Chapter 69: A Vampire's Link and Devils
Charlotte and I end up finishes our tea while idly chatting about mana and how it works when Luna finally returns.
"Sorry~ I'm back." She says while joining us at the table, sitting down with a sigh.
"What you sell this time?"
"Just some demonized wolf blood."
"Demonized?" I end up asking the question as it's a new word I didn't understand.
"You know those wolves that are in the lab?" Luna replies to me as I recall them, giving a slight nod to her. "Well those are wolves that have been in the presence of too much mana. In most cases, animals that take on too much mana ends up becoming extremely dangerous which then needs to be subjugated."
In a weird way, I feel like I relate to those wolves...
"Is it possible that I'm also demonized?"
"Pfft."
"Hehe."
Both Luna and Charlotte end up chuckling at my words as I get the sense that I might just be overthinking something. Is it only possible for animals?
"It is possible for humans and demi-humans to be demonized, with demi-humans being more common. But we call those devils." Luna ends up continuing the explanation. "Devils are a lot more dangerous since they still retain their consciousness, but it's a very rare occurrence."
"How rare?"
"Well, you'd have to expend all your mana and then take in mana from the outside that is far too powerful for you to contain. It's a lot more common in animals since they exhaust their mana more frequently than humans or demi-humans."
So I guess that's why they laughed earlier when I thought that maybe I was demonized... Wait.
"Charlotte." I end up facing Charlotte this time as she had just finished filling up our glasses.
"Hmm?"
"Those handcuffs you used during that time. They take away a person's mana, right?"
"Yes, most of it at least."
"Then couldn't that be used to help turn someone into a devil?"
"..." Both of them fall silent at my words, leaving me in wonder.
"That's- the only real way to forcefully turn someone into a devil." Charlotte responds in a more serious tone with Luna nodding beside her. "Some criminals would kidnap people in the human world, bringing them back into this world and forcing their mana inside of them. There's been many cases like that over the years."
"Nn... It's not a pleasant sight."
"Huh?" Hearing Luna add onto what Charlotte was saying left me a bit confused.
"Ah, that's right. Auntie, you've seen a devil, right?"
"I have. They're quite dangerous. Even I struggle with them. I usually just try and avoid them and leave it to the others." Others?
"Like Charlotte's mom?"
"Yes."
I wonder if that's what Mell is up to right now... From the sounds of it, these devils sounds quite dangerous if Luna prefers to avoid them. That would make Charlotte also prefer to avoid them, right? I've seen Charlotte fight first hand, and I've only ever seen her lose that one time against that man in glasses. So to think that something else even more dangerous could be out there...
"A-anyway~ That's enough of that talk, okay?"
"O-okay." Hearing Luna wanting to finish that talk, I end up stopping my questions there. It does seem like an unpleasant thing to talk about.
"I'll go fill us up some more te-! Suddenly, as Luna was getting up, in a blink of an eye, she quickly reaches her right hand over to her left shoulder, her face contorting as if she's in pain.
"Auntie!" Charlotte in a panic also gets up, wanting to inspect Luna as she still looks to be clearly in pain. Was I blind? I'm sure I didn't see anything happen...
"I-I'm okay! But I'll be back! You two stay here! Charlotte, could you man the front for me!" In a rush, Luna bolts out the room, not waiting for a reply. But as she leaves, I could see her left shoulder; there was no sign of injury whatsoever...
"W-what happened?" I end up asking Charlotte, a bit worried about what happened just now.
"I'm not sure..." So even Charlotte doesn't know... "Wait, could it be?"
"Huh?"
"Remember when I told you about the vampire's link? How when a person becomes a vampire, they feel the pain of the vampire that turned them?"
"Yes? Wait... So then, Luna just now felt pain from that vampire?"
"Maybe... It's just a guess."
If that's the case, after seeing Luna run out like that with a worried look in her eyes, It really does sound like being a vampire is quite a scary thing. Having your life end if the vampire that turned you into one dies...
"Here, let's put your mask back on. I have to take over the store for a bit."
"Okay."
With that, Charlotte puts the mask back over my eyes as we both head on out to the front, with Charlotte manning the front desk, while I had a little look around, making sure not to disturb anything in case it's something important.
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