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Many thoughts rolled around within my mind, but most concerning was Agawa\'s condition. Her complexion was ragged with exhaustion, and her body showcased various bruises.

"Agawa? Are you hurt?" I asked, but I soon returned my eyes to the woman I had pinned. If she tried anything, I\'d end her then and there.

"No! What\'re you doing?!" she dropped her knife and pointed. "Get off Mizuno!"

Shockingly, Agawa was armed...and even defended a vampire; she must\'ve been terrified of disobedience.

\'We just can\'t catch a break…\' I sighed.

Soon after, the others woke up from the commotion. I\'d seen Kamida, Takagi, and a few new faces, all sporting rags and a collar. Each shared Agawa\'s expression, ones of confused panic.

"What\'s going on?!" I pulled the sword closer to the woman\'s throat. The woman Agawa called "Mizuno."

"I\'ll ask you the same thing!" Agawa exclaimed, then approached me cautiously.

"Stop moving," I ordered. Though I knew her, it was only for a day. I couldn\'t believe it, but maybe she\'d betrayed me for the assurance of safety.

She stared wide-eyed with frustration and gestured at me. "What?! Let her go! Sato, please!"

"She\'s a vampire, Agawa. They talked about eating us, for God\'s sake!" I hoped that maybe, just maybe, she\'d wisen up and return to her senses.

Unfortunately, that wouldn\'t be the case.

"What? Them? Vampires? Eating us?" Every successive word left her expression more puzzled than before.

It wasn\'t long until Kamida interjected too. Like Agawa, he looked like he\'d been on the receiving end of a twister. His once immaculate image was disheveled and tarnished by torn-up rag clothing paired with scarred skin.

"Sato! Sir, I implore you to reconsider! They\'re friends! They\'ve helped us; they even helped you!" his words were laced with distinct desperation.

"What? Helped me?"

"Yes, they healed you, Sir! They\'ve been treating you with the utmost care!" In his fervor, strands of muck-covered hair fell across his face. "Please, just calm down!"

With his words, an internal conflict brewed within me.

\'Am I wrong? Are these three really allies?\' The idea seemed impossible.

If the three weren\'t vampires, it meant we\'d escaped. It meant my countrymen escaped...on their own, carrying me along with them. But there was no way. They would\'ve encountered HER. With her strength, they would\'ve died. All of them...brutally. Yet, somehow, they returned for me, defeated that monster, AND got me out of the city while I was critically injured?

\'There\'s no way. No goddamn way.\' I wanted to believe them; I truly did. But it was too outlandish. Too good to be true.

Besides, maybe the three did heal me, but that didn\'t prove trustworthiness. Especially after what happened in the manor, "well-mannered" people seemed to be the most dangerous in this world.

In my thoughts, I must\'ve seemed distracted; the man-giant and archer felt confident enough to inch away from my field of view to ambush me.

"Back up, and drop the weapons!" I pressured the woman\'s neck over the blade, fully prepared to detach her head. "I\'d really recommend you don\'t move after that. I\'m not dying today."

Heeding my threat, the two discarded their armaments and retreated to their initial spots.

"Huuuuh?!" the archer exclaimed with hands raised. "What\'re ya talkin\'

\'bout?! Eatin\' ya? What?!"

"You can\'t lie to me. I overheard your conversation."

"What are yo-" she paused, blinked, and pointed to several bloodied squirrel carcasses strung up by a rope. "I was talkin\' \'bout those, you ass! Now let Yuu go!"

\'Squirrels? She was talking about eating...squirrels?\' Her assertion was in context, but I couldn\'t be convinced. I let my guard down once and nearly died. I wouldn\'t make the same mistake again.

I thought that, but the tide was shifting against me. Justifying my actions became more difficult with each passing second.

I could feel the onset of guilt as I subconsciously considered that I\'d made a mistake.

Even I knew this scene wasn\'t one depicting a "good guy." Far from it, this was a scenario where I appeared as the villain. Hostages? Threats? Distrust in allies?

That\'s no way any decent human being would operate.

\'It\'s for survival,\' I consoled myself. \'It\'s kill or be killed, and I refuse to be killed.\'

"Look!" Mizuno snapped. "Just cut me and get it over with."

"Yuu?! What are you saying?!" Suda tried stepping forward, but she froze under my watchful glare.

I kept my focus, but Mizuno\'s demand shocked me too. Why would she ASK for me to injure her?

"You know the bloodsuckers have black blood, right? So cut me and find out." Her resolve was unshakeable, and her logic was sound; blackened blood would be a dead giveaway to her innocence or guilt.

"Yuu! Ya don\'t nee-"

"It\'s fine, Asuga. It\'s fine. You too, Shrug." She gave both a slight smile, a smile giving the impression she\'d known everything would be okay. The kind a capable leader gives to uneasy subordinates.

They must\'ve trusted her immensely. After Mizuno\'s order, they both relented, but the look of worry still never left their faces.

I contemplated, considering what kind of trap Mizuno was leading me into. I recalled the last vampiress I fought; she\'d used a sort of "blood control" to create a spear and even a wall. Was this woman trying to do the same?

If I extracted her blood, would she morph it into a weapon? Would she pierce me through the skull and be done with it?

"Do it already," she ordered, "we\'re wasting daylight lying here."

Given her insistence, I couldn\'t be sure. Though I knew drawing blood was the only way of confirmation, it might\'ve been her retaliatory trump card too.

"Ugh...fine," Mizuno sighed, "I\'ll do it myself."

Before I could react, she slid her chin along my blade and split her flesh, exposing a stream of her life\'s essence. To my dismay, it was red as the reddest wine. A far cry from the blackened hue I was expecting.

\'It was...a misunderstanding?\' I was flabbergasted. Not only was I wrong, but I threatened the life of an innocent woman over an assumption.

I released the sword, leaving it to gravity\'s influence until it clattered to the floor and cursed under my breath. \'What the hell am I even doing?\'

"Happy?" Mizuno rhetorically questioned, seemingly unfazed. "Now get off me."

I stood up from her, feeling the onset of embarrassment and shame. \'Am I always this paranoid? Have I become so shaken that I\'d murder innocents on something as flimsy as suspicion?\' I even suspected my countrymen of treachery rather than listen to their words.

That\'s when I realized that I must\'ve lost something important somewhere on my life\'s journey. What was it again?

Bringing my hands to view, I saw years of hardened scars and burns. Beyond them were memories, painful memories.

I reminisced on all the lost allies and betrayals I\'d suffered. It all made sense now. I had already been struggling before coming here, but the manor was the straw that broke the camel\'s back.

I had utterly lost my trust in others.