Chapter 3

It was now early evening, but from how Annol looked, he probably felt like it was late at night.

Was I scared of staying with a tall, handsome man in an enclosed space like that?

Not really. In the worst-case scenario, I’d just unleash one of my Looks developed from years of staring into books.

Regardless, it wasn’t like he tried anything. He looked too tired for it anyway.

“Err… can you summarize…?” he eventually asked.

In recent hours, I’d found for him no less than two dozen books that contained information about vampires, though that included fiction as well as books with as much as a single relevant paragraph.

It wasn’t that much, really.

Well, I didn’t mind the request anyway. It was a common one from guests.

“Vampires,” I opened, “are metaphors. Or rather, they can represent many things, such as the fear of the night, of hunger and greed. People often assign to their fears not just nature itself—like all those Naturists—but even their own vices. A vampire’s dietary habits can represent human obsession, one that can be channeled to practically anything—whether it’s bloodsucking, smoking, or even collecting stamps. Blood is so often featured because… well, people like blood, I guess. Always going to wars and stuff.”

“…Was this really in all those books we went through?” I could see Annol’s eyes already glazing over.

“When you put them all together, yes.”

“Hmm…”

He fell silent, so I took that as a sign to continue.

“Since people are scared of what they can’t see and don’t know, ‘vampires’ operate in the dark, slipping in and out of houses to wreak terror—and when the suns come out and everything is revealed, they have no power. Though I think this last part is mostly because people have superstitious beliefs about the Second Sun in particular… Inspector Halon mentioned something before, though I barely found any other references… Anyway, this is all a fancy way of saying that vampires don’t actually exist.”

Annol came out of his stupor, eyes widened. “Wait, but—”

“Vampires don’t exist,” I repeated, “but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any other strange beings in the world. You were looking for information using the wrong ideas.”

“I… I don’t understand,” said the young man, taking a step closer. “What are you saying that you—”

“—You believe yourself to be a vampire, right?” I asked sweetly.

Annol froze.

My surprise attack was a success.

Thank Madam Sharamata for writing How to Befuddle the Male Mind.

“So you realized?” he asked, sounding resigned.

“It wasn’t hard, really. I clocked it from the very first second. I am a Prime Special Investigator, after all,” bragged, tapping my chest.

The poor guy seemed to be taken in by my performance…

Well, while this wasn’t at the level of Inspector Danik solving his famed closed rooms or anything, it wasn’t like I had no basis at all.

“I assume something must have happened that spurned your sudden interest in vampires—and discovering you are one would definitely do it. As well as the fact you somehow snuck in here without me ever hearing you…”

“…Oh, you realized even that?”

I was pretty lenient about these sorts of things, but even I knew they wouldn’t let just any pretty guy in here.

“Leaving aside the question of how you did it… when was it that you first realized you’re a supposed vampire?” I prompted.

Annol briefly scratched at his cheek. He seemed to hesitate. “One evening some weeks ago, I was struck by an immense… hunger.”

Well, that was the metaphor, after all…

“Did you kill someone?” I asked nonchalantly.

“What? No!”

Hey, I had to make sure. I was technically a police officer. Royal Police, Precept No. 2: Ascertain the truth, and all that.

“It did happen, though, when I saw someone get hurt and bleeding. And then, I just… I felt so dizzy. In fact, so dizzy I actually found myself… floating away.”

“Hmm? Floating?”

“Or maybe thinning is the better word. I became one with the wind. Like this.”

There was no time to prepare myself.

Where a handsome blond man stood before was now a puff of mist.

I widened my eyes. “So that’s how you got in.”

The mist now coalesced and formed into the man again as if nothing happened.

Seeing the supernatural right in front of my eyes so casually didn’t shake me in the least.

Thousands of books already prepared me for this.

As well as my own experiences.

“And then what happened?” I asked very calmly.

Annol, on the other hand, was clearly anxious. “I… I ran away. I don’t even know if anyone witnessed me, but I knew I couldn’t stay there… And the next thing I knew, I found myself devouring an entire bloody steak.”

Despite him talking so seriously, it was hard to stop myself from snickering.

I disguised a leaked chuckle as me clearing my throat. “So you satisfied your craving for blood with it?” I asked, my voice only very slightly shaking.

He nodded.

“Since then, I started suppressing my urges… and I somehow became able to control this newfound ability too.”

“And the conclusion you came to was you being a vampire?”

“Naturally.”

“I don’t suppose you get any sunburn or anything?”

He frowned. “Well, no. But like you said, not all stories about them are the same…”

“Right.”

“I tried asking around, and people said that the Archives in particular might be the best source for strange things like that.”

Wait, were people implying something about me? Rude.

“Well, you did come to the right place,” I admitted. “Yours is an interesting case… Now that I know more, we need to find more books!”

Annol’s eyes twitched. “Err… can that wait for another time? I really don’t want to stay here longer than I have to…” he glanced around him nervously, as if a vampire book might leap at him at any moment. “I’ll be back in a few days, so… would you mind summarizing things for me again then?”

I shrugged. “Sure, why not… people always ask me for that anyway.”

“Thank you very much, Inspector. I owe you one.”

And then, before I could even say anything in response, Annol turned into mist again and flew away.

Quite rude, but it seemed like he was in an awful hurry… That made me think.

Still, it kind of bothered me that things didn’t go according to all the books I read.

There was no spark between us, and he didn’t even say I was “not like other girls” or anything like that!

Feeling a little miffed, I sank an hour or so reading The Fair Lady and the Brute even though I already read it about a hundred times before, then a little bit of Seafaring in the Wild Ages to wet my throat, and then yawned. It was getting rather late, but my thoughts kept circling back to this man called Annol.

Annol Savuatuk… that last name sounded like it came somewhere from the north, maybe from around Mischwian, but I’d have to consult Etymology and Genealogy: From A to Z to make sure.

For now, rather than the man’s name or his lack of romance awareness, I wondered more about his situation.

Was he an actual vampire?

My mind filled with many thoughts, I kept passing the night by reading.