Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 9 - Chapter Ep1

The end of the Vampire

How many minutes had passed? How many hours?

When I returned to the sanctuary after the final battle, fire had begun to envelop the area. An artillery bombardment must have hit nearby. The red flames crackled loudly, intent on burning down the Nightless Castle.

In the midst of the smoke and flames was a saint.

Had she fallen asleep, or had simply keeping her eyelids open become too painful? Jeanne sat with her eyes closed, leaning back against the wall. Perhaps it was the black dress she wore, but her characteristically pale vampire skin seemed to float there in the darkness.

“I’m sorry for making you wait.”

At the sound of my voice, Jeanne slowly opened her eyes.

“I won.”

I hadn’t actually been able to kill Full-Face.

I’d destroyed more than half of the Federation Government force’s weapons, though, and when I’d rained blows down on Full-Face with my sword, the enemy had retreated. Perhaps he’d decided that I was going to die soon anyway, so there was no point continuing. I’d been wounded so badly that my body couldn’t regenerate. No back-alley doctor would be able to heal me now.

Even so, I was the one who’d remained standing on the battlefield until the very end. We vampires had been the ones to struggle against unfairness and strike back at the world. And so…

“We won,” I said again, lowering myself to sit beside Jeanne.

She gazed at me. From her expression, I couldn’t tell whether she was smiling or crying. I was almost about to ask her “Aren’t you happy?” but then realized I was still seeking her approval, even after all this time. A self-deprecating smile crossed my lips.

“Eat me,” I told her, although it wasn’t as if I was trying to hide my embarrassment.

Jeanne’s eyes widened slightly, as if she was startled.

“This is an order, as your king. Do not die before I do.”

Even with my body in this state, I might be able to extend her life by a few minutes. I hung my head to one side, offering her my neck.

“This is how it should be.”

After a short pause, Jeanne gently sank her teeth into my neck.

The sweet pain lasted thirty seconds or so.

“You’re a fool, you know.”

Time froze in that moment, and I looked to the side. Jeanne’s fair throat was working. She was speaking. They were the first words she’d said to me in fifteen years.

“You reclaimed your voice with blood such as mine?”

“Of course I did. It’s the blood of a king,” Jeanne said with a smile, and I smiled back.

I really doubted my smile managed to match hers, though.

“Jeanne— No, Marie. Which name should I call you by?”

“Whichever you like, Judas. Or should I call you Scarlet?”

Any name would do. As far as I was concerned, words didn’t matter. It had probably always been that way: The really precious things lay beyond words.

“You’ve grown so big.” I felt the weight of her head on my shoulder.

That’s true for both of us, I thought with a snort. “I’m sorry to make you keep me company.”

The flames were already closing in. My legs wouldn’t work anymore. The smoke would probably kill us before the fire did, though. I’d committed the sin of extending her life by a few minutes, so at the very least, I wanted to let her die painlessly.

“Don’t worry. Compared to your last fifteen years, it will only be a moment.” Jeanne leaned against me. “From now on, we’ll always be together.”

“No—this is where we say good-bye.”

I was bound for hell, bearing the sin of killing my kin for my own self-interest.

“I’m going there, too. I was the one who set you on that path.”

That wasn’t true… It wasn’t…

“As long as I’m with you, hell doesn’t scare me.”

Her words pierced something my eyes couldn’t see.

“—Ah, I finally understand. So that was it…”

I had thought I didn’t need words; that was why I’d only searched for methods that didn’t rely on them. However, what I didn’t have was what I’d wanted the most.

I’d wanted words. The sort of words that could fill a gaping hole as deep as the pits of hell.

“Marie.”

Calling her by her real name—the one she’d been given at birth, and the one she’d used while living as a human—I asked her for answers.

“Where do you suppose hell is?”

“No doubt it’s close to heaven.”

“What do you think hell will be like?”

“I’m sure it will be wonderful.”

“What color do you think hell will be?”

“All sorts of beautiful colors.”

“Just like we are now,” said Jeanne…or rather, Marie.

I was red, dyed with blood. She was black, her dress the color of night.

If that was that case, hell would suit us both.

“Marie, one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“Sing for me, one last time.”

“Of course.”

The saint’s song gently engulfed this hell of flickering flames.

My consciousness was growing faint, and I closed my eyes. As I drifted, the last thing I heard were her words, like a song.

“Marie.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I am.”

“Marie.”

“Mm?”

“…………”

“………To you, too.”

Thank you.