Episode 48

The cheap pub was crowded with factory workers who had just finished their grueling shifts. Amidst the rowdy noise, thick cigarette smoke, and drunken men slurring their words, there was one out-of-place guest. A blond boy in checkered shorts with suspenders sat at the bar, observing the interior. He looked like a hawk eyeing its prey.

“Good work today.”

The bartender handed him a glass of juice. He recognized the boy who always ordered the same thing. Of course, it wasn’t out of kindness—he had his own motives.

“Got any interesting stories? Noel, your usual spot is near the police station, isn’t it?”

“You’re asking if I have any gossip to share with your customers?”

The bartender, who assumed Noel was just a newspaper boy, pleaded with him to spill something interesting.

“Come on, don’t hold out on me. I won’t charge you for the drink.”

“Hmm…”

The more desperate the other party was, the easier they took the bait. Noel hid his true intentions behind a bright smile.

The reason the boy posed as a newspaper vendor and frequented this place was simple—to gather intel for hunting vampires.

The weary laborers drowned their exhaustion in alcohol and idle chatter, so it was no exaggeration to say that every interesting story in town started in a run-down pub. The rumors born in such places spread quickly among commoners.

“There is something I picked up recently.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“A murder case. Did you see the article in the newspaper?”

“You think anyone here reads the papers? You’re the weird one.”

The bartender curled his lips in distaste and half-turned away, wiping a glass.

“Murders aren’t anything special in this city.”

“What if it’s a serial murder?”

The bartender, who had lost interest in the conversation, perked up again.

“There haven’t been follow-up articles, but after the first murder, similar bodies have been turning up.”

“Same method?”

“Exactly. The bodies are found shortly after death, but completely drained of blood—dry as a husk.”

“How the hell is anyone supposed to live in times like these?! So, what about the culprit? Any clues?”

“They say it’s impossible for a human to have done it… Everyone’s whispering that it might be a monster.”

The bartender fell into thought before letting out a long sigh.

“A few days ago, some customers got into an argument about whether vampires exist or not. Was it because of this case?”

At that moment, a nearby customer approached them—his uniform revealed him to be an officer.

“Bullshit! What does some newspaper brat know? Quit spouting nonsense!”

“Whoa, sir! You’ve had a bit too much to drink.”

The bartender reached out to stop the officer from grabbing Noel by the collar, discreetly signaling that it was time for him to leave. Noel had achieved his goal anyway—he had lit the fire, now he just had to wait for the rumors to spread.

“That damn brat! Running off when someone’s talking to him! As if it’s not bad enough that my wife wastes her time swooning over trashy vampire novels with her gossiping friends—now this?! Railways are being built, new continents are being discovered, and yet people still can’t tell fantasy from reality?!”

With the popularity of The Vampire Duke’s Affair, public fascination with vampires was at an all-time high. The rumors would spread faster than usual.

Leaving the shouting behind him, Noel headed straight for Ruby’s. As soon as he entered the back of the closed shop, Nina’s sharp voice pierced his ears.

The moment he stepped into the meeting room, he found Nina fuming, while Raymond looked indifferent.

“What’s going on? Why are you fighting?”

Rather than a fight, it was more of a one-sided scolding. As always, Raymond wore his usual uninterested expression. That infuriating face.

Clicking his tongue, Noel sent a questioning glance toward Raymond. He found the man repulsive, but at least Raymond was rational—unlike Nina, he could hold a proper conversation.

But Raymond remained silent.

“Noel! Listen to me! He ruined the operation!”

“What do you mean?”

Nina steadied her cracked voice before continuing.

“He fought with the target. Even went inside her townhouse!”

“When?”

“A few days ago. They met by chance, and she took him home.”

“Why wasn’t this reported?”

Noel’s sharp gaze locked onto Raymond.

“Because you weren’t around.”

Nina let out a deep, exasperated sigh.

“Why did you even give that job to someone so socially inept? You wasted a golden opportunity. If she let him into her house, that means she already trusts him. What, would it kill him to flirt a little? If he’d just played along with her preferences, she would’ve fallen in no time.”

Raymond clenched the hand resting on the table.

“There’s no issue with the operation, so stay out of it. If their connection was going to break, it would have already. The distance between us is just right.”

“The closer they are, the easier it is to catch her off guard. If you even had the slightest ability to charm women, that vampire would’ve been putty in your hands. You might have even taken the seat right next to her.”

“My role was to create discord, not to become the vampire’s lover.”

“Ugh, you’re so frustrating. To be a real obstacle, you need to be close first! You need to wedge yourself between the target and the theology student—that’s how conflicts arise!”

“And if that happened… she’d eventually call me a traitor and try to kill me.”

There was no doubt about who would be the one to make that accusation. Hearing Raymond’s pointed words, Noel’s expression twisted.

“If you don’t give your heart away, there’s nothing to suspect. Or are you just not confident in yourself?”

“Stop spouting nonsense. You think I don’t see what you’re trying to do?”

Whether it was Nina or Noel, arguing with them was exhausting. Raymond prepared to leave.

This was the time when vampires became most vulnerable to temptation. Those affected by Lycan-β might have resisted their bloodthirst during the day, but there were always some who roamed the streets at night, unable to suppress it. That’s why Raymond patrolled every evening—to take down any vampires who lost control.

In the past few weeks alone, he had eliminated at least half a dozen vampires. And with them, there had been human casualties. He never cleaned up the bodies of those drained of blood. The gruesome scenes and corpses needed to be discovered. That was part of the plan.

But lately, he found himself questioning. Was this really the right way? Leading vampires to commit crimes just to justify their deaths? Sacrificing innocent people in the process?

Hunters were meant to be weapons, not thinkers. He had never doubted that before.

But lately… guilt had begun to pile up.

Even if it was meaningless—even if the dead no longer cared— the weight of it remained.

And the woman who had shaken his certainty was her.

Rosanna Enache. That damn high-ranking vampire.

A monster, one who would surely reveal her true, savage nature once her delicate human-like skin was peeled away. A predator who only pretended to smile and chat like a normal person.

At least… that’s how he had seen her at first.

He had been so hostile that it had even interfered with his mission—he had spoken to her far too harshly, even when his job was to build rapport.

But why was he wasting thoughts on a vampire he should hate? Why was he starting to wonder if not all of them were entirely evil?

High-ranking vampires were bound together as a “family.” They were all the same, all one pack.

It was high-ranking vampires who had ordered his mother’s execution.

They had called it a disgrace to the Sovern faction. The others had either agreed or stayed silent. No one had condemned those responsible for the witch hunt.

The memory of that slaughter rose up again, and with it, the stench of blood.

Damn it.

Raymond stormed out of the meeting room, needing fresh air. A voice called after him.

“Wait! Ray!”

“…Who told you to call me that?”

When he turned back, his eyes were ice-cold.

“Ray” had been the nickname his mother used to call him.

“It was urgent.”

Nina had sidled up next to him, holding out a perfume bottle.

“I finished making what you asked for.”

Raymond took the small glass bottle and immediately sprayed it on himself. It was meant to mask the scent of dhampirs. He had requested it after that disastrous encounter with the vampire woman.

But the scent was… strange.

“This smells… off.”

“I mixed in bodily fluids from a vampire corpse.”

“That explains the stench of decay.”

“With just the scent alone, others will think you’re a vampire. Pretty effective disguise, isn’t it?”

Nina waved him off with a casual “Good luck out there.” But Raymond didn’t leave right away.

“Do you… have a goal? Something you want to achieve in the Order of the Holy Cross?”

She looked at him like he had just asked the most ridiculous question.

“Never heard you mention one before.”

“I’m not like you or Noel. A grand ambition to eradicate vampires? A strong sense of duty? I don’t have those. I already watched my enemy die. I never really felt the need for revenge in the first place.”

“Even though they treated you like livestock?”

“I was weak, so I lost. It’s just survival of the fittest. I understand their rules.”

Nina’s lips curled into a manic smile.

“That’s why my experiments weren’t about revenge. They were pure research.”

“As long as I can satisfy my curiosity, I don’t care whether vampires are good or evil. Does that answer your question?”

Raymond felt a chill.

This clever girl had already picked up on his inner turmoil—on his growing doubts. And she had just given him an answer to the question he hadn’t dared to ask out loud.

‘Even if there are vampires who aren’t evil… are they still our targets?’

He exhaled slowly.

“…I’ll be going, then.”

Turning away, Raymond swiftly distanced himself from Ruby’s.

As he leapt onto a rooftop and dashed across the city skyline, a new question carved itself into his mind.

Who is the real monster?