Kei: Well, last night, I had a strange dream, and when I woke up, two vampires appeared.
Sakuya: ……Vampires?
Kei: Ah…… I guess I shouldn’t really be calling them “vampires.”
Sakuya: Why not?
Kei: Well, we – though I guess I can’t speak for everyone – we drink blood too, right? Like snapping turtles, or that French dish…… (TN: Snapping turtles are one staple of Japanese cuisine, and cooks are known to drain the blood and mix it with sake to serve to guests. Drinking turtle blood is supposedly very healthy, and makes your skin look younger…)
Kei: I haven’t eaten it before… but there was something, right? (TN: For your enjoyment, blood pudding, or Boudin Noir.)
Sakuya: You mean like dripping dove’s blood over a roast, or sauces made with blood and red wine, right? Ahh, when I went to the mainland for a story, there was also a show where they were draining snake blood.
Kei: Right? So just because someone drinks blood, that doesn’t really make them a scary monster or anything……
That just means that inhuman entities often drink blood to gain power.
And I don’t want to lump all inhuman entities into an all-encompassing label like “vampires.”
If I did, even that person‘s nature would take on an eerie bearing.
Sakuya: And?
Kei: So these twin oni girl spirits wearing kimono… Nozomi-chan and Mikage-chan… came in the middle of the night, saying they wanted my blood.
Kei: They said my family, the Hatou family line, passes down a special blood called the Nie no Chi.
Sakuya: ……And then?
Kei: I was attacked… and just when I thought I was a goner, Yumei-san came and saved me.
Sakuya: ……Yumei!? She called herself that?
Kei: Yeah. She smelled really nice, with such a gentle voice, eyes, and hands… She called me “Kei-chan,” and she acted a little like a mother.
Sakuya: …………
Kei: ……Sakuya-san?
Sakuya: Ahh, no, it’s nothing.
She has an awfully stern face to be saying “it’s nothing.”
Kei: Do you know something about Yumei-san?
When you consider that she goes further back with my grandmother than with my mom, you would think Sakuya-san would know a lot more about my family than me, with no memory.
Kei: If you know, please tell me. Just what is Yumei-san to me? And why does she go that far, putting herself at risk to protect me?
Sakuya: Probably because she’s a guardian deity of the Hatou family. She’s the one that came up in our conversation with the hostess, yesterday, the Ohashirasama.
Kei: ……That’s it?
Sakuya: That’s it.
Indicating that this topic is closed, Sakuya-san gives her head an exaggerated shake.
Sakuya: More importantly, Kei. You said you went to see the Hazama Mansion yesterday, right?
Kei: Yeah.
Sakuya: Then, you don’t have anything else to do in the country, here, right? If your business is done, it’s time to go home.
Kei: What…… go home?
Sakuya: Like they said on the news, a dangerous incident happened, and they haven’t found the perpetrator.
Kei: Like I said, It was Nozomi-chan and—
Sakuya: If they’re of that sort, all the more!
Sakuya: You’re the target, right? And you have no means to protect yourself, right? Then isn’t it only natural for you to run?
Kei: But that’s…… but……
Sakuya: Understand? If you became a target when you came here, then you won’t be when you go back. As long as they don’t give chase.
Sakuya: If you stay here and get in the way, you’ll put unnecessary strain on the Ohashirasama. You should be going home. Am I wrong?
| 反抗したいお年頃 | 帰る |
| I can’t just take this at my age. | Go home |