Beyond the Old Ones

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.

Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.

The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.

"Speech"

Time*

Chapter 12: Things Has Change

30 minutes later*

"Well, this certainly wasn't what I had in mind." I said in surprise. "But no matter—I think I've figured out a way to solve our money problem."

"Pray tell, does this scheme of yours involve these pitiful wretches?" Alucard inquired, her tone dripping with disdain as she gestured lazily towards the dozen unconscious figures scattered across the floor. Their matching school uniforms marked them as high school students, their expressions eerily serene as if slumbering in a twisted mockery of innocence.

"In a way, yes." I replied, holding up a camera that had been recording the entire scene, along with a crumpled piece of paper covered in hastily scribbled lines. "It appears these students had some rather twisted plans—they were going to film a play in which they intended to rape you, believing you to be my daughter, and then kill us both. All of it was to be captured on this camera."

Alucard's gaze shifted between the unconscious students and me, her expression darkening. "So, why have you not yet dealt with these wretched individuals after discovering their vile script? Or perhaps you wish for me to take on the task myself? If that is your desire, I would be most eager to dispense with these insufferable... students." A sinister grin stretched across her face, her eyes glowing with barely concealed rage.

"Well, that's certainly an option." I replied thoughtfully. "But why dirty our hands when we could have someone else do it for us?" I took another long, careful look at the students' faces. None of them were familiar to me, and they didn't seem to belong to any fictional works I recognized.

One thing that immediately struck me, confirming that these students weren't locals from London, was that they were all distinctly Asian in appearance.

"Oh? And who, pray tell, do you intend to enlist for this little task?" Alucard arched an eyebrow, her arms folded tightly across her chest. The impatient tapping of her right foot made it especially clear that her mood was far from pleasant.

"Vampires." I replied calmly. "Now, the real question is where to find one on such short notice." I paused for a moment before adding with a slight smirk. "Excluding you, of course, Alucard."

"There are a couple in this very hotel as we speak." Alucard stated, raising an eyebrow with a look of disdain "Or did that fact escape your notice?"

"I wasn't aware of that." I admitted. "And my method of 'sensing' vampires, as you put it, isn't exactly something I can do instantly with immediate results." I pointed out. "Well, until today, that is. But I still need to set things up like before, and then I can get multiple results. Which reminds me... I need to make a list of questions for my next Divination."

I began going through the students' pockets, hoping to find something of value. After all, whatever they had was better off in my hands than theirs. Besides, my funds were still running low, and that was another motivation to search more thoroughly.

"Huh, a pair of 10-sided dice." I muttered, raising an eyebrow as I pulled them out from one of the students' pockets. "Well, it seems I'll be doing quite a bit of Divination with these now." A smirk crept onto my face at the unexpected find.

"Oh? And do enlighten me—how exactly would a pair of dice aid you in Divination?" Alucard asked, her anger no longer there as curiosity took its place.

"Dice are merely a tool, a medium through which I can calculate possible outcomes by interpreting the numbers they reveal." I explained, holding the dice up for emphasis. "For instance, consider the odds of my plan succeeding if we were to lure the vampires inside the hotel to eliminate these students without drawing unwanted attention or trouble upon ourselves."

With that, I swiftly switched from the Twilight Giant Pathway to the Fool Pathway, the dice in my hand glowing faintly as I channeled my Beyonder Energy into them, preparing to roll and performing the Divination to gain the answer.

The dice tumbled across the ground for a few seconds before they rolled to a stop. The numbers 7 and 6 faced upward, and I quickly combined them, calculating the result. "76%." I muttered, noting the odds. "It wasn't perfect, but it was promising enough to proceed with the plan."

"So, shall I take the lead in luring them here, or would you prefer to handle it?" Alucard asked, her gaze fixed on me with a hint of impatience. "I'd be more than happy to expedite this process. Any longer spent waiting around, and I fear I might succumb to boredom."

I pocketed the pair of 10-sided dice, slipping them into my right pocket before turning my attention to Alucard. "Sure, but let's move these students to another room first. Or better yet, we could relocate them to their rented room if they have one." I glanced around, considering if I should let Alucard do this part of the plan as well or just let her focus on luring the vampires.

"How about you keep rolling those dice to figure out where their rooms are—assuming they have more than one or just sharing one." Alucard suggested, her gaze flicking to my right pocket where the dice now rested. "Meanwhile, I'll go ahead and lure the vampires after I've tossed these students into their rooms. I have a few questions of my own that I'd like to ask, and I don't mind getting some answers, even if they're not exact or overly detailed."

"Sure, but don't count on the answers being exactly what you want." I replied with a shrug, retrieving the pair of dice from my pocket. I prepared myself for a series of Divinations, knowing that the outcomes could be as unpredictable as the questions themselves.

On another note, why on earth has my luck been so bizarrely bad in such a short span of time? Sure, I anticipated some drawbacks to being with Integra, but still—there are plenty of upsides to our arrangement. I guess it's worth jotting this down as a question for the next big Divination session back in the Sefirah Castle.

An hour later*

"Yes, officers. You have a good night as well." I smile, waving as they turn to leave, heading off to question other residents. Once they were gone, I quietly closed the door behind them, relieved that the encounter had gone smoothly.

"So, why exactly did you have me record the vampires slaughtering those students?" Alucard asked with curiosity as she handed me the camera. Along with it, she passed me a laptop she had stolen from another resident, completely unrelated to the students. "And why, might I add, did you have me steal this?" She raises an eyebrow.

"To make money, of course." I replied as if the answer were obvious. I began rolling the dice to decipher the laptop's password. It didn't take long as I methodically focused on each step—first rolling to determine the password length, then guessing whether each character was a letter, number, or symbol by rolling for even or odd. With each roll, I felt closer to gaining access to the laptop, and soon enough, I rolled enough to obtain the password.

Once I successfully entered the password, I connected to the hotel's Wi-Fi and opened one of the internet browsers. After a few clicks, I reached Dead Tube—a notorious website where contestants upload videos in hopes of winning vast amounts of money. The catch? The video with the lowest views results in the uploader being framed for all the crimes recorded across the platform. If they are caught, they're arrested, and even if they are killed, the immense costs of producing all the films on Dead Tube fall squarely on their families. It was a twisted game, but one that promised significant rewards for those willing to take the risk.

"Is this your grand plan for making money?" Alucard asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she stared at the laptop screen with interest.

"In a way, yes." I replied with a grin, watching Alucard's reaction. She simply hummed in response.

"Everything on this website is in Japanese." Alucard remarked, slowly turning her head towards me. "Are you even able to obtain funds outside of Japan? And if you could, would those funds be converted to the local currency?" She paused, her tone growing more thoughtful. "Also, the existence of such a website raises questions. How has it remained so easily accessible? It makes me wonder what the owner has done to keep it running without being hunted down by the government or the fact that it's still running and not shut down."

"Uh..." I muttered as I quickly searched the website to see if it was restricted to Japan or available globally. After a few moments, I found what I was looking for. "Oh, here we go. It looks like you can gain local currency as long as you make sure to upload it to the specific location." I pointed out, feeling a bit more confident in the plan.

"So, we simply kill people, upload the footage online, and get paid?" Alucard asked with curiosity and slightly skepticism as she looked away from the screen.

"That, and it seems there are also special events that certain uploaders must participate in." I replied. "Though, this is just a quick way to make some money. Even if we end up as the losers and have to face all the punishments, like taking the blame for the crimes of others on the website that's part of the video we upload, we can handle it without much trouble." I shrugged, confident in our ability to deal with whatever consequences might arise.

"Sounds boring after a while." Alucard shrugged her shoulders. "But if it's just a means to get us money, then sure." She glanced at the screen again, a hint of curiosity lingering. "Although I've never encountered anything like this in my world. It must be something unique to this world."

"Anyway, all we need to do now is wait until tomorrow for the money to arrive in the new bank account I set up, thanks to Dead Tube making it easier to make." I said as I uploaded the edited video of the vampires killing the students. I tweaked the footage just enough to conceal any definitive proof that the killers were vampires.

"That's great and all." Alucard said with a hint of impatience in her voice. "But what about the plan? You know, the one you had before you decided to perform that ritual of yours a few hours ago." She fixed me with a pointed look. "Are you going to keep me in the dark about it?"

"Didn't I mention this before?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "The plan was to either let Integra calm down or return to Japan to finish my ninja training. I could have taken on some odd jobs to pass the time, but now that Dead Tube is available, there's no need for that." I paused briefly. "Unless you're referring to some other plan that I might have forgotten?"

"Yes, that." Alucard confirmed with a smirk. "However, don't think I didn't notice the look on your face when you came up with new plans. I'm curious about what it might be and might even consider participating if it's interesting enough."

"Why, I've decided there are other people I want to meet." I smirk. "Besides, the odds of Integra calming down and calling us back are pretty slim—especially in a friendly way. If anything, she might come after us. After all, with you being a vampire not under her control and me having had access to the Hellsing Organization's database, even if just briefly, we might be in for a bit of trouble."