Isaac's possessed Succubus head burst apart.
As Tom's gaze fixed on , the surroundings fell silent.
It seed the uninvited guest, Isaac, had been dealt with sohow.
But thanks to the wound he left upon his appearance, another crisis had arisen for .
“……”
Tom had definitely seen it.
The scene of a deep wound, one that could certainly be called a 'mortal wound', healing rapidly as it absorbed the Succubus's blood.
And having seen that, he had no choice but to be certain.
The bizarre condition of absorbing an enemy's blood, coupled with an overwhelming regenerative ability that was second to none.
Because there was only one Trait that possessed both of those features.
Considering his forr calling was that of a 'Vampire Hunter', there was no way he wouldn't recognize it.
That this was the blood-sucking Trait unique to the 'Vampire Clan'.
‘…What do I do?’
No brilliant solution ca to mind.
To explain everything would derail my plans, but not explaining ant I couldn't be sure I'd even keep my life right here and now.
The moniker 'The Last Vampire Hunter' wasn't given for nothing.
A nickna earned for hunting Vampires more tenaciously and for longer than anyone else.
His hatred for Vampires was that strong, and the option of glossing it over simply didn't exist.
Therefore, I was ultimately forced to choose between two options.
To explain everything and reveal my plan ahead of ti.
Or to say nothing and sohow escape his threat.
Those were the only two paths I could choose.
“…I think I get the gist of it.”
…Or so I had thought.
Until he uttered those words.
“…Are you one of Isaac's test subjects?”
***
“Are you one of Isaac's test subjects?”
Stumble-
‘……?’
At his unexpected murmur, I nearly lost my balance from the tension.
“…W-what did you say?”
“Don't play dumb now. I've already confird that you have a Vampire's Trait.”
“……”
What on earth does that an?
Suddenly, 'Isaac's test subject'?
My mind grew complicated by the incomprehensible situation, but he paid no mind to my reaction and continued speaking.
“…I thought he would surely fail. But he finally succeeded in restoring that accursed blood. That disgusting bastard.”
His voice was unwavering, as if he was already certain.
As if he knew everything, Tom, with a grave air, muttered softly as if granting rcy.
“Don't worry too much. It's not like I plan to kill you right now.”
“……”
“If you were a direct descendant who inherited the blood of that abominable clan, it'd be a different story. But I have no intention of blaming soone like you, who had the blood forcibly injected. Even if I am a Vampire Hunter.”
“……”
I suppressed my bewildered feelings and replayed his words in my head.
‘…So.’
First, 'Isaac's test subject'.
This seed to be a misunderstanding where he mistook for one of Isaac's test subjects.
aning, for so reason, he thought I was a test subject who had been dragged to the 'White House' and subjected to so kind of experint by Isaac.
On top of that.
'Restoration of the accursed blood.'
This likely referred to the 'Vampire bloodline'.
He saw that I had the Vampire Trait, and though I didn't know why he used the word 'restoration', judging by his tone, it seed he thought Isaac had achieved it after much effort.
And finally, 'forcibly injected blood'.
This was the part I understood the least. I couldn't comprehend why he would think Isaac had forcibly injected with Vampire blood.
Logically, I had already ntioned the existence of a 'Beastkin partner'.
If I had a Vampire bloodline, it would have been more correct to think of Jerry first, rather than Isaac.
But he had naturally excluded Jerry and connected to Isaac.
Even though that possibility was clearly much lower.
‘…Why did he jump past the possibility that J. J could have sent ?’
There was clearly a missing puzzle piece, but judging by his confident tone, the puzzle seed to be perfectly assembled in his mind.
‘…What in the world.’
Faced with this illogical train of thought, I didn't know how to react.
No matter how much I thought, with the hints I had now, I couldn't fill in the missing piece—.
“…However, it is rather unpleasant to think that sothing already extinct has been revived. But I don't kill without conviction, simply letting my mood dictate another's life.”
“……!!!”
His murmur continued.
And in it, I realized the part I had been missing.
‘…He doesn't know that J. J is alive.’
That was the missing puzzle piece.
The reason Tom Hardist ended his life on the outside, turned himself in, and ca to this Darkest Dungeon was... because he had fulfilled his calling.
The 'extinction of the Vampire Clan'.
Separate from the fact that Jerry was blatantly alive, Tom not knowing this was the only way his reason for being holed up here still made sense.
Having finished his sentence, he could leave this place whenever he wanted, and if he were to find out that Jerry was alive.
He would leave this place at any mont to go and take Jerry's head.
That was precisely where the misunderstanding had occurred.
‘…This.’
It was such an unexpected developnt that I couldn't hide my montary bewildernt.
But on second thought, it wasn't bad.
The general outline fit together, and although it was a falsehood based solely on his misunderstanding, I had no obligation to correct him.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't even who told the lie.
Of course, if I let it pass like this, the bla could co flying at later when explanations were needed.
‘…I'll think about that when the ti cos.’
For now, my goal was to get the Quark with him and leave this place, so this turn of events was actually welco.
No.
It wasn't just welco; it was so good that I couldn't imagine a better outco.
At least, as long as I said nothing now, he would never realize that Jerry was alive.
In my past life, by the ti I t him, Jerry had already passed away, so I didn't know why the Tom of this tiline was so certain of Jerry's death.
But that didn't matter. What was important was the here and now.
Swish-
“Damn… I've been found out.”
Having roughly grasped the situation, I covered my face with my right hand, adopting a grave tone like his, and muttered.
Pfft-
At that, he curled his lips into a satisfied smirk and muttered.
“To be honest, I had already suspected as much.”
“…Damn it.”
I threw in a suitable curse.
“It seems you escaped from Isaac's laboratory. Am I right?”
Nod-
“Hk… I was originally just an ordinary Hero candidate…”
I added a plausible interjection.
“…You were probably captured by him and injected with that strange blood. And that must have been the blood of the accursed clan that he managed to restore.”
“…That's what happened.”
From then on, all I had to do was nod.
He laid out his own speculations, and I had no need to deny them.
“From the mont you first appeared before , I thought sothing was strange.”
Nod-
“Information about Moonlight Syndro is sothing that only key figures among the Beastkin, or perhaps direct descendants of historic Beastkin noble families, would know well.”
“……”
“Honestly, I now acknowledge that you're talented, but by absolute standards, it wasn't information soone at your level should have known.”
Pausing for a mont, he took out a cigar.
“…Of course, even so, I never expected you'd possess the blood of that accursed clan.”
As he put it in his mouth and took a drag, I posed a tily question.
“…Why didn't you think I was a surviving mber of the Vampire Clan?”
“……”
“You could have easily made that assumption.”
Pfft-
I asked a basic question to solidify his conviction, and he scoffed in response.
“A Beastkin's body is fundantally on a different level from a normal human's. Even the Cat Tribe, who have the weakest physical abilities among the Beastkin, possess the physical prowess of a 1-star Hero when they reach adulthood.”
He wasn't wrong.
Of course, being a 1-star Hero ant not just having the physical prowess, but also reaching a certain level in experience and Mana handling, so saying 'all adult Beastkin are 1-star Heroes or stronger' would be an exaggeration.
But if we were to compare only physical performance, his words were correct.
In the first place, the reason Beastkin slaves could be bought and sold by the ignoramuses of the black market was that all the Beastkin slaves they dealt with were in their childhood, not yet adults.
“Besides, perfect bestialization and perfect humanization are skills not many even among the Beastkin can perform. You're skilled, but you're still a long way from that level.”
“……”
“And crucially, the scent is different. You are definitely human.”
He shrugged, his body's dense silver mane receding.
“…I see.”
A mont of silence passed.
‘…For now, at least.’
It seed I had sohow managed to get through it.
Of course, there was the difference that I hadn't co up with the excuse myself; he had conveniently misunderstood on his own.
But that was a detail that didn't matter.
Inhale-
Exhale-
Exhaling another puff of hazy cigar smoke, he asked quietly.
“…The partner you ntioned on the outside, you must be talking about that 'sly little rat', right?”
Sly little rat.
I thought the title was a bit harsh, but it was an obvious nickna for who he ant.
“Yes. Je-.”
The mont I nodded and was about to say it was Jerry.
Thud-
He took a final drag and dropped the cigar he was smoking.
“…That's enough. I have no desire to hear that na.”
“……”
“I don't know if he left a last will, or if, being a Beastkin, his will was passed down through blood. But I have no particular desire to know why he sent you here either.”
Crunch-
And he crushed the cigar's embers under his foot as he muttered.
“The debt I intend to repay you has nothing to do with him. I am simply repaying the debt of gratitude I owe you.”
“……”
“…That bastard is dead.”
Hooo-
“And that's the end of it.”
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