This Hero is Sleeping!
Chapter 74 73: The Vampire Of Soleda (6)

The group of three looked down at the report at once, the front stamped with a confidential mark and a date of just a few months back. There wasn't just one or two of these confidential documents here, which led them to believe that these weren't as confidential as the stamp would lead one to believe.

Claude hesitated, his mind fluttering back to the diary he had read not too long ago.

Slowly, he sighed and flipped open the report.

[This report highlights the events of the recent jarring incident taking place east of Soleda in the village of Kiniya. Hillside, main occupation, terrace farming. Population, roughly 150. A family of three had lived in the village for five years, the main victims of the case. Husband Mr. X, 29, Wife, Ms. Y, 27, Son, 5]

"Five…" Elric muttered. The fate of the group clear.

Erika held in a sigh and read on, the point not missing her either.

A lot of details were added on about the village and the state of the people living together.

[Husband the only provider. He used to work odd jobs in the village while tending to a rented farm, trying to save up enough to start his own. Hardworking man with a strong impression in the village. He worked hard citing his sickly wife as his motivation.]

Testimonies about the person followed. Most angry and hurtful. Venom oozed from the words that called him a snake and a masked man that was simply raising them like pigs.

But the incident didn't make itself clear yet.

No reports of the missing people or people dying, run-ins with vampires, nothing was mentioned yet.

The son too would usually play with children of his age, though the child usually only came out during the late eves and the early morns, not showing up during the day, be it for school or anything else.

And the wife…

Was never seen by anyone for the five years.

[Suspicions were afloat within the village. Rumors of her being hideously ugly or extremely sick to the point of being unable to move, and even words of a wife not existing were frequent. Until Seven days before the incident reportedly took place.]

One of the husband's employers had visited his house while he wasn't present to collect a small loan that he had given out to the man. Loans weren't a business yet, but for the employer who had returned from the city, it was an opportunity. Following the plentiful harvest, these were just the last remaining funds the husband needed to achieve his dream.

It was then, that the wife stepped toward the door for the first time. Seemingly no such incident had happened before since the husband was always available for whoever came at his door.

[Almost as if, the wife was his captive]

Those were the words the man had used to describe his thoughts when he saw the door opening.

It was far off from the truth, but the fear that they had been living and hiring a criminal for the last five years struck strong at the back of his head.

The suspicion and fear only increased when the wife only spoke from behind the door and informed him of the absence.

The man then approached the other villagers, the head and the rest of his friends and told of his suspicions.

Events fell from one to the other in a short period of time. Trying to be as inconspicuous as they could, they asked the man about his wife and child, but received just smiling faces and merry mutters, nothing of substance. They were afraid if asking him things outright would endanger someone.

And then, one afternoon, they decided to barge in.

Men and women of the village raided the house, and found the family inside.

A struggle began as they noticed the house dark to the brim and tried to brighten the place up, which the man vehemently opposed.

["You're killing us."]

He had said.

"Was she a vampire all along then?"

Erika muttered, flipping the page yet again.

"Dark rooms, a person never stepping out, it does seem that way."

"But there's no mentions of people or animals dying. How would she have found blood? And moreover, the vampire here didn't seem to have been 'killed' from the sun."

[The woman was indeed hideous, with black specks and marks growing all over her body. The moment the villagers pulled away the drapes, she screamed, exposed to the sun.]

The villager that had returned from the city pointed at her. And screamed.

[Vampire]

Rage and fear overtook the villagers as the beat the family down, even the child, and dragged them to the jails.

Meetings lasted amongst themselves night after night. Should we tell the guards? And what if they accuse us of housing a demon? Should we let them be? And what if they come to eat us? Is she… even a vampire? And what could she be, that she was so afraid of the sun? That hideous body, it must be because she wasn't getting blood!

The fear of the villagers only grew stronger and stronger by the day.

And then, they reached a conclusion.

The villagers gathered in the dungeon and dragged the family out, mercilessly beating them down day after day had made them unresisting. The wife a notch worse, and so was her child.

They dragged them out in the middle of the night, with the priest's watchful eye, the family was strapped to stakes and raised to the ground, kerosene and torches all around and ready to burn them down.

In a desperate struggle, the husband fought, biting his captors, stabbing their eyes. He freed his child and his wife and forced them to run.

["Live! Live like a person!"]

His struggles weren't futile.

The villagers ran after the two, one of their arrows stabbing the foot of the child.

The child was dragged back too, but the mother escaped.

Remorseless, the villagers, burnt the vampire's thrall and her child.

Only a few months later did it come to light for the knights, when one of the villagers couldn't hide it anymore. Couldn't hide, that the vampire had escaped.

A search party was launched, but the 'vampire' with hideous skin was never found, nor were reports of people being sucked off their blood.

The report continued with more testimonies…

"Was this it…?"

"It's horrible…" Erika muttered. "I don't get it… was she a vampire?"

"XP." Elric muttered then.

"Hm?"

He took the report in his hands and tossed it as far away as he could before laying back down.

"You can't just say something and then shut up!"

"Eh…?"

"He's right. Tell us right now."

Elric sighed and turned on his side.

"Black spots? That's skin cancer. Unable to stand in the sun and 'killing' them, sounds like Xeroderma Pigmentosum, a disease where you can't heal from UV rays."

Erika opened her eyes. She had seen a movie just like that.

"You think… that's why they were keeping the son safe too?"

"You tell me, can a vampire be hideous? Didn't you see her regenerate everything?" Elric burrowed himself in his arms and closed his eyes. "Ones who didn't know what made a human, were judging someone else's humanity."

Claude looked down at his hands.

"Then, do you think… like before?"

Elric nodded.

Just like the girl in Koror village, the one here had changed into something else. From a human, to a vampire. In their attempt to kill one, they had birthed a vampire.

No more words came out as silence lingered over the room.

The three sat around for a while, not speaking or reading anymore. The sun was nigh gone.

The door of the room suddenly opened and people in armor flooded inside.

"Erika Arkwin! You are under arrest!"