We travel from Japan to eastern France this week, as Lord Godard and his son are out hunting deer. We learn he’s a vampire who wishes to “meet humanity halfway”, accepting, for instance, the gift of a rifle even though he doesn’t really need one to hunt. Godard returns home to find his wife—also a vampire—has been murdered with a silver stake.
The town and the press soon catch wind of the tragedy, suspecting a vampire hunter might be involved. Among the journalists is young Annie Kerber, who is excited to learn that Godard, whom she trusts as an ally to humans, has hired the “Cage User” Shinuchi Tsugaru and Rindou Aya to investigate the murder.
While on a not very comfortable wagon ride (though I would have liked to see at least part of their boat ride from Japan) Tsugaru and Aya exchange some bons mots between themselves, Shizuku, and the driver. Upon arriving, we learn all the players in this whodunit: Lord Godard, his two sons Claude and Raoul, his daughter Charlotte, the butler Alfred, and the maid Giselle.
Since he is himself supernatural, Godard isn’t surprised upon meeting Aya’s head. On the contrary, he is happy to have a detective of note on this case. Aya immediately compiles a list of seven questions they must answer in order to discover the culprit, but only reveals five of them for now. Charlotte makes an appearance, but is freaked out by Tsugaru and the bodyless Aya.
This episode is primarily setup for the murder mystery to come, introducing the players, the setting, and creating the atmosphere. All we know for sure is that it’s unlikely for Godard or Raoul to be the killers, as they were out hunting. Based on nothing at all, my primary suspect is either an outside vampire hunter, or the maid. We’ll see how close I came as the case continues to unfold.
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