Cacophony didn't slow down. Her stride remained elegant and unyielding, as if the idea of fatigue itself was beneath her.
"Your body is merely average. You must be a member of a higher caste in this society. You clearly haven't experienced the backbreaking work required of those lower on the social ladder."
"Huh?"
I was stunned for a moment.
"Wait, what kind of caste system do you think we have here?"
"The kind where weaklings inherit luxury and the strong are bound in chains," she replied without looking at me.
"That's… not entirely wrong, but also not how most people would describe it."
"How would you describe it?" she asked. "In my experience, that sounds like a relatively apt description for the majority of civilizations. The people at the top have imaginary power. They themselves aren't strong, but everyone around them acts like they're one of the gods, and so they provide their ruler with a false strength."
I gave her a sidelong stare.
I'd always thought of it as more of a modern interpretation, but it seems even people of the past recognized the trends in history, even as they were happening.
What she'd just said perfectly described the mandate of heaven.
Nowadays, it's common to think that a ruler's power comes from the people, but back then, people had a different idea. They thought that power came directly from the heavens.
"Of course, such a barbaric system doesn't sit right with me. After I came to power, I saw that all such systems were demolished. It's only natural that the strongest rule."
"Yup... It's only natural..."
When comparing the two concepts, rule decided by birthright and rule decided by strength, I felt kind of out of place.
Both options had their pros and cons and whatnot, but to me, they both sounded kind of terrible. In the end, aren't the weak, common people meant to suffer anyway?
When thinking of it like that, why pick one at all?
Before I could dwell too long on that happy thought, Cacophony suddenly veered off the sidewalk and began marching up the walkway of a nearby house.
"Wait—wait, what are you doing?" I said, hopping after her.
"I'm interested in how people live in this era. All of these houses are luxurious. Their owners must've been rich."
"You can't just—! That's someone's house!"
She reached the front step without slowing. "So? There isn't a single person on these streets. We won't be caught."
I stood in front of the porch to the home, one foot on the first step.
"Using my telepathy, I can sense that the owner of the home set up a camera to watch for thieves. If you go forth now, we'll be caught authorities."
The Empress raised an eyebrow. "Camera? Is mention of that item supposed to have some significance? I'm the highest authority in this land, so there's no need to worry."
Damn it! Of course, she wouldn't know what a camera is. That was a stupid move on my part.
Her hand gripped the doorknob.
"Do not fear, my vassal. If this is someone's residence, they can simply reclaim it after I am done."
She twisted the doorknob. It wasn't locked and turned smoothly. The door swung open, and Cacophony stepped inside the doorway.
I stood at the foot of the porch, frozen in place.
I was nearly certain that the owner of the home wouldn't be home, but that didn't mean that they would never return. Now that the cracks had disappeared, it seemed like this place had reopened to the wider world. The owners of all of these houses will likely be back sooner or later.
Even if that weren't the case, just walking into someone else's home wasn't the right thing to do.
That was how I felt, at least, but the Empress didn't seem to agree with me.
I muttered under my breath, "This has got to be bad karma or something. I can sense every star in the sky telling me not to follow after her..."
I continued to stand at the bottom of the stairway, the seconds stretching out.
Oddly, I wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed.
...
I sighed.
Like the loyal servant that I'd apparently become, I followed up the steps.
Pushing the door the rest of the way open, I stepped into the home.
The air was stale, like it hadn't been disturbed in some time. The lights were off, and the faint scent of dust lingered in places. The place was neither beautiful nor trashed. It was just empty.
Not metaphorically or poetically, I mean that it was completely devoid of anything. No furniture, no painting on the wall, nothing.
It was like a display model in a home magazine.
Cacophony was exploring the home with extreme interest. She walked around, opening every cabinet in the kitchen, feeling the material of the walls, and even examining the craftsmanship of the tiling.
"Can I assume that not all homes in this era are so lacking in decoration?"
She spoke without looking at me, one pale hand trailing along the kitchen counter like she was judging the worth of its marble grain.
"No," I said, closing the door behind me with a sigh. "No, this is... well, it probably didn't have people living here. I think this place must've been cleared out. Perhaps the owner had some kind of sixth sense and got out of her before the cracks appeared?"
She didn't seem surprised. Or maybe she was, and this was just how vampires expressed curiosity: silent, graceful, and with a complete disregard for common sense or boundaries.
After poking her head into the barren pantry, she straightened up and dusted off her hands with exaggerated satisfaction. "Onward. I wish to compare it with another."
"Another?"
I didn't even have time to protest. She was already heading for the door.
She strode down the sidewalk and made a beeline for the next house across the street. A larger one, this time. Two stories. Fancier trim around the windows.
She stopped at the driveway and nodded in approval. "This one looks wealthier. Perhaps the owners of this estate were more ambitious."
"Hold on. I might've been off before, but I'm one thousand percent certain now! The thick scent of the Holy Union of Angellic Destruction marks that house! If you go inside then—!"
She didn't wait for me to finish speaking before she twisted the doorknob and pranced into the home.
Once again, the door was unlocked.
'What is this? A street full of happy, welcoming strangers?'
Once again, I meekly followed the Empress into the home.
The inside of this house was… also empty. Not just empty of people, but empty of everything you'd usually expect within a home. Truly, completely, empty.
"Maybe both houses were about to be sold?" I murmured.
Cacophony walked through it like she was touring a palace.
"I like the architecture," she said thoughtfully. "Though the color palette is awfully timid. Do all nobles of this age prefer muted beiges?"
"This is suburban middle class," I said. "They're not nobles. Though I will say, the nobles of another world that I visited also shared a strong taste for muted colors. It's strange, I prefer much brighter colors that strike the mind and leave an impact."
Cacophony nodded, "I have to agree. My people tended to use more impactful colors. These only leave much to be desired."
She paused and gave me a look. "Though I'm unsure what you mean by middle class. The terms for your castes are different than what I'm used to. I'll have to learn them sometime. Fully understanding the social structure will be important for the later stages of my conquest."
The Empress drifted from room to room, nodding at every empty wall like it was giving her a report.
I trailed behind with my hands shoved in my pockets. I'd already placed the glimmering specter orb inside them, and so I was gently playing with its surface.
I didn't know what I expected from our magical journey into pocket-dimension suburbia, but "house-hopping with a deranged vampire" wasn't on the bingo card.
Eventually, Cacophony came to a stop in front of a small, carpeted hallway and crossed her arms.
"On to the next."
"By gods. There's even more?!"
Just like that, without even an ounce of hesitation, she exited the house and moved onto the one next door.
At this rate, she was going to break into every house in the neighborhood, and I was going to stand there behind her as her morally conflicted accomplice.
I followed her up the porch steps of the third house and braced myself.
This door, too, was unlocked.
'Not one. Not two. But three unlocked doors! Something has got to wrong with the people who lived in these houses!'
She marched inside first, and I was one step behind her.
I closed both of my eyes
'Come on. This has got to be the one...'
I opened them slowly, and...
Nope.
It's empty.
The Empress didn't spend long in this home; she just glanced around a couple of times before turning toward me.
She met my gaze with a bland expression.
"How disappointing."
We stepped out into the open again, the night sky overhead. A shimmering full moon shone its grace onto us.
She let out a heavy sigh and slumped her shoulders. Slowly, she proceeded to bend down and pick up a couple of rocks.
By the time she straightened, she held three grey stones in her palm.
I took an instinctive half-step back. "Uh… what are you doing?"
"Having a little fun. These houses are empty, so it'll be fine."
Before I could question that, her arm whipped forward.
CRACK.
The first rock hurtled through the air and shattered the front window of the house across the street.
Glass exploded inward with a shriek.
The power of her throw was impressive. Even without proper form or any technique, it still held enough power and speed to rival a professional baseball player. It might've been even faster.
I gulped as I admired her throw.
By the time I looked back at Cacophony, she was already winding up another one.
CRACK.
Another rock arced through the air, this one slamming into the siding of the neighboring home. A small crater appeared in the plaster.
"Hold on!" I yelled. "The people who own these homes—"
She flicked her wrist again. This time, the small stone flew off into the distance. Unlike the other throws, she didn't aim at any of the houses lining the street.
She simply threw it out into the night sky.
It should've been a clean miss.
There was nothing in that direction—no home, no wall, not even a stray stop sign. The rock should've just soared and landed somewhere far off into the distance. Hopefully, it wouldn't hit some stray passerby.
I turned my head, not expecting much. At most, I figured I might hear a clack on the pavement, but—
Tap
"Huh?"
It was faint and quiet, to the point that I wasn't certain if it had been real. A strange sound that I couldn't quite place.
It was as though the rock had hit something that was somewhere between soft and solid.
I turned my head back toward the direction Cacophony had thrown the rock.
There wasn't anything, just the starry night and the pale, white moon.
'Maybe I was wrong?'
Cacophony flicked my forehead.
"Come now. Let's get moving."