Baigarten introduced himself with a gloomy expression.
“I was sent to this school as Sarka Hütivras’s <Guardian>. I have three main duties.
First, to help Sarka adapt to human society.
Second, to protect him so his identity isn’t discovered.
Third, ……to monitor and control him so he doesn’t harm other humans.”
Baigarten’s voice grew increasingly dark.
“Through countless efforts over the past year, I’ve barely succeeded in getting Sarka to ‘pretend’ to act just like other humans and be a diligent, polite student.
It was the fruit of his father’s strict orders and my persistent guidance, threats, harassment, and pleading.
……But I’ve only succeeded with appearances. Despite desperate attempts over a year and a half, that boy’s mindset hasn’t changed at all.
He stubbornly holds onto <Pureblood> ideology—that humans are an ‘inferior species’ and vampires are a ‘superior species,’ and therefore ‘humans and vampires can never be equals.'”
Ruslan held his breath as he recalled Sarka’s cold voices.
The voice that calmly declared as if teaching a dog in the auxiliary library,
And the fierce look in his eyes that rejected Ruslan’s story about vampires and humans actually coexisting as equals, his expression showing he didn’t even want to hear it.
Baigarten’s face grew increasingly serious.
“……From the moment Sarka first arrived at this school, he’s been twisted up inside with rage at his father. If he could, he’d want to kill every human in this school right now like slaughtering a herd of pigs to vent his anger.
But he knows if even one person gets hurt, his father won’t let him off, so he’s been restraining himself to minor incidents that get on my nerves.
Nothing serious enough for anyone to die or get badly hurt, so it’s burdensome to report and escalate things, but too unsettling to ignore—he’s been maintaining this precarious level.”
Baigarten made a troubled expression, like someone exhausted from handling a very clever and difficult beast.
Ruslan suddenly recalled that among all the incidents Sarka had caused using his supernatural powers, there had never been one where someone was seriously injured or could have died.
Whether with Ruslan or Bruce’s gang, Sarka’s attitude when using his powers was closer to mischief than murderous intent. Light mischief that didn’t cause serious harm to anyone.
Ruslan had thought this was Sarka’s character. That even while disliking and looking down on humans, he didn’t truly want to hurt anyone.
But……
Looking at Baigarten’s anxious expression, Ruslan realized he had completely misunderstood Sarka.
It wasn’t mischief. At least, it wasn’t mischief meant to avoid hurting anyone.
It was the behavior of a starving beast caged behind bars, looking at chicks beyond the bars, making claw sounds to irritate its keeper.
Not crossing the bars. But not letting the keeper relax either. Scratching between the bars deliberately while looking straight into the keeper’s eyes.
The claw sounds of a beast refusing to be tamed.
Only now did Ruslan fully understand why Sarka had dragged him into his room.
Why, instead of killing him or erasing his memory after his identity was discovered, Sarka kept him nearby despite occasionally being annoyed and irritated.
That impudent <human> Guardian, Baigarten Jung.
Because he wanted to upset this irritating man.
When news spread that Sarka, who wanted to tear apart and kill all humans, had suddenly taken in a human commoner as a roommate, that human Guardian would surely come running to the school, grinding his teeth in anxiety.
The answer was clear even recalling how Sarka showed a deliberately indifferent attitude in front of an anxious, bullying Baigarten, and sarcastically told Baigarten, who was urging him to erase memories, “I’ll think about it if you kneel and beg.”
This beast was clutching a chick that had walked into the cage on its own feet, enjoying the look in the keeper’s eyes as he fretted that the chick might be crushed.
So……
Sarka had never intended to listen to a word Ruslan said from the beginning.
Ruslan unconsciously felt his strength drain slightly.
From the time he rolled under the bookshelf in the archive room desperately crying out, he had sensed that Sarka had no intention of even half-listening to him.
But still, he had hoped that if he found an opportunity to tell Kanya’s story, if Sarka learned about that fellow vampire woman’s touching circumstances, he might open his heart a little.
Even if Sarka still couldn’t trust humans, at least he would understand that Ruslan was sincere.
But to Sarka, it didn’t matter at all whether Ruslan was sincere or not. There was never any need to be curious about Ruslan’s story from the beginning.
To Sarka, Ruslan was just a fly trapped in a glass jar temporarily until the keeper came running back.
Once he was satisfied tormenting the keeper, he could just erase his memory and dispose of him then.
As planned by Sarka, this unfortunate keeper’s face was full of worry and anxiety.
His thick jaw heavy with weighty unease, Baigarten fiddled with his cane and frowned.
“……He’s been causing minor incidents all along, but he’s never escalated things like this before. It was just pranks worth overlooking, like lightly tapping the backs of kids’ heads he didn’t like…….
Probably what you said about ‘wanting to be friends’ and ‘protecting him’ really rubbed him the wrong way. Those are exactly the words his <Coexistence Faction> father has been forcing on him for two years.
On top of that……he gets so violent whenever his father’s mentioned that I can’t even handle him…….
Not even erasing his memory……. I don’t know what he’s planning to do…….”
Baigarten’s expression grew increasingly dark. His gaze scattered this way and that as he anxiously chewed his lip. His mind seemed complicated, trying to figure out how to respond to this situation.
After being lost in thought for a while, Baigarten suddenly turned his head to look at Ruslan.
When their eyes met, Baigarten’s gaze became complicated. A heavy, bitter voice rumbled through the air and flowed out quietly.
“……The reason I’m telling you this……is because I’m worried about you.”
Ruslan blinked and looked at Baigarten.
Baigarten’s expression was very serious and dark.
He furrowed his brow solemnly with an openly uncomfortable look.
“You know, don’t you? That what I’ve just told you absolutely must not leak outside.”
Ruslan nodded and gulped.
The stories that flowed from Baigarten’s mouth were shocking. Ruslan couldn’t even imagine how long this secret had been thoroughly kept.
Baigarten looked at Ruslan with an utterly grave expression and said sternly.
“Sarka will erase all your memories before long. That boy has absolutely no intention of leaving alone a human who knows his identity. When that happens, today’s conversation will all be cleanly erased too.
……Until then, I……hope you don’t get hurt as much as possible.”
With his last words, Baigarten’s voice sank low.
Ruslan stared directly into Baigarten’s eyes.
Baigarten looked straight into Ruslan’s eyes with a serious gaze and solemnly warned him.
“Sarka sees you now as nothing more than a mouse a cat plays with before eating. The more you irritate his temperament, the more danger you’re in. You gain nothing. That boy won’t change.”
Bitterness suddenly rose on Baigarten’s face.
“……I once tried to cajole that boy and open his heart too.
I had such an absurdly naive thought that even though we’re different species, we’re both <person> to <person>, so if I treated him sincerely, there’d be no reason we couldn’t become personally close.”
As Baigarten continued speaking, deep disgust seeped into his gaze. Clear hatred and disillusionment lingered on his frowning face.
“……I was foolish. It’s ridiculous. No matter what I do, that boy just finds me pathetic like a cat watching an impudent mouse rub against it. He’ll just watch me try, and when he gets bored, he’ll trample and dispose of me. ……Just like what he’s doing to you now.”
Baigarten extended his hand holding the cane straight out to point at Ruslan.
Baigarten’s gaze was chilly. Like firmly gripping the arm of a foolish child about to put their hand in fire, he advised with a resolute expression.
“That boy will try to hold onto you now if only to upset me. I’ll do my best to pull you out of this crucible even if I have to threaten him with his father’s orders, but honestly I can’t guarantee how quickly I’ll succeed.
……So while you’re in that room, do your best to please that boy and don’t get uppity. Don’t even mention words like <friend> or anything that would provoke a <Pureblood>. Since he was just irritated by a lowly human daring to claim to be <equal> to him, prostrate yourself flat at that boy’s feet and stay still as if dead.
Then that boy will poke at you appropriately until his interest fades, and soon he’ll erase your memory and send you back to your original room as if nothing happened. That boy knows I won’t tolerate this dangerous prank being dragged out too long.”
“…….”
“But the more you get uppity and dare to show what he’d call the ‘impudent idea’ of <coexisting> with a vampire, the more twisted up inside that boy will be. He won’t kill or hurt you out of awareness of my surveillance, but instead he’ll torment you until you want to die, mock you miserably, and commit all sorts of petty acts until you give up your beliefs. It’s like he’s found a target to vent his rage accumulated over two years against his father, me, and all the humans at this school.
……So if you want to come out of that room safely, you’d better remember my advice. <Ruslan>.”
Baigarten’s expression was stern and chilly. The advice of a man who had kept and controlled a huge secret made it impossible to answer rashly by its weight alone. Ruslan pressed his lips firmly shut and swallowed dryly with a stiff face.
After staring at Ruslan with a frightening gaze for a while, Baigarten soon sighed and rose from his seat. Adjusting his hat with a tired expression, Baigarten ordered in an exhausted voice.
“……Wait here for now. I’ll try persuading that boy one more time.”
As if strategizing, Baigarten’s serious gaze moved busily.
He gripped his cane resolutely like someone heading into a very difficult war, then muttered in a gloomy voice.
“……I really hope that shortly you’ll forget this entire conversation and leave here without even greeting me. That would truly make me happy.”
Ruslan couldn’t answer anything and just remained silent.
Baigarten looked down at Ruslan with a somber gaze, then soon turned around with the sound of his shoes.
Ruslan blankly watched the man who strode away throw open the door.
Without looking back at Ruslan, Baigarten closed the door and headed toward the room where Sarka was.
When the footsteps echoing through the corridor stopped and silence flowed, Ruslan unconsciously let out a big breath. His mind was complicated.
The vampires had survived.
And quite a large number of vampires at that.
Some of them, like Kanya, didn’t antagonize humans,
And were <coexisting>, protecting each other.
Thinking about that fact made his chest swell. Rising joy heated his entire body and he even felt like he was floating into the air.
However, Ruslan couldn’t help but keep thinking of one fact.
But <Sarka Hütivras>,
That vampire boy Ruslan had found after 8 years would absolutely never become friends with Ruslan.
Ruslan bit his lip.
For a long while, Ruslan mulled over Baigarten’s words. He thought about those confident warnings and worried advice. All sorts of thoughts tangled up complicatedly in his head.
But no matter how much he thought, he only became aware of the reality that Ruslan wasn’t in a position where he could choose anything.
……Did I have any choice in the first place?
From the beginning, it was a relationship that would end once Sarka got tired of it.
Because Ruslan was nothing more than a toy that brat Sarka had played with for a brief moment.
Once Sarka’s interest faded, once he got bored, at that moment Ruslan would lose all his memories and disappear from Sarka’s side as if he’d never existed from the start.
Back into a completely disconnected world though in the same space, as had been the case for the past year and a half.
Ruslan thought he wanted to burst into tears.
Though he’d decided to respect whatever choice the vampire he met again made, he still didn’t want it to end futilely like this.
He didn’t want to lose this joy he’d barely grasped without even remembering it.
He didn’t want to curl up alone again in that dark, deep darkness knowing nothing.
Even if his body shattered, Ruslan thought he wanted to remain in this world just a little longer.
Beside that cruel vampire boy who hated and despised humans.
When the windows were locked and the dark room grew increasingly dim, turning objects monochrome, the closed door suddenly opened.
Ruslan, who had been sitting in the darkness, suddenly lifted his head.
He saw a form standing askew in the backlight.
It was Sarka Hütivras with an extremely irritated expression.
Ruslan unconsciously swallowed dryly and straightened his back.
Sarka was looking down at Ruslan blankly with a gloomy gaze. His green eyes held slight annoyance and fatigue languidly.
Like someone exhausted from forcibly enduring and listening to Baigarten’s desperate nagging, Ruslan thought.
Sarka frowned deeply as if extremely irritated, then spat out words slowly in a languid voice.
“……I’ll give you a choice.”
“……!”
Ruslan tensed up, pressing his lips firmly shut with only his eyes wide open looking up at Sarka.
Sarka looked down at Ruslan obliquely with narrowed eyes.
It was a gaze sharply filled with disillusionment and displeasure toward a human who dared to annoy him despite being an utterly insignificant insect.
Slowly, Sarka declared indifferently in a cold, dry voice. As if stating the facts that the sky is blue and the sun is round.
“……You’re a lowly, powerless, inferior human brat.”
“…….”
“Acknowledge that fact and go back to your original room. And live according to your station.
……Then I won’t bother you anymore either.”
In Sarka’s furrowed brow as he cut off each word with a tired expression was only indifferent irritation toward an annoying insect.
Ruslan realized that Baigarten had attacked Sarka with a clever strategy. That keeper seemed to have shown this beast his will to make him just as annoyingly miserable to death if he didn’t give up that insignificant toy. With an attitude so persistent and tenacious it would sicken even that cold-hearted beast.
Sarka was looking down at Ruslan expressionlessly with no more interest than looking at a dead insect.
Gone was the face that had been amused while poking with a finger, intrigued by how lively he was unexpectedly—Sarka’s face now belonged to a boy about to release a fly from a glass jar and return to bed.
An indifferent boy about to end meaningless pranks and return to boring daily life.
Ruslan clenched his fists and swallowed heavily.
The moment he accepted this choice, all of Ruslan’s memories would be erased.
He would return to being the gloomy scholarship student with haggard eyes holed up in the library.
Biting his lip and looking at Sarka’s indifferent face, Ruslan asked roughly in a voice that sank with strange force.
“……What if I refuse?”
Suddenly, Sarka’s green eyes, which had been indifferently cast down, slowly rose to look straight into Ruslan’s navy blue eyes.
Ruslan’s eyes flashed brilliantly in the darkness, emitting a blue light.
At the strange longing and obsession in that gaze, Sarka blinked indifferently.
Like a beast holding the nape of half-dead prey suddenly realizing the prey was still alive and wriggling.
“…….”
Sarka looked down at Ruslan blankly with an odd expression. As if hesitating whether to just sever his breath and make him quiet like this, or release the prey again and check how alive it still was.
The silence ended, and Sarka pulled up the corners of his mouth in a faint smile. Ruslan unconsciously swallowed dryly.
Sarka’s green eyes changed like a cat observing a mouse with broken legs.
A bored cat realizing it was still okay to play with and enjoy it a bit more.
Observing every corner of Ruslan’s tense face thoroughly, Sarka replied gently in a voice tinged with languid amusement.
“……Then it’s up to me, isn’t it?”
