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Introduction

Au Pas Camarade — Pace is the twenty-third chapter of Jun Mochizuki's The Case Study of Vanitas.

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SPOILER WARNING!
This article contains plot and/or ending details for The Case Study of Vanitas.
Read at your own risk.
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Summary[]

“They say it looked like an enormous wolf.”

Vanitas uses a match to light a candle as he and Noé listen to Dante spin the tale of the Beast of Gévaudan.

The Beast was said to resemble a large wolf, with a twisted mouth, pointed ears, and sharp claws. Its body was covered in red fur with a black ridge running down its back. It was said to have maimed over a hundred women and children in Auvergne and Gévaudan during the eighteenth century. To this day people regard the Beast of Gévaudan with fear. Countless theories exist as to what the Beast actually was or may be, Dante reports, but in particular the Church and the Vampires both thought it to be the same thing: a curse-bearing Vampire. Vanitas absorbs this information coolly, leaning his still bloodied hand on the table. Noé’s eyes are set on Vanitas. The human doctor asks whether this Beast who “has turned up again” is truly the same one who terrorized the eighteenth century. Dante says that no one knows yet, but five corpses have been found since the beginning of the month, all with different methods of murder. Guts mauled out, heads ripped off—just like in the eighteenth century, Vanitas notes, putting his hand to his face thoughtfully. In addition, Dante reports people claiming to have seen the Beast. Noé makes an expression of consternation. Dante asks what Vanitas is going to do. Vanitas smirks and declares that wherever a curse-bearer may be, Vanitas will go, and so in order to find the Beast he will. Dante grins with anticipation, while Noé remains pensive. Vanitas in turn asks what Noé will do. Noé, now finally being addressed, makes an even further troubled expression and struggles to get his words out, until finally answering.

Noé thinks it sounds delicious. At once, Vanitas and Dante deadpan, “Huh?”

Dante is pale at the thought of the Beast being considered “delicious,” while Vanitas seems to be in mild awe that such a thought occurred to Noé at all. As for Noé himself, he places his forehead on his clasped hands and mulls at how bad this is. The scent of Vanitas’s blood from his injured wrist is distracting Noé so badly that he can’t focus on the conversation at all. Vanitas, meanwhile, wonders if Noé was partial to bizarre foods or something, completely oblivious to the Vampire’s inner struggle. Noé’s mind spins. He doesn’t understand because he’s always known that Vanitas’s blood smelled delectable, but why is it getting to him now of all times? Then it hits him—Noé is hungry, and his stomach growls as if on cue. If it’s true that he indeed slept all day, that means he hasn’t eaten anything, so by this time at night he’s starving. And every time he gets hungrier his thirst for blood increases as well. Noé wonders just how long he slept for, as his body feels very lethargic, and he touches his hand to the side of his neck.

The smell of Vanitas’s blood from his wrist wafts over, and Noé flushes. He clasps his hand over his nose, as it’s getting more sensitive, and starts to truly struggle with himself. He’s torn between his deep and growing desire to drink Vanitas’s blood, and rationalizing to himself that he should eat something first and they’re having an important conversation. But eventually his thoughts of drinking Vanitas’s blood take over his mind almost completely. Noé puts his face in his hands and thinks about his Teacher’s words, while Vanitas and Dante wonder just what is wrong with Noé. His Teacher had told him that unlike the Vampires found in legends and stories, failing to drink blood wouldn’t kill them, and Noé reminisces completely on the lesson he’d received that day.

Vampires born from Babel don’t drink blood for the blood itself; rather the blood is a medium for Vampires to take vital energy from the bodies of others. In the times of the war, blood would be drunk everywhere to increase strength and heal wounds, but in current times blood is more of an indulgence. Similar to liquor and tobacco, it’s unnecessary for sustaining life, both those who are fond of it find it an irreplaceable thing. And so, they become dependent on it—blood dependence being the addiction to the taste, and hematophagic dependence being the addiction to the pleasure caused by drinking blood. And in contrast, some Vampires even dislike the taste of blood and so refrain from doing so at all. Noé had petulantly said he liked drinking blood and the taste of it, and his Teacher assured him that nothing was wrong with that. But due to Noé’s specific powers, his Teacher advised him to take more caution.

At this Noé remembers, that specific talk had happened after he was playing with children from the village and drank one’s blood, looking into their memories without permission. Louis had told Noé that drinking blood was a type of communication, so he’d need to “sweet-talk” someone if he wanted to drink from them, with Louis thinking about Dominique in particular. Noé in the present snaps his head up, completely stricken. How is he meant to sweet-talk Vanitas? He tries anyways; he tells Vanitas that despite his “extremely problematic personality and attitude,” his blood smells wonderful. Vanitas naturally takes this as an insult. Noé, frustrated, insists he’s complimenting him. Noé stumbles his way further with his request. Vanitas stares Noé down and seems to realize something. Noé is fed up and decides he’ll just ask directly, and asks Vanitas if he could drink his blood—

Archiviste.”

Noé stops. Vanitas calmly says he’ll only say this once: if Noé ever tries to drink his blood, Vanitas will kill him. Vanitas, eyes unmoving and serious and reflecting no light, asks if he’s clear. Noé stares in surprise then looks down with an ashamed blush. He confirms and apologizes.

Dante, completely covered in a cold sweat, looks between the two of them as Vanitas walks across the room to the window and Noé sits slumped on his bed. The window opens and Dante asks where Vanitas is going, to which Vanitas says “to bed,” bewildering Dante, and the two of them disappear. But Noé only barely listens to this exchange and simply falls back over onto the bed, consumed by his guilty thoughts. He’s thrust back into the pool of his memories, of when he was a child. A boy from the village realized that Noé looked at his memories without asking, and called Noé creepy. Noé had simply stared at the other boy, completely stunned. “I knew,” Noé thinks, “I knew, and I still…”

Morning comes and Vanitas pops back into their room from the window. He grimaces down at Noé, who sits on the bed with his luggage ready, looking exhausted. Vanitas turns his head away and stomps past Noé, who wordlessly puts on his hat and has Murr climb atop his shoulder. Vanitas grabs his own bag, and the two of them leave Hôtel Chouchou together. They walk down the streets of Paris, Vanitas in the lead and Noé trudging behind with a clear distance between them. Vanitas eventually gets fed up with this and tells Noé to cut it out. If he’s got a complaint to make, Vanitas demands that he just say so outright. Noé is completely caught off guard and denies this. Rather, he looks down guiltily, he’d been thinking how wrong he had been yesterday. Vanitas looks at him with an exasperated expression. Noé frankly says he wants to scold Vanitas for walking around a Vampire with such a tantalizing scent coming off his blood, which annoys Vanitas.

But then Noé admits he had, at least partially, a desire to look into Vanitas’s past using blood drinking as a pretense. Vanitas sighs and asks how looking into his past would even benefit Noé. Noé agrees that there’d be no real benefit, but still he wants to know, for the same reasons that he’s said before—that Vanitas interests him. Vanitas is thoughtful, then he turns and starts walking further. Vanitas asks if Noé’s abilities as an Archiviste allow him to pick up memories from drinking blood no matter the state. Noé answers negative, as it’s comparable to taking vital energy; he’d fail to go into a person’s memories if he’s not directly drinking their blood, and very rarely he can glean only fragments of emotions from blood in other states. Vanitas absorbs this, then offers to allow Noé to lick the blood off his clothes the next time he’s injured. Noé turns red from utter excitement at this thought and asks if Vanitas means that. Vanitas says no. Noé snaps from anger.

Vanitas laughs brightly. Noé is caught off guard, then he steps forward, and the two of them continue forward, now walking side by side.

Soon they arrive at their destination, and Vanitas tells Noé this is the way they’ll go to Gévaudan. A grand locomotive stands before them, the mechanical beast immense and majestic and nested perfectly at home within the bustling train station. Noé is in absolute, wonderous awe (and Murr is more appalled than impressed). Noé marvels at the train itself, at the gadgets used to carry luggage, at the hectic crowd of travelers. He goes dashing into the station at full speed, yelling from the sheer excitement. Vanitas is simply resigned to this.

In his rush into the station, Noé accidentally bumps into a young man also dressed for travel. Noé apologizes, but the young man in turn smile politely and apologizes himself. Vanitas calls for Noé to hurry and the Vampire follows, parting ways with the young man. Though as they go their separate ways, the young man sniffs the air, then pauses in his steps and look back in suspicion. Someone calls out to him, referring to him as “captain,” and an older man hurriedly waves over the boy, who admonishes that they still have time, so no need for the rush. He also tells him to refrain from the “captain,” so the man instead calls him “Astolfo.” While the older is muttering complaints about having to make this trip on their own, Astolfo is looking forward to it. He grins in absolute, almost perverse glee, and licks his lips in anticipation. He declares that the Beast of Gévaudan and all Vampires residing in that region will be hunted to extinction by them, the Chasseurs.

Characters[]

(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.

Terms[]

Trivia[]

  • Au pas, camarade is a French idiom that can be translated roughly into "let's go, comrade" or "in step, comrade," normally used in a military context. It originates from the lyrics of the French marching song, Chanson de l'Oignon.[1]

References[]

Navigation[]

v - e - t The Case Study of Vanitas
Characters

Main: Noé ArchivisteVanitas
Dhampirs: DanteJohannRiche
Galerie Valentine: ManetNoxParks Orlok
Hôtel Chouchou: Amelia RuthFlute
de Sade: Antoine de SadeChryslerDominique de SadeLouis de SadeMurrThe TeacherVeronica de Sade
Oriflamme: August RuthvenJeanneLoki OriflammeLuca Oriflamme
Chasseurs: Astolfo GranatumCharlesGanoGeorgesMarcoMariaMiraOgierOlivierRoland Fortis
d'Apchier: Chloé d'ApchierJean-Jacques Chastel
Blue Moon: MikhailVanitas of the Blue Moon
Archiviste: Noé ArchivisteLady Archiviste
Charlatan: ChèvreMonsieur SpiderMoreauNaeniaPlague Doctor
The Vampire Senate: FaustinaLord BellatorLord PaldenceMarquis Machina
Others: Beast of GévaudanCatherineÉricFannyFredGillesLouiseMinaNoé's GrandparentsParacelsusThomas Berneux

Nobility Archiviste ClanClan of the Blue MoonHouse d'ApchierHouse de SadeHouse of GranatumOriflamme DukedomThe SenateThe Vampire Queen
Terminology Species & Factions: BeastiaBourreauThe Catholic ChurchCharlatanChasseursDhampirsVampires

Objects: Astérisque FlowersAstermiteThe Book of VanitasMielWorld Formula Alteration Device
Weapons: Carpe DiemDurandalHauteclaireLouisette
Events: Babel IncidentThe War
Miscellaneous: MalnomenMark of PossessionTrue NameWorld Formula

Locations AltusAveroigneLa BaleineCarbunculus CastleLes Catacombes de ParisGalerie ValentineGévaudanHôtel ChouchouDoctor Moreau's LaboratoryParis
Volumes 1234567891011
Omake Romance is a✰LOVE MISSION
Episodes 123456789101112131415161718192021222324RecapSpecial
Blu-ray/DVD 12345678
Drama CDs Drama CD 1Drama CD 2Drama CD 3Drama CD 4
Soundtrack OSTSora to Utsuro0 (zero)Your NamesalvationCharacter Song Album 1Character Song Album 2
Character Songs Le Formidable!Hidamari ni Saku Hana~mon trésor~Na mo Naki MichiSekka
Other Media Stage Play
Extra Vanitashu no KaruteAuthor's NotesTimelineReal-World References
Author Jun Mochizuki
v - e - t The Case Study of Vanitas Chapters
Parisian Excursion Arc 12345
Bal Masqué Arc 67891011
Hunters of the Dark Arc 12131415161718192021
The Beast of Gévaudan Arc 2223242526272829303132333434.53536373838.53940414243
Amusement Park Arc 444546474849505152535454.55555.556
Miel Incident Arc 575859606161.56262.563
Intermissions 15.546.551.560.5
Volumes 1234567891011
Omake Romance is a✰LOVE MISSION
Other Vanitashu no KaruteAuthor's Notes
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