[V11C10] “Like”
Translated by Jodas 11: Envoy of the AbyssThe man wore an elegant getup entirely out-of-place for the current situation. His dress shirt was made of intricately-patterned cloth luxuriously embroidered with golden threads. His luminous silk scarf was pinned in place with a large ruby, while his boots shone with such polish it was as if they had never once tread upon the ground.
Not to be outdone by his extravagant outfit, the man himself possessed beauty and elegance beyond compare.
Just one look at him was enough to tell:
(Oh, this guy’s a Monster.)
Considering the circumstances, it was hard to imagine any human would be wandering around the Wedge Tower like this, calling someone he just met a ‘cute little human.’
And as if that wasn’t enough, didn’t one of the Monsters that appeared at the Darwock Royal Palace fit this exact description?
‘Oh shit, oh crap, I’m gonna die…’ The moment that thought came to his mind, the third-rate con man put all of his bullshitting experience to the test and moved to his next plan.
Putting on an expression of surprise, he pointed his finger at the man and spoke.
“Oh~~~! Oh yes, I get it! That’s right!”
Working to give off the impression of ‘I totally get what you’re trying to do,’ Hütter flamboyantly expressed his amazement.
“That’s it! You look just like him!! You’re dressed like the vampire Gilbert, aren’t you? I saw the opera in the capital not too long ago!”
In essence, Hütter’s goal was to give off the impression that ‘I’m just your average dude who knows nothing about Monsters, so when I saw a guy dressed like a vampire, I mistook him for an actor.’ Hopefully, that would let him make it through in one piece.
Plus, by insisting that the man looked like a vampire, he wanted to make it seem like he hadn’t yet realized the man was an actual vampire.
The blond Monster seemed taken aback by his antics. If he had the emotional bandwidth to be taken aback, then it should be possible to talk to him.
Hütter took on the guy of an enthusiastic, but otherwise ordinary, person and rambled on breathlessly.
“You know, back when I saw the vampire Gilbert’s costume at the opera house, it got me thinking. If vampires are supposed to be weak to silver, how come his outfit had all that silver embroidery? Well, of course… I know what matters most is that it stands out on stage. But still! Even though the stage and costumes and actors were all perfect, I just couldn’t get it out of my mind… But you get it! All the embroidery should be gold instead~!”
“Really~, you can tell!? That’s right, that’s exactly it! I had my thrall make this for me just like that!”
The blond Monster’s voice raised in excitement.
Hütter clenched his fist, trying not to think about the cold sweat drenching his hand.
(Alright, I got him hooked… I do wish he would stop talking about his ‘thralls’ though. It makes you sound like the real thing. I’m trying to play the role of a normal person who knows nothing about Monsters talking to an actor, you know?)
Hütter approached the Monster before him as ‘a man who perfectly portrays the vampire Gilbert’ and spoke with passion.
“But man~, the quality of that outfit is out of this world! Awesome, dude~! Do you mind if I take a closer look!? Sheesh, are those real golden threads? I know there’s tons of people out there who try to pass off copper as gold, but this is the real deal right here~!”
“I care about these things, you know~? Silver is bad for my skin after all, so the threads I wear matter a great deal to me.”
“Gee, the sewing is something else, too! I mean, it’s the vampire Gilbert! It’s gotta be perfect!”
It seemed like effusive compliments were very effective against this Monster.
The best he could do in this scenario would be to talk this guy up with all the compliments he could think of, then when he had him in a good mood, part with him on good terms. Perhaps he’d say something like “Oh man, thanks for letting me see that, traveler. That was great. I’ve got to go now, so take care!”
While Hütter’s words did seem to put the blond Monster in a good mood, out of nowhere his expression suddenly became awfully melancholy.
“I truly would love to go see the opera myself… But of course, we cannot leave the Crystal Territory, you know?”
With an expression that said ‘Oh, yes, of course. You’ve got to be in character and all!’ Hütter tried to redirect the conversation.
“The production they did last Winter was outstanding. They changed the lines a little bit from the original script, so in the scene where he parts ways with his lover Julienne, the vampire Gilbert says:”
Talking was a con man’s specialty. Hütter contorted his face and voice to re-enact the scene.
With his hand raised to the sky, his expression showed a hint of anguish.
“— ‘O night, conceal not the face of my beloved!’”
He didn’t stop at the expression and pose. He made sure to make his speech as expressive as possible with all the minute nuances the scene demanded.
Hütter was far from a handsome man, and nothing about his appearance stuck out much in particular, but he was a pro when it came to curating an atmosphere that drew people in. So long as he could make it feel like there was a beautiful vampire standing there, then the audience would fill in the gaps with their own interpretation of what the ideal vampire looked like to them.
And with just this one scene, the blond Monster in front of him was already filling in the gaps in his mind.
“Huh? … Wow… That’s amazing! They really leaned in to the romance in that version, huh? Oh, I love that. I love that~!”
“And on the second night, the heroine’s brother gets killed, right? When that happens, the heroine still can’t quite give up her feelings for Gilbert, and they added a lot more dialogue fleshing out her conflict.”
“No way~ That’s crazy~!”
“And they added in a song for the Heroine called ‘You are my night.’ It goes something like this:”
While he couldn’t perfectly replicate a woman’s voice, he could still get the idea across.
As Hütter sang the song of the heroine’s feelings towards the vampire Gilbert, the blond Monster brow furrowed sadly and his eyes began to water.
“Oh, how sad~ It makes me cry~”
‘I’m the one who should be crying though. You could kill me at any moment, you know?’ Hütter whispered in his mind. Just one idle swipe of this Monster’s claws would be enough to kill a human like him.
The monster sniffled a little, then wiped his tears with a gorgeous lace handkercheif.
“You know, I saw your dance a while ago.”
“Huh?”
“It was back in the Autumn? I think? You know, the one that went ‘poppo!’ and all.”
Autumn… That would have been around the time he brought Tia and the others out for that extracurricular lesson.
Back then, Hütter had done the whole Poppo Dance routine in the woods by himself in order to summon Poppo Three, who had gotten lost. He never imagined someone would have seen him then!
“Back then I was like ‘What’s up with him? There’s a weirdo over there~’ and turned around and went straight home, but your show the other day was spectacular. It even got me bobbing along with the music!”
“Oh, haha, it’s my pleasure…”
“My favorite part was when you went ‘In the arms of a pigeon~~ Sleep~ soundly~’ That was awesome! I’d love to hear it again.”
“I… would be honored…”
Hütter took a step back, only for the blond Monster to take three steps towards him.
He hunched over, his shockingly beautiful face peering straight into Hütter’s eyes. Peeking through his lips were a pair of white fangs that were far too sharp to be human teeth.
“If you want, I can make you my servant, little human — ’Betray the Wedge Tower, and accept my protection.’”
If he gave the wrong answer here, he would be killed for sure.
Hütter’s mind worked as fast as he could push it. What could he possibly do to please this terrifying Monster?
(That line just now was from the script — ‘Betray the sun, and accept my protection’ right? So he exchanged the sun for the Wedge Tower. In that case…)
Hütter dropped to a knee and boldly projected his voice.
” — ’You, the one who has betrayed the sun, take my lowly self as your servant. Let us walk the long road of eternal night.’”
This as well was a line from the opera.
For whatever reason, this Monster enjoyed operas, performances, and stories. Especially… he seemed to have a liking for works that featured himself — that featured vampires.
Thus, Hütter tried re-enacting the scene where a man betrayed humanity and sold his soul to the vampire.
It seemed like this response earned him full marks. The blond Monster nodded with unconstrained delight.
“I shall permit you to call me Jill. ‘Now, come with my, my servant. Let the veil of night be our protection!’”
“Haha, as you wish, Lord Jill.”
Thus the third-rate con man’s escape was thwarted, and he found himself following this Monster who called himself ‘Jill.’
The reason for his failure? His compliments were too effective.