"Well, well, Kohei-san."
"Huh? Oh, it's you, Vlad. You look pretty tired."
"Yes, a little."
By this time, Vlad was the only one who talked to Kohei. "A sleeping god is not to be worshiped," as the saying goes, and his subordinates no longer came near him unless they had to.
Kohei, who never wanted to be friends with them in the first place, hadn't noticed the change.
Only with Vlad was a conversation somewhat possible. Was it because they both saw themselves as superior beings, albeit in slightly different ways?
Vlad looked down on humans, while Kohei believed he was chosen by God, so their views never quite aligned.
"Who's that guy who's been coming here so often lately?"
Below the window, there was a visitor being seen off by a subordinate. She looked like a doll-like girl, but even Kohei could tell she had the aura of a strong person.
"Letitia Dracul. She's a vampire like me. If you were to describe her as a human, she's a very righteous person. Lately, her inquiries have been getting tougher and tougher."
"Hmph. That's a hassle."
And she was, in fact, an otherworldly being.
Kohei didn't seem to think it was very important, but if Vlad were to be exposed and investigated, Kohei, who was involved in his recent misdeeds, would undoubtedly be arrested.
Even though Vlad was the number three in I.U., it was the number three of a disorganized group. He would be easily cut off if he became unnecessary.
On the other hand, Vlad would never beg anyone for help.
"Perhaps it's time to settle things with her."
"What, are you going to kill her?"
"...No. Even I don't intend to kill my kin right away. I'll just threaten her a little, as a test run for my Stand."
Vlad decided to act before things got out of hand. His actions were swift.
He quickly arranged a meeting.
Letitia was highly suspicious of Vlad, who came to the mansion with a human as his companion instead of a vampire, and who spoke to her with an unusually polite tone, but it was all for naught.
By the time all the residents of the mansion were under Vlad's control due to 'Scary Monsters', Letitia had already given up.
Her abilities were taken by Whitesnake, and she was even taken hostage. Her entire clan was imprisoned without being able to resist.
---------
"Huh? You want me to help you with Butei killing?"
"Yes. That includes surveillance. It would be even better if we could find out what the 4th is doing and the movements of Aria H. Kanzaki, who should be around her."
Vlad didn't think Kohei was capable of doing such a skillful job. He just thought he could stir things up a bit.
He trusted him to have that much ability. Even if he were to be caught, he would only have information that wasn't a big deal. Even if he were caught, Vlad's authority could get him released immediately.
"Butei killing... Oh! You mean that short girl with big breasts!"
"...Well, if you want to remember her by her physical features, that's fine."
The method of remembering people by breaking them down into parts is also taught in the detective department. Kohei's case was a bit extreme, though.
"Speaking of which, what was it? You said you'd set me free if I beat the 4th Holmes, right?"
"You remember that well."
He was honestly impressed that this man could think about something other than the three great desires.
"So, are you really going to set her free? Such a good woman?"
"Of course not. Why would I have to keep such a promise? It's not funny, even as a joke. Either way, she will be returning to me."
"Heh, you're a terrible guy, too."
"I don't think I'm as bad as you."
Even Vlad himself seemed to think he wasn't that bad. To an outsider, there wasn't much of a difference.
"Then, give her to me at that time."
"That is...hmm..."
Kohei's eyes gleamed with desire as he spoke with delight.
Vlad couldn't give an immediate answer.
The reason he wanted to keep Riko was not just for her DNA. The blood flowing through Riko was a rare 'type' that miraculously matched his own. If she were to be handled carelessly and killed, everything would be for naught.
At the same time, however, he also wanted to conduct an experiment to see if Kohei's children would inherit his abilities.
The girls Kohei had summoned knew about Vlad's misdeeds. No one who smiled and joined forces with Kohei was a decent person. That was the consensus among the girls, and it was the correct one.
If they were going to be equally disliked, Riko, who had been educated to be obedient to Vlad, was more convenient.
"I'll think about it."
That was the answer Vlad gave in the end, but Riko was released from Vlad's hands through a plea bargain, so the deal was off.
It was needless to say that it was a fortunate thing for Riko, as no one ever found out what Vlad's intentions were in the end.
---------
"Hey, hey, what was that all about?"
As a result, Riko didn't come back. However, there was a greater gain. There was a person who looked very similar to Dangerous Zombie.
The unexpected intruder was an unexpected prodigy.
Because of his actions, not only Riko but also Oleander and Jeanne, who were supposed to be with him, were captured.
"That's a difficult question for me to answer. Do you really have no idea, Kohei-san?"
"No. If you hadn't stopped me, I would have beaten the crap out of him."
"...I'm glad you avoided a reckless action."
Kohei only had an on and off switch. That made him easy to handle in a way, but he was too unstable when left to his own devices.
Especially this time, if he was the same kind of person as Kohei, it was clear that he would need to be properly prepared.
He had to be cautious when investigating.
"Tch, do I have to do something so roundabout...?"
"Don't say that. I'll leave the handling to you."
As a start, he decided to meddle a little in the cases that Sho was involved in.
Even if you pierce someone with a Stand Arrow, whether they can awaken a Stand is like a fortune-telling. Even if you say that the concept of strong or weak Stands doesn't exist, it's still a matter of luck whether a Stand with a suitable use will awaken.
It was a matter of whether you got a good omen or a bad one. But Kohei, perhaps due to his talent, was a man who could almost always sniff out a person with the right disposition.
As a result, he was able to plant a powerful Stand called 'Red Hot Chili Pepper' in the bodyguard of the Holy Angel—Yawaki.
The unexpected part was that Dangerous Zombie got greedy and recovered the Stand, revealing himself too early.
"What are you doing...!"
"A good ability like this is too good to lose, right? I even put on a bad act. I didn't get caught."
That's not what he was talking about.
Sometimes, the ability to abandon things is important. Dangerous Zombie didn't have the skill to do everything perfectly and flawlessly.
Now that his identity was known, if the opponent knew about his ability, if he knew about the loopholes in the Stand and the immortal zombie system, there was a possibility that he would be cornered at once.
Vlad decided to take action, saying it couldn't be helped.
Looking at the opponent—Sho Yozuki—he seemed to be doing much better than Kohei. Following the Butei killing, he also successfully handled the Holy Angel assassination case. Observing him at school, he didn't seem to stand out too much.
If his good-guy act was just a facade, it was a great one, but even if it wasn't, he was still a nuisance. It would have been easier to bring him in as an ally if he were a bad guy.
He sent a small dinosaur as a reconnaissance unit to gather information. From that information, he found out that there was a morning training session and set a trap there.
He instructed Whitesnake to go alone, without Dangerous Zombie. Vlad was truly glad that Whitesnake was a Stand that could act on its own.
"To get to know such valuable people one after another, as Kohei-san says, the expression of being chosen by God might not be entirely wrong."
He laughed when he found out that the person he was training with was a young lady from a prestigious family. It would be perfect if he could also get some DNA from those girls. He wouldn't get greedy, though.
Sho fell into the trap easily.
All that was left was to corner him—but a problem arose. Letitia, who he had imprisoned, escaped.
As if she had been waiting for this exact moment when Whitesnake was not around, she attacked him and his subordinates by surprise.
Vlad's mansion was in chaos. He was forced to recall Whitesnake at the last moment.
After all was said and done, Vlad was a man who was soft on his family and kin. The reason he made remarks that ignored human rights was because, to Vlad, 'humans' were vampires in the first place.
His decision to capture Letitia was a last resort. The fact that a person could imprison another person shows that he was a little broken.
"This has become a problem..."
"Then, why don't we just take her consciousness entirely? That way, she won't be able to move."
"Hmm... That is one option, yes."
However, Letitia was widely known on Academy Island. Just as Vlad and Letitia's names were known, their discord was also well-known.
If she didn't show her face in public for a long time, it would eventually be seen as unnatural. Even if he tried to get through it with a passive method like taking her consciousness, she might find a loophole somewhere.
Even this time, he had already taken away her will to resist. And yet, she had fought back.
He needed a more absolute restraint. A wedge that would break her spirit and completely overpower her.
It was Kohei who came up with the idea.
The conversation started when Vlad's butler in the room sneezed.
"Tch, a cold? Even vampires can catch a cold?"
"Yes. In that regard, we're not so different from humans."
"Hmm. So you can also take medicine?"
"Yes. After all, the nutrients we take in are the same. We are not made to conveniently filter out drug components."
"So aphrodisiacs also work."
"You're talking about that again..."
He inwardly despised the man for being so vulgar even at a time like this, but there was no point in fighting.
However, the words that followed from Kohei were a bit intriguing.
"Well, you know, the leader of those guys is a woman, right? So I thought if we used a lot of aphrodisiacs and made her fall to pleasure, she'd become our ally."
"Hmm..."
He was a little impressed at that moment, as he realized that a scoundrel had his own kind of approach. He never thought he would seriously have to consider such an idea.
Even if falling to pleasure wasn't a possibility, he could at least lower the morale of her allies by showing a debauched Letitia. Vlad had hurt humans before, but he had never looked at them in that way.
"It's not a bad idea to try it out."
---------
A few days had passed since the completion of Letitia's education, and it was now night.
"Phew... I'm looking forward to this."
Vlad was smirking as he looked at the email he had received. It seemed that even vampires used computers, a tool of civilization. What's more, it wasn't a custom-made one, but a mass-produced one sold at a local electronics store. The ones on this island were about two generations ahead of the ones outside, though.
The email was a reply from Sho Yozuki. He had received a reply to the invitation he had sent to Sho's address, which he had obtained as a matter of course.
The result was "I respectfully accept." Although it was in the form of a party invitation, it was actually a duel.
It was truly lucky that he found Sho. He never thought that the 4th Lupin, who was only supposed to have the genes of a useless man, would catch such a big fish.
Like Kohei, he was a man who had suddenly experienced an explosive increase in his abilities, even though he was supposed to have been on this island from the beginning. He had a Stand ability that could only be awakened by Kohei's arrow and DISC. He also had a power suit similar to Dangerous Zombie—a transformation into 'Kamen Rider'.
All the evidence was there.
There was no doubt. Sho Yozuki had the same ability as Shintani Kohei.
He had to get his hands on him no matter what.
"With two abilities, I can do a comparative experiment."
The problem was his strength. He was sure that the other side would see Vlad as an enemy and attack him. Knowing Kohei's power, Vlad felt a little, just a little, uneasy.
"Right. I guess I should let Kohei-san know, too."
This was an event that occurred two months after Sho came to this world.
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