Vampire and Chocolatier 〜The genius alchemist’s sweet quest〜

“It might sound strange, but a proper vampire won’t be destroyed by chocolate. But a perfect immortal is a being incompatible with reason, and to be strong, they also need to be fragile in one aspect. Do you understand now why Grinden and Mariu perished?”

“Grinden loved the saintess so much he was consumed by love. Mariu found overwhelming beauty in paintings. And you, who felt the ultimate sweetness, would ruin yourself to fill your soul with it.”

“Wonderful! You really do have a way of seeing things for what they really are!”

Sin clapped his hands in praise. But inside that arrogant smile, there was a tinge of a shadow lurking, and when he noticed it, Alfred felt sorry for the man for the first time. 

“Happiness, love, passion – the experiences of life are our only weakness. Most of the time it ends as just a little bit of stimulation, but if the feeling is too intense, we can’t maintain our immortality. Life and death are the two sides of the same coin, so when getting close to one, the other is a breadth away.”

“It’s a hard affliction. From now on, I’ll leave the search for immortality alone. It’s a scam to not be able to die and not enjoy life.”

“There are people who drink alcohol while vomiting blood. If they want to enjoy it, they can.”

“It doesn’t sound compelling coming from a guy who wants to die…”

When Alfred said that, half-spaced out, Sin tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand at all. Maybe he was wondering what brought this on.

“Well then, you must be under the mistaken impression that I want it to end for sentimental reasons, such as cursing my constitution for not feeling alive, or being exhausted by endless pain.”

“That’s what one would normally think. No one looks forward to dying.”

“I’m not joking. After all, I’ve told you, after I’ve shared with you the last precious piece of chocolate, you still don’t understand the charm of chocolate?!”

Alfred yelled like a cat after being attacked out of the blue. He prepared himself to have his blood sucked or worse, but it seemed this was just a brief burst of rage.

“Wait, wait, wait. I don’t understand why you’re angry. Explain it to me.”

“I just want to eat sweet chocolate so much it makes me want to die, it’s not like I want to die from eating chocolate! Those two things are completely different!”

“Ah… I see?”

Now it was Alfred’s turn to tilt his head.

I want to get a drink so much I want to die. I want to die on the belly of the most beautiful woman on earth. Some people talked about such dreams in jokes, but it was unbelievable that an immortal vampire would have desires like that. 

Understanding Sin’s true nature and the nature of his reasoning, he admired Sin from the bottom of his heart.

“You really love chocolate, don’t you.”

“Yes, I do. I’m dying for chocolate.”

What admirable determination. Did he himself love alchemy that much? Asking the question again and again, Alfred felt more and more defeated. 

Singh has weighed up the long, long years he has accumulated against the fleeting moments of sweetness – and then he wanted to taste the ultimate chocolate. It was not something Alfred could imitate.

Suddenly, Alfred laughed. He didn’t want to be his lover, but maybe, they could become friends who fool around together. Even if only once.

“Leave everything to me. I will kill you with chocolate.”

　◇

Alfred resumed his chocolate-making with newfound determination.

He was more interested in researching ways to kill a vampire than trying to run, anyway. Also, that was what Sin wanted, too.

He wanted to surprise, to excite – the reasons Alfred pursued alchemy were, now that he thought about it, quite simple and embarrassing.

So when he found out that Sin wanted the chocolate so he could die, to support such a ruinous desire running counter to his ambitions, felt like an insult. 

But to tell the truth, Sin was seeking chocolate just to selfishly indulge in the sweetness. Having now understood that, Alfred now wanted to make his dream come true, he thought. 

According to legends, vampires could live for over a thousand years. To kill a genuine paranormal being, or rather, to impress him to death, to put an end to an epic poem that has been woven over uncountable years. What could be a more thrilling challenge?

At first, Alfred decided to diligently recreate the recipe that the alchemist of two hundred years ago, Leonardo, had bequeathed him. The many techniques of the genius were full of knowledge, and even more so with strong obsession. 

Roasted cocoa ground to a fine powder. So far the same. Leonardo, however, applied more pressure and squeezed the fats and oils from within. Then the alkaline salts were added to neutralize the acidity produced through the process of fermentation, improving the taste and making it easier to dissolve it in hot milk or water. 

Cacao powder made that way, or cocoa butter, as it was also called, was mixed with sugar and milk. But even if cooled and hardened in that state, it was still gritty on the tongue and was far from a finished product. So the mixture was additionally mixed with cocoa paste and applied pressure to make it even finer. 

 The next stop was refining. A small amount of the oil and fat that was supposed to have been removed at the beginning was deliberately mixed in there to make a clay-like powder, which then was subjected to pressure again. After that, applying heat, a time-consuming tempering process…

“This is such a mess… All that was done by hand?”

He asked Sin to borrow a tool for rolling wheat, but the technology from two hundred years ago could not catch up to today’s standards. The manuscripts contain such boisterous notes as “Be thorough as if you were avenging your parents” or “Make sure to choke the life out of it,” suggesting that the alchemist who left his mark on history was also tormented by this process. It was too simple for a genius’s recipe, taking too much time and effort to be efficient.

In this place, Alfred could see the process of making chocolate that took place two hundred years ago. Leonardo, suffering from an incurable disease, harboring feelings bordering on jealousy towards Sin. Too prideful to join the vampires, but still dazzled by the immortality that was in front of his eyes. When reading it, he could feel a twisted, unstoppable enthusiasm to kill the vampire in the manuscript.  

After spending several days on a short deadline, just in a few days, the refining process was finally finished. It was almost finished at this point, but there was still one last thing to be done when it cooled and hardened.

Leonardo named it tempering. As the name suggests, the temperature of the chocolate was to be adjusted while it was chilled, so that the fat and oil in the chocolate crystallized in a stable state. This should make the mouthfeel dramatically better and give that melting property.

Although it required a lot of effort, it did not require much skill or time. Only, in comparison to the previous smashing and pressuring… It was gentle and tender. Was the fierce intent to kill the flipside of love and spectacle? Just like Sin’s compatriot, satisfied only being pierced by a spear of the saintess.  

Alfred poured the sticky, black liquid into the mold, finally becoming the best chocolate. He took one piece and tasted it with rapt attention.

The rich and delicate aroma of cocoa and the superb mouthfeel that sticks to your tongue from the moment you put it in your mouth. And then it melts away, fleeting like a one-night liaison, leaving only the sweet aftertaste.

“To think you couldn’t get enough of this, you indulgent bastard.”

 There was only one week left until the deadline of the night of the full moon. From now on, he must devise a new twist to this best recipe to create the ultimate method. 

Leonardo filled his chocolate with the intent to kill so much like love.

And if that wasn’t enough – what else was there to put in?

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