From the Warlord's Empire (2 page)

Natsuki vanished, leaving a gentle ripple in space behind her. After, the fallen, chain-bound beast man was left behind, all alone.

In spite of the string of curses falling from his lips, the man made a low laugh.

No, this changed nothing. Even his being captured here did not change the situation whatsoever. The plan was already in motion. Even the might of the Witch of the Void would not alter this city’s destiny. Either way, this place was destined to perish.

This night, too, the blissfully sleeping city bathed in the silent glow of moonlight.

Prior to dawn…

A ship was calmly at anchor over waters nearly 330 kilometers south of Tokyo.

The ship was christened the
Oceanus Grave
. It was about four hundred feet in overall length. In the vernacular, it was known as a megayacht.

It was a Western-style cruise ship. The ship, the size of its hull rivaling that of a military cruiser, was so beautifully decorated that even extravagant passenger liners could not hold a candle to it. It bore such majesty that it could be called, without irony, a floating palace.

But in the end, the
Oceanus Grave
was a frighteningly luxurious castle owned by and built for a single man.

Though this fact seemed most unrealistic, anyone would instantly accept it upon hearing the owner’s name, for the
Oceanus Grave
was the private property of the Duke of Ardeal, Dimitrie Vattler—a noble of the Warlord’s Empire.

The ship’s owner was enjoying the moonlit view on the upper deck. Lying on his side on an extravagant sun lounger, he leisurely tilted a glass of cassis liqueur in his hand.

He was a handsome, blond, blue-eyed man. By external appearance, he was in his midtwenties perhaps.

However, he bore the title of noble. In other words, he was a vampire of the so-called Old Guard possessing extraordinary power. His expansive territory within the Warlord’s Empire had a standing army of such vast military might that it rivaled the armies of the Western European alliance; he himself was a monster possessing enormous power, able to wipe out a large city in the blink of an eye.

A slender silhouette approached the side of that young aristocrat.

She was a youthful Japanese teenager. Her tall, gracefully curved body was paired with facial features that gave one a sense of floral elegance.

Her long hair was in a ponytail, dancing without a sound as the sea breeze blew it around.

She wore the school uniform of a well-known girls’ academy from the Osaka region.

In her right hand, she carried a black instrument case of the sort that would contain an electronic keyboard.

“So you were over here, Your Excellency?” The long-haired girl stood still, speaking with reverent formality.

Coincidentally, the destination of the ship he was sailing with had just come into view. It was a solitary island floating on top of the ocean
with open sea all around it. It was constructed of floating structures of extremely large size; a Gigafloat…

Built with the objective of controlling “dragon lines,” it was now a city for the research of demonic life and abilities thereof. It was the Demon Sanctuary known as Itogami Island.

“So that is it, the bastard child of scrap metal and sorcery? Quite a contraption you’ve constructed out of odds and ends. This is why humans are so interesting.”

The young man seemed to be murmuring to himself, his behavior not indicating whether he was praising or insulting.

The girl brushed off his words with a chilly smile and presented him with a single letter.

“I have brought the Japanese government’s letter of reply.”

“…Mm?” Acting like he was noticing the girl’s existence for the first time, the young aristocrat slowly turned toward her. With an affable smile on his face, he did not project the oppressive feeling characteristic of vampires and the mighty power concealed within them.

The girl accepted his somehow sardonic gaze head-on as she continued speaking casually.

It says…effective twelve o’clock a.m. today, Your Excellency’s visit to the Demon Sanctuary of Itogami Island has been approved. Hereafter, Your Excellency shall be treated as a special diplomatic envoy of the Warlord’s Empire pursuant to the Holy Ground Treaty.”

“That’s quite fine. A proper and expected conclusion, yes? Well, had they told me to make myself scarce I meant to let myself in regardless, but that would have been a nuisance.” Still lying on the sun lounger, Dimitrie Vattler gave an innocent laugh.

But the girl’s expression hardened, as if reproaching him. “There is one condition.”

“Really. What is it?”

“The Japanese government insists that you accept it dispatching a watcher and that you heed the watcher’s counsel.”

“So, an overseer, then? I see,” said Vattler with an interested-seeming nod. “So, who is to be this watcher?”

“If I may be so forward, I would ask that you permit me to perform this duty.”

The girl’s reply was in a calm tone of voice backed up by a defiant look on her face.

Though called a
watcher
, her duty was more than merely playing tour guide. She was essentially declaring, should the Japanese government see Vattler’s existence as a threat, as a last resort, she would eliminate him. She was saying, in other words, that she possessed enough power to destroy even a vampire of the Old Guard.

Vattler gave the girl a mysterious look back as he asked her, “Ahh, I see. Incidentally, who are you?”

The girl let out a faint sigh at the young aristocrat’s articulate, apathy-drenched words.

“I am called Sayaka Kirasaka. I have been granted the title of Shamanic War Dancer by the Lion King Agency.”

“Lion King Agency, hmm. I think I recall hearing the name…,” Vattler murmured with no sense of tension whatsoever. The girl shook her head, as if beside herself with irritation.

“A Japanese government special agency charged with countering sorcerous terrorism.”

“…Sorcerous terrorism?”

“Please be advised that, as Your Excellency’s visit to Itogami City has placed you under the agency’s jurisdiction, we have been charged with accompanying your visit.”

“Hmm. Well, whatever works.” The young aristocrat easily consented. Then, he squinted with a smiling face. “That said, it’s quite clever of the Japanese government to send a pretty girl like you to keep an eye on me.” As Vattler added, as if speaking to himself, “Though I’d have been quite fine with a pretty boy as well,” Sayaka, of course, shot him a disagreeable look.

“About that, Your Excellency. Even so, I am a Counter-Demon Mage permitted to wield Heavy Demon-Purging Bow Type Six, Der Freischötz. Do not forget that I have been granted the right to decide to shoot and destroy you, Your Excellency.”

Vattler unexpectedly raised a pleasant-sounding laugh at Sayaka’s sour words, apparently meant to intimidate.

“Ha-ha-ha, excellent! Quite interesting, indeed. I like you. Yes, yes, call me Dima or Vattler, whatever you like. No more of ‘Your Excellency’ and other such formalities.”

“…Understood, Duke Ardeal.” Sayaka would bend her etiquette for no one. As Vattler made a pouty-looking wave, he sat up and looked at Sayaka. There was a hazy, crimson flicker in both of his eyes, like a shimmering sun. “So, what shall we do about my other request, I wonder?”

“Your other…request?”

Sayaka’s expression hardened at the chilly aura Vattler was putting out.

“Could you stop playing dumb already? You found him long ago and have him under surveillance even now, yes?
The World’s Mightiest Vampire
, I mean.”

“If you are speaking as to the Fourth Primogenitor, shall we say, I do not deny it.”

Vattler faintly bared his fangs as he laughed at Sayaka’s calm, businesslike behavior.

“I’d appreciate it if you introduced him to me. Though I do understand why you’d want to keep him under wraps.”

Though the young aristocrat’s smiling face was as affable as before, this time his entire body was giving off a powerful aura that resembled a tangible, physical pressure. It was as if a twisted, ferocious emotion had gained physical form. Had she been a normal human and not a Counter-Demon Attack Mage, she would have lost consciousness just from being in the same place as that powerful maliciousness.

However, Sayaka maintained a neutral expression as she calmly shook her head.

“No, we have no reason to protect him.”

As she spoke, she took out a single photograph. It was a photo of a male high school student in uniform. He looked like a completely average teenage male. Kojou Akatsuki. That was his name.

The watery horizon began to acquire a faint, white twinkle. It would be dawn soon enough.

“After all, Kojou Akatsuki, the Fourth Primogenitor, is our enemy…”

As Sayaka murmured, she crushed the photograph of the boy in her hand.

The ship on which she and the young aristocrat were traveling slowly approached Itogami Island.

Wednesday, mid-September, 6:25 a.m.…

That morning, for once, Kojou Akatsuki awoke alone.

One could fairly call this a highly exceptional event. Though not a fact he could really divulge in public, Kojou Akatsuki was a vampire, and as a vampire, Kojou was doomed to be weak to sunlight. This held true even though he bore an extravagant title: the Fourth Primogenitor.

The rays of the morning sun cut particularly deeply. Though they could not burn him to a crisp, he had to contend with a variety of symptoms such as feelings of fatigue and ennui, sleepiness, and loss of appetite. It was the latter symptom that was really troublesome, but to the uninformed, these symptoms were indistinguishable from a normal human being lacking sufficient sleep from staying up all night. For this reason, Kojou was deemed by the world at large to be a no-good high school student who was just not a morning person.

As Kojou thought of such things, what he found truly regrettable was that his younger sister, Nagisa Akatsuki, was no exception. Thanks to this, every day his troublesome younger sister gave him long-winded lectures while slapping him awake; somewhere along the line it had become part of Kojou’s daily routine.

However, this morning only, Kojou felt no sign of Nagisa having entered his room.

Instead, he heard her through the wall in bits and pieces as she spoke
in a happy-sounding voice. He didn’t think she would have a guest visiting at this early hour. Kojou wondered if she was talking to someone on the phone as he set foot out of his room. Still half-asleep, he dragged his feet toward the washroom to put his sleep-disheveled hair in order.

When Kojou finished washing up and returned to the living room, he noticed that breakfast had already been set on top of the table. There were Nagisa’s handmade bagel sandwiches and Italian salad for three. The menu was slightly more elaborate than usual. Seeing this, Kojou understood. Apparently their mother had returned home for once.

Due to their parents having divorced four years earlier, the Akatsuki household was currently composed of three people. But their mother, Mimori Akatsuki, was the head of research at one of the corporations on Itogami Island—a rather prestigious job—and most days she never made it back to the house. She’d be away for a week to ten days before showing up in the dead of night or the morning without any notice. She lived something like the life of an outlaw—or a stray cat.

So in a sense, Kojou had no choice but to believe that his mother had returned while he hadn’t realized it and was now in Nagisa’s room, in spite of having no direct evidence whatsoever. Indeed, this was an act of God.

“Nagisa. Sorry, I’m gonna eat breakfast first. If you’re gonna have coffee, I’ll make enough for you, too, when I mix…”

Speaking with a yawn mixed in with his voice, Kojou opened the door to his little sister’s room.

Nagisa’s voice, which had continued without a single pause until that very moment, suddenly broke off. She looked up at Kojou, eyes wide with a look of surprise.

Though she still looked a little childlike, she was a middle school student with a constantly cute look on her face. She wore her long hair high enough that where it stopped it gave her a short-cut look. She was holding a cheerleading uniform over her lap. Nagisa was a member of the middle school’s cheerleading club.

And as Kojou had anticipated, there was one other person in the room with Nagisa.

However, as Kojou had not anticipated, this person was a girl, much younger than their mother.

And this girl, her back to Kojou, was wearing underwear—and nothing else.

“Wh…”

This wholly unanticipated sight threw Kojou into complete confusion. Perhaps his morning grogginess explained why he couldn’t wrap his head around what was going on.

The defenseless underwear-clad girl glanced awkwardly over her shoulder.

Kojou immediately sucked in his breath at the girl’s serene beauty. Her body was delicate, but this lent it no impression of fragility. Even with the faint traces of youthful curves, her body possessed perfect symmetry, with a graceful curve to her back. She looked supple and tenacious, like a beautiful wild beast.

Kojou’s eyes remained completely taken by her figure.

His voice was broken as he asked, “…Why is…Himeragi here?”

Yukina Himeragi. That was the girl’s name. She was in the third year of middle school, one year younger than Kojou. Only a half a month before, she had transferred to Saikai Academy, becoming Nagisa’s classmate.

And she also bore the bizarre title of Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency.

She was the watcher dispatched by that organization to observe Kojou Akatsuki, the Fourth Primogenitor. It was her mission to stay close to Kojou, and should she determine him to be a dangerous being…to eliminate him.

But that being as it may, it did not change the fact she was a very pretty girl.

“S-senpai…?!” Yukina mumbled in Kojou’s direction, finally grasping the situation.

“Hey,” replied Kojou, reflexively replying to the greeting like a complete idiot. Even so, his gaze did not shift away from her whatsoever.

Gazing upon Yukina’s bare flesh as he was, one might say this was quite natural.

Her white skin was like delicate glass. Her slender collarbone was like a work of art. She had a lean build, but even so, the body lines of her chest were mysteriously soft. It was impossible for the eye not to be attracted to all of these things.