Abel was pinned to the ground, bleeding profusely from a deep gash in his left leg and several cuts scattered across the rest of his body. Despite how much damage his enemies had done, he remained fully conscious.
“I can’t believe there were four vampires...” he said, glaring at Count Roberto Lillo.
“Quite skilled indeed, for a human,” he replied. “An A-rank adventurer, correct? Ah, but in the end, you’re still only human. How astoundingly foolish to take a fight you had no hope of winning.”
“There are some fights you just can’t run from,” Abel replied with a taunting grin. “I wouldn’t expect a vampire to understand.”
“You dare run your mouth, even in this situation? Fine, I’ll cut your head off right here. We have plenty of others we can use for the public executions.”
The soldiers holding Abel down lifted his upper body, making it easier for the other vampire to decapitate him.
Roberto raised his sword.
Then a voice rang out, carrying across the battlefield: “Are you really going to kill that man?”
All four vampires stiffened and slowly turned toward the young man approaching them, his pace neither languid nor rushed. He moved with perfect grace, his movements refined by many years. Even at a glance, he radiated an aura that assured you he had all the answers...
“L-Lord Shinso...” Roberto murmured, swallowing nervously. “Why are you here?”
“I’m simply a bystander. A neutral observer, if you will, which is why I appear anywhere and everywhere at the drop of a hat.” He surveyed Abel from head to toe, as if to confirm his suspicions. “Hmm... So, Roberto, let me ask you again: Do you really intend to kill this man?”
“B-Begging your pardon, my lord, but you have no grounds to interfere in the country’s political affairs...” Despite his obvious nervousness, he put up a brave front, perhaps because he didn’t want his duties infringed upon.
“I’m well aware. As per our agreement, I shan’t meddle in politics.”
Robert let out a soft sigh of relief. Then he straightened his back and, holding his head high, declared, “Yes, I will kill him.”
“Is that so?” Shinso asked quietly, then stepped toward the swordsman. “Adventurer Abel, do you truly have no objections?”
From his tone and choice of words, Abel suspected the man knew his true identity. Judging by his question, then, the man was silently confirming that Abel didn’t want to reveal his heritage to negotiate for his life.
“Nope. After all, I’m merely an adventurer, and that’s it.”
“I see...” Shinso said with a soft sigh.
He stepped away from Abel as Roberto raised his sword.
At that moment, Shinso heard Abel mutter.
“Now’s the time to say some cool line you reserve for life-or-death situations, right? What was it Ryo said again? The time is out of joint something something—”
“Wait, Roberto!” Shinso suddenly yelled, unsheathing his sword with lightning speed and—
Clink.
✦ ✦ ✦
—blocking Roberto’s killing blow.
“Wh-What are you doing?” Roberto asked.
“Roberto, I said wait,” Shinso repeated.
The count and Abel were both stunned. Shinso had just taken the wind right out of Roberto’s sails, and the vampire had been determined to finish off the human. The other vampires’ shocked expressions mirrored their leader’s.
“My lord?” Roberto finally said.
“I’d like to ask him something.” Shinso then turned to Abel. “Adventurer Abel, what did you mutter a moment ago?”
Abel blinked, stupefied by the question. “Huh?”
“You cur!” Roberto snarled. “His Lordship asked you a question, and you will answer!”
“Roberto, enough. Adventurer, I shall ask again: What did you say a moment ago?”
“Um...” Abel tried to recall. “‘Now’s the time to say some cool line you reserve for life-or-death situations’?”
“No. After that.”
“‘The time is out of joint’?”
“‘O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!’” Shinso said, finishing the rest of the line.
Abel was absolutely confounded now. He couldn’t imagine anyone other than Ryo uttering such strange words.
“How do you know the rest of that?”
“Adventurer Abel, I could ask you the same question!”
“I... A friend told me. An adventurer named Ryo. He’s here right now in Twilight with me.”
Shinso’s eyes widened in shock. “Is he? Is he truly? Fantastic!” He nodded enthusiastically and then turned to Count Lillo and the others. “Roberto, I forbid you from killing this man.”
“F-Forgive me, my lord, but I’m not sure—”
“Do you intend to make me repeat myself, Count Lillo?” Shinso replied, his voice suddenly devoid of emotion.
The moment he spoke, a change came over Roberto and the other vampires. Their teeth chattered, cold sweat poured down their bodies, and seconds later, their swords fell from their hands.
“I’m so...sorry...so very...sorry...”
All four dropped to one knee and bowed their heads. The contrast between these nobles and the knights, motionless and expressionless, was striking.
Shinso approached one of the soldiers. “Give me a potion.”
The man removed one from his pocket and handed it to Shinso, who then passed it to Abel, still injured and unable to stand.
“Drink it,” Shinso said.
While Abel recovered after finishing the potion, Shinso stroked his chin and pondered. Eventually, he gathered his thoughts and turned to the swordsman.
“So, Abel, how much do you know about what’s happening right now?”
“I heard about a potential civil war, but the ‘when’ was vague. I guess today’s the big day.”
“Indeed. I should’ve expected as much from the Kingdom—or, to be more specific, should I say Marquess Heinlein’s intelligence network?”
Abel managed to conceal his surprise. His intel had come from Phelps A. Heinlein, the marquess’s son, but how did Shinso know that?
“Perhaps you know who the mastermind is as well?” Shinso pressed him.
“Count Contreras leads the current government, and Marquis Espier heads the opposing faction. However, the administration itself hasn’t noticed any signs of an impending coup, so the nobles are the only ones making moves. Also, Contreras was the one who invited the Kingdom’s delegation... That’s all we know so far.”
Abel told him everything, even though he frankly had no idea whether Shinso was friend or foe. But at the very least, he’d saved him from death and seemed interested in Ryo.
And then Abel remembered something. “Oh, yeah... When Ryo heard about all this, he said it might be ‘a coup d’état’ or overgrown children playing at war.”
Shinso bobbed his head happily. “I like the way he thinks. I’m more and more intrigued by him. That said, I shan’t deny that the situation is complicated in myriad ways.”
His expression tight, he turned to Count Lillo, who was still down on one knee with his head bowed. “Roberto, Vicente should have captured the members of the Kingdom’s delegation at the same time he apprehended the archduke, yes?”
“It is as you say, my lord,” he answered, still sweating profusely.
“Then, as things stand, Knightley’s people are currently in Marquis Espier’s hands,” Shinso remarked, turning back to Abel. “Vicente will eventually execute Cyrus, the archduke. Since he’s charging him with treason, he’ll likely execute the entire delegation, including his granddaughter Myu, who was the cause of it all.”
“What did you say?” Abel’s eyes widened. “Why? Why take it so far? The delegation has nothing to do with any of this!”
“Because it’s a game.”
“What?”
“As Ryo pointed out, this whole endeavor is a sham. A pretend coup. ‘Overgrown children playing at war,’ as he put it. To Twilight’s nobles, executing the delegation represents one of the conditions for victory.”
“That’s insane!” Abel shouted. He was shaking now—not out of fear, but anger. “That’s no reason to take someone’s life!”
“Not to you, but it’s reason enough for them.”
“Why?!”
“Because they’re vampires,” Shinso said, his face utterly expressionless.
A minute passed, but it felt like an eternity. No one spoke, no one moved.
And then came a faint, barely audible sound—and Shinso realized Abel was grinding his teeth.
“I won’t let that happen,” Abel snarled. “No way in hell. What can I do to save them?”
“They’re vampires, which means they don’t see humans as equals or opponents worthy of negotiating with.”
“Are you freaking kidding me?”
“Think of it this way: Humans don’t see the value of negotiating with their livestock, do they? If their chickens organized into their own country and asked them to sign a treaty, they wouldn’t bother.”
Abel stared, his face twitching.
“Because, to humans, chickens are simply food. They are not equals.”
Shinso’s face remained impassive, while Abel’s contorted even further in rage.
“So, what will you do?” Shinso asked. “What can livestock do?”
“We’ll show them our power. Show them what we’re made of.”
“Yes! That is the only option!” Shinso’s eyes widened, his expression transforming into a medley of madness, surprise, and ecstasy. “No one heeds the words of the powerless. Is it immoral? Unethical? Inhumane? Yes, yes, and yes. So what? The laws of nature are the same for all living things: The strong prey on the weak. For only mankind to wish to deviate from it is the height of arrogance, and the arrogant are doomed to perish. The children of men do not die because of us vampires, but because of their own hubris—hubris they aren’t even aware of. Beyond salvation your lot is, don’t you think?”
Shinso radiated with a frenetic intensity. Abel listened to him, still furious, but Roberto and the other four vampires, still down on one knee, instinctively raised their hands to protect their heads.
“Do the chickens wish to live too? If so, there’s only one way: Become strong and prove yourselves. Make your oppressors understand that if they try to harm you, they will be destroyed. However, you can’t prove your strength by remaining a chicken.” Shinso shook his head, then softened his tone. “So why not become a phoenix instead? Or perhaps a gryphon? After all, who would try to harm a gryphon? And if a gryphon wanted to negotiate, you would acquiesce, right? Of course you would, because gryphons are powerful.” Shinso laughed. “If you’re not strong, no one will take you seriously. Does this truth not span all eras, worlds?”
Abel nodded. “Challenge accepted, asshole. I’ll show you how strong I am and get my people back,” he said, his voice leaving no doubt about his intentions.
Shinso turned to the four vampires. “Inform Marquis Espier and Count Contreras that a third force will be entering the fray: the Kingdom of Knightley, led by Abel.”