When The Silver Bell Of Charlotte's Pharmacy Rings (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 99

A nervous, uneasy twitch appeared at the corner of Tae Mi’s mouth upon hearing Charlotte’s words. He thought he was smiling, but to others it looked no different from a grimace made when seeing something repulsive—nothing more than a twisting of his lips. That was the only expression he could muster in response to Charlotte’s question-that-wasn’t-really-a-question, and had he known this, he surely would have regretted it.

Charlotte’s lip-biting quickened in pace. By tonight, it was plainly obvious her lips would surely split open.

“If Maleblanc had created those vampires—if that’s truly the case—then why has everything remained so quiet until now? Why… have there been no vampire-related incidents until today? Unless, of course, Maleblanc had been asleep.”

“No, Charlotte. Perhaps you should think about it the other way around. You say Maleblanc wasn’t asleep, but I think otherwise. Maleblanc must have been asleep. Maybe due to some injury, some unknown reason, or even simple whim—he was clearly resting. Or perhaps in hibernation, or whatever you’d call it. In any case, he wasn’t active. That’s the only way this makes any sense at all.”

Tae Mi’s words sounded reasonable. Theoretically, they certainly were.

Vampires of Maleblanc’s caliber could command the vampires they created as their thralls—meaning those thralls couldn’t act without their master’s explicit order or permission.

These thralls also possessed human-like intelligence and could perfectly alter their appearance to blend seamlessly into any group they wished to infiltrate. However, they had one fatal weakness.

Thralls shared their fate with their master.

For instance, if their master fell asleep, the thralls would sleep as well. If their master was wounded, the thralls would weaken too. And if their master neared death or actually died, the thralls would fall into a similar state.

“Could it be that Maleblanc’s other vampires remained quiet precisely because he himself was asleep? If Maleblanc had stayed awake all this time, why would he have remained silent for over ten or twenty years?”

“Maybe they weren’t silent at all, Tae Mi. Perhaps they were active—we just never found out about it.”

Tae Mi said.

“You know as well as I do that vampire-related murders always leave some trace. I don’t know how many thralls he might have created, but once a vampire begins feeding, it must periodically kill humans to sustain itself—though calling it ‘life’ is ridiculous, since they technically have no life at all. Yet nothing like that ever surfaced. Doesn’t that suggest they were asleep too?”

For a moment, Charlotte said nothing, staring down at the cluttered counter with a troubled expression. Though she had to admit Tae Mi was right… something still felt off. It was as if a crucial clue had slipped out of place somewhere.

‘Just when I think I’ve caught the thread, something else pops up. I absolutely hate this game of hide-and-seek…’

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