Chapter 174: First Act 43: Hero's Arrival 6

As Euphemia and I walked through the alleys, we continued to encounter monsters that were either lost or had been alerted to our presence.

Most of them were weak, as the alleyways of Estelle Academy, though vast, were not large enough for mid and high-ranking monsters to efficiently navigate.

Euphemia's suspicious gaze toward me seemed to soften a little. I wasn't entirely sure what had aroused her suspicions, but the overall situation might have seemed overly convenient.

Soon enough, we stumbled upon the bishop.

What was surprising, however, were the three kids behind him.

Sasha was tasked with baiting him near me, but I hadn't anticipated children being involved. Judging from their appearance, they were likely slum kids.

The bishop appeared to be protecting them from Sasha. Did he randomly encounter these kids, or did he deliberately come to their aid?

Amidst the growing tension, Euphemia, positioned right behind me, shivered while casting uneasy glances at Sasha. It was likely her first encounter with a vampire.

Despite Sasha's outwardly appealing appearance, the oppressive and harmful aura emanating from her vampiric body was far from attractive. The weaker one is, the more they feel like prey standing before a predator.

The blood spears hovering behind Sasha emitted a dense mana. Most of it probably came from the blood rain, a magical ability of the blood wyvern.

Each raindrop contained its mana. Sasha, as a vampire, instinctively manipulated the blood, though for the bishop and Euphemia, it likely appeared as if she had access to an almost unlimited mana pool.

"Let's get out of here," Euphemia whispered urgently, her eyes darting toward the vampire in the alley.

Under normal circumstances, I would have agreed without hesitation. After all, confronting a vampire in this bloody rain seemed like a foolish and perilous endeavor. No sense of morality or self-kindness would compel anyone to assist the bishop and the kids in such a situation. However, duty bound me to ensure the bishop's survival, and abandoning them would render our carefully orchestrated plan futile.

"Euphemia, you go ahead first. I'll follow shortly," I responded, gripping the handle of my sword.

"What? Are you crazy? Can't you see that thing?" she exclaimed in a hushed tone, gesturing towards the vampire.

I know she was trying to be quiet but her voice was still a bit too loud.

"That's a vampire! A creature straight from legends, a creature of the night capable of threatening entire cities! Stop being stupid and let's get out of here"

"You have no obligation to save that old man and those kids. Let's leave before things get really bad for us"

"You're not a hero or a knight! We've been lucky so far with mostly low-ranking monsters. We can't let our chances go to waste now."

She grabbed my hand, attempting to pull me away from the unfolding scene. Even though we were observing from the sidelines, her loud words risked alerting the others.

Haah...!

Sighing, I gently freed my hand from her grip.

"Go" I said firmly to Euphemia.

"Why are you being stubbornly stupid right no—"

Boom...!

Her words were abruptly cut short as Sasha launched an attack toward the bishop.

It seemed Sasha had held back, ensuring minimal damage to the bishop, especially with the last blood spear that he was able to deflect.

"Did you see that? Now let's get out of here...!" Euphemia urged after witnessing the destructive power of the blood spears Sasha had thrown.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," I responded.

"Stop acting all heroic. You would die the moment that thing sees you."

"Euphemia, do you know how much worth vampire blood has?"

"Why are you asking me stupid questions? Of course, I know. Did you really think a genius alchemist like me wouldn't know how good of a mana enhancer vampire bloo—wait, you're not seriously...?"

"Yeah."

As vampire blood possesses a dark quality of pure mana It was quite effective for potion making and enhancements as a catalyst, though even with that I guess she still found this reasoning to be ridiculous.

"Crazy bastard! Idiot! Dumbass! Stupid shit! Are you seriously just being stubborn right now just because you want some vampire blood? You would risk your life just for a few specks of blood?"

Chuckling at her absurd reaction, I nodded. "You're right. I'm not obligated to save these guys, but now that I'm already here, might as well, right? The vampire blood is just a bonus," I said to her with a smile, patting her head. Glancing behind me and seeing the large blood spear Sasha had conjured, I figured it was time for my cue.

"Besides, do you think I'd lose?"

Focusing my attention on Sasha, I asked, "Who are you, leech?"

"...."

"......"

Silence enveloped the atmosphere, and it grew colder.

All eyes were fixed on me, widened in shock.

"What did you just call me...?" Sasha questioned with a dangerous tone.

"A leech?"

Swoosh...!

Dodging the blood arrow that aimed for my face, blood trickled down my cheek as I narrowly avoided it.

'Uhm, wasn't that quite close?'

"Leech....? A leech, you say? You dare...... compare me to those parasitic worms?" Sasha retorted with a scowl, her tone dripping with disdain. "Is your vision so blinded that you can't see the personification of beauty right in front of your face?"

"Well, aren't you a parasite to begin with? You may look human, but isn't your kind parasites to begin with? You can't even thrive without humans in the first place.... and..."

Pfft....

"Hahaha, what do you mean by the personification of beauty? And it's right in front of me? Where exactly? All I see is a blood-craving worm, though. It's even dressed in a maid outfit—how hilarious! I guess worms these days will try to dress up however they can to try and save their pathetic faces, huh? It even talks all high and mighty; I guess once you put some clothes on a mindless blood sucker, it starts acting up. How embarrassing! It's even standing upright; is it too embarrassed to crawl back on the ground? How hilarious, hahaha!"

"....."

"Uhm, Adrian, I think that's a bit too..." commented the bishop.

Sasha's crimson eyes lost their previous light, now filled with anger. The blood weapons on her side glowed more and more dark red as she said, "Fufu... you sure have a way with words, boy. I change my mind. Your face isn't worth your life."

[Authority: Eyes of the Wandering Crow: {Passive}]

[Sasha: Is hurt by your words, wants to punish you a little]

I gulped as I saw the mental state of Sasha. It seems I really hurt her feelings there; I don't even think she's adjusting the strength of her blood weapons now.

"Can you run?" I asked the bishop.

"...Yes."

"Good... make sure when you see the signal go straight to the right, then make a left. Kids, grab onto him," I said to them. All the kids immediately huddled up in his large arms, and Bert seemed to be grabbing on behind his neck. I guess he was too embarrassed to be carried, though this young girl in my arms right now seemed quite excited.

"You sealed your fate, boy... now die!!!"

As the blood weapons hailed towards us, I threw a potion on the ground. Smoke exploded, and the warm and pungent smell of garlic invaded our nostrils. Although the smell was disgusting, Sasha might be having a harder time than us right now.

"Run...!" I said as we made a right turn and a quick left.

I saw the bewildered look of Euphemia just around the corner and I quickly grabbed her.

"What was that?" she asked.

"A garlic bomb? Anyways, we don't have long; this blood rain will dissipate the smoke in no time."

Hearing the angered screams and sneezes of a crying vampire behind them, everybody understood my words and continued running.

'Yup, when it comes to vampires, no matter how high the rank is, a concentrated garlic bomb is always the key'

'I hope she doesn't find out that there's werewolf piss mixed in there...'

Although it won't really affect them that much, it was still an annoying type of weakness they had.

And though highly resistant...

Not even blood progenitors can save them from the snots; Sasha's whole body must be facing all types of allergic reactions right now.

'She'll probably understand by now why Schwi gave her this role instead'

Dodging the blood weapons behind us, we made a run for it.