Chapter 35: The Corrupted

No response.
The man with the baseball bat has blood-red eyes.
Like a crazed beast, he charges, breathing heavily.
His target isn’t Saeko, who knocked him back, but Cola and Liuli behind her, as if drawn by some intense aura emanating from them.

Yet, in an instant, Saeko launches a kick, sending him flying like a torn plastic bag, crashing into a shrub.
His left leg snaps with a crack, clearly broken, but he stands up in a grotesquely twisted stance.
He’s no match for Saeko, but she shifts into werewolf mode—fluffy gray ears and a bushy tail raised high, on full alert against this bizarrely moving foe.

“Ryoma-nii!”
Two voices cry out from the alley’s corner. Two young men in yakuza-style clothes rush forward to help the injured man.

“Stay back, it’s dangerous!”
Saeko crouches, baring her teeth with a low growl.

“Who the hell are you, hurting Ryoma-nii?!”

“You’d better be careful…”
Cola narrows her eyes.
“He’s not right.”

“Ah…! It’s Cola-neeto!”

“Huh? You know me?”

“Y-Yeah! Everyone in the Silver Girls gang saw your photo…”

“Move!”
Before the young yakuza can finish, Saeko grabs his collar, tosses him aside, blocks a heavy bat swing with her arm, then seizes the strange man’s wrist, slamming him to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw.

Boom!

The impact leaves the man incapacitated, foaming at the mouth, body convulsing.

“R-Ryoma-nii, what’s wrong with him?!”

“He’s a Corrupted…”

Cola glances at Saeko but doesn’t ask what a “Corrupted” is yet. Instead, she lowers her voice.
“This place is too open for this. Can you two drag him to that empty park nearby?”

“Yes, Boss!”

The two yakuza each take a side, lifting the unconscious man and hurrying toward the park.

Liuli finally snaps out of it, stammering, “W-what just happened…?”

“Saeko, what’s a Corrupted?”

“…You don’t know?”
Saeko blinks dumbly, her wolf ears and tail vanishing, reverting to her usual goofy self.
“Even ancient vampires don’t know everything?”

“If you don’t want me mind-controlling you to run naked down the street, spill what you know.”

“Tch-Talking to Teacher Saeko like that?!”

“Sorry! I got carried away! I’ll tell you everything!”

“Eh?”
Saeko’s shift stuns Liuli even more.

“But you were pretty badass in a fight.”

“Tch, just ‘cause I can’t beat you doesn’t mean I can’t handle others. Ugh… moving my muscles sobered me up. Wanna grab another drink…”

“I’ll buy you one later.”
Cola shoots her a look.
“So, what’s the deal?”

“Some vampires lack free will, acting only on instinct. We call them Corrupted. They’re not just mentally unhinged—their blood and magic are different, like the difference between a bloody scent and… feces. Oh, by the way, Cola, you smell like cola—super rare.”

“Skip the irrelevant stuff.”
Cola shakes her head.
“I sensed his blood wasn’t fully turned into vampire blood. There’s a condensed ‘core’ flowing in it.”

“My grandpa dissected a Corrupted once. Their blood was fully tainted. If it’s just a core, he’d have noticed…”

“So this guy’s freshly Corrupted.”
Cola nods.
“I might be able to fix him.”

“Eh? They can be fixed? As expected of an ancient vampire!”

“You don’t even know if I’m ancient. Keep being snarky, and you’re done.”

“Sorry!!”

The trio follows the two yakuza to the park.
A dim yellow streetlamp glows, surrounded by thick shrubs and trees, perfect cover in the night.

“You two, guard the entrance. Don’t come back till I say.”

“Yes!”

“Hah, you’ve got some yakuza boss vibes.”

“At this point, I’ve gotta lean into being their ‘Boss’ to boss them around.”
Cola smacks her lips, lifting the man’s muscular arm, unsure where to bite.

“Cola, what’s the plan?”

“Suck out the core and the tainted blood.”

“Need a wet wipe? Cleaner that way…?”

“Eh, you got wipes? Wipe his wrist for me…”

“O-Okay! I’ve got some… Here!”
Liuli fumbles in her bag, pulls out a wipe, and carefully cleans the man’s wrist where Cola points.

“Alright… here goes…”
Cola closes her eyes, picturing a cola bottle-shaped magic circuit in her mind. Her fangs pierce his skin, and she uses delicate magic threads to locate the ‘core’ in his blood, filtering out the tainted blood and sucking it into her mouth.

“Guh… ptoo! Tastes disgusting!”
Cola spits a mouthful of black blood into the flowerbed, wiping her mouth in disgust.
“Good thing there wasn’t much tainted blood, or I’d be done for…”

“The core?”
Saeko leans in, hands on knees.

“Here.”
Cola pinches a dark red speck, smaller than a mung bean, to show Saeko. But it suddenly shatters at her fingertips, dissolving into glowing dust.

“Eh? You crushed it?”

“No, it broke on its own.”
Cola shakes her head.

“It’s been almost a decade since Maebashi had a Corrupted…”
Saeko mutters worriedly.
“Hope this doesn’t turn into something big… or harm regular people…”

“Maybe some vampire’s experimenting, trying to mass-produce low-tier vampires without an embrace.”

“Could be something else, not just vampires.”

“That’s possible too.”
Cola spits into the flowerbed again.
“Ugh, I need a cola to rinse my mouth…”

“Call those two back?”

“Yeah. Hey, you two—take him somewhere safe. He’s fine now.”

“Yes, Boss!”

“Where’s he been the past few days?”

“Ryoma-nii vanished two weeks ago! He’s the leader of a local bosozoku gang. Went out one night and never came back. Other gangs said they hadn’t seen him either…”

“Feels like we’re getting dragged into a messy vortex.”
Cola rubs her head, waving her other hand.
“Alright, get outta here. This is such a pain…”

“Y-Yes, Boss! We’ll report to Obara-nii!”

The trio watches them leave. Cola shakes her head tiredly.
“What’re you standing around for? Let’s go home.”

“You promised me a drink…”

“You’re such a drunk.”

“Ehe… Booze helps me sleep.”

“You almost passed out at the shop’s entrance, you know?”
Cola rolls her eyes.
“Look, I’m broke as hell. Two packs of ‘Demon Slayer’ enough?”

“Totally fine!”

At the base of their apartment building, it’s past 1 a.m.
Cola rubs her eyes, waving at the tipsy Saeko.
“Bye, see you tomorrow.”

“OK~ See ya… Cola, you’re a good person… Buy me drinks next time too, ‘kay?”

“Talk about pushing it.”

“Hehe… I’ll… tell my grandpa about this… If we run into tough guys, can we… call you? Hic”

“If it’s really bad, sure…”

“Mm, you two be careful too—”

“Careful of what?”

“Well… pure vampires like you, your blood’s probably great for making low-tier vampires… You might get kidnapped…”

“Eh!?”
Liuli clutches her chest nervously.

“Especially someone like Sakuratsuki-san… looks like she’s got no fighting skills…”

“Don’t worry, she lives close to me. I’d sense any trouble right away—magic fluctuations aren’t easy to hide.”

“M-Mm… You’re a vampire duke, no problem. Who could beat you… but watch out for traps… Hic…”

“Eh, Cola’s more like a vampire prince, right?”

“Cough, close enough.”
Caught hiding her strength, Cola coughs awkwardly.

“Haha…! No way! Vampire princes don’t exist anymore! No—way possible! A prince needs massive magic, like devouring a soul daily… No way Cola’s one.”

“Just go home. Can you make it?”

“N-No problem… Gonna hit the store for more booze…”

“Drinking like that just ‘cause you’re a werewolf?”
Cola shakes her head.
“Be careful yourself.”

“No worries… I only lose to you… Everyone else is… easy… Thud!”
Saeko smacks into a pole, then bows frantically.
“Ah, sorry, sorry, sir, didn’t mean to hit you. Wow, your chest is so firm, and you’re tall… Ehe… my type… Wanna be my boyfriend…?”

“She’s flirting with a pole…”
Liuli covers her face in embarrassment.

“Hopeless…”