"Vampire"—as the name implies, the focus is on blood. Regardless of gender in movies and literature, they usually have four fangs aimed at someone's neck, sometimes leading to various "harmonious" or "disharmonious" developments.
They have many abilities: turning into mist, becoming bats, charming humans, etc. Similarly, they are said to fear garlic and silver—a classic fantasy creature with significant strengths and weaknesses.
Hmm... I suppose they aren't 'fantasy' creatures anymore, Sū ěr thought, recalling his own knowledge.
"Not yet. If that happened or if people went missing, the Metropolitan Police wouldn't be this quiet. Likewise, a vampire's appearance wouldn't just be a 'rumor'; it would cause at least a small-scale panic," Hanekawa analyzed calmly.
"Do you strongly believe in vampires?" Sū ěr interrupted. "Or rather, do you want them to exist?"
Rather than being curious about Western monsters on Japanese soil, Sū ěr was more interested in the mental state of this ordinary human friend of his.
Hanekawa Tsubasa seemed to be intentionally searching for existences that exceeded human common sense. It couldn't be explained by simple curiosity; it felt like a more subjective drive.
Is it because of the gold I gave her? Sū ěr began to reflect on his slightly reckless behavior.
In any world, regardless of the presence of supernatural power, when humans touch things far beyond their capacity, it always leads to pain. It usually takes a great price to eventually learn restraint and control—just as he had once told Orcan: maintaining a "normal" world through "wrong" means.
Hanekawa Tsubasa undoubtedly possessed no special abilities. Summoning wind and rain or calling lightning was not in her future. If this world were merely like Sū ěr original world, she would simply find nothing in her endless search and eventually feel a bit lonely... but this world did have youkai.
Sū ěr thought of the "socialized" youkai of the Nura family who even opened shops. They were friendly toward humans, but according to Nurarihyon, they were only one branch of the surviving youkai.
What if Hanekawa, in her search, ran into a youkai that didn't belong to the Nura Clan and harbored ill will toward humans?
"Sū ěr?" Hanekawa tilted her head, confused by the sudden silence of the man across from her.
"Ah, sorry. I spaced out for a second... what were you saying?"
"I see. Earning money is a necessity of life, but you still need to rest when you're tired," Hanekawa said kindly. "I was saying—I'm just curious."
"Curious?" Sū ěr murmured. "Then you might want to wait by the bridges. If you see a pedestrian suddenly stop by the bridge, he or she might be a vampire. Oh, right, you'll need to be holding a mirror... wait, no. Sorry, forget I said anything."
In a contradictory, almost schizophrenic manner, Sū ěr had started with a casual joke, only to realize mid-sentence the very worry he had just been harboring. He hurriedly retracted his words.
"True. Vampires cannot cross running water, nor can they leave a reflection in a mirror. If there really is a vampire, those would be good ways to tell them apart, wouldn't they?" Ignoring Sū ěr contradiction, Hanekawa Tsubasa merely nodded in thoughtful approval.
"But those are just legends, right? No one has ever actually seen a vampire. There's no guarantee those methods would even work. If they don't, wouldn't it be dangerous?" Knowing how stubborn this girl with the braided hair could be, Sū ěr spoke feebly. He wanted to try one last time to dissuade her.
Try... just try.
He had never seen Hanekawa shout or vent her emotions; she seemed to face everything with a gentle attitude. But that was a facade. Sū ěr had already learned how tenacious she could be once she made up her mind about something. For instance... that one burger.
She came regardless of wind or rain.
"Hmm? You only doubt whether those methods work? Sū ěr, you don't seem to doubt the existence of vampires at all," "Great Detective" Hanekawa Tsubasa said, pushing up her round glasses.
[Idiot, you just got played.]
Think complained. Having lost his sense of crisis, this man she had chosen was far too lax.
And Sū ěr... he felt too ashamed to show his face.
"Just a logical guess. Let's drop it. Is there anything more specific to the rumor? What the vampire looks like, or where the rumor started?" Sū ěr changed the subject as if nothing had happened.
"It started as a scene being talked about among girls; girls always love talking about this stuff," Hanekawa said, evaluating her own gender from an objective standpoint. "Supposedly, several people have seen a golden-haired beauty in a red dress standing in the shadows of a street corner just as the sun is setting."
"...Could be a foreign tourist?" Sū ěr kept interjecting, pointing at his own hair. "Blonde or light hair like mine is quite common in Europe and America."
"No, there's a massive difference between them and a normal human like you," Hanekawa said, troubled by the consistent details of the rumors from different locations. "According to those who saw her, it's a very... 'wrong' feeling. They felt like sheep being stared at by a predator. By the time they snapped out of it, their backs were drenched in cold sweat."
"It's a metaphysical feeling, hard to put into words, but the sensation that the other person is a different species is very distinct... an instinctive fear." As if afraid Sū ěr wouldn't understand, Hanekawa used her hands to try and make her description sound more terrifying, though the effect was quite endearing.
"Anyway, because of that, everyone collectively decided it must be a vampire," Hanekawa sighed and continued. "Supposedly, someone saw her smile and reveal her canine teeth—they looked exceptionally sharp. I suppose that counts as a bit of evidence."