"Can we talk properly now?"
Luke's gaze was indifferent, a faint, non-committal smile playing on his face.
Hiiragi Shinya's throat was being squeezed, making his breathing labored and his face turn red as he frantically swatted at the hand Luke was using to hold him.
Luke let go, and Shinya fell to a half-kneeling position on the ground, coughing while gasping for air.
Luke ordered the Lower-ranking Vampires outside to bring in two chairs.
Luke sat on one chair and pointed to the other.
"Sit."
Shinya hesitated for a moment but ultimately had no choice but to comply, sitting down in the other chair.
"What is your goal?"
There was one thing Shinya couldn't understand: why had Luke specifically captured him? Did he want to use his status as a Major General to learn about the Imperial Demon Army?
Luke turned the chair so the backrest faced Shinya, then leaned against it while facing him.
"If I said it's because you're good-looking, would you believe me?"
Shinya naturally wouldn't believe such nonsense. He remained silent, still staring warily at Luke, trying to see through the Vampire before him.
Luke sighed.
"How boring. You don't have a single humorous bone in your body. Or is it that only that pervert Guren can make you more interesting?"
Luke stopped messing around and began to ask about serious matters.
"Guren is still alive, right?"
Shinya's heart tightened, but he masked it well, putting on an angry expression as he spoke.
"Heh, are you talking nonsense? Shouldn't you be the clearest on whether Guren is dead or not? He died right in front of you!"
Luke raised his hands with an innocent look.
"Don't go pointing fingers. I just wanted to chat with you back then. Guren was probably jealous and wouldn't let me talk to you, which is why he took the initiative to block that monster. He really loves you."
Shinya was stunned for a moment. Recalling Guren's unusual behavior at the time, there were indeed many suspicious points. Shinya asked,
"What did you want to say to me back then?"
Luke's smile widened.
"Oh? Guren really didn't want you to know. Wouldn't you be 'cheating' on him by asking?"
Shinya got goosebumps all over. This Vampire was clearly super strong, yet excessively eccentric.
"Tell me!"
"If I let you know this, you'll die. However, I do know a thing or two about Guren's secrets, but I can't just tell you so casually."
Shinya frowned. So he was setting a trap for him here!
"What do you want?"
"Let me think."
Luke rested his face on his hand, closed his eyes, and thought for a while, remaining motionless.
Shinya felt confused. Why hadn't he decided yet?
Shinya frowned and shouted,
"Hey!"
Luke started awake.
"I love you, Krul! Eh? Sorry, sorry, I was too deep in thought!"
Shinya felt absolutely speechless.
"You fell asleep, didn't you?"
Luke firmly denied it. He definitely wasn't just too sleepy after using asuramaru's full Demon Transformation and exhausting too much energy!
"I did not!"
Shinya had no interest in pursuing whether Luke had actually fallen asleep; he only wanted to know what Guren was keeping from him!
But the request Luke made was unbelievable to him, causing his emotions to flare.
"Absolutely impossible! I cannot become a Vampire! I exist as a member of the Imperial Demon Army specifically to eliminate Vampires!"
Luke picked at his ear.
"Don't be so loud, it's noisy. It's just the two of us here, so there's no need to pretend to be so righteous. You simply want humans to have a stable life, don't you? Don't act like Vampires absolutely have to die."
Shinya was choked up by Luke's words because that was indeed his true feeling.
Luke continued,
"Then it doesn't matter. If you become a Vampire, I'll help you fulfill that wish. How about it? As long as humans are stable and worry-free, what does it matter if you're human or not?"
Shinya fell into a long silence. He was thinking; he couldn't fully trust Luke's words.
The Imperial Demon Army had concluded several points based on research from captured Vampires.
Vampires must drink blood at regular intervals, otherwise they will turn into demons.
A Vampire's physical capability is at least seven times that of a human.
Vampires' emotions are generally indifferent.
But Shinya felt these points didn't apply to the nobles. Other Vampires couldn't help but take a few sips when they saw blood during a fight, but this guy and that pink-haired Vampire didn't even glance at the blood during their battle.
Shinya even felt they were a bit disgusted that blood would stain their clothes.
And the physical capabilities of these two were probably dozens of times that of ordinary humans; they truly were nobles.
Shinya sized up the smiling Luke. Could this guy's emotions be considered indifferent? He felt even more talkative than himself.
"Well? How is your consideration going?"
Luke noticed Shinya glancing at him from time to time while thinking and asked with a smile.
Shinya shook his head in refusal. If he became a Vampire, he would be standing on the opposite side of Guren.
Luke guessed Shinya's thoughts but still wanted to try and win him over.
"If you become a Vampire, I'll help you rescue Guren from Hiiragi Mahiru. You should know by now that Guren is controlled by Mahiru from time to time. Guren's secrets are also related to Mahiru's plans. Are you sure you don't want to find out?"
Luke felt like he was some kind of insurance salesman.
Shinya was shocked.
"Who exactly are you? How do you know so much?"
He even knew about Hiiragi Mahiru. Why had he never seen this guy around Guren?
Luke looked mysterious and didn't answer directly.
"How about it? Interested? If you refuse this time, you might never be able to leave Sanguinem~"
At that moment, Miku suddenly appeared, expanding a light screen.
"A marked target has entered the area within a ten-mile radius of you."
A map appeared on the light screen, showing a red dot rushing this way, though it was certainly on the surface.
A marked target?
Luke was a bit dazed and didn't react for a moment.
Oh! He had marked two Imperial Demon Army soldiers he saved eight years ago. One died a few years back, and Luke had long forgotten about the remaining one.
Why would the Imperial Demon Army approach Sanguinem?
But they certainly hadn't found the entrance yet; the map showed a route on the surface.
Luke stared at Shinya, who was still considering, and inquired,
"Do you have a tracker on you?"
Shinya didn't know why Luke was asking and shook his head.
Luke gave a cold laugh and stood up to check Shinya's person for a tracker.
Finally, Luke discovered a faint red light flashing on Shinya's epaulet.
"Heh, it's hidden quite deep."
Seeing the epaulet in Luke's hand, Shinya was also very surprised. He then reacted, clenching his fists.
The Hiiragi Family! Are they that uneasy about me? He had this epaulet ever since he became a Major General. He really didn't know if it was just special treatment for him as an adopted son, or if everyone in the Hiiragi Family had one... Shinya's mood was complex, his eyes filled with anger.
Seeing Shinya's reaction, Luke also roughly guessed that this tracker was secretly installed on Shinya by the Hiiragi Family.
Luke removed the tracker from the epaulet and threw the epaulet back to Shinya.
Shinya threw the epaulet directly onto the ground and stepped on it, then gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"I really am just a dog of your Hiiragi Family..."
This was exactly what Luke loved to see.
Luke examined the tracker and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Luckily there's no monitoring function; it's just a simple positioning tracker."
Luke summoned a Lower-ranking Vampire and sent them outside to clear out the rats from the Imperial Demon Army.
They couldn't possibly send a large force to a Vampire's territory to snatch someone; at most, they would send a few people to scout.
"Hey, Vampire."
Luke turned his head to look at Shinya.
"What is it?"
Shinya said word by word,
"I agree to become a Vampire. In exchange, tell me everything you know about Guren."
Luke crushed the tracker.
"My pleasure."
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