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Introduction
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Jean-Jacques — The Vampire of the Chastels (Part Two) is the second part of the thirty-fourth 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.
Synopsis[]
Noé slams his head against the door with all his might. Murr flinches at the sound and stares at his owner with concern. Noé grits his teeth through the pain; he’d slammed his head so hard that his forehead is bleeding profusely, but the force behind his headbutt caused the door to give. He shoves the door open and rushes out.
However, Noé is still disoriented and lost, drowning in the memories he’d drank. Countless voices speaking over one another. They talked about dozens of deaths, rumors of the Chasseurs being sent in from the Church, sightings of a huge Beast, incompetent dragoons—that the Marquis d’Apchier had been involved in some strange research. Jean-Jacques, at that point still a young boy, flinched at that. They said that research created the Witch haunting the Silver Forest, or that the Beast was a servant of the Witch, or the Witch is the Beast herself. Chloé holds a bundle of flowers in her hands and brings them to her lips. Jean-Jacques tries to protest: Chloé would never do any of that, she’s in fact desperately trying to find out what the Beast is and how to protect everyone. Chloé looks down at the flowers sadly.
A huge mob of people wielding torches and chanting—kill the Beast, kill the Witch, so bloodthirsty in their witch hunt that young Jean-Jacques was left staring in horror. The terror of these people was what was driving Chloé so far into a corner, it was creating the Beast. Jean-Jacques and Chloé sat together in the sunlight and weaved flowers into circlets together, and Jean-Jacques told Chloé a thought he’d been having. What if there was no Beast at all? The hunt wouldn’t end until the Beast died; Naenia’s clawed hand grasping Jean-Jacques’s shoulder. Jean-Jacques covered his face as Naenia grinned behind him, and he declared that he would become the Beast and take the form that they wanted to see. Bloodthirsty three-pupiled eyes, fangs that drip with blood. He dared them to try and kill him before he devoured them all. The barrel of a gun pointed his way. The Beast of Gévaudan stops. He looked at the man behind the gun and thinks, “Fathe…”—the man grinned.
A gunshot echoed.
Tears burst from Noé’s eyes. He stops in place as if he’d just been shot himself. He crumbles to his knees and sobs in agony, just as young Jean-Jacques had done in his memories. He begs for someone to help. A pair of wolves approach Noé’s prone form. Noé looks up and sees a light shine from somewhere far away. He reaches his hand out, only focused on grabbing that light even as the wolves descend and his vision fails him and fades to black. Noé’s hand is grabbed.
“Hey. What are you doing at death’s door again, Noé?”
Vanitas has arrived.
He’s gripping Noé’s outstretched wrist and scolds him with exasperation. The two wolves which had been attacking him have slashes down their backs and are defeated. Noé stares up in awe, blood staining his face and tears still steadily dripping down from his eyes. Vanitas frowns down at him.
Noé weakly asks if this is really Vanitas, if he’s really real. Vanitas listens to his rambling, takes a deep sigh, and slaps Noé across the face. He grinds his fist on Noé’s head. Vanitas asks if that hurts, Noé says yes. Vanitas says this means all of this is real, and sarcastically adds, “Isn’t that great.” Noé says yes. Vanitas asks what happened to Noé, if he got dosed with some kind of potion, and Noé confirms this, surprising Vanitas who had been joking. Noé can’t seem to stop crying. Noé asks if Jeanne, Dante, and Johann are with Vanitas and if everyone is okay, and Vanitas confirms both. Noé, still woozy, expresses his relief and how worried he’d been. This makes Vanitas snap in anger, that he’s supposed to be saying that to—Vanitas stops. Noé is confused and asks what he said. Vanitas just blankly says it was nothing. Vanitas asks if Noé found out anything useful from his time here, while Noé shivers from the cold and then turns to find Murr angrily dragging Noé’s coat to his owner. Murr scratches Noé’s face. Vanitas continues that Jeanne had told him that Chloé d’Apchier is the Beast—Noé interrupts that that’s completely false. Vanitas stares at him in surprise.
After a brief explanation, Vanitas is caught up: Jean-Jacques is the Beast of Gévaudan, and Chloé became a curse-bearer of her own accord. Noé confirms this, and Vanitas sighs. He declares this a total waste of time. Noé is surprised. Vanitas says if she voluntarily contracted a Malnomen then there’s no point in him treating her. He guesses her goal to be revenge, and while he doesn’t know her intentions with the World Formula Alteration Device, if Noé’s memories are accurate then it would make sense for Chloé to harbor a long-deep resentment. Noé insists that they can’t just leave things like this, Vanitas asks why not. Noé pauses.
Revenge is just a hateful endeavor that makes no one happy and has no point in the end—Vanitas asks if that’s what Noé means. Noé remembers when Vanitas had declared his own “revenge.” Noé firmly says, “No!” He doesn’t mean anything like that at all. Vanitas stares at Noé impassively. Noé says he doesn’t know what Chloé is thinking, what it is that she truly wants, or what “salvation” would look like for them. But he doesn’t want to leave without even trying to find out. Vanitas grimaces and sighs deeply, putting his face in his hands. He reasons that since he needs to get back the Book of Vanitas, he’ll just go along with Noé until everything is settled. Noé tilts his head confused, and Vanitas calls him dense. Vanitas says he’ll be acting on the assumption that Noé will convince them, and he wipes away the blood on Noé’s face. Vanitas grins at Noé, and says that if Noé wants those two to be treated, make Vanitas feel like treating them. Noé’s face flushes with absolute determination, and he proclaims he’ll do his best. Vanitas tells him to shut up.
Vanitas and Noé run together towards the beam of light. They eventually stop and stiffen in surprise. There stands Astolfo wielding his spear, surrounded by the bloody corpses of wolves and his fellow Chasseurs. Astolfo smiles at them in greeting. Vanitas clicks his tongue in annoyance and takes a step back. Astolfo throws off his outer cloak and tells his subordinates to head for the Beast without him. Marco tries to protest, but Astolfo orders him to go. After all, he can’t ignore a Vampire whom he previously failed to kill standing right before him; and he wields his spear threatenly. With a dark and twisted expression, he swears to slaughter all Vampires and those who take their side with his own hands. Noé steps in front of Vanitas and asks to let him handle this. Vanitas tries to caution Noé, but Noé reassures him to the former’s surprise.
Noé, snapping on his gloves and wearing a determined expression, promises that he will win.
Characters[]
- Noé Archiviste
- Murr
- Jean-Jacques Chastel*
- Chloé d'Apchier*
- Naenia*
- Beast of Gévaudan*
- Vanitas
- Jeanne (Mentioned only)
- Dante (Mentioned only)
- Johann (Mentioned only)
- Astolfo Granatum
- Marco
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Terms[]
- Gévaudan
- Vampires
- Chasseurs
- The Catholic Church
- House d'Apchier
- Malnomen
- World Formula Alteration Device (Mentioned only)
- The Book of Vanitas (Mentioned only)
- Louisette (spear)
Trivia[]
- In Volume 6, this chapter is combined with Mémoire 34 Part One to make a single consolidated version of Mémoire 34.
[]
| 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 |
| Intermissions | 15.5 • 46.5 • 51.5 • 60.5 |
| Volumes | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Omake | Romance is a✰LOVE MISSION |
| Other | Vanitashu no Karute • Author's Notes |