Pilgrimage of the Sacred and the Profane by Hideyuki Kikuchi Page A

died.”
    “He must’ve done something or other, right?”
    “Don’t you see?” said the Hunter.
    “No, I don’t.”
    “He didn’t do anything at all.”
    “Is that so? Then, why would they do that?” Granny asked, seeming a bit peeved.
    “The boy had been with the Nobility for three months. That was all. A doctor had even
     verified there was nothing out of the ordinary. He could walk in the daylight, too.
     And in six months with him, his parents hadn’t noticed any strange symptoms.”
    Granny was at a loss for words.
    “However, a certain woman had her suspicions about him, and she went to the mayor
     and the leader of the Vigilance Committee and complained to them that she’d been bitten.
     Though they could tell at a glance that the wound had been faked, the two men chose
     to interpret it differently.”
    “They wanted to get rid of a nuisance, eh?”
    “Within the hour, the whole village was beating down the boy’s door. His father was
     killed trying to stop them, and the house was put to the torch.”
    “How awful,” Granny said, shrugging her shoulders coldly. Tilting her head to one
     side, she added, “But I’m a bit surprised a lad at death’s door could hold out long
     enough to tell you such an involved tale.”
    “The explanation came from his mother, who was right by his side.”
    “So, he had his mum there at the very end to look after him, did he? Well, that’s
     something, isn’t it?”
    “She was the same woman who’d tipped off the mayor.”
    White sunlight held the two of them in its embrace. The world was unspeakably peaceful.
    Granny awkwardly made her way over to the wagon. “Well, then. We don’t have the faintest
     clue what’s bound to happen, but I warrant the safe thing to do is have everything
     ready for departure. You said there was something strange out there, but do you think
     it’ll be headed this way soon?”
    “I don’t know,” D said, coming out of the shadows.
    Granny casually remarked, “I hear it hurts you dhampirs quite a bit to be out in the
     sunlight. If someone wanted to kill you, daytime would really be the only time to
     do it. I guess you really can’t fight your blood—” the crone said, stopping and clamping
     one hand over her own mouth mid-sentence.
    Her mouth may have been covered, but her feelings showed in her eyes. They were laughing.
     Laughing maliciously.
    Not seeming the least bit bothered, D walked out onto the sea of sand.
    “Er, pardon me,” Lance said, coming out from behind the rocks to the Hunter’s left.
     Apparently, he’d been keeping out of the sun there ever since Tae had chased him off.
     D didn’t stop walking, so Lance jogged after him. “Your name’s D, isn’t it?” he asked.
     “Back in my village, folks used to say that out on the Frontier there was this one
     incredible Vampire Hunter who was unbelievably handsome. That’d be you, wouldn’t it?
     In which case, the girl and the old woman are connected to your business, right? I
     mean, I don’t know the first thing about this. One of them’s unbelievably gloomy,
     and the other’s real testy. Say, speaking of the girl—she wouldn’t happen to be one
     of
the hidden
, would she?”
    “What if she is?” D asked as he walked.
    “Hey, it doesn’t matter to me. But shouldn’t you be comforting her or something? She’s
     had it bad enough up till now, and no matter where she goes, folks will give her a
     hard time if they find out what happened to her. The least you could do is be nice
     to her until she gets where she’s going.”
    D stopped in his tracks and looked at Lance. “And why are you telling me this?” he
     asked.
    Lance diverted his gaze. His cheeks wore a thin flush—even men blushed when they were
     subjected to D’s gaze. Coughing, he replied, “Well, because you’re the only one for
     the job. Girls her age always fall for the good-looking guys. I guarantee you that.
     And given that, you’re far and away the top