“Then let’s first bring the Nun back… If Iris’s words are true, it would be better for her to be with us…”
“Yeah. It’s better to talk about the rest tonight.”
With Ellie’s words full of worry, the children’s conversation came to an end.
One by one, they stood up, the sound of their footsteps growing closer. The tightly closed door of the dining room slowly opened in the quiet tension.
“I’ll wait here for the Nun, just in case.”
“If Levi comes back to the dining room before we find her, let me know right away.”
“Got it.”
Thus, the children, except for Rune, left the dining room without hesitation.
Before the children came out into the hallway, I moved my body in advance away from the entrance of the building.
I held my breath and curled up in the shadows.
Fortunately, the children proceeded straight to the entrance without any suspicion.
Only after confirming their footsteps fading away did I carefully move and quietly enter the dining room, where only Rune remained.
– Creak
“…?”
The door opened slowly, making a strange creaking sound.
As soon as I stepped inside, I locked eyes with Rune, who was sitting indifferently at the table.
“Uh? Levynia…?”
“Can we talk for a moment?”
The moment I finished speaking, a mysterious atmosphere slowly spread between Rune and me.
At that moment, the air turned cold, and an unusual silence hung in the air as if time had stopped.
“Me…?”
“Yes. Let’s call the other children later. For now, let’s have a conversation just the two of us.”
Rune tilted her head for a moment as if trying to understand what I was saying.
However, I gently ignored her gaze and calmly settled into the seat across from her, ready to converse.
“What the hell is going on?”
“…Did you overhear our conversation?”
“Yes. For some reason, I was feeling like an old, senile person.”
Rune immediately displayed an awkward expression at my cold remark, managing to corner a smile.
“Um, rather than senile… could it be that I was just genuinely worried about your health…?”
“Even if the children have that excuse, you knew my identity early on. Is there anyone who would forget their own race?”
“Ugh…!! I tried to talk them out of it…!! I told them repeatedly it couldn’t be true, but the kids didn’t listen at all…”
“Really?”
“If you heard the conversation earlier, you would have figured it out to some extent, but… The children already know that Levynia is a vampire. They’ve known for a few years now…”
I silently watched Rune as she continued to look at the ground without making eye contact with me.
“To be honest, I also had doubts about why Levynia suddenly started exposing herself to sunlight, but I didn’t think the same way the children did…”
“I told you I’m fine now.”
“I know to some extent, so I can brush it off even if I’m not fully aware of the details, but the kids can’t do that…”
The atmosphere weighed heavier by the moment.
There was tension and trembling in Rune’s voice, and I found it difficult to accept her words as they were.
“Why is that? From the look on your faces, it seems you have a rough idea that I’m not an ordinary vampire?”
“Well, that’s true, but… There are no records of vampires overcoming sunlight in any ancient texts…”
“If you understood that I’m not an ordinary vampire, couldn’t you consider it in connection with that?”
“Because until now, Levynia has been exceptionally avoiding sunlight…”
Rune’s words momentarily caused me to hold my breath.
It was a reasonable point, but at the same time, the questions spiraling in my mind started to grow, leading to increasing confusion.
As I momentarily paused to gather my thoughts, Rune, who had been stealing glances at me, suddenly blinked rapidly and began to moisten her dry lips.
“Um, since it’s come to this, can I ask you… Can you really be in the sunlight without any issue?”
At Rune’s very cautious question, I slowly raised my head, which I had been bowing.
“It seems hiding it any longer isn’t good.”
“…What?”
“Since you all already know my identity… there’s no point in trying to hide it with a brave face now.”
“…….”
“Rune, I’m sorry, but could you call all the children in here?”
At my low remark, Rune initially had a blank expression as she slowly blinked but soon appeared to have a realization, her eyes suddenly lit up as she sprang to her feet.
“Ah, yes!! I’ll go get them right away!!”
The absence of communication.
I would have preferred that the children remained unaware of the truth until the end.
However, if my attempts to hide it only served to make things more confusing between us, I felt that ultimately, it wouldn’t be right to conceal that truth any longer.
It could easily lead to distrust and conflict between us.
Rather than repeating that vicious cycle, it seemed best to reveal everything about myself to the children at this very moment.
“Rune.”
“…Yes?”
My lips were now dry.
I barely managed to organize my thoughts and strengthen my resolve, but the anxiety that had settled in a corner of my mind did not fade easily.
It wasn’t a matter of not trusting the children; it was simply my personal nervousness.
“…Will it be okay?”
I swallowed a sigh and spoke a heavy word.
At that, Rune immediately smiled brightly and said to me.
“Yes, definitely─.”
From Rune’s confident tone and smile, I could feel the deep trust and affection forged over our time together, to a startling degree.
Perhaps even if my identity had been that of a goblin, it might have been acceptable─.
“…Jinzou?”
In the solemn atmosphere created as all the children gathered back together, I took a moment of silence to observe their expressions.
“Yes. As you know, I’m not an ordinary vampire. I am a higher being than a vampire, a Jinzou.”
“W-Wait a minute… I already knew Levi was a vampire, so I’m not too shocked by that, but… what do you mean by ‘higher being’…?”
“I just said it. A being higher than a vampire.”
Contrary to how tense I had been when speaking, the children looked completely confused about the Jinzou.
No matter how much I explained that it was a being higher than a vampire, their expressions remained perplexed and curious.
“This is strange… There are no records in literature about higher races of vampires…”
“Is there really such a being in existence…?”
“Nun… Are you really okay…?”
The situation began to shift into heartfelt concern for me.
If this was a world where vampires existed, I certainly expected there to be some information regarding Jinzou.
It seemed I had been mistaken.
“J-Jinzou…?”
Just seeing Rune, who had known at least a bit about me, tilting her head in confusion confirmed that this wasn’t just a joke.
Maybe that was why.
My mind was becoming more seriously confused than ever.
“I fully understand your reactions. However, this is an undeniable truth.”
“…….”
Immediately after I finished speaking, the atmosphere fell silent.
Everyone’s gazes were fixed on me, but for some reason, their expressions turned increasingly pitiful, and their eyes grew moist.
“Why are all of you looking at me like that…? I am not imagining things, nor am I talking nonsense.”
“Levi… What on earth happened that day…? This is way more shocking than when we first learned you were a vampire…”
“No, see. On the day of that large-scale attack by the Demon Tribe, I became a Jinzou, you know?”
“Damn… If only I hadn’t been so young back then… Levi wouldn’t have turned out like this…”
Unintentionally, contrary to my intentions, the atmosphere became full of sympathy, and the children’s expressions grew lonelier.
In this dizzying situation, I wished Rune would step up to explain for me.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Rune was quite confused, albeit in a different way.
It appeared Rune thought that the reason I overcame sunlight was due to the World Tree.
“I’m so sorry, Nun…!! We were so weak… We weren’t able to help you, and just slept through it….”
“…….”
Suddenly, Ellie moved close to me and hugged me tightly, bursting into tears.
Iris, watching this, began to sniffle and added a heart-wrenching comment.
“No matter how special a vampire you are… there’s no way you could have dealt with that huge Demon Tribe army alone…”
“Stop it, Ellie, Iris… It’s useless to regret it now. It’s all in the past.”
“But…”
“Even though it’s much later, we can still protect you from now on. For the sake of Levi, who has devoted herself to us─.”
At this point, I keenly felt just how serious the lack of communication had been.
I merely wanted the children not to find out that I was a vampire, but today was the first time I realized how this could snowball into such massive problems.
“For the time being, let’s not think about going to the royal capital and stay here. That seems to be the best option.”
“Uh, yes─!! We have to take care of the Nun now, even if it’s late!!”
“I agree. It doesn’t matter whether the Nun is a human or a vampire.”
“I still don’t quite understand what’s going on… J-Jinzou…?”
In that moment where various words were exchanged around me.
I was momentarily at a loss for words, feeling as if I were a mute person who had swallowed a bee, then I finally took a deep breath as I slowly rose from my seat.
“Everyone, could you gather in the garden for a moment?”
At my low remark, there was a fleeting silence.
However, I didn’t lose my smile or my calm demeanor and quietly spoke once more.
“Never mind. Let’s just do it here.”
“L-Levi…? What are you suddenly talking about…?”
Ignoring Aizen’s puzzled question, I quietly made a small cut on my index finger, letting a drop of blood fall to the ground.
And then─.
The space that had just been a dining room was swiftly engulfed in pitch darkness, and simultaneously, the floor began to fill with shallow blood, slowly surging.
“You’re being delusional.”
The children stepped back in surprise.
But I paid no mind to their fright.
“If you can’t understand with kind words, I’ll have to show you directly.”
It was an extreme method, but it was a choice I had no other option but to make for the sake of the children’s understanding.
“I didn’t want to go this far… But well, there’s no helping it, so brace yourselves.”
