Chapter 285: Vampires.

Chapter 285: Vampires.

21 humans have become your followers

Total follower count updated. Total follower of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]:7878

I am a vampire. A vampire bloodling, if you want to be specific.

The grand re-opening and rebranding of restaurant Aurora as a fine dining establishment was not only an extremely hectic day but also a very stressful affair. Though, that much was only to be expected, honestly.

Not only did we promote our restaurant to the senators of Estralia through the merchant guild, but I also informed King Drangleic and his seven dukes about it. With all of them bringing their families to experience this new event, every single table was occupied. Even then, once word spread through the grapevine about it, more people wanted to come in, forcing us to put up a queue.

Beforehand, we accounted for only our VIPs, which meant 21 groups from Gleisvale and eight from Artorias. 29 tables were divided between six waiters and waitresses, which included Svena as the head waitress. But, it became clear right at the beginning that we needed more help, and thankfully, Lorena and Haati were willing to help out. Apparently, Svena had trained them up in case this would have happened.

Now, while I did say the restaurant was full, I didnt mean every senator actually came or, if they did, in a large group. Some senators came only with each other, while I learned later on some didnt even come in the first place. This allowed other important guests to take their place.

On the other hand, the king and all the dukes came with their closest family members. The test service was so successful they practically couldnt help but admit theyd been waiting for this in anticipation, up until the very moment we opened the restaurant. And its only been a few days since the test.

Once the kitchen had opened, everything happened exactly as you would expect for a busy restaurant. I had thought the kitchen would falter a bit since there were even more people around this time, but through Tamaes immaculate leadership, they barely had any trouble outside of the dishes not being cleaned fast enough. In fact, the waiters up front were the ones that suffered from the most issues.

Ellaine and I led the musical entertainment for the night, so we had a front-row view of the senators being baffled at how the Artorian king and his nobles could possibly be here. They initially thought they had somehow been transported to Estralia for the day, but I quickly refuted this, simply telling the senators that the Artorians had entered the restaurant from Artorias, leaving them flabbergasted. I didnt enlighten them any further and just let things flow.

And by flow, I meant letting the politicking and business negotiations begin.

Honestly, it was too boring for me to listen to. I couldnt help it. I found their delight over the food far more interesting. It gave me a sense of success, seeing as everybody apparently loved the food Tamae and I placed on the menu.

However, pleasantries aside, this was still a political move to make it clear where Artorias stood in my relationship network. Considering I invited the King of Artorias and his seven dukes, it was clear we were good acquaintances at the very least. In addition, I had told the dukes and the King that we needed to find a senator we could safely support, so this allowed them to help me out a bit on that front.

After one table left, the next came in from our queue. A majority came from Artorias, as the dukes actively bragged about eating at the restaurant trial to their relatives and friends. I made some followers from it, but they were too focused on the food to fully immerse themselves in my music.

Regardless, all I wanted to see was the restaurant being a success. I could tell Saori was quite happy when the service ended, even if it wasnt under her full control anymore. This was her idea, after all. She just couldnt realize it due to her lack of experience managing a restaurant. Whether she will return to the kitchen or not would be a question for the future, but for now, we had something else to talk about.

Sitting on a sofa surrounded by nearly everybody else from Aurora was Elrick von Karstein. A member of the Knights of Aurena, a profession which you could call a paladin or holy knight considering his skill set. A handsome man with bright blond hair; the perfect image of a lawful young man in the service of the Goddess of Light.

Well, until you realize this man now had ears almost as sharp as an elfs, dark red eyes, and two fangs protruding from his closed mouth. He still looked like Elrick, at the end of the day, but the fact he wasnt human was a real surprise.

A bloodling? Asaka asked. She was probably the one most shocked by this revelation.

A young vampire who hasnt awakened their full vampiric abilities yet. I hid a lot of information from my ID, but not my age. Elrick spoke slowly and concisely, looking slightly saddened at how Asaka looked at him. I didnt know if he was feeling bad for hiding this information or cause he was found out.

W-When were you transformed into a vampire? When were you bitten? Asaka continued, still trying to grasp the situation, but her confusion only led to Elrick himself getting confused as well.

Hmm?

Noticing some misunderstandings were at play, Yorshka asked us if we knew anything about vampires beforehand. Outside of the fact vampires were created by the Goddess of Vampires, Vivachel, all we knew about them was the folktales and pop fiction of Earth.

Once we explained it to them, Yorshka quickly nodded and stated that people couldnt be turned into vampires in this world. Vampires and half-vampires could only be born; they couldnt inject some virus or something into somebodys body to transform them.

Vampires are a subrace of dark elves, everybody, Tasianna pointed at her elven ears. Similar to how wind and dark elves are variants of high elves, the vivachaerii elvish for children of Vivachel are variants of dark elves.

Ah so thats why your ears are almost as long as Tasiannas in her elven form, Kazumi noted.

I looked at him from top to bottom, noting how his skin wasnt as grayish as Krymdars. I wouldnt say it out loud, but he didnt really look like a dark elf at first glance. But then again, neither did that vampire woman from before.

So, uhm Kohaku hesitated, darting her head around to see our opinions on the subject. However, she couldnt ask him the question in the room outright, leaving it to Nishio to speak it out.

Sir Elrick, seeing as youve been a vampire for all this time, why and how did you become a knight of the church of Aurena? I thought they only tolerated dark mages and dark elves to prevent hostile actions. Why would you join them as a vampire?

Why I exactly joined the church is something I would like to keep to myself, but rest assured, my faith and loyalty to the Goddess is far stronger than what I have towards the Goddess of Vampires, Elrick stated with unwavering eyes. I believe my life and destiny belong in the Goddess hands, and I will sacrifice my life for Her if I had to. Mayhaps the priests think of me and my race as abominations, but as long as I can keep my [Humanize] up, I will play the part of a holy knight.

Not mayhaps, Elrick. The fact your kind requires blood to restrain your feral urges and control your blood magic makes you even harder to tolerate for the priests and bishops, Yorshka interjected while shaking her head.

Yorshka gave us a rundown of what characteristics vampires had which differentiated them from dark elves, outside of the visual differences. For one, unlike normal mages, every vampire was born with the ability to use blood magic as a racial ability. A compound element composed out of water and dark at its core, and vampires had amazing affinity for it and could draw out more of its potential.

Secondly, vampires did need to drink blood similar to Earths perception of them. Younger vampires required them to suppress their hunting urges, which could be called a desire to become stronger. The reason being that the total mana capacity and regeneration of a vampire was directly related to how recent their last drink was. Elricks Mana on his profile was as low as a humans, since he had to suppress his instincts in order to blend in properly.

And lastly, vampires werent weak to sunlight, but they did become stronger during the night. Like Saoris [Nights Caress] skill, vampires received an increase in stats so long as the moon shone on them. Elrick called it the veil of our progenitor, similar to how dark mages considered the night the warm embrace of Marsven and Edna like a father and mother placing a comforter on you while you sleep.

Of course, a few things from Earth didnt apply to Peolyncian vampires. They werent weak to silver nor were they invisible in a mirror. They could enter houses even without permission, had no problem eating garlic, and they werent any more immortal than a normal dark elf. They just have a ridiculously long lifespan.

Weakness- and resistance-wise, vampires were quite vulnerable against fire and holy elemental attacks, while resistant against water and dark. This also applied to the respective component elements, so something like my [White Flames] would totally destroy Elrick. On the other hand, blood magic was almost useless against him.

The irony of a vampire becoming a paladin under the church of the Goddess of Light Saori commented, causing everybody to nod.

Sir Elrick, doesnt it hurt when you cast a holy spell? Shouldnt it be extremely hard for you to level up [Holy Magic]? Tatsuya followed up.

It doesnt when Im wearing armor resistant against holy spells, Tatsuya, Elrick answered with the obvious, causing Tatsuya to facepalm. Haha, dont worry about it. The situation is truly rare, so common sense wouldnt work here. But, yes, without being in my armor, I would not dare cast a holy spell. It is also a wonder that I managed to get my [Holy Magic] up to level six despite my disadvantages.

Elrick clenched his left hand into a fist, looking at it with a wry smile. I probably could have improved faster if I had given in and drank blood to recover, but I considered that a sin. If I had done it, I would not have been worthy of championing the Goddess faith.

The room went silent, only broken once Asaka spoke out.

What about your family? You told me your family was part of the Empire and that your sister went to Aleistunum.

We have kept our secret well enough, since we could transform into humans. We also regularly import goods from our races capital, which I cannot tell you exactly as its a secret. I presume the Emperor and those close to him probably are in the know, but since we have served the Goddess for generations, I dont think they consider us a big threat anymore.

Generations?

We cycle out members. Those too old in comparison to humans move back to our capital or to other lands. You could say, we enjoy our limited time, until we have to die like any other human. Similar to any other elf, we vampires have an extremely low birth rate, even if we wed humans, so overpopulation was never a problem.

In a way, that is a very sad life, huh? All these secrets, just to live amongst humans.

Still, while I had my reason, I do have to apologize to you, Lady Asaka, and to everybody else for keeping this secret for this long. I tried to suppress my need for blood for this long, but I couldnt do it any longer.

Asaka had mentioned how Elrick hasnt been looking too good recently. Almost as if he was sick. I had also noticed how Elrick stared at the blood pool after we dispatched the slave bandits during our entry into Gleisvale.

Yorshka then cleared up that Elrick has been drinking mostly the blood of small animals as a way to quench his thirst. Usually, the more mana the creature had in its blood, the better its effects on the vampires. Therefore, vampires didnt need to feed on humans or any humanoids, but could do it on monsters. It was just hard to do it on good targets while remaining inconspicuous.

Looking at Elricks complexion, he probably needs another session soon. It was a dying cartel member, right? Some random person probably wont do it, Yorshka informed us, completely glossing over that Elrick just drank from a human.

However, Elrick didnt. He bowed his head deeply, not bringing it up as he continued his apology. I understand my presence might be dangerous to everybody, as such, I shall take my leave from the company. I shall report that Knight-Captain Yorshka has been more competent than me, and therefore, she can keep saint candidate Asaka Hanazawa safe better than I ever could.

As Elrick stood up, Asaka jumped up and stopped him from going away. Stop! she ordered him with an outstretched arm. What are you trying to do? That isnt a reason for you to leave.

It is, Lady Asaka. However, Elrick was stubborn with his answer. As a vampire, I cannot serve you anymore. In addition, I can feel myself waning in strength. As your protector, I have failed too often during our travels together while I havent been able to keep up with the amount of progression all of you Heroes have experienced.

Failed? When? As you can see, Im still alive and havent lost a limb yet.

That doesnt mean I am suitable. During the bandit subjugation, you nearly died because I couldnt defeat my opponent. In the Belzac forest, you went missing and I nearly let multiple Heroes die because I was reluctant about using my blood magic. Even today, what did I do to protect you from the bomb? Nothing. It is obvious, Lady Asaka.

He then turned his eyes towards me. And, from the look of it, I dont think I fit in this company. Champion Hestia, our goals misalign. I believe it would be best for me to leave.

I raised an eyebrow, confused what he meant with that. How so? Havent I told you that Im a champion of Aurena? Im working for her.

But your goal is to root out the corruption inside the church. To banish the demonkin posing as our pope. On the other hand, I am a knight meant to protect her Holiness religious symbol, which is her church. Do I draw my sword against the organization my family has followed for generations, or do I lay my blade down? I cannot fight you, for that would be betraying the Goddess.

What is this sorta internal conflict?!

Mhmm! Hestia, my treasure! Do you want to share? Mother waved back at me, looking cheerful after her nap.

Mhmm? No, Im good, I refused but still joined her at the table. Anyways, do you have time for some training and an idea?

Mother giggled, smirking at me. What, are you planning on behaving like a humanoid in this case?

I smiled. Mother seemed to understand me more and more. I could be as patient as needed but

Time to smoke out the rat. Nobody hurts my friends and party members while Im around.

A note from AbyssRaven

There goes the vampire.

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Monday, April 11, 2022 1:36:26 AM Germany [Member of Zard Skwad]

Bio: Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I'm just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.

I eventually found out that I've been spending a bit too much time with building, planning, and researching for the story, that I've decided to just share it with others.

Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.

I'm also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn't mind you pointing it out though.

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