Musty stench. Humid air. Vision that was only faintly bright. Sewage flows steadily like a stream. Next to such a sewer, a clown was walking.
"Hum hum."
A light humming. As if going on a picnic somewhere, even the steps are refreshing and light. That innocence mixed with the dreary background is bizarre.
Smiling mask. My appearance reflected in the water was like that.
"Scary. Scary."
I mutter aloud for no reason. To shake off this gloomy atmosphere even a little.
Rustle, rustle-. I keep taking something out and putting it back into my pocket. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet; objects possessing diverse colors.
"Hoo, hoo..."
It was a balloon. Blowing air with my mouth, purple grows long. When it grows to a certain extent, I hold both ends and tie diligently. A balloon that becomes a shape like a sword in an instant.
"Noice."
Satisfactory result. The finished product is stored back in the robe. When tapped tuk-tuk, the balloon sword gets sucked in.
[Robe of the Evil God]
-Stored item count: 34/100
Balloon sculptures already exceeding thirty. The types were also diverse. Sword, puppy, flower, heart...
If you ask why suddenly balloon art, there is no special meaning. Just, since I am a clown mask in name, I thought I should carry around this much.
'It would be fun to give them out to students later.'
I blow another balloon grinningly. Obvious killing time. I was waiting. For the event to get close to here, and also for the right timing to be caught.
Rustle, rustle-. Inside my head, I organize the contents of the original work.
'Carmilla...'
One of the original supporting characters. The Vampire Dynasty fallen by a coup, and also its last survivor. The Last Princess.
'She said she was betrayed by her uncle.'
It is said even her family and retainers were all massacred. Was it said to be the uncle's ambition to usurp the throne?
I check the time.
'It's soon.'
Not long after, Carmilla and the hunting dogs chasing her are scheduled to pass this sewer. What I aim for is that time.
"Then..."
Hoo, hoo-, I continued blowing balloons, melting into the darkness.
Deep in the sewer. A place where only sewage and things dirtier than that gather.
"Haa, haa...!"
Rough breathing sounds ring. Shimmering silver hair, blinking red eyes. If one brewed tea by boiling the moon, and placed a heart as a flower petal, would it be this color?
Beautiful. Even in this remote gutter, she was an elegant girl. Of course, although she staggered as if she would wither right away...
"Ugh..."
The girl's appearance was a mess. Sweat wetting her body, blood, and a leg limping perhaps due to injury. A state where it wouldn't be strange if she collapsed right now.
'No, if I stop... they will catch up soon...'
The girl's name is Carmilla Blandid. The last survivor of the Vampire Dynasty.
She moves her painful leg forcibly. Vision becomes watery, then repeats becoming clear again.
"Sob, hic..."
Tears flowing down riding her pale cheeks. Despair she doesn't know how many times she has retched up. What glimmers in her ears again is,
—You are the only hope.
—The only one who can correct all of this...
Father's voice. Just before being murdered by the uncle, the words he left like a will.
—Run away, my child.
The crying did not stop. Just as she took the next step forcibly.
Thwack-!
"Kyaaah...!"
Something embedded in the girl's leg. Pain as if being seared by fire. It was none other than a silver arrow.
Carmilla eventually falls face down on the floor.
"Augh, uuuugh..."
"Ha... fuck, finally caught her."
As she groans while curled up, several shadows cast over her. Thugs covering themselves with robes. They stand armed with swords, bows, etc. They were the hunting dogs who had tracked Carmilla all this time.
Thud-!
"Kuhak...!"
Without asking or questioning, kicking is applied first. Carmilla's thigh where the arrow is stuck is kicked hard. The girl resisting while flinching.
"Rat-like bitch... fleeing is the one thing she's quick at, we almost lost her..."
"Princess. Why make things so troublesome? Would it hurt to just die nicely?"
"Don't let your guard down this time. Last time we lost her like this too."
Assassins surrounding Carmilla. The girl secretly wiggles her fingers. Blood Manipulation Art. Condensing the blood she shed, she makes a dagger. She tries aiming for the assassins' necks secretly, but...
"Where do you think you're trying tricks?"
Stomp-!
She is blocked by an assassin who noticed the signs. The girl's fingers trampled violently. There was no way to resist. Her stamina was at its limit, and even her hands and feet were bound.
"I'm telling you... who told you to talk about harmony or whatever?"
"Haa, haa..."
"Your dad is the same. Because he acts like a retard, he gets betrayed."
"No... War is, returning to that era of barbarism again is..."
"What are you murmuring about."
"Dare to, to This Lady... to This Lady's people..."
She tries to raise her thorns, but they are broken thorns. What she can get from the assassins is only ridicule. Fist blows continued a few more times.
"Vampires are a species born to eat humans originally. But harmony my ass, what harmony."
"No... Cough, a peaceful world is... we can live, without killing..."
"Wow, even after getting beaten like that, her mouth is alive?"
"This Lady is, the last... Blandid. Just by mere violence..."
"It's getting boring. We also have to finish quickly and return."
Slap-. Slapping her cheek once more, the assassin backs away from the spot. With his hand, he gives a signal towards those standing behind. Thugs taking out a box matching that.
"You brought that properly, right?"
"Of course. It's content the new King ordered directly."
"Let's finish it quickly. Since he said to make sure to do it with this."
Heavy outline. What was taken out from beyond the box was a crossbow of massive size.
"...!"
Did she recognize the weapon in question? Carmilla's red eyes grow large.
'God-Killing Bow.'
A weapon woven with string and silver, containing the saying that it kills even a god. It is an object that has been kept in the Blandid Dynasty for generations. Also, it was the weapon that cut off her father's breath.
"You roughly know what this is, right? You saw it once during the royal family purge?"
"Know that it's undeserved. Since it's an object prepared because the new King said to show courtesy to the former royalty especially."
"It was hard carrying it around. Do you know how heavy this is?"
Former King. Carmilla's father was a powerhouse counted on one hand within the kingdom. Because to inherit the throne, befitting martial prowess was needed. However, even such a Former King could not endure in front of that.
"Hey, everyone stand back. If you get swept up by mistake, you won't even find your bones."
The bowstring is pulled. What was loaded in the crossbow was not an ordinary arrow. Silver must be ground with divine power for 100 years, and aged in sunlight for another 100 years. 200 years just to carve one arrow. Something that even veteran vampire artisans barely make 2 shots of in their lifetime.
'Stake.'
Because the crossbow kills a god, God-Killing Bow. Because the arrow pierces the soul, Stake. Not just vampires. There would be few living creatures in this world that can receive that strike.
'Ah.'
Click-. The silver arrowhead is aimed towards Carmilla. The girl finally realizes her death.
'...I'm dying. I'm dying like this.'
Scary. I don't want to die.
"This Lady is, eventually nothing..."
Giggling devils. In front of such despair, Carmilla eventually lets go of hope. She resigns.
"Farewell."
"Still, you won't be lonely, right? Isn't all your family waiting in hell?"
Eyes facing death directly. She didn't have the mouth to beg for her life. Because she knew they wouldn't listen anyway.
"...Kill me."
"Even if you don't urge me, I'll send you now...!"
Click-. Finger pulling the trigger of the massive crossbow. The thug's body bounces back largely due to the recoil. Immediately after, a majestic firing sound rings.
Boooooom-!
'Father...'
The bowstring loses the arrow, and the silver light regaining freedom. Something thicker than the girl's waist rushes in. The scene flows slowly. A teardrop falls. Just as she was about to accept death like that.
"Oh dear."
Boooooom-!
Something intruded in front of Carmilla's eyes. Simultaneously, a rupture sound shaking the entire sewer.
"...?!"
It was clearly a human silhouette. If caught in this kind of impact, only pieces of internal organs would have remained. Carmilla's eyes shake.
Was it a civilian? Was there a person in the sewer? Thoughts filling inside the head complicatedly.
However. In the scene that followed soon, even such deduction stops. The red pupils spaced out blankly.
"You were here, Princess."
Intact limbs. Let alone the body being pierced or torn, a suit without even a speck of dust buried. When the dust that fluttered for a moment clears, the appearance of a certain boy is revealed. Black hair fluttering in the headwind.
"Huh... did something happen? Why is dust flying like this."
His face was covered with a mask. A mask engraved with a bizarre smile.
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter."
He reacts as if he didn't even know he was attacked. Behind that slyness, a voice soaked in laughter is heard. Cheerful gait. Relaxation that doesn't match the situation at all. The boy approaches towards Carmilla.
"Carmilla Blandid."
The clown calling her name. It seemed as if the existence of the assassins was not even in his consideration. Because the eyes beyond the mask were directed only at the girl.
"I came to pick you up."
Smiling mask. A dull goosebump licked the napes of Carmilla and the assassins' necks.
"Shall we go together."
Only the boy's voice rang in the sewer.
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