"Ahhh~"
Auram's ambiguous, half-true answer made Arcueid squint.
"You know my name… Are you with the Church?"
"Absolutely not." Auram shook his head firmly. "I do like little girls, but I don't like little boys at all."
Besides, the Holy Church of the Nasuverse didn't seem to contain many sane people, and Auram didn't want any dealings with them.
"Is that so? Well, as long as you're not Church-sanctioned… I hate those people. They always make trouble for me."
Hearing Auram had no ties to the Church, Arcueid's gaze softened considerably.
"Are you a magus then?"
"I know a bit about the Way of Magic, but compared to those specialist Mage families, I'd say I'm closer to a warrior."
"Hm…"
Arcueid blinked cutely, seemingly not grasping the comparison.
"I understand." Then she clapped her hands. "You must be a participant in the Holy Grail War—the one with the Servants?"
"That's hard to deny… My name is Auram. I am a swordsman."
After a brief hesitation, Auram decided there was no need to keep pretending. He calmly told her his name and class.
This wasn't carelessness. With experience, Auram had come to understand why many heroes in history proclaimed their names. It wasn't for glorified reasons; it was simply unnecessary to hide oneself. If you're not a thief, why fear showing who you are?
Besides, many Servants hide their true names because their legends are famous and would invite targeted attacks. For someone like Auram—an unknown outsider in this great Nasu world—revealing his true name meant nothing.
"But how do you know about the Holy Grail War? Could it be—"
"Well, the fuss is big. Hard not to notice. Anyway, don't look at me like that—I have nothing to do with this Grail War!"
Sensing Auram's puzzled stare, Arcueid cut him off.
"I came to this city for no reason related to the Grail. I'm here to hunt vampires."
"Hunt vampires?"
Auram raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't you a vampire yourself?"
Though not deeply familiar with Arcueid's story, Auram vaguely remembered a friend telling him she was a powerful vampire.
So if she is a vampire, why hunt other vampires?
"Well… you're asking why a vampire would fight its own kind, right? If we break it down, there is an essential difference between me and the vampire hiding in this city."
Seeing Auram still puzzled, Arcueid wagged a finger as if at an invisible chalkboard and began a little lesson.
Arcueid's Vampire Primer—
"First, vampires are generally divided into two categories: those born as vampires and those made into vampires later. The former are called True Ancestors; the latter are called Dead Apostles."
"What humans usually mean by 'vampire' are the Dead Apostles. They drink blood, command thralls, fear sunlight, and can be repelled by Church rites. Sounds like what you imagine, right?"
'No, that's not my image at all… I pictured vampires doing a little blood-burning ritual and jumping out of graves!'
Despite that, Auram knew Arcueid wasn't referring to his world's folkloric monsters; she meant the modern-media style vampires.
"By the way, I'm a True Ancestor. My target here, however, falls under the Dead Apostle category."
"Dead Apostles are mostly former humans. Some humans achieved perpetual life through exhaustive mastery of thaumaturgy; others were turned into thralls by True Ancestors and gained unaging life."
"However, Dead Apostles' immortality is imperfect compared to True Ancestors, so to keep surviving, they must continuously absorb energy—usually by drinking human blood. In moderation, it doesn't kill people, but few Dead Apostles are so disciplined, so they're a danger to modern society."
'…This is making me a bit sleepy.'
Though grateful for Arcueid's thorough explanation, Auram found the long lecture soporific.
If you're skimming, press 1 here.
"Have you seen the news? Aren't there a lot of disappearances and deaths lately?"
"Yes, there have been. Why?"
The car radio had been replaying such reports all day; Auram couldn't help but listen.
"Many of those cases stem from increased Dead Apostle activity."
"Ah…"
Auram had assumed those incidents were the work of Ryuunosuke and Caster. Now, Dead Apostles were involved too?
Good grief… living here as an ordinary citizen is hard. Even if you survive the killer, you might fall prey to a Dead Apostle's hunger.
"Even so, I'm not hunting all Dead Apostles," Arcueid continued after a pause. "The one I'm targeting is special—he's a Fallen Dead Apostle. It's my duty as a True Ancestor to eradicate them."
"Even Fallen Dead Apostles show up…"
If 'fallen humans' conjured images of "I give up being human," Auram could roll with that. Fallen vampires? That was odd, but internally consistent.
Still skeptical, Auram asked tentatively, "Does that mean the city's vampire is cruel and murderous?"
"Cunning might be a better word."
Arcueid thought a moment, then added:
"He can possess others' bodies and reincarnate endlessly. Extremely hard to kill."
"Gosh, that sounds nightmarish!"
"Right?" Arcueid nodded eagerly.
"The one's called Roa. He's one of the Church's listed Twenty-Seven Ancestors, I guess. If you ever meet Roa, tell me. He's not extraordinarily powerful himself, but he's crafty and hides well—troublesome to deal with."
"I will."
Auram nodded without thinking—abruptly, then, he felt something off.
"Wait, why are you acting like I'm already on your side?"
"Huh? You asked a lot of questions—I thought you were willing to help me hunt the town's vampire."
"Being curious and choosing to help are two different things!"
"Is that so?"
Arcueid blinked innocently.
"For reasons I can't explain, I feel like we're like old friends. Don't worry—I know human customs. I won't let you work for nothing."
With a bold smack to Auram's shoulder, Arcueid grinned.
"If you help me catch Roa, I'll repay you however you like~"
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going!
[Patreon.com/RedZTL]