CH 40

“Thralls?”

“Yes. You know how to create slaves, correct?”

“I know, but humans are not able to handle my blood. Moreover, it is useless to create slaves because they won’t be in their right minds.”

This had been the case with Maverick — monster that only coveted blood. Without its master, the vampire’s slave was merely a beast that followed its instincts.

“Yes, yes. But I heard from my teacher that thralls are different. He told me that if a person with a particularly strong mentality accepts the blood of an Origin, their ego will remain whole, and they will keep their abilities from when they were humans. As such, not everyone can be made into thralls…”

Romari continued while carefully studying Eugene’s expression. “However, it might be possible with this knight.”

“Sir, sir! Let’s try it. If we leave him like this, the big bear will die anyway, right?” Even Mirian chimed in.

“Hmm.”

Eugene looked down at Galfredik for a moment.

‘Galfredik is no ordinary human, and it definitely feels like a waste for him to die. It’s worth trying.’

After making his decision, Eugene raised Galfredik’s figure. After taking a breath, he sunk his fangs into the back of the knight’s neck. Blood and fluid began to leak from the tip of Eugene’s fangs and began permeating Galfredik’s blood vessels.

Fwooosh!

‘Hmm?’

Eugene was greatly surprised at the following sensation. It felt as if his entire body was engulfed in flames.

‘Keugh!’

Moreover, his own blood was being drained too rapidly. It was incomparably fast compared to the time with Maverick, and it was spiraling out of his control.

That wasn’t all…

Eugene’s energy, or rather, something more fundamental was being transferred to Galfredik through the tip of his fangs.

‘What the?’

Eugene became greatly startled and attempted to back away.

-  The ceremony of transference will begin.

A strange voice rang inside Eugene’s head. It was the same voice he heard when he first held a red mana stone in his hand.

- The vassal is the possession of the monarch.

- The soul of the vassal belongs to the monarch under the ceremony of blood.

- All of the vassal’s powers will belong to the monarch.

- As such, the transference concludes.

All the memories of Galfredik’s battles were suddenly injected into Eugene’s head. The swordsmanship of Galfredik’s family and the swordsmanship of his past opponents were imprinted onto Eugene’s brain, or rather, his soul.

“Keuuugh!”

With Eugene and Galfredik at its center, a red swarm of energy exploded outward in all directions.

“Keugh…”

Eugene finally managed to separate himself from Galfredik, but he felt greatly weakened.

“S-sir Eugene!”

“Sir!”

Eugene reassured the wizard and the spirit with a wave of his hand, then staggered over to the corpse of the minotaur. Eugene was able to barely raise his head after drinking the remaining blood of the monster, which had been slowly hardening after its death.

“…..!”

Romari was stunned speechless by Eugene’s eyes. Her gaze shone more intensely than before.

‘I never heard about anything like this.’

According to her teacher, it wasn’t easy for a powerful vampire to create a thrall, but it wasn’t all too difficult either. Their energy would be drained for a while, but they could quickly recover by feeding on blood.

The newly created thrall would awaken as a vampire with new powers belonging to the Tribe of the Night, but the original vampire would not experience any significant changes.

They would be just the same as before.

However, this unique Origin, who feigned as a knight, somehow felt stronger than before. 

‘This is strange…’

Even though she felt fear, a hint of curiosity also settled in her mind. Romari carefully spoke. “Sir Eugene, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. But…”

Contrary to Romari’s explanation, Eugene had heard the voice uttering terms such as ‘authority’ and ‘the monarch,’ rather than ‘thrall.’ Moreover, he had absorbed all the combat skills that belonged to Galfredik as well. Eugene pondered briefly.

However, he quickly came to the conclusion that he had no reason to reveal everything to Romari. He turned his gaze to Galfredik, who was still lying on the ground like a corpse.

‘When will he wake up?”

“I-if you want to wait a little bit more…” Romari responded with haste. 

But then…

“Uaggghh! You mother fucker!”

Galfredik jumped up with a loud shout.

“Hiek!”

“Kieegh!”

The surprised wizard fell on her butt, and the spirit quickly hid behind Eugene’s back.

“Huagh! Huegh! Hua!” Galfredik gasped while looking around with wild eyes as if he had just woken up from a nightmare. He met Eugene’s eyes. 

“Do you recognize me, Galfredik?” Eugene asked.

“I-is this a dream?”

“It’s reality.”

“How could that be… I could swear I was in a bloody hell. Someone was muttering something about blood transfer or something.”

“…..!”

Eugene was surprised to hear his response. In the meantime, Galfredik’s eyes landed on Romari.

“Huh? Who is that woman?”

“A wizard.”

“As expected, this is a dream. Or is it something like a last gift from the devil? Well, her body could be better, but her face is not too bad. I guess I’ll have a go one last time… Keugh!”

“Sir Eugene. I think you might need to strike a bit harder for him to come to his senses.” Romari provided advice laden with some emotion.

Eugene slapped Galfredik’s face mercilessly, and said “This is not a dream. It’s reality. Galfredik, you are alive. And from now on, you will have to change the way you address me and talk to me.” Eugene had also overlayed his Vampire Fear onto his words.

Galfredik’s eyes twinkled, and he responded with a flinch, “What are you talking about, Master? Hmm?”

“You still talk informally. Is it not working properly?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? What’s going on, Master? Hmm?” Galfredik addressed Eugene as his master both times without intending to. His eyes widened as he looked up at Eugene.

Eugene licked his lips regretfully while confirming a shade of red in Galfredik’s eyes, which were originally light brown.

“Maybe it did work properly, or maybe it didn’t. Well, anyways, congratulations on being born again as a vampire, Galfredik.”

“Kieeeek! Our monsieur finally got a thrall, hmm? Now we ride smoothly along the road to becoming the great demon king! Kieeeeekkkk!” Mirian’s high-pitched shrieks resounded in Eugene’s ears.

*** 

“So Master was a vampire from the very beginning, and you took me in as your thrall when I was almost dead?”

In reality, it was as a vassal rather than a thrall, but Eugene nodded affirmingly.

“That’s right. Well, if you want to die an honorable death as a human, I can grant your wish right now. But it’s not like you were overly religious, were you?”

“Well… I guess so. Ha! This is crazy.”

Galfredik scratched his head while looking at Eugene with a stupefied expression. He assumed he was dead, but when he woke up, he came face-to-face with a completely transformed reality as a vampire. He still couldn’t completely wrap his head around it.

“It’s true. If it were not for Sir Eugene, you would have died without a doubt. As food for the monsters. It would have been better if we left you to rot.” Romari spoke rather bitterly. Her first impression of the man had been rather sour. 

Galfredik responded with a frown. “What a petty wizard. I said your face was pretty, didn’t I?”

“What? What did I do?” Romari jerked her expressionless face around. Perhaps she still felt offended by Galfredik’s comment about her body.

“It’s always the wizard. Anyways, so I cannot see sunlight from now on? And I have to suck on human blood?”

“If you cover yourself well, you can continue to travel in the sun. I was like that as well. And regarding the need to consume blood, you can suck on the blood of monsters. I only need to feed once every two or three months, but I’m not entirely sure about you. This is the first time I’ve created a thrall.”

“I see.”

Even when he was a human, Galfredik was quite fond of Eugene. And even if it was because of Eugene’s contract with the Palin Association, it didn’t change the fact that he came into the labyrinth to save Galfredik. Moreover, he had even given Galfredik a new life.

Above all, Eugene’s words and actions imparted a deep and strong trust in Galfredik.

‘Is it because I’m his thrall now? Well, perhaps this is fate as well.’

Galfredik smiled, not knowing that his trust stemmed from the strong bond between the master and his vassal.

“But Master. Can I ask you for two favors?”

“Favors?”

“Master’s armor is pretty nice. Could you prepare something similar for me as well? Get me some nice hats as well.”

“Right.”

Human nobles bestowed armor and horses when they acquired knights. As such, Eugene nodded in agreement. It was only natural for him to invest in his first subordinate as well.

“What else?”

“Let me kill one person when we get out of here.”

“Kill? Who? Ah, perhaps…”

Eugene had his guesses. Galfredik smiled and revealed his elongated fangs while responding.

“Lugates. That bastard was the one responsible.”

*** 

“Huh! To think that…”

Entler could not close his mouth as he looked alternatingly at Galfredik and Eugene. Galfredik’s face was deathly pale, and he looked almost dead as he lay unmoving. Of course, Galfredik was only pretending to have lost consciousness, but no one could tell.

“The cyclops killed all the templars of St. Lagren’s monastery?”

“To be exact, it was done by the monsters under the cyclops’ command. The templars could not react properly because the battle unfolded in a vast, open space. The cyclops was sly.” Eugene told a lie planned in advance to hide the death of the minotaur.

“That’s right. That was why I was trying to avoid a confrontation at all costs. What happened to the monster?”

“It became frightened by Master Romari’s magic and fled deeper inside. I wanted to chase after it, but there were simply too many low-rank monsters under its command. Because of that, Master Romari was unable to unfold her magic properly either.”

“I apologize. As Sir Eugene mentioned, there were too many monsters. In addition, Sir Galfredik seemed to be in a critical condition. I thought it was more urgent to save his life.”

“Hmm.”

With even Romari joining in, Entler nodded calmly. The primary objective of the subjugation had been to find out whether Galfredik and his group had survived, and where they were located, rather than killing monsters and obtaining their by-products.

In that respect, Eugene and Romari had made the correct judgment. Chasing after a large, crafty monster into the unknown areas of a labyrinth would have been no different from suicide.

Moreover, they safely brought back Sir Galfredik.

“I see. By the way, Sir Galfredik’s condition is really horrible.” Entler spoke while looking down at Galfredik. The burly knight’s acting skills were as splendid as his swordsmanship. 

Eugene nodded, “We fed him a mana stone personally crafted by Master Romari, so he should be fine. He will wake up within 3 or 4 days, so there should be nothing to worry about.”

“That’s a relief. It’s a shame what happened to the templars. Ah, that’s right. What happened to their bodies?”

“They were damaged beyond recognition. The situation was so critical that I couldn’t do anything else except to bring back their blades.”

Eugene held out the blades of the templars while reciting a pre-planned answer.

“Phew… There was nothing else you could have done. It is thanks to you, Sir, that they will keep their honor even in death.”

Templars broke ties with the world. Their weapons were bestowed to them by the church, and their weapons were no different from their identities as well as their honor. The bodies of many knights were never found in evil lands. As such, the monastery would certainly appreciate that Eugene had retrieved their swords safely.

“Anyways, thank you for your hard work, Sir Eugene. It’s all thanks to you.”

“No. Things might have gone differently if the templars were not there. That’s why I was thinking… What if we made those three the heroes of the subjugation this time? What do you think? They are the only ones who died as well.”

“Hmm. That’s not a bad idea. It is true that they died fighting the cyclops…”

Entler fell into thought.

In reality, the three templars died while acting alone in violation of his orders, but their honor would be tarnished if the truth was revealed. In addition, it could make things difficult for St. Lagren’s monastery as well.

‘Since we saved Galfredik as well. It might be better to do as this man says.’

Entler came to a decision.

“Good. Let’s do that. But will you be fine with it, sir? You were the one who was actually responsible for killing the monsters and saving Sir Galfredik.”

“I am satisfied with my friend being safe. The fallen templars should take the merit and honor for the accomplishment. That would be the best way to show respect.”

“Huh!”

Entler became wide-eyed. The free knight valued not only true friendship but held boundless consideration and mercy for the dead!

“I, Entler, will remember your honorable words forever, sir.”

Entler nodded. His evaluation of the free knight increased significantly.

*** 

The subjugation safely returned to Count Evergrove’s castle. Although they failed to rescue the mercenaries, Jevin and Count Evergrove were satisfied with the safe return of Galfredik. They greatly praised the subjugation.

As discussed with Eugene, Entler attributed more than half of the merit to the deceased templars. Although it didn’t really matter to Count Evergrove whether the templars died or not, he sent a letter to comfort and thank St. Lagren’s monastery.

The temple's principal had been anxiously waiting, knowing that the templars had stolen the secretly manufactured anti-mana stones and participated in the subjugation. After receiving the letter, they felt relief and sadness.

The principal also expressed great gratitude to Eugene for collecting the swords of the templars even in a dire situation. Of course, the principal had many questions he wanted to ask, but he held his tongue, fearing that Eugene knew about the existence of the anti-mana stones.

Thus, the issues related to the labyrinth seemed to have concluded. That was until the day came when Galfredik suddenly jumped up from his bed and woke up after spending the past three days like a dead man.

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