This suit was so uncomfortable.

  I understood the practical use. Silver burned vampires, the potent ginger smell helped ward them off, and apparently biblical imagery made them afraid. Why that last one worked, I had no idea, but regardless, the suit was stiff, itchy, and smelled awful.

  Bea had to spend time modifying mine, shifting the silver plating to sit over the fabric so it wouldn’t burn my skin. She also toned down the ginger, though it still made me nauseous. Apparently, that was another reminder of my new vampire state.

  That did not make me feel better about it. The idea was still hard to stomach.

  “So, before you’re deployed, let’s break a few things down first,” Talia said, gesturing toward a whiteboard.

  “Aye.”

  “Vampires like yourself,” she began.

  I get the point.

  “Can only be killed in two ways. Either by severing the skull from the spine—”

  That’s graphic.

  “—or by destroying the heart. They can repair minor damage, but if you do enough, they won’t be able to heal.”

  I gave her a thumbs-up to show I understood.

  “They hate fire and water. Fire because it burns faster than they can regenerate, and water because it makes them dizzy. Almost like being extremely drunk.”

  Ah. So that explained the shower.

  “Ginger has the same effect,” she continued. “And salt slows regeneration. If you apply salt to a wound, healing is delayed. Touching silver burns them and further slows regeneration, which is why all our tools are silver or silver-coated.”

  She lifted her katana slightly to emphasise the point.

  “Roger that.”

  “Finally,” Talia said, “crosses, biblical imagery, and prayer trigger instinctual fear.”

  “Why?”

  Bea chimed in hesitantly. “From what I remember, vampires are, in some way, connected to the devil himself. So it subconsciously evokes the fear the devil has of God.”

  That was… unsettling.

  I guessed my blessing freed me from that particular reaction, but it was still interesting to hear. And mildly concerning as well.

  “So… then why don’t you just wait until daytime and lure them out so they burn to death?” I asked. Why do all this hunting at night when we could just do it during the day?

  “First off, sunlight burning them alive is a myth.”

  “Huh?”

  Then why am I special?

  “Vampires are sensitive to sunlight,” Talia explained, sounding more like a science teacher than a vampire hunter. “Sunlight drains them of energy, it doesn’t burn them. So when daytime comes, they retreat into shade to recover. This is also why they dislike moonlight. Moonlight is just sunlight reflected off the moon.”

  Right. Of course it is.

  “If you’re wondering why we don’t hunt them during the day,” she continued, “there are too many witnesses. And if approached in their own domain, they are far more fierce and alert. At night, they leave their nests, which makes it easier to pick them off one by one. Once enough are gone, we collapse the nest and deal with the rest when they return.”

  That… actually made a lot of sense.

  I was getting tired. After that gruelling session of durability and endurance testing, my brain wasn’t in a state to handle much more.

  “Anything else…” I muttered.

  “There’s a lot more,” Talia said. “But this is the most vital part, by far.”

  She paused.

  “Vampire society is not unlike human society. It has rules. Hierarchies. The difference is that in the vampire world, everything is dictated by strength. Vampires that consume enough blood develop curses. Supernatural abilities that defy logic. The stronger they become, the higher their rank.”

  What was this, Demon Slayer?

  “There are five classes in vampire society,” she continued. “At the bottom are Peasants. Basic vampires with no abilities, servants to their superiors. Above them are Thralls. Slightly stronger, but usually without curses. Then come the Lords. Dukes and Duchesses.”

  That got my attention.

  “They govern regions on behalf of their monarch. They almost always possess cursed abilities. Any time you enter a nest, there’s a risk of encountering one, which is why Executioners rarely conduct these operations without an Inquisitor present. It’s simply too dangerous. Understood?”

  I nodded, my expression serious. As a beginner, I did not want to mess with a Duke or Duchess.

  “It would take at least a few hundred Executioners to bring down a single Duke or Duchess,” Bea added, her tone uncharacteristically grave. “That’s how much manpower it requires.”

  She glanced between us.

  “And Monarchs?” she continued. “Good luck. Only Inquisitors like us can hunt them.”

  …Yeah. I was definitely in over my head.

  It wasn’t long after that before Jia returned, and by that point I was practically begging for rest. Apparently, there was no time for that. The next thing I knew, we were heading into Chiyoda City by limousine… or so I thought.

  Instead, I found myself shoved into a black van, completely separate from them.

  “Remember! You’re rolling with the Inquisitors this time,” Bea shouted as she stepped away. “You’re definitely not strong enough to kill them yet, so be a good boy and wait for us to pick you up after!”

  The others gave me a look. The kind parents give a kid they absolutely expect to misbehave.

  I wasn’t that bad… right?

  The next thing I knew, I was masked and standing inside a large transport van packed with Executioners. Every one of them was armed. Some carried blades of all shapes and sizes, others carried guns.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Guns.

  The sight was so foreign to me that I had to do a double take. The variety of weapons alone made it feel less like a holy operation and more like I’d stumbled into the ghettos of New York by accident.

  So I could only guess that, apparently, God didn’t mind firearms when vampires were involved.

  And that left me with only one question.

  Why didn’t I get a gun?

  So I decided to break the ice.

  Letting out a small, awkward laugh, I said, “Huh, huh… how was I the only one who didn’t get a weapon, huh, guys…?”

  It was clumsy, but the silence before had been worse.

  Tension simmered for a few moments.

  Eight of them. No, nine including myself. We waited for someone to crack. I couldn’t help but wonder if these people were just socially anxious, blood-lusted killers.

  “Huh! No way, mate!” one guy burst out. “Bro, I can’t believe you’re fighting vamps without a weapon.”

  He looked to be in his early twenties, his thick Australian accent immediately changing the mood of the van. His laughter was a bit excessive, but it was still a relief.

  “Yeah, I probably forgot it,” I said.

  It didn’t really line up with what I’d just said, but nobody seemed to care.

  “How can you forget your weapon?” a masked feminine voice snapped. Her tone was sharp, disappointed. “Do you not understand what’s at stake?”

  “Crikey, give ’im a break,” the Aussie said, waving her off. “Here, kid. Don’t lose it.”

  He handed me a small pistol. Compared to the sheer variety of weapons strapped to him, it felt almost like a joke.

  “Oh, you wanna take a closer look at my collection, mate?”

  I nodded.

  To the visible dismay of the focused woman and the mild interest of the others, it seemed we were breaking some unspoken pre-vampire-hunt ritual by actually talking. Only she seemed to care.

  “And this one,” he said proudly, pulling another gun free, “is my nine-millimetre Glock. Each bullet’s salted to the max, mate!”

  “Does this one have salt?” I asked, holding up the pistol he’d given me.

  “Of course.”

  Either all his guns were salted, or he was just being generous. Maybe both.

  I liked his energy, especially compared to the rest of the cabin, where everyone else stared like deer in headlights.

  Was basic human communication an alien concept to these people?

  “So, uh… what’s your name?”

  Silence.

  Maybe it was rude that I hadn’t said mine first.

  “My name’s—”

  He suddenly put a hand to my lips.

  I couldn’t see his face, but I didn’t need to. His body language told me everything. The shift was instant. Whatever easygoing aura he’d had before was gone.

  “Are you crazy?” he asked, deadly serious now. “Not bringing a weapon. Starting conversations. And now asking for names. Don’t you understand anything?”

  The intensity in his voice made my stomach knot. This was nothing like the guy from a moment ago.

  “I’ll ask again,” he said, his other hand drifting toward his knife. “Are you crazy?”

  “Hold off him,” the masked woman said sharply, stepping in. She was defending me now.

  “I just want to understand what’s going through his head, miss,” he replied, not backing down.

  I had no idea how to respond. Honesty felt like my only option.

  “Apologies, but…” Every eye turned toward me. “…this is my first mission.”

  I could practically feel the widening eyes behind the masks.

  “Your first mission?” the woman asked, concern bleeding into her voice. “And you’re being sent to take down a nest?”

  “Oh. Uh.” I rubbed the back of my head. “Some Inquisitors recommended it. Said I could build credit with the Church if I helped out.”

  The silence that followed was heavy. The kind where you could hear a pin drop. I suddenly hoped they wouldn’t ask anything else.

  The Aussie finally broke it, glancing at the woman. “He must be some kinda freak talent then. Inquisitor level, yeah?”

  The awe in his voice was unmistakable. Somehow, that put me in better standing.

  “Well… I was trained by them,” I added.

  Technically true. One session still counted, right?

  “What!?” the woman blurted out.

  Around us, the others started murmuring among themselves, disbelief rippling through the van.

  “Do you have a blessing!?”

  Both the woman and the Aussie asked in unison.

  I winced a little. I supposed that was a yes, but… “Yeah. I do. I’m just not very adept at using it yet, and honestly, I don’t fully understand it myself.” Hopefully that would get them off my back.

  The van filled with quiet awe, from everyone except one figure at the far end.

  The Aussie slapped my back, nearly knocking the air out of me. “Well, fair enough, mate. Sorry for doubting ya’. You see, for us Executioners, we never ask names, and we never hunt with friends. Bit of a jinx, y’know. People die out here all the time hunting vampires.”

  He tried to soften it, but the weight behind his words was undeniable.

  I finally understood just how ignorant I’d been.

  “Sorry about that, then.”

  “It’s alright,” the woman said, her tone noticeably warmer now. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

  The shift was… fast. Almost unsettling. Like a sugar baby suddenly realising the guy in cheap clothes was actually rich.

  “I wouldn’t believe him,” a man near the front of the van said calmly. His voice was steady, experienced. “Could be faking it. Plenty of Executioners pretend they have blessings, or claim they were trained by Inquisitors. Gets them attention. Gets others killed trying to protect them. Earns brownie points with the higher-ups. He could easily be lying.”

  He wasn’t wrong. I could see how that would happen.

  “Well,” I said, forcing confidence I absolutely did not have, “I guess I’ll have to show you in the field.”

  I had no idea how I was supposed to do that.

  “Yeah, you can definitely do it,” the woman said encouragingly, suddenly far too invested. Like I was her boyfriend hyping himself up before a bad decision.

  I’d experienced at least two complete personality switch-ups tonight. Not even counting the rest of the day.

  I was really starting to lose faith in human consistency.

  “You better,” the man said simply.

  The van slowed, then came to a stop near Tokyo Station, tucked away in a narrow backstreet alley.

  The doors creaked open and we all stepped out. I was immediately trailed by the gold digger, who clung to my arm with more female attention than I had ever experienced before today, and my favourite, and only, Aussie as we entered a small side building.

  At the far end of the office stood our captain. Tall. Broad. Commanding. He waved us in before delivering the mission briefing.

  “You will all prepare for the excursion into the vampire’s lair. We believe it is highly likely there is a Lord-class vampire present.”

  A collective gasp rippled through the room.

  “Which is why we have called in the help of not one, but three Inquisitors to hunt it down.”

  Sighs of relief followed immediately.

  For mercenaries of this level to react like that… Bea’s earlier point about it taking hundreds of Executioners to kill a single Duke suddenly felt very real. And if that was the case, then how strong were Realta Noxia, considering they could go after Monarchs?

  They weren’t just idols. They were monsters.

  The captain continued. “Our job is to descend first, eliminate all vampires at the outer gates, and seal the entrance. Make sure none escape and alert others. That way, the Inquisitors can finish the job. Understood?”

  “Roger!” everyone replied in unison.

  Soon after, someone moved through the crowd handing out numbered bands. Mine read thirty-eight. Neat, considering there had to be over fifty people packed into the room.

  “Alright, boys and girls,” the captain said. “I pray for God’s favour over you, and for lives that extend past tonight. Now let’s roll out.”

  And just like that, it was set. I was heading into a vampire nest.

  And I couldn’t help but wonder if I would come face to face with the vampire who had turned me into what I was now.