The Crimson Reaper-Chapter 85: Nosferatu’s Farm

"I don’t like him." Scarlet was relentlessly marching up and down in the room Alex had chosen to rest in.

Meanwhile, Alex was trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. The beds were horrible! How do vampires even sleep on those?

"I don’t know honestly," Alex sat up, looking aside as he thought about everything that had happened.

He had mixed feelings about him.

After establishing control, he showed a calm and more gentle nature.

The vampires also seemed to be in good condition. He couldn’t see even one miserable face.

"He does seem to care," Alex shrugged, it was an undeniable truth. Bad leadership could be seen by the state of the people, or... Vampires in this case.

"No..." Scarlet muttered to herself, finally stopping in the middle of Alex’s room as she looked up at him.

"He is playing god," She finally said it, with her finger resting on her chin.

It was obvious. He loved to show his creations, took pride in his vampires, and desired control.

"A god?" Alex leaned closer a little, interested in what was Scarlet saying.

"Acts like a higher being, furious when something doesn’t go his way," She replied, thinking about Luciel.

He had made a deal with the devil and now is paying the price.

"Hm... I agree, the guy definitely has some god complex," Alex replied, replying the scene about what he did to Luciel, and how he got on his knees after reminding him of who he should be loyal to.

The changes were subtle, so it was hard to notice, but after those specific words were spoken, Luciel seemed to follow him more eagerly.

Nosferatu was such a conflicting guy that the group didn’t know if he was the good or the bad guy.

"Anyways, we should rest. Can you stay up and keep watch? Wake me up at six," Scarlet asked, walking towards the door.

"Yeah, sure," Alex nodded with his head, letting out a sigh. He wanted to sleep first... 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

****

"So... What do you want to show me?" Luciel finally asked, quietly following Nosferatu.

They walked towards a stone gate that had a blue curtain. The entrance was being guarded by two vampires, each standing on one side.

"This!" Nosferatu exclaimed when Luciel walked through the gate, gesturing at the giant glass window with his hand.

Luciel approached the window frame, his eyes widening in shock at the scene in front of him, causing him to have mixed feelings about this.

This was more like a living, breathing society than the usual vampire’s human farm.

Down below, there was a huge circular structure with multiple levels and humans walking around.

They had their own rice fields, farms, houses, education centers, you name it.

Everything was full of green color and maintained.

The humans seemed to be happy, with children running around.

And there didn’t seem to be any difference between the rich and the poor.

The only bad thing that Luciel could see was that those people lived under the lamps.

"We control their day and night cycle to align with our waking hours," Nosferatu mentioned briefly, allowing Luciel to take everything in.

"This... Is the farm...?" He finally asked. It was different from anything he had seen so far during his hunter career.

The human farms led by vampires were cold, cruel places, stripping away all human dignity, but this... The living conditions were better than in Paradise’s third circle.

"Care to take a walk?" Nosferatu chuckled to himself before opening the doors.

He wanted to show Luciel the truth since he didn’t want him to hate him because of something that he had never done.

"A-All right," Luciel stuttered, afraid of the humans’ reaction once they would see two vampires strolling around.

Nosferatu allowed Luciel to walk in first. He followed him behind and closed the doors.

Luciel sniffed the air. It was clean and fresh, almost like the forest air - though a little chilly.

"Just don’t step under the lights above the crops. They are going to burn your skin." Nosferatu warned him. There was no need for those humans to see a vampire’s weakness.

Luciel had heard him but wasn’t able to answer.

He approached the residential area. The houses were made from wood, which was unusual for Nosferatu’s stile who wanted everything to be built out of stone and earth.

But the most striking detail was that the humans weren’t afraid of them. Instead, they would throw them smiles and waves.

"We provide them with protection and they provide us with food. It’s a mutual relationship," Nosferatu explained, watching how a few children started to approach them.

"Look! It’s Luciel!" One of the children shouted before starting to run towards him, followed by the rest.

They were one of the few missing children from the third circle.

"Wait? It’s him?"

"Is it really Luciel?"

The murmur from the nearby children started to increase as they started to gather around, looking up to him.

"Guys? Are you sure that’s Ray of Hope? He has red eyes," one of the children pointed out, unaware of the recent happenings.

Noticing the comment, Luciel kneeled down to the children’s level and scanned them one by one.

They seemed to be healthy, well-fed, and showed no fear.

"For how long have you guys been here?" He asked them, placing one hand on the first child that had approached him, messing with his hair.

"Hm..." The child placed his finger on the chin, looking up to the cave ceiling, " A year I think."

"Ooh! Two years!" Another child raised its hand high, proud that she had been here longer than her friend.

"Two years and a month!"

"T-three weeks..." The kid who was at the far back started to speak, fidgeting with his fingers. He was being nervous and a little bit scared.

The kid’s fear proved one thing though. Those children and people weren’t brainwashed, their reactions were genuine.

"H-he was in a battle against a b-big bad guy and g-got turned," the child, who was the youngest, stuttered as he spoke, but was brave enough, to tell the truth.

The young ones started to exchange looks, discussing and arguing whether the one in front of them was Luciel.

"He is indeed Luciel you speak about," Nosferatu came forward, placing his hand on Luciel’s shoulder.

The children went quiet for a moment, talking among themselves. They were happy to see Luciel, the hero who fought to protect them, but everyone knew about his merciless behavior toward his enemies.

"Then... Will you kill the vampires who are here?" The oldest child spoke, taking off her hat and holding it tightly. Tears started to appear in her eyes at the thought that they might lose the life they have now.

The rest looked at the oldest. Realizing what she meant, they started to beg Luciel to leave the vampires alone.

Luciel was taken back a little. This was the first time that someone wanted vampires to live with all their hearts.

He got up, blinking a little before he finally spoke: "Relax... I only kill the bad vampires."

He put up his hands defensively, glancing at Nosferatu before his gaze fell on the children who had expressions of relief.

"Now my dear children, it’s time to leave us alone. The two vampires have some things to discuss. Shoo~" Nosferatu said playfully to them, waving with both of his hands, making the children laugh a little.

"All right! Goodbye, Mr. Luciel and Nosferatu!" They shouted in union before they ran away, continuing with the play they left off with.

Luciel was stunned. He slowly got up while trying to analyze everything that he had seen just now.

It was real but hard to accept that something like this was possible.

’Did he manage to create a society where humans and vampires can live in harmony?’ Luciel asked himself, but that didn’t sound right.

No matter how he looked at it, the humans living here were still prisoners. While this was indeed a large place, they were still trapped here, unable to go somewhere else. This wasn’t what he would call freedom.

"What is this place exactly?" He finally asked, turning around to face Nosferatu.

"It’s exactly as you see it. But remember, we picked those who were cast away by the humans. Why should anyone care about them if humanity had written them off." Nosferatu answered, but he just made Luciel feel more conflicted.

Nosferatu was right. He gave those people a second chance in life when no one else did. He couldn’t get angry at him after seeing this.

Only one detail in all of this didn’t hold the water.

When Luciel found the children in the old, abandoned factory, there were rich ones mixed in as well. One was harmed.

"And what about Lady Seline who was gathering children no matter the social status?"

"Lady Seline you ask?" Nosferatu purred, turning around before starting to walk towards the exit.

"She did what she had to do. We were collecting the children of all status. Humans were leaving and without them, there would be chaos." He answered. There was also an option of moving to areas that humans densely populated, but this was their home.

"Before you answer, let me ask you one thing. If humans are allowed to live and hold animals as food, then why shouldn’t we do it as well? We have the right to live just as anyone!"

Luciel was left speechless. He was deep in thought. The human side of him was still telling him that this was morally wrong, but his other side accepted the way this farm operated.

Nosferatu was right. Even as a vampire, why shouldn’t he have the right to live? Who were humans to dictate if he should die or live?

Luciel looked at the children one last time, their laughter still echoing in his ears. Were they truly happy? Or had they simply adapted to their current circumstances? The hunter in him screamed for justice, but the vampire within whispered a truth he despised - Nosferatu’s methods, as flawed as they were, worked

The line between what was right and wrong was just becoming more gray.

He sighed, slowly closing his eyes. "I apologize for doubting you, my leader..."

"Oh?" Nosferatu raised his head after hearing Luciel’s words. They were unexpected but pleasing to hear.

Turning around, he saw Luciel on one knee, bowing down his head.

"That’s more like it," Nosferatu purred, a smile of satisfaction written all over his face, "now come, there is still some stuff I have to teach you..."

Once Nosferatu turned his back, Luciel clenched his fist, with a human voice gnawing at him in the background at the choice he had made.