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Introduction
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Glissando — Glissando is the thirteenth chapter of Jun Mochizuki's The Case Study of Vanitas.
This article contains plot and/or ending details for The Case Study of Vanitas.
Read at your own risk.
Summary[]
Ruthven apologizes that, while he wished to speak with them immediately, his work has kept him away and made them wait for quite a time until they could meet. Noé, face flushed with excitement, looks all around while denying the apology. He’s honored to be able to meet with Ruthven at all despite the older Vampire’s busy schedule, and he thanks him for his time. His voice wanders just the way his eyes do as he speaks, head swinging all around to peer at the sights he sees around him. He, Vanitas, Luca, and Jeanne walk through an intricately decorated hallway lead by Ruthven, resulting in Noé naturally getting fixated on all the shiny things around him. Vanitas, staring at him with exasperation, tells him to watch where he’s going. Luca has a hold of Noé’s hand, and at Vanitas’s command, grips tight to make sure he doesn’t wander. Finally, they arrive at a door which Ruthven swings open and invites them into. Noé’s eyes are filled with wonder as he enters.
It’s an office, circular in shape and surrounded by bookshelves from top to bottom. Not only textbooks and tomes fill said shelves, but a number of trinkets and devices serving a multitude of purposes. All of this lies under a ceiling of constellations and stars, glittering like the night sky. As he marvels at all that around him, Noé can’t help but think of this as amazing. He writes to his Teacher that they are currently in Ruthven’s office in Carbunculus Castle. Noé looks out the window and wonders if her majesty the Queen is somewhere in the castle. Ruthven sits down at his desk, setting down piles of books and scrolls, and tells them to make themselves at home in what he calls his “hobby room.” Noé looks at Ruthven. He recalls earlier when he’d had a conversation with Dominique.
Noé had asked Dominique who Ruthven was, hoping she could fill him in. Upon finding out that Noé knew nothing about the man, Dominique choked in shock and called him disgraceful for it. Noé pouted, sulking in shame, and noted him to be a member of The Senate. Dominique said he was so much more than just that, and explained Ruthven’s background and reputation. He was the central figure behind the peace they find themselves in, having mediated the war between Vampires and humans to a close. As a result of his actions, he’s regarded far and wide by many as a hero. Noé was shocked to learn all this. Dominique was exasperated at him, wondering how he could never have seen Ruthven’s name in all the books he’s read. Dominique broke out into a sweat. She asked if he knew anything about “Master Lucius,” in other words Luca. Noé did not. Dominique brushed it off and figured the boy would want to say so himself. Dominique furrowed her brow in worry, thinking she should go with him after all. Noé protested, as Dominique received an abrupt summons from the House de Sade, and he was worried if something happened to a family member. Dominique knew that wasn’t the case though, her family simply heard of the “sorry display” she made of herself the other day—when she was left dangling in midair tied up in bondage in front of countless nobles. Dominique pressed her hand to his chest and apologized for bringing him to Altus and pulling him into such a mess. Noé rejected her apology though. He took her hands in his, pressed his forehead to hers, and told her how happy it made him to have her worrying for him. Dominique pouted for a moment, then looked down bashfully with a shy smile. The two of them promised to meet again soon.
Ruthven calls to Noé, snapping him out of his memories. He asks if there’s anything wrong, making Noé stiffen as servants come to serve them tea. Ashamed, Noé admits that he had no idea who Ruthven was and had to be told so by Dominique previously. Ruthven is not offended however, as he understood why completely when he heard Noé was the Shapeless One’s student. Noé is puzzled by this. Ruthven bursts into laughter and states that the Teacher absolutely hates him. Vanitas, Jeanne, and Luca stare in shock as Ruthven continues laughing, that the Teacher hated even saying his name and most likely cut it out from all his books. Noé is stunned for a moment, then admits that’s exactly what his Teacher would do. Ruthven laughs in agreement. Ruthven then asks Noé, as the Teacher is constantly changing names as per his mood, what the man is going by now. Noé sheepishly admits that he hasn’t seen his Teacher in half a year, so he doesn’t know. Halfway through his answer, Noé’s gaze wanders to the side, clearly fixated on the shiny trinkets and machines filling the room. Ruthven stands and goes to explain each machine to Noé, whose eyes sparkle at the new information he’s learning.
Vanitas interrupts. Expression serious, he asks to move onto the main topic. Noé stares at him with an extremely unhappy face. Ruthven, in comparison, takes it more gracefully and gets to business. He thanks the both of them for what they did during the bal masqué. Luca told him the entire story, so he knows that it’s thanks to them that so few casualties were suffered on that day. Vanitas drinks his tea and asks Ruthven for his thoughts on the attack. Ruthven had first assumed that “Charlatan,” what that group calls themselves, was a mere illusion only visible to a Vampire who’d become a curse-bearer. But with this new information, Ruthven suspects that attack was meant to kill Luca. Noé is shocked. Vanitas sets down his tea and agrees. Ruthven presupposes that the curse-bearers were meant to cause an uproar that diverted the attention of the Beastias while they attempted their true goal. If Naenia is able to steal True Names, then it’s no wonder several curse-bearers appeared at once. Noé asks why Luca would be targeted. Vanitas huffs to find he still doesn’t know, and reveals who Luca truly is.
Grand Duke Lucius Oriflamme, one with rank and power second only to the Queen. It’s only natural that countless amounts of people perceive him to be standing in their way. Luca sits quietly with his hands clasped. Noé is shocked by this—Grand Dukes are the closest advisors for the Queen, and he marvels Luca as amazing. Luca casts his gaze down and denies the compliment. Ruthven as his guardian handles all the duties of Grand Duke for him, and he hasn’t even officially presented yet, so he has no real power. Ruthven gently pats Luca’s head, making him flush. He tells his nephew how terrified he was to hear that Luca went to the human world without leave, and advises him to be more careful. Noé suddenly recalls; when they first met Luca who was hunting down the Book of Vanitas, he claimed to want it for his older brother, that the curse of the Blue Moon is the reason why his brother is suffering. Noé asks where Luca’s brother is now.
Ruthven tells them to forget about that. Luca and Jeanne both look away, ashamed. Noé is surprised. Ruthven orders him not to speak of Luca’s brother again. Noé is confused, because if he’s a curse-bearer then Vanitas can—Ruthven sharply interrupts. Luca’s face is dark and painted with dismay. Ruthven strictly says there’s no need to heal him. Salvation can mean many different things, take on many different forms. And being freed from the curse may not actually bring happiness to the person in question. Luca’s brother bound in chains stood in a room filled with foliage, back to a huge window through which the sun beamed down on him. Noé, hearing this, goes silent, face stricken. Ruthven puts the subject to a close and moves on to his research about curse-bearers that they were seeking. Ruthven tells Vanitas that he has many questions to ask him, the Kin of the Blue Moon, about the Vampire of the Blue Moon, the Book of Vanitas, and the man himself. Vanitas smiles, a devious edge to his lips. He stands and agrees to discuss the more important matters. He states that he has a request for Ruthven, which the man urges him to speak. Vanitas does.
“Take me to your Queen.”
Ruthven, Jeanne, and Luca stare at him. Ruthven is stunned speechless. Vanitas repeats himself, that he wants to be taken to see the Vampire Queen. Ruthven asks why. Vanitas grins confidently. He believes the reason behind the outbreak of curse-bearers lies with the Queen. Noé is surprised. Jeanne, enraged, snaps at him for his nonsense. Luca jumps to his feet, chair clattering to the ground in his panic. Vanitas cheekily says only a meeting would bear no trouble, all he wants is to examine every inch of the Queen’s body. Jeanne keeps snapping at him to keep quiet, growing in her anger, but Vanitas just continues. Ruthven is silent. Vanitas laughs is utter amusement, that Ruthven should easily be able to arrange such a meeting with his authority. Tauntingly, he asks how long it’s been since the Queen was seen in public, he asks why she’s become a hermit? Vanitas’s grin is infinitely mocking, degrading, knowing as he asks if the Queen is even still alive. Luca, petrified, calls for his uncle. Ruthven remains silent.
Only moments pass.
In that time, the office turns to complete ruin. Papers, documents, and books are thrown everywhere and are slowly burning away to ash. Trinkets fallen and broken litter the floor. Noé is collapsed with his back against a bookshelf, bruised and battered and worn down. Jeanne is in a similar state, lying on her side on the floor immobile. Ruthven holds an injured Vanitas up by the neck, the human’s blood trailing down in droplets that stain the Vampire’s hand. Luca, the only one untouched, has embraced his uncle around the waist, attempting to stop him. Noé and Jeanne both pant and cough as they nurse their injuries on the ground. Luca begs his uncle to stop. Ruthven, eyes burning with absolute fury, snaps at Vanitas to leave Altus immediately. Everything he’s said is pure blasphemy towards the Queen. Vanitas, despite his situation, grins victoriously. Ruthven’s hold on his neck tightens. He will never allow him to set foot in the castle again.
In the Galerie Valentine. Vanitas finishes his explanation of what happened. They had been kicked out through the border by force, having arrived in the human world a week ago. Their injuries were so severe that they’ve been sleeping them off for this entire time until now. Noé adds that Murr, currently drinking milk with his eternally angry face, was sent through after them. Vanitas, with a deadpanning Noé beside him, proudly concludes his report. Nox, Manet, and Orlok (all holding cat toys and treats) stare at them, faces pale. Orlok explodes in absolute rage. His fury is so loud and explosive that the entire building, even the citizens underneath, hear his shouting. Orlok grabs a globe as a makeshift weapon and leaps onto his desk, absolutely fuming, a dark aura radiating off him as he growls at Vanitas for insulting the Queen. Nox and Manet desperately try to calm their master.
Noé looks at Vanitas, who continues provoking Orlok further with a grin. He recalls back when the two of them had been apprehended, restrained by guards on either side. Vanitas, smiling with satisfaction, smugly states he already got the information he wanted most. Noé’s face twists into discontent.
Luca sits at a bedside under a grand canopy, resting his head on the sheets. He recalls his conversation with his uncle. Ruthven had told him that Vanitas got them, to Luca’s confusion. He explained, Vanitas hadn’t been looking at Ruthven himself, he made sure to keep his eyes on Luca. Any ordinary Vampire would fly into a rage immediately at any insult so grave towards the Queen, which is what Luca should’ve done. But instead, Luca… He recalled back during that moment. When Vanitas had made his provoking proclamations, Luca in response had worn an expression completely stricken, gripped in panic and fear. Vanitas had taken one look at the boy and knew. Ruthven told his nephew—Luca confirmed his words for him with only that. Luca, cheek pressed to the bedsheets, twists his face up, as if he’s close to tears. He buries his face in his arms and begs her majesty to tell him what to do. The Queen, fingers thin and skin sunken in as if she’s near death, does not answer him.
Vanitas with a cheeky grin declares he will avoid any and all contact with Ruthven until the storm blows over, continuing to treat curse-bearers as he always has. And so, he asks for information on curse-bearers. Vanitas is ducking behind the couch. Orlok, still absolutely irate, throws books and trinkets at him to try and shut him up. Nox and Manet snap that they don’t have time for them, making Vanitas ask if something’s happened. As they bicker, Noé kneels on the ground and picks something up from a folder Orlok threw. Noé holding up the papers, and Vanitas peering over his shoulder, read the documents together. It speaks of Vampire disappearances, up to three going missing in one week. Nox and Manet explode furiously at the two of them looking at their files without permission. With one last enraged shout (and a bag of treats given to Murr), they kick them out.
Vanitas and Noé, nursing their heads, walk out indignantly. Dante walks in and calls to them, making Vanitas smile. He turns—he, Johann, and Riche stand together and greet them, all three covered in bandages and various injuries all over. Vanitas pauses and asks them what happened. Dante huffs and just gets to business; he declares that he has new information about curse-bearers and offers to sell it to Vanitas as a favor. Upon buying it, they explain what happened. The other day, they managed to get the location of a curse-bearer who’d arrived in Paris some time ago. They found the curse-bearer—right as they were getting kidnapped by a figure in a white cloak. Riche jumped in to try and stop them, and Dante had shoved her out of the way to keep her safe. Dante grumbles about the state he’s in thanks to her, and Riche grumbles about never asking to be saved. The two instantly explode in a fight, making Johann scold them mildly. As the two continue bickering behind him, Johann explains he was out by himself for something else entirely, only to be mistaken as a Vampire and almost get kidnapped himself. His assailants found out quickly that he was a “Dham” and then left, which he complains as “rude.” Noé asks about this term, “Dham.”
Johann points to the three of them and introduces them as “half-breeds”—in other words, Dhampirs. He asks Noé if he’s ever met one before, which Noé has not. Dante tosses something at Vanitas, which he catches in one hand. He’d managed to rip a button off the kidnapper, which now sits in Vanitas’s palm. It bears an insignia of a sword with six wings emerging from behind. Noé observes the mark with curiosity and makes to ask Vanitas about it. He stops. Vanitas, as he stares at the mark, has a dark and trouble expression on his face. Dante declares: the one whom Orlok is after, those who are behind the Vampire disappearances, are none other that The Catholic Church’s anti-Vampire unit.
The Chasseurs.
Before a cross underneath a stained glass window within a church, three figures kneel reverently. All of them wear white cloaks around their shoulders and rosaries around their necks. One figure, a woman, asks her captain if he’s heard the rumor regarding a certain human. Said captain, the figure kneeling at the front, confirms. “Vanitas” is his name. One made into the Kin of the Blue Moon, and thus has Vampires swarming all around him in an attempt to use his power. The cross before him glows with a divine light. The man bemoans… what a poor child. He bursts outright into tears. He declares that, in God’s name, they will rescue him no matter what it takes.
Characters[]
- August Ruthven
- Noé Archiviste
- Vanitas
- Luca Oriflamme
- Jeanne
- The Teacher (Mentioned only)
- Dominique de Sade*
- Naenia (Mentioned only)
- Vanitas of the Blue Moon (Mentioned only)
- Loki Oriflamme*
- The Queen
- Murr
- Parks Orlok
- Nox
- Manet
- Dante
- Johann
- Riche
- Maria (First Appearance)
- Georges (First Appearance)
- Roland Fortis (First Appearance)
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Terms[]
Trivia[]
- Glissando is a musical term referring to a continuous slide from one pitch to another. It is an Italianized word deriving from the French word "glisser" which translates to English as "to glide."[1]
- This marks the first instance in which a chapter has the exact same main title and alternate title.
- When first released, this chapter's main title was misspelled as "Glissand" which is not a real word. This would later be corrected in Volume 3.
References[]
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| v - e - t | The Case Study of Vanitas Chapters |
|---|---|
| Parisian Excursion Arc | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 |
| Bal Masqué Arc | 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Hunters of the Dark Arc | 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 |
| The Beast of Gévaudan Arc | 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 34.5 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 38.5 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 |
| Amusement Park Arc | 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54 • 54.5 • 55 • 55.5 • 56 |
| Miel Incident Arc | 57 • 58 • 59 • 60 • 61 • 61.5 • 62 • 62.5 • 63 • 64 • 65 |
| Intermissions | 15.5 • 46.5 • 51.5 • 60.5 |
| Volumes | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Omake | Vanitashu no Karute • Romance is a✰LOVE MISSION • Confessional Counseling Office |
| Other | Author's Notes |