“I don’t want to open the basement storage. It’s dirty and scary.”
As he uttered the words dirty and scary, Elijah realized that this cabin he lived in was actually the dirtiest place. The basement storage that had been closed all this time would be much cleaner. Igrit pointed this out and laughed.
Elijah closed his eyes tightly. The small space that appeared when he opened the floor beneath the dining table contained books that hadn’t been burned yet. Things he had once read avidly, but now were merely kindling or scrap paper for letter backs.
His head throbbed. Even amid this, the baby kept crying. He couldn’t just endure this noise any longer.
Finally, as if making a decision, Elijah opened his eyes.
* * *
Leo Artes, Director of the Eastern Magic Tower Research Institute, describes it as follows:
‘It does not age, fall ill, or die, and can live forever as long as it continues to be supplied with human blood. Cunning and cruel by nature, it also possesses the tenacity to never let go of prey once it enters its sight. Because of these traits, it can never coexist with humans… (omitted)…
One vampire is like dozens of soldiers. Even if as many mages as possible join forces to attack at once, annihilation is nearly impossible.
This is partly because their bodies have a recovery ability that cannot be understood by modern knowledge, but there is something else to fear more than that.
According to ancient texts, sometimes their souls create new bodies with nothing but strong obsession alone. This is why one cannot be completely at ease even if their body has been destroyed.
If you are a renowned mage who executed a vampire at the very forefront, you may have to live in fear of vampires for the rest of your life.
An obsession once carved into them never disappears. Whether it’s deep resentment or merely an attachment stemming from innate madness.
If not in this life, then in the next—to get their hands on you, they will willingly endure the hardship of parasitizing a human body to create a new one.
Therefore, if you discover it, it’s best to kill it when it’s a baby with a relatively weak body and dim reason. There’s no need to incur resentment from such a tenacious being, is there?’
It’s unknown whether vampires actually existed in the world, but various records commonly describe certain things.
Form: Red eyes. Pale skin. Beautiful and androgynous appearance enough to bewitch people.
Characteristics: Fangs present from birth. Faster growth rate than humans. Once they become adults, they no longer age. Low body temperature. Very high intelligence.
They are born by borrowing a human womb, and this is unrelated to specific gender, sexual experience, or lifestyle. Among the records, there was even a case of one developing in a very young boy’s womb, so it can only be explained as terribly bad luck.
Vampires absorb the blood of the mother’s body and grow into a fetus in just a few hours, ultimately cutting their way out of the belly themselves. No human who has expelled a vampire has survived.
Finding the few remaining records among dozens of books, more than half of which had already been eaten by worms, wasn’t easy. Elijah sat on the floor, leaving the baby crying its throat raw on the dining table, and searched through books for a long time before finally discovering a few lines of records.
Vampires, also called vampires, were really more like creatures existing only in legends rather than actually existing.
Even his master, who had been so passionate about dragon stories during ancient biology classes, had not bothered to explain vampires. His argument was that while dragons might still be living somewhere, vampires were nothing more than tales made up by storytellers.
But somehow, Elijah was about 70% certain that the baby on the dining table was that thing. Had he developed paranoia from being secluded for so long? From the moment he first saw the baby, he had the impression it wasn’t human.
This was despite the fact that the only common traits he could immediately verify were red eyes, pure white skin, and rice grain-like fangs visible when it opened its mouth.
“I really don’t want to do this…”
Elijah sighed and looked at Igrit once, then at the baby once. If this baby was an ordinary human baby, what he was about to attempt would be an extremely bizarre thing to do.
Shh, shh… As Elijah picked it up and gently soothed it, the baby’s crying subsided a little then grew louder again. Picking up the kitchen knife he had no use for except when cutting vegetables, he looked down at the baby.
This really was something he didn’t want to do. But there was no method more certain than this.
Raising the knife, he squeezed his eyes shut and hesitated for a long time. And then, in the end.
“Ah…”
He cut his own finger. Ah, ugh… Elijah groaned softly. Though it was a wound barely a knuckle deep, it hurt too much. Perhaps because he cut too shallowly, blood didn’t come out well either. He brought the forcibly squeezed blood to the baby’s mouth.
The red blood seeped into the mouth that was round and open from crying. The baby, who had refused everything that entered its mouth for two whole days, scrunched up its face tightly and fussed this time too.
As expected, there’s no way. Master was right. There’s no way vampires actually exist…
Just as Elijah felt guilty for needlessly feeding blood to a perfectly normal baby and was about to quickly pull his hand away, the baby pulled its hand out from the blanket and grabbed Elijah’s finger.
Silence suddenly arrived. For a moment, Elijah got goosebumps all over his body. The baby, who had stopped crying as if it were a lie, brought Elijah’s finger to its mouth and sucked.
The eyes that had been scrunched up from crying slowly blinked as they looked up at Elijah. They were red like blood.
“…”
The small hand gripped Elijah’s finger even tighter and sucked eagerly. All while making eye contact with Elijah as if it had reason.
Elijah plopped down on the chair and stared at the baby as if entranced. The sight of the baby, who wouldn’t drink even a sip of water, sweetly sucking his finger like milk was chilling yet somehow made him feel proud.
That’s right. Elijah was extremely proud.
“…You really eat this? Is this your staple food?”
It was a question close to talking to himself, but at that moment, the baby smiled. The eyes, still wet with tears, curved prettily, and the cute mouth corners spread wide with delight.
Elijah smiled along with the baby without realizing it. After only seeing the face all crumpled up from crying, seeing it like this again, the baby was so pretty.
More than anything else Elijah had seen in his life.
“Ah, it hurts.”
Pain was felt in the finger that had been surrounded by moist mucous membrane. It was a stinging pain enough to bring tears to his eyes. Soon Elijah realized the baby was biting through the skin to draw blood on its own.
The biting strength was unbelievably strong for a newborn baby. He was scared that at this rate, his finger bone might be crushed completely.
Still, Elijah didn’t withdraw his hand. The baby that had been crying for two whole days had finally stopped crying and started eating something, so he couldn’t take it away now.
* * *
“August 16th.
Are you well, Master?
It has started to rain. I hope you will understand with a generous heart that my handwriting is a mess. My fingers are not in good condition.
Yesterday, I finally succeeded in making the baby stop crying. Would you believe me if I said that’s the reason my hand is not in good condition?
You definitely did not believe in the existence of vampires, Master. However, the baby was, as I expected, a vampire. If you were alive, Master, we could have experienced this amazing thing together, which is such a shame.
The baby is really pretty. It doesn’t know strangers, smiles well, and is gentle.
What would you have done with this baby, Master? I don’t know well. I’m still thinking about it.
—From your inadequate disciple, Elijah.”
Kill it! Kill it quickly! Igrit made a fuss. It’s better to kill it before it becomes an adult! You have to kill it while it’s young and weak!
Of course, that’s what the records said. Since control or annihilation becomes very difficult once it becomes an adult, you should kill it when it’s a baby.
But what would they know? In any case, the author who wrote the ancient biology book and the experts who added their opinions to that book probably never actually saw a vampire.
“How can I kill such a young baby?”
Elijah muttered, holding the baby with one arm and his other hand placed in the baby’s mouth. The index finger of the right hand holding the baby was wrapped in thick cloth. The fingertip, tattered from being bitten so much, throbbed with pain.
“When it’s this good and pretty…”
How do you know it’s good? When that thing becomes an adult, you might get eaten! Igrit couldn’t control its temper and toppled backward. The heavy pomegranate head hit the wall with a thud.
“Let’s watch a little more. We don’t know what it’ll actually be like.”
Perhaps all the records about vampires were wrong information. What credibility could armchair theories written by those who didn’t even know have?
“If I teach it well… who knows? It might become a good vampire.”
You’re going to raise that thing? How is a fool who can’t do anything going to raise a child? Someone who can’t even handle a human baby can handle a vampire?
Elijah looked down at the baby sucking his finger. The lips that had regained color were dyed with blood and were very red.
Look at those bright red fangs. So creepy… That child is a monster. You have to kill it! No matter what Igrit said, Elijah paid no attention and stroked the roundly puffed cheeks.
