Chapter 46

“…Am I the only one being controlled?”

Mr. Layton spoke.

“Here, there is a dog. The dog grew up watching its mother, who wore a collar from a young age. Seeing its owner, it always wagged its tail and licked their hand, thinking it was natural. Priest, we vampires are that kind of race.”

The power of domination, called the ability of vampires, is actually a chain of existence that binds each other.

“If you are born as a high-ranking vampire, you can dominate the lower class forever. And you think that’s natural. The dominators think it’s natural for the dominated to be dominated, and the dominated have no complaints. I, too, thought it was natural and lived that way.”

Until I realized that it wasn’t natural in the Empire.

Of course, the Empire is also a class society. Those born as nobles dominate the commoners.

But there is a clear line even in that. Even commoners can become nobles if they have talent or achieve merit, and nobles can fall if they squander their wealth.

Class mobility isn’t a common story, but it’s not something that rarely happens either.

But vampires don’t have that.

“Well, actually, I’m not in a position to complain. I was born as a Lord, so… except for the Queen, I was in a position to dominate, not to be dominated.”

“Is the vampires’ power of domination that strong?”

“Strong enough to make you die if ordered. It’s not so much mental domination as blood domination, but there’s no way to overturn it after the fact.”

Their society is essentially one body, so it’s common sense that the lower ranks must follow the orders from above. Just as it’s natural for the limbs to move when the head commands.

Since vampires are a different race from us, it’s hard to definitively say this is wrong.

The Lord has entrusted me with the decision, but this isn’t a matter for an outsider like me to judge right or wrong.

So, I carefully handed the bell of commandment to Mr. Layton. A miracle remains a miracle even if it leaves my hand. It will exert its power once without needing more strength.

“What does this mean?”

“Now I understand the Lord’s will. If this bell rings once, you can be freed from the power of domination, but you will also lose the power to dominate others.”

Now I understand the angel’s cryptic words.

The Lord desires humans to be free, but that doesn’t mean the freedom to bind others.

-This is the Lord’s will for your second prayer. You who seek freedom. If you are willing to respect others’ freedom as much as your own, I will gladly grant you freedom.

You cannot maintain the power of domination while shedding the constraints of being dominated.

At least, you shouldn’t seek such an answer from the Lord. This is the Lord’s will.

But that will is not coercion. It’s merely an answer given to those who seek it.

If you don’t like this answer, you don’t have to accept it.

“Whether you use this bell or not is up to you.”

I have no reason or authority to decide his life.

Ultimately, one’s life is a path one must walk oneself. The Lord can extend a hand to lift those groaning under unbearable hardships from the pit of suffering, but He won’t make life’s decisions for them.

That right belongs solely to Duke Layton himself. What he does with this miracle is now his own heart’s matter.

He can hang this bell on a doorknob as a decoration or throw it in the trash. From the moment I handed this miracle to Mr. Layton, it left my hands.

Hesitating, wavering, unable to hide his troubled expression, he took the bell.

He put it in his pocket and said nothing more. His face was filled with complex emotions.

So, I also said nothing. As if nothing had happened between us.

Just adding one more choice to his options, my mission was complete. No, strictly speaking, it wasn’t quite over yet.

The Lord did not grant my first prayer, saying I already had the capability to solve this problem myself.

“Duke.”

“Yes… Ah, yes?!”

I woke him from his silence, lost in thought, his mind seemingly tangled.

“May I briefly infuse your being with the Lord’s sacredness to examine how the Curse of the Sun operates? We need to understand it to find a solution.”

“Ah, of course… Of course. I’ll help in any way I can.”

Mr. Layton readily offered his forehead.

Placing my hand on his forehead, I closed my eyes and infused sacredness. Almost simultaneously, a vile, dreadful malice transmitted from the far reaches of the world. It was terrifyingly strong, beyond human capacity. It was on a different scale.

Hatred at a level no human, no matter how resentful, could ever emit.

It felt as if it came from the sun on the opposite side of the world. The sun, which should merely illuminate the world without emotion, was cursing them with will.

Even on a night devoid of sunlight, the loathing was palpable. Had they been enduring this hatred all along?

‘The Ancient God is part of the universe,’ it was said.

A curse cast by a part of the universe that had abandoned its ego.

This meant the universe, though it is part of it, no longer welcomes these vampires and is ready to expel them at any moment. Slowly removing my hand from his forehead, I asked.

“By any chance, are the numbers of vampires decreasing?”

“…Yes. I’m not sure if I should tell you this, but hiding the truth from someone like you, Priest, would only make things harder for us. I don’t know how you noticed, but yes.”

“So, avoiding sunlight isn’t the solution. This curse is more like the Law of the Universe turning against you. Even if you flee from the sun, the curse’s medium, it will catch up eventually.”

Sunlight bathes the entire earth; where could be an exception?

The Ancient God’s wrath, carried by light, is shining somewhere in the world at this very moment, accumulating in the earth and sea. That wrath, while it doesn’t affect other creatures, adversely affects vampires.

“……”

“Duke?”

Hoo. He let out a deep sigh. Only after seeing the shadow on his face did I realize he had something difficult to say. Without pressing for an answer, I waited a bit, and he slowly began to speak.

“Your words are correct, Priest. Our clan is slowly… very slowly becoming extinct.”

“The number of children being born is decreasing, and the rate of deformities is increasing. Ancient vampires could transform into various forms, including statues and mist, but now only the Queen and her daughter possess such abilities.”

“Other pure bloodlines have either died out or degraded to Lords. The Queen doesn’t want to acknowledge it, but we are facing extinction. We’re just living until we die.”

Even if we hide deep underground,

Or flee ten thousand leagues under the sea, we will inevitably face this end.

The universe is trying to expel us; can my power reverse this situation?

“Truly cornered.”

“That’s why we cling to you, Priest. No one else can solve this problem.”

The Princess’s words made Mr. Layton nod. Indeed.

The quickest way to resolve the Curse of the Sun is to eliminate the Ancient God, the source of the curse. If that’s difficult, then destroying the sun, the medium of the curse, is another method.

Of course, it’s easier said than done, and the feasibility is virtually nonexistent. Even if somehow achieved, it would be meaningless. The Law of the Universe isn’t something that can be killed, and even if one succeeded in removing it, no one knows what would happen next.

Hypothetically, the universe would survive. Even if one law changes, the contents might alter, but the universe wouldn’t perish. But could we, living within it, survive?

That’s a question no sage could answer.

The sun, well, talking about it is just tiring. Even Grimudo wouldn’t attempt such a thing.

And even if successful, what next? If the sun disappears, what follows, as anyone could predict, is extinction. Humanity and all terrestrial races would almost certainly perish, and the world would freeze solid.

This curse is called a curse for convenience, but in reality, it’s a modification of the Law of the Universe.

Thus, asking to lift the curse is also impractical. It’s impossible to even communicate with the Ancient God, and even if a message were conveyed, the likelihood of refusal is very high.

We must first consider whether a new ego has even emerged to discuss feasibility.

“Can you do it…?”

Seeing Mr. Layton’s earnest expression, I shook my head.

“I don’t know.”

It’s impossible to fix. But creating a shelter,

Covering them with a shield against the Curse of the Sun might be feasible.

For that, a new authority must be crafted. Exactly what kind of authority needs to be created requires some thought.

“But it’s not entirely impossible.”

Because the ego of the Ancient God who cast the Curse of the Sun has already passed into eternal slumber.

Then, it’s already a dead law. Dead laws are subjects of inquiry, not obedience.

Times have changed, and those the Ancient God was angry at have long since died.

Only their innocent descendants remain on this earth, generation after generation becoming sacrificial lambs to a curse that has lost its purpose.

If a dead law torments the living, it’s a matter that should be resolved.

But how can it be resolved? What authority must be created?

Can my meager skills assemble such an authority?

“I have a son.”

Casually, a statement thrown out.

But everyone flinched. Me too.

“He was born with only one leg. Even as he grew, his right foot only reached his thigh. His eyes aren’t red like mine but white and empty. Priest, my child doesn’t know light.”

“Do you think my child is peculiar? Not at all. I’m beginning to feel our race’s lifespan is ending. It’s just that before my son was born deformed, I was deliberately ignoring the changes. Even my lineage, as a Lord, is like this. Commoners say that if they have two children, one is deformed.”

As if he had rehearsed these words in his heart many times, fluently like flowing water,

He simply confessed to me. He confessed his sins.

“When we heard such stories, we ordered the children to be taken to the mountains and abandoned.”

“What?!”

“It’s the Law of the Universe at work. Medicine or surgery can’t fix it. At first, we pitied those children, but gradually, we began to loathe them. Later, we called them mongrels.”

I remained silent, the Princess was furious, and Roka couldn’t hide her shock.

Sin remains sin even if regretted later, and it can never be washed away or erased. If such acts were truly committed, there’s no way to undo them. I kept my mouth shut, only hearing his voice.

“It was Duke Shimira’s will. But participating in it is my sin. To maintain the pure vampire bloodline, we preemptively removed the defective. I agreed under the pretext, purely out of my own volition. If I had resisted and been dominated, I might have had something to say, but that’s not the case. Who can I blame?”

“Duke Shimira, has he lost his mind? Even if the founder promised the Vlad family a pardon, to commit such atrocities believing in that? Against helpless infants?”

Mr. Layton silently bowed his head. After a while, he spoke again.

“When my child was born deformed, I finally understood something.”

“Of course! Because your son…”

Now is not the time for anger, so I calmed the Princess and gestured for him to continue.

He, looking more weary than before, opened his mouth again.

“It’s ridiculous. To decisively order the death of others’ children, yet unable to do the same to my own, hiding and raising him. The Queen doesn’t even know I have a child.”

“Confessing your sins without excuse or avoidance is already a significant act. That significance doesn’t absolve your sins, but those who realize their mistakes and repent are naturally different from those who don’t.”

The chains of sin cannot be broken; one can only carry them and walk.

But one can gain the strength to walk. That strength comes from helping others.

Everything on earth cannot be free from sin; it’s just that some sins are heavier than others.

Unless you’re an angel in heaven, everyone accumulates sins as they live.

“Priest. I am a sinner who deserves to die. But my son… and my kin, who must bear the karma of destruction simply for being born as vampires, please save them.”

He pleaded earnestly, again and again.

“Are we to sit here, flailing helplessly against the sun, only to keep running away? Is there no way to escape this terrible curse?”

“No, that’s not it. But I need time. Time!”

I replied. Just wait a few days.

Not a year, not a month, just a few days should be enough.

Originally, what I cannot do, no amount of time would make possible,

But since the Lord said this is within my capability, it shouldn’t take too long.

“I will create the authority to save you all. And with that authority, I will redeem your soul.”

Placing my hand on his bowed head, I simply comforted him.

“The price is merely to help others within your power until the end of your life. Not to repay a debt. For your own sake, do this.”

He looked up at me in surprise. I didn’t avoid his blood-red eyes.

Instead, with my left hand, I grasped the air and pulled out something. Authority, the Baptizer’s Flask.

A crude imitation of the Lord’s miracle, the Reviving Spring Water.

Compared to a spring that could easily bless an entire village with holy water, this is a trivial ability that would dry up if one person quenched their thirst.

But even this trivial ability can save someone.

“The price for helping your son will be separate.”

What’s contained in the flask is water, authority, the Lord’s mercy,

Enough to liberate one person from a crippled body.

“Not before the Lord, not before me, but simply go to those you’ve harmed and repent. Whether forgiveness is granted or not, offer a sincere apology. That’s all I ask for in exchange for this flask.”

Taking the Baptizer’s Flask with trembling hands, he said nothing more to me.

He also didn’t speak to me. Just in silence, unable to open his mouth, he bowed his head. Occasionally, he glanced up at me, but if our eyes seemed about to meet, he quickly looked down. Still, I saw his pupils trembling.

“Duke. Come find me again tomorrow.”

As the carriage neared its destination, I spoke again.

“We’ll discuss the rest then.”