Originally, they had only been supposed to serve briefly as an escort while I went to find the doctor in Seoul.

But one thing led to another, and the escort unit had ended up coming all the way here with me.

While carrying out Luca’s request in that Seoul, they had hunted a great many monsters and grown at an incredible rate.

...And.

If there was one special thing about them—

-Slide...

since I’d judged that a full-on fight against the monsters in Seoul wasn’t feasible, most of them had been made up from the start of people specialized in covert movement and surprise attacks.

“You’re siding with a vampire!”

Weapons in hand, the awakened who had been swinging their weapons at the traitor in front of them—

Kaaang!

“!?”

Something came flying from somewhere, and their weapons °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° were knocked away.

A few with particularly sharp eyes managed to realize it.

...A military greatsword?

Of course, figuring out what the weapon was changed nothing.

Ghk—...

In the darkness where nothing could be seen, something seemed to burst out of nowhere for an instant—

then thud.

Countless people started collapsing to the ground one after another.

...What!

One awakened with his face smashed against the ground looked upward with shaken, bewildered eyes.

“As ordered, suppression complete.”

Dressed in dark gray military uniforms that blended naturally into the darkness, speaking in a language those people could not understand, there stood soldiers.

“How would you like them handled?”

***

“How would you like them handled?”

The unit members came up to me as they said that.

When two of them spread their hands,

Jeong Sua, who had been hiding among them, revealed herself.

“If you wish, we can dispose of—”

“No, that won’t be necessary. Just subduing them is enough for now.”

And then, as I said that, I looked ahead.

...I knew they were skilled, since they’re my subordinates, but still.

Their skill against humans—

especially on a battlefield like this one, where the darkness gave them every advantage—

was something I’d never had a chance to test before.

Because they specialized in ambushes, their weapons tended to be short and thin.

Weapons that were pretty awkward to use against monsters, since so many of them were huge.

But.

These guys might actually be... specialized for fighting people.

Not just against ordinary humans, either.

The awakened gathered here were considerable in both number and strength.

I’d called these people in because I’d judged I couldn’t beat them on my own.

So even I couldn’t help being surprised at how instantly they were subdued.

“Just subdue them?”

But then, at my words, Jeong Sua asked in puzzlement,

“I naturally assumed... you would order us to eliminate them all.”

“...What?”

Judging from our last few conversations,

I’d thought Jeong Sua had gotten pretty good at understanding what I meant.

So hearing something like that from her felt a little strange, but—

“This time, Benefactor...”

Her gaze shifted to the collapsed vampire, Karhin.

“I thought you had decided to save that one.”

At that moment, the other unit members spoke up as well.

“...They seem to be a vampire and people who hate vampires. It’ll be hard to take both.”

“We assumed, naturally, that you intended to save that vampire. Which makes sense, because...”

Their eyes looked down at the people they had forced to their knees.

“If these people hate vampires... then they won’t look favorably on ‘Her Majesty’ either.”

Only then did I understand what they were trying to say.

“It feels a bit awkward saying it ourselves, but... we’re a special case. Usually, overcoming that hatred isn’t easy.”

A good number of the escort unit were people who had once suffered at Ariella’s hands.

Their hatred toward vampires had probably been similar to these people’s.

“It would be nearly impossible for these people and ‘Her Majesty’ to coexist.”

“But... we know.”

In the end, they had even gone so far as to save Ariella’s life with their own blood,

but that decision could not possibly have been easy.

And because they knew that—

“There’s no way the Legion Commander would abandon ‘Her Majesty’... no, one of his own unit members.”

If I intended to keep a vampire under my command, then I would have to abandon those people. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

That was the conclusion they’d reached.

“That’s true, but.”

There was just one thing these guys didn’t know.

“I’m a little greedy.”

“Sir?”

That much wasn’t enough to satisfy me.

“Well, just watch.”

Ignoring my unit members’ warning,

I walked toward the subdued people.

“W-what are they talking about?”

“Where in the world did these people even come from...”

These were people who had fallen into deep fear from the moment that sun disappeared.

And on top of that, not only had they been subdued by people who had appeared out of nowhere, but now those same people and the one they suspected of being a traitor were talking in an unknown language.

Of course they were confused. Of course they were afraid.

Ahem... this should do it, I think.

And then, looking at them, I said—

-Do not be afraid.

with a voice infused with mana.

***

Paaahng...

-Do not be afraid.

When I sent my will through [Mental interference] wrapped in mana, my ordinary voice spread outward as if echoing through a cave.

And since the sound was driving directly into their heads while trembling at the same time, it gave those hearing it a strangely sacred feeling.

“...That voice.”

I still didn’t fully know how to use this trait properly, but after watching others use it, I’d at least gotten a rough sense of ah, if you use it like this, it gives off that kind of effect.

And this was the same way Karhin, hidden inside that veil of darkness, had conveyed his will.

“Chairman...”

“No, no. It’s nothing like the Chairman’s voice!”

“B-but this resonance...”

And then, while the people were still panicking at the sound of my voice,

-I am not your Chairman, as you can plainly hear.

I activated one skill.

[Force-Feeding]

One of the dishes in my military uniform pocket was absorbed into my body.

[The holiness imbued with the devotion of a heroic-grade chef—]

And then, a soft light began to rise from my body.

-When that bombardment began, I was with your Chairman.

“...”

-Even as shells were falling near him, he devoted himself to maintaining that sun so that the vampires could not invade.

At those words, some people murmured in moved voices,

“Chairman...”

“Great Teacher...”

Of course, not all of them did.

“If that is true, then where did the Chairman go?!”

The one who shouted at me with a deep frown was none other than Wei.

“Where is the Chairman who was supposed to create the sun that protected us?!”

At that, I remembered the time I’d gone outside the island with the death squad members.

They’d said things like they couldn’t trust the current leader, that it was too much...

In truth, if you knew the full story, it had been Karhin’s own clumsy attempt at showing consideration, and things had only gone sideways because of me.

But regardless of that, that was when I realized not everyone on this island fully trusted their leader.

Karhin had concealed his appearance and only occasionally revealed his voice, so of course that would seem suspicious.

They obeyed his orders, yes, but their support wasn’t perfect.

-...Unfortunately, your Chairman has now lost most of his power.

“He lost his power at the one moment it mattered most? Why?”

Wei did seem like the type who at least tried to obey orders, but there was no way he’d had no dissatisfaction buried inside.

That was probably why he was pressing me like this now.

-And yet... did you not all see it for yourselves?

I answered that dissatisfaction by pointing at the ground below.

-The vampires’ operation was a truly devious one. They launched the first nuclear warhead far away, lulling you into carelessness, and many were injured in the aftermath of that blast.

“...Kh.”

-And only then did they reveal their true aim... the second nuclear warhead.

Unlike the first warhead, which exploded at a distance, if the second one had detonated, most of the people on this island would have been erased without leaving so much as a trace.

-Do you know how that second warhead disappeared?

At those words, people’s eyes widened in shock.

Because of what Wei had said while coming down into this crater, most people had apparently thought I was the one who’d done it.

But.

Stealing credit for someone else’s work felt a little low.

-It was your Chairman who did it.

“Ahh...”

Only then did the people realize the reason for the timing—

why the sun had vanished only just before that second warhead exploded.

-He was grievously wounded in the process and lost most of his power. He is now under my protection.

The Chairman who had been unable to move because he had been maintaining the sun, had moved to save the people.

“So that’s what it was...”

Even Wei, who had been trying to challenge me, realized that fact and lowered his head deeply.

And then, after a moment,

“If what you’re saying is true.”

He—

said in a voice choked with despair,

“then does that mean the sun that protected us can never rise again...?”

Emotions were like waves.

The moment Wei spoke in that despair-filled voice, that feeling spread through the people.

“If the Chairman’s sun is gone—”

“Those vampire bastards could be crossing the river right now. No, they may already have reached the island.”

“Even if we know how to hunt them, a full-scale battle is impossible.”

“...Is this really how we end?”

“Hhk...”

And then, looking at the people, I thought,

Just like I’d guessed, their support for Karhin wasn’t complete.

Some had been dissatisfied with taking orders from someone whose identity they didn’t know.

Even Wei, kneeling there now, had obeyed orders, but he probably hadn’t held any deep personal loyalty to Karhin himself.

Even so—

-There is no need for despair.

Even though his personal loyalty to Karhin had probably never been that strong, he had still rebuked the disgruntled members of the death squad and carried out those orders.

Even though support for their leader wasn’t especially high, these people were still tightly united.

-Your Chairman, even as he lost his power, did not neglect to make arrangements for what comes after.

“...”

The reason was simple.

The sun Karhin created.

That great sun that had protected them from the vampires.

Karhin was the one who had created it.

Karhin said he was teaching them faith in order to create [Holy Knights].

Even if progress had been slow, faith in that sun had probably taken root in their hearts.

The very reason they were trembling in despair now was because that sun had disappeared.

-I inherited one thing from your Chairman.

Shrrng.

I drew my knife, then walked toward the vampire collapsed at my feet—

Karhin.

And then—

slice—

I swung the blade and carved off a piece of Karhin’s flesh.

[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]

[Marquis Vampire Thigh Meat]

-...

Karhin looked at me with startled eyes.

With holy power wrapped around the blade, cutting through his skin wasn’t difficult.

No, not just that—

Fssshhh...

the bright light leaking from my body was burning away the blood flowing through that piece of flesh.

That’s right.

The center that had allowed these people to hold together wasn’t Karhin himself, but the sun he had created.

And, to put that in reverse—

As long as there’s a sun, it doesn’t matter whether Karhin himself is there or not.

The reason I’d ordered my unit to subdue them

was because I needed time.

Because, after all, my job was cook.

[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]

[Former Sun Holy Knight Thigh Meat]

Cooking takes a little time.