Volume 3 - CH 10

I glanced at Orphe, Livia, and Sufi to confirm what Vanya had said. The three of them worse stern expressions.

The south will be attacked. Of course the interior monsters probably cared about the upper world rather than us. However, it’s not impossible that they would attack us on the way.

“Is it true that the northern monsters will come down south?” I asked Vanya.

“I can’t say so for sure, but there should be a lot of them out there who want to take back the upper world. Especially in the interior were there should be a lot of demi-humans who were expelled from the upper world living there. There are also some strong individuals among them. Conflict is breaking out all over the place in the interior for the moment, but once they’re united… I can’t say what will happen.”

“Powerful ones, huh.”

“If I remember right, there should be some beings strong enough to give out magic names.”

“What?” Was Veld named by one of them? I need to make sure of that.

“Speaking of magic names, Veld had one. You weren’t the one to give that to him right?” I said dauntingly, causing Vanya to shake her head with tears in her eyes.

“…What!? A name!? I, I don’t know! I don’t have that kind of power!” Looks like that confirms there’s a being apart from the vampires nearby who can bestow names. I repositioned myself in my seat and stared at Vanya. Considering the future, making her into a comrade of mine would not be a bad thing.

If I were to believe everything she said earlier, that would be very beneficial to our side. The question is whether or not we should attack the ogre tribe.

“Got it. We’ll help out as much as we can.”

“R, really!?”

“Yeah. But we’ll also need you to help us with various things from now on. Particularly regarding magic tool production.” Vanya suddenly began shivering. “What is it?”

“N, no, well… I, it’s just that the ogre’s have you work like a slave from dusk till dawn.”

“Did they catch you too Vanya?”

“Y, yeah they did. That’s why I’m rushing about like this now to free everyone.” Looks like she’s been through a pretty harsh work environment until now. Livia stroked her back in order to stop her from shivering. It looked like she was comforting a child.

“I’m not really planning on having you work too much, so you don’t need to worry about that. It won’t go that far. Just don’t slack off too much.”

“U, u-understood.” In the first place, overworking someone isn’t really that efficient. You can make work much more efficient by adding is the right amount of rest. The only ones who can work even without rest are those with considerable motivation.

Vanya finally settled down after I reassured her. Although it was slightly stiff, a smile grew on her face.

After that I pulled out a magic stone. Having finished asking about Vanya, I moved onto the next question I had.

“Is this magic stone the same kind as the ones you gave to Veld?” This was the one I took from Leon. To be precise, it was made by a youko rather than Vanya.

“Wh, what’s up with that magic stone, leaking such ominous magic power…” Vanya seemed to be totally freaked out when she saw the magic stone in my hand. She was shaking super badly. Well, I can definitely feel an unpleasant feeling from the magic stone, but is it at that level?

“It should be the same as the magic stones you made though Vanya.”

“I, I wouldn’t make something like this! The most I would do is make it raise your power a bit! Taking that magic stone would destroy your body!” Certainly, it did turn Leon into a monster. He also gained an unthinkable amount of power.

Leon wasn’t a strong person by any standard. Of course he did bully me a lot back when I didn’t have any skills above ground. In plain sword skill, I was better than him.

Regardless he still acquired incomparable power. Since he was able to gain so much from only putting a magic stone in his mouth, so the compensation for that was huge.

“But the werewolves who ate the magic stones you made also became like monsters…”

“They must not have had aptitude. I warned Veld about it before. Guys without any aptitude should absolutely never use a magic stone.” Veld may have thought of his subordinates like chess pieces. As long as they’re temporarily useful it’s fine if they die. Even if it destroys their body, it’s good as long as they can hurt their enemy. Perhaps that’s exactly the reason Veld gave the werewolves magic stones without telling them about the drawbacks.

Unwitting werewolves used them and then turned into monsters.

“…Aptitude huh. Can you check for that sort of aptitude?”

“I know just by looking.”

“I see… But I don’t really want to use such a dangerous thing.”

“Well, you’d be best off not using that magic stone there… but it’s the same as medicine. You can get the right effect by using it correctly. That’s how magic tools are.”

Vanya was certainly correct there. Power can be both good or evil depending on how it’s used. The power of this magic stone. If I can use them right, I actually do think I’d like to use it. Especially with the next opponent being the ogre tribe.