『Historic First! Woman Completes the Solo First Nonstop Flight Across the Pacific!』
Seymour sighed, folding the newspaper over its blaring headline and tossing it onto the coat in the passenger seat.
“…Nothing about yesterday, eh?”
There was no mention about yesterday’s shooting and explosion in the newspaper. And not just that. Turf wars between the various mafia families in the city raged on, but very little of it was reflected in the papers.
It wasn’t as though the mafia was controlling the information either.
To put it simply, no one cared. Instead, the most eye-catching pieces covered all kinds of records like nonstop flights, surveys of unexplored regions, and records of most time spent underwater. They didn’t even acknowledge the significance of these achievements, emptily praising them for being achievements in and of themselves.
Seymour usually wasn’t one to sigh, but today one escaped his lips.
There was a distinct feeling of averting your eyes from the truly compelling issues in favor of the sensational. A perverted feeling of having your priorities backwards. Today, Seymour suddenly felt the melancholy of the era weigh down heavily on him.
“────Hey man, you okay?”
The question directed at him through the window felt like the reverberations of last night’s explosion in his head. He pulled down the window, shifting his eyes outside.
“Yes. No problem. I’m on time, right?”
“Yeah, as always. Good work.” An Oriental man with a good build and sunglasses replied, smiling at him.
Seymour wasn’t familiar enough with foreigners to be able to guess an exact age, but he was probably at an age where he could pass as Seymour’s dad. The familiar face and voice made him smile, and he reached over to the passenger’s seat. He picked up three blue cigar boxes with 『Grind the MillTui Mo』written on them.
While he was at it, he said in a flat voice that would hide his intent, “You might want to have a chat with the client about this job. The packaging is getting visibly sloppier…or well. More like, they’ve stopped wrapping it entirely.”
It wasn’t his first time delivering a package to this man. Seymour had seen his face once or twice a week for over a year now, and like everything in life, it took them a while to get used to each other. In the beginning, the packages were wrapped up carefully on top of being in a huge dummy case. But, soon the dummy case disappeared and the box itself was just wrapped up in a cloth, and finally, today, the cigars ─ which Seymour had only just discovered were what he’d been delivering all along ─ had been left uncovered.
Seymour never asked『what』as a rule, but he couldn’t help it since the client hadn’t even wrapped it this time around. Seemingly understanding what Seymour, who was fighting back a grimace, was thinking, the man chuckled lightly.
“It simply means that your work deserves this much trust.” The job should have been finished with the hand-over of the cigars, however the man kept talking, “By the way, here.”
He thrust several bills through the window.
“Pardon? I have already received my payment.”
“That’s not it. Your car, look, it stinks.”
“Ah.”
During yesterday’s uproar, various things had made their way into Seymour’s Essex. The smell of gunpowder and ash was much harder to get rid of than that of garbage. There were also stains here and there all over the black frame of the car.
“This should be enough for a car wash. It’s vital to your work, so you should take proper care of it.”
“Then I’ll gratefully accept your kindness.”
“Don’t worry ’bout it. Just earn enough cash to afford this kind of thing, at least.”
“Ahaha, not everything in life is about money, though.”
“Whoa, how deep, dude.”
After the man has seen him off with a teasing laugh, Seymour exhaled in relief.
No car chase, no explosions, and of course no gunshots or death either. Wonderful. A very ordinary, everyday job. Well, ordinary is quite the rarity in this city, though.
“Still…”
Although the afternoon traffic couldn’t be described as a traffic jam, it was still congested enough to make Seymour tap his pedals impatiently. After confirming that it was safe in front, he took a peek at the back seat. The abnormality was quite obvious even at a glance. The Essex’ back seat was clean and tidy when compared to the car’s exterior, even though it had been covered in a girl’s blood and flesh just yesterday.
Seymour hadn’t done anything that could be called cleaning. And even if he had diligently scrubbed the whole seat, the putrid stench that the stains had given off yesterday should still be clinging to it.
“Well, in other words, c’est la vie.”
After driving for another 30 minutes, Seymour’s home came into view. Although the only person who would recognise it as a home was Seymour. It was one of many garages lining this street on the outskirts of town. A perpetual salty sea breeze travelled up the river beside the street from the nearby ocean.
Seymour stopped the car in front of the garage that broadly resembled a giant dog house. He got out of his car and rolled his neck. Then sneezed. This neighborhood was often referred to as an industrial area, and had the charm of being deserted except for the periods when the various workers clocked in or out in the morning and evening, but only the bad air produced by the factory across the street was a distinct drawback.
He took the key out of his pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. As he grabbed the shutter, the rust rubbed against his palm. He liked the rough, brittle texture, and thus he didn’t go out of his way to remove the rust. Shoving the shutter twice to get it fully open, both accompanied by loud jarring screeches that threatened to bring the whole place down, he drove into the garage.
The garage itself was a cramped hole that seemed too small even though there was only one car, a tool shelf and a few materials strewn about. With the window shut, the only light source was a naked bulb that hung from the ceiling, coloring the stagnant air a yellowish-brown. The metallic material of the walls was clearly exposed, though there were some richly colored patches here and there. Those were a result of Seymour occasionally splashing some paint on them for a change of pace, and the various layers of paint managed to come together and vaguely resemble marble.
Seymour climbed the ladder to a small loft above the garage. The small mezzanine floor made the already small garage seem even more cramped. That small loft served as Seymour’s living space. And right now, there was a girl sleeping in the bed.
“…”
The girl’s ──── Lumi’s face was quite pretty. The blood and brain matter she had spilled on the back seat of the Essex last night had now settled back in her head, returning to its previous state. There was no doubt about that since Seymour had watched with his own eyes how the blood and flesh had crawled back into her body as if he were watching a movie backwards. And, she had remained asleep ever since yesterday. He had tucked her in with a blanket that more closely resembled a rag with its machine oil stains and burn marks, but her breathing had remained regular and she never woke. The hem of her skirt, which she had been wearing since yesterday along with the rest of her outfit, was riding rather dangerously high.
Making his way through the heaps of miscellaneous goods on the floor, Seymour leaned back on his workdesk and lit a cigarette. He pulled on the wristwatch he took off to drive and stretched out a leg, drawing a metallic trash can to himself. He slowly filled his lungs with smoke with an expression that was a lot more emotionless than that of the sleeping girl.
The trash can had managed to catch the ash of two cigarettes by the time the girl’s eyelids snapped open.
“…….Nh, ah.” A delicate sigh.
Her long eyelashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly. Seymour covered his mouth with his right hand. The cigarette between two fingers, he pressed it to his mouth before pulling it away to reveal a smile.
“Good morning.”
“Goood…mooornin’…” Lumi greeted him back properly even as her head lolled a bit.
Only then did her eyes focus. Immediately a red tinge appeared on her cheeks, clearly signaling her embarrassment. Pulling her legs up under her and dragging the blanket up to cover everything from chin to toes, she said.
“Umm……good morning. Excuse me for occupying your bed all night long.”
Those are her first words after waking up in the bed of a man who’s basically a stranger to her?
There was a small chuckle from Seymour, but it was natural and unplanned, unlike a little while ago.
“I feel like you’re an early riser for a vampire. There’s still some time left until dusk.”
The word still didn’t feel quite real to him even though he had said it countless times since last night – vampire. The word seemed to be quite significant to Lumi however, her shoulders betraying how she had started at the mere mention.
“Besides, you look awfully healthy for someone whose brain was all over my backseat just yesterday.”
“……E-Excuse me.”
“What are you apologizing for?” Seymour asked quite genuinely, not intending it as a snide remark or with any sarcasm.
But his tone came out crueler than he had imagined it would, and Seymour suspected that he might be a little irritated.
Just, about what?
He saw a pang of fear flash through Lumi’s golden eyes as she perceptively sensed the sharpness oozing out of his voice.
“Vampire, huh, what’s all that about?”
“W-What’s that about, you ask…?”
“I’m not really knowledgeable about these kinds of things, so I don’t quite know what it entails.” Seymour only knew that term from the fictional stories that could be found on every street corner. “They suck human blood, are weak against sunlight, can turn into fog, can’t cross running water, transform into bats, hate crosses, perish when having a stake driven into their heart, and hate garlic. That’s about as much as I know about vampires.”
“Well, yes, that’s the kind of being I am.” Lumi had a deadly serious look on her face as she agreed with what Seymour had said half in jest.
He lifted an eyebrow, unconvinced, but there wasn’t a single sign that indicated that she was kidding.
The silver-haired girl straightened up on the bed. Lowering the blanket that had been draped over her body, she crumpled it up with her fingers, and confirmed Seymour’s words with a beautiful voice entirely unworthy of a being commonly referred to as a monster.
“I suck human blood, am weak against sunlight, can turn into fog, can’t cross running water, transform into bats, hate crosses, perish when having a stake driven into my heart, and hate garlic. ────That’s the kind of vampire I am.”
Even though he felt like laughing it off, the scene he had witnessed last night still lingered in Seymour’s mind. He couldn’t conclusively decide whether she was a vampire or not ─ it’s not like he could check by throwing her out into the sun right now ─ but there was no doubt that she had survived having a huge hole blown in her head.
‘Usually when people’s brains are splattered outside their head, they’re pretty dead. In other words, she’s definitely not human.
Seymour fell silent for a while. He only pulled himself together once the heat of his cigarette made itself a priority. He took one last puff from the last remnants of the cigarette, and ground it out against the trash can. With it, he easily extinguished the questions swirling in his head.
“I see. Well, then…” The most important question wasn’t whether or not she was a vampire. “…are you being chased by the mafia?”
He was pretty sure the same images that were being dredged up in his mind at the words were flashing through hers as well. An exploding house. A man’s head turned into bloody pulp by gunshots. Gunshots spilling her open.
“………Yes, I must be, I’m sure.”
“Must be?”
“I’ve always lived with my mother up until fairly recently. In a small house, just the two of us. But, mother…didn’t come home one day.”
Lumi tearfully swallowed before she managed to get the words 『didn’t come home』out. Seymour didn’t feel like probing any further about this.
“And then I was taken to a much bigger house, a mansion. I didn’t really know what was happening, but there were many men there, and I knew that they were scheming something…bad…….” Lumi’s shoulders trembled, as if she was struggling to breathe.
“……And then, I ran away from there yesterday.”
Seymour’s reply was the same as before, “I see.”
He felt like just saying those two words was a little heartless so he added in a slightly flustered manner, “Okay, I understand the situation. We don’t know who exactly is targeting you, but there’s value in just knowing that the mafia is after you.”
The human-shaped entity before him was a vampire. That was worth something in and of itself. There might be dirty work they would force this inhuman monster to do, or they might simply plan to market her like some panda, tropical fish, or rhinoceros beetle. It was also possible that someone had simply fallen for Lumi’s charm, as unexpected as it might sound. Still, there was no real point in trying to guess their motives.
“You were targeted yesterday, and that’s not likely to have changed today or tomorrow.”
Lumi cast her eyes down. As soon as she did, Seymour felt the mood of the whole room plummet.
“Yes…you’re probably right. I’m still being chased, am I not?”
Then her leather boots landed on the floor with a thud. Her feet had been hidden in her shoes since yesterday, and Seymour idly wondered if they were swollen or in pain. Lumi still looked rather unstable even though she had managed to get up. Seymour lent her a hand.
“……gh!?”
“……Kyaaa!?”
His hand was flung off as soon as they made contact. But not because Lumi had shaken it off. Some invisible, mysterious force had repelled them from each other. The impact was so strong that Seymour might have stumbled if he wasn’t leaning against the desk. His entire arm was numb, like he had just been electrocuted. The force tore the wristwatch right off his arm, sending it flying into the wall and before it fell all the way to the ground floor with a loud clatter. The force had repelled Lumi as well, bending her arm backward unnaturally.
An instantaneous commotion, followed by an instinctive comprehension of the cause.
“Vampire, eh…?”
Seymour’s wristwatch was decorated with silver. Vampires were weak against silver. They couldn’t touch it. It was a well known fact in vampire folklore. .
That inability to touch silver must have produced the force. It must have been generated to ensure that she never had contact with silver.
That was the conclusion Seymour came to. Lumi’s eyes widened, either from the pain or her anxiety. Her eyes tracked the path of the fallen wristwatch, her teeth clenched and her lips pursed into a thin line.
“……Sorry.”
An apology that seemed to be aimed at no one in particular. But Seymour somehow had a hunch what she’d say next.
“Umm, I’ll leave right now. I’m terribly sorry for imposing on you for such a long time. Thank you very much.” She bowed once, and started to walk off unsteadily, though it was slow enough that her hair remained limp on her shoulders despite her unsteadiness.
“…….”
Seymour silently thrust his numb fingers into the cigarette pack. He spun the cigarette in his fingers, noting that he hadn’t lost any range of motion.
“…….”
Bringing it to his mouth, he stopped and sighed. The scene from last night replayed through his mind. Lumi’s long hair fluttering in the wind. The moment that had been so vivid that he hadn’t even cared that his fingers had lost all sensation or that the wind had chilled him to the bone.
He sighed once more.
After making sure that he wasn’t carrying other silver besides the wristwatch, he grabbed Lumi’s hand as she passed him, the unlit cigarette still between his fingers.
“Hyaaa!”
“…Do you have somewhere you can go?”
Despite the hand holding her back, she didn’t turn back to look at him. Seymour could only see the back of her well-shaped head.
“Ah, no, that is…I’ve always lived with my mother, so…”
“What about the guy from yesterday?”
“That man is a member of the mafia that kidnapped me. Although he allowed me to get away for some unknown reason…”
Seymour smiled wryly at how she had said it so airily, in complete contrast to the actual words coming out of her mouth. Seymour didn’t give a damn why he wanted to let Lumi Spike get away. In the end, if he really intended to save her, then he shouldn’t have stuffed her into Seymour’s car and caused her to end up all alone.
He felt her warmth through the hand he was grabbing. It seemed that vampires were warm-blooded. And as far as Seymour was concerned, the most solid proof that a person was human was their body temperature. If they were comfortable to embrace, then they were human.
“How about staying with me then?”
He regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. This was a choice that definitely came with trouble.
Lumi also realized it. She whirled around with wide eyes, before slowly lowering them again.
“But……I can’t trouble you Mr. Seymour, not any more than…”
That made sense. If Seymour had been sitting in his car, he would never have said anything like that. Rescuing a girl being chased by the mafia wasn’t part of a courier’s job description. But, currently his hands weren’t holding onto the wheel, and his feet weren’t resting on the pedals.
“How about this, then. Yesterday that man requested that I escort you home. And that job isn’t over yet. The place I was supposed to deliver you to was blown to pieces before you could enter it.” The corners of Seymour’s lips twitched upward. “That’s why, you see……as compensation, I’ll deliver you somewhere on my pride as a courier. Anywhere you wish to go to.”
Seymour spoke with a level of determination that was quite rare for Seymour, but even so, traces of hesitation still remained in Lumi’s eyes. Therefore, since he was already committed, he added one more brief comment.
“As a special limited time offer, I’ll even take you to somewhere that’s not recorded on the map, okay?”
Though Lumi couldn’t possibly understand the real meaning behind those words, she still laughed softly like her heartstrings had been pulled. She turned around, and for the first time, Seymour saw a faint playfulness in her eyes.
“If you tell me all that, I’ll really depend on you, you know?”
“Of course. Even though I might look like this, my job completion rate is my greatest pride.”
“In that case────” Lumi requested boldly, her seriousness undercut by the smile on her face, “────please take me somewhere safe.”
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