It has been a year since Sister Esther Blanchett met Father Abel Nightroad in the city of Istvan. There, they fought the vampire Gyula Ka'Dar, who hated and wished to kill the humans because they had caused the death of his beloved wife. But at the last moment, they defeated him, and he gave up his plans of revenge.
Shortly afterward, Sister Esther and Father Abel, who is a sort of anti-vampire called a Krusnik, were sent back to the Vatican, and travelled all over as troubleshooters for Caterina Sforza. But now they are back in Istvan, and what a difference a year makes!
Esther is especially surprised by the homecoming, because in her absence, she has somehow become a saint in the eyes of the people, who think she alone defeated the plans of Gyula with her beauty, innocence and piety. So to come back to where she has lived and be treated as a celebrity as well as saint is rather startling to her.
She soon finds out that it is a canon of the church who has so elevated her. Archbishop D'Annunzio has not only declared her a saint, but written an entire opera to reveal to the city Esther's role in defeating Gyula. The big problem here is that none of it is true. It's all just propoganda to reassure the people that they are safe.
But D'Annunzio has greater ambitions than that. He wants nothing less than a war with the nation of vampires, and plans to martyr Esther to his cause. To make it happen, he's blackmailed a female vampire named Scheherezade al-Rhaman to kidnap and kill Esther. He's ensured Scheherezade's cooperation by imprisoning her Kethuda, or human retainer, and threatening the man with death unless she does what he says.
He could make her kidnap Esther, but not kill her. Not even for the life of her Kethuda. And when Esther finds out what the Bishop has done, she is righteously angry and decides to start fighting back against what this man is doing to her. But with so many people in the church on his own side, supporting him- including Caterina Sforza's older brother, who wants his chance to manipulate the Pope, their younger brother, into declaring War on the Vampire Empire, does Esther have any chance of winning against such a man? Especially when he uses her siding with Scheherezade to declare that the vampires have brainwashed her into fighting for them? Can he really have his way, or will Esther and her allies, including Abel, be able to save her and overthrow this false cleric?
This is another wonderful chapter in the Trinity Blood story, showing that it's not really the fault of the vampires for the ugliness in the world. It's both the humans and the vampires, the ones who want war, not peace, to reign. And that's not exclusive to just one side- it's both. I'm sure both sides would tell you they have no choice- that neither side can or could live peacefully with the other. But as we have already seen, they are wrong. It's not that humans can't live with vampires peacefully. It's that some on both sides choose not to.
The Vatican does hold some blame here- many of their operatives are in the "choose not to" camp, and their ruthlessness and willingness to sacrifice someone like Esther, someone who can live peacefully with vampires, is frightening. If war won't come, they'll make it come, everyone else be damned. How Caterina Sforza and those under her, who do seek peace with the vampires, deal with the malice and treachery of their own side will be interesting, and perhaps might give the peacemakers among the vampires some hope.
Honestly, I love this series and can't wait to read more. Kikyo Kyujo's art lends itself equally to the lovely and the brutal, and there is lyricism in both, plus the constant questioning of who is really on the side of whom lends a definite air of uncertainty to the series, which keeps you guessing. Who will come down on the side of whom, and can the most ardent haters change their ways? This series keeps me guessing, and reading, and I can't give it up. Highly recommended.
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