Kojou had to keep on living while bearing their memories on his shoulders. That was the destiny—and the curse—of a vampire primogenitor.
And a vampire’s Blood Concubine was the one who shared the burden of that curse with him—Yukina’s warmth, conveyed through Kojou’s back, was teaching him this.
“Y-Yukina…”
Suddenly, behind Kojou and Yukina, something fell to the ground.
Now on the sandy beach was a black instrument case. The eyes of the girl who had been carrying it bulged so wide, staring at Kojou and Yukina, it seemed like they might fall out of their sockets. It was a girl with a refined face with her long hair tied up in a ponytail. Her lips quivered in shock as she glared at Kojou.
“Kojou Akatsuki…! What are you making Yukina do, you Pervogenitor, youuu…?!”
“K-Kirasaka?”
“Sayaka? What are you doing here…?!”
Kojou and Yukina called out the girl’s name in surprise. Even so, seeing the two cuddled together, Sayaka’s mouth could only flap open and closed. She was too angry to speak.
“Tee-hee… It would seem you are all having an enjoyable evening.”
A silver-haired girl wearing a ceremonial military uniform smiled past Sayaka’s shoulder. Her eyes, beholding the lying Nagisa and Avrora, glimmered inquisitively.
“There were, um, various circumstances… Um, how’d you know we were here, La Folia? Weren’t you on Vattler’s ship?”
“I was searching for you, Kojou. However, first, let us give these girls some rest. Justina, take these two to the Böðvildr—”
The silver-haired Aldegian princess ordered her subordinate to collect Nagisa and Avrora. “As you command,” replied the female knight, appearing out of thin air as she picked up both.
Kojou suddenly realized that there was an enormous armored airship floating silently above their heads.
With a slender wire wrapped around her, Justina was still carrying the pair of girls as she fluttered, hoisted up to the airship. She seemed less like a ninja than a stage magician.
“…So what do you want with me, La Folia?”
Feeling a slight headache, Kojou looked back toward the princess.
“You know the circumstances under which this island is currently placed, Kojou?”
For once, La Folia posed her question in a very serious tone.
“The highlights, yeah. Asagi intends to fight that Holy Ground Treaty Organization Military, right?”
“Yes. Skirmishes with its vanguard appear to have already begun. Nalakuvera have driven back the landing force, and Leviathan has damaged a number of warships of the multinational armada.”
“Leviathan… You cannot mean—Yume?” Yukina murmured.
“Oh…that’s right, Asagi already analyzed the Nalakuvera control commands way back…”
Kojou clutched his head. Not only had Asagi joined hands with Vattler, she’d even assembled her own combat strength to fight the HGTO Military.
La Folia mixed a sigh in with her nod.
“As a result, the Priestess of Cain has prevented the one-sided destruction of Itogami Island at the Holy Ground Treaty Organization’s hands. However, that is not the crux of the problem.”
“There’s still more…?”
“For better or worse, the Holy Ground Treaty is a system backed by the martial might of its Three Pillars, the primogenitors. However, here on the current Itogami Island, there is one who has obtained power rivaling the primogenitors via the Memory of The Cleansing.”
“Vattler…,” Kojou grumbled with a click of his tongue.
“Correct,” said the silver-haired princess with a smile, spreading both arms wide. It was as if she was dividing the world into halves. “And he has formed an alliance with the Holy Ground Treaty non-signatory nations, securing their support. As a result, the world has been split into two opposing camps with Itogami Island placed at the center.”
“Are you saying Itogami Island shall be the trigger for a war?” Yukina asked, voice tense.
La Folia nodded. “Yes, an enormous war on a global scale at that. To avert this, the Holy Ground Treaty Organization has no choice but to field the greatest of its combat strength to destroy Itogami Island—in other words, the three primogenitors.”
“Oh… Vattler, he…” Sweat slid down Kojou’s back. “He intends to fight the primogenitors?! That’s what he wanted Asagi’s cooperation for…?!”
“Yes. This is a global war involving all the primogenitors…a war of the primogenitors.”
Yukina quietly repeated the surreal words. “A war of the primogenitors…”
“Can’t we make them stop this war?” Kojou asked.
He closed the distance with La Folia. The silver-haired princess watched him as a beautiful smile appeared on her lips. Somehow, that smiling face of a pureblood schemer felt like something he could depend on.
“That depends upon your decisions, Kojou. Let us be off.”
“My…decisions?”
Kojou blinked, eyes widening as he stared at the princess. La Folia elegantly turned on her heels, bringing her bodyguard, Sayaka, along as she walked off. Kojou and Yukina shared a perplexed glance.
“La Folia? Er, be off to…where—?” Kojou asked the departing princess.
La Folia halted her steps, her silver hair fluttering as she looked back at him.
The water’s horizon began to glimmer, forming a tear between the worlds of light and darkness.
With that scarlet radiance at her back, La Folia solemnly spoke to Kojou.
“To the Garden of Whispers—the Holy Ground Treaty Organization’s High Council.”
CHAPTER FIVE
EMPIRE OF THE DAWN
1
La Folia was taking Kojou and the others to Keystone Gate in a black limousine arranged in advance. This was the fifth artificial isle, placed at the center of Itogami Island. Not only was it the headquarters of the Gigafloat Management Corporation, the enormous structure also housed offices, large-scale commercial facilities, and even high-class hotels. The princess was bringing Kojou and Yukina to a corner close to the uppermost stratum, high-class lodging reserved for foreign VIPs.
“So you have come, Kojou Akatsuki.”
At the back of the suite, constructed with a frightening degree of extravagance, a man wearing an old-style coat was awaiting Kojou—a vampire with long black hair.
“Velesh Aradahl…?”
This reunion with a most unexpected individual made Kojou reflexively enter a fighting stance. He’d engaged this opponent in a spectacular duel a mere half a day prior. Awkward didn’t even cover it.
“Wait, you’re healed already?”
“…There is no need for concern. It is my kin of the Warlord’s Empire who fanned the flames of that duel, after all. I have no intention of acknowledging defeat, but I am not minded to blame you at this late hour.”
With an expression just as strained as his own, Aradahl motioned Kojou to a chair. Yukina seemed on edge as she watched his and Kojou’s awkward conversation. La Folia was oddly amused for some reason.
“You knew about the Legacy of Cain?” Kojou asked, putting a hand to his own temple. It was already plain why Aradahl had seen Glenda as a threat. It was not Glenda herself but the Legacy of Cain under her protection that he feared. By Vattler’s hand, the Legacy had been restored, making the menace to the Holy Ground Treaty Organization a reality.
“I merely acted in accordance with the HGTO’s will. Naturally, even I did not know the true nature of the Legacy. To be blunt, Vattler knowing how to correctly employ the Dragon of the Swamp demonstrates just how badly both the HGTO and I miscalculated.”
“Vattler, he’s been setting up a war with the primogenitors, hasn’t he?”
“So it would seem.”
Aradahl recrossed his legs in visible irritation.
“The primogenitors cannot remain aloof if there is a global-scale war, after all. No doubt he intends to employ the Legacy of Cain as b
ait to draw them onto the battlefield. That is very much his manner of thinking.”
“I’m not about to let things go the way that bastard wants,” Kojou declared, leaning forward.
Aradahl exhaled with an icy expression. “If you wish to stop the war, destroy Itogami Island this instant. Surely your Beast Vassals can accomplish this.”
“—That’s even worse, dammit! I’m saying I wanna protect the people living on Itogami Island! If it was your turf, you’d say the same thing!”
“………”
Aradahl opened his mouth for a rebuttal but sank into silence instead. For some reason, Kojou voicing the word turf brought out a gaze of deep interest.
“—Chairman Aradahl. Do you recall the wager you made with me?”
La Folia giggled as she asked. Aradahl grudgingly nodded.
“Though I am tempted to say the conclusion of the duel being muddied voids the wager, I shall bow to your courage and sagacity. Come, Kojou Akatsuki. Princess, you also. This way.”
Rising to his feet, Aradahl acted as the silver-haired princess’s escort, bringing her to an adjacent room. Kojou guardedly followed suit. There stood a small study for the use of guests.
Sayaka, the princess’s bodyguard, and Yukina waited in front of the entrance to the room.
A single chair had been placed at the center of the dimly lit room. It was an old, metal-constructed chair that seemed like a torture device from the Middle Ages. The armrests had metal manacles attached, and the back of the chair was cramped full of creepy magical symbols carved into it.
“…What’s this?” Kojou grimaced.
“It is a sorcerous device from our primogenitor,” Aradahl answered. “It is a gate through which one reaches the Garden of Whispers.”
“It’s a gate? So if I use this, I’ll be able to speak to the HGTO’s High Council?”
“Yes.”
While Kojou stared in half disbelief, Aradahl maintained his calm explanation.
“The High Council comprises twelve representatives, three from permanent member nations and nine from nonpermanent member nations. They debate and determine HGTO policy. If you can persuade a majority of councillors, you will surely be able to bring this war to an end.”
“A majority of twelve… Meaning I have to get a minimum of seven on my side?”
“That it does. But they have already decided to invade Itogami Island. Making them overturn that decision will not be a simple operation. No doubt each of the councillors surely has various thoughts on the matter.”
Aradahl’s words caused Kojou’s face to contort in despair. Even Kojou, with a threadbare grasp of politics, knew that national decision-making was underpinned by the weighing of various pros and cons. Furthermore, this time, they’d gone as far as to put each nation’s militaries into motion. Just thinking of the time and expense required to dispatch a multinational armada made it easy for Kojou to envision how difficult persuading the Council would be.
“Is there no other way the Council reaches its decisions, Chairman Aradahl?”
La Folia offered him some water nonchalantly. Aradahl’s face grew more grudging still.
“Veto.”
“Veto?”
“The High Council’s permanent members are the representatives of the three Dominions—in other words, the vampire primogenitors. These vampire primogenitors have been granted the right to veto matters before the Council.”
“…So if any of the primogenitors are against something, the High Council’s decision gets thrown back in its face?”
Kojou’s expression brightened. He thought his chances of getting a primogenitor to act on a whim were higher than being able to convince seven other nations’ representatives.
“Do not expect things to be so convenient. Vampire primogenitors are beings with even more time on their hands than Vattler. I do not think they will give up on a golden opportunity for war so easily. If you can offer terms that genuinely please them, that would be another matter, but—”
Speaking these words, Aradahl seemed to be prompting Kojou to sit in the chair. Hardening his resolve as he took a deep breath, Kojou sat upon the seat’s cold surface. The metallic manacles snapped on him of their own will, firmly locking Kojou’s wrists in place. The subsequent coursing of demonic energy caused the symbols on the back to begin to glow.
“From this point on, you are the only one permitted to speak. This is all the aid I have to offer.”
As she stated this, La Folia’s form began to grow white and hazy. Mist began to hover around Kojou.
“Nah, this is plenty. I owe you one, La Folia.”
As he called out to the princess, even Kojou’s own words felt distant. Yukina and Aradahl, supposedly there in the same room with him, had become virtually invisible.
“Do remember one thing, Kojou. Remember who and what you are—”
La Folia’s voice was like a whisper as it gradually vanished.
When his vision cleared, Kojou was standing in an unfamiliar garden.
2
It was unclear how far the white marble passage extended. It seemed endless. A hedge of rosebushes surrounded him, and the branches of giant trees, whose names he knew not, formed what acted like a roof above his head.
This twilight world, at the border between day and night, was enveloped by a golden-glowing mist. Kojou only knew of a single place that greatly resembled that chamber—Natsuki Minamiya’s Prison Barrier. This, too, was likely an artificial otherworld constructed through magic.
This was the Garden of Whispers of which La Folia had spoken—the meeting place for the High Council of the Holy Ground Treaty Organization.
“Welcome, Fourth Primogenitor.”
He heard a voice from within the mist.
He could not determine the speaker’s gender. The voice was hushed, like a whisper.
Kojou suddenly realized he was standing before a huge, round table.
The round table was set with twelve chairs. All the participants seated upon them were hiding their faces behind silver masks. These were the twelve councillors who governed the HGTO.
“How long has it been since someone stepped into this garden unbidden—?”
A voice came from behind Kojou. The hard expressions on the masked councillors put Kojou on edge. Not being able to see the other person’s face made them feel several times more intimidating.
“Though we cannot give a warm reception, let us hear his words, in deference to the lords who have sent these missives.”
“Missives?”
Kojou looked back as he pursued the issue. One of the mask-wearing councillors lifted a triple-sealed scroll.
“La Folia Rihavein of the kingdom of Aldegia, Iblisveil Aziz of the Fallen Dynasty, and Velesh Aradahl, chairman of the Imperial Assembly of the Warlord’s Empire—each of these people have vouched for your status.”
“It would be best if you do not betray our expectations.”
“…Got it. I’ll get to the point.”
Internally thanking La Folia and company, Kojou got his ragged breathing in order. She and the others had made appeals to the HGTO in places unknown to Kojou. He certainly couldn’t betray their expectations.
“I have only one demand. Hands off Itogami Island. Take back that junk about recognizing it as a large-scale destructive sorcerous device and pull back the multinational armada, right now.”
“We reject your demand.”
The director’s reply was swift.
“The matter of Itogami Island’s destruction has already been settled. We will not overturn our decision.”
“This might become a huge global war because of it, you know?!” Kojou yelled, voice ragged.
Cold laughter trickled out from various parts of the round table.
“Does thy own statement not demonstrate the danger of the sorcerous device called Itogami Island?”
“If we eliminate Itogami Island, we erase the menace of The Cleansing. The Holy Ground Treaty non-signatory n
ations will have no further reason to oppose us.”
“In other words, the swift destruction of Itogami Island will eliminate all obstacles in the way of world peace.”
“Don’t take me for an idiot!” Kojou stamped his foot upon the marble floor. “Using The Cleansing, wrapping the Holy Ground Treaty non-signatory nations into this, all of it is Vattler’s doing. If you’re starting a war, you’re just playing into his hands, aren’t you?!”
“We have issued an arrest warrant for Dimitrie Vattler.”
A new voice coolly made the statement. “He is a vampire of the Warlord’s Empire—a Holy Ground Treaty signatory nation. Accordingly, the HGTO Military shall carry out his arrest, a most natural course of events.”
“If you’re gonna attack Itogami Island come hell or high water, you’re making an enemy of me, too.”
Kojou twisted his lips as he spoke. If Kojou joined hands with Vattler, who possessed the Legacy of Cain, the primogenitor-allied HGTO would not escape unscathed. Even if he couldn’t protect Itogami Island, he could surely inflict immense damage upon the multinational armada.
Even so, the councillors were left unconvinced.
“You are free to do as you please, Fourth Primogenitor.”
“You are no threat to us.”
“Are thy assertions at an end?”
Then leave, they were all saying.
“Looks like you’ve got no intention of changing your decision no matter what…”
Kojou’s shoulders trembled in anger. He thought of simply summoning a Beast Vassal and blowing the entire garden apart. But that would likely be futile. This was a barrier constructed in an otherworld. Just like the Prison Barrier, Kojou wouldn’t be able to use his Beast Vassals there.
So this is it, thought Kojou, biting his lip in despair. That instant…
“…Do remember one thing, Kojou…”
The silver-haired princess’s final words rose in the back of his mind.
“Haaah…,” went the breath trickling out of Kojou’s throat.
“So it’s come to this, ha-ha…,” he said, his voice changing decisively to laughter. Kojou shuddered as if his abdomen was spasming; the lungs from which he had exhaled were gasping for air. Kojou had burst into laughter.
A War of Primogenitors Page 20
