We stood in the room, shivering at our place. Though we were supposed to be in the hottest ti of the year, right now, none of that mattered due to the coldness we felt from his stare. A big smile plastered on his face but rely eting eyes with him felt like an inevitable death looming over our heads.
"So, what is the report?" he asked us and we all got stuck in our place. "Please, don’t make repeat children."
"Y-yes Father," I mustered up the courage to speak up. "Shiba Kazuki and Tsubaki Ai have gone back to their apartnt but we couldn’t get too close. We could feel the presence of another vampire around, soone we couldn’t deal with by ourselves."
"Anything else?" he asked and I shook my head. "And why could you not get closer? She is just one noble; I don’t think you are incompetent enough to not be able to take care of just one noble."
Each word he spoke had such weight behind it that we could feel ourselves being crushed by them. We know we could take care of that one noble but our job as scouts was rely to observe from a distance.
"There was sothing weird about the air there," I continued explaining. "The mont we got closer, it felt like sothing razor-sharp was aid right at our necks and heart but we didn’t know where it was coming from. Most of our abilities are either for reconnaissance purposes or close-range combat so we couldn’t do anything about it."
He continued blankly staring at us as if hoping for so good news. "B-but we were able to confirm that the place where this was coming from. It was from the apartnt complex right in front of the residence of Shiba Kazuki and Tsubaki Ai. It is most likely the noble who accompanies them everywhere who has laid down these traps."
"Anything else?" he asked and I shook my head. "Good, I am very pleased by your hard work and dedication," he said and our faces started to light up. Getting praised by him was sothing every vampire here years for and we finally got his recognition. Our hearts were beating at an uncontrollable pace.
"Thank you so much Father," we all said in unison bowing our heads. We then looked up only to see his massive stature right before us. If there was one thing I can say about how I felt at that ti…dread. That was probably what I felt the most. We didn’t know what he was thinking. He always felt like a foreign entity, soone we just could not understand. So, in that mont he was right before us, and I still couldn’t understand what he was thinking.
He raised his hand and placed it on my head. Cold, extrely cold. If I was to find out then that his body was kept under the glaciers for preservation and he just ca out of them fresh, I would not be surprised. The longer a vampire lives, the colder they start to get as the amount of blood they need to drink to keep up their appetite decreases and they feel extrely cold from an outsider’s point of view. Just the difference in the temperature of our bodies was enough to explain the difference between him and re nobles like us.
He was a true noble, soone who served our creators.
"I am so glad in fact that I would like to promote you," he said and I could feel overjoyed. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest with happiness and I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to jump in the air out of joy. His presence was the only thing that was keeping dignified.
"Thank you so much, Father. Your words are too kind," I replied. "Which squad are we promoted to?"
"We?" he raised his eyebrow and asked.
Silence. Absolute silence was what followed after what he said. Did he an only I am the one who is promoted to a stronger squad? Wait if it is just then what about the others? I wanted to look behind to see how everyone else was looking but I could not take my eyes off of Father. His figure lood over and I was too stunned to say anything.
"You are the only one who has perford excellently thus far so you are the one who gets promoted. How is that such a surprise?" he asked in a confused tone but I did not have the guts to question his decision.
There were so many questions and complaints we wanted to voice but being able to say that before this man was equal to a death sentence. I kept my head down and closed my eyes completely isolating myself from anything that I could be thinking in the protest. I am the one who got promoted so I probably did sothing better. Yeah, there is only one reason for to be promoted and it is that. It should make complete sense.
"Walk with ," he said and I quickly stood up following him. I looked back to see the faces of my comrades and I could see nothing but envious glares from them. "Don’t look back now. Once you start moving forward, focusing on the ones who can’t perform well is just a waste of ti."
"Y-Yes!" I said and followed his figure. Now that I was standing behind him, he didn’t look that big but it would be only an idiot who would mistake him for soone weak.
We entered a hallway and I looked out the window at the moon. Aaah…a crescent today. It still looks as beautiful as always. We are a lucky species who are able to look at and take in all the beauty of the moon. It’s reflected images we see thousands of kilotres from us. It truly is the perfect art of nature.
"You like to look at the moon?" Father asked and I quickly focused back at him.
"Yes Father, I do," I replied and continued walking.
"I was like you once too. So young and full of energy being intrigued by so many insignificant things. Especially an imposter such as that," he said and I looked confused. An imposter? Why would he call it that?
"It looks like you have questions of your own. I allow you to speak up," he said and I felt a little relieved. Never in my life did I think I would be able to hold a proper conversation with him.
"Why would you call the moon an imposter?" I asked him and he kept walking, not saying anything for so ti until he started again.
"The moon is weak. It doesn’t have the light of its own and when standing next to the sun, it is often hidden by its brightness. The only ti it is able to stand out is when the sun is gone but still, to stand out then, it has to do so by borrowing the light of the sun itself to shine as bright as it can in the night sky. Hiding stars around it sotis, stars that are much larger than the sun itself, but so far away we can’t even comprehend it. Don’t you think soone like that is an imposter? Soone who only gives the illusion of being the greatest?" he asked and I could not say anything back. Looking at it that way, I peeped out the window again looking at the moon, now looking at it in a different light.
"You can be strong with borrowed strength only for so ti my child," he continued. "The truly strong either have the strength of their own or make the strength of others completely their own. One way is often better than the other."
"I…never looked at it like that," I said and he let out a little chuckle.
"You must be still wondering why I only promoted you. Even though you are not the strongest one in the squad?" his question hit like a stake and I was taken aback by it a little. My mouth was wide agape not able to process what he just said.
"Wh-why was I the only one who was promoted, Father?" I asked him.
"Because out of the entire squad, you were the only one who replied to . Others were too scared," he explained but the answer was still not able to satisfy . "I am the leader of this base; I don’t want to be feared by my subordinates but respected. I asked a question and they didn’t answer. Don’t you think that is quite disrespectful?"
I couldn’t give an answer because I didn’t understand that point of view. Before I could say anything, he entered the room and I followed him. The mont I entered; my feet stopped in their tracks. Before sat four vampires on their feet with a black bag covering their faces. Wait no, these are not just any vampires. These…
"Your old squad mates, who disrespected ," Father said. I was taken aback by the image but he kept the sa look he had on his face. I looked at him and back to him.
"Are you truly dedicated towards ?" he asked and I could feel his presence started to grow and engulf the entire room. I nod my head quickly out of fear. He handed a wooden stake and pointed at my old quad mates. "Then show and give justice to the traitors."
Huh?
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