Chapter 314: Mizuki falls
"You are a Hunter." Victor pointed out, "And what is a Hunter's job?"
"To Hunt."
"Yes, that's your specialty." He smiled.
"And I want this experience of yours." Victor lied as easily as he breathed. His intention was not about using Mizuki's experience, considering if that was all he wanted, he had Eleanor.
He wanted the woman to live with the Vampires for a few weeks.
To see if he would be able to change her hostile attitude to a neutral one. And if it was possible, be in good standing.
Although, he thought this was impossible. After all, the woman had a lot of hatred for Vampires. He just hoped that she'd at least develop a neutral attitude and could grow more as a hunter.
He hoped she could walk into a more 'gray' area and see that not everything is as she thinks. If he reached that, that would be enough.
'In the past, she became less hostile when she saw me interacting with my friends, and when I helped her with her problem, she acquired a more neutral attitude towards me, but it's still not enough.'
Victor thought of a plan that could use someone like Mizuki, but he needed her to have a grayer worldview, Victor knew that humans were just as bad as Vampires, and she needed to see that.
Mizuki already knew about how rotten Vampires were.
She now knows how rotten humans are.
Finally, she must see the qualities of normal 'Vampires', those Vampires who just want to live their lives peacefully.
Like there were normal humans who just wanted to live their lives, wake up early, work, have a beautiful girlfriend, etc.
There were Vampires who wanted the same, but with different circumstances due to their long-lived race.
The reason Victor came to think about it was...
The meeting of supernatural beings.
He'd had a bad feeling ever since he heard about it. His and Adonis's instincts screamed at him that something was wrong, that he needed allies.
Allies like Mizuki that were very rare.
The woman was simply too important to ignore. She was the last of her kind, after all.
Onmyo magic, if used properly, could be quite... dangerous.
Much more dangerous than the hunters' limited 'faith'.
Adonis was someone who had always survived by relying on his instinct, and Victor naturally had a greater instinct for danger, and because of that, it was hard to ignore this feeling, this feeling of incongruity as if something could go wrong at any moment.
'Initially, I didn't want Scathach to go to that place... But if I say that, the woman will only get angry with me.' Even though Victor couldn't stop the woman, he gave her a warning.
"Take care at the meeting." He spoke to her as they were getting dressed and leaving the bathroom.
Knowing his mother-in-law, even if she was in a stupefied state from drinking so much blood, she would remember those words.
"...I..." Mizuki was unsure what to do.
"Currently, you're aimless, out of allies, and being hunted by your former organization."
"Some packs of Wolves and Vampires are teaming up with Demons and plotting something big, something you can't handle alone."
"And even alone, you haven't stopped sticking your nose in problems that aren't yours, thus leading to the state you were in when I met you a few minutes ago."
"..." Mizuki's brow twitched a little when she heard what Victor said, she wanted to refute what he said, but she knew he was telling the truth.
"This is not the time to be alone."
"You need allies."
"...And I need you...I need the last Onmyo mage."
"I need my Odachi teacher. I remember you still haven't taught me everything about how to use an Odachi."
... A moment of silence fell around them as Victor patiently waited for Mizuki's answer.
Mizuki flashed a small smile when she heard that he needed her to teach him about the ways of the Odachi. It was quite satisfying to see someone who liked the same weapon as her.
But… She couldn't make that decision alone, she needed her Master's opinion.
Her Master always gave the right directions in this kind of situation.
"...I need to speak with my Master."
'Tsk' Victor was annoyed. That's not what he wanted to hear since that was an aspect of Mizuki he had never liked.
Whenever she would make a decision, she would ask her Master; it was like she was a puppet.
"As soon as I speak-." Mizuki was going to continue to say something, but Victor interrupted her.
"Stop."
Victor's eyes glowed violet.
He lifted his hand, and with a gesture, Mizuki felt her body begin to float in front of Victor.
"W-What."
"What did you do?" Mizuki tried to move, but she couldn't. It was as if her body couldn't hear her.
Victor didn't respond to Mizuki and instead just reached out his arm, touched the woman's face, and caressed her.
"Stop making decisions based on your Master's opinion..."
"You are an adult, an independent woman. You must make your own decisions, and your Master must ONLY advise you."
"You are the one who walks the path and chooses the path, not him."
"Don't give up your free will so easily, you're not a puppet."
"….." Mizuki looked at Victor's violet eyes, and she felt lost in those beautiful eyes for a few seconds, but even though she was in that state, she didn't stop thinking about his words.
Victor stopped controlling the woman's blood, and she regained control of herself again.
With her body control suddenly regained, Mizuki awkwardly landed in front of Victor.
The woman leaned on Victor's throne and continued to look at his face, which was now only a few inches away, her whole body paralyzed:
"So..." He gently brushed the woman's long black hair away from her face and went back to caressing her plump cheeks, "My favorite Hunter, what's your answer?"
Feeling Victor's caress on her face and his loving eyes, Mizuki felt lost.
"...I…I..." She tried to form some sort of words, but she couldn't. She was too lost in the handsome man in front of her.
'Yes, she's completely lost it...' Natalia nodded when she saw Mizuki's face.
"You what...?" He asked with the same smile and expression.
"I need-..."
"Shhh," He lightly touched her lips, "I want to know your answer, your decision."
He held the woman's face with both hands and spoke:
"What do you desire?"
"...." Mizuki felt like she was being swallowed by those violet eyes.
'This is bad. If I go on like this, I... I... I will enter a path of no return.'
[MIZUKI!]
"!!!" Mizuki opened her eyes wide, and with a look of hate, she turned away from Victor.
"Let go of me!" She jumped back and quickly pulled out a talisman from her bag.
"Tsk." Victor looked to the side towards the spirit.
Feeling Victor's gaze on his body, his spirit froze with fear.
Victor's eyes turned blood red, and a dark, murderous intent shot out of his body.
"Old irritant, how long are you going to control her life? Disappear for a few minutes." Victor pointed his hand at the old man, and with a simple finger gesture, the old man flew away from Mizuki's location.
"W-What" That was the only thing he could say when he saw the structure he was in disappear from his vision, and before he knew it, he was in space.
"…What the fuck?" For the second time in his long life, he spoke a bad word; this situation was too irrational for him.
"...!?" Mizuki's entire body shuddered when she felt that.
'It's much worse than before! Just how many lives did he take!?'
Victor looked at Mizuki, and soon his whole air changed to the gentle expression he had before.
"I'm sorry about that, but that old man likes to meddle in matters where he's not called."
"Honestly, he's annoying."
"What did you do with him?" she asked, still on guard.
"I didn't do anything, just threw him into space for a few minutes. He needs to rest and let his 'protected' make her own decisions."
"He should be back here in a few hours."
"..." Mizuki opened her eyes in shock; 'just what kind of bullshit was he talking about?' Mizuki thought she was hearing things.
"So? What is your answer?" he asked again.
Mizuki woke up from her stupor and looked at Victor, "Of course I refuse! You were trying to charm me less than a few minutes ago! How can I trust you!?" She growled angrily.
"???" Question marks appeared in Victor's head, and he turned his head in confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb!" She stomped to the floor in annoyance.
"..." Victor looked at the woman with a neutral gaze, "From the beginning, when I walked into this room, I never used any kind of charm on you. That's my sincerity to my favorite Hunter..."
"..." Mizuki obviously didn't believe what Victor said.
"Oh, I lied. I used the charm on you once." Victor remembered something.
"…I knew-."
"I used it when you were about to freak out from seeing your red eyes, and that was the only time." He flashed a small smile.
"... Wha-..."
"Woman, you fell for his natural charm. I can guarantee he never used anything against you."
"....." She looked at the maid with a shocked look on her face that said; 'what the hell are you talking about?'
"In short, you were enchanted by the man in front of you and were lost in his natural charm. Just a few minutes ago, you seemed to want to kiss him, you know?"
"And the best part is that my Master didn't do anything, you bewitched yourself." Natalia laughed amusedly.
Hearing what Natalia said, Mizuki's cheeks turned a little red as she looked back at Victor.
"…Umu?" Victor was a little surprised by Mizuki's intense gaze, but he just smiled at her.
And that was enough for a change to happen in Mizuki.
"!!!" Mizuki's entire face turned completely red.
'How could I! How could I! I!? Soon I'll be charmed by a fucking Vampire!?' Mizuki was freaking out internally.
"So? What's your answer? I need to know since I really don't have much time, you know?"
"Fine! I will go with you, but you must promise me something!" Mizuki looked like a woman who was running out of patience, and she didn't want to deal with Victor anymore for at least a few weeks!
She also couldn't deny that she was in a bad situation. She hadn't slept well for weeks. After all, she was afraid to sleep in the event someone would ambush her.
Even though her Master told her not to worry about it, she just couldn't.
"What is it you want me to promise?"
"Stay away from me! I want you 50 meters away from me!" She practically screamed red-faced.
'He's too dangerous in many ways to be around me! I need something to resist his charm!'
Yes, I can treat this as a form of training!
Mizuki didn't know what she was thinking anymore, her eyes were rolling in confusion, but there was one thing she was sure of.
Victor needed to get away from her!
"..." Victor's brow twitched a little. Was this woman treating him like a sex offender or something?
"Sure, that's easy." Victor shrugged.
"…Eh?" Mizuki woke up from her stupor and looked at Victor angrily,
"Why did you agree so easily!?"
"Huh?" Victor didn't understand Mizuki's sudden outburst of anger.
"I know I'm not pretty compared to Vampires, but you didn't have to agree so easily! This is damaging to my self-esteem, you know!?"
"?????"
Is this woman drugged? Why is she suddenly getting angry? Wasn't she the one who decided on this?
Victor was completely confused.
"For god's sake, what do you want in the end?" He touched his head as if he had a headache and gave up trying to come up with a logical explanation.
"You can stay close to me, but you must keep your distance!"
"..." Victor looked at the woman with an expressionless look.
"...So, in the end, I don't need to do anything and act as usual?"
"...Yes?" She looked at Victor, confused.
Now you're confused about it?!
A vein bulged in Victor's head.
"Anyway, get ready. I'll be waiting outside. We have to go somewhere before we go to Nightingale." Victor rose from the ice throne and walked towards the door.
He snapped his finger, and the ice he created disappeared.
"...Don't forget to wear your clothes~." Natalia flashed an amused smile and followed Victor.
"...?" Mizuki looked down and, for the first time, realized that she was only wearing her undergarments, clothes that, with big movements, people could see all the important areas.
Remembering the moves she'd made and when she was close to Victor.
Her face's color rivaled Clan Scarlett's red hair.
"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She crouched on the floor in shame as she held her head.
'Did he see everything...? I'm sure he saw it all! I made a lot of fancy moves! He for sure saw it all!'
[Mizuki, summon me back.]
[Muzki?] The old spirit tried to talk to the woman, but his disciple didn't seem to be listening.