Delico’s Funeral Procession

It has been more than forty years since the tragic clan fire incident that resulted in hundreds of casualties.

My life was sealed when I found the one who used to be an unknown body (No-me) in the burned-down Clan. He had become an unknown body (No-me) once again. Find the missing Sophie Anderson. Tell him about the person who named him and how much he loved him. That became my purpose in life after my partner died.

I joined the Immortal Search Unit, which was formed as a collaborative effort between the Vlad Organization and GUILT, to pursue cases of suspicious deaths of the vampire race called “Collapse Events,” as well as cases that appear to be caused by Initiative. However, none of the deaths were confirmed to be the work of TRUMP, and neither TRUMP nor Sophie Anderson, who was presumed to have become the second immortal vampire, FALSE, through TRUMP, could be found.

–

The days went by in a haze, like trying to solve a mystery for which there was no answer.

Once, during some time off from work, I visited the site of Nebula Village, where my partner and I had lived as children. Sophie Anderson would have considered it his hometown too. The village had already been decimated by Collapse Events, so it was quite a challenge to locate it. After finding some old maps in an old archive, I was able to locate where Nebula Village had once existed. It was a former Dhampir settlement in the middle of a remote forest. It was never rebuilt as a human settlement, and had been completely swallowed up by the sea of trees. Thanks to a few rotting and collapsed houses peeking through a gap in the sea of trees, it was just possible to confirm that Nebula Village had once existed there. Beautiful flowers were blooming in profusion, seemingly unbefitting of the ruins that had been swallowed by the sea of trees. There were lots of lilies. It seemed to me as if they were waiting for someone to find them. I picked a flower to take home, only to find that it had sadly withered on the way back.

The search for the immortals continued for a long time after that. We had no leads, but strangely enough, we never gave up. Once, while investigating the sinking of a merchant ship that appeared to be a small Collapse Event, I saw an unusual corpse. The corpse’s face was contorted with fear. It looked as if he had seen something terrible at the moment of his death, and he had died with that expression frozen on his face. The investigation did not lead to the whereabouts of TRUMP.

I decided to take a gamble for once. I would ingest the curse of the vampire race into my body. The secretions from the fangs of the vampire race contain a poison that is lethal to the human race. If you are unlucky, you may become an ex-human vampire. If you are lucky, you will die. All vampires are believed to have a spiritual connection with TRUMP. I thought that becoming a vampire myself might be useful in the search mission to find the immortals. I decided to ask Mira Delico, the Vlad Organization’s head of the search mission, for help. I asked her to bite me. Mira was bewildered at first, but when I persisted with my request, she reluctantly agreed. Mira bit me and the vampire’s curse entered my body. The pain and agony were hellishly intense. As my consciousness faded away, I was convinced that my attempt had failed – I was still alive, but I could not become a vampire. It was due to the effect of the serum I had been injected with when I used to work as a Hunter, which was still inside me.

Still, the search for the immortals continued, and forty years passed. I was approaching old age and had very little time left.

Then I received some news. Dali Delico had passed away. I heard that Dali Delico, who lost his two sons in the clan fire incident, had retired from the front lines of the Blood Alliance Congress and was living in seclusion in a state of despair. Even so, the head of the Delico family was a very powerful man, and even after secluding himself from the world, he was said to have exerted a great deal of influence in the vampire society. That Dali Delico is dead.

At Mira’s invitation, I decided to attend the funeral of Dali Delico. The Delico family is an extremely prestigious aristocratic family within the vampire race, which is a highly class-based society. The funeral of such a prominent figure would normally be held in a cathedral owned by the Blood Alliance Congress. However, the funeral was held quietly at the Delico residence. It was a very shabby funeral for the former head of Delico family. Even so, many members of the aristocracy, including Gerhard Fra, lined up for Delico’s funeral procession.

–

During the funeral procession, I suddenly felt a gaze.

The senses I had honed during my days as a Hunter were still very sharp. I tracked the source of the gaze and saw a window on the second floor of the mansion. Someone was standing there. It was a boy. I recognized him. He had not changed at all since forty years ago. He must have been in an eternal Cocoon period ever since then.

After the funeral, as I was walking through the garden in the grounds of the Delico residence, the boy came toward me.

“You were with Banri back then.” He seemed to remember me.

I had been looking for that immortal boy forever. He is in front of me now. I have so much to tell him. That the unknown body (No-me) has become an unknown body (No-me) once again as foretold. That he is the boy’s uncle. That he gave him the name “Sophie”. That he was the guardian who had watched over the boy in the clan. That was what I thought. But the boy’s eyes were filled with a deep emptiness. My words could not possibly reach him. For the past forty years since I lost my partner, my entire life had been for this moment. And yet, I was at a loss for words. Still, I had to tell him. I had to tell him that he was loved by someone who once existed in this world––.

END