Chapter 31

"Keh..."

The devil's breath tickled Philip's nape.

His chest grew warm, and the bandit he had been entangled with collapsed.

Philip, who had pulled the sword from the bandit's chest, finally sank to his knees.

"Huff... Huff..."

The breath he had been holding burst out.

As the tension eased, the burning sensation in his thighs and cheeks finally became noticeable.

Injuries from the battle with the bandits.

Without even thinking of stopping the bleeding, Philip panted and then turned to look at Ian, who was sitting by the campfire.

Ian, who had been leisurely chewing on a piece of jerky, said,

"You've got a manly face now."

"What... why..."

Philip managed to say in a weak voice.

Ian shrugged.

"Didn't I say it would be different from patrolling?"

"..."

Philip sighed, realizing that he had been the one to say he was prepared and suggested they go to the campfire.

After a moment, he muttered,

"...Perhaps you wanted me to experience this. The true face of the kingdom."

"Stop overthinking it."

Ian, chuckling, threw a bandage and a piece of cloth to Philip.

"Do some first aid and get up."

"What... is left?"

"The most important thing is left."

Ian, who had stuffed the remaining jerky into his mouth, approached the corpse.

As he began to strip the body and search its pockets, Philip's brows furrowed.

"Are you going through his pockets now?"

"It's called transferring ownership. You've seen it a lot in the borderlands, right?"

"That's true, but... back then, we turned everything over to the unit. And the opponents were pirates and savages."

"Then this time, you can learn the joy of filling your own pockets. You should go through the ones you killed."

"..."

Philip's mouth twitched.

As a squire of a paladin, it was something he didn't want to do.

This made him feel like he had become a bandit himself.

"Can't do it? Then I'll take care of it."

Ian, who skillfully gathered the necessary items, moved on and said.

Philip, suddenly coming to his senses, shook his head.

"No, this is also an experience, isn't it?"

Philip, who had roughly finished the first aid, reached out to the bandit's corpse.

After a moment of searching the still warm body,

"!"

A money pouch came loose in Philip's hand.

His eyes widened as he checked its contents.

Shiny silver and copper coins.

Philip's lips slowly curved upward as he stared at them in a trance.

His hands became busy as he tucked the pouch into his chest.

Ian, watching him enthusiastically strip the corpse, chuckled.

"You're excited."

He had been acting like a knight.

The looting was quick and smooth.

Ian, with a fuller pouch, and Philip, equipped with a new sword, dagger, gloves, shoes, and belt, stood side by side.

They were looking at the same thing.

The sealed chest the mercenaries had been transporting.

To Ian, it seemed too good for the mercenaries' skills.

The intricate spell circuits carved on the outside.

The polished magic stones that sparkled in between.

'...I might have made more money by selling this to a fence.'

While Ian was thinking, Philip looked at him.

"Do you want to open it alone?"

Ian smacked his lips.

He felt the same way.

The situation was unlike anything he had encountered in the game, which fueled his curiosity.

'It might be a quest I skipped. ...I wish I could open it during the day.'

Ian, holding the lock of the sealed chest, subtly opened a subspace.

But it only felt like it was being repelled by a magnetic force and wouldn't go in.

'Of course, it doesn't work.'

The repulsion that occurs when trying to put a living being in.

He had hoped, since it was sealed.

There was nothing he could do.

Ian, who had made up his mind, drew his dagger.

"Step back."

"Yes, sir!"

Philip quickly moved to the side.

Ian, channeling mana into the dagger, struck the magic stone embedded in the seam of the box with all his might.

Crack!

The magic stone cracked on the third strike.

The light from the other magic stones dimmed.

A moment of silence. Then, the lid of the sealed chest suddenly burst open.

A shape that had been inside lunged at Ian.

Tangled with the creature, he rolled on the ground.

Thud, Ian's back hit a tree trunk and stopped.

Ian, frowning, took in the creature's appearance.

Ashen hair and pointed ears. Blood-red eyes.

'An elf? Could it be...?'

Just as Ian's eyes narrowed,

The elf's long hair, like a cloak, covered the surroundings.

At the same time, its mouth opened to a bizarre angle.

A mouth full of razor-sharp teeth approached.

Ian instinctively thrust his dagger.

The mouth, which had been lunging, suddenly changed course and bit the blade.

Crack, snap.

The dagger broke like a toy.

Spitting out the broken blade, the creature closed its mouth.

Its expression changed instantly, even becoming beautiful.

Ian's eyes sparkled as the elf, who had been staring at him, suddenly said,

"You smell really good."

Grinning, she pushed Ian away and stepped back.

Ian, whose back was pressed against the tree trunk, frowned.

Meanwhile, the elf, who had spun in the air, landed on the sealed chest in a cat-like pose.

Her lusterless ash-gray hair, like a cloak, enveloped her body.

'Thought she was crazy from the blood... but maybe she's just crazy.'

Ian, without taking his eyes off her, stood up.

This woman, as far as he knew, was the only vampire elf in this world.

The drinker of fresh blood, Tesaya.

A significant boss character who would eventually absorb the vampire lord of Lu Sad and become the Empress of Fresh Blood.

'Wait, was the client who hired Lu Sad a vampire...?'

He couldn't know the full story, but the Tesaya in front of him looked much more wild and confident than he remembered.

At that moment, Tesaya, who had been scanning the surrounding corpses, turned to face him again.

"You could have escaped on your own. Still, thanks for killing them for me."

Ian, throwing the broken dagger, replied,

"Do you usually thank people by tearing their necks?"

"Just hungry. Actually, I'm still drooling. But it seems... "

The elf smiled, revealing a fang between her lips.

"You don't think I can eat you no matter what I do now."

"I know."

Then you should know what I'm going to do, right?

Ian, muttering to himself, drew the Sword of Judgment.

Tesaya's eyes narrowed.

"So, I'll see you next time. Don't die before then."

She shot up.

Her ash-gray hair enveloped her body and fluttered into the darkness.

An arrow-like speed.

"..."

A hollow laugh spread across Ian's lips.

She really took off.

Philip, who had been holding his breath, looked at him.

"Shouldn't you chase her?"

"How can I follow her?"

Ian sheathed his sword.

"She'll find us eventually, as she declared."

"What was that? It didn't seem like an ordinary elf."

"Of course not. She's a vampire elf."

"Drink... blood? An elf? Is that even possible?"

"The world is full of impossible things, Philip."

Ian recalled the rumors about the blood-drinking elf.

He had met Tesaya in a different region in the game, so he had assumed the rumors were from a distant place.

But she had really been hiding in this backwater.

After all, there were only a few places where monsters or demons could hide, except in the empire.

It was more reasonable to think that there were as many corrupt individuals in the outskirts of all the kingdoms as in Agel Ran.

"...So, we've released a monstrous creature."

"She would have escaped somehow. She was probably caught by these mercenaries because it was daytime."

Ian looked around.

"Mercenaries who double as bandits. They probably didn't make it back to Lu Sad."

"Well... thinking that way does make me feel a bit better."

Philip, muttering uneasily, gazed into the darkness.

Ian shrugged.

"It's best to think that way. You need to be at ease."

"...You don't mean this kind of thing will keep happening, do you?"

"Why not?"

"Ah... Lu Solara..."

Philip sighed, closing his eyes.

Ian, picking up a new sword from among the corpses and gripping the handle of the sealed chest, said,

"Go get the horses. We're moving."

"Right away?"

"Or do you want to wait until the creatures attracted by the blood smell arrive?"

Philip's sigh deepened.

It meant they had to walk until dawn to get away.

After a moment, he wiped his face with his palm and turned around.

Meanwhile, Ian, who had pushed the sealed chest into the subspace, checked his equipment and mounted the saddle.

The wandering mercenary and his squire disappeared into the darkness.

The cold, lifeless corpses and the dying campfire flickered quietly for a moment.

Then, from the darkness, large and small eyes began to flash.

The cleaners of Agel Ran, attracted by the smell of blood, were approaching.

***

Ordell looked like a city patched together from rags.

An ancient elf castle, haphazardly expanded, stood on a hill, and the inner and outer walls were surrounded by the residents' homes.

Beyond the wooden fence, shanties for immigrants were irregularly scattered.

There was no uniformity, but the city's size rivaled that of Agel Ran.

The inn located in the shantytown boasted a size to match.

Originally a space for homeless immigrants, the inn had become a den for mercenaries drawn by the smell of money.

In a rapidly growing city, there were always plenty of jobs, big and small, that needed them.

Amid the noisy crowd spending their earnings,

Creak-

The inn door opened noisily.

Two men entered the hall.

Those who were sipping drinks began to glance at them sideways.

They were unfamiliar faces.

The young man with freckles standing in front looked quite young but had the eyes of someone who had been through a rough journey.

The man with black eyes behind him seemed calm but exuded the sharp aura of a veteran mercenary.

While some mercenaries were scanning his leather armor and sword,

"That corner table looks good, sir."

Philip, whispering to Ian, took the lead.

Ian, following calmly, said,

"Do we have to sit in a corner?"

"That way, if a fight breaks out, we won't be caught from behind. Remember the last time I almost died?"

His matter-of-fact tone.

Ian chuckled at Philip's stance, as if daring anyone to challenge him.

He was the embodiment of suspicion and caution.

The result of passing through two towns and repeatedly sleeping outdoors.

Of course, it was also thanks to Ian assigning Philip his share of the fights every time one broke out.

The number of scars on his body matched the depth of his distrust of the world.

Of course, to Ian, he was still a kid.

Considering it had only been a little over two weeks, it was a significant improvement.

At least, no one would think of a paladin's squire when they saw the current Philip.

They sat across from each other at a small table in the corner.

"What would you like?"

A waitress, who had been watching them, approached with a lackluster expression.

Ian, chuckling at her lack of enthusiasm, asked,

"What's good to eat?"

"There's nothing good, but if you want something edible, sausages are your best bet. If you order bread, you should also order stew. Otherwise, you won't be able to swallow it."

"Then I'll have all of that."

The waitress, nodding, turned around. After watching her leave, Philip whispered,

"So, what do you plan to do now?"

"Why are you whispering?"

"Others might hear."

"It doesn't matter if they hear. Being calm will make them less suspicious."

"...I've learned another thing."

What are you always learning about?

Ian, chuckling, looked around the hall.

There were more mercenaries than he expected.

Almost everyone, in fact.

"I'll stay for a few days to get a feel for the place. And, while I'm at it, earn some money."

"So, you plan to blend in for now."

"Suddenly showing up and asking about the missing soldiers would be suspicious."

While Ian was answering indifferently, the waitress returned with the dishes.

The food was placed on the table.

After watching Ian take a bite of the sausage, the waitress nodded.

"It's edible, at least."

"Believe me. The rest is worse."

While listening to the waitress's resigned words, Ian took out a silver coin.

The waitress's eyes widened, surprised by such a generous tip.

Ian continued,

"It seems there are plenty of jobs. How do I find a good one?"

The waitress, quickly tucking the silver coin into her chest, lowered her voice.

"If you take a big job right away, there will be conflicts. There are rules here, even if it doesn't look like it. Unless it's so dangerous that no one else will take it, you should start with small jobs."

Advice given with a sense of duty.

Ian smiled.

"Good. I was hoping for a dangerous job, anyway."