Free Tale of the Dead Town by Hideyuki Kikuchi Page B

asked.
    “Oh, this is a tough one,” a hoarse voice said in reply. “The memory’s been completely
     erased from the cells. But then, I guess you already know this guy wasn’t made to
     serve any Noble.” Was the voice suggesting, then, that this vampire had just spontaneously
     generated?
    Not surprised in the least, D nodded. “But those who aren’t Nobility don’t just turn
     into Nobles on their own.”
    “Then that’d mean someone had to make him that way,” the voice suggested. “What we’ve
     got here is an imitation vampire. The question is, who made it?”
    D didn’t reply.
    “Come to think of it, they did say something about letting someone into town two centuries
     ago. Could be him again . . . ” the hoarse voice mused. “Still, it’s all very strange.
     From what the mayor’s said, and from the way the locals have been acting, it doesn’t
     seem like there’s been a ruckus over vampires before. So, these characters suddenly
     show up two hundred years after the fact? There’s no way their strange visitor could
     still be in town after all this time. What do you think?”
    Straightening up, D headed for the mayor’s room. “There’s another one out there,”
     he said. “That’s all I know.”
    When the Hunter knocked on his door, the mayor stuck his head out like he’d been waiting
     for him to come. “What is it?” he asked.
    “He’s been taken care of.”
    “My daughter’s been saved?”
    “Ask the doctor about that.”
    Just as the mayor’s dazed face turned toward his daughter’s bedroom, Dr. Tsurugi appeared.
     Seeing the mayor, he gave a satisfied smile. The mayor’s shoulders dropped and a deep
     sigh escaped from him. “Can I see her?”
    Not saying a word, D stepped aside. The mayor disappeared into his daughter’s bedroom.
    “Remarkable, isn’t it?” As D was headed for the front door, the odd remark followed
     him. It was neither praising nor sarcastic, but the tone of it was nearly a challenge.
     “This thing had everyone quaking in their boots, but you come here and things get
     taken care of in no time flat . . . Although it was yours truly that put the fateful
     stake through his heart.”
    “Yes, it was.” D turned around.
    A strangely firm resolve, or something like it, graced the young physician’s face.
     It was an unusual emotion, one no one had ever directed toward D.
    The mayor quickly came back out of his daughter’s room. A smile spread across his
     face, and he declared, “The wounds on her throat have vanished, and she’s sleeping
     peacefully. And all thanks to you, D!”
    “If you’ll pardon me saying so, I was actually the one who finished him off.”
    Looking dumbfounded, the mayor turned from D to Dr. Tsurugi and back again.
    “The doctor’s right,” D told him. “I was no use at all.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” Dr. Tsurugi countered vehemently. “Mayor, this gentleman not
     only prevented the sneaking vampire from laying a finger on your daughter, but also
     succeeded in driving him from her room. I merely happened to be in the right place
     at the right time. If any reward is to be paid, we’ll split it.”
    “You’re welcome to it,” D said, sounding somewhat surprised. His tone was strangely
     agreeable. Perhaps he was taken aback by events.
    “I’d like you to come to my room,” the mayor said with a smile. “You’ll be given your
     remuneration. We’ll put you up wherever you like in town. Why, if you should decide
     to stay on permanently with us, that’d be fine, too.”
    “Can’t do that just yet.” In the present mood of jubilant confidence, the Hunter’s
     words hung like icicles. “There’s still another one out there.”
    “What?” the mayor began to say, but his mouth merely hung open. “Impossible!”
    “No. He said there were two of them. I don’t think he was lying.”
    “But—” the mayor sputtered, “You see, up till now there haven’t been any victims aside
     from my