[The fire that occurred last night at Kitaguchi Station has been extinguished. The number of casualties is being calculated. Before the repairs are fully completed, the travel of citizens will inevitably be affected, but it is expected that a solution will be found soon.]
[Next news, regarding the second fire that occurred last night in the park, strangely, not many places were burned. Only the streetlights and the fountain were damaged. Currently, repair personnel have been dispatched to fix them.]
[And regarding the occurrence of these two fires, based on the on-site investigation, it appears that a natural gas leak caused a local explosion, which resulted in the fires.]
The next morning.
Watching the morning news broadcast on television, Aoko shifted her gaze to Naoki sitting across from her: "Hear that? The streetlights and the fountain were completely burned down. They're saying it was a natural gas explosion."
"I'm really sorry."
Naoki lowered his head slightly.
"It's not that I'm blaming you. In fact, seeing how amazing your power was last night, but in the end only a few things were burned, it's really unbelievable." Aoko said, "I was even prepared to compensate for the entire park."
"Miss Aoko is indeed very rich."
"Not really, just enough to go abroad to collect protection fees once in a while."
The number of organizations in this world is as many as the stars in the sky, and most of them are weak. Contracting with those weak organizations for a certain period and collecting protection fees from them—that's how Aozaki Aoko made money.
Although initially it was those organizations that asked, it had somehow changed to Aoko seeking out those organizations to offer business, and it had to be admitted, organizations abroad—especially in America and Italy—even if they were small, they were really rich.
Sipping coffee, Aoko sighed in relief: "Anyway, with this, Nero is truly dead, and the vampire matter will also come to an end."
Vampires were created by Nero. As long as Nero died, vampires would naturally stop appearing.
That's what Aoko thought.
"No, vampires will continue to appear." Naoki said, picking up the remote and changing the television channel. It was still a news channel, but it was broadcasting other news.
[A few minutes ago, someone again discovered a person suspected of being attacked by a vampire. With cases appearing one after another recently, is it really the work of vampires?]
*BANG!*
Suddenly slamming the table and standing up, Aoko's face was full of shock: "There are still vampires?!"
"Isn't that only natural? Nero died, but the vampires he created won't die. Their lives aren't connected. Even so, it's estimated that only remnants remain."
"So, next is to clean everything up?"
Naoki nodded, then clenched both his hands: "Miss Aoko... What do you think, is there a possibility like this?"
"Hm? What possibility?"
"I just thought about it too. Could it be that Nero... actually had nothing to do with the vampire cases this time?"
"Eh?"
Aoko, who had just sat back down, was slightly surprised.
"You mean, the vampires that appeared weren't created by Nero? Why do you think so?"
"Because of Nero's attitude towards humans. Although I'm not sure if it was always like this, but... in my memory, Nero didn't seem to care much about sucking blood?" Naoki said, "Earlier at the hotel, blood was splattered everywhere, but Nero didn't react at all. Isn't that strange for a Dead Apostle?"
After Naoki said that, Aoko also began to think: "Indeed... Dead Apostles don't react to blood... Could it be that he had no urge to suck blood? Or had he sucked enough blood before coming?"
"But the actions he took against humans were to eat them. Rather than being considered blood bags, they were more accurately considered food."
"So you think Nero actually had nothing to do with the vampire cases at all, and those vampires were created by another Dead Apostle?"
"It's just such a guess."
Saying it was a guess wasn't entirely accurate. Naoki knew who created the vampires, but Aoko didn't. To make her realize that without evidence, he could only say it was a guess.
Supporting her chin and thinking for a moment, Aoko suddenly sighed: "So, after this we still have to go out at night to patrol and finish off every vampire we see? Lack of sleep is a big no-no for a girl."
"Ahaha..."
Naoki laughed dryly.
And at that same moment, Arcueid and Gray entered the room, each carrying a bag of goods.
"We're home! Here! One can of drink for each person, take it!"
"Wow!"
Hurriedly catching the item Arcueid threw, Naoki looked closely: "This is Coca-Cola?"
"I'm telling you, Naoki, this thing called Coca-Cola is so delicious!" Like discovering a new continent, Arcueid's eyes sparkled as she promoted Coca-Cola to Naoki, "After drinking it, it feels like firecrackers in your mouth, pyar pyar, and there's a very refreshing sensation. I never knew there was such a delicious drink before!"
"That... Big brother..."
Gray approached, with a slight sense of guilt in her eyes: "Sorry, because Miss Arcueid saw someone drinking it on the street, I suggested she try it too, and the result..."
Because she had always drunk plain water or high-end red wine and the like before, suddenly coming into contact with a new drink like Coca-Cola, she immediately became addicted.
Smiling and rubbing Gray's head, Naoki said: "It's okay—Arcueid, I need to remind you, Coca-Cola is indeed delicious, but don't drink too much, it's not good for your health."
"But I'm a True Ancestor."
"Just pretend I didn't say anything."
Almost forgot, Arcueid in a sense could be said to be the ultimate being, ordinary Coca-Cola, what was she afraid of?
However.
'Coca-Cola, I haven't drunk it for a long time either. The last time I drank it was probably in my previous life. For me in this life, it's almost a luxury item.'
In the end, it was all because he had no money. Part-time work at the beginning, then going to England and getting entangled in huge debts, the money for daily necessities was just enough. If there was any left, it was saved for marriage expenses. Where would there be any leftover money to drink Coca-Cola? He only drank plain water every day.
"Delicious?"
Having just taken a small sip, Arcueid excitedly approached and asked for his opinion.
Naoki smiled faintly: "Um, not bad. It tastes good when you rarely drink it, but this thing has caffeine, so you still shouldn't have too much."
"Eh, why is that... oh yeah, Naoki."
Arcueid seemed to suddenly remember something.
"I haven't officially thanked you yet, for helping me solve this Nero problem. Thank you so much. If it weren't for you, I might have really been finished off."
"It's nothing, just helping out."
"So—as a thank you, I've prepared a gift for you." Arcueid said with a smile, "But the gift is a bit special, it can only be given tonight, so just wait now, I'll give it to you later."
Gift? Tonight?
Aoko immediately showed a meaningful smile: "Hoho~ a night gift~~"
Gray also seemed to realize something, her face instantly turned slightly red and she looked at Naoki: "Brother! Sit up straight!"
"I haven't even said anything yet!"