Chapter 45 The Moonreaver Dimension (3)

Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!

Fifteen minutes had passed since the exorcist traced his prey down to the abandoned villa. Added to the dust and spider webs was the fresh blood of Vampires, splashed around like in a B-rated gore movie. However, the man in the middle of the carnage didn’t have a single drop of blood on his cassock.

Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!

“Hmmm? What is that sound?”

The massive priest tapped down his clothes, confused by the foreign sound that was uncommon in a dense overgrowth forest such as this one. He continued searching until a thick satellite phone dropped down from his belt, and the impact accidentally answered the call for him.

“Father Amorth… Father Amorth!!! Can you hear me?”

“Jonathan? Is that you?”

“How on earth can you confuse me with your pet bird?! I’m Ingrid! Ingrid, your liaison in Germania!”

“Haha, I’m just pulling your leg!” The exorcist grabbed onto the phone and continued speaking into the phone. “So, what’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter?! Have you caught up to the Vampires of the Bloodborne House?”

“Ah… That I did.”

“Really?! That’s great! As expected of the Holy Church’s number one exorcist!” The female voice excitedly praised her superior as she was one step closer to completing her mission. “And so? Did you manage to capture them? Or do you need backup?”

“No, there’s no need for backup because they’re all dead.”

“… Excuse me?”

For a brief moment, the woman couldn’t believe her ears. She was well aware that her superior was more than capable of capturing his prey. Rather, those were the exact orders that His Holy Eminence Cardinal had given their team. While killing them was an acceptable outcome, the Holy Church had been chasing this lead for months. They wished to uncover the sinister plans that the Bloodborne House was concocting and the best method was to interrogate those True Vampires in their dungeons.

But now, they are dead…

“Father Amorth! Father Angelo Augustus Amorth! Why did you kill them?!”

“It was a pain in the ass to capture them. Imagine carrying three bodies from the middle of nowhere back to the chapel. It’s too troublesome to do that.”

The honesty of the priest shocked his partner, who could only bellow out in frustration.

“You could have called us! We have a team ready to do that for you!”

“How would you know my position?”

“My god! Haven’t you heard of GPS?!”

The woman was simplifying her words. Like most influential organisations, the Holy Church had their own satellites and broadcast stations throughout the world. Therefore, while they did not use the traditional GPS, they had their own methods of tracking down their operatives, even if they were under the ocean or deep in a dense jungle.

“Hah… Whatever. We can’t change what’s done. At least you’ve killed the Vampires responsible for kidnapping innocent people from the villages. We can bring back some good news for the victims.”

“See? It’s a happy ending!”

“Urgh…”

Ingrid wanted to protest, but she knew how useless it was against a knucklehead like Father Amorth. His ability to hunt Outer Demons, Werewolves and Vampires was unparalleled in the Holy Church. Creatures of the night dreaded his existence, and the number of souls he’d claimed was easily in the thousands. However, the man had quite a bird brain.

“Do you need help returning?”

“That would be helpful. I am in the middle of-… Ah, Jonathan!”

Just as the priest was going to seek help in his return journey, a beautiful white dove flapped its wings down from the heavens and landed square on Father Amorth’s shoulder. It rubbed its white head on the sweaty neck of the man and affectionately pecked on his cheeks.

“Jonathan! Where were you? I was worried sick!”

“…”

“Ah, you were navigating the area? Well, it can’t be helped then!”

“…”

“Oh, so you know the way back?”

“…”

It was a mystery how a man and a bird could communicate so well. In fact, it seemed like the priest was better at talking to his pet dove than the woman who was meant to be his line of support. Speaking of whom…

“Hello? Hello?! Father Amorth! Do you read? Do you read?!”

With his buddy here to pick him up, the exorcist could care less about the satellite phone that he barely knew how to use. Leaving the thousand-dollar telephone on the floor, Father Amorth happily exited the dilapidated building, ignoring the headless bodies on the bloodied floor.

???

“Jin… Am I a monster?”

“Hmmm? What are you talking about?”

In the middle of a Spring meadow, two young ten-year-olds sat on a large rock as they stared deeply at the night sky. The young girl had her head resting on the young boy’s arms, and her face was sunk into his armpits. Yet, her soft, muffled voice drew the boy’s attention.

“Am I a monster?”

The girl raised her supple face-up, going eye to eye with the young boy. Jin was lost in the girl’s otherworldly vale eyes for a moment before finally snapping back to reality. He brought his fingers forth and tenderly stroked the young girl’s blonde hair.

“What on earth are you talking about, Lilith? You’re not a monster!”

“But… All the adults look at me funny. They all avoided me even though we’d never talked before. My teachers don’t want to teach me anymore. My servants all keep a distance from me. Even my brother doesn’t talk to me like before.”

Lilith bit the bottom of her lip and rubbed her face on Jin’s shoulder softly. The way that she behaved was just like a puppy who sought the warmth of her mother. Her fingers turned into a tiger grip as Lilith struggled to hold back tears.

“All because I can read a little better than they can. After they realised that I was different from them, they started keeping me at arm’s length. Am I really that repulsive?”

At this point, Lilith’s eyes couldn’t hold back. Misty tears dripped down her clear, pimpleless face as her nose started to sniffle. It was hard to imagine, but Lilith was still a young ten-year-old girl. Despite her maturity and mastery over magic, the sciences and other fields. The blonde Vampire was barely older than the tree sprouts surrounding the pair.

And this young girl… Had to carry the weight of being a genius on her shoulders. She had all the riches in the world; everyone in her Clan bowed to her every whim; she would have anything that she wished to get.

And yet… Lilith was so alone. So alone in this world.

Jin, unable to take her sadness any longer, brought the girl deeper into his chest and whispered:

“Orion.”

“H-Huh?”

“Andromeda, Aquila, Eridanus, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor.”

“Jin?”

“Canis Major, Vulpecula, Lacerta, Equuleus, Corona Borealis…”

One by one, Jin pointed at each one of the constellations in the night sky. He didn’t stop until he covered every single one and listed some of the planets and significant stars to Lilith.

“By age five, I’ve memorised all of the stars in the sky. At the same time, I studied university-level maths and learnt all elementary-level magic. By eight, I have completed all of my mandatory schooling curricula. And right now, I’m studying a thesis that could change how we understand how magic affects the world.”

“Jin…”

At first blush, it seemed like the boy was showing off his accomplishments to the girl. However, that was far from the truth. He smiled back at the girl, who only had him in his eyes and asked:

“Am I a monster?”

“No…”

“That’s right,” Jin laughed as he gently caressed the young girl. “Just because we’re a little different from the others, it doesn’t mean we are monsters. And besides…”

Jin’s right index finger picked up the tears from Lilith’s face and lovingly rubbed her dry. Lilith looked stunned for a moment, and Jin took the opportunity to gently pinch her soft cheeks.

“How can a cute girl like you be a monster?”

“Y-You! How can you say such things without blinking!”

Lilith’s face instantly turned red as if her previous forlorn anguish didn’t even happen. Embarrassed by Jin’s words, she hid her face like an ostrich, and her shoulders trembled whenever Jin’s hot breath tickled her skin.

“Hehe, you sure are cute!”

“Y-You! Y-You!!!”

Lilith was too flustered to mount any sort of counter-attack. So what if she’s a generational genius that everyone in her family avoided in fear? The girl was nothing more than a little girl in Jin’s arms.

“… As expected, I will make him my Bloodmate one day.”

“Hmmm? What was that?”

“Nothing!”

Jin was unable to hear Lilith’s final mumble, but as he watched Lilith’s face of sadness turn into one of pure bliss, his lips couldn’t help but break into a joyous smile.

???

… Yet another dream?

I woke up heavy-headed and fatigued. Springing up from my bed, I recollected the vivid dream I’d just had. No, rather than a dream, it was a memory of the past. A memory where Lilith and I shared a moment under the stars and a memory from my forgotten past.

It’s odd. I had never triggered these dreams in the past, even immediately after I became a Vampire. What were the reasons for this phenomenon? And why could I only remember that I’d met Irina and Lilith in the past? What about the other two?

There’s so much to test and so much to experiment on. But for now…

“Hummmm…”

A soft moan tickled my ear, probing me to look to the left. Irina, who was in her familiar loose nightgown, laid snugly by my side. Her face was posh red, and her mouth would often rise into slight chuckles.

Well, that was to be expected, given that she’d spent half the night sucking my blood. But that wasn’t the odd part. As I looked to my right, I saw another girl sleeping soundly while grasping my trousers.

Lilith, who was dressed far more conservatively in fully covered pyjamas, sweetly snored. Unlike Irina, the young virgin Vampire was too shy to actively feast on my blood for the first time. Especially since she was in front of Irina, a girl whom she considered her rival and sister. And since I wasn’t an animal, I didn’t force her to do anything that she didn’t want to.

Which led to this current situation.

“Lilith…”

I gently stroked her supple skin with my palm, and the young girl purred like a cat in response. She moved her cheeks accordingly as she sought the warmth of my touch. Lilith was completely defenceless.

Goodness… I’ve only known this girl for a few days, and yet, the emotions I had for her were no less than those I had for Irina.

No, that wasn’t right. I didn’t just know this girl for a few days. I’d known her in the past. Lilith and I had an undeniable connection, one that surpassed the decay of time and separation. She had watched over me for fifteen years, protecting me even though I’d forgotten her existence.

But now, I’ve remembered.

And I’ll never forget, ever again.

“Don’t worry, Lilith. I won’t leave you alone anymore.”

The girl couldn’t hear me, but her sleeping face reacted anyway. Her lips twitched slightly before her body wiggled closer to my lap. Once she’d found a comfortable position, Lilith flashed a satisfied grin and continued to snooze away in Lalaland. Breaking into a smile, I couldn’t help but plant a kiss on her forehead and lovingly stroke her adorable head.

“Alright, let’s start the day, shall we?”