From the Warlord's Empire
Page 24
Vattler made a smile of apparent pleasure, his sharp fangs poking out from his lips.
“There is nothing wrong with our mutual interests coinciding this time around. One hopes it will go so well the next time as well.”
“Agreed.”
Readjusting the edge of her school uniform’s skirt as she rose, she walked off without even glancing his way.
Intertwining with the wave of people in the lobby, she immediately vanished from sight.
Having finished arranging lodging at the front desk, Sayaka Kirasaka returned to the lobby.
Along the way, she passed by a girl with an unfamiliar face. She was a high school girl, wearing glasses and carrying a book under her arm. What made her eyes fall casually upon the girl was the fact she wore the same high school uniform that Yukina did.
But paying no further particular attention, Sayaka headed toward the young aristocrat whose appearance stood out far more.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Duke Ardeal.”
“Ah, welcome back. How was it?”
Vattler was brushing his blond hair back, looking over a letter she hadn’t seen before as he asked.
“No problems whatsoever. The room is all set to go, apparently.”
Sayaka spoke in a dutiful, businesslike tone. She’d switched out of her soaking wet school uniform into a very adult-looking gray jacket-and-pants combo. Thanks to her height, she looked very much like a corporate executive. Vattler had asked Sayaka to make arrangements for them to stay at this hotel.
As the Oceanus Grave had been sunk in the turmoil of combat, they had urgently required a place to stay that night.
It was a very sudden request, but twisted as he was, Vattler was still a great noble of the Warlord’s Empire, so the hotel prepared a royal suite as urgently as it could manage. Though Vattler himself had been deeply intrigued at the notion of staying up all night at a 24-7 family restaurant–slash–manga café, she’d somehow managed to talk him down from that and drag him all the way here.
“Thank you. Pardon me, making you make hotel arrangements. I am, well, short on competent butlers at the moment.”
“…I’m your watcher, after all.”
Sayaka was beside herself as she remembered all over again Vattler’s recklessness in hiring a butler who was a terrorist actively trying to kill him.
“Come to mention it, why don’t I arrange a plane ticket for the return trip, too?” Sayaka asked with the implicit desire that he get out of Japan as soon as possible. Now that his prized cruise ship had sunk, a plane would be the only thing Vattler could use to get back to his home nation.
Now that he’d completed his objective of apprehending the Black Death Emperor Front, he had no reason to remain on Itogami Island any longer.
However, Vattler said, in a completely indifferent tone…
“Ahh, no need for that.”
“Eh?”
“I’m not going back.”
Sayaka looked at Vattler dumbfounded, as if he was a child making a selfish statement.
Desperately suppressing her desire to scream, Sayaka forced her voice to come out calmly.
“What do you mean by…”
“A letter arrived just now, while you were gone. See?”
Vattler withdrew some kind of fancy letter from within the envelope.
It was an official document issued by the Japanese government officially consenting to the establishment of an embassy. In other words, the Japanese government had granted formal permission for the Warlord’s Empire to open an embassy within the Demon Sanctuary of Itogami City.
The embassy would be headed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Duke of Ardeal, Dimitrie Vattler…
Now he would be able to continue to remain on Itogami Island as long as he pleased; on the same island as Kojou Akatsuki, the Fourth Primogenitor.
“I’m sure you’ll be receiving a new notice of appointment in short order. Well, best regards, now and hereafter.”
Vattler made a grinning smile as he spoke the words. Sayaka simply put her hands on her head and sighed.
That evening…
Asagi Aiba awoke in a room illuminated by the seemingly lingering red setting sun.
Her scrupulously maintained hair was all in a mess, with her refined good looks currently more youthful than dazzling. She was wearing her turquoise earrings. Kojou peered nervously at her face as her unfocused eyes looked up at the ceiling.
“You’re conscious, Asagi?”
“…Kojou?”
Asagi called out Kojou’s name in a somewhat broken voice. An expression of relief came over her face, with her usual leering grin finally returning to her lips.
“Does this mean you were watching my face while I was sleeping?”
“At least call it lookin’ after you, geez.”
Kojou’s lips twisted with a strained smile mixed in. He’d been worried she’d suffered psychological trauma from being kidnapped, but if she was flippantly shooting the breeze the moment she opened her eyes, she was probably all right.
“Where am I?”
Asagi partially sat up as she spoke.
“The school clinic. The middle school one, though.”
He thought better of adding that the high school clinic room was still closed off due to Astarte being shot.
“…The Nalakuvera?”
Asagi’s voice hardened in unease. Kojou vaguely shrugged his shoulders.
“All wrecked. Some vampire went wild and smashed ’em all. Natsuki said it was all thanks to the virus you whipped up.”
“I see. Natsuki saved us, didn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
This time Kojou made a firm nod. Technically, it was not a lie.
Unsurprisingly, Asagi flopped back on the bed in apparent relief.
“Nagisa and them?”
“They headed out to eat something. They hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. Might be best you get something in your belly, too. They’ll be taking your statement later.”
“Uwaa…what a bother…”
Asagi tossed and turned on top of the bed. Kojou made a strained smile at her characteristically rude manner of speech.
“I heard about most of it from Himeragi. Sounds like it was pretty rough.”
“Yeah. Had to use my head a little…but… Ah, right, Himeragi, huh…?”
She stopped moving while facedown, glancing sideways to look at Kojou.
“So what are you all beat-up like that for? You have blood on your uniform and you stink of sweat.”
“Uh?! Er, this is, I was all worked up when I heard you were kidnapped, er, so I fell into the sea?”
Even for Kojou, these were thin excuses, but a pitying look was what came over Asagi’s face.
“Hmm…there’s a mountain of things I wanna ask you and Himeragi later, but it’s fine. Don’t worry. I’ll forgive you, just for today.”
“Hard to rest easy the way you’re puttin’ it, but…”
Kojou’s annoyed murmur never left the inside of his mouth.
“Ah, that’s right. There is one thing I absolutely have to tell you, though.”
This said, Asagi strongly got up off the bed. Kojou sent a suspicious look back as she knelt on top of the bed in classical Japanese form. He was a bit tense, sensing that whatever Asagi was up to, no good would come from it.
“What is it?”
“Errr, before that, could you take a look at this earring? Doesn’t the gemstone look a bit loose?”
Asagi looked up at Kojou as she touched one of her earlobes. Don’t make this too much trouble, Kojou thought, drawing near her with his guard down.
“This side?”
The instant he peered at the side of Asagi’s face, she grabbed hold of Kojou’s face with both hands. Then…
“…?!”
Suddenly feeling something soft pressing on his lips, Kojou’s breath stopped.
All sound vanished from the world.
Though forceful,
it was an awkward kiss. Both of their breaths melted together.
Kojou’s head went blank. He didn’t know how much time passed.
When he returned to his senses, Asagi was back in her formal kneeling position atop the bed.
Her eyes were faintly moist as she smiled.
“So that’s how it is.”
Asagi smiled as she spoke, as if concealing a blush. Though her tone was the same as it always was, Kojou could only nod in shock at how she’d conveyed what were, by her standards, very serious feelings.
“…R-right.”
The light of the setting sun made Asagi’s cheeks glow red. The breeze blowing in from the window made her forelocks flutter.
As she seemed to brush her hair from her cheek in annoyance, her slender neck became exposed.
And Asagi’s eyes widened as she gaped at Kojou.
“Wait a… K-Kojou?! Are you all right?! Kojou?!”
She cried out in fright at the force of the blood gushing from Kojou’s nose.
That moment, the door of the clinic room opened with two girls wearing middle school uniforms emerging side by side. Realizing something was amiss from Asagi’s alarmed voice, they peered in through the gap of the curtains at the corner of the bed.
“A-Asagi, you’re awake?! I’m so glad you’re all ri… Hey, Kojou. What’s that?! A nosebleed?! Geez, that’s a lot coming out! What were you two doing?!”
Nagisa Akatsuki was in a state of confusion as she yelled. Asagi seemed to blush a bit as she stuck her tongue out.
“Mm, what I wonder. Perhaps I should say…practice for the sports festival?”
“Ehh…?”
A suspicious look came over Nagisa’s face as she looked between her older brother’s face and his friend’s.
Kojou, with a hand still pressed over his blood-covered mouth, graciously accepted the box of tissues offered to him from the side. He wiped his face and his dirty hand as the bleeding finally eased. As he touched a folded tissue to his nose…
“…I told you to reflect, did I not, senpai?”
Hearing Yukina’s voice, which seemed like an icy blade, this time he coughed violently.
Yukina’s big eyes were unexpectedly close, her upturned gaze glaring at Kojou.
Kojou, completely at a loss, desperately shook his head.
“Wait, you said to reflect, but this isn’t the same problem here…”
For some reason, Yukina’s voice was small, like that of a pouting child.
“You really are hopeless, senpai.”
Afterword
I felt like at least one girl had a whole lotta death flags set on her—she made it out alive, but are we really out of the woods…?
Anyway, I was able to crank out Strike the Blood, Volume 2.
Actually, the last volume had an extra printing on a scale completely beyond my past experiences. Thanks to that, I was able to get the next one out without incident. To all the readers who reached out to me, I am once again grateful from the bottom of my heart. Really, thank you.
In the last volume, events unfolded on a comparatively small stage centered on Kojou and Yukina, but this episode bumps the scale up quite a bit. Put in concrete terms, it wasn’t a big-shot artist, but rather a terrorist who came from overseas, making the scale feel considerably larger. Meaning now that our imperfect main character bears the (rather infamous) title of the World’s Mightiest Vampire, he won’t be treated to only small-time incidents inside the city. In this way, I thought I’d convey, a little at a time, the breadth of the world and the distribution of forces, so to speak.
New characters took the stage as well, but the recurring cast gets a real workout, too.
In particular, yes, Astarte. I’d planned from the start for her to appear again, but to be honest, I doubt readers expected her to play this much of a role. But there’s no Armed Apostle old man this time. To any fans of his, sorry… If there are any fans, that is.
To our assigned illustrator, Manyako, who provided us with such splendid illustrations this time around also, thank you very much. You’re always responding to my request to make things “less nerdy, more like a someone with a life.” I can’t thank you enough for producing splendid pieces of work that surpass my expectations time and time again.
I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank the many other people who have helped me.
The first printing of this volume was delayed by a month, and we only just barely managed to hit that schedule. To all the readers who have been inconvenienced, I’m very sorry.
And last but not least, indeed above all others, I offer my greatest thanks to all of you readers who bought this book. As I want to produce more interesting works in the future that match your high expectations, please stick with me for a while longer.
I hope to see you again next volume.
Gakuto Mikumo
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Contents
Cover
Insert
Title Page
Intro
Chapter One: From the Warlord’s Empire
Chapter Two: Revelation of the Terror
Chapter Three: The Nalakuvera
Chapter Four: The Bicorn
Outro
Afterword
Yen Newsletter
Copyright
Copyright
STRIKE THE BLOOD, Volume 2
GAKUTO MIKUMO
Cover art by Manyako
Translation by Jeremiah Bourque
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
STRIKE THE BLOOD, Volume 2 © GAKUTO MIKUMO 2011
Edited by ASCII MEDIA WORKS
First published in Japan in 2011 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.
English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through TUTTLE-MORI AGENCY, INC., Tokyo.
English translation © 2016 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
First ebook edition: January 2016
ISBN 978-0-316-34550-7
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