Chapter 345. Audience with a Vampire Leader, Part 1
It was clear to Shizuka from the man's facial expressions that he did not enjoy having to be so polite and cordial with her.
In fact, the sheer fact that the man wasn't currently cussing her out filled Shizuka with a deep confusion.
Not even the highest-ranked of Pure Agents she had encountered had shown her this level of professionalism.
In fact, most of them had told her to "get bent", just not in as nice of terms.
Those agents tended to end up deeply regretting their words once they were handed to Shizuka after being captured, quickly discovering that as sadistic as Oscar White's Head "Interrogator" was, she was equally as, if not more, spiteful.
It was for this fact alone that Shizuka decided to let the man go.
She removed her rapier from his neck, and deactivated her Ability.
The hall of Earth retracted back into the ground of the floor.
The Vampire let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding and glared at Shizuka with a hateful look.
If the fact that he had gotten so easily incapacitated by a mere Human ever got out, he'd become the laughingstock of the Ninth Family.
Maybe if he had been just a basic Vampire, or even just a Subclass, it would be fine. But he was a Vampire Noble.
That was like an adult getting their ass kicked by a toddler.
Shizuka looked at the Vampire with narrowed eyes.
"Very well," she replied. "Then take me to this…leader of yours."
***
A few minutes later, Shizuka was being led through the halls of the Ninth Family Castle by the Vampire.
As they walked, Shizuka's eyes darted back and forth.
Unlike the military bases she was used to, which like the school, went for a "minimalist" approach with barely anything that wasn't seen as being practical, the walls of the halls in this castle were covered in portraits.
Additionally, the castle itself was…slightly off-putting Shizuka.
Similar to how she had felt as though she had gone back in time whenever she entered Tsukuru's room in the Green Family Estate, this castle was having a similar effect on her.
It looked to be quite old.
Eventually, the Vampire led Shizuka down a spiraling staircase to a lower floor, before leading her in front of a set of double doors.
The Vampire glanced over to Shizuka.
"You, wait here," he replied, holding his arm out at his side to block her.
Shizuka gritted her teeth.
She was already in a bad mood, due to her being in a completely unknown location.
For all she knew, this could be some secret Pure base.
And…this man's dismissive tone towards here wasn't helping.
The man walked up in front of the set of double-doors, and knocked twice on it with the back of his hand.
"Leader Muka," the Vampire replied. "Faye Dallum's…'guest' is awake."
He had paused during the sentence, and glanced back at Shizuka, not sure what to call her.
Shizuka's eyes tightened as Faye's name was mentioned, the memory of Faye biting her still fresh in her mind.
After a moment, Shizuka heard a rather deep voice come from the closed room.
"You may enter," the voice replied.
The Vampires opened the set of double-doors, and glanced over at Shizuka.
Shizuka locked eyes with the man for a moment, before she walked past him, entering the room.
Passing through the doorway, Shizuka found herself in what she could only describe as a castle's throne room.
At the very back of the room, she saw a group of six figures standing on either side of the throne in sets of three.
Shizuka narrowed her eyes, taking in their appearances.
'I feel like I've been teleported into some Victorian-Era thriller,' she thought.
Sitting on the throne, there was an individual wearing a full set of black armor.
'Well, at least THAT's familiar,' she thought, her mind flashing back to the full set of Beast Armor Hayley had worn when they had traveled to Pioletic to track down Tsukuru and his two friends who had been "pushed in".
There was also an individual standing in front of the throne, a female wearing the same military uniform that Shizuka was.
Shizuka's fists clenched, as she immediately recognized her.
How could she not?
She had seen this girl nearly every single day since her arrival on Military Base 2, and she would recognize that long, silver hair anywhere.
Sensing the presence of Shizuka, the individuals in the throne room all turned their attention to her.
The woman standing in front of the throne also turned to her, revealing the face of Sergeant Faye.
The two Sergeants simply stared at each other for a moment.
Then, Shizuka grit her teeth.
"Faye, what the hell?!" Shizuka yelled, her voice echoing through the room, as she brought her hand up to her neck, right where Faye had bitten her. "You BIT ME!"
At Shizuka's outburst, the others all turned to look at Sergeant Faye.
"Foolish girl!" one of the female Vampires replied in a harsh tone. "Surely Leader Muka explained to you the PROPER way of drinking a Human's blood!"
Shizuka furrowed her brow at this woman's words.
'Drinking a 'Human''s blood?' she thought to herself. While talking about drinking another's blood was strange enough on its own, she noticed that, just like with the man who had been watching over her as she had been unconscious, this girl seemed to put special emphasis on her being a 'Human'.
As if this girl in front of her wasn't one.
Sergeant Faye turned back to the woman.
"Of course Leader Muka did," Faye replied in a steely tone.
Her eyes narrowed.
'I'm not a reckless fool like a certain somebody,' she thought, as an image of Quinn came to her mind.
"Biting her was the easiest way to show her what I was," she replied, before her face tightened. "Additionally, while I was not aware of the fact that biting her would cause her to lose consciousness, it did prove to be quite…convient for bringing her here."
The figure in the black armor turned to face Shizuka.
"Hikiko Shizuka," Muka replied. "Welcome to the Ninth Family's Castle. Please, approach."
Shizuka looked at Muka with a sceptical, untrusting look for a second.
''Ninth' Family Castle?" she thought. 'So does that imply that there's eight other castles in…wherever the hell I am now?'
Shizuka was also slightly wary of the fact that this armored individual, who could be just about ANYONE for all she knew, had called Shizuka by her full name.
However, despite her reservations, Shizuka stepped forward.
She walked forward through the throne room, until she was standing right next to Sergeant Faye in front of the throne.
Shizuka glanced over at Sergeant Faye with narrowed eyes.
Seeing the look, Sergeant Faye sighed internally.
It seemed that, due to the methods Faye had used to bring Shizuka here, she had…lost some of Shizuka's trust.
'Given the fact that she's a member of the Supreme Commander's inner circle, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised,' Sergeant Faye thought. 'After all, she's used to dealing with Pure Agents.'
Sergeant Faye found herself no wondering if her early actions had been a bit rash, and if perhaps she should have just asked Shizuka to follow her through the Portal.
Shizuka turned back to Muka.
"Why am I here?" Shizuka asked in a sharp tone.
Muka remained silent for a moment.
"The most clear-cut answer to that question is that you have seen something that by all rights, you should not have," Muka replied.
A tense atmosphere filled the room, as the other Vampires all began looking intensely at Shizuka, as if assessing just how much of a threat she was.
"However," Muka continued. "The fact that you have neglected to report what you saw to your superiors, despite it now being weeks since you first witnessed it, leads me to believe that you have the potential to be trusted with our secret."
Shizuka's face hardened.
"And, pray tell, just what did I see that I…'wasn't supposed to'?" she asked in a low tone that was filled with hostility.
Muka responded by turning her head towards her left, locking her eyes with one of the Vampires.
Ironically enough, Shizuka noticed that it was the same man who had been watching over her, and who had led her down here in the first place.
He was also the one who was the largest critic of Faye's actions.
"Kneel," Muka replied, the voice audible with a strange power.
Immediately, Shizuka watched as the man's eyes began glowing red, and his knees buckled from under him.
Moments later, he was kneeling on the floor.