Dance in the Vampire Bund 38

Dance in the Vampire Bund chapter 38, or a lengthy trip to the dictionary for EVERY!! SINGLE!! PAGE!!
Thank goodness, now it's done.

This is a thefolenangel scanzzz tranzzzlation (C wut I did thar?)

Edit: With the thefolenangel version out now, I wouldn't mind seeing a HQ version of this, if anyone cares to do it.
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001
Dance in the Vampire Bund
7
Tamaki Nozomu.
Quote: Man is very well defended against himself, against his own spying and sieges; usually he is able to make out no more of himself than his outer fortifications. The actual stronghold is inaccessible to him, even invisible, unless friends and enemies turn traitor and lead him there by a secret path./Nietzsche - Human, all too Human. [tn: More precisely "Human, All too Human, Book I; Aphorism 491". I didn't bother translating this. I merely grabbed an English version of Nietzsche's work and ripped it off shamelessly.]

002
Dance in the Vampire Bund 7
Contents

Chapter 38: Demon Seed.|3
Chapter 39: The Wolf's Crest.|27
Chapter 40: The Wolf's Mark.|57
Chapter 41: The Wolves' Afternoon.|91
Chapter 42: The Wolf's Lament.|121
Chapter 43: Wolf, Never Cry.|151
Appendix.|195

*This is a work of fiction, all resemblance coincidental, blah, blah blah...

003
Demon Seed.

004
Akira: I see....../So that's what your dream was like.........

005
Akira: I would've loved to see/what you were like in that gown...
Mina: You looked like a fine gentleman yourself, in that bridegroom suit.
Akira: I can't imagine that. I'd never get a haircut like that in the first place.[tn: He's referring to the hairstyle his dream-self had at the wedding scene. The one with the hair falling from his forehead, on either side of his face. There's a specific name in Japanese for it, but whether an English equivalent exists I do not know. LOL, I don't even know if such a thing exists in my own language!!]
Mina: Oh yeah? You looked pretty good, you know.
Akira: Nah! No way, I'm telling you.//........ Are you glad you came back........?
Mina: I couldn't afford not to./Someone out there just wouldn't stop crying.

006
Vera: Hime-sama.
Mina: What is it, Vera?
Vera: Yuuki-san has been put under arrest/as a suspect in the latest case.
Akira: WHAT?!
Mina: What is the meaning of this?
Vera: The Intelligence Unit has revealed the means by which the nanomachines in question were able to infect you./They were mixed with the Stigma you have ingested on the school premises!

007
Vera: The Stigma you drink is put through multiple tests starting with my own, and sealed off afterwards. The sensors on the container checked to ascertain the integrity of the seals.//That day, the seal's been broken on only one occasion.........
Mina: !
Flashback!Mina: Excuse me, Yuki. I'm gonna have lunch a bit ahead of time./There's some Stigma in the cabinet... Can you bring me some.........?
Flashback!Yuki: Hime-sama. Your lunch........
Mina: And........./that's why you're suspecting Yuki..........

008
Akira: I see. That night, when Yuki came to the hospital.......
Flashback! Yuki: Someone from the Bund picked me up...........
Akira: It was for detention..........//What kind of proof do you have? Can you ascertain her guilt?
Vera: There are no traces of the nanomachines on the Stigma container./But Intel claims that right after the incident, they effectively and utterly disintegrated, thus self-destructing and completely vanishing from Hime-sama's blood. I feel compelled to mention how improbable it all sounds to me.
Mina: How's Yuki doing at the moment?
Vera: Currently held in custody. She's being escorted to the inquiry room in the Security Department.
Mina: They haven't started to interrogate her, I take it?!
Vera: No.//The Beowulfs are securing a perimeter around her under the pretense of surveillance. Not that there's any immediate threat to her safety.

009
Vera: But there's no telling how this is gonna play out, so we'd better err on the side of caution.
Remus: Don't worry.

010
Remus: We don't think you'd do anything to harm the Princess, and nothing will convince us otherwise.
Romulus: We won't allow anyone to mess around with you, so chill out. You'll be just fine.
Yuki: Thank you./And, um....... What about the Princess? .........
Remus: The Princess is fine. She's made a complete recovery./She'll be getting out of bed shortly.
Yuki: Is that so.../Thank God..........//Aha... ...I'm sorry./But... Oh, thank goodness...
Vanguard: Vanguard, here. We have a problem.

011
Eyez: Are the Beowulfs seeking to interfere with us, the Tepes Royal House's Intel Unit, in the exercise of our duties?
Heinrich: We aren't interfering with anything./Merely taking preventive action against any wasteful endeavor.//Yuki-dono is one of Her Highness' schoolmates. Her friend and a most trusted confidant./Suspicion towards her is nothing short of ridiculous.
Eyez: Being laughably suspicious is an accurate description of our job. Close friends have been backstabbing each other from times immemorial, and I won't waste any time enumerating the examples.

012
Leeroy: And what do you seek to accomplish by interrogating her?/I seriously doubt you're going to treat her to pork chops and whine at her until she tells you what she knows.
Eyez: We have little need for such roundabout ways.//As far as interrogation methods go/we aren't exactly short on options.
Leeroy: Why am I not surprised? So what's the plan? You gonna chomp on her and have her confess to the deed?
Heinrich: You think Her Highness will let you turn the girl into a vampire and just walk away?
Eyez: I wouldn't be so bold as to claim I can understand what her Highness thinks./But if favor is what the girl wants, it wouldn't be unwise of her to enter the family and make herself fully available.
Remus: Her Highness doesn't need a lackey or some such retainer./But a friend who can stand by her on an equal footing.

013
Remus: You work so close to her, yet you fail to grasp that simple aspect of her mentality?/How I pity you.
Eyez: Are you questioning our loyalty...?
Romulus: You do seem suspicious. Never mind appearances, your actions speak for themselves.//It's pretty much as if you were rushing to get someone framed for the deed./Am I right?
Eyez: Being one the Princess' bodyguards doesn't mean you shouldn't watch your tongue. Lest you invite disaster upon yourself in the future.
Angie: If anyone here has any cause to apprehend questioning, it's you.

014
Angie: Just like Romulus said/Intel has a very good reason to want to pin down the culprit very quickly.
Eyez: ......What do you mean?
Angie: I was able to get some detailed information about the nanomachines inside Her Highnesss' organism./Please have a look.//These nanomachines have been developed someplace, several years ago.../Resulting into the particular specimen we have here.//The Demon's Seed......../Nanomachines able to render a vampire completely dysfunctional.

015
Angie: Since the olden days, the most difficult question amongst feuding vampire clans has been thus: "How do we create a traitor... a mole?"//I trust I won't surprise anyone by mentioning the staunch hierarchy vampiric society is built around./Those who drink blood rule over those whose blood they drink. The aristocracy rules over the common folk, and is governed in turn by the royalty.//They have absolute obedience inscribed into their very genes, to the point of instinctual behavior./Even if they had a change of heart, they couldn't hope to subvert the established order.
Remus: While we do have the means to make somebody our own with a mere "overwriting" procedure....../new methods of investigation such as genetic examination and psychoanalysis are now available, thus making it impossible to lastingly cover up for such a deed.//You could credit this particular trait: this instinct....... for the preservation of order in vampiric society.........

016
Angie: And that's where the nanomachine production comes in./They lodge themselves inside the brain of the vampire they infect, and emit some sort of signal.//This signal acts as a stimulus for the target, causing the same response into the vampire as if it had just received a command from its superiors./As a result, the subject will effectively perceive something akin to an hallucination picturing its master giving out instructions.//He or she will then sabotage and destroy under the nanomachines' orders, without even realizing the treachery of it./And since no actual overwriting has been done, this device can effortlessly cheat any kind of test............/Potentially making it the ultimate tool to destroy vampiric society with.//The machines that infected Her Highness had been specifically modified to affect only her subconscious. A customized version, so to speak.
Remus: Who in the world would do such a thing...?

017
Angie: Certainly our distinguished guests over here have a good idea about this. Right?
Eyez: .....
Remus: ...Would you be so kind as to grace us with an explanation?
Al: That's enough./As you know, we've got a situation on our hands, here. So no pushing the weaklings around, please.
Remus: Marquis Borgiani.
Al: I'm the one who had them built./Those nanomachines are made in Tepes articles.

018
Remus: The Royal House did it?
Al: Correct./We had to prepare for out-and-out conflict before the arrival of the Three Clans. It bears mentioning that the product wasn't quite perfect, though.//It inhibits the subject's metabolism significantly. The project was put on hold, and the prototypes securely put under lock and key.//Except some people out there were able to perfect it, even implementing their own modifications.........
Remus: You mean that it wasn't you?
Al: They were stolen from me./A long time ago.//The last time we heard of them was a solid half a month ago, give or take. And Intel's been following these tracks as if their own lives depended on it./Angie-boy here should be able to explain the rest in accurate detail.

019
Angie: The Earth clan's Senate is an organization subsidiary to Beowulf that carries out inspection duties under the aegis of House Tepes./They've been aware of the existence of those nanomachines and have been secretly investigating them for quite a while.//Part of the reason I was dispatched here is because they'd gotten news regarding the stolen nanomachines./But I never imagined...
Al: That someone would be using them against Her Highness........./How regretful.
Remus: Regretful? You won't get away that easily!!/You develop some weapon without consulting anyone else. And on top of having it stolen, you take steps to cover up the whole thing.//Exposing the Princess' life to danger as a consequence!/Forgive my rudeness, Your Excellency but I fail to grasp how what you've been doing is supposed to serve Her Highness' best interests!!
Al: The path Her Highness is walking is full of darkness. A path where evil demons lurk. If you think preaching about themes like justice and righteousness will help you assist her in any way, just forget about it!/And I won't stand for a bunch of flippin' wolfish brutes interrupting me.

020
Mina: What a ruckus. Men shouting, hollering and yapping./How am I supposed to recover in those conditions?
Remus: Your Highness!!
Al: Your Highness.......... I never came to visit you on your sickbed. Please forgive my unfaithfulness.//But above all........../It is good to see you unharmed.

021
Mina: This isn't like you. Dedicated as you are/you must have been running left and right on my behalf, am I right?//I'll let you take care the current situation./What say you?
Al: As you wish. Rest assured, I'll make sure your trust in me is well placed.
MIna: Well, now........ I'm the one who had Yuki open that Stigma container for me the other day./It has nothing to do with a conspiracy on her part or anything of the sort.

022
Mina: Since the witness here is no one else but me that should clear up any suspicions./May I go interview the former suspect?
Eyez: Yes ma'am./As you wish.
Akira: ........
Al: It appears you have something on your mind, young man.

023
Akira: ...Hime-san got a brush with death......... And your men tried to have Yuki take the fall for it.//Hime-san may talk about how dedicated you are/but I just can't buy it, and I never did.
Al: Suit yourself./Many different people experience loyalty. It's something felt from deep down./And it won't always manifest in a way that other people can comprehend.
Angie: Marquis Borgiani. Provided that........./the stolen nanomachines have been perfected, we should operate........
Al: Under the assumption that they're already being utilized./When somebody has a tool, they'll want to make use of it. In this, humanity and vampires are similar.

024
Wolf: This isn't the first time we've been given cause to believe in the existence of a mole on this island. The information leak on the occasion of Her Highness' arrival in Japan. The falsified immigration records for the vampires Hysterica took away with her./Then we have the case at hand. Assuming those elusive nanomachines are involved, it all falls into place.
Akira: We have a traitor....... Here on the island.
Al: Indeed......... And they're lying dormant......../not even aware of their own treachery.........//If you'll excuse us.../We have our own battles to engage.
Angie: Your Excellency. One last thing./We need to decide on an official denomination for those nanomachines. If they do have a name, please let us know.

025
Al: Pied Piper.[tn: A folk tale reference. The Pied Piper of Hamelin, who would lead his victims to their doom with his enticing music.]
Akira: ........
Wolf: ... We have analyzed the laptop that the criminal's left behind./Most of the data has been deleted. But one image file remains, that should prove most interesting.//Akira. Angie./It concerns you both.

026
Akira: This....... This is!![/end