Oliver muttered while wiping his sweat. As he said, the woman who had been riddled with bullets really seemed like she wouldn’t be able to rampage anymore. When the team leader signaled, everyone lowered their guns. It would take a few minutes for the disposal team to arrive, and they planned to take a breather until then.
“…Ack!”
But in that moment of carelessness, Oliver made a choking sound. A severed wrist had flown over and was strangling his neck. Standing right next to Oliver, Yan could vividly see the fingernails digging into his skin. He was shocked at how strongly it was gripping Oliver’s neck.
“Oliver!”
Since the wrist was firmly attached to his body, they couldn’t use guns or knives. While everyone was panicking, Oliver’s face was turning pale. Without further thought, Yan lunged at the wrist. He grabbed it firmly and pulled with all his might.
“Eek…!”
But the grip wouldn’t easily loosen. Thinking that Oliver might actually die if this continued, Yan resorted to using his teeth. He mercilessly bit down on the wrist.
‘Fishy…’
Inappropriately, that was his first thought. Blood spurted from the severed end and entered his mouth. He wondered if it was safe to consume the blood of a vampire’s subjugate, but attacking the severed end proved effective. He could feel the strength draining from the wrist. Yan seized the opportunity and yanked the wrist hard.
“Yan!”
He felt the commotion around him. Ignoring it, Yan pulled on the wrist with all his strength. The fishy blood continued to flow into his mouth. After some time, the terrible grip finally loosened. The fingernails left deep marks on Oliver’s neck as they fell away.
“Phew…”
“Are you okay, Yan?”
Noah ran over and patted Yan’s back. Yan asked if there was a towel available, but of course there wasn’t. Looking at Yan’s blood-red lips, Noah joked with a hint of seriousness.
“You’ve consumed vampire blood, what now? This is bad. You might become a vampire too.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If becoming a vampire was that easy, there wouldn’t be any normal humans left by now.”
Despite his retort, he felt uneasy inside. Yan roughly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Just then, Sirius appeared, pushing through the crowd. Being an expert, he seemed to understand what had happened just by surveying the scene.
“That must have been the vampire’s subjugate.”
“Ah, so the vampire Sirius was after had a subjugate.”
This meant that Sirius had taken care of the vampire who could manipulate shadows. Yet, he appeared only slightly tired with no visible injuries. Yan gazed at him in admiration, while Sirius’s expression remained serious.
“What happened to your lips? Did you consume the subjugate’s blood?”
“I had no choice. The wrist was strangling Oliver’s neck, and I couldn’t remove it with just my strength…”
His voice grew quieter as he explained. Now that he thought about it rationally, he wondered if that had been the only method available. But it was true that there had been no time to consider alternatives. Thanks to his action, Oliver had survived, so Yan didn’t regret what he’d done.
The disposal team, which had finally arrived, could be heard pouring holy water on the subjugate’s body. They followed this by quietly reciting prayers. Throughout these procedures, Sirius continued to frown at Yan. Just as Yan was about to ask what was bothering him…
“Let’s go, Yan.”
Noah patted Yan’s back and spoke. It was indeed time to leave after dealing with the crazed vampire. Yet for some inexplicable reason, Yan hesitated. At that moment, Sirius grabbed Yan’s wrist.
“Officer Circuitz needs to go to the hospital.”
“Is that so? I guess he does need to get checked.”
Standing between Sirius and Noah, Yan looked back and forth between them. Although it concerned him, somehow the situation seemed to be developing on its own. Noah called the team leader and relayed, “Yan needs to go to the hospital.” The team leader delivered a few words of rebuke about Yan’s reckless behavior before adding, “Well done, anyway.”
“I heard about ten people from Team 2 were seriously injured. We’re lucky it wasn’t worse on our end.”
“In that case, it might be better to go to a general hospital instead of the police hospital first.”
The response came not from Yan but from Sirius. The team leader initially widened his eyes in surprise but soon understood Sirius’s reasoning.
“True, they’ll be busy with just the emergency cases from our side… Since it’s not a major injury, a general hospital should be fine.”
“Let’s go, Yan. I’ll support you.”
He couldn’t keep up with the unfolding situation. Despite his confusion, Yan allowed himself to be guided away by Sirius’s arm. The team leader’s shout to “Remember to keep the receipt for expense processing” trailed behind them.
