don't even know how to put this crushing dismay into words.

I dragged a hand down my face and muttered.

“I warned you quite clearly, Tyrkanzyaka. When a stranger approaches with sweet words, be careful, because they might be trying to take something from you.”

I had taught her, demonstrated it, acted it out, and even teased her mercilessly. Clearly, none of it had gotten through.

Otherwise, she would never have shown Finlay her heart.

“Don't hand over your heart so carelessly. Magic will never give you what you want. I stressed it over and over and over again. And this is what happens.”

A voice full of questions interrupted my muttering.

“What are you talking about now?”

“This is why you should never call yourself an educator. Hah. It's so draining. What have I been working so hard for all this time? What does all my effort amount to if a trainee goes astray like this?”

“Anyone listening would think you were a proper educator. So what exactly is going on?”

The Regressor rudely brushed my complaints aside and pressed for answers.

With a deep sigh, I calmly relayed what I had read from Finlay.

“Trainee Tyrkanzyaka has fallen victim to the homunculus dilemma.”

Fallen victim to the homunculus dilemma.

Among those familiar with magic, that phrase carried a symbolic meaning: someone had tried to change themselves through magic, only to be reduced to a wretched state no better than a mere homunculus.

In other words, they had become a puppet under someone else's control.

The Regressor understood immediately and recoiled in shock.

“What? By whom? Don't tell me...?”

“Finlay. He has taken control of Trainee Tyrkanzyaka. That's how he became able to wield her power.”

“Impossible!” the Regressor exclaimed.

“How is that possible? A lower-ranking vampire can't defeat one of a higher rank. There's an enormous difference in their ability to control blood through blood manipulation! And we're talking about the Progenitor! She could tear his limbs off with a snap of her fingers!”

“But it happened. Apparently, Trainee Tyrkanzyaka let her guard down.”

“That's not a gap you can bridge just because she let her guard down!”

“Are you sure? She bares her heart to me and asks you to strike her with lightning, Trainee Shei. Isn't that more than enough of an opening?”

And in fact, her failure to keep her guard up had left her under someone else's control.

Unable to find fault with my argument, the Regressor took a more objective look at the situation.

“That does explain everything. If Tyrkanzyaka really intended to leave, she would at least have told us. But why? To some small fry like him...?”

Looking bewildered, the Regressor carefully retraced yesterday's events.

Tyrkanzyaka saying she wanted a heart that beat on its own. Asking Shei to strike her with lightning. Then Shei telling her to ask me about the homunculus dilemma.

As she reached that last memory, the Regressor turned a fierce glare on me.

“You told Tyrkanzyaka about the homunculus dilemma yesterday.”

I nodded in reply.

“Yes. At someone's urging. Someone who could have explained it herself if she knew about it, but keeps dumping tedious chores on me instead.”

“Tch.”

Having no comeback, the Regressor clicked her tongue and changed the subject.

“Did you explain it properly? If she'd heard that story, Tyrkanzyaka would never have rushed into something like this.”

“I did explain it properly. But it seems our expectations were a little off.”

Of course, the homunculus dilemma was a warning.

A stern warning never even to dream of transforming your body through magic unless you wanted to end up in the horrific state of being dismantled, piece by piece, for materials.

“For an ordinary human, having their body dismantled and used for materials would be terrifying, wouldn't it?”

But the vampire had defied common sense several times already. I knew that, yet at the same time, I hadn't truly understood.

Even I, who could read everything from a person's thoughts to their memories, couldn't fully read a vampire who had lived through twelve hundred years.

Perhaps that was why I had realized it a little too late.

“But did Trainee Tyrkanzyaka really feel fear or some vague aversion when she heard that horror story? Or did she simply think, ‘So that's another option,’ and move on?”

That explained why she hadn't seemed particularly moved by the story when I told her about the homunculus dilemma yesterday.

I should have realized it then.

“Perhaps Trainee Tyrkanzyaka didn't see it as a taboo... but as one possible way of getting her heart to beat again.”

The Regressor's face went rigid.

To a vampire who bared her chest to receive electric shocks, who asked for magic to strike her with lightning because those shocks weren't enough...

The homunculus dilemma wasn't some disturbing taboo. It was no different from a polite refusal.

“I had... no idea.”

The Regressor's voice trembled.

“Then is this my fault? Did Tyrkanzyaka let Finlay have access to her heart because of me?”

Your fault? What nonsense.

If telling her about it made you responsible, what did that make me? I hadn't predicted this even while reading their thoughts in real time.

“No. It isn't your fault, Trainee Shei.”

I'm not responsible. Therefore, neither are you. Let's cover for each other.

“And it isn't mine, either. How could we have known Trainee Tyrkanzyaka wanted a beating heart of her own that badly? Frankly, this is entirely her fault, from start to finish. Honestly, it's not like she's some senile old woman. Does she have to stick her head into every danger she sees? If she weren't immortal, she'd have died ages ago.”

I offered my consolation in an utterly lighthearted tone.

For a moment, the Regressor was a little touched. Warm words of comfort were rare for her, too.

But just as she was about to relax...

'Wait.'

Her softening eyes sharpened again. Forcing away the sweet comfort, the Regressor raised sharp thorns around her wavering heart.

“How did you find that out?”

Ahaha. Sharp as ever.

I read his memories.

Finlay's lies yesterday, and the vampire finally exposing her heart despite those obvious lies. I saw those memories of his quite clearly.

But I couldn't tell her that, so I brought an index finger to my lips.

“It's a secret.”

I gave her a perfectly innocent smile.

The Regressor's gaze darkened further. Like a beast facing an enemy, she glared at me with every sense on high alert and clenched her teeth.

Why? That was such a friendly smile. What had I done?

“... Fine. Let's leave that secret aside. Then...”

Looking ready to spring at the slightest touch, the Regressor demanded an answer.

“So. What are you planning to do? Stand by? Help? Or fight?”

Good question.

If the vampire's power could get us out, I might have cooperated with Finlay. No, before it ever came to that, I would have talked the vampire into taking me up to the surface with her.

But I knew escape wasn't that simple. Dismantling Finlay's bracelet had given me a clue, and questioning the golem had confirmed it.

Getting out required something other than the ability to fly.

Which meant...

“Finlay will fail to escape. You can't get out of the bottomless pit that way.”

As ageless, undying vampires, they might patiently keep ascending. But even that had its limits. Eventually, as they continued upward, they would realize they could never reach the surface this way.

“Once he realizes he was wrong, he'll come back to us. That'll be embarrassing for everyone, won't it? Imagine saying, ‘Bye! Take care!’ only for them to come back because they actually don't know the way out. Both sides will feel awkward, and the already oppressive atmosphere of the bottomless pit will get even heavier.”

“So what's your conclusion?”

I had no way to send Finlay out. But he wouldn't believe me if I told him, and even if he verified it through various means and finally accepted it, he wouldn't let me get away with deceiving them.

In short, we were bound to clash eventually.

If I wanted to survive, I would have to kill Finlay.

“I'm a naturally outgoing person, so I'd rather die than endure an awkward atmosphere. We'll have to stop Finlay from leaving, even if we have to kill him to keep him here.”

Grinning, I held out my hand to the Regressor.

“Trainee Shei, let's work together. To hunt down and kill Finlay.”

“Hmph. You think I'd cooperate with someone as inscrutable as you?”

Why so prickly when I was smiling so warmly and being so cooperative? Are you secretly the King of Hedgehogs?

Ignoring my awkwardly outstretched hand, the Regressor briskly dusted off her clothes.

“We just happen to have the same goal. Stay out of my way.”

“Either way is fine. It's reassuring to have you.”

“I don't feel reassured at all.”

'Better than having him as an enemy, but I can't trust him completely. I'll assume I'm fighting alone for now.'

Oh. Excellent decision.

Because you really will have to fight alone. I have no means of fighting a vampire.

So you'll have to win this on your own. I'll be in serious trouble if I'm the only one left.

Watching the Regressor steel herself to fight alone, I casually asked,

“Do you have a plan?”

“... Whew. No reason to hide it, I suppose.”

The Regressor raised a finger. As she concentrated and exerted herself, bright red blood seeped through her skin, gathered into a bead, and rolled over her finger.

“Blood manipulation is an ability every vampire possesses. But no matter how good he is at it, he's only a Yealing. He isn't an Elder, or even an Ein. The link connecting their powers is bound to be weak. In that case...”

She flicked her finger, and the blood burst in midair with a pop. The impact was comparable to a small bomb.

Amid the scattering blood, the Regressor declared confidently,

“I'll shock Tyrkanzyaka with my blood manipulation. Mine is a primal form of blood manipulation. It doesn't belong to Tyrkanzyaka's power. If I stimulate her with an alien power, her instincts will surface, if only to resist it.”

She might be a little damaged in the head, but a Regressor was still a Regressor. She had a solid plan. More than a passing grade.

No need to be stingy with praise at a time like this.

“I like it. An excellent plan.”

The Regressor snorted in response.

“Hmph. Spare me the empty compliments and give me ranged support.”

“I don't really have any means of providing ranged support.”

The Regressor gave me an icy look.

What? You think ranged support is all I'm lacking?

Actually, I can't provide close-range support either! Ta-da!

“Then stay back and cast spells.”

“Level zero magic is the limit of what I can cast, though?”

You saw me use magic last time. You saw my pathetic reserves of mana, too.

Recalling that very fact, the Regressor's face twisted into a scowl.

“Tch, what the hell? You're just a swordsman? A swordsman without any special abilities is the worst possible matchup against Tyrkanzyaka!”

No, I'm a card player. I've barely ever used a blade. My entire history of swordsmanship consists of using a kitchen knife to cook.

“Then deal with Tyrkanzyaka's familiar! I'll handle everything else!”

'He really isn't reassuring at all! Hmph, but that's fine. I can do this alone. I've done it in a previous run!'

For a moment, the Regressor recalled an event from a previous run: raiding the headquarters of the immortal army that had fought the Holy See during the great war.

There, she had encountered Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka. A vengeance-crazed woman with blood-red eyes, proclaiming her bloody revenge.

'I'm weaker now than I was then, with fewer options, but the same goes for my opponent. No, she's even worse off. There aren't any Elders or Ein from the Principality of Mist guarding Tyrkanzyaka, are there? Ralion. As long as I can watch out for that thing, I can wake her up.'

The brief recollection ended. Having finished her calculations, the Regressor firmed her resolve and spoke.

“I need to prepare.”

“What an amazing coincidence. I needed to prepare a few things myself.”

“Meet me here in one minute. We're going to kill Finlay and save Tyrkanzyaka.”

Without even waiting for an answer, the Regressor strode back to her room to retrieve the tools she would use against the vampire.

Hmm.

Actually, I had nothing to prepare. Still, I should at least pretend to gather some things, right?

Scratching my head, I went upstairs to collect what little equipment I had.