Chapter 195: A Place in His Bloodline
"Manager..."
Kagaya repeated the term under his breath, drawing a smile in which surprise and resignation mingled.
"He grows more ambitious by the day... I thought his demands would be limited to the monetary side. I never imagined he was after my very self."
"And your answer...?"
"I refuse," Kagaya replied without hesitation.
Shinobu pressed her fingers against her knees. "Oyakata-sama, you only have one life..."
Kagaya made a slight gesture with his hand, his smile fading. "Above my own life stand the honor of my ancestors, the eradication of a thousand-year dispute, and the continuity of my family."
"The continuity...?" Shinobu murmured before raising her gaze. "And what if he’s already solved the problem of succession? What if Vampires have the ability to produce offspring?"
Kagaya’s composure froze.
He stayed motionless for a second before clenching his fists.
"...What did you say?"
Shinobu sighed. "Marcus-kun assured me that his kind can conceive and raise children."
Kagaya leaned back against the chair, drumming his fingers tensely. "How is that possible...? Achieving conception is one thing, but raising them? The demonic transformation freezes the organism completely. If a child were born with that blood... would it be trapped forever at the infant stage?"
Shinobu shook her head. "He didn’t go into detail, but according to Tamayo’s deductions and embryonic experiments, the Vampire gene doesn’t halt development immediately. The biological freeze occurs upon reaching full human physical maturity, around the age of twenty-five."
She traced an imaginary line in the air.
"If human development is a curve that rises until twenty-five and then gradually declines, in Vampires the curve climbs the same way, but on reaching the peak it holds at an indefinite horizontal line."
Kagaya fixed his "gaze" on the space where she’d drawn the line, processing the information. "Is such a mechanism even viable?"
"I didn’t review Tamayo’s reports," Shinobu admitted, resting her hands on her lap. "However, if the gene only slows aging without altering the initial growth, the theory holds up."
Kagaya remained silent, digesting the revelation.
As a man rooted in tradition, the idea of preserving a line of succession and seeing a family flourish represented the pillar of his convictions.
If the Ubuyashiki bloodline were reduced to himself alone, what he’d pass down would be only a surname, not the thousand-year root of his family.
That was unacceptable for any head of his line.
But if the possibility of perpetuating the bloodline existed...? If he could still pass down this surname and history intact to future generations?
For the first time, he wavered.
After a prolonged silence, he spoke.
"Shinobu."
"Yes, Oyakata-sama?"
"If you were in my position... would you accept?"
Shinobu stayed silent.
"Paying the price of periodically requiring blood in exchange for health, strength, and limitless vitality...," Kagaya put it almost in a whisper to himself. "Would you be willing?"
For anyone—and especially for a head of the Ubuyashiki, whose line had never made it past thirty because of the curse—the offer represented a favorable trade.
Shinobu assumed he would end up accepting.
Yet, after mulling it over with a furrowed brow, Kagaya shook his head.
"Better not..."
"Why?" Shinobu asked at once.
Kagaya gave a bitter smile.
"Out of fear."
"Fear?"
"Fear of death," he admitted with candid serenity. "Ever since I was a child I’ve been afraid of death, knowing my fate was sealed never to cross thirty. I’ve lived counting every moment."
Shinobu’s lips moved, but she didn’t interrupt him.
"It’s precisely because of that fear that I don’t dare," Kagaya continued. "If I accepted Marcus’s proposal and gained a full life, I would treasure it above all else. And when that moment came... I fear I would end up fleeing."
He clenched his fist on the table.
"I would run with that reclaimed existence to get away from the conflict. If I did that, how would the thousand-year struggle be resolved? What would my ancestors say from beyond, seeing me act like a deserter?"
"And my future descendants—how would they regard an ancestor who fled?"
He turned his gaze toward Shinobu.
"And all of you—how would you regard this deserter?"
"..."
Shinobu kept her silence.
Her silence wasn’t out of failing to understand him.
On the contrary, she understood him perfectly.
For her, the idea of turning into a Vampire was tempting as well. Immune to the sun, with no need to devour humans, and with greater power to fight Muzan, the proposal seemed advantageous from every angle.
Yet, when she recalled the memory of her older sister and her fallen comrades... she felt that accepting such a transformation would be equivalent to betraying them.
She understood Kagaya’s hesitation and, in the same way, she understood his refusal.
The two of them stayed calm as the afternoon wore on and the sunlight drifted slowly across the room.
Finally, Kagaya broke the silence.
His voice recovered its usual gentleness, accompanied by a renewed serenity.
"Thank Marcus on my behalf for his proposal. Though I’m not sure whether I’ll have the chance to repay that kindness."
Shinobu raised her gaze toward him.
Kagaya gave a smile.
"If... if before I die, Muzan dies first..."
"I myself will lead the Ubuyashiki family to place ourselves under his command."
Shinobu’s pupils contracted.
"But if things take a different turn...," Kagaya continued after a pause, "if my life goes out with Muzan still standing and no clear prospect of defeating him, I’ll hand over half of our estate in exchange for a place in his bloodline."
"A place?" Shinobu asked in astonishment.
"I’ll fight for this family’s destiny until my last breath," Kagaya affirmed soberly. "But if I fail in the attempt, I’d rather keep that recourse reserved for my son, Kiriya."
He gave a faint smile. "I want to secure him an alternative, so he can choose his own path."
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