Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter SS1

The Much Admired Isaac

“Oh, it’s Rentt. Perhaps it’s fate that we’ve run into each other in a place like this.”

I turned toward the cheerful yet cool voice and saw a familiar face. It belonged to an elegant man with pale white skin—a faint blue-ish tinge to it—beautiful silver hair, and supernaturally charming eyes.

He was Isaac the vampire, and he served the Latuule family as the butler. He was the one who’d gotten me involved with Laura Latuule in the first place, and he was also teaching me how to wield my vampiric abilities.

It was relatively rare to run into Isaac in the middle of the city. He was hard to pin down, and while he was often out shopping for his mistress, I’d almost never seen him in town. I’d seen him once or twice since I’d met him, but I didn’t remember ever running into him before that.

Given how much Isaac stood out in a crowd, I would have remembered seeing him even if I didn’t know him, so that struck me as somewhat unusual. I had a few guesses as to why that was, though. He was an old and very powerful vampire, much more powerful than I was in every way imaginable. When you were that skilled, it was easy to hide your presence from those weaker than you. Furthermore, as a vampire, he was nocturnal. I had no doubt that the skill of remaining unseen came easily to him.

I wondered if I would ever catch up to him, but I knew that day might very well never come.

“I didn’t expect you to believe in fate, Isaac,” I remarked. I figured vampires weren’t particularly religious.

“Ha ha, what an interesting thing to say. Perhaps I do, and perhaps I do not,” he said with a meaningful tilt of his head.

I was curious about the meaning behind his words, but it looked like he wasn’t going to answer me. I decided to end this coincidental conversation and just extract myself from the situation. Besides, I’d already told Lorraine that I would make her something nice for dinner, so I had quite a bit of shopping left to do. I needed to get home and start prepping the food.

When I tried to excuse myself, Isaac suddenly said, “Don’t be in such a hurry to leave, Rentt. Please.”

“Why not? I actually am in a hurry.”

“Oh, are you? There must be some purpose to us meeting like this, so there was something I wanted you to help me with.”

Isaac gazed at me, looking like a sad puppy. All vampires were handsome and beautiful, and Isaac was no exception. That sort of hangdog expression worked very well with his features, but it didn’t make him adorable or anything. Rather, there was a strange, supernatural charm to that look.

Now, I could easily say no, but Isaac was my mentor. I owed him for teaching me how to use my vampiric abilities. Also, my mentors back home had mercilessly driven into my head that a mentor’s request was like the word of the gods. I had no choice.

“Okay, fine,” I agreed.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Hey, Rentt! Over here!”

“Please wait up, young master!”

A little boy was running around the yard and issuing orders to me. He was perhaps ten years old, and his name was Frahe. Several of the families in this region were known as great households, and he was part of one of them, the Muze family.

This had been Isaac’s destination, and since he needed to speak with Frahe’s parents, he asked if I could watch the boy for a bit. I’d been looking after him for what felt like an eternity now.

“Sheesh, Rentt, you have no endurance! Isaac can play with me until I get tired!”

“Impressive. He’s a different breed entirely.” I couldn’t picture Isaac playing with a child, but I knew that he’d look cool and collected no matter what he was doing.

“Yes! Isaac is amazing! You should learn from him! But...” Frahe’s expression turned sad.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Well, I’ll eventually inherit the family title. I can’t help but wonder that when the time comes, will I be able to do as well as Isaac?”

A city council made up of members of the most powerful families in the region ran the city of Maalt, and the Muze family was on that council. The Latuule family was as well, and it seemed Isaac often attended council meetings as Laura’s representative. Laura couldn’t physically attend those meetings now since she was asleep, but even before all that, she’d rarely gone to a meeting herself.

Because of Isaac’s involvement in the council, the young boy saw him as a model to look up to. Unfortunately, he was comparing himself to an absurd standard.

“There’s no need to do things like Isaac,” I said to Frahe. “Or rather, I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Huh?!” he exclaimed.

“He is something other than an ordinary human, and if you tried to emulate him, the effort would end up crushing you. I doubt there’s a person in the world who can do things the way he does. The important thing is to do your best and find the right way for you to serve as the master of this house.”

Frahe thought for a moment, as though the idea had struck him by surprise, and then nodded. “Rentt, you have a good head on your shoulders! I might let you serve as my adjutant in the future!”

Frahe once again started running around the yard, and I ended up having to chase him around until sunset.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Thank you so much for your help, Rentt. You were a lifesaver,” Isaac said on the way home.

“Really?”

“Yes. Frahe also looked like he had sorted something out in his head. It seems he’s been struggling with something.”

“Oh, about that...” I explained to Isaac that Frahe had been feeling inferior because he compared himself to Isaac.

“I see. I never imagined that would be it. Nevertheless, it was a bit awful of you to say that I wasn’t human.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but...”

Frahe probably hadn’t taken my words literally, so I doubted it would ever be a problem.

Isaac sighed. “There are times when I can’t tell if you’re brave or just thoughtless, Rentt.”

“If I weren’t a bit of both, I wouldn’t have ended up this way.”

“Indeed. You have a point there,” Isaac conceded, breaking out into a grin.

When I got home, Lorraine was furious that I’d been out so late. It wasn’t because she’d been worried about me, but rather because dinner had been delayed. However, once I prepared our meal with the various expensive ingredients I’d received from the Muze family, Lorraine said, “Make sure you go help Isaac from time to time. This more than makes up for the effort.” She then began happily enjoying her meal.

The Much Admired Isaac

“Oh, it’s Rentt. Perhaps it’s fate that we’ve run into each other in a place like this.”

I turned toward the cheerful yet cool voice and saw a familiar face. It belonged to an elegant man with pale white skin—a faint blue-ish tinge to it—beautiful silver hair, and supernaturally charming eyes.

He was Isaac the vampire, and he served the Latuule family as the butler. He was the one who’d gotten me involved with Laura Latuule in the first place, and he was also teaching me how to wield my vampiric abilities.

It was relatively rare to run into Isaac in the middle of the city. He was hard to pin down, and while he was often out shopping for his mistress, I’d almost never seen him in town. I’d seen him once or twice since I’d met him, but I didn’t remember ever running into him before that.

Given how much Isaac stood out in a crowd, I would have remembered seeing him even if I didn’t know him, so that struck me as somewhat unusual. I had a few guesses as to why that was, though. He was an old and very powerful vampire, much more powerful than I was in every way imaginable. When you were that skilled, it was easy to hide your presence from those weaker than you. Furthermore, as a vampire, he was nocturnal. I had no doubt that the skill of remaining unseen came easily to him.

I wondered if I would ever catch up to him, but I knew that day might very well never come.

“I didn’t expect you to believe in fate, Isaac,” I remarked. I figured vampires weren’t particularly religious.

“Ha ha, what an interesting thing to say. Perhaps I do, and perhaps I do not,” he said with a meaningful tilt of his head.

I was curious about the meaning behind his words, but it looked like he wasn’t going to answer me. I decided to end this coincidental conversation and just extract myself from the situation. Besides, I’d already told Lorraine that I would make her something nice for dinner, so I had quite a bit of shopping left to do. I needed to get home and start prepping the food.

When I tried to excuse myself, Isaac suddenly said, “Don’t be in such a hurry to leave, Rentt. Please.”

“Why not? I actually am in a hurry.”

“Oh, are you? There must be some purpose to us meeting like this, so there was something I wanted you to help me with.”

Isaac gazed at me, looking like a sad puppy. All vampires were handsome and beautiful, and Isaac was no exception. That sort of hangdog expression worked very well with his features, but it didn’t make him adorable or anything. Rather, there was a strange, supernatural charm to that look.

Now, I could easily say no, but Isaac was my mentor. I owed him for teaching me how to use my vampiric abilities. Also, my mentors back home had mercilessly driven into my head that a mentor’s request was like the word of the gods. I had no choice.

“Okay, fine,” I agreed.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Hey, Rentt! Over here!”

“Please wait up, young master!”

A little boy was running around the yard and issuing orders to me. He was perhaps ten years old, and his name was Frahe. Several of the families in this region were known as great households, and he was part of one of them, the Muze family.

This had been Isaac’s destination, and since he needed to speak with Frahe’s parents, he asked if I could watch the boy for a bit. I’d been looking after him for what felt like an eternity now.

“Sheesh, Rentt, you have no endurance! Isaac can play with me until I get tired!”

“Impressive. He’s a different breed entirely.” I couldn’t picture Isaac playing with a child, but I knew that he’d look cool and collected no matter what he was doing.

“Yes! Isaac is amazing! You should learn from him! But...” Frahe’s expression turned sad.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Well, I’ll eventually inherit the family title. I can’t help but wonder that when the time comes, will I be able to do as well as Isaac?”

A city council made up of members of the most powerful families in the region ran the city of Maalt, and the Muze family was on that council. The Latuule family was as well, and it seemed Isaac often attended council meetings as Laura’s representative. Laura couldn’t physically attend those meetings now since she was asleep, but even before all that, she’d rarely gone to a meeting herself.

Because of Isaac’s involvement in the council, the young boy saw him as a model to look up to. Unfortunately, he was comparing himself to an absurd standard.

“There’s no need to do things like Isaac,” I said to Frahe. “Or rather, I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Huh?!” he exclaimed.

“He is something other than an ordinary human, and if you tried to emulate him, the effort would end up crushing you. I doubt there’s a person in the world who can do things the way he does. The important thing is to do your best and find the right way for you to serve as the master of this house.”

Frahe thought for a moment, as though the idea had struck him by surprise, and then nodded. “Rentt, you have a good head on your shoulders! I might let you serve as my adjutant in the future!”

Frahe once again started running around the yard, and I ended up having to chase him around until sunset.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Thank you so much for your help, Rentt. You were a lifesaver,” Isaac said on the way home.

“Really?”

“Yes. Frahe also looked like he had sorted something out in his head. It seems he’s been struggling with something.”

“Oh, about that...” I explained to Isaac that Frahe had been feeling inferior because he compared himself to Isaac.

“I see. I never imagined that would be it. Nevertheless, it was a bit awful of you to say that I wasn’t human.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but...”

Frahe probably hadn’t taken my words literally, so I doubted it would ever be a problem.

Isaac sighed. “There are times when I can’t tell if you’re brave or just thoughtless, Rentt.”

“If I weren’t a bit of both, I wouldn’t have ended up this way.”

“Indeed. You have a point there,” Isaac conceded, breaking out into a grin.

When I got home, Lorraine was furious that I’d been out so late. It wasn’t because she’d been worried about me, but rather because dinner had been delayed. However, once I prepared our meal with the various expensive ingredients I’d received from the Muze family, Lorraine said, “Make sure you go help Isaac from time to time. This more than makes up for the effort.” She then began happily enjoying her meal.