Thanks for mentioning the accidental repeat chapter Clagann
The rattling chains came from behind the Hunter, he saw a young female adolescent with uniquely pink hair speeding towards him, she rode on a foreign-looking bicycle with a seeming inability to stop.
With his reflexes, the Hunter evaded the incoming vehicle before it could impact him, also grabbing the adolescent off the bicycle while he was at it. The bi-pedaled vehicle, without its rider, ended up crashing into some tombstones.
The Hunter placed the teenager onto the ground, examining her.
Hmm.
The Hunter loosely recognised the girl's attire to be a uniform of sorts.
The skirt was quite... small, hardly covering any area of her skin, leaving it exposed.
Moka did not know who the person before her was. He wore a large grey trench-coat which concealed most of his body, clothing which fitted Victorian era times, and a withered trifold hat.
His bangs covered his left eye, but his right eye was left exposed, being a uniquely deep-blue, although it seemed as if the person was displeased, given the sharpness of his exposed eye. And the bottom half of his face was covered with a mask.
Along with his intimidating height, his appearance overall made him stick out like a sore thumb.
She dismissed these thoughts, as despite his stature and his appearance, he did help her.
... The same probably couldn't be said for her bike however.
Was he visiting the Academy, she wondered.
Still, she was graceful for him catching her before she could sustain any injuries. But even if he did not seem to be friendly, Moka still felt the need to give her gratitude.
"Thank you, sir!" Moka bowed graciously.
"Thank you, sir!"
The Hunter raised an eyebrow, the language she spoke was clearly foreign to him.
"Sir? Are you okay?" the girl asked. He could hear her speak in form of a question. But the Hunter was distracted by something else.
Her smell seemed familiar...
Too familiar...
It reminisced of a certain Vileblood.
Although, judging by the expression on her face, it was likely the teenager before him was worried of him.
The Hunter nodded, even if he had no idea what she had asked.
"Do you... not understand me?"
The Hunter held his chin in curiosity.
The girl held her chin, mimicking him. She'd snapped her fingers. "My name is... Moka... Akashiya, what is your name?" The girl spoke in a language he could comprehend, English, emphasizing her name. Although, she spoke quite rustily, possibly because of the lack of experience.
Still, it was an intriguing experience, this would mark the first time a stranger had ever asked for his name. Even in Yharnam, he would only be referred as Good Hunter, or Hunter, or other related terms.
Before he could answer, the pinkette begun to sniff the air.
"This smell~. It's so sweet! I want a taste!" the girl spoke in a somewhat intoxicated manner.
Smell?
The girl smiled, her small fangs presented to the Hunter.
Fangs?
Where has the Hunter heard of this condition?
...
Was this the so called Vampirism?
The beasts who sucked the blood from the necks of their prey?
The Hunter grabbed the girl's cheeks before she even lean towards him.
His high mask could have shielded the fangs from biting his neck.
And before that, she could hardly reach his chest, let alone his neck.
But it was best to be cautious.
The Hunter released his grip on the girl's cheeks once she showed signs of discomfort.
"I'm sorry," the pinkette bowed apologetically. "It's just that, you smelled good."
He smelled good? Did she mean his blood? Or did she mean something else?
Either way, it meant the Hunter needed to be cautious with his vials around her.
'... Moon-scented hunter...'
The Hunter recalled the memory of his meeting with the sole remaining Vileblood. A strange coincidence, for both her and this adolescent to take note of his smell and both mentioned said smell.
The chime of a grand bell rang at a distance.
"Eek! I'll be late for class!" the girl bowed to the Hunter once again. "I'm sorry! I need to go now!"
Picking up her bicycle, she rode off in haste.
She held no malicious intent towards him, the Hunter knew. But it was in his best interests for him to be cautious from now on, should he meet her again.
...
Hmm.
Now that he had a moment to think, the Hunter realised that he did not know where he must go.
There must be a reason the tombstones were linked to this new world after all.
It would be in his best interests to gather information from any sources he may stumble upon.
The Hunter followed the sound of the bell, if the uniform that Miss Akashiya indicated, then she was likely heading to an institute of learning, a school.
The Hunter was correct in his assumptions.
In the distance, he could see students, similarly dressed to Miss Akashiya, entering an institution.
A strange location to place such an important building such as this.
Not as if Byrgenwerth's location deep within a forest was also strange enough.
As such, the Hunter hypothesized this institution to be a secretive one, similar to Byrgenwerth.
...
When the Hunter met the cohort of pupils attending, it was when it clicked as to why the location was secretive.
Everywhere the Hunter went, he smelt many, many different kinds of Beasts, who all had the appearance of humans. And he became confused, yet intrigued.
Was this a strain of the beastly scourge which the Hunter was unaware of?
The Hunter struggled to remain calm, lest he goes on a hunting rampage. His instincts as a Hunter tempted him to hunt these Beasts, but his remaining morals wanted him to not harm those who left him alone.
In turn, he could tell some of the students were reacting to his scent as well.
"I smell a human." a student said to his friend.
The student's friend sniffed the air upon mention. "It reeks. It's coming from there." Sniffing the air again, the friend pointed at what he believed to be the main source. "Is it that guy?"
The student stared at the tall stranger, who paid no attention to him. "Nah, can't be him, too tall and too intimidating to be a human."
"But the smell comes from him."
"Really? I smell something else from him."
"Now that you mention it. You're right, there's another thing mixed in his smell."
"He must be an experienced human hunter or something, the blood of his victims makes him smell like that."
"Hmm. Maybe it's best we avoid him then."
This institution was by no means, small. There was a vast amount of land which surrounded the school, which themselves were filled with additional buildings.
And other additional features.
But the Hunter felt a powerful presence, which lead him to a peculiar building. The Hunter entered the building.
This was a grand building, with rather familiar interior architecture design to the Hunter.
The powerful presence was within this building, the Hunter felt it.
He followed the trail, which directed him to the second level and to the end of the hallway.
Cautious, the Hunter opened the doors, shutting them behind him as he entered.
The room was lit with candles, giving an ominous shift in mood to the room.
At the end of the room, lies a desk, and on the other side of the desk was a man, garbed in a priest's attire. This was the man he was giving off the powerful aura.
"You're not from around here, are you, stranger?" the man spoke.
The Hunter stood silent, cautiously gripping the handle of his Chikage, in case the situation arises where combat is the last resort.
The man before him, the Hunter instinctively knew he hid his strength under the guise of a madman. It was his strength was what drew him into this room in the first place.
"No need for caution." The man gestured to halt. "I am the Headmaster of this Academy, Tenmei Mikogami. Speak your thoughts."
The Hunter eased his stance, although still wary. "... Your English, is well practised."
"Thank you stranger, now onto important matters. You will begin teaching in this academy from today onwards."
The offer, or demand, came to a surprise for the Hunter, to be honest. It came from seemingly out of nowhere, and especially from a stranger whom he had little to no knowledge of.
"Something the matter?"
"... This teaching institution houses beasts, does it not?" The Hunter has asked with careful consideration, the students he saw strolling to this institution, although appearing human, his nose saw through the guise.
"In our language, what you call beasts are what we call Ayashi."
"... With all respect, Headmaster. I am a hunter of said beasts, t'is the wisest course of action for you to have me keep my distance from your students, and yourself for the matter. Surely you know I am human."
"On the verge of becoming a monster yourself. Or else you would've been unable to enter this domain."
The small detail peaked his interest, humans being unable to access the institution seemed to be contradicted with his presence, but then again, he has yet to encounter another human once he awoke, only the beasts who wore human skin, much like a certain beggar he knew.
"Nevertheless, I am still human at present."
"Who will indefinitely one day change."
"Yet inspite of this, you still wish for me to teach in your institution?"
"That's what I want, yes."
"... Is that so? Perhaps you may enlighten me with your reasoning."
"That will come in another time, but first, you'll be teaching here."
"T'is still a rash decision, I have only arrived, yet you still wish for me to mentor your students."
The Headmaster let out a silent laugh. "It'll be interesting to see what happens when a human such as yourself has to restrain himself."
"I do not speak the tongue of this land." One final attempt to reject the offer.
"A deflective one, aren't you? Everything will be taken care off, I'll be sure of it. Besides, you want answers to your questions, don't you? Of why you were summoned here?"
It was more details that had caught his attention, how did the Headmaster know he was beckoned to this location?
"... I suppose you do indeed possess the answers I desire, almost as if you knew I would be here. Then your offer, I will accept for the time being."
It's been many hours since classes has begun. At the moment, the third class had just begun, which was the class before lunch.
For Moka's class of Class 1-C, the subject for the third class for the day was English.
However, their teacher had not arrived yet. So the students were bored out of their minds.
While her peers kept themselves occupied with other tasks, many choosing to socialise with another, some sleeping and etc, Moka kept herself occupied with her thoughts.
She wondered whatever happened to that tall person she met in the morning. She was worried whether she left a bad first impression on him.
After all, she did try to bite him for his (admittedly intoxicating-smelling) blood, then she left him when the bell rang that morning, not even letting him speak his name.
And then she bumped into Tsukune.
His blood was tasty~.
But that person's seemed to smell even better.
The sounds of the sliding doors opening snapped her out of her thoughts.
And speaking the devil.
The person she met in the morning walked into the classroom, with a binder in hand, ducking under the door's head jamb because of his staggering height.
The man's presence alone effectively gained the attention of her peers.
He was a teacher?!
"Roll call." the man called out, opening the binder.