Page 35 of Mercy Written in Blood

"It means you think you do."

Minamoto finally looked at Haruki.

"What do you know about vampire medicine?"

The question came without preparation. Ken shifted at the edge of the chamber. Haruki did not.

"Enough to know it exists."

"Do you?"

"I know they heal faster than humans. Some can survive injuries that would kill us. Blood loss affects them differently."

"That is physiology."

"You asked about medicine."

"I asked what you know."

Haruki held Minamoto's gaze.

"Very little."

"Good."

The answer irritated him.

"Why is that good?"

"Because ignorance can still be corrected."

Ken muttered something under his breath. Minamoto ignored him.

Takeda stepped between the two men before the conversation hardened further.

"There are scattered references," she said. "Old accounts. Medical records nobody can verify. Stories about physicians whotreated both humans and vampires before the Accord formalised the separation between communities."

Haruki looked towards the mural — human figures on one bank, something else on the other, white lotuses between them.

"You think this belonged to them."

"We don't know that," Endo said quickly.

Takeda gave him a sharp look. Haruki caught it — not disagreement, but fear of saying too much.

"You came down here because of the journal," Haruki said. "You saw one photograph and assembled a team within hours. Now you're pretending you have no idea what you're looking at."

"We are being cautious," Kameda said.

"You are being evasive."

"That may be the same thing tonight."

Haruki looked at her. Kameda returned to her tools, placing a narrow strip of inert film beside the journal, then leaning closer without touching it.

"The cover is unstable," she said. "The surface may delaminate if lifted incorrectly."

"What does that mean?" Ken asked.