Chapter 37 - 75-77

Chapter 75: Charge! The local criminal syndicate

Naturally, criminal syndicates exist in the nations and cities of Lambda.

Exchanging stolen goods, smuggling of contraband products such as drugs and cursed items, illegal slave trading, contracts for murder. They are far more villainous than the Thieves' Guilds that appear in the fantasy works of Earth, and there are those that could never be called a necessary evil.

Such a criminal syndicate existed in the city of Niarki as well.

An organization with several dozen members, the 'Fangs of Dark Nights.' It was a criminal syndicate that had recently taken advantage of the economic slump in the Hartner Duchy to profit through slave trading and dealing drugs.

Its leader was a feared man, known as 'Torn Ear' Zagi. When he was young, he had been subjected to torture by an opposing organization, during which his ears had been torn to pieces, but he hadn't let out a single scream.

Zagi was currently glaring at a beautiful woman with red hair and red eyes.

"You b*tch… What are you after?"

He had been forced to sit on a sofa inside his base, which was filled with the lingering scent of blood. In front of him was a white-haired child sitting on the opposite sofa and the beautiful woman standing beside him.

Zagi's nearby henchmen were either lying on the floor bleeding or cowering and trembling in the corners of the room along with the women who poured his drinks.

"What I'm after is -" the child began.

"I'm not asking you. Shut the hell up, you sheetty brat," said Zagi, interrupting him, still talking with the tone of an important person. "Oi, Nee-chan, I don't know what kind of joke this is supposed to be, but if you thought you could trick me into thinking that this kid is your master, you've failed. There's no way that a woman who could dispose of my men in the blink of an eye would be serving a brat like this -?!"

The beautiful, red-haired woman grabbed Zagi's collar and raised him into the air with one hand.

I'm being lifted up by a woman's thin arm?!

In the next moment, the woman who had lifted the astonished Zagi into the air slammed his back into the floor.

"GAH?!"

The floor made a noise of destruction. Zagi was winded from the impact and began writhing in pain on the ground. The woman added a kick to his abdomen.

Zagi gave a scream, as if the precious little air in his lungs had been squeezed out. As the woman moved to deliver yet another attack, she was stopped.

"Eleanora, calm down," said the child.

"But Vandalieu-sama, such inferior creatures who dare speak careless remarks about you do not have the right to breathe," the woman protested. "He must be tormented and killed as soon as possible."

"Your words are contradicting themselves," the child pointed out. "It would be problematic if he dies, so let's calm down."

"… Yes." The woman turned back to Zagi. "You should be grateful for Vandalieu-sama's kindness, human."

"Ah, it's not good to use the word 'human' like that," said the child. "Me, Eleanora, Zran, we're all 'humans*,' after all. Everyone is human, you know."

"Th-that's right. Everyone is human, everyone is human…" The woman turned to Zagi again. "Be grateful, you scum."

"Yes, yes, like that," said the child.

From the conversation between the two individuals who were holding hands somewhere over his head, Zagi, who was still unable to breathe, realized that the child really was the superior one in their relationship. And on the inside, he felt relief at the fact that the child seemed to have no intention of killing him.

Considering the ability that Eleanora had demonstrated a moment ago, Zagi knew that even the members and bodyguards of the Fangs of Dark Nights who weren't present wouldn't be able to cross swords with her. In fact, within his field of vision, he could see the organization's most competent bodyguard, a former Class adventurer, defeated with a sword piercing his stomach.

Now that it comes to this, I have no choice but to buy time until the Master comes.

Zagi's only hope was for the true 'Master' of Niarki's underworld, the one who supported the organization, to come running to the scene of this bizarre occurrence. Zagi could feel the presence of the Master's familiar, so he firmly believed that the Master would come to this place.

The question was whether that would be while Zagi was still alive or after he had already died.

"Guh… So… what is your objective?" he asked the child. "Did someone pay you to do this? Or do you want drugs? Surely you're not going to tell me that this is someone's plan for vengeance."

"It's the last option, vengeance," the child replied. "I'm just acting as an agent, though."

Though Zagi's heart almost fell upon hearing that this really was an act of vengeance, he smiled to himself, realizing there was a chance if the child was an agent.

Those after revenge often have a broken sense of benefits and losses. An avenger who would stumble over money and women wouldn't have done things to this extent against the boss of a criminal syndicate.

However, if he was merely an agent of revenge, then it was a different story.

"Then what did you ask for? If it's money, I'll pay as much as you want. Won't you turn to our side?" Zagi asked.

"No, I intend to take all of your money after I kill you," said Vandalieu.

"Wha -?! Wait a second, didn't you say that your objective was vengeance?!"

"That's right. And I'm planning to take your money and organization while I'm at it."

The way Vandalieu spoke these words with such a casual tone caused Zagi to shudder. And if what Vandalieu said was true, the fact that Zagi would be killed had already been decided. Zagi couldn't understand this at all.

"Wait, whose vengeance did you come for?" he asked, now desperate. "Hasn't there been some kind of misunderstanding? I'm definitely a bad person, but I don't kill people without reason. I have no other choice but to do it to survive. Plenty of the people I killed were real scoundrels, too. In the underworld, there's a thing called the underworld's virtues -"

"If those words are lies, you're going to see hell, you know?" said Vandalieu, though he was almost certain that Zagi's words were indeed lies. He had already heard various things from Zagi's recently-deceased subordinates. "And as for whose vengeance I came for… Do you remember a bar by the name of, 'Scarlet Dreams?'"

"… What are you talking about?" Zagi asked, bewildered. He had no recollection whatsoever of a bar named Scarlet Dreams.

"I've come for the vengeance of a woman who was deceived by a swindling, traveling bard who was singing at that bar fifteen years ago," said Vandalieu.

"Huh?! What the hell is that?!" Zagi shouted, eyes wide open in disbelief. "Fifteen years ago?! A swindler's prostitute?! Why the hell have you come for such a worthless vengeance?! How stupid do you - GEGOH?!"

Eleanora delivered yet another kick into the side of his body.

"Please refrain from making further careless remarks, scum," Eleanora warned him.

As Zagi rolled on the floor, throwing up a mixture of blood and vomit, Vandalieu spoke once more.

"As for why, actually, this afternoon -"

Something big was going to happen.

Old Lady Milan, a Spiritualist who had made a living in divination for a long time in the city of Niarki, had been certain of this since the previous night.

It was a clear omen that anyone would notice if they had the basic powers granted by the Spiritualist Job that she possessed.

"So, you have come," she said, addressing the customer who had opened the door to her small store. "Business has been terrible because of you."

"What do you mean?" asked Vandalieu, the white-haired child who had come through the door.

The expression on Old Lady Milan's wrinkled face changed as she laughed. "Are you questioning how I knew that you would come? Or why business being terrible for me is your fault? You would know the answer to both of these if you gave it some careful thought," she told him. "Now that every spirit in the city has been taken away, even the spirits of the mice and insects, what is a Spiritualist like me supposed to do? And if you're taking such a large number of spirits around with you, it would be noticeable even from outside the city."

The eyes of Old Lady Milan, the eyes of a Spiritualist, could see the countless spirits surrounding Vandalieu. Their numbers were far beyond the hundreds or thousands; they swarmed around him like insects.

She was honestly unable to comprehend how the boy in front of her had managed to maintain his sanity.

"Some of the spirits told me that you were knowledgeable regarding the past," said Vandalieu.

"I suppose I am. I am an Elf, so I really am as old as I look," said Old Lady Milan, lowering her hood to reveal her long, pointed ears. "I'm not really trying to hide it. It's just that a mysterious old woman who has been here for decades attracts more customers than a simple old Elf, you see."

It seemed that the atmosphere and impressions left on the customers were important for fortunetellers, even in fantasy worlds.

"So, what did you want to ask me? I'm not an information broker, but if it's just stories from the past, I'll make it cheap for you," she said.

Those with the Spiritualist Job are capable of a little fortune-telling, hearing the voices of the dead and seeing spirits. Other than being able to learn who committed a murder or hear from people of secret intelligence organizations who had been silenced in crude manners, it is nothing outstanding.

This is because the memories and personalities of spirits become unstable over time. Their memories of everything other than fixations they had in life or people they hate collapse as if dissolving, eventually disappearing completely.

This can happen in the space of anywhere between a few days to several decades.

And even if they do possess the memories and personalities that they had in life, there is no guarantee that they will not lie. There have been tragic occurrences in the past where criminal investigations based on the words of Spiritualists resulted in innocent people being executed. It is not uncommon for the victim to protect their murderer when the victim is the murderer's relative.

But as Old Lady Milan was an Elf with a lifespan of five hundred years, she remembered many things about the past herself, and she remembered stories told by spirits right after they died, even though they had died long ago.

"Please tell me what happened to Princess Levia of Talosheim and those who were with her, around two hundred years ago," said Vandalieu.

"Why would you want to know about something like that?" Old Lady Milan asked. "Do you have some relationship with that nation of Titans? … No, I suppose I won't ask."

"I don't mind telling you, though?" Vandalieu offered.

"Never mind; those spirits around you are giving me frightening looks," said Old Lady Milan. "Now then… I think this will be unpleasant to hear for you, but listen, and don't get angry."

When the tunnel through the Boundary Mountain Range was discovered two centuries and a few decades ago, the head of the Hartner family of dukes at the time was a war-obsessed, zealous believer of Vida. As Talosheim was a nation of Titans that believed in Vida, he conducted trade with Talosheim in a proactive manner.

This trade brought wealth to the Hartner Duchy, leading it to having a favorable reputation and people praising it for having outstanding economic policies despite having an image of being an unrefined duchy before that.

However, the new head of the family after that was a zealous believer of Alda. He believed that the one who would bestow their divine protection in harsh battles was not Vida, who had been defeated, but Alda, the victor.

Even so, there would have been no problems for Talosheim if the duke was part of the peaceful faction, but he was actually a fundamentalist pretending to be part of the peaceful faction.

But he was not simply a fanatic and as ruler, he had the power of judgment. He maintained the trade with Talosheim for as long as it remained profitable, despite his unpleasant feelings about it.

That was when the Mirg shield-nation's expedition to Talosheim happened. The head of the Hartner family utilized that expedition. When Talosheim sent requests for reinforcements, he made excuses, delayed his responses and left the Titans to die. When the First Princess Levia led fifty refugees to the Hartner Duchy, seeking aid, he tricked them into thinking that he would accept them.

He had her bodyguards poisoned and had the princess executed after falsely accusing her of trying to kill him and instigate a coup d'état to take the Hartner Duchy for herself. He acquired the national treasures of Talosheim that the Titans had brought to ensure that they didn't fell into the hands of the Mirg shield-nation… precious Magic Items such as a box that generated endless products.

He sent the remaining Titans, which were only children and elderly individuals, to the slave-run mines as criminal slaves.

He had the city of people who were knowledgeable about Talosheim, the city that was the contact point for the trade with Talosheim, abandoned. Since the trade was now impossible, it was unable to sustain itself as a trading city anymore, so this was convenient for him.

As the tunnel had been sealed, there was no need to worry that the Mirg shield-nation would give pursuit, either.

As a result, the Hartner Duchy acquired national treasures of Talosheim and a labor force of Titans equivalent to several hundred workers without losing a single soldier to the Mirg shield-nation.

Considering the alternative of sending reinforcements to help fight the Mirg shield-nation and losing the battle, this was an extraordinary profit.

"But two hundred years ago, wasn't Talosheim supposed to be considered on the side of justice in the war between the Orbaume Kingdom and the Amid Empire?" asked Vandalieu.

If Old Lady Milan's story was true, there were some inconsistencies. At the very least, with her version of events, there would have been problems in considering Talosheim to be on the side of justice.

But Old Lady Milan simply gave a shrug. "I am simply a Spiritualist, boy," she said. "I only speak the words of the dead; investigating and making conclusions is not my specialty, nor is it my job. But you are right…" She paused. "The only ones who know the truth would be the duke's family and their close aides, as well as a very small number of the Kingdom's rulers at the time. They likely tricked the world with a substitute for the princess. A short while after the war, they would have announced that she had died of illness. It is a method that even an old woman like myself could think of."

There were fewer Titans than humans, but there were quite a number of them living in the Orbaume Kingdom. Though it would have taken some effort, it wouldn't have been particularly difficult to prepare a substitute.

And though Princess Levia was known by everyone in Talosheim, the number of people who knew what her face looked like in the Orbaume Kingdom was limited.

The people would be informed of a magnificent war and where it was occurring, told that the pitiful refugees had been 'taken under protection.' Everyone would be satisfied with this and not think to find out what was really happening. A few years later, the people would be tricked in the same way in regards to the princess's whereabouts.

This was a conspiracy made possible if several influential people joined forces.

"… So, are Talosheim's refugees still in the mines?" Vandalieu asked.

Old Lady Milan nodded. "Most likely. Titans are sturdy, and though they are criminal slaves, they are actually more like illegal slaves, so they should be still being made to work without being allowed to live or be killed," she said. "Perhaps not the elderly, but those who were children back then should be still alive, though probably not all of them. Apparently, it is something like a village of slaves managed by the army. It is something that I heard from one of the spirits near you."

Vandalieu thought for a moment before asking another question. "… The Titans that were Princess Levia's bodyguards, where were they buried?"

"Let's see. It would be unusual indeed for a spirit that would know such classified information to wander into a city in a remote place like this," said Old Lady Milan. "But there is an underground cemetery that would be ideal for burying such a dark history. There is a legend that one of the champions sealed away a part of the Demon King there. It is said that thanks to him, evil cannot escape that place, even now."

"Where is that?" Vandalieu asked.

"Somewhere beneath the duke's castle," Old Lady Milan replied. "Be careful."

"Be careful?" Vandalieu repeated. "You're saying that as if you know that I'm going to go there."

Old Lady Milan gave an exasperated sigh. "As you can see, I have been in this business for a long time," she said. "By looking at the spirits around you, I can see that you are struggling to contain your anger."

Exactly as Old Lady Milan was pointing out, Vandalieu was on the verge of exploding in rage. The nearby spirits were trembling in fear of his wrath.

If Old Lady Milan's story was true, how could he possibly remain calm? How could he not curse the events of the past?

He even felt a murderous impulse to go outside and begin indiscriminately tearing apart every living thing that entered his sight.

But Vandalieu's logical side persuaded him that that wouldn't make him happy, nor would there be any meaning to doing so.

It was true that the people of the Hartner Duchy had abandoned the refugees of Talosheim who were exploited. Nobody, not even the old Elf woman in front of him, had tried to advocate that they should be helped.

But the Orbaume Kingdom was a feudalistic nation as well. The average citizen wouldn't think of starting political movements. There was almost nobody left who knew about the circumstances of two hundred years ago, anyway. There was no internet and no journalists in Lambda. There were few ways information could spread, and the methods people could use to travel were limited as well.

And with regards to punishment, the mindset of Talosheim, the mindset of Nuaza, Borkus, Zran and the other Titans, was that "the sins of the father are not the sins of the child." Vandalieu agreed with this as well.

It would be wrong to punish the people who were currently alive for the sins committed in the events of two hundred years ago.

Indeed, at least for the sins of 'two hundred years ago.'

Vandalieu exhaled. "… Another question. If someone were to attack the slave-run mine and all of the slaves were to disappear somewhere, someone would investigate. Can you sell me information on the people who would investigate such an incident?"

The thing that needed to be done right now was not accusations or retribution, but the freeing of the Titans who had been turned into slaves. Vandalieu didn't care about the laws of this land.

But he wouldn't merely free them. He had to appeal to them and have them come to Talosheim. He needed to gain power and support, attack with enough force to be considered excess and deceive Duke Hartner and those serving him into thinking that it was some kind of accident.

"… No. I value my life more than a few coins," said Old Lady Milan. "Out of concern, I will tell you that revenge is… No, never mind. These words are nothing more than an unrealistic ideal. I learned that soon after I became able to see spirits, too."

The idea that the dead don't wish for anything, or that they only want the living to be happy is nothing more than a terribly foolish delusion.

There were spirits following this unrealistic ideal, but if those they hated while alive fell to ruin, they would laugh and feel truly happy from the bottom of their hearts. Old Lady Milan knew that such spirits existed.

The idea of speaking of this unrealistic ideal, to Vandalieu of all people, was laughable.

"I'm leaving the city tomorrow. Is there any kind of reward that you want?" Vandalieu asked, as if nothing had happened. He had managed to suppress his anger.

"Payment for the information? Despite the appearance of my store, I do have savings," said Old Lady Milan. "I have plenty to retire and live out the rest of my years, but… Let's see, can I ask one favor of you?"

As long as all of the spirits in the city were following Vandalieu, her business as a Spiritualist was doomed. As such, Old Lady Milan had intended to close her store for a while. She had even considered moving to another city, depending on how things went.

That was why she decided to voice the one regret that remained in the corner of her memories.

"Actually, you know, this was about fifteen years ago. One of my customers got involved with a bard who was singing at a bar called 'Scarlet Dreams.' I told her that he was a swindler and warned her to give up on him, and she said that she would break up with him, but -"

"Three days later, the woman's spirit apparently came back with a sad expression, and disappeared soon after. The old lady told me that she wanted to know the truth about this woman. And then I heard from a reliable source that you're the one responsible," Vandalieu explained.

Zagi's body couldn't stop sweating in terror.

In other words, this brat that I don't know anything about is about to do something crazy in this duchy. And he just decided to kill us all while he's at it?!

"No, quite a lot of you are alive," said Vandalieu. "Other than your bodyguards, only a few people were killed. The others are bleeding a little, but their hearts are still beating."

Did this guy just read my mind?!

Zagi was too astonished to speak, but actually, the spirit of one of his bodyguards had cheerfully told Vandalieu, "He's probably thinking something like that. What an idiot, right?"

"So, do you remember her?" Vandalieu asked.

Though Zagi didn't respond, he did indeed have some idea of what Vandalieu was referring to. To be more specific, he had remembered while Vandalieu was talking.

It was fifteen years ago, when Zagi was at the bottom of the organization. Back then, he had already been blessed with villainous qualities, skill in committing crimes and good luck. Even the boss of the organization at the time remembered him.

One of the jobs that he had been entrusted with was punishing a traveling bard who had been cheating people out of their money without making any offerings to the organization.

However, Zagi allowed the swindler to make a narrow escape. In order to cover up his failure, he kidnapped the woman that the swindler had marked as his target, killed her in an unimaginably gruesome way and dumped her corpse in the room that the swindler had been using.

He killed the woman and made it appear as if the swindler had fled in fear.

He bribed his companions as well. He took the money of the woman that the swindler had failed to escape with, gave it to the boss and told him that it was the money that the swindler had offered in apology. That was supposed to be the end of this incident.

I-if I tell the truth here, I'll be killed! Damn it, as if I'm going to die because of that woman that nobody gives a sheet about!

"I don't know, it was someone else… Probably the dead bodyguard over there," said Zagi. "He was a crazy bastard who loved killing women, you know?"

"He's lying! I killed about five people, but they were all men!" shouted the bodyguard's spirit.

Though Zagi was making various efforts in order to survive, they were futile and rather humorous attempts for Vandalieu, who could see spirits.

Damn it, isn't the Master here yet?! Ah!

The door was opened from the outside with a bang. A man with red eyes and white skin entered, along with a Titan with his face hidden by a black mask and several small-looking people.

"Master! Thank you for coming!"

The male Vampire leading the group was a spy who had been stationed here by the Pure-breed Vampires who worshipped Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life. He was the one who had been supporting Zagi.

By becoming this Vampire's hound, Zagi had been able to act like an important figure in the underworld of this city of ten thousand, without any other organizations rising to power.

Zagi had never seen the Titan or the small men following the Vampire before, but he assumed that they were probably his Subordinate Vampires.

"Now then, Master, kill this sheetty brat and his b*tch! I'll definitely repay the favor!" shouted Zagi.

"Zagiii… You are a loyal man who served me well. I valued you highly…"

The Vampire stepped towards Zagi, as if responding to his request. But then, he walked straight past Vandalieu and Eleanora and looked down at Zagi.

"YOU [censored] MONGREEEEL!" he roared. "DON'T YOU DAAAARE SPEAK BADLY OF THESE PEOPLE!" He drove the hard sole of his boot into Zagi's chest.

"GUAAAAH!" Zagi screamed as he heard his ribs cracking. "Master, what are you -?!" Suddenly, he noticed that the clothes of the man he called 'Master' were stained dark red.

"I still have plans for him, so leave it at that," Vandalieu instructed.

"Yes… Goshujin-sama." The Vampire lowered his head respectfully towards Vandalieu and kissed his feet.

Seeing this, Zagi understood everything now. The 'reliable source' that Vandalieu had mentioned earlier was this Undead Vampire.

Zagi's last hope had been disposed of even before the attack on his organization had begun.

"Th-this, this can't be happening… Just because I killed that woman that nobody cares about, the kind of woman you could find anywhere, my organization is… I'm…" With his hope extinguished, Zagi began whispering to himself with a face looking more like a dead man's than that of an actual dead man.

Vandalieu gave him a perplexed look. "Just like how she was the kind of woman that you could find anywhere, someone you didn't really mind killing, you're the kind of villain that I could find anywhere, and I don't really mind killing you," he told Zagi. "Isn't that just how it is?"

And so, Zagi, the boss of the 'Fangs of Dark Nights,' died. The next day, however, he was found in perfect health, still giving orders to his subordinates.

Zagi, whose personality had become strangely cheerful, began ruling the underworld much more reliably than he had before. It would be some time before a certain adventurer's actions revealed that he was, in fact, an Undead.

"King, I finally got a lover!" Braga announced.

"Eh, when did that happen?"

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Chapter 76: To adventurers at the Adventurers' Guild –

After being betrayed by her stepfather and sold to a slave trader, Marie was stricken by despair.

Marie's real father had died while she was young and her mother had remarried before dying of disease. Deciding that he couldn't raise a daughter that he wasn't related to, he ignored Marie's mother's final wish and sold Marie.

Betrayed by someone she had loved like her real father, Marie gave up hope in living.

A girl in her early teenage years like her wouldn't be purchased by a brothel unless she had been blessed with exceptional looks. It was common for such girls to be bought at cheap prices and worked to death performing harsh manual labor in a mine.

Nobody could blame Marie for falling into despair.

"Fufu, what a beautiful bride. Please tell me your name…"

That was why she actually felt relieved to learn that she had been given to a Vampire as payment, thinking that it would all be over soon.

Even if by some miracle she was blessed enough to be purchased by a good buyer and set free one day, she no longer had a family that cared about her.

Living out her remaining decades in such sadness would bring her nothing but pain.

"So, you are unable to speak… It matters not. I will soon be able to taste everything with these fangs and this tongue."

As the Vampire's fangs were revealed, his well-featured face twisted into a beast-like expression.

As those fangs closed in on Marie's neck -

The window, which contained glass unlike most other windows in the city of Niarki other than the windows of the lord's house, shattered and glass scattered across the floor.

"What?! Guah!"

Black shadows flashed past his back and his sides, each of them causing a spray of blood to erupt from his body.

Marie simply stared blankly at this unbelievable sight. The being in front of her was a Vampire, an embodiment of evil that was supposed to be defeated by champions or heroes. Someone was tearing such a being into pieces in a one-sided fashion.

"Damn you, you coward!" the Vampire cursed. "Wounds like this will soon…!"

"They won't heal," said a voice. "These are kunai that apply the Holy Son's Healing Negation."

"There's also deadly poison on them that works on Vampires," said another.

"What?! That can't… be… Gobuh!"

With blood spraying from his mouth as if he were a fountain, the Vampire stopped moving.

The Vampire that was supposed to grant Marie an end to her life had perished.

His corpse had even been carried away by a masked Titan.

Vaguely wondering what would happen to her now, Marie was overwhelmed with fear. Instinctively, she picked up a sharp fragment of glass.

"Wait."

Before Marie could bring the piece of glass to her throat, the smaller assassin had grabbed her arm.

"Why are you stopping me?!" she demanded. "I'm begging you, please let me die!"

"No!" said the assassin. "It would be problematic if you were to die!"

"Why?" she asked. "You can find people who can replace me if you look just about anywhere!"

"There's nobody who could replace you!" said the assassin, with a forceful tone to his voice.

"- Eh?" Marie instinctively let the strength flow out of her arm.

Braga used this opportunity to seize the piece of glass and throw it aside.

And then he began to treat Marie's hand that had been cut by the glass.

"Everyone cares about you," he told her. "Don't go and die so easily."

Braga and the others had been asked by Vandalieu, their king, to protect as many of the Vampires' victims and captives as possible.

That was why they had been careful to protect victims like Marie and keep them safe.

Braga wasn't lying.

But in this moment, for the brokenhearted Marie, he was like a prince on a white horse.

"So that's how it is, King. This is my lover, Marie," Braga announced.

"Please give your blessings for our marriage."

You really never know where you're going to meet the one, Vandalieu thought as he looked at the proud-looking Braga and the girl standing next to him, who looked to be around twelve or thirteen years old.

"I don't really mind giving my blessings, but… Braga is a Black Goblin. Are you alright with that?" Vandalieu asked.

Black Goblins were far more human-like in appearance than regular Goblins, and they had good personalities like Braga's. Though Vandalieu could understand being friends, he had to wonder, wasn't there still a barrier that would make most normal people hesitate to choose a Black Goblin as their spouse?

"Of course," Marie replied, despite Vandalieu's doubts. "The only one who cared about me is my mother, who passed away. I'm sure it's destiny that Braga and the others saved me from being killed by that Vampire!"

"I-I see," said Vandalieu. "You won't be able to come back to this country for at least ten more years. Do you still feel that way?"

"I don't mind!"

"Then I don't have anything to do other than give you my blessings and say, 'congratulations.'"

If Marie herself was satisfied, then it was probably fine. In fact, Braga, the vice-captain of the ninja unit, was the most successful of the Black Goblins and a fine individual. There was nothing to object to.

And Marie would probably be able to live a more luxurious lifestyle if she came to Talosheim.

"Ah, Holy Son, about the prostitutes that the scoundrels held captive and the women working for them…" Zran began. For some reason, his words were rather inarticulate.

As Vandalieu turned to look at him, it was clear even through his mask that he was feeling troubled.

"What is it?" Vandalieu asked. "I'm planning to use the Mental Encroachment skill to keep them quiet, give them some money and then release them."

He only planned to use the Fangs of Dark Nights that he had taken over for a few months at most, so he had no intention of continuing the management of their businesses like their brothels. He was intending to pull out right away, so he was planning to dispose of the wicked female management pretending to be prostitutes and silence the rest before releasing them.

"About that," said Zran. "After seeing Marie-jouchan, they seem to have misunderstood and are under the impression that they won't be killed if they suck up to us… They're having a mass marriage interview over there with the Black Goblins."

"… Wow."

"And none of them are used to women, so things have turned out quite interesting."

"… Women are sturdy, aren't they."

"So, Vandalieu-sama, what will we do with those women?" Eleanora asked.

Indeed, what should Vandalieu do with them?

"First of all, let's conduct interviews and physical examinations," he said.

"Honey, you have to tell him about me as well," said a woman.

"Ah, that's right. King, I have a lover, too," said another Black Goblin.

"… Congratulations," said Vandalieu.

Around the same time, those who had conspired to destroy the cultivation project led by the next lord of the Hartner Duchy, the second son Belton, had gathered to report the situation.

"So, you mean to tell me that our plans have come to nothing because of this Dhampir boy?"

"Precisely, Karcan-dono!"

Karcan, a knight of the Hartner family's eldest son, Lucas, seemed to doubt the report of Froto, the man who had been disguising himself as a priest of Alda. "That is what you say, but… No, I do not mean to say that I distrust you people. But still, it is a little…"

Nobody could blame Karcan for stroking his goatee with a suspicious look in his eyes. The contents of the report of Froto and his companions were simply too bizarre.

A Dhampir had flown through the sky towards the Fifth Cultivation Village to save all of the villagers from the poison that had been distributed there.

In addition to appearing from the sky barehanded to defeat a group of Orcs attacking the village, he created a well in the blink of an eye, providing an abundant source of water to the village that had been suffering from a water shortage.

Karcan himself had ordered the knights under his command to deliver poisoned fertilizer to the Second Cultivation Village; it was supposed to become a ghost town by next spring. But apparently the Dhampir had come and taught the villagers how to use Goblins as emergency rations.

And Froto claimed that there was no doubt that the Dhampir was involved in the fact that the bandits dispatched by the spies in the city had gone missing.

Karcan's men were reporting that all of this was done by a single Dhampir boy.

It wasn't unreasonable for Karcan to think that all of this was 'suspicious.'

"At the very least, Karcan-dono, I saw the incident with the Orcs myself. With these very eyes, I saw the Orcs I sent being defeated by the Dhampir in an instant!" said the man who had tamed the Orcs.

He was a Beast Mage - a Job that allowed the creation of mental bonds with monsters through magic in order to control them.

Considering his words in addition to Froto's, it was difficult to believe that these reports were lies.

"And to counteract the poison that I distributed… That poison takes time to kill its victims, as it is designed to look like a disease, but it cannot be counteracted by normal anti-poison spells or antidote Potions. That Dhampir's skill is not superficial by any means," said a young man, the spy who had used makeup to disguise himself as a middle-aged traveling merchant.

The men's words were too unnatural to assume that they were simply making excuses for failing in their work. Thus, Karcan decided to take their reports as truth.

He was in charge of an entire order of knights. He had seen with his own eyes that there were men who could achieve unbelievable things despite their age and appearance if they served as knights for long enough.

"That child was a Dhampir, was he? As difficult as it is to believe, if he is indeed a Dhampir, it is a feasible story," said Karcan. "But in other words, it simply means that there was a capable healing mage with the strength of a D-class adventurer in those villages," he concluded.

The fact that the Dhampir had defeated three Orcs was impressive, but he had essentially defeated one with a surprise attack and used his momentum to defeat the other two. This would likely be possible for anyone with the strength of a D-class adventurer.

"Most importantly, he is not using the village as a base for activity like the refugee adventurers. You said that he was simply passing by towards the city to become an adventurer, didn't you? In other words, it simply means that we must get things done while that child is not in the villages," said Karcan.

"Will that really be alright?" Froto asked.

Karcan laughed. "You worry too much. Even that Dhampir wouldn't do something like setting up guards to watch over the villages," he said.

"I suppose you are right."

In reality, Vandalieu had stationed his Familiars, Lemures, as well as dozens of Stone Golems in each cultivation village.

"If that Dhampir child is intending to become an adventurer, he should be forced to attend the adventurers' school for at least a year," said Karcan. "During that time, we will pretend to be bandits and destroy the cultivation villages… I will lead the men myself."

The men stirred at Karcan's announcement that he and his men would act as bandits.

"Is that really alright? If it were to be discovered, even if our victims are mere refugees, we will be hanged or turned into slaves!"

"We must be willing to take at least this much risk," said Karcan. "Everything is for the sake of exterminating these shamelessly disgraceful fools from the Sauron Duchy who are eating away at our Hartner Duchy like parasites, for the sake of the people and for the sake of Lord Lucas!"

As Vandalieu had thought, Karcan didn't acknowledge the refugees who had escaped the Sauron Duchy, including those living in the cultivation villages, as people of his own nation.

The 'people' that he referred to were the people of the Hartner Duchy; those from other duchies such as the Sauron Duchy were essentially foreigners.

With that said, Karcan's true motive was that he was impatient because he hadn't achieved anything meaningful in Lucas's name, so even if Lucas did succeed the family, Karcan wouldn't achieve the social status he wanted.

"My company is due to go on an expedition next month," said Karcan. "At that time, we will start with the Seventh Cultivation Village and then go on to attack the rest of the cultivation villages. Froto-dono, I will have you join us as well."

"Me?"

"To ensure that we do not leave anyone alive, we need you, Froto-dono, as you know your way around the villages from pretending to preach to them. If this succeeds, you will become a vassal of the duke's house, too. I'm counting on you."

"Of course."

Despite the ominous feeling that he got from becoming involved in a deeper conspiracy than he had counted on, Froto couldn't turn back now.

Vandalieu, who had inadvertently put a stop to all of Karcan's plans, was passing through the marketplace and heading towards the Adventurers' Guild.

His objective was, of course, to register as an adventurer.

Things have changed after I learned various things, but now is the perfect opportunity to register.

Now that it was clear that the Hartner Duchy had betrayed Talosheim, Vandalieu had a new objective of rescuing the Titan slaves from the slave-run mines, where they were still being exploited.

He had already contacted Talosheim regarding this; Borkus was apparently so furious that he wanted to invade the duchy right this moment.

How reliable he was.

The reason Vandalieu was still registering as an adventurer despite this was because if he let this chance pass him by now, the next opportunity to do so might be years away.

Vandalieu had also disposed of the Vampire that had been stationed here by the Pure-breed Vampires worshipping the Evil God of Joyful Life, turning him into an ally. Even the criminal syndicate controlling the city of Niarki had become his puppet.

I'll quickly register, leave the city right away, regroup with Eleanora and the others, wait for night to fall and then fly towards the duchy's capital.

Either way, Vandalieu needed to wait for nightfall before flying, so there was no problem with this.

It would be problematic if he had a clichéd encounter with delinquent adventurers, though.

"Still, it's good that I learned that there are a lot of things I need to work as an adventurer. To think that I'd at least need a house."

Normally, adventurers wouldn't need a house to work as an adventurer. New adventurers used cheap lodging houses, while many veteran adventurers used inns that they were familiar with as their bases.

However, Vandalieu had circumstances unlike those of other adventurers in that he had Borkus, Zadiris, Sam and Eleanora to worry about.

They wouldn't be treated as "people." They were "monsters" that Vandalieu had tamed. As such, Vandalieu couldn't use an inn.

It was similar to restaurants and boarding houses on Earth that didn't allow their customers to bring pets. And in this case, they weren't pets, but monsters that were feared more than wild beasts.

If they were small monsters like Pixies, there probably wouldn't be any problems, and for those like Eleanora and Zadiris who looked like normal people at first glance, things might work out at certain inns. But it would certainly be impossible for Knochen and Bone Man.

Of course, there were adventurers who were tamers, but when they used inns, they left their monsters in barns. Whether they were Goblins, Kobolds or even Ghouls, they would have to stay in barns.

Because of this, if Vandalieu wanted to use an inn, Borkus, Bone Man, and even Eleanora and the Ghouls if they weren't allowed to use a guest room, would have to be treated like horses and kept in a barn.

Truly savage behavior.

Though after realizing this last night, Eleanora had prepared herself for this, thinking, "To humiliate myself in such a way before anyone other than Vandalieu-sama… But if it is for Vandalieu-sama's sake."

"In order to work as an adventurer, I need to attend the adventurers' school, but even before that, I need to take money from bandits and criminal organizations, gather treasures from Dungeons and buy a big house," said Vandalieu. "Huh, isn't it normally the other way around?"

It was strange to think that in order to become an adventurer and make achievements for himself, he needed to become rich and acquire a house. But if he worked alone, he couldn't acquire Experience Points due to his curse, and he wouldn't be able to endure the loneliness.

On top of that, he had no confidence that he would be able to gain companions to form a party at the adventurers' school.

A house was necessary after all.

"Even if I do use money to buy a house, I can't walk around cities publicly with everyone unless I receive collars and necklaces that prove that I've tamed them. Becoming an adventurer is so troublesome," Vandalieu thought aloud as he passed a deserted Church of Vida and arrived at the Adventurers' Guild building.

It was a two-story building built in an area so large that the branch in the Seventh Cultivation Village, the entire jack-of-all-trades store, could fit inside it dozens of times over. Excluding the buildings of the region's lord, it was among the five largest buildings in the city of Niarki.

The buildings for Guild branches in cities really are big. Even Vandalieu, who normally lived in the royal castle of Talosheim, was impressed.

He gave a short prayer, hoping that he wouldn't get into a fight with some delinquent adventurer.

"Let's go."

He gathered his resolve and opened the door to the Guild. The time of day where the Guild would be packed with adventurers looking for requests to accept had passed, so there were few adventurers present. There were receptionists sitting at the reception counter, and behind them, there were other employees doing paperwork.

Vandalieu proceeded silently and managed to reach the counter. Without getting into any fights.

It seems my prayer has been heard, Vandalieu thought, but he was mistaken. It was simply that most of the adventurers hadn't even noticed him, and even if they did notice him, there weren't many who would pick a fight with a child like him.

Most children who come to the Adventurers' Guild are either newbies coming to register, G-class adventurers or students of the adventurers' school.

And if someone were to say, "You think a brat like you can be an adventurer?!" and pick a fight with a G-class adventurer who did work like manual labor in the city and cleaning the Guild, they would receive only scornful laughter.

Things would only be more tragic for them if they were to pick a fight with a student enrolled at the adventurers' school. Positions as instructors at the adventurers' school are popular for adventurers who have retired from the front lines. If people pick fights for no reason and try to threaten others, they would only anger their seniors and make it harder for themselves to be reemployed in the future.

So, the cliché scenario of the "boorish senior adventurer who picks fights with newbies" only occurs when new adventurers graduate the adventurers' school and begin their real adventures. Alternatively, it is often the child who starts the fight.

There are indeed people in all lines of work who are so hopelessly low that common sense is lost on them, but… they wouldn't be present in every Guild branch at every hour of the day.

Perhaps in the sense that there were no such people currently in the Niarki branch of the Guild, Vandalieu's prayer had indeed been heard.

"Excuse me," said Vandalieu, calling out to a receptionist. "I want to register as an adventurer."

"! Ah, yes." It seemed that the receptionist hadn't noticed him; she looked surprised for a moment before quickly giving him a businesslike smile and handing him a pen and a paper form. "Please fill out your name, age, race and specialties if you have any. Do you need someone to fill it out on your behalf?" she asked.

"No, it's not a problem," said Vandalieu. "But what kind of things should I write under specialties?"

He had heard about the application process for the Adventurers' Guild of two hundred years ago from Borkus and the process in the Mirg shield-nation from Kachia, but things were different in different time periods and different nations. It was best to make sure he was filling out the form correctly.

"For specialties, you should write things like any training you have received from former adventurers, affinity for attributes, your qualities and any unique skills you possess," said the receptionist.

"Even my unique skills? Don't you find out my skills when you issue my Guild Card?" Vandalieu asked.

"Yes, that is correct, but your skills that are revealed when you register are kept confidential, so they will only be known to the staff member in charge of your registration. When you write your unique skill in the specialties field of the form, it is a declaration of your intent to make that unique skill public and make use of it in competing requests," the receptionist explained.

For example, if an adventurer possessed a unique skill that granted the ability to deal extra damage against certain species of monsters, such as Goblin Slayer or Dragon Slayer, the Guild would set up requests suitable for that skill and introduce appropriate clients to that adventurer.

But if the adventurer wanted to keep the skill a secret, it would basically be sealed within the mind of the staff member.

It seems like there would be exceptions, though… like they would actually tell the Guild Master, or something like that.

The Adventurers' Guild was run by people after all, so it was probably best not to rely too much on their confidentiality policy.

In fact, though Vandalieu was unaware of this, a Guild Master of the Adventurers' Guild in the Mirg shield-nation had fraudulently promoted the Green Wind Spear Riley at Earl Thomas Palpapek's demand.

Of course, there were some Guild Masters who managed their branches in a wholesome manner, but there were also those who did not.

In that case, I can just leave the specialties field blank.

Vandalieu would dash out of the city after registering. He submitted the form after filling in only the fields for his name, race and age.

"This is…" For some reason, the receptionist opened her eyes wide as she took the form and then gave Vandalieu a pitiful look. "According to what you have written in this form, you are a seven-year-old Dhampir. Is that correct, Vandalieu-san?"

Even if Vandalieu tried to deceive her, his real name, age and race would be revealed once his Guild Card was issued. So, of course, he had filled in the form with complete honesty.

"Yes, that's right," he told the receptionist.

I suppose Dhampirs are rare after all, Vandalieu thought as he removed the cloth concealing one of his eyes, showing her that he really was a Dhampir.

"Then… I'm afraid you cannot register," the receptionist said with a grave expression as she saw his crimson and purple odd-colored eyes.

Vandalieu blinked a few times, bewildered by this unbelievable response. But the receptionist's expression didn't change, nor did she correct her statement.

"Why is that?" he asked. "I thought that those under the age of ten registering to become adventurers just need to take a simple test?"

If the examination was passed… If the applicant was able to demonstrate that they possessed the intelligence and decision-making ability equivalent to that of a ten-year-old child, they would be registered as a G-class adventurer. As for whether they could become F-class or higher, just like other underage adventurers, it would be decided after they graduated from the adventurers' school.

At least, that was how it was supposed to be, but -

"Under the joint signature of Lord Belton and the Guild Master of the Guild headquarters of the Hartner Duchy, the rules have been changed. Children under the age of ten who have mixed blood including blood of Vida's races that originate from monsters such as Lamias and Centaurs do not have the right to sit the examination," the receptionist told him. "Of course, this includes Dhampirs."

The system had changed so that Vandalieu couldn't register as an adventurer in the Hartner Duchy until he reached the age of ten where he would be able to attend the adventurers' school - another three years or so.

Kasim and his friends hadn't mentioned it, but they hadn't intentionally kept it from Vandalieu. They were all humans; the only ones affected by this system change were Beast-people, Titans, Dark Elves and people of mixed blood of those races. Beings like Vampires or Lamias were considered to be monsters. Children born between humans and such beings with their human features being more prominent than their monster ones were a minority.

Kasim and his friends couldn't be blamed for not remembering the change.

And now that he thought about it, Vandalieu realized that he had never told them that he was seven years old. Because he had decapitated a Goblin Barbarian and used advanced life-attribute magic (or at least, Kasim and the others believed this) to heal Ivan, it wouldn't be surprising if they had assumed that Vandalieu was older than he looked.

"I… see."

"Yes. And rumor has it that the rules will change again this year so that such individuals will not have the right to enroll at the adventurers' school…" the receptionist wore a regretful expression as her words trailed off.

If what she said came to pass, Vandalieu wouldn't be able to become an adventurer for another eight years, never mind three.

"I… see…" said Vandalieu, trying to suppress his shock in order to think.

It was unpleasant that Lord Belton and the Guild Master had made a change to the system and rules that seemed to target him specifically. Including the way that Talosheim and the Titans had been betrayed, Vandalieu would never forget this.

But there would be no meaning in protesting here. It was best that Vandalieu give up and leave the city.

And once he dealt with the matters at hand, he would simply need to look for an opportunity to register as an adventurer in another duchy.

He wouldn't wait eight years. It would be fine to register next year or the year after. Normally, it would be difficult for a child living in this world to go to another duchy (which was essentially another country), even if that child was in a trading city near a border between duchies. But Vandalieu would be able to do so easily by flying through the sky.

This wasn't a large problem. Yes, it was unpleasant, but it wasn't a large problem.

But someone behind Vandalieu raised his voice. "Hang on a second, will you?"

The receptionist in front of Vandalieu and even the other employees and adventurers started to stir in commotion as their attention was drawn to the voice's owner.

Vandalieu opened his eyes wide without turning around.

He had heard this voice somewhere before.

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Chapter 77: Abandoning the duchy, unable to forgive the enemy

"Hang on a second, will you?" said the adventurer, casually approaching the reception counter that Vandalieu had frozen stiff in front of. "It's the first time I've heard of this rule change. Can you explain what you mean?"

"You're troubling me. I'm currently dealing with this child -" the receptionist began.

"I have something I want to say about how you're dealing with him. Can you call the Guild Master for me?" said the adventurer.

"You're troubling me," the receptionist repeated. "If you want to make an appeal to the Guild, then, when it is your turn, please tell one of us staff members at the reception counters first."

"I am the A-class adventurer Heinz. I'd like to request a face-to-face meeting with the Guild Master once more, under the authority of an A-class adventurer."

Heinz. It was Heinz.

Vandalieu turned his head as if it was on a creaking hinge, looking at the adventurer standing next to him.

He was a well-featured, strong-willed young man with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was in his early-to-mid-twenties. It was clear from one look at his appearance and equipment that he wasn't an ordinary person.

Though it had changed a little, he had the same voice that Vandalieu had heard in Evbejia, and he matched the physical description given by Riley.

Mom's enemy, the Blue-flamed Sword Heinz!

He was one of the people whom Vandalieu absolutely needed to kill. Vandalieu had heard that Heinz had crossed over to the Orbaume Kingdom, but he hadn't imagined that Heinz would be staying in the Hartner Duchy, nor had he imagined that he would encounter him at this moment.

The resurrection of Darcia was something that was absolutely needed for Vandalieu's "pursuit of happiness." And those who interfered with that needed to be eliminated. That was why he would kill Heinz.

Selling his mother to a fanatic worshipper of Alda had simply been another request for Heinz. It didn't matter if his actions were completely normal and legal in that nation.

It didn't matter what Heinz was thinking and doing now.

The problem was the future, what lay ahead. He had sold Darcia to a religious fanatic once. What reason did Vandalieu have to believe that he wouldn't do the same again? If he had already changed his viewpoint once, who was to say that he wouldn't change it again?

In order to reduce those possibilities to zero, Heinz needed to be killed and destroyed.

Now was a good opportunity to do that.

Of course, Vandalieu couldn't do anything flashy in a place like this where people were watching. He knew that. He could simply poison him or infect him with a disease.

Should he turn his breath, a small amount of his saliva or the substances secreted by his skin into poison? Should he 'accidentally' touch Heinz and infect him with pathogens?

Vandalieu started coming up with these plans, but every time he thought about them, he heard the warnings of Danger Sense: Death in his head.

If he tried to poison Heinz, he would be killed. If he tried to infect Heinz with pathogens, he would be killed.

Either way, the one who would die was not Heinz, but Vandalieu.

Impossible, is this guy invincible or immortal or something?!

He was far too different compared to when he had worked for High Priest Gordan. Vandalieu was astonished at this change, but he couldn't deny the reality in front of him or the death-attribute magic spell that had saved him up until now.

I see; this is an A-class adventurer worthy of becoming S-class like Mikhail, the one who was powerful enough to slay Borkus and the others in an instant.

Someone who would defeat A-class adventurers, who were supposed to be superhumans, with ease. A superhuman that transcended superhumans.

Heinz was far too different from Riley, whose soul had been broken by Vandalieu after his defeat at Borkus's hands. And it was even said that Heinz was far more blessed when it came to allies than Riley had ever been.

Vandalieu moved his eyes and looked far past Heinz to see that there were five more people standing there. Two of them matched the descriptions that he had heard from Riley.

The female Dwarf Shield-bearer with blue hair, Delizah. The male Scout with black hair and black eyes, Edgar. The other two were perhaps new party members, a female Elf with a mace and priest's garb, and a young woman who appeared to be an unarmed fighter.

Heinz wouldn't have chosen them just for their looks, so they were probably A-class and B-class as well, Class at worst.

This must be the new 'Five Colored Blades' with two new members taking the place of Riley and the female Elf Spiritual Mage who apparently perished in a Dungeon.

The fifth additional member, a girl of Vandalieu's age or even younger who was half-hiding behind Delizah, was probably not a party member. Was she someone's younger sister?

Ah, how troublesome. They're the worst kinds of enemies for me.

Even excluding the girl, he could tell by looking at the other four. It was because of these people that Vandalieu didn't even have a fraction of a percent of a chance of killing Heinz.

They were watching Heinz with wry smiles and exasperated expressions, muttering words like, "Good grief," and "Here we go again." But if anything were to happen to Heinz, they would back him up with swift speed and precision.

If Heinz were to fight Vandalieu with these party members with him, there was no doubt that he would utilize his ability to coordinate with them and deliver a blow capable of piercing Vandalieu's barriers.

Poisoning them or infecting them with pathogens would be futile. Unlike the soldiers of the Mirg shield-nation's expedition army, they were equipped to deal with high-Rank monsters that inflicted status effects with their attacks. They were different even from the self-conceited Riley.

They were ridiculously strong. Their Mana pools were irrelevant. If Vandalieu was an enormous elephant, they were ants capable of killing such an elephant.

I have no choice. I have to endure this humiliation for now. I mustn't die; there are things I need to do. I'll be satisfied with being able to see these guys' faces directly. I'll regroup with Eleanora and the others, and… Huh? What are these guys… What is Heinz doing?

Vandalieu, who had even been using his High-speed Thought Processing skill to immerse himself in his thoughts in an attempt to endure the feeling of powerlessness and humiliation that tormented his entire body, was suddenly startled as he began processing the information from his ears.

"Please wait, the Guild Master is currently out of his office -"

"Then a Sub-Master should be here. The rules state that when the Guild Master is absent, one of the two Sub-Masters will always remain inside the Guild. Or was that rule changed as well?"

Heinz was currently arguing not with the receptionist, but a male staff member who appeared to be her senior. But the situation was looking worse for the staff member.

"That is…"

"I know that there's no point in saying this to you," said Heinz. "The same goes for the Guild Master of the Guild's Niarki branch. But there's something I want the Guild Master to write. I want him to write a letter of introduction to meet the Guild Master of the Adventurers' Guild headquarters of the Hartner Duchy."

"I-if our Guild Master writes something like that, doesn't that mean that he is endorsing you?!" said the staff member.

Heinz pressed the staff member further. "So, he can't do it? Even though he can approve of such a meaningless rule change?"

"Th-this isn't something that can be decided by a mere staff member!" the staff member protested.

"Any Guild employee would know that this meaningless rule change is a non-committal decision made by Lord Belton in order to gain the support of the churches, including the Church of Alda, because he can't gain the support of the duchy's army in his familial dispute," said Heinz. "It's something that even I could figure out right away, after all."

Apparently, many of the current important figures in the Hartner Duchy's Church of Alda were fundamentalists rather than members of the peaceful faction.

"Children with monster blood are dangerous, so they can't be judged through a single examination. They could lose their self-control at any moment, so letting them into the adventurers' school is also dangerous. Do you guys really believe these things?" Heinz asked.

The more Heinz spoke, the paler the male staff member's face grew and the more he struggled to maintain eye contact. It was likely that he secretly agreed with Heinz's words. It seemed that the same went for the other staff members and receptionists.

The other adventurers present voiced their agreement.

"What's the problem? You just have to deliver a message!"

"That's right, that's right! The doors of the Adventurers' Guild are wide open, aren't they?!"

"You're not planning to keep us Beast-people out soon, are you?"

And then the male staff member seemed to come to a decision. "I understand," he said. "But the only thing I can do is pass the message onto the Guild Master."

"I know," said Heinz. "That'll be enough."

"I will warn you… As an A-class adventurer, you already possess more influence than a lower nobleman," the staff member told him. "Your intentions will be known to the lords. But please do not forget that it is up to the lords as to how to interpret your intentions."

"I know that, too," said Heinz. "Not as a member of Alda's peaceful faction, but as an adventurer, I believe that the Guild shouldn't obey the will of politicians. That's all I wanted to say. 'The doors to adventure are open to members of all races'… We shouldn't ignore the words of the founder, should we?"

"I like those words too," said the staff member. "Now then, I will send a messenger the Guild Master, so excuse me. You're lucky, aren't you?" he said, smiling at Vandalieu.

With the staff member's words, Vandalieu's brain finally started functioning again.

Lucky? Why? Because he had been able to see how his enemy's appearance and a part of his power? No, that wasn't it…

Could it be… Heinz is helping me? Impossible!

As Vandalieu directed his gaze towards Heinz to see him giving Vandalieu a nod with a reassuring, reliable smile. As if to say, "Leave it to me."

However, rather than being reassured, Vandalieu was going mad.

Why do I have to be helped?! Don't mess with me!

Is it some kind of trap?! There's another side to this, there's another side to this, there has to be!

There's something fishy about this, it's strange, I'm not convinced!

Feeling an unpleasant sensation that felt like his brain, spirit and even his soul were turning into mush, Vandalieu was unable to gather his thoughts. The Parallel Thought Processing and High-speed Thought Processing skills served only to further increase his confusion; he couldn't calm down.

"Good grief. Who was it that said he's not interested in politics? The moment we finish our escort request and arrive in the city, this happens. And now you're planning to complain to the next duke and the Guild Master of the duchy's Guild headquarters," said Heinz's male party member.

"But Edgar, he's been saying it all along, hasn't he?" said another. "That Alda's teachings should be changed to be more peaceful. And even going as far as to split up with Riley to come to this country was Heinz's -"

"I remember hearing that this party's objective was to completely clear the wandering Dungeon, 'Zakkart's Trials,' though," said a third party member, a woman.

"Please don't say that," said yet another party member. "Or do you mean to say that you think that Heinz's words are mistaken, Jennifer?"

"… That's not what I meant," said the woman called Jennifer.

Vandalieu could hear Heinz's companions conversing as if these things couldn't be helped, though none of them showed any signs of opposing Heinz's words.

"Hey, is Heinz the one who belongs to Alda's peaceful faction?"

"That's right. I heard that in the Mirg shield-nation, he witnessed the tragedy of a certain Dhampir and his mother, and that's why he came to this country."

"Huh. So that's why he's helping a Dhampir now. A-class adventurer-samas really are something else."

Vandalieu could hear the voices of other adventurers.

In summary, Heinz and his companions changed their views when they saw Mom burned at the stake after they captured her and handed her over. Now they're part of Alda's peaceful faction and work in the Orbaume Kingdom. So that's why they're helping a Dhampir? Helping…

"It's alright," said the little girl who was with Heinz's companions. She was right in front of Vandalieu, who, despite his inner thoughts, appeared to simply be standing there motionlessly.

She took his hand as she continued speaking.

"Heinz-oniichan is going to help you. Just like he helped me!" she said, laughing. One of her eyes was a blood-red color that didn't match her other eye.

"Ah…"

Vandalieu's hand trembled.

"Uu…"

Nausea, a headache and a sense of discomfort, the likes of which he had never experienced in his third lifetime, ran through his body.

"Kyah?!" the little girl cried in surprise.

Unable to stand it anymore, Vandalieu had shaken her hand off. In doing so, he had kept his claws withdrawn and controlled his strength so that he didn't injure her.

That was the limit of how much he could hold back.

"Hey, you?!" Startled, Heinz reached out towards Vandalieu.

But Vandalieu put all of his effort into putting as much distance between himself and Heinz as possible. He used all four limbs to propel himself along the floor and used Flight in a way that excessive force was exerted on his internal organs.

"Oi! Wait a second!"

"What's wrong?!"

Ignoring the surprised voices of Heinz's companions and other adventurers, Vandalieu used his shoulder to smash through the door to the Guild and fled!

Vandalieu was sitting on the ground, staring at his trembling hands.

He was already outside the city of Niarki; probably inside a nearby forest or thicket. It was unlikely that he had traveled very far.

He had no memory whatsoever of how he exited the city after leaving the Guild. It was possible that he had created a hole in the outer wall to escape.

"Ah… Guh… oh…"

Vandalieu's mind was in so much chaos that he didn't have time to worry about such things. He felt as if his entire body would rot away with the anger, humiliation and powerlessness that he felt.

He had been completely unable to defeat his enemy. He knew without even challenging him that it would end in utter defeat. He had previously imagined that this would be the ultimate humiliation.

But an even greater humiliation existed. Being pitied by his enemy, by Heinz. Vandalieu was almost helped by him.

It was an action that trampled over Vandalieu's pride.

But the thing that Vandalieu found most unforgivable was the reason that Heinz had tried to help him.

Heinz had tried to help him because he was a Dhampir.

Heinz had changed his way of thinking and become part of Alda's peaceful faction after seeing Vandalieu's mother, whom he had captured and handed over to a fanatic as part of a request, tortured and burned alive in public.

"Don't… [censored]… with me!"

Logically, it made sense why things had turned out like that. Heinz was probably unaware that Vandalieu had survived. He was under the assumption that Vandalieu had died long ago.

Vandalieu's existence was known only to very few - some individuals in the Mirg shield-nation and Amid Empire, as well as the Pure-breed Vampires. It wasn't strange to think that Heinz didn't know that he was alive.

That was why he was atoning for his past deeds. It was a common story that could be found in both fiction and non-fiction books on Earth.

In order to apologize to the people they had killed, they would live on and atone for their sins.

They would save as many people as they had killed.

Feeling guilt over the innocent civilians of enemy nations they had killed in war, they would spend the rest of their days atoning.

It wasn't unusual or anything.

The examples that Vandalieu remembered best were indeed from works of fiction.

Someone's mistake would cause the death of another without it being punishable by law. Despite remaining free, the person would feel tormented over it, and then the protagonist of the drama or manga would tell that person, "Keep helping others until the day comes where you can forgive yourself."

Protagonists would tell former villains, "Atone for your mistakes with your future deeds."

Heinz was atoning for the wrongs he had done to Darcia and Vandalieu. He was putting the peaceful teachings he believed were correct into practice, and he had saved that little girl, the Dhampir.

Nobody had asked him to atone, and yet he was atoning in a way that was completely unrelated to Darcia and Vandalieu.

"Don't mess with me…!"

So, was Vandalieu supposed to forgive him? Was he supposed to stop blaming him? Was he supposed to stop trying to kill him?

It was out of the question. There was no way that Vandalieu would even consider accepting something so unreasonable.

Imagine if there was a foreign serial killer who killed numerous people in a certain country and then saved a number of people in his own country equal to the number of people he had killed. If Vandalieu was supposed to forgive Heinz in this situation, then the bereaved families of the people killed by the serial killer would have to forgive him as well, wouldn't they?

If Vandalieu saved as many people in the Orbaume Kingdom as people he had killed in the Mirg shield-nation, would the bereaved families in the Mirg shield-nation forgive him? Certainly not. There was no way that they would.

There wouldn't be thousands of unusual people who would forgive him.

But if everything was made clear, every single person in the Orbaume Kingdom would tell Vandalieu that he should forgive Heinz.

They would tell him to forgive Heinz because he had saved many people, because he had achieved great things. Because he was a hero.

Because from now on, he would save many more people, ease the unhappiness of thousands, of tens of thousands. He would make the people happier.

Heinz's existence was beneficial for the nation.

They would tell this single Dhampir who hated him for killing a single person, his mother, to forgive him.

This would be considered normal and undeniably correct in any world.

The fact that Darcia was killed, the hatred boiling up within Vandalieu, everything would become details in the moving tale of Heinz. Forgiving him was the correct thing to do.

Forgiving Heinz, who went around saving Dhampirs like that little girl without being asked, was for the sake of everyone's happiness.

And even that would become another detail to be added to Heinz's story.

… How could Vandalieu forgive him!

『The level of the Grotesque Mind skill has increased!』

『You have acquired the ■ab■■■st■■on]skill!』

But Vandalieu would endure for now.

Heinz believed that his deeds were done in atonement, but even those were achievements that he used to gather more popularity. However, Vandalieu was currently unable to defeat him.

Even if he used death-attribute magic and all kinds of skills, even if he asked Eleanora and the others to work with him, no matter what he did, he couldn't win.

This was vengeance. For Vandalieu, this vengeance was a process necessary for accomplishing his own happiness. It wasn't the result.

『The level of the Grotesque Mind skill has increased!』

『The level of the ■ab■th■str■on]skill has increased!』

But this hatred couldn't be suppressed. The fire of hatred couldn't be extinguished; Vandalieu felt as if his heart would freeze in place with the chill of fear!

"Oi, there! It's this one!"

"Hurry up and capture it! That brat had silver coins; there should still be some left!"

"Leave it to me, Oba-san."

That was why Vandalieu had run away from that place. That was why he had left the city and come out to a place like this.

He had made sure that nobody would get involved.

"To think we'd find it this quickly. We've finally run into some luck!"

"I'm sure it's because we've been behaving well every day. Don't think badly of us. Because of the economic slump, selling fruit isn't enough to feed myself and get by. You don't need to worry; with your looks, I'm sure whoever we sell you do will take good care of you."

"Is this brat a boy or a girl? If it's a girl, she's not old enough to sell for much, you know?"

"No, she has odd-colored eyes. If we tell the buyer it's a Dhampir, won't we get paid more?"

"Don't even bother. What are we going to do if that problematic A-class adventurer-sama gets involved?

"Now that you mention it, the Savior has come to this city. His name was 'Heinz' or something, was it?"

Heinz, the one Vandalieu hated so much was Heinz!

"Cut the chatter. Quick, tie the kid up and take him back to the city!"

The middle-aged woman who had been selling apples in the marketplace approached Vandalieu, who was kneeling in the dirt, completely motionless.

『You have acquired the Scream skill!』

"Ah…■■…■…"

Surprised by the unintelligible noise that Vandalieu was making and thinking that it was some kind of incantation, the woman and the men who were with her hastily tried to grab him.

At this moment, if they had done everything they possibly could to escape, they might have been able to survive.

"■■■■■■■■■■!"

A fearsome scream was released from Vandalieu's mouth.

『The levels of the Scream, Mental Encroachment and Labyrinth Construction skills have increased!』

The woman and the men screamed, as if in response to Vandalieu's 'Scream.'

The color drained from their hair and the light of consciousness faded from their eyes.

"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!"

But the middle-aged woman and the thugs led by her nephew weren't dead. They were moving vigorously. They were driving their fingers into their ears to try to escape the scream, biting their tongues into pieces and gouging their eyes out.

But as if still unsatisfied with this, they used their eyes that should have been unable to see to find and seize each other and begin killing each other.

"HATE! HATE! WHAT DO I HATE?!"

"KILL ME! KILL HIM! KILL WHO?! KILL EVERYONE AND HIM?!"

"MY EARS, MY EYES, MY TONGUE, MY HANDS, MY FLESH, MY ORGANS, THEY DISGUST ME!"

"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!"

As Vandalieu felt a sense of liberation, as if the darkness gathered in his heart had been released into his surroundings, he lost consciousness.

Feeling good, Vandalieu opened his eyes.

He looked up at the sky to see that it was still the early afternoon. He had gone to the Adventurers' Guild before noon, so only an hour or two should have passed, but he was in a bright mood, as if he had woken up in the morning after a sound sleep.

"But I feel really tired? A pleasant sense of fatigue?" Confused, Vandalieu checked his Status to find that he had almost zero Mana remaining. What had he done while he was asleep? Although there were bloodstains around him, there were no Undead.

"Vandalieu-sama, are you alright?!"

At that moment, Eleanora descended from the sky and forcefully lifted Vandalieu up into her arms.

"Ah, yes. I don't have much Mana remaining, though. By the way, what exactly happened here?" Vandalieu asked.

"That is what I want to ask!" she told him. "You said that you would be finished quickly so we hid and waited only to see you rush out of the Guild, fly over the outer walls and disappear somewhere! We couldn't even get in contact with you! Do you have any idea how worried we were?!"

"I'm sorry… for making you worry," said Vandalieu, letting his body weight rest on Eleanora, who was holding onto him tightly.

After using the Goblin head communication device to contact Braga and the others who had been searching elsewhere, Vandalieu explained everything in chronological order.

"Vandalieu-sama, let us conquer and destroy this realm." These were Eleanora's first words when he finished. Her eyes had taken on a glassy appearance; she didn't appear to be joking.

"No, we can't win against Heinz right now," said Vandalieu. "And even if we could, we can't conquer and destroy the realm."

Zran, as well as Nuaza and Borkus who were talking through the communication devices, were in agreement with Eleanora's suggestion. It was unlikely that Sam or Zadiris would object, either.

"Why not?! Let's slaughter them!" said Zran.

"Holy Son! They are not humans! They are mere piles of excrement in the shape of people! Living incarnations of evil!" Nuaza exclaimed.

Borkus roared. "Let's butcher all of them, kid!"

Borkus and the other Undead Titans had learned of the Hartner Duchy's betrayal of two hundred years ago. It would be an understatement to say that their previously favorable opinions of the duchy had plummeted into the ground. It seemed to have pierced the heavens* in the negative direction.

"I'm happy that you're all willing to get angry on my behalf. But there are about as many good people as there are bad ones in the Hartner Duchy," said Vandalieu. "Right, Braga?"

Taken aback, Eleanora and Zran looked at the Black Goblins and their partners that were with them.

"We have already abandoned our homeland," said Marie.

"Please do not be concerned about it," said another girl.

Vandalieu had explained to them that he would release them with enough money to live for several months as long as they kept his secrets, but they had decided to follow Braga and the other Black Goblins.

They felt grateful to Vandalieu from the bottom of their hearts, as he had cured them of their drug addiction and removed their slaves' collars and tattoos with magic.

Of course, they had their own interests in mind, and perhaps they simply couldn't believe that Vandalieu would really release them.

But they had chosen to come to Talosheim, and unlike those of the Mirg shield-nation's expedition army, it was definitely possible to make peace with them.

As such, these girls who had been born in the Hartner Duchy were now citizens of Talosheim… Well, a third of the girls who had been working in the brothel were actually former refugees from the Sauron Duchy, but that wasn't something to be concerned about.

Saying that everyone in the Hartner Duchy should be killed and that they were all incarnations of evil in front of these girls would cause them to feel uneasy.

"… My bad," said Zran. "I lost my cool there."

"Indeed, I'm sorry," Eleanora said to the girls. "It is not like I was unaware that many of your circumstances are out of your control, either."

"No, I couldn't say anything, either. Thanks, King," said Braga.

"It's nothing," said Vandalieu. "After all, I made a mistake after losing my cool just a short while earlier, too." Seeing that everyone seemed to have cooled off for now, he stood up. "But if we simply keep allowing ourselves to be treated like this, we'll be nothing more than prey to be eaten by beasts. We will have our flesh picked at, our organs gouged out and our bones sucked clean. We must take back what has been stolen from us and make them think it was an accident. As for Heinz…" He paused. "We'll leave him be for now. We'll gather strength and wait for an opportunity. Ah, and I'll give up on the Hartner Duchy," he added.

Everyone stared at Vandalieu blankly in response to his last sentence.

"I'll give up on registering as an adventurer in the Hartner Duchy, working here and conducting trade with it in the future," he said, elaborating.

That was how much the Hartner Duchy had rejected the Titans. If they were going to reject Vandalieu and Talosheim so strongly, then he would return the favor and abandon them.

"Ah, excluding the cultivation villages," Vandalieu added.

Everyone other than the Goblins' partners laughed, muttering, "I knew it."

"By the way, Vandalieu-sama, what is this?" Eleanora asked. "Has this boulder always been here?"

"It's… certain that this is no natural boulder," said Zran.

They were looking at an enormous boulder that towered upwards behind Vandalieu. It was far larger than a tree in a forest.

But its shape was stranger than its size.

It was shaped like a huge skull, and its gaping mouth was large enough to fit a carriage inside.

The inside of that mouth seemed to be connected to something. Warm air was flowing out from inside, as if the skull was breathing.

"… At the very least, it's something that's harmless to us," said Vandalieu.

『The levels of the Labyrinth Construction, Scream, Automatic Mana Recovery, Death-Attribute Charm and Surpass Limits skills have increased!』

Name: Vandalieu

Race: Dhampir (Dark Elf)

Age: 7 years old

Title:[Ghoul King],[Eclipse King],[Taboo Name]

Job: Venom Fist User

Level: 20

Job history: Death-Attribute Mage, Golem Transmuter, Undead Tamer, Soul Breaker

Attributes:

Vitality: 184

Mana: 379,120,344

Strength: 128

Agility: 130

Stamina: 119

Intelligence: 761

Passive skills:

Superhuman Strength: Level 3

Rapid Healing: Level 5

Death-Attribute Magic: Level 6

Status Effect Resistance: Level 7

Magic Resistance: Level 3

Dark Vision

Death-Attribute Charm: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Chant Revocation: Level 4

Strengthen Followers: Level 8

Automatic Mana Recovery: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)

Strengthen Subordinates: Level 4

Venom Secretion (Claws, Fangs, Tongue): Level 3

Enhanced Agility: Level 1

Body Expansion (Tongue): Level 3

Active skills:

Bloodsucking: Level 7

Surpass Limits: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)

Golem Transmutation: Level 6

No-Attribute Magic: Level 5

Mana Control: Level 4

Spirit Form: Level 7

Carpentry: Level 4

Engineering: Level 3

Cooking: Level 4

Alchemy: Level 4

Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 5

Soul Break: Level 6

Multi-Cast: Level 5

Long-distance Control: Level 6

Surgery: Level 3

Parallel Thought Processing: Level 5

Materialization: Level 4

Coordination: Level 3

High-speed Thought Processing: Level 3

Commanding: Level 1

Farming: Level 3

Clothing: Level 2

Throwing: Level 3

Scream: Level 3 (NEW!)

Unique skills:

God Slayer: Level 3

Grotesque Mind: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)

Mental Encroachment: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)

Labyrinth Construction: Level 4 (NEW!)

Curses

Experience gained in previous life not carried over

Cannot learn existing jobs

Unable to gain experience independently

Skill explanation:

[Scream]

A skill that produces effects through an emitted sound. Bats' ability to see things through their cries and special sense of hearing (or at least, this is how it is commonly interpreted in Lambda, though it is actually sonar), the effects of Mandragoras' cries and Banshees' screams come from this skill.

Because Vandalieu uses this skill simultaneously alongside the Soul Break and Mental Encroachment skills, in addition to dealing damage to Mana and the sense of hearing in a wide radius, he is also able to perform an attack that causes its victims to die a most terrible death in insanity if they lose the mental battle with themselves.

It can also simply be used to make one's voice travel further, without losing any clarity. This allows the user to perform a speech (without the need for a megaphone or microphone).

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