Beatrice glanced at Noah in the rearview mirror: "Have you done this before?"
Noah admitted calmly: "Not this one. But I've tracked harder things."
Chifuyu laughed: "I like him."
Diego smirked: "Kid's got confidence."
Noah tilted his head: "Confidence is just preparation meeting opportunity."
Chifuyu stared at him: "…Did you rehearse that?"
Noah grinned: "Maybe."
The idol music switched tracks.
Diego groaned louder.
Diego: "Do you only listen to this?"
Chifuyu shrugged: "Only when I want to feel alive."
Ariel started humming along happily.
Diego looked betrayed: "Even you?!"
Ariel shrugged: "It's catchy."
The drive stretched on—music, banter, occasional silence broken by Noah calmly pointing out landmarks or wildlife signs none of them noticed.
At some point, Chifuyu fell asleep.
Ariel followed.
Diego tried to fight it.
Failed.
Beatrice drove on.
Noah watched the mountains grow larger through the windshield, his eyes reflecting something unreadable.
***
Beatrice's voice cut through the quiet: "Wake up."
Chifuyu jolted awake: "We caught it already?"
Beatrice: "No."
Ariel yawned. Diego blinked.
The parking lot was packed—tents, trucks, groups unloading gear. A low hum of competition hung in the air.
Diego scanned the crowd: "That's… a lot of people."
Noah nodded: "We're not the only ones hunting legends."
Chifuyu cracked his knuckles: "Good thing we're Odd Jobs."
Ariel grinned: "They don't know what's coming."
They moved quickly.
Noah led them to a quieter stretch, away from the main paths and deeper into the woods.
Noah: "Competition will stick close to marked trails. The beetle won't."
Beatrice raised the tent with ease.
Diego fumbled with a pole.
Chifuyu tried to help and somehow made it worse.
Ariel stood nearby supervising: "Why is this pole bent?"
Diego: "It's not."
Ariel leaned closer: "It is now."
Noah watched the whole scene with quiet amusement.
Chifuyu stretched his arms overhead: "Alright. Let's go find a legend."
The forest had settled into that peculiar state between calm and anticipation, the kind where leaves barely stirred and insects hummed in careful intervals.
Chifuyu suddenly stopped walking.
Everyone else took three more steps before realizing he wasn't with them.
Diego turned first: "Why do you look like you just sensed a side quest?"
Chifuyu raised a finger: "Shh."
Ariel glanced around: "Did you hear something?"
Chifuyu shook his head: "No."
Then he pointed to the ground.
Chifuyu: "I felt something."
Diego groaned immediately: "Oh my god, here we go."
Noah tilted his head, intrigued rather than dismissive: "Felt what, exactly?"
Chifuyu crouched slightly, his palm hovering over the forest floor like he was about to test the temperature of water. His expression shifted—focused now.
Chifuyu: "The vibes."
Diego stared at him: "…You're kidding."
Chifuyu didn't look up: "Maintaining the vibes should be our top priority."
Diego pinched the bridge of his nose: "You sound like that gamer girl who threw a forty-thousand-dollar tournament because her teammate 'wasn't aligned spiritually' and got him kicked."
Chifuyu snorted: "Teehee. Got me."
He inhaled slowly.
Chifuyu: "But I'm not joking."
Noah raised a brow: "Explain."
Chifuyu shrugged: "I can't. That's the thing. Some places just feel… promising. Like they're hiding something important."
Diego crossed his arms: "So we're trusting your vibes over actual strategy."
Beatrice, who had been quietly observing his posture the whole time, spoke calmly.
Beatrice: "He isn't posturing."
Everyone turned to her.
Beatrice continued: "He's relaxed. Not forcing it. That usually means intuition rather than ego."
Chifuyu blinked: "…Thank you?"
Beatrice nodded once: "You're welcome."
Noah smiled faintly: "Alright. Lead us."
Diego looked between them: "You're serious?"
Noah shrugged: "Worst case, we waste a bit of daylight. Best case, we learn something."
Chifuyu stood and started walking.
At first, it felt ridiculous.
Chifuyu would stop every few minutes, tilt his head, then shift direction slightly.
Chifuyu: "Not here."
A few steps later—
Chifuyu: "Too loud."
Then again—
Chifuyu: "Too empty."
Diego muttered under his breath: "This is like watching someone pick loot based on instinct alone."
But then—
Ariel leaned forward slightly: "Hey… there."
A beetle skittered across a fallen log, its shell glinting a muted bronze in the filtered sunlight.
Not gold.
But close.
Chifuyu crouched beside it: "See?"
Diego frowned: "That's… not it."
Chifuyu nodded calmly: "I know. But it's nearby."
They continued.
Another beetle.
Then two more.
None golden, but all in the same general region.
Noah knelt to inspect the soil: "Temperature's slightly higher here. Humidity too."
Beatrice scanned the surrounding foliage: "And the light breaks differently."
Diego blinked slowly: "…Okay. I hate to admit this, but maybe the vibes are cooking."
Chifuyu grinned: "I told you."
Diego pointed a finger at him: "I'm not apologizing."
They pressed on.
For nearly an hour, Chifuyu's instincts guided them in a loose spiral through the forest. The beetles increased in number but the golden one never appeared.
Eventually Beatrice raised a hand: "Pause."
Everyone stopped.
Beatrice: "We've narrowed the habitat. Now we need precision."
Noah nodded: "Agreed."
Beatrice explained the formation calmly—spacing, angles, sound control.
They looked good at first.
Really good.
Chifuyu and Ariel moved with careful steps.
Diego mirrored the formation.
Noah adjusted in real time.
Beatrice was flawless.
Then—
Chifuyu stepped on a slick root.
His foot slid.
He windmilled.
Recovered with a dramatic roll that somehow ended in a kneeling pose.
Diego: "You good?"
Chifuyu dusted himself off dramatically: "Heroically."
Ariel gasped: "That was cool!"
Then Diego spotted something reflecting light: "Oho!"
He broke formation instantly, sprinting toward it.
Diego dove.
There was a crack.
Diego yelped, clutching his fingers.
He looked down.
A brightly painted rock.
Diego stared at it: "…You have got to be kidding me."
He kicked it away.
Diego: "Haha. Real funny prank."
Noah crouched beside him: "You okay?"
Diego flexed his hand and winced: "Yeah. Just my pride."
They continued.
Careful.
Controlled.
Hours passed.
Still nothing.
The sun dipped lower.
Noah: "We regroup. Let's take a break and eat."
Diego collapsed onto a log: "Thank you."
Back at camp, the mood softened. They cooked together, simple food eaten with tired satisfaction.
Twilight settled as they headed to the hot springs.
Steam rose into the cooling air.
Beatrice sank into the water with a long sigh. Her shoulders slackened. Her expression softened into something… almost goofy.
Ariel blinked at her: "Beatrice."
Beatrice: "Yes?"
Ariel tilted her head: "You're making a weird face."
Beatrice didn't move: "I just love hot springs."
Ariel stared: "Haha. I see."
Meanwhile, on the men's side, Chifuyu, Noah, and Diego tossed a football across the spring.
Noah's throw was clean. Chifuyu caught it and Diego tackled him straight into the water.
Chifuyu resurfaced sputtering: "Hey we said no tackling!"
Diego laughed: "That was just a little love tap."
Chifuyu splashed him: "I'll show you a love tap!"
Noah chuckled quietly.
After the laughter faded, Noah leaned back against the stone.
Noah: "The night's just beginning."
Chifuyu blinked: "Huh?"
Diego groaned loudly: "You're joking."
Noah shook his head: "No. We search tonight. The beetle is more active during the night."
Diego slumped against the rocks: "Why didn't we just wait?"
Noah answered evenly: "Because it's more optimal. We were definitely on the right track."
Chifuyu nodded slowly: "Yeah we were."
Diego sighed: "I hate how reasonable you are."
They dressed, regrouped, and returned to camp.
No one noticed Diego slip away.
The camp at night had settled into a strange rhythm, lantern light bobbing between tents, distant laughter, the crackle of firewood, and the occasional shout from overly competitive beetle hunters who had convinced themselves they were this close.
Chifuyu crouched near the map.
Ariel perched on a rock beside him, chin in her hands.
Beatrice and Noah quietly discussed terrain and movement patterns like they were planning a military operation rather than chasing a shiny insect.
And Diego was gone.
He returned ten minutes later.
In shorts.
Completely golden.
Clad head to toe in honey.
The lantern light reflected off him like he was a divine offering to the forest gods.
Chifuyu stared.
Ariel blinked.
Beatrice slowly closed her eyes.
Noah's lips twitched.
Beatrice asked carefully: "…Why are you glistening?"
Diego struck a heroic pose as honey dripped from his elbows.
Diego: "To attract something golden… you too must become golden."
Silence.
A bee buzzed somewhere.
Noah covered his mouth, shoulders shaking: "That's… not actually a terrible hypothesis."
Beatrice turned to him.
Beatrice: "Do not encourage this."
Chifuyu squinted at Diego.
Chifuyu: "…Where did you even get that much honey?"
Diego jerked a thumb over his shoulder: "Camp shop. For some reason they're stacked with honey."
Ariel's eyes slowly lit up: "Oh."
Chifuyu felt it immediately.
The shift.
The spark.
Ariel nodded slowly: "I see it."
Chifuyu nodded back: "I also see it."
Beatrice groaned softly knowing what they were planning.
Five minutes later, Chifuyu and Ariel emerged from behind a tree.
Equally golden.
Equally sticky.
Ariel hummed happily as honey slid down her arms.
Diego pumped his fist triumphantly: "Yes! You understand the vision!"
Noah pressed his fist to his mouth: "I'm trying very hard not to laugh."
Beatrice pinched the bridge of her nose.
And thus—
The nighttime search began.
They split into two groups.
Group A: The Golden Stooges — Diego, Chifuyu, and Ariel.
Attracting every insect within five miles.
Group B: The Competent Ones — Beatrice and Noah.
Moving quietly and efficiently.
Diego whispered loudly: "Okay. Spread out. But not too far. If something shiny comes near me, I call dibs."
Chifuyu whispered back: "That's not how teamwork works."
Ariel sniffed the air: I smell… pine." She paused. "…And desperation."
Chifuyu: "That's Diego."
They lurked through the forest like cursed statues.
Honey dripped onto leaves.
Bugs gathered.
A moth landed on Diego's shoulder and refused to leave.
Diego muttered: "I am becoming one with nature."
Then—
A shimmer.
A flicker of gold between the roots of a tree.
Ariel froze.
Instantly.
Her playful demeanor vanished.
Her posture shifted.
Muscles coiled.
Eyes locked onto the faint golden glint crawling slowly along the bark.
The golden beetle.
It had made a terrible mistake.
For several seconds, Ariel did not move.
The forest itself seemed to lean in.
Then—
She vanished.
A blink.
A breath.
A flash.
Ariel reappeared with the beetle secured gently between her fingers.
She inhaled deeply.
Ariel shouted triumphantly: "I CAUGHT IT!!"
The forest exploded.
Shouts.
Footsteps.
Lanterns swinging wildly.
"OVER THERE!"
"HAND OVER THE BEETLE!"
"DON'T LET HER ESCAPE!"
Ariel's eyes widened: "Oh no."
She ran.
Ariel bolted through trees, honey flinging from her arms like glittering shrapnel.
Chifuyu sprinted after her: "WHY DID YOU ANNOUNCE IT?!"
Ariel: "I WAS EXCITED!"
Diego slipped on a root, slid ten feet, recovered, and yelled: "PROTECT THE BEETLE!"
Behind them, dozens of people charged like an uncoordinated stampede.
Someone tripped.
Someone screamed.
Someone else tackled the wrong person.
Ariel vaulted a log, ducked under branches, skidded around rocks.
She heard footsteps gaining.
"HAND IT OVER!" a man shouted.
Ariel: "No!" She yelled back. "Finders keepers!"
She ran fast enough that Chifuyu and Diego couldn't keep up. After a few seconds, she escaped them.
And nearly collided with Noah: "Ariel!" he gasped. "Did you—"
She held up the beetle.
Noah froze: "…You actually found it."
Ariel: "Yes!"
Noah was so mesmerized with the beetle that he tripped while they were running and went tumbling downhill.
Ariel screamed: "NOAH!!"
She rushed after him, skidding to a stop.
Noah lay face-down.
His butt in the air with a stick protruding from it.
Noah groaned weakly: "Ariel… leave me."
She dropped beside him: "What happened?!"
Noah spoke solemnly: "I've been impaled. Go. Do not let my sacrifice be in vain."
Tears welled in Ariel's eyes: "You're… you're so brave…"
Noah whispered dramatically: "Promise me… you won't lose the beetle."
Ariel wiped her eyes: "…Okay."
She stood slowly.
Ariel: "I'll never forget you."
She ran.
After hiding for half an hour, Ariel burst into camp, panting, the beetle still secure in her hands.
Chifuyu and Diego rushed toward her.
Diego yelled: "YOU DID IT!"
Chifuyu laughed: "We did it!"
They celebrated.
Then Beatrice spoke: "…Where's Noah?"
Ariel's smile vanished.
She covered her face with her arm: "He… he didn't make it."
Chifuyu's blood ran cold: "What do you mean… didn't make it?"
Diego placed a hand on Chifuyu's shoulder and shook his head gravely.
Then he leaned closer.
Diego whispered: "I mean… one less person to split the reward with."
Chifuyu whipped around.
Chifuyu: "DID YOU FORGET HE'S PAYING US TOO?! WHAT DO WE TELL HIS PARENTS?!"
A calm voice cut through the panic.
Noah: "Looks like you lost them."
Everyone turned.
Noah stepped out of the bushes, slightly limping, perfectly alive.
Ariel screamed: "YOU'RE ALIVE?!"
Noah blinked at her: "Why wouldn't I be?"
She stared at him.
Ariel: "YOU SAID YOU WERE DONE FOR."
Noah shrugged: "I was being dramatic."
Ariel: "What about the stick that got impaled in your ass?"
Beatrice: "…You had a stick in your—"
Noah nodded matter-of-factly: "Yes. I removed it."
Diego grinned: "Glad you're okay buddy!"
Chifuyu slowly turned toward Diego with a completely unamused expression.
***
The forest had finally gone quiet. The campfire had long since been reduced to embers, its faint orange glow barely breathing beneath a ring of stones. The tent sat just beyond it, zipped shut. Five silhouettes rested inside like survivors after a small war. Crickets chirped. Leaves whispered. Somewhere far off, an owl called.
Chifuyu woke without knowing why. His eyes opened to darkness, the fabric ceiling of the tent faintly outlined by moonlight filtering through the trees.
For a few seconds, he stayed still, listening.
Ariel's breathing was soft and steady beside him.
Diego was sprawled out like he had fought sleep and lost badly.
Beatrice lay perfectly still, composed even in rest.
But something felt… off.
Chifuyu slowly sat up.
His eyes scanned the tent.
One shape was missing.
Noah.
He slipped quietly out of the tent, careful not to wake the others.
Cool night air washed over him.
Moonlight painted the forest in silver.
He stood for a moment, letting his eyes adjust.
Then he moved.
He didn't have to go far.
Noah sat on a fallen log a short distance away, head tilted back, staring through a gap in the trees at the night sky.
His posture was relaxed.
Almost too relaxed for someone who had just survived chaos, honey, and a near-tragic injury involving a stick.
Chifuyu approached quietly, boots crunching softly on leaves: "Stargazing?"
Noah glanced over and smiled faintly: "I suppose I am."
Chifuyu sat beside him and followed his gaze upward.
Through the trees, the sky opened wide.
Stars scattered like spilled sugar.
The moon hung low, bathing everything in pale blue.
They sat in silence.
Not awkward.
Just quiet.
Eventually Noah spoke.
Noah: "Odd Jobs is an admirable thing, you know."
Chifuyu blinked: "Huh?"
He looked at Noah in confusion.
Noah kept his gaze on the stars.
Noah continued: "You're Hunters. You fight vampires. You risk your lives. But you also run a cafe. You help people with small things."
He paused.
Noah: "It's… human."
Chifuyu scratched the back of his head.
Chifuyu: "I guess we never really thought about it like that."
Noah nodded slightly.
Noah: "I think it matters. A lot of people forget what they're fighting for." He exhaled slowly. He looked at Chifuyu. "You help people. Even when there's no glory in it."
Chifuyu smiled a little.
Chifuyu: "Kagura would love hearing that."
Noah chuckled softly.
Noah: "I figured."
A breeze passed through the trees.
Leaves rustled gently.
The moment shifted.
Not ominous.
Just… different.
Noah exhaled.
Noah: "Chifuyu."
Chifuyu looked over.
Chifuyu: "Yeah?"
Noah met his eyes.
Noah: "I'm the same as you."
Chifuyu looked confused: "The same… how?"
Noah answered calmly.
Noah: "I'm a half-vampire too."
The words landed heavier than the night air.
Chifuyu stared at him.
For a moment, his brain refused to process it.
Then—
Chifuyu asked quietly: "…Are you serious?"
Noah nodded: "I am."
Chifuyu swallowed: "Since when?"
Noah hesitated.
Noah: "That's… complicated."
Chifuyu exhaled: "You can say that again."
Noah glanced back toward the stars.
Noah: "Would you mind if I told you about myself?"
Chifuyu was still stunned.
But he nodded.
Chifuyu: "Yeah. Go ahead."
Noah's voice softened.
Noah: "Right now, I'm a half-vampire."
He paused.
Noah: "But I wasn't before. In my past life."
Chifuyu: "Your… past life?"
Noah nodded: "Yes."
Chifuyu laughed once in disbelief: "Okay. Now you're messing with me."
Noah shook his head: "I'm not."
He said it plainly.
Noah: "I was reincarnated."
The forest seemed to hold its breath.
Chifuyu repeated slowly: "…Reincarnated."
Noah nodded again: "As for why, I don't know. But in my past life… I was a Vampire Lord."
Chifuyu's heart skipped: "No way. A Vampire Lord… like Ariel—"
A voice interrupted.
Ariel stepped forward from the trees: "Is this true?"
Chifuyu nearly jumped.
Chifuyu: "YOU GUYS WERE AWAKE?!"
Diego scratched his head: "For some reason we all woke up after you left."
Beatrice added calmly: "The air changed."
Noah looked at them and nodded: "Yes. It's true."
Ariel studied him carefully: "You were a Vampire Lord?"
Noah answered gently: "Yes."
Ariel frowned: "Did I know you?"
Noah: "No. I lived long before your time." He smiled faintly. "When I realized I had reincarnated… it had been over four hundred years."
Ariel's eyes widened: "Four hundred…"
Chifuyu muttered: "This is crazy."
Diego: "You can say that again."
Noah's expression grew distant: "I was tired of the fighting." His voice remained calm. "Humans and vampires killing each other… So I took my own life. I don't know why I was given another chance." He smiled faintly. "But maybe it was to help end the war." He looked at Ariel. "There's irony in it. I'm the child of a vampire and a human now."
Chifuyu felt something tighten in his chest.
Noah turned to Ariel: "I believe we're kindred spirits."
Ariel tilted her head: "Kindred… spirits?"
Noah nodded: "Yes. Two former Vampire Lords, fighting on the side of humanity to end a battle that's gone on far too long."
Ariel stayed quiet for a long moment.
When she finally spoke, her voice was softer than usual: "You're right. I'm tired of the war too. Though… it took being sealed for two hundred years for me to realize that."
Noah chuckled: "A very different circumstance indeed."
The group stood there, the weight of the revelation settling in slowly, unevenly. No one had expected this. Not here. Not now.
Chifuyu broke the silence: "Hey, Noah."
Noah looked at him.
Chifuyu: "…Do you wanna join Odd Jobs?"
Noah looked at Chifuyu for a long beat, then smiled with something that didn't quite reach his eyes. It wasn't sadness exactly. It was… restraint. Like he'd learned how to keep certain wants behind glass.
Noah: "I'd like to."
Chifuyu's shoulders loosened just a little, like he hadn't realized he'd been bracing.
Then Noah added: "But I can't join right now."
Diego groaned instantly, loud and dramatic, like the universe had personally inconvenienced him: "Of course. Of course. The one time we meet a cool vampire who doesn't immediately try to kill us, the plot says 'no.'"
Ariel flicked Diego's forehead. Not hard. Just enough to remind him that humans had bones.
Noah stayed calm, composed, a sixteen-year-old with the manner of someone who'd lived too long already.
Noah: "I'm helping Ina. She's searching for the Hidden District. We have a few leads."
Chifuyu's expression sharpened: "Hidden District…? That's not exactly something you 'help with' casually."
Noah: "I know."
His eyes narrowed slightly—not hostile, but serious in a way that made him seem older than all of them.
Noah: "It's dangerous. And right now, she needs all the help she can get without attracting too much attention."
Ariel's gaze flicked to Chifuyu, then away, like she could taste a memory in the air.
Diego crossed his arms: "So you're basically doing reconnaissance for a queen who hates vampires, in order to locate a district famous for selling your organs by weight."
Noah gave him an amused look: "That's one way to phrase it."
Chifuyu breathed out. He didn't like it. He didn't like anything about the words Hidden District being spoken so calmly, like it was just another errand between cafe shifts. But he also knew what it meant when someone said they had a mission. Noah wasn't asking permission. He was stating reality.
Chifuyu nodded once: "Alright."
Noah's eyes softened a fraction.
Chifuyu tilted his head, then thumbed toward the campsite behind them, like Odd Jobs was a physical place that could fit in the palm of his hand. Like it was a warm light somewhere in a world that kept trying to snuff lights out.
Chifuyu: "But when you're done… when you can… you know where to find us. We'll be waiting."
This time Noah's smile was real: "I'd like that."
The tension that had been forming in Chifuyu's chest loosened, replaced by something steadier. Not relief. More like… confirmation.
Ariel exhaled quietly, arms still crossed. Diego, for once, didn't try to crack a joke. Even he could feel the importance of what had just been said.
And it felt like the conversation was naturally about to end. Like everyone would head back to the tent, lie down, and pretend the world was normal for at least a few hours.
Then Beatrice spoke.
Beatrice: "I was reincarnated as well."
Her voice was calm, as if she'd just mentioned the weather.
The forest went silent in a different way.
Even the crickets seemed to hesitate.
Chifuyu turned slowly. Diego turned faster. Noah froze completely. Ariel's eyes narrowed.
Beatrice stood with the same serene posture she always had, moonlight outlining her hair and the edge of her cheek. Her expression didn't change. She didn't look like someone dropping a revelation. She looked like someone stating a simple fact and expecting the world to adjust.
There was a long beat where no one moved.
Then Diego broke it, like a man desperate to save reality by drowning it in laughter: "Haha, you almost got me there, Nova."
Chifuyu laughed too, instantly, because the alternative was to accept what she'd said and have his brain melt into soup: "Yeah. That was some comedic timing right there. I thought you were serious."
Beatrice's gaze didn't waver: "I am serious."
The laughter died in Chifuyu's mouth so abruptly it felt like someone had pulled the plug on it.
Diego's grin collapsed into confusion.
Even Noah was taken aback.
Beatrice: "I was a vampire in the Alter World. I reincarnated into a half-vampire, just like Noah."
She paused just long enough for the words to sink in.
Beatrice: "Except in my case… I was the daughter of a Vampire Lord."
Chifuyu and Diego reacted at the exact same time, like synchronized idiots: "WHAAAAT?!"
Noah took a step forward without thinking: "I don't believe it. You were reincarnated as well?"
Beatrice nodded once: "Yes."
Noah's voice softened: "What are the chances of us both being here right now…?"
Beatrice's eyes shifted upward toward the stars: "Looks like both of us were drawn to Odd Jobs." Then, without a trace of melodrama, she added: "I'm sure we can thank fate for this."
Diego lifted both hands like he was trying to physically stop the conversation from going any further: "Hold on. Hold on. This is happening too fast."
Beatrice turned her gaze back to them: "Unlike Noah, I was reincarnated not too long after I died."
Noah's mouth parted slightly, as if he were trying to calculate time in his head and failing.
Ariel finally spoke. Her voice was quiet, but it carried weight in a way that made Chifuyu feel, for a split second, the distance between her smile and what she truly was: "…Which Vampire Lord?"
The question wasn't hostile. It wasn't fear. It was curiosity.
Beatrice didn't hesitate. She gave the name.
For the first time that night, Ariel's expression changed in a way none of them had seen—not anger, not humor, but something like a flicker of recognition that wanted to stay hidden and couldn't.
She went still.
Chifuyu watched her carefully. Ariel was good at acting casual. Ariel was good at hiding the past behind donuts and sarcasm.
But now she looked… briefly far away.
Like someone had opened a door in her mind and a cold wind had come through.
Noah: "I see."
Diego glanced between them: "Uh. Is that… bad?"
Ariel blinked once, then settled her gaze back on Beatrice: "Not bad. Just shocking."
Beatrice: "I don't know if he's still alive, I died fighting with him."
Noah knows all the Vampire Lords that are alive right now. However, he had a feeling. A feeling that he shouldn't tell Beatrice whether his father was still alive or deceased."
Then her tone shifted—not to interrogation, but to something almost… human. Ariel's eyes sharpened: "What do you want to do now? Not what you were. Not who your parent was. Not what fate thinks you're supposed to be." She held Beatrice's gaze: "What do you want to do?"
The question hung there.
Beatrice didn't answer immediately. Then she said, simply: "I want to see the side of humans, which I have. It's put a new perspective on everything for me."
Chifuyu blinked.
Ariel's expression softened almost imperceptibly.
Noah's gaze lowered.
Beatrice's gaze drifted toward the camp behind them: "I'm glad I came to Odd Jobs. It's a beautiful place."
Chifuyu smiled, then joked: "So… you two are like—what—reincarnation buddies?"
Diego pointed at them both: "This is crazier than the red wedding episode."
Beatrice looked at Noah again: "I didn't expect to meet someone else like me."
Noah exhaled slowly: "Neither did I."
For a moment, there was something like shared understanding between them—two people wearing teenage bodies with histories that didn't fit.
Chifuyu's mind spun. Half-vampire. Reincarnation. Vampire Lord lineage.
He could practically hear Kagura's future reaction screaming from a distant timeline.
Then Diego's brows lifted: "Wait. If you were the daughter of a Vampire Lord… then does that mean—"
Chifuyu cut in immediately: "Diego, if you say 'princess'—"
Diego grinned: "I was gonna say 'nepo baby.'"
Ariel snorted.
Even Beatrice's mouth twitched.
Chifuyu sighed: "Still bad."
Noah looked mildly amused: "Odd Jobs really is… something."
The tension didn't vanish, but it shifted into something manageable—like a weight redistributed across shoulders that weren't alone anymore. They sat there talking for a while longer, some serious topics, and a lot of jokes that had everyone laughing.
Chifuyu yawned hard enough to nearly dislocate his jaw: "Okay. We should probably get some sleep."
The tent welcomed them back with warmth trapped inside fabric walls. Everyone shuffled into place.
But before Chifuyu closed his eyes, he glanced at Beatrice, the calm, unreadable girl who had just casually dropped the most ridiculous twist of the year.
Beatrice met his gaze.
Chifuyu whispered, barely audible: "Odd Jobs attracts a lot of weirdos, huh?"
Beatrice's lips curved faintly: "Yes."
Diego muttered from somewhere in the dark, already half-asleep: "I wanna get reincarnated when I die."
Ariel's sleepy voice followed: "I'm pretty sure only important people get reincarnated."
Chifuyu: "True. If Diego gets reincarnated, it'll probably be as a sea horse.
Diego: "Shut up."
Chifuyu smiled into the darkness.
Outside, the forest continued breathing. The war was still there. The Hidden District was still there. The future was still a knife-edge.
But for now, there was still warmth.
Odd Jobs really is the kind of place where even fate can't keep its hands clean.
***
Beatrice: 'Reincarnation is a strange thing. When I first woke up in this life, I thought it was punishment. But it wasn't. This life has been wonderful. I've eaten warm and delicious food without the taste of iron behind it. I've laughed over meaningless things. I've worked in a cafe. I've met people I can call friends. I never knew life could feel so small… and peaceful. In my previous life, everything was war. Even when the battlefield was quiet, you could feel it breathing. Humans hated us. Vampires hated them. Now I've seen both sides. Humans are fragile. Emotional. Inconsistent. But they're also kind. I've made a second home at Odd Jobs. Chifuyu was dragged into this battle yet has the resolve to fight in it, he has a strong, kind soul. Ariel carries years of blood behind her smile, yet she still believes the war can end. And Noah too has found reason for being given another chance at life. I admire them. Their resolve is beautiful. And yet, I know something about myself that I can't tell them. I am not fully on the side of humanity. I didn't enjoy fighting humans. I didn't hate them. But I was born a vampire. That is what I was. What I am. When I died… I was beside my father. The battle was hopeless. We knew we wouldn't survive. But we fought anyway. If he died that day… then perhaps this new life is meant to move forward. Perhaps I will stand beside Chifuyu and Ariel when the war ends. But if he survived… Then I will fight beside him again, no matter how much I'll come to regret it. I love you, but I hope you're gone, Father.'