CH 109

After putting away his things at the inn operated by Sir Rocca’s younger brother, Eugene headed to the City Hall alongside Lanslo and Partec’s group. Luke expressed his desire to follow Eugene, but he was forced to stay behind. The only ones capable of speaking Brantian were Luke and Lanslo, so each of them were required to stay with each of the groups as translators.

“By the way, Sir Eugene, where did you get that armor? Do all the knights possess such armor in the Kingdom of Caylor? How much would it cost to buy something like that?” Rocca asked.

Although he could not be called an official knight, Rocca was still a knight that had been sworn in by the city. He appeared quite envious of Eugene’s armor.

“My armor. It was a gift. From the mayor of Maren. To buy. One thousand silver coins?” Eugene answered.

“Oh my…”

Rocca’s jaws dropped with disbelief. It was an astonishingly large amount of money.

Lanslo commented with a smile, “It was probably a little cheaper because the mayor ordered it personally. Even on the continent, plate armor like this could go for much higher, since it’s high in demand.”

“I-I see. Your armor is excellent as well, sir. How much would…?” Rocca asked cautiously.

“About three hundred silver coins in the Caylor Kingdom, so in Brantia, it would come out to about 30,000 cellings,” Lanslo responded.

“...!”

Rocca could not hide his shock. 30,000 cellings was indeed an enormous sum of money. He would have to save up for an entire year without spending a single coin to accumulate such an exorbitant sum. If he wanted to buy Eugene’s armor, he would have to save up for about five years. But even if he did save up for five years, it wasn’t clear whether he would qualify to buy such an armor.

‘Is he from a prestigious noble family from the continent? No, I’ve heard that the Kingdom of Caylor is clearly hostile to vampires…’

Rocca was confused.

However, come to think of it, it was likely that Eugene would earn hundreds of thousands of cellings from selling monster by-products and the goods he gained from the pirates, even if he was to sell them at a relatively low price.

Eugene and his companions had demanded only a portion of their payments in cellings, so more than half was paid with silver and gold bars.

‘He must be incredibly wealthy. Hmm… some people may try to go after his money.’

Rocca’s predictions were on the mark. However, the one who was after Eugene’s wealth was someone he would have never expected.

***

Partec’s men laid down a gift for the mayor of Mungard in the middle of the spacious office. The rather greasy-looking mayor greeted Eugene. “First of all, I would like to say thank you for coming to visit our city. But may I ask what clan and family you come from?”

‘How would I know?’

Unfortunately, Eugene couldn’t give such an answer. He responded to the mayor in a slow, but clear Brantian. “It is my first time visiting Mungard. I hear that there are nobles of our tribe. If there are hostile clans. It won’t be ideal.”

“Haha! So that’s why. Let me tell you. There are two clans of families in Mungard. Markus and Graham, respectively. Have you heard of them?” the mayor asked.

“No. I have never heard of them,” Eugene said.

Eugene only knew about four vampire clans, and that was from what he heard from Delmondo. There was no way he would know about families that existed in a foreign city.

“Oh, that’s too bad. Both families make generous donations to our city every year. I was planning to show mercy if you had any relations with them,” the mayor responded

“Mercy?” Eugene’s eyes narrowed.

“It means that I would have only taken your money and let you live,” the mayor slowly said.

Shing!

Lanslo unsheathed his blade before the mayor finished his words. His hand had been resting on the grip of his sword. Simultaneously, the city’s troops raised their crossbows, swords, and spears. All of them were standing with their backs against the wall.

“W-what’s going on?”

“Draw your weapons!”

Partec and his men quickly pulled out their weapons before arranging into a formation.

Eugene was dumbfounded. He had found it a little strange from the moment he entered the office. Even though he was an armed foreigner, there had been way too many soldiers stationed in the office.

Regardless, he could not believe that a mayor of a city would be so blinded by greed as to act like this.

“I told you, didn’t I? Brantia is terribly poor, and even knights and nobles are ignorant. However, I must admit. I never imagined that it would be to this degree,” Lanslo muttered in the kingdom’s language.

Eugene silently agreed.

“Mister mayor! What are you trying to do?!” Rocca shouted with confusion and anger. 

The mayor laughed mockingly before responding, “What else? A wandering member of the Dark Clan with nowhere to go, and one with an enormous wealth to boot. We will be taking control of it. The Markus and Graham families have already approved of this as well.”

“This is insanity! What would happen to our city’s honor and reputation if this spreads? We’re dealing with Maren and Moffern…” Rocca started to shout.

“I don’t care. What, do you think they will send an army to retaliate? Over the death of a few measly knights? No, it doesn’t matter even if they come. Let them come, we will destroy them with my city’s catapults and ballistae before they can even land. Do it!”

At the mayor’s shout, the soldiers pulled aside all the curtains that were blocking the walls and the windows. The afternoon sun quickly permeated the room, and a number of large silver plates on the wall sparkled as they reflected the light.

“You should have never revealed your identity as a member of the Tribe of Darkness. I cannot believe that there is a vampire as stupid as you. Hahaha. I appreciate it,” the mayor boisterously laughed.

Sunlight and silver were fatal to vampires. Eugene had also suffered considerably from such weaknesses in his past life. However, that was a long time ago.

“Sir Rocca,” Eugene called out.

“I apologize, sir,” Rocca responded with a miserable expression.

“It’s nothing to be sorry about. But let me ask you a question,” Eugene said.

“...?”

“In this situation, what happens if I kill the mayor? Our laws. A knight is innocent if he is defending himself. Regardless of the situation,” Eugene said.

“Hahaha! I take it back. You certainly are a member of that crafty tribe. Even in this situation, you’re still trying to use trickery. Oi! Finish him!” the mayor shouted. At his instructions, the soldiers fired their crossbows.

Ting! Ting!

No one was able to stop the attacks, but Partec had already formed into a defensive formation with his men. They were able to deflect and block the projectiles with their shields and swords. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to avoid all the bolts, but the attacks were nullified by their solid armor.

It was the same with Lanslo. He had been looking in the direction of the crossbows. As soon as the bolts left the crossbows, he curled up slightly while raising one arm in front of his head. There was no way that bolts fired from crude crossbows could penetrate Lanslo’s plate armor.

“Eek! Leave the vampires for now and deal with the others first! The vampires won’t be able to move anyway!” the mayor shouted.

Uwaaaah!

Around thirty troops rushed toward Lanslo and Partec’s men. Even if a vampire was shrouded in heavy armor, it was common knowledge in Brantia that vampires could not exert their power in a place filled with sunlight and flashing silver. Therefore, vampire nobles who revealed their identities rarely headed to places unbeknownst to them.

Even if they had to go, they would usually send a servant or a slave to inspect the room beforehand. However, the stupid foreigner had been naïve enough to walk headfirst into a room in the middle of the day. As such, the mayor naturally assumed that it would be a piece of cake to simply deal with the three mercenaries and one knight before taking care of the vampire.

Shuack!

A black object sliced through the air with a loud shockwave, then passed straight through the mayor’s abdomen.

“Kuagh?!”

Boom! Craack!

Madarazika buried itself in the wall behind the mayor after piercing his abdomen, creating dozens of web-like cracks in the wall.

Thud!

The mayor looked down at the spillage in his stomach with disbelief before collapsing forward.

Ziiing!

The spear pulled itself out of the wall almost simultaneously, then returned to its master’s hand.

“...!”

Everyone was stunned into silence by the sudden turn of events. Eugene held Madarazika in his left hand and Wolfslaughter in his right as he slowly walked forward.

“Hiek!”

The troops retreated toward the windows with shock.

Eugene raised his visor. The rays of the sun were making direct contact with his face, but he was unfazed.

“All the vampires in this place must be weak. Or perhaps…”

Eugene paused. As the dazzling sunlight surrounded his figure, he gave an even more brilliant, stunning smile while revealing his fangs.

“...I’m just too strong.”

“Kieeeeeeeek! Sir, you’re so cool!” Mirian exclaimed.

The slayer of orcs and slaughterer of wolves cried out with joy as they danced in the glittering sun. Crimson flowers bloomed splendidly around.

***

Clack. Clack. Clatter.

The sword could be called the shadow of a knight. However, Rocca’s sword hung limply by his side as his teeth continued to clatter. The shock and fear stemming from an overwhelming force was something no one could imagine. It made humans completely and utterly helpless.

“Take this to stop the bleeding,” Eugene said.

“Yes, sir.”

Partec and Glade hurriedly received mana stones from Eugene before stuffing them into their mouths. Although they had avoided fatal injuries, their injuries had exposed their bones, and they were bleeding from various places.

In the past, they would have never had the chance to consume superior mana stones, let alone lay their eyes on one. However, their master generously provided them with such precious items.

“What shall we do now? This is the City Hall, after all, so there must be other troops. Should we kill them all?”

“I wonder if that will be necessary,” Eugene mumbled.

“...!”

Rocca came to his senses and trembled as he felt Eugene’s cold eyes heading toward him.

“Sir Rocca. My question earlier. What’s your answer?” Eugene asked.

“...?!”

“Someone who tries to kill a knight. Killing them. What happens in Mungard?” Eugene continued.

“Y-you would be innocent,” Rocca answered.

“Even if the opponent was the mayor?” Eugene asked once more.

“…yes,” Roca answered after a moment of contemplation. He had no choice but to unconditionally agree to Eugene’s words in the current situation. Judging by the overwhelming display of force earlier, it would be difficult to guarantee a victory even if all the knights and soldiers of Mungard attacked, let alone the remaining soldiers in the City Hall.

‘He must have personally killed the water dragon! I was a fool!’

Rocca blamed himself for realizing the truth so late, but it wasn’t his fault. No one in Brantia would have imagined that a vampire knight was responsible for hunting a large sea monster.

“Lanslo, relay my words,” Eugene called out.

“Yes, sir.”

Lanslo turned towards Rocca after listening to Eugene’s words. Rocca was still shaking with fear.

“Sir Rocca, please take care of the mess. Sir Eugene would like to continue to trust in the honorable actions you displayed before this unfortunate incident. However, if you attempt to do anything similar…” Lanslo said.

Rocca’s gaze headed in the direction that Lanslo was pointing his blade towards. It looked as if he was possessed.

“Tomorrow morning, before sunrise, there will be no one left alive in Mungard’s City Hall,” Lanslo said.

“...!”

Rocca collapsed with immense shock. That was right. There were dozens of dismembered, torn bodies, and pools of blood in the room. However, the bright rays of the sun were still illuminating the room.

Eugene was a vampire who could do such outrageous things in broad daylight. So what would happen when he regained his true strength at night?

Clatter! Clack! Clack!

Rocca’s teeth continued clattering with fear and shock, and saliva ended up dripping from the side of his mouth.

“Ah, right,” Eugene muttered just as he was about to leave.

Rocca jumped with fright. “Hiek!”

“The mayor. Tried to kill me. Compensation. I want it,” Eugene continued.

“O-of course! We will pay!” Rocca responded.

“Good. And. Markus. Graham. Where are they? Sir Rocca?” Eugene asked.

“T-t-they…” Rocca immediately informed Eugene about the residences of Mungard’s vampire nobles and where he might find them.

***

“The mayor is late to contact us.”

“That swine of a human. He couldn’t possibly think of taking it all for himself, right?”

“No way. He might take his share, but he will hand over all the gold bars and the coins from the Caylor Kingdom.”

“And the armor and the weapons. It will be offered to Lord Markus, so no one should dare covet it.”

“Of course.”

There were five figures, all skinny, and all dressed in silky clothes with a subtle gloss. Their sharp fangs were exposed.

“Anyway, the members of the tribes in the continent are so stupid. It took us so long to reveal our identity in Brantia, but they wasted no time in revealing their identity as soon as they arrived.”

“It’s obvious that they had let their guard down when they heard that our kind is not being persecuted in Brantia. I don’t know if I should call it being naïve or stupid.”

“It worked to our advantage, right?”

“But you don’t think his lord or parent will come looking for us, right?”

“It doesn’t matter even if they do. Lord Markus looks after our family, and he received the cold, noble blood of the Rivoles Clan. Daring to act against him wouldn’t be simply going against our family. It would be akin to taking action against the entire clan.”

“Hoho! No one would start a war because of a stupid butler or a knight who intruded on another clan’s territory.”

“Now, now. Let’s not worry about useless things and drink. We should cleanse our mouths before feasting on the blood of the humans from the continent… Hmm?!” The youngest vampire suddenly paused mid-toast and frowned.

“What’s the matter, Sir Claven?”

“Don’t you… feel that?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“T-this is weird. Why do I feel stinging on my skin?”

“...?”

The other vampires looked puzzled.

Booom!

The wooden door was smashed to pieces with a loud explosion.

Kuwuuugh!?

The vampires immediately prepared themselves for battle. A figure shrouded in darkness appeared in their line of sight.

“There’s only one who is capable of reacting to this much fear? Similar to Delmondo, I assume.”