Codename Vestia - Chapter 9

Besides, the humans she had met had never looked at her like this. Even if they looked, they looked at her with fear and reluctance.

 

To humans, she was only one of the two.

 

A god, or a monster.

 

But to this man, she… .

 

In fact, he didn’t even look at her as a person, but more like a dog.

 

If Doyeong finds out that she’s actually aware, he’ll be surprised. Camar was actually quick-witted.

 

“Are you done?”

 

Doyeong asked.

 

“Umm.”

 

Camar tied the last knot and reached out to support Doyeong. Doyeong, who had already gotten used to her, took her hand and stood up.

 

However, the surface of the rock on which he was standing was uneven, so Doyeong stumbled slightly. Camar held him up quickly. At the same time, Camar’s shoulder and Doyeong’s underarm bumped together abnormally.

 

Their eyes met in the distance that got closer.

 

Camar’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

 

Doyeong lifted his arm around Camar’s shoulder.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

I have to keep this in mind. This is purely a survival game, not a romance manga.

 

***

 

When he woke up in the morning, Camar was sticking to his back again. Doyeong looked at her.

 

‘Why is this woman so muddled?’

 

Statistically, people with good physical condition were most likely to win the infection and become a luas, therefore, many people say that that’s the reason why all luas look good. But even among the top, Doyeong was sure that Camar’s appearance was still in the top 1%.

 

If she had lived outside, she might have lived with a harem. Even if she didn’t like it, men would stick themselves to her and fall for her.

 

Camar slowly opened her eyes. It almost felt like witnessing a miracle when her eyelashes lifted and revealed her red eyes.

 

Camar also looked at Doyeong, but didn’t say anything. So, the two were simply staring at each other. Somewhere through a crevice in the trees, a light shone across them.

 

And a faint sound of the waves was heard.

 

As the sound of the waves were crashing in and out, it felt as if the blood in his body were rippling.

 

“Lieutenant…”

 

Camar said in a low, husky voice. And with that voice that gave faint goosebumps on his back, she asked,

 

“Are you hungry?”

 

***

 

Watching Camar tidy up the earthenware, Doyeong asked the stuff he was curious about,

 

“Who did you learn French from?”

 

Basic communication was possible, but the words she uses sometimes are old-fashioned words that can only be seen in textbooks, and the pronunciation was a bit strange. It didn’t seem like she learned it from a French.

 

“Johannes.”

“Johannes?”

 

It was a real first name.

 

Camar nodded.

 

“He was stranded. His ship drifted here.”

 

It seemed to mean that the ship that Johannes boarded had sunk and he had been in distress. Doyeong asked.

 

“When did it happen?”

“Long ago.”

“How long ago?”

 

Camar looked at Doyeong blankly.

 

“Lieutenant has a lot of questions.”

“Look. I’m also in distress and got stranded on this island.”

 

To be precise, ‘I jumped off the plane and swam to this island.’ But Camar didn’t need to know that.

 

“My family doesn’t know if I’m dead or alive, and I don’t know where I am. Shouldn’t I at least understand the extent to which I’m asking questions to know exactly where my situation is between ‘worst’ and ‘tolerable’?”

 

At that, Camar answered, looking unsure of herself, and there was nothing Doyeong could do about it.

 

“I don’t know for sure. I don’t count the date. It’s been a long time.”

 

If his name was Johannes…

 

“Was he a German?”

“No, Holland.”

 

If so, he wondered if Johannes was part of the East India Company. Then it would have been at least a hundred years ago.

 

“Johannes spoke a little French. He taught me.”

 

Then her face brightened as if she had a good idea.

 

“Oh, I speak Dutch well. I talked a lot with Johannes.”

“I can’t.”

 

Doyeong, who is of mixed French and Korean ancestry, has good language skills in English, Spanish intermediate, and beginner Russian, in addition to his two mother tongues, French and Korean, but Dutch was difficult.

 

It would have been possible if there was an interpreter, but unfortunately, such a thing was a luxury in this place.

 

Anyway, she learned French used by foreigners in the old days, no wonder her speech was like this.

 

Once the doubts were cleared. Doyeong asked the following question.

 

“How was Johannes?”

“Dead.”

 

Doyeong paused. Camar had a face that looked so innocent that it was hard to believe that she had just said such a thing.

 

“How did he die?”

“He was old. In his sleep.”

 

It was a bit funny to imagine, but then, Doyeong realized that this beautiful being in front of him was like a stone, different from himself. She would neither decay nor disappear before time.

 

Camar was still here after the man who had been drifting in distress died of old age.

 

For some reason, Doyeong struggled to shake off the ominous feeling that ran down his back. I’ll go back somehow.

 

“Did anyone else drift here?”

 

He had to gather information first. And a lot of it.

 

“Done.”

 

But Camar got up with a basket of earthenware. He didn’t think she wanted to talk any more. Doyeong leaned on his back and asked directly,

 

“Do you have any desire to live outside?”

 

Camar looked back as if she had heard the word for the first time.

 

“Outside?”

“That’s right. Outside the island.”

 

In fact, it wasn’t a big deal to leave the island even now if Camar helped him escape. With the strength of a vampire, you can do anything, whether swimming or building a raft. But Camar shook her head.

 

“No.”

 

Doyeong asked calmly, even though he wanted to shake her and ask, ‘Why the hell?’

 

“Why?”

“I like it here.”

“There are Floss outside and there are many things that make life easier, at least compared to when you were born. It wouldn’t have been the era of baking with earthenware and cutting things with a stone knife, wouldn’t it be inconvenient to live like this?”

“Not inconvenient.”

 

Camar tried to go back. But Doyeong did not give up and said,

 

“I don’t know when you last left this island, but it would have changed a lot in 10 years. I bet it’s a completely different world. Don’t you want to go out?”

 

Camar looked back and spoke like an adolescent girl who was annoyed by adults.

 

“You’re annoying, Lieutenant. I’m staying here.”

 

Then Camar was really gone. Doyeong sighed.

 

“That stone-headed child. Why can’t my words get through?”

 

Camar took a few steps and looked back. Doyeong stayed there as if he had given up.

 

The shade of a tree hung at his feet. He looked up and saw the top of the tree, but the sunlight shining through it only made his eyes cold.

 

***

 

It was night, and there was no sign of Camar coming in. Doyeong waited and looked outside. But Camar was sitting on the wooden stairs at the entrance just like a runaway teenager. Doyeong asked,

 

“Why aren’t you coming in?”

“You want to go outside, Lieutenant?”

 

But instead of answering Camar, he said in reply.

 

“Home.”

 

Doyeong corrected what she had said.

 

“I want to go home.”

 

Camar hugged her knees and fell into deep thought. Doyeong was looking forward to it. It was because there was an atmosphere in which words such as ‘Let’s go outside’ could be said.

 

Camar looked at the sky in the distance.

 

“I had a home too. And Mati and Tawa.”

 

It was a word he didn’t know, but then he realized that it meant mom and dad.

 

“Adawi too.”

 

Camar added.

 

“Adawi?”

 

It was an unknown word, so Doyeong asked. Then Camar replied bluntly.

 

“I was married. I had adawi.”

 

Doyeong shutted his mouth. Considering the fact that child marriage was prevalent in the past, it was not strange that Camar had already had a husband or even had children when she was a human. She was also about twenty-five, the age when it was normal to have three children.

 

Still, for a moment, he couldn’t figure out why it felt like someone had slapped his face.

 

Shrak.

 

Camar turned around at the sound and saw Doyeong sat down next to her. Then he asked in a calm tone.

 

“Did you have children?”

 

Camar shook her head.

 

“Adawi died, the day we got married.”

 

Doyeong frowned.

 

“How did he die?”

“Accident.”

 

Camar only said that and didn’t say anymore. Then she told a different story.

 

“Trees bloom in my hometown. A lot. I liked the fruit because it was delicious. I still remember.”

“What kind of tree is it?”

 

Doyeong asked to continue the conversation. Then Camar shook her head.

 

“No more. I haven’t seen any since some time ago.”

“You mean they’re extinct?”

“Extinct?”

“It means they’re all gone.”

 

Camar nodded.

 

“Umm. They’re all gone.”

 

Even without humans causing the destruction, the vast majority of living things on Earth have disappeared for various reasons. Food shortage, weather, appearance of natural enemies, etc. It was the law of nature, and it was an irresistible flow.

 

So the tree Camar was talking about was just following the laws of nature.

 

Still, for some reason, Doyeong’s calm tone sounded more sullen. Perhaps, it was because Camar was neither good nor bad, but simply out of order. Everything but her was slowly disappearing.

 

“Not only that tree, but there was nothing left in my hometown.”

 

Suddenly Camar spoke in a grammatically perfect sentence.

 

“Even Mati, Tawa, and Adawi’s grave.”

 

A cool wind blew, and Camar’s bangs fluttered, revealing her forehead.

 

Doyeong asked quietly.

 

“So that’s why you live here alone?”

“I…”

 

Camar opened her mouth, swallowed her words, and spoke about another topic.

 

“People come, sometimes. With ships.”

“Like Johannes?”

 

Doyeong wondered what words Camar had swallowed, but he thought she would stop talking if he asked too hastily, so he moved on.

 

Camar nodded.

 

“Many people before him. Rodriguez sprained his ankle. I thought it was a small wound, but it swelled up. Died few days later. Bill also died of wounds. I couldn’t fix it.”

 

No matter how great vampires are, unless they have medical knowledge, their ability to heal wounds were the same as that of humans. Looking at the treatment of Doyeong’s injured leg, Camar had quite a bit of medical knowledge, but it was still at the level of folk remedies.

 

“Milla couldn’t accept coming here alone. She threw herself off the cliff after a brief moment she opened her eyes.”

 

Camar looked really sad when recounting the story.

 

“Lieutenant…”

 

Camar talked about the people who came to the island. There were more people than expected, but there were only about ten people who arrived here alive. No, more precisely, the people Camar met.

 

Perhaps even when Camar was asleep, people came to this place. Some people, like Rodriguez or Bill, died of wounds, some committed suicide, and a lucky one or two could have been rescued.

 

However, this sea area was difficult to navigate because there were many islands. And even in the modern era with advanced technology, if you look down from an airplane, the possibility of being rescued is low in that it is difficult to pick one specific island from among the numerous islands.

 

With that in mind, this was a sad island.

 

“There is a grave. There.”

 

Camar pointed towards the mountain.

 

“I buried them all. I didn’t want to see anyone anymore.”

 

Camar’s eyes were wet, and seemed like the water might pour out at any moment.

 

He realized something. Camar is a vampire, but the fact that she has a kind and soft side makes him wonder how she became a vampire in the first place. Human nature that was not stained by vampire nature occasionally popped out.

 

At first, he thought it was just a setting or acting, but no matter how old a vampire she was, the more cunning she was, the more she wouldn’t be able to hide it.

 

“Humans are weak. They die quickly.”

 

Camar muttered in a mournful tone.

 

“They’re not.”

 

Said Doyeong in return.