Ding!
<[ You acquired the following bloodlines:
• [ Demon Vampire: Original ]
• [ Vampire: 100% ] ]>
I managed to kill all the Vampires in the Duke's mansion, the strongest wasn't even the Matriarch I heard the servants talking about, the Duke was physically stronger at least, but I found it easy to subdue them both with my Aura.
I used the techniques I learned from Sophia to use my Auras only on my hand, with that I felt the Vampires surrendered easier, the Duke didn't even try to fight back and just died, but the Matriarch still begged for life, even if weakly.
I ignored the notifications about the XP I gained and only focused my attention on the notifications about the bloodlines.
" %" should stay, that's the kind of bloodline that only a Patriarch/Matriarch Vampire could have, I didn't feel anything different inside me now that I have two of these original bloodlines counting on my own bloodline.
After thinking a little about these bloodlines I went back to work, used my detection skills, with that I discovered a room where dozens of people were chained, they were men and women in the ages of 10 to 40 years old, all were pale, some were even breathing hard.
They were all chained up, I used my lines to cut the chains, then I pointed towards the door to leave, almost all of them were injured and tired, I gave everyone a blood replacement potion before they left, of course, I remembered to deactivate the barrier to getting out.
The vast majority of them are Humans, the others are Elves or Beastmen, so I know they will get help in the city, as soon as they leave I go down to the basement where is the last sign of life I found in this place.
I found a hidden door in the Duke's office, discovered that door when I forced the Duke to tell me where Leonardo was before I killed him.
As I didn't know if there was any trap in the door, I used my spiritual energy to create a black rune, then I sink into my shadow like Nix always does, then I go under the secret door, keep going like this to the basement before appearing in front from Leonardo's cell.
Leonardo was a White Elf who looks to be around 30 years old, he had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and blue eyes, he would be a handsome man if he weren't so thin and pale, it looks like he's been here for quite some time and he hasn't been eating very well.
With my status, the normal iron bars are not a challenge, so I easily enter the cell and release the chains that hold Leonardo.
I thought he might be afraid of a mysterious person with black clothes and a mask, so to demonstrate that I'm not an enemy I take off the mask and give him a smile.
"I came to rescue you, Leonardo." (I)
"..." (Leonardo)
He is silent looking at me with a gleam of surprise in his eyes, I reach out to help him up, then pull out a potion of stamina he drinks without asking questions, then offers him a sandwich that he devours faster than he can. Ibuki.
"I really appreciate the rescue, the potion, and the food." (Leonardo)
"But we should get out of here before they notice you." (Leonardo)
"You and I are the only living beings in this mansion, don't worry." (I)
"..." (Leonardo)
"The Vampires are all dead, no need to worry." (I)
"..." (Leonardo)
He looks at me for a few seconds as if to confirm what I say.
"There were dozens of Vampires..." (Leonardo)
"Don't worry, they're dead." (I)
"I didn't even hear a battle, so how?" (Leonardo)
"I didn't want any to escape, so I tried to be stealthy this time, besides they were all very weak." (I)
"..." (Leonardo)
"Come on, let's get out of here..." (I)
"(Master, can you hear me?)" (Nix)
...
"(Master, I need help.)" (Nix)
"(Are you in danger?)" (I)
At that moment Nix gets in touch with me, I spend a few seconds talking to her, then after everything is resolved I realize that Leonardo was sitting looking at me.
"Sorry, my hired Spirit was asking for my help with a dilemma." (I)
"If you have a Spirit, then why did you come here alone? Are there more people up there?" (Leonardo)
"I came here alone, my companions are taking care of the other places throughout the city." (I)
"Are you attacking the entire city?" (Leonardo)
"Not the entire city, just the places with those on the Devils side." (I)
"..." (Leonardo)
"Are you trying to conquer the city?" (Leonardo)
"Absolutely not, this seems like too much work, I have enough problems on my hands." (I)
"But you just said that you are attacking everyone who is on the Devils side, if you succeed, what will happen to the city that will be without people in charge?" (Leonardo)
"A companion of mine said what should happen, but I didn't pay much attention as I don't care." (I)
"Do you have any idea of the chaos and confusion this will cause? Don't you care about the townspeople?" (Leonardo)
"I'm already taking care of the Demons, Vampires and Demon worshipers that are the biggest problems." (I)
"Then why would I worry about what happens to the city next?" (I)
"That becomes your responsibility as you are responsible for getting rid of the original leaders." (Leonardo)
"I think there's been some misunderstanding here, so let me explain." (I)
"I'm fighting the Demons because they want to harm the continent, as many of my companions like this continent and want to protect it, I'm doing it." (I)
"But I don't have the time or the will to take care of this or the other three cities, I think people will know how to take care of themselves from now on." (I)
"Have you no heart?" (Leonardo)
"Yeah, he's knocking too, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be a Fantasy Hero helping every person that comes along, that would be stupid." (I)
"(Now that I think about it, why does my heart still beat even though I'm a Vampire?)" (I)
"(I'll ask the others later.)" (I)
"Without Demons as a big threat, people will have the opportunity to think about what's best for them and have to take responsibility for their own decisions, I think what I'm doing is good enough." (I)
"Just because I'm reaching out to help doesn't mean I'm going to let them take my entire arm." (I)
"..." (Leonardo)
"You may be right, I may have heard many heroic stories in my life, but they were not reality." (Leonardo)
"I'll tell you what I think." (I)
"People are strong, even if some suffer from the fall of this city, as long as they are alive they will always have a better chance of prospering, letting people fight for themselves may not be the best thing to do, but it's the most I'm willing to do." (I)
My words may be a little insensitive, but I already have enough problems with building a city, I don't have the time and mental strength to take care of another city or a Kingdom just because I'm fighting some enemies.
People will know how to take care of themselves, what I'm doing is already more than many would be willing to do, so I'm not going to accept someone saying I didn't do enough.
Sigh
"Alright, so why did you save me?" (Leonardo)
"I came here because I want to hire you, besides I didn't just save you, I also freed other prisoners." (I)
"Do you want to hire me?" (Leonardo)
"Yes, but we can talk about this later, now let's go." (I)
I pick up this Elf and carry him on one of my shoulders as I run out of the mansion and jump from roof to roof while using my ability to hide.
Soon I arrive at an empty building, this place was a meeting place for the enemy according to how I died Prince Henry, but I'm using it as a meeting place because no one comes here, besides we've already killed the few enemies responsible for guarding this place.
I waited over an hour in the building while I ate something with Leonardo who was still hungry, I also discovered that I was not the one pressed to return, Beatriz, Jay, and Kira were already there waiting for me.
It seems the fastest was Beatriz and then Kira, Jay was the last of the three to come back, Byakko told everyone how Kira dealt with the enemy, Jay put his hand on his face while keeping an expression of sadness for having lost against someone who did something so stupid.
Jay spent some time talking to Kira about why she didn't do things stealthily like they'd been trained to do, but she responded that it was faster and easier this way.
Amazingly, the last person to come back was Elsaris and Samira, but that's why Elsaris took this moment to train her sister in a real situation since Samira has never fought other people.
Even Lyra looked tired, besides she kept fighting very well, I sent Layla along with Lyra to make her safe.
While we were all eating and talking, the others were arriving little by little, after everyone returned I introduce Leonardo to everyone, then I turn to everyone who is present now.
"I declare the end of the mission." (I)