Chapter 35

Vampire (3)

Achelle, who had been watching the situation with cold, sunken eyes, nodded and stepped forward.

The Vakilov thugs looked bewildered.

"Master... Did something happen to your head?"

The long-haired thug twirled his sword and shook his head from side to side.

"No matter how much you want to play the role of a righteous crusader, you should choose the right time and place. We are... "

I pointed at the thug and interrupted him.

"Keep this one alive for now. I need to ask him some questions."

"What the hell... "

The moment the thug scowled, Achelle's sword was drawn, and a blue flash of light pierced the darkness.

Swish!

And the spurting blood.

That was the end of it.

The bodies of the men who had lost their heads fell to the ground one by one, staining the road with blood, and dozens of corpses were created in the blink of an eye.

In the past, I wouldn't have seen what had happened, but now, thanks to my heightened senses, everything was crystal clear.

Achelle had cut off the heads of the thugs with a single strike of her sword, sending sword energy to the sides of the long-haired thug.

"......Aaaah!"

The long-haired thug clutched the severed end of his arm and screamed in agony.

He knelt on the ground, gasping, and then frantically looked around. His pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck when he saw his annihilated subordinates.

"T-this... What the hell is this...?"

The thug wouldn't have even seen Achelle swing her sword.

No matter how close he was to level 60, there was a vast gap between him and Achelle, who was over level 80.

I slowly moved forward.

Looking down at the trembling thug, I spoke.

"Is there a vampire at the auction in Domihawk City?"

"......"

"I mean the older sister of the vampire sisters you captured."

"......Y-Yes, she is."

The thug instantly became polite, nodding his head as if half his mind was gone.

"Please spare me, Master. I'll tell you everything you want to know... "

"Where and when is the auction held?"

"A, exactly two weeks from now, at the basement of a man named Horton's mansion on the outskirts of the city. From sunset to midnight... Just bring the invitation."

The basement of a mansion.

"Who attends the auction?"

"Mainly nobles from nearby cities... and a few officials from the Capital."

"Since it's not a public auction, do they attend openly?"

"N-no, of course not. Everyone wears masks to attend the auction."

"Can only one person attend with one invitation?"

"......No. The holder of the invitation can bring one companion to the auction."

I nodded. That was the end of what I needed to ask.

The thug, growing more desperate, rambled on.

"M-Master. I will personally escort you to the auction in Domihawk City. These guys are just disposable pawns, so you shouldn't worry about killing them. I will ensure you can attend the auction as a VIP... "

I stared silently at the thug.

Reading the future from my gaze, the thug's face turned to despair.

"I, if you kill me, you'll be in trouble too! I'm a high-ranking officer of Vakilov! High-ranking officials from the Capital are all involved in our organization! And my brother is the leader of Vakilov...!"

I shook my head and spoke softly.

"Didn't you say it's about the strong trampling the weak?"

"......"

"Since it's the law of nature, as you said, accept it."

And I turned away.

A desperate cry came from behind me.

"F-fuck you, you bastard!"

The thug picked up his fallen sword and lunged at me.

At the same time, Achelle, who had been standing beside me, darted forward.

Swish!

A sound of flesh being cut, followed by something falling to the ground.

I wasn't surprised, knowing that even without Achelle, I could have blocked the attack with my Immovable Barrier.

Achelle wiped the blood off her sword and approached, bowing her head.

I felt a strange sensation as I looked around at the scattered corpses and the blood.

I had seen many deaths since falling into this world.

But this time, it was different because I had directly orchestrated the massacre.

Of course, my first kill was when I killed Quan, but I didn't feel much then.

It felt more like killing a monster than a human, and the instant kill didn't give me much of a sense of killing something.

And the bandits I encountered while traveling through Caldric were all killed by Baros before I could act.

This time, I felt nothing as well.

But it wasn't just because of the Emperor's Soul.

I felt strange because, instead of shock or guilt, my heart was unusually calm. Even though they were scum.

I didn't think too deeply about it. It seemed I was just this kind of person.

"Ugh......"

The fallen merfolk slowly began to rise.

They looked around at the annihilated Vakilovs with bewildered eyes, then their gazes turned to us.

"......Did you help us, human?"

The mermaid who had been stepped on by the long-haired thug asked with a wary voice.

I nodded and said,

"Hurry to your carriage and leave. If too much time passes, the organization these guys belonged to might start tracking you."

"Ah, I understand."

She nodded and began to organize the other merfolk.

They tended to the seriously injured and freed those trapped in the cages.

Young merfolk, freed from their restraints, cried and clung to them.

As I watched this, I turned to the carriage, but the mermaid called out.

"Thank you so much, humans! I am Kagor, the chief of the Solid Rock tribe! I swear by my tribe's honor that I will never forget this kindness!"

Solid Rock?

What a simple name for a tribe.

There were countless such barbarian tribes on this continent, so this encounter didn't need to have any special meaning.

"Probably won't see you again. Be more careful of slave hunters in the future."

"......Even so, I will remember this kindness! Tell me your name!"

"I'm Ron."

With that, I got into the carriage.

Rudika, who had woken up from her sleep, poked her head out of the window.

Seeing the fear on her face, I stroked her head.

"Your sister is at the auction. I'll rescue her soon."

The merfolk left first after everything was settled.

I thought about what to do next.

'Auction...'

I had a rough idea of the auction in Domihawk City.

In two weeks, in the basement of a mansion owned by a man named Horton. That mansion is probably managed by Vakilov.

'Should I just attend it?'

Two options came to mind.

The first was to quietly attend the auction and rescue Rudika's sister.

Since I had more than enough money, unless I got into a bidding war with some perverted noble obsessed with vampires, I could easily win the auction.

The second was to completely disrupt the auction.

With Achelle, I could do it alone.

The number of Vakilov combatants at the auction didn't matter. Level difference made numbers meaningless.

Or I could go to the mayor of Domihawk City and use my power to escalate the situation.

The mayor wouldn't be unaware of the auction being held in his city, and he would be involved.

"......"

After weighing the options, I decided to handle it quietly.

I didn't want to cause a big stir in another dominion.

I just wanted to rescue Rudika's sister and head to the Elrod Forest without any more complications.

'And the guys I just killed...'

There were no witnesses, but there was a chance of being tracked. Just because no one saw it doesn't mean they can't track me.

Of course, it wasn't a big deal.

If tracked, I would just deal with them.

If they kept being a nuisance, I could always take down Vakilov when the time came.

My thoughts were quickly organized.

The carriage crossed the road and continued on.

***

Time passed, and we arrived in Domihawk City.

Since the auction was still a few days away, I spent the time sightseeing.

On the night before the auction,

I left Baros and Rudika at the inn and went out with Achelle.

'I see them.'

There were already people wandering the streets with masks in hand.

The presence of guards suggested they were nobles who had come to the city to attend the auction.

I walked down the street where a night market was held, looking around at the people.

There was a stall selling masks, so I stopped to look at the various masks on display.

There were animal masks and comical masks like those worn by clowns.

I chose a simple fox animal mask.

"Pick one too."

Achelle glanced at the masks.

I thought she would choose one randomly, but she was being more careful than I expected.

"I'll take this one."

She picked up a rabbit mask with long ears.

It didn't seem to suit her, so I stared at her, and she said awkwardly,

"If it's too noticeable, I'll choose another one."

"No, it's fine."

We paid for the masks and headed straight to our destination.

Horton's mansion was on the outskirts of the city, and I had already located it.

We walked down the main road, turned into an alley, and then onto a narrow street.

People gradually disappeared, and the mansion, our destination, came into view in the distance.

The mansion wasn't very large, but since the auction was held in the basement, it didn't matter.

Masked people were entering the mansion one by one.

"Put on your mask now."

"Yes."

Achelle and I put on our masks and joined the crowd entering the mansion.

We passed through a short garden and reached the entrance of the mansion, where an old elf stood.

He was checking the invitations of the people ahead, so I took out my invitation.

When it was my turn, I showed the old man my invitation.

He glanced at Achelle and me, took the invitation, and bowed.

"Enjoy your evening. Go inside and take the stairs you see in front of you to go directly to the basement."