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Hurler — A Calling Voice is the twenty-second chapter of Jun Mochizuki's The Case Study of Vanitas.

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SPOILER WARNING!
This article contains plot and/or ending details for The Case Study of Vanitas.
Read at your own risk.
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Summary[]

Evening has come and Vanitas and Jeanne walk down the lit-up and still crowded streets of Paris together. Jeanne wants to go back to the hill to retrieve her hat and parasol that had been lost in the struggle, but Vanitas protests that the Chasseurs might have been called. Jeanne is insistent as they had been a gift to her from Dominique, and Vanitas coldly says he’s sure the items have been taken and are being coveted greatly. Jeanne is distressed, thinking about Dominique. Vanitas offers to walk Jeanne to the Border she’d used to get to the humans’ Paris. Jeanne stops in surprise, and Vanitas is confused. Slyly, Vanitas asks if Jeanne wanted to stay with him until morning. Jeanne blushes red and denies this, that she promised she wouldn’t return until she’d accomplished her goal. Vanitas just continues teasing her, that said “goal” was determining her “love” for him. Jeanne vehemently denies this and proclaims that she wanted to cut ties with him and put all her energy into accomplishing this and endured all this humiliation in order to do so—

22 discussing

Discussing Loki and Luca.

Jeanne screams. She realizes all her prior efforts have gone totally to waste, and the utter defeat she feels is akin to the crumbling parts of those efforts slamming right into her skull. Vanitas laughs as Jeanne clutches her head, teary-eyed. He remarks that she’d been charming today, but he likes this version of her best. Jeanne stares at him, then turns red, confused at the sudden flipping of her emotions. Vanitas comments on how surprising it is that Luca allowed her to come see him by herself, to which Jeanne freezes and turns her head away. Vanitas asks if she came without permission, but Jeanne says Luca is with his older brother. Vanitas recognizes this and calls him by name: the Beastia, Loki. Jeanne nods and says that there’s no safer place for Luca than by Loki’s side, so there’s no need for her to protect him. She looks down impassively.

Jeanne had been told to use this opportunity to take a break, and was given permission from elsewhere to come see Vanitas. Vanitas asks whose permission, but comes to the conclusion himself: Ruthven’s. Jeanne is puzzled by his reaction and confirms this. Vanitas stares silently at her. Jeanne gets further confused. Vanitas silently thinks something over to himself, before it clicks for him and his eyes widen in horror. He instantly runs off without another word or even glance backwards. Jeanne is alarmed, and soon enough, she’s left standing all alone in the middle of the street. Vanitas is sprinting through the streets of Paris as fast as he possibly can, shoving past people and winding through narrow streets along the way. He thinks about Ruthven, and then he thinks about Noé, and he grits his teeth. He runs even faster. He makes it to Hôtel Chouchou and wastes no time, barging into their shared room. He calls out Noé’s name, worry evident on his face.

Noé is sprawled on the floor beside his bed. He’s still in his sleep clothes, he seemingly hasn’t moved an inch since they last parted, and he yawns sleepily at Vanitas. Vanitas freezes. Irritably, he asks if Noé actually slept the entire day away. Noé sits up and groggily rubs his eyes, only to become alarmed when he sees it’s already completely dark out. Vanitas, totally drained, stumbles in to sit down on his bed. Noé is still confused, remembering previously being at a café eating some tarte tatin, but wonders in concern when he sees Vanitas holding his head and out of breath. Vanitas, completely frustrated, brushes it all off.

Back with Jeanne, she’s left standing alone at a lamppost and wonders what happened to Vanitas. She assumes he won’t be returning and simply leans back against the post by herself. Then Ruthven appears, to her surprise, and she addresses him as “Teacher.” Jeanne asks what he’s doing here, and he answers that he needed to attend to an urgent matter. Then he heard that an incident happened regarding a Vampire at Montmartre, and after assuming it was her, went to go find her. Jeanne pales and apologizes for that, but assures she never injured any humans. Then she remembers biting Vanitas and amends that she did but it was consensual. Ruthven calmly accepts all her explanations, then cups her face with his hand. He says that her dress looks good on her, and that her parents Éric and Louise would have loved to see her as she is now. He becomes lost in his memories, causing Jeanne to be concerned. Ruthven smiles nostalgically. He wraps his cloak around Jeanne’s shoulders, citing how cold the night is, and beckons her forth so they can go home together.

Olivier nervously stands before a closed door in the Catacombes. He knocks and is greeted by a woman wearing glasses and very messy and unkempt long hair. She complains about his presence at such an hour, and he apologizes before asking if Roland is inside, all the while balking at the absolute mess the state of her lab is in. The woman, Mira, points him to the library in the back, which he steps forward to head into. But Mira stops him in his tracks and demands to be paid an “entry fee,” in the form of a kiss. Olivier recoils at this and insists on paying another way. Mira complains about how prudish he is compared to Roland, and Olivier gets annoyed that Roland actually complied with her. He offers to have high-quality liquor sent her way before stomping past Mira and her mess of a workspace. He passes by shelves filled messily with books and scrolls and skulls and other trinkets, before arriving at the library, shelves upon shelves of countless books all around.

Roland sits at a desk with some books and documents, and he beams brightly at Olivier’s appearance. Olivier is annoyed. He asks what Roland is doing, to which Roland responds matter-of-factly: reading. Olivier had heard wind of Roland sneaking around investigating something, but Roland corrects this as him studying history—that is, the history of humans and Vampires. Olivier’s brow twitches in anger. Roland reassures that he hasn’t touched anything banned and stuck only to material he’s read before. Olivier asks why, and Roland says he thought he’d be able to see something he couldn’t see before. Olivier stares at him. Roland had always thought of Vampires as entirely and without exception evil. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind, and wondering otherwise wasn’t even an option, as all he’d done before as a Chasseur was wield his Durandal indiscriminately. Then, he met Vanitas and Noé, and he saw their comradery, and he learned that that isn’t the case at all. Olivier quietly says Roland’s name. Roland stands up from his seat, glowing with excitement, proclaiming how incredible it is that God’s love and blessings are shared with Vampires as well.

Olivier grits his teeth, shouts Roland’s name, and slaps the papers out of his hands. He harshly asserts that Roland is a Chasseur, and it’s his duty to hunt Vampires in the name of God. If their superiors hear about what Roland believes, they’ll deem him a threat, and in the worst case scenario—his parents and siblings will end up hurt. Roland is stunned and falls back into his chair. Olivier bites his lip, expression conflicted and almost guilty. Suddenly, Roland asks Olivier how many Paladins he thinks Roland could take on. Three or four Roland guesses, maybe more if he fought with his life on the line. Olivier is confused, approaching the desk with concern. Roland, with a bright smile, says he would probably have trouble taking Olivier down. Olivier is stunned. Roland stares at him with half-lidded eyes. Olivier twitches with outrage and realizes he’s being threatened in return, that Roland being taken down would mean the Chasseurs being half-destroyed as well.

22 beast

The Beast of Gévaudan.

Roland’s smile turns more genuine and sympathetic. He says that he can only believe what he wants to believe. As he bends down to pick up the fallen papers, he describes what he’s doing as him doing his due diligence to confirm and clarify said beliefs. Olivier watches him with consternation. Then he notices Roland holding documents about August Ruthven. Roland excitedly confirms, as Ruthven played a key role in ending the war between humans and Vampires. Not to mention his position in The Senate and relationship to the Grand Duke Oriflamme, means that he’s a vital part of Vampire history. Olivier bends down to help pick up the papers, then finds one detailing “the case of the Beast of Gévaudan.” Roland looks over Olivier’s shoulder at the document as well, noting that before coming here he had no idea Vampires were involved, or Ruthven himself for that matter. Olivier reads about the incident contemplatively. It was during Louis XV’s reign of France, in which over a hundred people were brutally murdered in the regions of Auvergne and Gévaudan. Publicly the culprit was said to be due to wolves in the area, but the Church determined a Vampire to be behind the incidents. This case had been exceptional for the Church, because for the first time ever in all of history, the Chasseurs worked alongside Vampires in order to resolve it. Despite this, all and any efforts were in vain, as the murderer simply vanished out of nowhere one day. And despite all the unanswered questions remaining, the matter was shut and closed. Olivier looks at the drawing of the Beast on the document contemplatively, dark strokes of a paintbrush illustrating the Beast’s vicious visage.

The high howl of a wolf pierced the night sky. Snow fell gently, blanketing the world in pure white, the soft crystals colored alabaster fluttering in the wind and falling upon a lone figure who was knelt to the ground. The figure with her hair’s color matching that of the wintery landscape looked upwards and remarked how the moon couldn’t been seen on that night either. She walked through the snow, the wolves’ howling following her as she trudged past countless dead bodies and their pools of blood, trailing with her footsteps a single line of stark red in the snow like a stroke of paint across an untouched canvas. She reached her bloodstained hands to the sky and begged for someone to hurry and come quickly, and called that someone’s name—“Jeanne…!”

Jeanne stares in surprise; her and Ruthven’s walk is interrupted by a pair of underlings who’ve come bearing urgent news. At the same time, Dante bursts into Vanitas and Noé’s room through the window, searching for the human doctor. Vanitas asks if Dominique wasn’t with Dante, catching Noé’s attention, and Dante notes that Vanitas indeed knew about their tailing him. Vanitas retorts that it would’ve been stranger to not notice the two of them, and he left them alone since they looked to be having fun, and Dante agrees. Noé gets eager to see Dominique, but Dante tells him that he’d parted ways with her already. Dante moves onto more important matters, as he’d just heard some truly extraordinary information. At once, Dante reveals the matter while Ruthven’s underlings notify the exact same to him and Jeanne—

The Beast of Gévaudan has returned. Jeanne stares with unknown emotion.

Noé is surprised, but does not at all recognize the Beast or the name of the place in question. Vanitas laughs, catching Noé and Dante’s attention, and he remarks how interesting this is. The light cast over him sharpens his features and forms a dark shadow above his form, as Vanitas asks for more details, and smirks with anticipation.

Characters[]

(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.

Terms[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Hurler is literally translated as "scream" from French.
  • The Beast of Gévaudan was an actual beast which carried out over 200 attacks in the Gévaudan province of south-central France between 1764 and 1767.[1]
  • This chapter marks the start of Yen Press's change in translation of "ローラン" from "Laurent" to "Roland."

References[]

Navigation[]

v - e - t The Case Study of Vanitas
Characters

Main: Noé ArchivisteVanitas
Dhampirs: DanteJohannRiche
Galerie Valentine: ManetNoxParks Orlok
Hôtel Chouchou: Amelia RuthFlute
de Sade: Antoine de SadeChryslerDominique de SadeLouis de SadeMurrThe TeacherVeronica de Sade
Oriflamme: August RuthvenJeanneLoki OriflammeLuca Oriflamme
Chasseurs: Astolfo GranatumCharlesGanoGeorgesMarcoMariaMiraOgierOlivierRoland Fortis
d'Apchier: Chloé d'ApchierJean-Jacques Chastel
Blue Moon: MikhailVanitas of the Blue Moon
Archiviste: Noé ArchivisteLady Archiviste
Charlatan: ChèvreMonsieur SpiderMoreauNaeniaPlague Doctor
The Vampire Senate: FaustinaLord BellatorLord PaldenceMarquis Machina
Others: Beast of GévaudanCatherineÉricFannyFredGillesLouiseMinaNoé's GrandparentsParacelsusThomas Berneux

Nobility Archiviste ClanClan of the Blue MoonHouse d'ApchierHouse de SadeHouse of GranatumOriflamme DukedomThe SenateThe Vampire Queen
Terminology Species & Factions: BeastiaBourreauThe Catholic ChurchCharlatanChasseursDhampirsVampires

Objects: Astérisque FlowersAstermiteThe Book of VanitasMielWorld Formula Alteration Device
Weapons: Carpe DiemDurandalHauteclaireLouisette
Events: Babel IncidentThe War
Miscellaneous: MalnomenMark of PossessionTrue NameWorld Formula

Locations AltusAveroigneLa BaleineCarbunculus CastleLes Catacombes de ParisGalerie ValentineGévaudanHôtel ChouchouDoctor Moreau's LaboratoryParis
Volumes 12345678910
Episodes 123456789101112131415161718192021222324RecapSpecial
Blu-ray/DVD 12345678
Drama CDs Drama CD 1Drama CD 2Drama CD 3Drama CD 4
Soundtrack OSTSora to Utsuro0 (zero)Your NamesalvationCharacter Song Album 1Character Song Album 2
Character Songs Le Formidable!Hidamari ni Saku Hana~mon trésor~Na mo Naki MichiSekka
Other Media Stage Play
Extra Vanitashu no KaruteAuthor's NotesTimelineReal-World References
Author Jun Mochizuki
v - e - t The Case Study of Vanitas Chapters
Parisian Excursion Arc 12345
Bal Masqué Arc 67891011
Hunters of the Dark Arc 12131415161718192021
The Beast of Gévaudan Arc 2223242526272829303132333434.53536373838.53940414243
Amusement Park Arc 444546474849505152535454.55555.556
Miel Incident Arc 575859606161.56262.5
Intermissions 15.546.551.560.5
Volumes 12345678910
Other Vanitashu no KaruteAuthor's Notes
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