Three days of patrolling go by…From Monday to Wednesday, the western district vampires have met the other end of Beryl’s avenging fists. Pounds of silver smashing their teeth and a hulking man with a death glare are the last thing they are ever going to see before the soul departs to whatever the vampires consider the afterlife…Despite his lingering grief, he puts on a brave face, and forbids himself from ever straying away from the path of principles and ethics a hunter has to follow: Civilians first, vampires second. As his fame prescribes, he remains a generous, strict, upstanding young hunter who helps anyone in need. More and more people get to know him outside the plaza, and they all adore him. Every senior says it :
“Beryl is what Landen needs right now. A hunter that, despite his failures, despite his deep personal drives, he displays an unwavering belief in the hunter’s creed.”
The eastern district has been under surveillance too. Shaka and Finn have been working non-stop to pick up the pieces of their last fight. Desperately searching for the vampire that massacred the Power Factory. However, despite all their efforts, he seems to have disappeared from the face of the town…
As for our heroes, their days have been spent following their assigned seniors. Searching for evidence, running errands, then hunting at night. Mornings are missed, and brunch has become the new breakfast… Thus, one could say that this active, stressful environment could bear fruit in some unfortunate situations-
Suiga: I feel as light as a feather!! This is pretty weird considering we’ve been working non-stop for the past few days…
Cassie: My experience out in the fields tells me that low fatigue despite strenuous work is the result of vampirification. Would you want me to dispose of you NOW?
Suiga: I never thought of such a possibility!! You are correct once again, Lady Cass!! I’ll commit seppuku, you make sure you take care of anything that comes after me!!
Aaron: STOP THIS, FOR LORD’S SAKE!!!
Kicking Suiga away, who has opened his robe to prepare for a stomach slashing, he then chases Cassie around, until he grabs her makeshift bow and pounds her in the head with it multiple times…
Url: Look, I understand no one has been pretty gun-ho about these back-to-back missions, but it's for the good of the community! We have to find the bastards that escaped Salazar, especially now that we know that some of them are aristocrats.
Suiga: Ugh, of course, we know…
Scissor sounds and blood spatter course through Suiga’s mind. Vivid images of the leather jacket creep, his deranged eyes, his cackling screams…and the cold air treading along his violent attacks…
Suiga: And like I’d ever let someone like that throttle around Landen.
Url has opened his Apothecary’s Table, fiddling around with remains and potions gifted by his mentor for the wonderful job he did. Lau is sitting on the grand table, sipping on some caramel-flavored tea, along with two small biscuits, completely countering the alcoholic atmosphere of the bar…
Lau: I won’t lose again to that freak. He’ll breathe his last air out of my rapier’s holes next time I cross blades with it.
Url: Well, first we have to find them. Apparently, prisoner records go way back in Salazar, so even the guards don’t remember who’s who.
Suiga: Well, there must be some way to find some identity…
Lau: Aren’t there any papers, or stones, or whatever they wrote the records on at that age?
Url: Well, normally Aaron is supposed to-For Lord’s sake Aaron, she’s had enough!!!
The young man stops pounding on the girl’s head. Dropping away the wooden bow, he shamingly approaches the group…
Aaron: Uh, yeah. Shroud told me yesterday that they managed to find some files on prisoners dating a few years back. Photos and all. Might be worthwhile to look, so he’ll bring it along with Luca and Samuel…
Url:...SirSamuel? Is out? With Shroud and Luca?
Aaron:… Ugh, yeah…
Suiga: Is something the matter? I thought Sir Huckleberry was a good man.
Cassie: Would the senior professor require disposal by the nightingale?
Url: Yes to Suiga, Hell no to Cassie, even though I wish I could say yes…It’s nothing, just some old stuff…
Cassie: Albeit, it is bizarre. You do not see three seniors on an errand very often…I wonder if…
Lau: Come on crazy lady, don’t let us hang like that!
Cassie: There has been word around VHC that a lot of seniors are coming back from their expeditions this week. My senior for example, she’ll be coming back tomorrow or the day after…I wonder if it’s because of the grand scheme the Blade Dancer was talking about…
Lau: I hope not!! I don’t need my father here to chastise me!!
Aaron: Suiga, remind me to ask Shroud to send a letter to François Lecourt…
Url: That is an excellent point, Cassie. I also heard the Saintess will be returning today, along with the Chief Hunter, Eliakim Sheridan.
Lau: The Chief will be here?!
Suiga: He was with my father for the past week. I suspect the meeting would have ended sooner had my father not proposed drinks…
Aaron: A lot of the big wigs are coming huh? Then we best get our asses to work and stop attempting suicides like Transylvania slaves.
Bursting through the door, three figures enter the bar. Luca, Samuel, and Shroud, carrying a bunch of files in a wooden case…
Samuel: Shredding through the dark trenches, the temple grasses, the barren deserts…Once again, the fateful trio that guards over Landen’s beauties…Blade Dancer, Butcher, and me, Smartest Man Ali-
Shroud: Try the geekiest chopstick still standing.
Picking him up like a sheet, he brings Samuel to the table. He drops the wooden case for the kids to open and look…
Luca: Found you something. We’ll debrief you on the vampires you saw, at least the ones we could figure out… And then, we’ll prepare for tomorrow…
Cassie: What is tomorrow, Sir Blade Dancer?
Shroud: We moved the planned date up. Can’t wait till the end of the week to make a move in the bank now that we know what the bats are looking for…
Url: But that Leuto only said about a chest…
Luca: We’ll explain everything…but first…Open the crate. Our pals are there…
Skimming through the papers, they notice captured moments of the vampire’s heads…Clear as day, the faces of Leuto and Edward, along with Danno and his gang of followers…Another head appears too…” Tragoedia” says the name next to the picture…
Aaron: Aaand, who are these guys…
Luca: Let’s start with the lady. “Tragoedia” was the name she gave the guards when some hunter brought her in a few decades ago…No one knows where she comes from, but Hunter Evan’s notes say that he’s been chasing her family for years. She has some sort of opera guard blindly protecting her…Virtue case seems to be blank, except for “auditory transmission”…The next is pretty much scribble…figures…
Cassie: That must be the vampire responsible for the tragedy at the plaza!! Her spells worked through the voice disguised under her guards’ violins!!! But why are there scribbles??
Aaron: Maybe she made him erase the rest…
Luca: Oh no. Hunter Evans retired rather early. Around the same time he started having mood swings, sending assault threats…eventually going mad and killing himself…
Shocked by the revelation, Aaron and Cassie observe the picture. How could such a kind-looking creature push a man to the brink of insanity and death, read their faces…
Luca: Next, we have Edward Scissors. Detained a few years ago by Hunter Eckel but has escaped Salazar many times. One hunter was on to him: a Lecourt…
Lau: Huh? Is that why he was so obsessed with me?
Luca: Can’t say. The hunter was from 200 years ago. But Edwards has shown a deranged personality, even for a vampire. His Virtue has some sort of way of creating iron from his body and using it as makeshift blade edges. In addition, according to Samuel, his wings have a special schematic that allows him to fly at amazing speeds.
Suiga; That’s why he could make that whirlwind effect…I’ll make note of this and burn his wings up to the roots…
Luca: Lastly, Leuto. Detained recently. Virtue has to do with bats…
Samuel: If I may…The bats have some sort of DNA connection with him. He can control them like extensions of himself. Thus, it’s also safe to say he does not bother with magicka consumption. That’s why he was able to cast the same type of spell as Wutsworth. Even for a noble, that could be difficult to pull…
As Aaron moves through the files he notices two other vampires…Spiky, white hair, bloodshot red eyes with purple blood bags right under…The other has paler, slick beige hair, pointy elf-like ears, an earring to the right…
Aaron: Who are these guys?
Cassie: Hmm, I see no name in the tags…
Lau: If there are no names, then they must be nobodies.
Shroud: Huh? Hmm, never seen these two…Says here they escaped months ago…
Samuel: Could it be these are the two that hooked the Ripper up with the rest of the prisoners? Out of the prison, right to the only person that could save their buddies.
Luca: Sounds…logical…But they haven’t made any appearances until now…We should be cautious in case they come out…Which brings us to tomorrow’s plan!!
Deploying a large schematic of the bank’s last floor once again, everyone pays attention as Luca explains the plan in great detail…
Luca: Now, thanks to the nerd man and bird doctor here, we now know that the vampires going for the depository are searching for a black chest. We pulled in some favors, and managed to find the chest they were looking for…
Lau: Great!! Can’t we just pull it out of there and hide it? It would be best to play it safe.
Luca: That’s what we thought. Hide it either in VHC or one of the other cities, so it will be well guarded by the best senior hunters, like Pirou’s François, or the Akira Syndicate…Thing is…
Shroud: We can’t lift it.
The youngster’s silence indicates an air of confusion. The chest seemingly appears to be the size of a small drawer…
Suiga:…The chest?
Luca: Correct.
Aaron: The one in the picture?
Shroud: Ya.
Url: The one that was described as “ideal for granny ornaments”, as written?
Samuel: That might have been an exaggeration, but yes, the very one.
Lau’s snickering hardly escapes the ears of the three embarrassed seniors…
Luca: Any remarks, Lecourt?
Lau: I’m sorry, but I can’t wrap this around my head. The THREE of you, especially the Butcher, couldn’t lift the chest I used to put my jewelry inside? Oh, are hunters of Landen such weaklings…
Lau’s snickering attitude is cut short to a tremble of terror with Luca’s lightning-fast blade grazing her cheek…
Luca: Need I remind you Lecourt, you had your ass handed by some leather jacket vampire whose weapon was “scissors”. Maybe we should call your father for that “nuisance to the group” thing he was-
Lau: And what sorcery was the reason you couldn’t lift the chest?
Humbly reprising her seat, Luca sheaths his cross blade…
Samuel: I used Url’s augmented gas, and found no ritual sign at play. The chest definitely isn’t bolted to the casing, so either someone really powerful made it, or Shroud’s beer regime has made him softer than usual…
Pound! Samuel goes up and down as Shroud’s fist bonks his head and has him like a bobblehead in the central train’s station gift shop…
Shroud: What nerd hir’s tryin’ ta’ say, we got squat. We hafta leave the chest where it is and lure in tha bats…
Url: That might prove quite difficult. Even Sir Samuel had difficulty retaining Leuto’s beast. Nothing can guarantee these bats won’t destroy the whole building and us along with it if we lure them inside.
Samuel: While that’s true, I also had you and the kids to look out for…What we are planning is kind of different…
Luca: Hunter Beryl will be situated in the chest room beforehand. We’ll lure in any vampire already looking to score the treasure while keeping out any company looking to join… It’ll end up being three versus one…We don’t kill him, just detain him for information to the chest…
Lau: I hope that scissors freak the one trying to enter…
Suiga: I’ll agree to that…
Aaron: (Edward must have left his mark on them...Hope it doesn’t end up like me and Danno…)
Cassie: On the contrary, I hope I won’t have to face Tragoedia again…Whatever she did that day, it did not seem normal…
Url: I’ll try to look at the other Virtues until tomorrow…Best be prepared…
Luca: Keep that for night homework. Today we have another thing to do…Aaron, Suiga, we need you two today…
Aaron: Huh? On which mission?
Shroud: Tis a secret.
Suiga: Are the others not needed? Any help is-
Luca: You two are just enough for today. The rest of you, take the day off.
Url: Really?
Cassie: Is this true? No plot afoot?
Lau: Hah!! Serves you right for wanting to play captains!! I’ll help myself to the bar’s well-deserved sweets while you two sweat away in hard-working la-
Shoving Lau inside the bar’s empty trash bin, the duo preps up and follows the seniors to VHC. Cassie and Url are left trying to pull Lau away from the door…
Arriving at the establishment they are greeted by the receptionist…
Patricia: Holy Lord, prayers are answered…Oh Suiga, welcome to
Shroud: Cool it, broad. Prince Charming’s hir fer work.
Aaron and Samuel: Yeah, what about us?
Luca: Cool it, boys. The woman’s working.
Shroud: Patricia, we gonna need da court fer a few tests. Is anyone on it?
Patricia: Lemme check…Ugh, yeah…and I don’t think you are going to like it, sir Shroud…
Shroud: Go on, tell me it’s Sarah. I should’ve filled up on the rum before…
Patricia: Oh Lady Sarah hasn’t reached town yet. She’ll be here tomorrow. You are in the clear for that. It’s the Chief you should look out for…
Samuel: Wait, Eliakim is back?! I thought the trains to Assia were suspended!
Patricia: Guess being the Chief of the department gives you a few extra rights, huh…And, yeah, he was searching for you guys…Something about “the rookies my dumbass employees chose to bring in”…
Shivers down the senior’s spine with that last comment. Given what the Chief has shown as attitude towards his subordinates, what could be his opinion now…
Suiga: Excuse me, are we in trouble?
Luca: Not you, us. I guess risking the lives of two scions by bringing them to the battlefield was a weird choice…
Samuel: Not only that but the fact that the rookie team was charged with preventing a second prison break and defeating a cult…
Shroud: Old man’s gonna kill us…Hah, better see what he’s up to. Thanks, Patricia, we’ll see you later…
Patricia: Oh before you go, there was someone with him…
Aaron: (Not another rookie, not another rookie…)
Patricia: He seemed old, in his 60s…Long grey beard, tall, but kept mostly to himself…Dresses like Lady Sarah, but WAY darker. Had that smoldering, hot grandfather vibe…
Aaron: OK then, how about we leave before this turns Rated M…
Arriving at the courtyard, they notice the old guy figure walking past them. As described, he keeps to himself, only nodding the hunters from courtesy, then continuing…
Aaron: Ya’ guys know him?
Luca:…No…I don’t think so at least…
Shroud: Let’s ask the old man right after he kills us. Hey, Chief!!!
To the center of the courtyard, there stands a humongous, big-boned but no less muscular than the rest of the hunters, the elder man. With dark skin and dark beard, thicker than a bush, and a slash scar hiding his lost left eye, he wears a brown jacket, a white-collar shirt with a black tie, dark blue jeans, and a silver belt buckle. As he turns around to greet, the kids notice his right arm is not there. Instead, a large, silver machinery resembling a swivel gun rests in place of his forearm…
Suiga: Is that…Eliakim Sheridan?
Samuel: Exactly. 14th Chief of Hunters, President of the VHC, the Tornado of War…Eliakim “The Bullet Storm” Sheridan…
Aaron: Sir Samuel, have you been hanging out with Cassie lately?
Approaching the group, his steps resemble stomps. The resounding tremor reaches the hearts of the stressed youth, who’ve never seen the Chief up close…
Before greeting the two rookies, Eliakim salutes his subordinates. Everyone in turn, as fast as lightning, kneels and presses on their chest with their palms…
Eliakim: At ease, soldiers. I see you searched for me…
Shroud: Eh, of course, sir. Our deepest apologies fer’ the retard.
Luca: Tomorrow’s plans have been quite stressful to prepare.
Samuel: However, we heard you called for some important task to give us…
Breathing in, breathing out. From the giant’s expelled air, the group sniffs the residual smoke of his cigarettes…
Eliakim: Yeah…I just wanted to meet the new arrivals. Why have you all got those sticks up your asses? Chill!
From their kneels to the ground gasping for air, the seniors are somehow terrified but glad nothing worse was coming to them…
Eliakim shakes both the rookies’ hands. Even for the Titan Aaron, the man’s handshake is firm, strong even. Either the strength or the man’s imposing aura weighing down on the kid…
Aaron: It…It is an honor, sir…
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Eliakim: You’re Shroud’s kid. Willheart’s adopted son from the South…I can see your mother in those silver eyes, kiddo…And from what I read, I can probably see her in that sword too…
Aaron: Hahah…I try to uphold her name with every mission, sir!
Eliakim: Good luck, she was also a huge worrywart… Especially when your father was out, having a good time with your friends here…
Suiga: (Aaron’s parents again…From what Cassandra told us, I gather he was adopted by Willheart and the hunter she was seeing…)
Eliakim: And you…Your old man’s sending his regards!! Have to say you look exactly like him, minus the drinking, the huge muscles, and the middle-age wrinkles…
Suiga: My thanks for the comments…I’m afraid my father’s skills as a hunter put us quite apart though…
Eliakim: From what I read? I think your old man trained you a little too well, my friend…Keep up the good work, you’ll be a lot of help around here.
Suiga: Eh, yes sir!!
Eliakim: Now, you three! Where’s the little Lecourt her father has been egging me to look at?
Luca: Aaah, we left her back at her house, sir. The following days have been somewhat stressful for some of the rookies.
Aaron : (He can’t say that Lau would be a pain up our-)
Eliakim: Run me through that again…
Luca: We’ll lure the bats into the safe and try to apprehend them inside while attempting to discover what in the hells that blasted chest is.
Samuel: We thought letting the bats give us the answers would be easier than interrogating them through myriads of obvious lies…
Eliakim: Have you taken any precautions? If every hunter in the city is in on this, who’s going to protect the citizens?
Shroud: Dat’s why only Hunter Grut will stay inside with tha’ chest. Someone will lure a vamp’ inside and turn de’ tables when we choose ta’ take them out. The rest will be on patrol around the corners…
Eliakim: God, Shroud, your breath’s stink tramps my cigarette smoke…Anyways, keep me updated on this whole shindig. Whatever that chest is hiding, is enough to have a bunch of aristocrats riled up.
Luca: Regarding that, we are afraid the nobles are acting under the Ripper. Could you think of any connection?
The giant brushes his chin in thought, rubbing his thick beard hair with his meaty, rugged hand full of burns and scars…
Eliakim: Nothing that comes to mind, except…Have you asshats tried to search for the chest’s owner?
Samuel: Huh? I thought it was a national treasure.
Eliakim: Yeah, but all items have belonged to someone in the past…If I remember correctly, the chest became a depository-owned item a long time ago, but it was definitely found in some abandoned abode…Could be some of the big wig bats that’ve gone missing…
Samuel: Alright…I’ll take a look at that tonight. Thanks a lot, sir.
Eliakim: It’s ma job, squirts. Anyways, I’m residing in the office. Anxious to file in your fines for the last expedition…
Shroud: Huh? What fines?
Scrouching through his deep pockets, he pulls out a long, crumbled paper list. From his other pocket, comes out a monocle for his healthy eye…
Eliakim: Shroud : Damages to the association’s expedition resources such as tents, carriages, support soldier weapons, support soldier tents, support soldiers…
Shroud: Ah, that’s alright I-
Eliakim : Rage, drunken stupor, drunken rage. This also brings us to, fines for extensive alcohol consumption, having emptied numerous supplies, including the ones for medical purposes…
Aaron: Good god and you have the nerve to lay it on me for slouching and half-assing jobs?!
Luca: A fine example, indeed…
Eliakim: Luca Cearrach: Emotional abuse, threats, verbal abuse, physical abuse, all directed to support soldiers, hunters, nuns…
Luca: If they were of any use, I wouldn’t-
Eliakim: Not to mention, collateral resource damage from “friendly” fights with Sir Shroud, extensive consumption of tea reserves…
Suiga: Guess all seniors have their quirks, huh…
Samuel: Thankfully, I’M the only squeaky-clean candidate…
Eliakim: Samuel Huckleberry: Ignorance of personal boundaries, endangerment of VHC students, endangerment of VHC associates in the spirit of experimentation…
Putting away the list, he intently pulls off his monocle slightly; staring at the trio with a gaze of judgment…
Eliakim: Need I go on?
Seniors: No sir…
Eliakim: Kids, one advice. Take your time, kill your bats, just don’t turn out like these three…Anyways, I’m off. Dismissed!!!
Departing for the office, the group is left at its own devices…
Luca: Well that was…a nice way to waste time…
Suiga: So this is the Chief of Hunters. I could feel it in his grip, he is a strong man indeed…
Shroud: He might be a stick up our asses, but this guy has vouched for us more than once. And he was a hell of a fighter back in the day…
Aaron: Could guess from that giant machine gun for an arm. Besides that, what the hell were we supposed to do here?
Luca: That was it. We knew the boss came early, so we wanted to make the meetup happen…
Samuel: Well, I better get started on that search. I’ll pull in those files the depository offered us just in case.
Luca: That was 3 towering piles. Tch, guess I’ll come help, nerd…
Samuel: I never asked for
Luca: Shroud!! Wanna join?!
Shroud: Hell yeah! It’s gonna be like camping, just the way we did back then!!
Samuel: You mean with me handling all the work and you guys fighting in the background?
Luca, Shroud: Yes!!
Dispirited and desperate, the teacher allows his two colleagues to follow him to his chambers, already dreading the following hours of chaos to erupt.
The two juniors are left wandering around the halls. Corridors filled with antique weapons, stone heads of numerous fable beasts, and portraits of every hunter registered in the VHC. From Abraham Van Helsing, the orange-haired lad who took to arms and took on the vampire count by himself, opening the way for the centuries-old Hunt. To Akira Hanshiro, the Blade of the East, famous for keeping Assia safe from vampiric threats, to Abraham Lincoln, the Human Dracula and famous sadistic hunter. Out of all the pictures, the kids chose to observe the painting of a paladin-dressed huntress, bearing a heavy set of silver armor despite her small stature, her noble looks, or her princess rave, blue hair. Under the painting, engraved in gold plating :
“Florence Willheart: The Lordling Huntress”
Suiga: Lordling. Her armament’s ability to nullify magicka was considered a direct gift from the Lord of Light, and with her clerical background, the title of “Lord’s Child” was as easy as well deserved to be tagged on her…
Turns to Aaron. The boy stares at the painting as if he just saw his mother yesterday: Amazed, clearly loving, but all and all unfazed…
Suiga: I guess being a Willheart, you aren’t impressed by any of this, huh…
Aaron: Huh? Oh, yeah, Lordling and stuff, I got it…
The boy tries to hide his…disappointed-like grimace, with large failure.
Suiga: Oh, I’m…sorry. I forgot it could be that tough on someone…
Aaron: No, no…It’s just…Every time I look at her, I keep remembering who she was, what she was, what she did…And then I remember who am I, and what’s my name…and who I have to represent…
He caresses the picture, like a small kid searching desperately for his mother’s embrace…
Aaron: Damn it…why the hell you left me with all this baggage…
Suiga wants to comfort his comrade. But his hands stay put. Observing the hunter’s hand resting on the picture yet is enough to remind him that he is still in deep thought…
Aaron: Oh, shit, I turned this whole thing upside down. Quick, Suiga, say something creepy.
Suiga: Oh, eh well…Ugh, I’m sorry, Aaron.
Aaron: Not a problem, topknot.
Suiga:…If I may ask…how was she?
Aaron: Hmm?
Suiga: As a mother. From what you can remember, how were you two?
Aaron: Well…I only had her ‘till nine…But I remember her always in bed, because of her injury…But she would read me stories of her and my pops, she would tell me stuff about Shroud too. She was…kind and…so calm…
Again, looking at the picture, the boy fixates on the woman’s silver eyes. Her calm, yet proud gaze towards the front…
Aaron: But when she died, the Willheart name fell on to me. She never went public about my adoption, and the VHC made moves to hide our relationship…but with the name “Willheart” came…responsibility…
Suiga: Hmm?
Aaron: The paladin huntress. A staple to the Bat God. She is loved and adored by every Landenian, and even more outside. I can feel it, every mission, every vampire I have to beat…The weight of her ambitions tiring me down…
Suiga now understands. The laziness Url was referring to was deeper rooted than one would think when hearing Aaron whining…He takes the liberty, and rests his hand on the boy’s shoulder…
Suiga: I…understand…I don’t want to compare our upbringings, but if it’s any consolation, I’ve had my fair share of dumped-on obligations, and the stress of completing them right along with it…
Suiga moves his hands and reaches for his father’s portrait. A painting demonstrating the Assian Giant…
Suiga: Being a blighted hunter put my father under duress. Not a lot of people took it lightly that the prince was the owner of the Arsonist’s Flames. He had to make sure I was ready for the world once I got out…
He grasps his right hand, the source of his current bane…The more it trembles, the more voices of hatred and disdain, shouting away at the blade fill his ears…
Suiga: If only I could change this with everything else in the world…
Beryl: That is unacceptable here, soldiers!!!
The army hunter surprises the kids once again.
Aaron: Damn it, stop doing that on intimate occasions!!
Beryl: If I announced my entrance, I wouldn’t have heard of your troubles, lads. No, excuse me while I introduce myself to what I heard is your “vice-captain”.
Aaron: (Damn it, Cassie!) I’m not a cap-
Suiga: Akira Suiga, Prince of Assia and Vice-Captain of the Newly Established Landen Junior Hunter Corps.
Beryl: Nice to meet you, Suiga. I’m Beryl Grut. I’ve heard a lot about you from Luca, Cassie, and Aaron.
Suiga: Likewise. Aaron and Cassie have been filling us in on your misadventures. They did not do you justice though, you look amazing!!
Beryl: Flattery won’t get you anywhere, rookie, but it is most appreciated. Anyways, I’ve heard about your troubles, mind if I give away some personal short-term advice?
Aaron: At this point, it doesn’t feel like we got anything better.
The army hunter orients the kids to a nearby marble bench. With his tall, rigid stature he looks down on his juniors, arms crossed and mouth ready to spill knowledge.
Beryl: You guys are right, life sucks ass.
Suiga: That was relatively quick.
Beryl: Stay with me. I understand things might seem a bit stressful right now. You are rookies, in a profession where rarely anyone enters without a tragedy-ridden backstory. And in already your second-year solo, you had to take out a cult of a renowned serial killer vampire and face off against aristocrats. So you are right to feel like your life baggage has been unreasonably heavy…
He turns to the pictures. He touches the portrait of Van Helsing.
Beryl: So did he. Abraham was a runt, and the one tortured by vampires in his village. But he took the challenge. He knew the only way out was in. He mastered his strength and was gifted the weapon to kill Dracula.
He moves on to the Lincoln portrait, capturing the kid’s attention.
Beryl: Despite his nature, his red eyes, and all the discrimination he faced, the Human Dracula took on the Hunt. Trained his ass and made it his life purpose to protect the species that would try to push him to his demise.
Moves on to Hanshiro…
Beryl: Emperor, rules an entire country while making sure the rest of the world is safe from vampires.
Moves to Florence…
Beryl: Lord of Light bestowed her with the gift to fight, even though she was a weak nun at first. What I’m trying to tell you is…
Suiga: We should stop complaining about our problems because some other older people have it worse.
Aaron: Or in better terms, “stop bitching about your problems because at your age they had it worse?”
Beryl: You’d love it, but no. I’m saying it’s reasonable. That everyone has it worse here. But it’s by learning to accept the situation and acknowledging that only by hard work and conviction you ever get out of the hole you’ve fallen into. Make the best out of every situation, good or bad. Aaron, you complain about leadership and responsibilities, yet look at the friend it brought you to have stood by.
Aaron hesitates to agree with an excited, smiling Suiga to his side…
Beryl: And Akira, your sword might have been a staple to your childhood, and we can all understand that. But it has also been the reason you’ve won your fights up ‘till now, that and your developed skill as a hunter. Shunning it won’t resolve anything…
Suiga: Sir Beryl…Amazing…
Aaron: Can’t stay bitching about something if Beryl tells you it’s not worth it…
Beryl: You should’ve seen us at your age. Stressing left and right about everything. That’s why we are here, lads.
Suiga: I’m suddenly filled with a sudden rush of adrenaline…
Aaron: That’s the Grut effect. One good speech and he’ll lift your spirits.
Beryl: Thank the Lord. I’m glad your mood is up. Anyway, I have some errands to run, so I’ll leave you two to-
Suiga: Oh, Beryl. We have the day off, would you like some help?
Aaron: Hah? Oh, come on, I don’t wanna run around the office!
Beryl: Great idea, Akira. I can see why you are the vice-captain.
Aaron: Once again, we’re not a-
Aaron’s cries for mercy rest unheard, covered by the two pompous individuals’ chatter…Back at the bar, Lau and Cassie help Url out as he prepares for tomorrow. Small flashes of holy light behind the Table’s counter, the doctor carefully processes through his potions and syringes…
Url: Ok, that’s it for the stimulants. Everyone should have three for tomorrow. I should start on the steroid blasts…
Lau: Won’t you cook up one of those “viruses” the samurai was freaking out about?
Url: Well, yeah, but even with my AT, the concoctions still have to measure up against an aristocrat’s heightened defenses. Leuto got rid of my “illusion syringe” in a matter of minutes.
Cassie: And the steroid blast. How do we use them?
Url: Pump inside the limb of your choice. Three minutes of enhanced performance, and then it just deflates and numbs itself for a day.
Lau: This will go well when I slice that creep’s fingers off his hands…
A small silence follows…Url fixates on the Lecourt’s anguished polishing of her silver blade…
Url: Was Scissors really that strong?...
Lau: Eh?
Url: For the great Lau to be that annoyed, he must have left a bad taste…
She stops the polishing. Putting away the rapier, she joins in on the doctor’s manufacturing, preparing his vials before they receive their substances…
Lau: That rat bastard insulted my entire pride as a scion. He should have stayed back and fallen in battle…
Url: You can’t know if he would lose…
Lau: Yes he would!!!
Slowly cracking the vial, the shards in her palm do not manage to divert her rage. Cassie panicky drops her affairs and tries to aid the princess with her injury…
Lau: Ouch!!
Cassie: Shard injuries are no joke, Miss Lecourt! And as a heroine, I must foresee what ails you…
Lau: Yes, but don’t take out my hand with it!!
Url: Let me try…
He grabs her hand. Gently enough, he applies a numbing cream and slowly plucks out the glass from her palm. He then sprays a stimulant liquid and covers the hand with bandages…
Url: This should be fine in a couple of hours. But she what rage does to you?
Lau: Tch! None the matter. I won’t lose again…I can’t afford another loss…
Url: Hmm…Is this about your father?
Lau:…Yes…
Cassie: Aah, yes, the renown François Lecourt. I have the honor of being a reader of his hunting guides. He is truly a hunter worthy of the Nightingale’s praise.
Lau: Worthy hunter and strict father. I wonder if he learned about Scissors and the factory…What will become of me if he finds out I screwed up and failed to save the workers?...
The doctor’s observing eyes notice her hands trembling…Caressing the girl’s shoulder, he then offers a glass of water from the nearby tap…
Cassie: Lady Lecourt, I can see your frustration, but I think you have it all wrong. I heard of your exploits and fights while in Landen. You managed to save a lot of people!! Your father would be nothing but proud!
Url: I know the two numbskulls don’t say it often, but you’ve been a huge addition to the team…can’t see why the fear…
Lau: Ugh…it’s noble troubles, my lad and lass…A scion’s role has more to it than beauty, unparalleled skill, and money…
Url: You are broke and got shoved into a trash can a few hours ago.
Lau: When I came here…every time I have to attend a hunt…I always have to uphold my family’s values and fame…The Lecourt scion cannot afford to lose to a mere street vampire. I am raised to the bone as a hunter, and it’s my job to put vampires to rest…
As Lau rants away, the more Url sees through her pompous, pretentious façade. Her preoccupations seem to have a much-rooted role in her haughty personality…
Url: I guess that’s why perfection is such a die-hard rule for you…
Cassie: But Lady Lecourt…Perfection isn’t something you should chase over. There’s no rockier and harder path than the road to flawlessness, almost impossible…
The girl looks down on her toes. Searching the pockets in the satchel bag next to her chair, she pulls out a blue medallion. Opening it, the others see a watch and the picture of a young girl resembling their comrade, smiling in the distance…
Lau:…She would take that road…
Cassie: Who is…this?
Lau: Béatrice Lecourt. My late sis-sis…
Url: My apolo-
Lau: Little late to the party, doc. She’s been dead for years…She was perfect. Scion, next in line, and the best huntress I’ve seen. I wouldn’t have joined if it wasn’t for her…
Cassie: Sound like a good person…
Lau: Some vampire killed her in action…Ever since, I took upon the title of scion, and worked myself to the bone to reach the heights she left me…But with what happened in the factory…I feel like I have been lacking lately…
Cassie: I knew my info was right…An esteemed Lecourt found bled and unalived in the Pirout beaches…From what I heard, she was beautiful and had so much potential…
Url: Nevertheless, I’m not sure how your sister would feel if she knew you were beating yourself up for this…We’ll find the guy, but let’s remember: we have an important mission ahead of us.
Lau: Tch…obviously I don’t neglect my duties, like the brute we house and look after!
Cassie: Speaking of Bossman, how come he doesn’t talk about his family?
Url: Honestly Cassie, other than Lau and Suiga’s circumstances, no one has ever really spoken about their family matters here.
Cassie: Nonsense. I love talking about the Mergrove line. Esteemed South Landenian hunters, spanning over years and years along the Hunt.
Lau: Are the Mergroves the “Lecourts” of Landen? Do you own a castle?
Cassie: Of course! Any self-respecting heroine would have a proper abode on the side for rest days…
Url: Cassie, before us, Aaron told us that you were nearly homeless.
Lau: I’ve never heard of the Mergrove line. That must explain your title as the heroine of the South, “Nightingale”. A humble girl from the South being a noble…My apologies, scion of the Mergroves.
Cassie: No apologies needed, Lady Lecourt. I am just glad to be found next to such exquisite company…
Url: (Both have either largely misread this interaction, or I’ve been smelling these potions for quite a while…)
Cassie: Now that Lady Lecourt’s mood has been fixed, is there anything we can help you with, doc?
Lau: I hope it’s not vampire heads. I owe you, but not that much.
Url: You can start by labeling these. Yesterday Suiga mistook one of my illusory syringes as a steroid blast. Shroud was ready to slug him a few to wake him up…
Cassie: Speaking of the samurai, aren’t he and Bossman late today?
Lau: Considering their trip to VHC, the particularly sunny weather, and Topknot’s affection towards the brute, I would be inclined to suggest that they are-
Url: For God’s sake, I spent 3 hours explaining it to Patricia. IT’S NOT LIKE THA-
Cassie: Bonding over their shared troubles…
Lau: But the first isn’t a faraway possibility. Interesting enough. Doc, you've known Bossman longer than everyone here, shouldn’t you be afraid of Suiga’s stealing your partner in crime?
Url: Huh? Please, take him away, I waited too long for this!
Cassie: That is…rude…
Url: Ugh, don’t misunderstand. Aaron’s my closest friend, but he can be insufferable sometimes when he’s whining…or slacking…or just outright exist-
Lau: I’m feeling this doesn’t have a but-
Url: BUT…Suiga has…I don’t know…he’s like lentil soup.
Lau: Huh? What?
Cassie: Oh do I yearn for my grandmom’s lentil soup now…
Url: I mean…He’s anything Aaron would hate to have, but in other ways, he’s everything Aaron needs. And weirdly, I think we take something from him too…
Lau: Tch! Like I’d learn anything from the stuck-up or the slob! I should’ve been chief here!
Cassie: While Bossman is quite the delight, I’d love to follow your commands Lady Lecourt.
Lau: Please, Cassandra. We’re two equals in this room. Call me Lau.
The two girls giggle and laugh, ignoring Url who just happily sighs and re-focuses on his potions…
The night falls. The chief and vice-chief return to their abode, happily greeted by their comrades. Shroud and Luca join in later. The three other young hunters return to the barracks of VHC, to rest for the next day after a last patrol…
The crescent moon shines on the starry sky. South of Landen, a few buildings right after the city ends, a large, thick forest begins expanding. Other than some villages protected regularly by the cities, no human dares to step into the lands between human civilization. The best hideout for vampires, it would be considered suicide to take a stroll under the large oak trees and into the dark forestation, where your cries would be left unheard, and your body lost…
From an elevated region, there lies a vantage point looking over Landen, with a large stone in the middle. Carved to the stone, a bizarre, red symbol…
From the forest, a figure pops out to graze the stone and look for the symbol. The vampire midnight singer, Tragoedia, is shy enough to look at every corner for onlookers of her actions…
Right to be afraid, because the vampire Edward Scissors spooks her from behind…
Scissors: Tragoedia, you silly bat!! You always fall for that!!!
Tragoedia: Edward…You are alive…
Scissors: You thought I’d be a dead rat by now…That’s not very nice, Tragoedia…I may have to-
Leuto: Don’t go carving up our strongest weapon, please?
Scissors: Look who’s here! Bat boy! Heard you fucked up the heist you planned!
Leuto: Had someone chosen to accompany me instead of drinking from the spawns in the next village, this would have gone better…
Scissors: Really, Leuto…Since when do nobles need help against humans…
Leuto: If I recall, didn’t you leave with your tail between your legs because that bowl-cut hunter chased you out?
Tragoedia: You two…please don’t fight…
Her voice, serene, calm, mellow…The animosity between the two vampires disappears almost immediately, in favor of the shy attendant…
Leuto: Damn you, Tragoedia…Can’t say no to you now, can we?
Scissors: Anyways, where’s Jackie?! I’ve been flying all around Landen for his ass!
Tragoedia: Lord Ripper told us…”Come where the Symbol of my house appears”…
Leuto: Calm your horses, fools. He’s bringing in the rest…We have a mission to do before going home…
Scissors: The rest? There are others?
Tragoedia: If I’m right…Claus and Cain…are with him…
Scissors: Like he wouldn’t bring those two…And what’s up with the mission? What would the Sadist Lord want with some fancy chest?
Leuto: He did not explain…He just told me it’s of high importance to the species…Then started just…mumbling…
Tragoedia: Lord Ripper…he’s peculiar…the last few days…
Leuto: I swear that guy has been weird the past couple of days. Always talking to himself, obsessed over the “grand plan”…Where’s the old Ripper, who would race us to the city gates to catch up to the fleeing humans?
Edward: Oh don’t go riling me up!! Have to save something for tomorrow!
Tragoedia: Tomorrow?...Leuto…You haven’t told ‘im…
Edward: Huh?!
Leuto: Scissors, we’re done here. Cain and Claus will take it from here. We have to help with the escape route.
Edward: WHAT!? Bullshit!! I’m not going to-
The female vampire’s serene voice calms the black-haired terror once again…
Edward: Tragoedia, you are really not pissing me off here…
Tragoedia:…Yes…That’s the point…
Leuto: Come now…We have to finish up with those dependents we left…That should cheer you up…