Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Chapter 128: A deal

"..."

"..."

The vampire scratched the back of his head, probably because of the awkward silence. With a light cough, he continued speaking.

"So the deal I was talking about is simple. I am not strong enough to fix you instantly. Healing your body completely will at least take a month. So for that month of treatment, you will let me extract some blood from you every day. It will only be a small amount and won’t really affect you. So... what do you think?"

"..."

Adrian didn’t speak, only stared at the vampire.

Perhaps feeling uncomfortable because of his gaze, the vampire hesitantly asked.

"Why aren’t you saying anything?"

Adrian narrowed his eyes further.

"I don’t understand."

He added after a short pause.

"It was strange enough that a humanoid monster was acting like a person, but the deal you proposed makes no sense. You can just keep me healed enough that I don’t die and continue extracting my blood forever. It is not as though I can put up a struggle against you in my current state."

The vampire frowned.

"Humanoid monster? Are you referring to me, perhaps?"

Again, Adrian did not reply, but his silence alone was the answer.

The vampire’s polite smile slowly faded, and his expression changed. He looked... offended. As he spoke, his tone was not as polite as before either.

"You are calling me a monster...?"

Adrian furrowed his brow.

"I am, and?"

The vampire let out a sigh filled with frustration. His expression made it seem as though he found this absurd. It was a reaction that looked so genuine that it was impossible to label as acting.

Adrian couldn’t understand that reaction.

The vampire and all other beings said to dwell within Feralscar were monsters aside from a few beasts. This was a fact written in every book that he had ever read. So why would the monster standing in front of him dislike it?

It would be the same as a human disliking being called human.

After a long pause, the vampire brought his face closer and spoke in an unamused tone.

"Leaving those other humans aside, to think even a child would call me a monster. Tell me, creature, what is it that makes you a person while it makes me a monster? What is it that makes us different?"

Adrian opened his mouth to speak...

...but no words came out.

"..."

He hadn’t thought much about the topic until now. Moreover, fictional creatures like vampires were also considered monsters back on Earth. So maybe he had simply accepted it.

What made the vampire before him a monster while it made him a person? Is it because vampires drink blood and treat them as food?

No, that wouldn’t make sense. Besides, there were other beings who were also considered monsters but didn’t necessarily drink blood or prey on people.

Then... what?

The vampire leaned in and spoke in a voice that sounded... emotional?

"Nobody likes being called a monster, you know."

Then he forcefully stretched his lips into a polite smile and added in a light tone.

"...unless it is used as praise, of course."

"..."

Pulling back, his expression returned to how it was before, and he asked.

"So? Do you agree to the deal?"

Adrian sighed.

"Do I even have any other choice?"

The vampire nodded.

"Of course you do. You can simply choose to die. I have seen plenty of humans who would rather die than give their blood to my kind. They believed that they would become tainted that way."

’So it is that bad, huh?’

But Adrian certainly wasn’t that kind of human. He would rather live as a tainted being than die for no reason. Still, there was something he wanted to know.

"Will it turn me into a vampire when you suck my blood?"

The vampire paused and looked at him strangely.

"Why would you turn into a vampire? No, how can someone ’turn’ into my kind? That makes no sense. Besides, I won’t suck your blood directly; I will extract it from you and then drink."

Adrian sighed.

’That’s good enough then.’

Adrian did not have other option, really. Nothing was stopping the vampire in front of him from lunging forward and sucking him dry. He would be completely helpless and unable to resist due to his body’s current condition.

That was not to say that he trusted the vampire and everything he was saying. After all, there was nothing more foolish than trusting someone when you are vulnerable.

Adrian opened his mouth and said evenly.

"Okay, I agree to your deal."

Well, it was not like it mattered whether he agreed or not. Still, hearing his confirmation, the vampire’s smile briefly widened.

"That is a good choice indeed."

Saying that, the vampire took out what appeared to be a wooden cup from within his coat and crouched near Adrian.

"This might sting a bit."

With that warning, he used the nail of his finger to create a small cut on Addrian’s thin forearm. Drops of blood began pouring out from the cut, falling into the wooden cup that the vampire had positioned right below.

After the wooden cup was filled up to half with his blood, the vampire blocked the wound with his thumb. Moments later, the vampire’s thumb was enveloped in that same dull grey energy Adrian saw moments ago.

When the creature removed his thumb, the cut was gone. It looked as though it was never there to begin with.

’He’s really keeping his promise, huh?’

As promised, the vampire only extracted a small amount that wouldn’t affect Adrian’s health much. He might’ve coughed more blood than that moments ago.

Drinking the blood in the cup all at once, the vampire spoke in a casual tone.

"By the way, that girl really did you dirty, huh? She escaped and left you to die."

"..."

"You don’t seem all that angry for someone who was abandoned. I would probably be imagining my revenge if it had happened to me."

"..."

Adrian turned his head away with some struggle. It was not something worth thinking about.

There was something more pressing that was demanding his attention at this moment.

’The infinite dimension...’

There was another episode of that strange impulse too, but Adrian had long given up on finding out what causes it. But the infinite dimension was a new matter entirely.

’It makes no sense.’

All of the mana his body released outside would instead be released into the dimension, under any circumstance. This was the main reason for the spell’s failure.

With no other way, the mana would tear his body apart to escape outside the moment the dimension’s gate was opened. And he couldn’t stop the spell or try to change it while it was functioning since that risked all the mana in the dimension being released into the real world all at once. And the consequence of that could be catastrophic.

But when he had tapped into the dimension during the fight, the mana was somehow being released out from his body. Something that shouldn’t have been possible.

Of course, his body was still torn apart by the absurd amount of mana constantly flowing out through it. Still, that damage was gradual and not instant like before.

And that... made all the difference.