Chapter 49: Hollow Slayers

Alucard sat near the edge of the wooden bench of the carriage, beside the opening as he stared up at the rather calming blue sky that lacked any clouds. But, when they left the shade of the city walls, the sun struck him once again, making him slightly grunt. Yet, luckily for him it was not nearly as bad as before, he could more than handle it.

"Hey, are you okay?" Taylor asked with clear concern on his face.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine! I think I just had a bug fly under my mask and down my throat," He coughed once again, making everyone around him laugh.

"So! How do you like it?" Lisvern spoke, looking around himself.

"The carriage?" Alucard questioned, leading to Lisvern's nod.

"Yep! We rented it for a bit of money, don't worry, it wasn't much! Adam over there knows how to drive rather well, so we didn't really have to hire someone," He glanced towards the man at the front.

"Well… It's nice, certainly more comfortable then the living arrangements provided at the guild…"

"Oh! Don't worry about that! They'll give you a better room once you reach gold! And with your talent it should be no problem!"

Ever since they had set off, it was only Alucard and Lisvern conversing, and the atmosphere grew slightly awkward. So, Lisvern tried his best to break the tension.

"Okay! It's funny how here we are all together, yet we know very little about each other! I think other than us saying our names, we haven't really introduced ourselves have we?" Lisvern clapped his hands and smirked.

"Well, it is your fault setting this up so quickly. But, I guess we weren't in a rush and had a lot of time to burn on the carriage, so I guess it's not bad…" Vernon sighed, his hands and legs crossed as he leaned back onto his seat.

"I've already introduced myself in the guild, but I'd be glad to do it again. We worked very well together last time we fought, but it'd be nice to know each other's specialties. I am Alucard, a simple villager from an obscure town who left to set out on his own path. I specialize in both magic and close combat, call me a battle mage per se."

"Battlemage huh? Those are pretty rare amongst the lower ranks! It takes a lot of time and dedication to discipline yourself in both magic and sword fighting! Who taught you all that?" Lisvern asked with a child-like curiosity.

"My father was a swordsman, he beat the skills in me every day… And my mother was a mage,"

"Oh really? A female mage! That's pretty rare! She must be really awesome!" As Alucard spoke, Taylor leaned in and interrupted, his eyes like brilliant stars and his hands grasped together in excitement.

"Yeah, she was one of a kind indeed… And she was also the reason for these scars that haunt me where ever I go and would not leave me to this day…"

Alucard's tone was casual, yet his words set the carriage towards a downward spiral.

'I guess I really can't keep a conversation going long huh?' He sighed at his own ineptitude.

"I-I'm sorry…" Taylor mumbled back.

"Don't be. None of that is your fault. I spoke too much, I didn't mean to rap you up in my own troubles. Anyways… So, is it your guys' turn now?" Alucard spoke, yet no one replied. But that was when Lisvern broke the silence.

"Well, I really hope you're doing well, but I won't pry any further… And as the team leader, I'll be introducing everyone if they don't mind…" He took a small pause to look at everyone around him for approval before he spoke.

"I am Lisvern, I specialize in Ki arts and swordplay with a greatsword. Vernon is the sharpest in both mind and skill, and by far quickest of all of us when using his rapier. Taylor is our resident magic caster, he's a little shy but he packs a punch when he goes all out! He specializes in spells of the druid variety such as controlling plants and working with the essence of life. And last but not least is Adam, he's a bowman with unparalleled skills and the oldest of all of us and the voice of reason in many cases, he's for sure the most relaxed too. We all hale from the capital of Crory where we met, and we came here on an escort mission where things have led us here… Do you have any questions?" He chuckled and redirected his gaze towards the mask ahead of him.

'None of them have last names… So it's as I thought… Commoners don't have last names, and last names are only reserved for nobles. I guess I got pretty lucky choosing a name for myself when I first arrived.'

"Hollow Slayers is your name correct? Is there a meaning behind that?" He asked.

A large smile appeared on Lisvern's face as Alucard asked that question. "Well, why don't you tell him about the name that you chose?" He leaned over towards Vernon, nudging him with a smug expression.

"Why should I! It's none of his business anyways!" He turned around and scoffed, only for a chuckle to be heard from towards the front with the naying horse.

"I'll do it instead. In our own ways, all of us were pretty poor and hopeless, we had no motivation in life and just lived for the sake of living… We were all like hollows. But that was when we all met and from then on started living with each other, and we found new meaning, and our inner hollows were slain. That's how our adventurer names came about. We're kinda like family more than adventuring friends..." Although none of them could see Adam's face, they could all assume his expression.

"Interesting…" Alucard inwardly nodded and thought rather deeply before shaking his head and speaking once more "But out of all professions, why adventuring?" He wondered.

"Oh, isn't it obvious? It's because we're useless otherwise! Does it look like I'm good at anything other than fighting and would function in a normal society?" He laughed at himself before his tone shifted into something more sombre. "But… The real reason is that we didn't want to see others end up like the old us… Sounds kinda stupid or delusional right? But it's true… Just like we slew the hollows within us, we wish to slay the hollows within others. That's our motivation and that's what we strive for!"

The sound of wheels rolling along rocks filled the air, and silence overcame them. "What about you?" Vernon asked. "Why did you become an adventurer?"

"Well… I unlike you, it's not at all for a noble cause. It's simply the only way I can afford to have a roof over my head and food on the table. I do this for my own survival. If I could work elsewhere I would, but like you guys, my skills aren't suited for it. For me, it's either this or joining the army, and this gives me far more freedom…"

"That's debatable," Vernon interjected. "Adventurers are pretty limited… Under law, if we see human on human fighting, we are not to interject. We are not to interfere with any politics since the guild is ran through many countries and is meant to be absolutely neutral. We are simple monster hunters and that's all, but that still lends to many ways of help for the people. And we're kinda dependant on the guild for not only pay but also finding the requests themselves, the guild pretty much has a monopoly on everything.

He took a small pause before he continued.

"If we went without the guild, not only would we lose out on many benefits, but we would have to just roam around looking for trouble only to come in to fix and ask pay, which doesn't seem too morally sound. And chances are, these people would already have adventurers from the guild coming on their way, so it never ends too well…"

"But at least we don't get bossed around. And, we gain strength faster than soldiers right?" Taylor spoke in a nervous voice.

"Not in recent times I'm afraid," Adam sighed. "The army has been doing a lot of monster hunting expeditions lately, and there are many companies used to help them out in power boosting, but that honour is only reserved for high ranking members."

The more they spoke, the more Alucard's confusion grew— it was as though watching people discuss serious politics that concerned him yet that he could not understand. He was rather interested in the information, yet he could not allow himself to ask directly lest the information they spoke about be common sense thus exposing his social ineptitude. So, he instead asked a vague question.

"What company exactly?"

"Well, soul farming companies you know? More specifically the company own by the Erena household… They breed and farm strong beasts and even train them. Then they send them off to people willing to pay so they could be killed… They're usually bought by nobles so they can feed the beasts' soul to their children and give them more strength. That's why nobles are always stronger than the commoners, even if we are all born equal… But now it seems like even the military has been investing into their very own soul farms and buying from other companies…" Lisvern responded.

'Souls?' Alucard inwardly thought yet did not blurt out loud. 'Is that what they call XP in this world? Wait… So I'm not the only one who levels up!?' Alucard could only come to one conclusion in his mind, and his eyes shot out wide underneath his mask.

"Are there soul farms that house human products?" He asked a question that seemed out of nowhere, yet the hollow slayers did not think much of it as it was indeed a real concern.

"Sadly yes… As you know, kindred souls are almost worthless. In other words, killing people from the same race as you would net you little to no souls. That's how the murder rate isn't insane but that's also why these companies don't sell human subjects, even if they were prisoners to be executed, it just wouldn't be worth it. However, there are of course other sentient races out there… And just like we have their kind as slaves, they do the same with us… For them, our souls are more than fit for the taking…" Adam explained, solemnly steering the horse.

'That's just like in Rebirth… No wonder humans aren't just going around and killing each other for XP… Wait...' He inwardly thought to himself.

At first, he had assumed this world to be a normal fantasy world where training and practice was used to increase power rather than levels, and he was simply a special case. But with this new information, he began to reconsider.

'What these nobles are doing is pretty much the equivalent of bringing a powerful enemy at one HP only to allow a friend to get the final hit to receive all the XP. Does everyone have a secret level? How do they assign stats and job points? Does everyone have a game system of their own!?' Alucard had so many questions that he felt like his brain was ready to explode, yet he could not allow himself to ask any of it.

For now, he had to hold it in and wait, solely assuming that what he knew to be true in the game to be the exact same in this reality and waiting for his return home where he could read all about it… That, or he could find out for himself...