Omake 20: The Gate and The Key (2)

The remaining survivor, a kunoichi, backed away and pulled one of the women nearby as her hostage. I sighed at the situation and made a step towards her despite the fact she was holding her tanto close to the calm girl’s throat. She picked the worst hostage possible.

“Brother, who is she?” Abigail asked quietly, blue eyes cynically aimed at the thin dagger. I gritted my teeth as the foolish ninja was tickling the wrong beast with that effort, and I had to act before the monster woke up and broke through my hamon-enchanted seals.

I had tried to do my best to keep Cthulhu’s daddy to make a cameo, and if he tried right now… well, things would have gotten a taste too much spicier than I needed today. So I moved in with a coy plan to disable that effort and kill the aggressor at the same time.

“A dumbass from the looks of it, one that hasn’t realized how dead she is,” I flatly discussed. “By the way, did you finish your pancakes?”

She shook her head. “I was close. Then I was interrupted. And she hurt Derek.”

“I know you are irked, sweetie, but can you do your big brother a favor?”

The young blonde frowned and I sighed. “Once I tell you, return to your pancakes. I will take care of this.”

“Y-You are not in a position to do anything about-”

“I could unleash Father. He is really… angry.”

“I bet he is,” I replied to her comment with a nod. “But as I said, I will take care of this. You don’t need to worry about this yourself.”

…

“Fine.”

I smiled and… unleashed ｢ACT 2｣, the Stand freezing the confused Kunoichi in time and allowing me to deliver a quick punch onto her nose. The Hamon coursing through my hand rushed through her head and then body, the process burned the being altogether much to the surprise of those all around… but I worried more about gesturing Abigail to return to her seat.

“See? Big brother got this. There is nothing to be concerned about, hun.”

She smiled and nodded.

“Sorry if I was… a little naughty.”

“It’s normal. Our friends were hurt and you wanted to return the favor to that fiend,” I answered with a nod. Patting her head as I left her back to her pancakes. I swear, I offered her this kind of special treat, and she seemed completely enamored by it. Going as far as pestering me a lot about having seconds or thirds of the portions that I offered to her.

Ah, such a shame that this adorable girl was close to becoming the closest thing to what Lovecraft’s warned many about. And I had to make sure that she didn’t go for a murderous killing spree because someone tried to ruin her day one way or another. So I calmly addressed the matter first and foremost before remembering that there was another pressing issue.

I saw everyone in the train was staring back at me. They expected answers to the madness they were subjected to, and while this would’ve made me particularly worried a few years ago, I had the upper ground when it came with excuses. Especially after years of sharpening my capacity of being a good liar.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m sorry that you have been forced to see this macabre scene unfold before your own eyes, and I wish to extend my humble apologies,” I started to mutter, acting really remorseful in that moment. “My name is Abraham van Hellsing, I’m a Dutch Doctor that is specialized in hunting horrible creatures that have tried to cross the pond in an effort to find fertile hunting grounds here in the new continent. My presence here was dictated by a holy mission to defeat all monstrous beings that hail Hell and shun God’s own creatures.”

The murmuring increased, and I could see that my act was working from the understanding I could spot on everyone’s face at my words. Still, I wasn’t done yet since my objective wasn’t just to excuse myself of what had just happened with a fake identity. But… before I had the chance to speak, Abigail chimed in with a hum.

“How did you become a doctor?” The blonde inquired with a hint of interest and I hummed.

“I studied lengthily and with devotion, all in the name of my faith and a sense of rigorous justice. I was taught to be just, and never unfair, humble, but never too appealing to the monsters that might lurk around all corners of this world.”

My answer seemed to satisfy the girl as she nodded and returned to her pancakes. With that handled smoothly, I resumed my speech to the rest of the train’s occupants.

“Right now, I have to sadly request you all to solemnly swear that you will never mention what happened here today. The reason why this saddened me so much considering that everyone would be more than happy to forget of this dreadful day is that people have died today because of vampires hailing from a coven that aimed to hurt the good American people.”

“Y-You mean that we shouldn’t say anything about dead people? How- How could we-”

“Only that you are unaware of the natural causes of their death. I understand the horror of this request, but mine isn’t a request built on stupidity, but one born from concern of the panic this would cause to the rest of the American people. The monsters fester in the fears of humans, and by fueling the fright, you would give them the chance to kill even more,” I replied with a committed tone, nodding at the furious man that had tried to rebuke my previous comments. “Which is why I can promise you all here and now, in my good name, that the foul monster behind this attack shall be destroyed at once the moment I shall find it!”

“Brother is… nice and good,” Abigail agreed. “And he means well.”

I was actually surprised by that unexpected conclusion, but I could see the people accepting this big lie even better with the girl’s words. As I walked back to my seat, I smiled at the amused smirk on her face.

“So… You’re now this ‘Van Hellsing’?”

“It’s a character I’ve heard about from an Irish writer I had the chance of meeting last year,” I explained to Zephy and the others. “He is going to have an important role in one of his upcoming works and… I believe I should heal your wounds, Derek.”

“What? No… it’s not like I’m dying here.”

I sighed. “I’m sorry I ignored the problem for that long, but I had to come up with an excuse for us to not be hounded by the police and reporters.”

“Big brother, can you tell me more of that story after you are done with that.?” The blonde asked quietly. “I want to know more about Van Helsing.”

“Sure, why not.”

And for now, Defcon 0 was a distant nightmare. One that will definitely not happen until I was capable of preventing it.