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Introduction
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Rira bien qui rira le dernier — Forced Laughter is the the sixty-sixth 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[]
At the bottom of a long flight of stairs is a birdcage elevator, and into it Vanitas, Noé, and Dominique lead by Riche pile in. The door shuts and Riche presses the buttons in a certain sequence, all the while she explains La Ruche, the Dhampirs’ home. Their own tiny Altus gifted by Marquis Machina, who used to have it as a hobby room, despite being miniscule compared to the realm the Vampires own it is more than enough to be their home and workspace to thrive. The doors rattle shut behind Noé and the elevator begins to move—downward with a lurch. While Vanitas is irritated by the sharp movements, Noé notes curiously that the bottom floor elevator is descending. Riche confirms that the residents of the normal building outside were all human, and Dhampirs alone were able to use the trick to go underground and access La Ruche. Numerous other elevators existed all around Paris that linked to La Ruche, always providing a way home for them.
The sound of someone crying. Riche freezes and stops her explanation. She nervously asks about Dominique’s well-being as she sniffled and tears up while muttering Dante’s name. Vanitas judges her for being so moved by Dante’s life story while Noé comforts her. Dominique weeps further at the harsh past he had to live, from his humble beginnings of being abandoned and alone to building up a family of his own to the point of reaching Machina’s interest; she calms down with a sigh and notes how dashing she finds him to be now. Riche hearing this puffs herself up with pride and outright starts boasting about Dante, only to turn bright red and shrink back when Dominique grabs her hands and leans in with an urging, knowing, romantic expression. Noé blankly watches them interact while the elevator dings to signal their arrival. As Dominique for some reason looms menacingly over a cowering Riche, Vanitas comments on this being his first trip to La Ruche and leads them forwards.
The elevator stands in the center of total darkness, an absolute void of blackness stretching into forever. It is cut by a glowing hexagon of a building in the center, planks and boards and other makeshift materials stacked upon one another brick by brick to lead from the elevator to its destination. Colored golden like honey, La Ruche awaits.
Having just made their unceremoniously entrance, Dante and Johann sit facing off Riche and the crowd she’d brought to their home to keep the rest of their Dhampir family away from the trouble, unable to stop them from curiously onlooking however. Dante, already stressed and on edge, scoffs at the idea of them helping and scolds Riche from bringing them into their sanctuary. As the rising volume of the argument attracts everyone’s attention, Riche argues back against caring for appearances when a group of such reliable people were offering help. This is true of Noé and Dominique—except Vanitas says no.
Riche turns to him, sweating. Vanitas gives her an easy smile as he unapologetically proclaims he never agreed to help the Dhams.
Riche, Noé, and Dominique snap their heads to him in confusion and alarm. Riche starts to scramble for an explanation before she recalls. She had asked the two of them for help after all, except Vanitas was in the middle of negotiating to hear their situation before jumping in headlong. Then that snowflake firework was launched into the sky, prompting Noé to dash out the both of them of there and Riche to come running after. And then she took them down into La Ruche without a second thought. Riche freezes, face blank with horror. It’s true and Vanitas never said he would help. Riche panics and babbles wordlessly as Noé and Dominique reassure her. Meanwhile Vanitas waltzes forward, approaching Dante with a declaration that he doesn’t sympathize with them or want to offer charity. Vanitas sits down at the table, staring Dante right in the eye at his level. Vanitas wants to do business with Dante, just as they always do. Dante skeptically echoes this sentiment of “business” while Vanitas further quips that that’s only his intent, and Dante having to meet him in the middle may have wasted his time. With a sly smirk, Vanitas throws these words to Dante.
“A sour-faced fellow like you…”
Dante’s eyes are wide with surprise. They’re words he knows well.
“…would spoil any deal we tried to make.”
For he was the first to spit them at Vanitas.
A time before, the two of them sat in a cluttered room around the warmth of a fireplace, early on into their knowing one another. Vanitas, covered in dirt and grime and blood and wounds he was in the process of bandaging, looked up at Dante blankly. He asked what his face had to do with his goal of dealing with curse-bearers. Dante winced away at the sight of Vanitas’s painful injuries and remarked that while he had no idea about his abilities to cure curse-bearers, Vanitas’s general dark and hostile and upsetting demeanor would make anyone defensive against him, curse-bearer or not. Vanitas claimed it bothered him none, he treated the consequences like natural and unavoidable, but Dante argued the inefficiency of coming back from a tip leading to a curse-bearer nearly dead every single time. If Dante’s clientele—a well-paying one at that—died on him, he would take damage regardless. He then began to advise Vanitas on changing his demeanor and outer look in terms of approaching people to make them more agreeable to work with. It was less about bowing his head to adulate another, and more about putting up a facade to control the situation and help him accomplish his goal. Vanitas absorbed this, and conceptualized—recalled, even, being a performer to entertain masses for his benefit. Vanitas was not a merchant but if processed the performance as part of the job he had to do, he would do whatever necessary. Dante smiled and encouraged this, prompting Vanitas to give his best attempt right there. He used his fingers to work his jaw and cheeks, then slowly and steadily. Vanitas smiled. Embodying the sentiment of smiling effortlessly and with perfect composure the worse his condition truly is, Vanitas gave a smile that at once betrayed no true pain he was going through yet spoke volumes of how much he’d truly endured.
Dante stares at Vanitas. He blinks back the memory away from his vision, instead faced currently with a similarly composed smile, this time much more smug and knowing for his liking, making Dante start to sweat. Dominique, still supporting a panicking Riche, turns at the sound of a rhythmic clanging. Two young female Dhams are tending to their kitchen area, the darker haired girl, Pauline, sternly calling everyone to supper and scolding for the complicated talk to be taken upstairs. The fairer haired girl, Monique, calms Pauline and invites their guests to sit with them. A young pair of boys who act identically and are dressed in oversized menswear curiously hop up to the newcomers while Dominique tries to refuse the fussing and Riche scolds the two for their excitement. Vanitas calls Noé over to whisper something into his ear. Dante picks up a glass of water to splash over his head, alarming Noé. Dante takes a deep breath in then sighs it out with his whole body, propped up only with his hands on his knees. Shaking off the water from his head, Dante declares he’ll listen to their proposal for business just like always, smiling with hope and confidence back in his eyes. Riche and Johann are flushed with relief. Vanitas grins right back at him.
Sometime later, supper for everyone has been arranged. The majority of the crowd have sat together around the center table, waiting for the stew which had been cooked to be distributed using the small chipped bowls they owned. A young boy, Matthieu, climbs onto Noé, who reassures the scolding of a worried Monique, who is ladling out the soup while another older boy hands out bowls. The twin boys run about and complain about Monique’s fretting being annoying, causing an angry Pauline to snap at them to sit down and eat. Another boy being her carries a tray with the stew as well as pieces of bread and other parts of a full meal, declaring he’ll take the food to Paula. Behind them, huddled together away from the rest who could be listening in, Vanitas and Dante talk with Johann hovering nearby. They speak in hushed tones as the chaotic family scene plays out around them.
Vanitas recounts the information he knows and has learned from Riche. The drug Miel is circulating through Paris, some people who have used the drug have suffered from abnormal reactions, Miel is being sold and distributed by two Dhampirs, and Orlok has ordered their group of Dhams to deal with the situation; all of this Dante confirms. Vanitas asks about the assumption for the dealers being Dhams, to which Dante explains various testimonies from buyers of the drug. A pair of kids with deep hoods concealing their faces, only answering questions of their names with “Dham.” A person who attempted to take the drug by force was beaten by using impossible strength, the pair were seen leaping up walls with ease. And most strikingly, their eyes are described as glowing golden in darkness. Vanitas considers this all and decides to eliminate the possibility that the Dhams could be framed. Dante then prompts about Vanitas’s “business” that he approached with. Vanitas declares that their interests about the incident are aligned so they should deal with it together—Dante is after the ones selling Miel, and Vanitas is after whoever had made it. Johann asks Vanitas for what he means. Vanitas sits back.
Doctor Moreau. Vanitas is certain he’s somehow involved.
Dante and Johann are shocked. Dante recalls the last encounter they’d had with the man, the same one who had been kidnapping Vampires to run experiments under the Church’s nose. The man who did so for his dark and gruesome ambition: to become a Vampire, the peak of evolution in his beliefs, himself. Dante ponders this deeply and realizes what Vanitas is assuming of Miel—that it was created to try and change humans to Vampires. Vanitas confirms this without hesitation. Though the notable side effect of Miel that is an impulsive desire for blood could be written off as a drug-induced urge for violence, the detail of eyes shining red is undeniable to him. Just behind them at the dining table Dominique is being excitedly accosted by the two boys for her status as a knight carrying a real blade. Despite this, the conversation spoken in the dark corner and taking center stage continues to delve even deeper. The Chasseurs that harassed Dante and Johann just that day were Gano of Bloodstone and Ogier of Sphene, Paladins who were recognized members of the Vampire Eradication Faction. Dominique, overhearing this, jumps out of her chair with an outcry and a dark expression, realizing the man who basically assaulted her also wanted to eradicate her race.
The Vampire Eradication Faction were responsible for bringing Moreau into the Church to research Vampires. Despite the gruesome nature of Moreau’s work from the intent to the results making him very unpopular in a public sense, the Eradication Faction still wanted his research. That those two directly confronted Dante and Johann itself was a red flag for Moreau being the source of the drug. Dante asks if the concept itself, turning humans to Vampires, was even possible. Vanitas disregards the question’s true answer as there would be no way to know until someone actually accomplished the deed. Rather the part that was important to them in the moment was this.
Moreau will do it. There exists no line he wouldn’t cross. If Moreau continued to live, he would continue to do it.
Vanitas’s eyes are pitch black with the deep, intimate certainty of his declaration of Moreau’s character. His smile is unshaken and composed.
Dante and Johann shudder at this. Vanitas continues that though what he’s wanted most is information regarding the Comte de Saint Germain, Moreau’s direct involvement makes him prioritize this case. Regardless of any other detail, if Vanitas can get to Moreau, it would mean getting the opportunity to get to his backer, Naenia, and any other information he could want. Noé looks to Vanitas while Matthieu pulls at his hair. He recalls, under a rainfall like tears, the soft light of the morning under clouds before the sun emerged, the quiet acceptance on Vanitas’s bandaged face. His true goal he had declared. He treated curse-bearers to find traces of whoever had taken Luna’s True Name. He will erase every last fragment of the Vampire of the Blue Moon. To consign them to oblivion—that is his “revenge.”
Before Noé knows it, he has gotten up and walked forward to grab Vanitas’s shoulder. Vanitas, with irritation, glares up at him while complaining of his strong grip. Noé apologizes, but Vanitas interrupts by telling him and Dominique that they don’t need to be involved. Noé and Dominique stare at him blankly. They slowly become more and more irritated as Vanitas tells them to continue hunting for information on the Comte de Saint Germain. Together, identically, Noé and Dominique pout and puff their cheeks out. Flanking Vanitas on either side, they snap at him for writing them off despite them already have investment in the situation. Taking over Vanitas’s side of the discussion, Noé and Dominique declare loudly to a blank-faced Dante and a blankly shocked Johann that they’ll resolve the incident together.
Dante, with a relieved flush bringing back brightness to his face, laughs. Vanitas, sweating in between the two overzealous Vampires, sweats and stares at all of them in confusion. Dante, still subdued, expresses appreciation but brings up their time limit of only three days. Vanitas, reeling Noé and Dominique back to make them settle down, corrects that they have three whole days. Dante and Johann are surprised. Vanitas declares that he truly respects Dante’s skills as an information broker. Deeper in the corner where they’ve been talking, among a pile of papers and data, sits a little beat up book. The information Dante has gathered himself, Vanitas declares, will give them the answer. Clenching his fist as if he’s caught a pest in his palm, Vanitas knows they don’t need to run around trying to chase these honeybees. They will lure them to them.
Somewhere in the dark corridors of some place teeming with pipes, unseen by any light, a small figure huddles on the ground. They soothe themselves and their jittery anxiety by reiterating to themselves that they’re okay. The small figure covered in grime and a large cloak mutters while biting their nails that they’ve spread Miel as told, so a little selfishness should be alright. Next to them is a small opened package of the drug. It is sweet-looking, like honey.
Yet elsewhere, on the rooftops in the darkness, also unseen by light aside from that of the people living normal lives below, a figure stands overlooking the cityscape. It is Monsieur Spider, his mask betraying nothing of his thoughts or feelings or anything of him aside from his fealty to Charlatan as always. He stares silent and unmoving.
Finally, in yet another place, this time in the daylight unhidden, at a restaurant boasting fanciful decor and a sophisticated air. A little bee flies onto the rim of a teacup. Ogier, dressed primly in a three-piece suit and with his hair slicked back, waves the insect away while laughing away disgustedly of Paris’s large honeybee population. The person he’s sharing this table with is quiet for a moment before snarking that he is even better at buzzing around loudly and souring any view, a jab which Ogier takes with grace. He moves on however that he’s raised his hopes from the way his partner has accepted an invitation from him, unofficial at that, despite him being human.
Orlok, with Manet at attention right behind him, stares back at Ogier stoically.
Ogier claims their shared interest in how Dhampirs are a nuisance to both the Church and the Vampires. With a dark and wide smile, Ogier proposes they combine their forces to eliminate their problem for good.
Characters[]
- Vanitas
- Noé Archiviste
- Dominique de Sade
- Riche
- Dante
- Johann
- Marquis Machina (Mentioned only)
- Moreau*
- Gano*
- Ogier
- The Teacher (Mentioned only)
- Naenia*
- Vanitas of the Blue Moon (Mentioned only)
- Mikhail*
- Monsieur Spider
- Parks Orlok
- Manet
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Terms[]
Trivia[]
- Rira bien qui rira le dernier is literally translated as "he who laughs last laughs best" from French.
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 • 66 |
| 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 |