2 – The Seal of the Demon Dragon

The Old man led I to the study.

The Old man was like a butler to the Vampire.

As I entered the study, the musty smell of old dust wafted out through the cracks in the door. It seemed like it had been decades since anyone had entered the study.

Stepping into the study, the thick layer of dust was pushed into the air by the pressure of my feet hitting the floor.

Sunlight streaming through the window reflected off the dust, creating a curtain of light.

Anyone would think it was the study of an abandoned house.

“Well, that is…”

The Old man stammered.

“It’s alright.”

I casually tossed those words out and entered among the bookshelves.

The bookshelves were quite large, but the books only filled about a tenth of them. Seeing the books pushed to one side, the bookshelves looked bare.

“More importantly, what did you say you investigated among these?”

The Vampire said the Old man would know.

Unable to explain it verbally, the Old man came directly to the bookshelf and took out a thick book.

“My Lord wrote down what he investigated about the Sealed Land here,”

He said, handing me the book.

Opening the book in the middle, a long passage continued.

Since it wasn’t printed, the font size was inconsistent, and the handwriting was slightly frowned upon. Still, it wasn’t to the point where I needed help.

I could see from the context that he had been bored while in charge of the Sealed Land for a long time.

The more detailed it was, the more he must have learned everything he could about the Sealed Land. It’s hard to be as detailed as when you’re investigating out of boredom.

I went to the desk in the study and sat in the chair…

A cloud of dust erupted.

Cough, cough.

I fanned my face with my hand in front of my mouth and nose.

I’d already sat down, so I decided to just stay as I was.

I opened the first page of the book.

Day 1.

That’s how the first sentence started.

It continued like a diary.

The events from the 1st day to the days of settling in the village were written. I quickly flipped through the unnecessary parts.

“Then I’ll be leaving now. Please let me know if you need anything.”

“Okay~.”

“And there may be some noise today because a guest is coming.”

“Guest?”

“Whether it’s my Lord or others, humans like me need food, so we trade with merchants when the day comes.”

“Hmm.”

“It may be a bit noisy.”

“I’ll be quiet.”

“Thank you.”

The Old man left the study.

I quickly flipped through the pages one by one. Then, the sentence ‘I went to the Sealed Land’ caught my eye.

[Year 301, Day 31]

No one, neither people nor Demon beasts, came to the Sealed Land.

So, what is the reason I’m guarding this place?

I might die.

Let’s investigate the Sealed Land tomorrow.

[Year 301, Day 298]

I went to the Sealed Land.

There wasn’t much to see.

I found petrification, but only incomprehensible drawings were uselessly drawn.

A drawing of a Demon beast that looks like a winged lizard. From the description alone, it looks like a Dragon, but if so, does that mean a Dragon is Sealed?

The Imperial Army is said to have wiped out the Dragons, but this Seal seems older than that, so there was a possibility if you only looked at the possibilities.

“Dragon. Extinct?”

But Amel had seen a Dragon before.

It rampaged in the middle of the city.

Red Dragon.

Well, if it’s raised by humans, the status of the Dragon doesn’t seem very high.

‘(There’s no way. Are you believing the claims of a frog in a well?)’

‘It says the Imperial Army annihilated the Dragons. The Imperial Army here is likely the same Imperial Army that was subjugating the Great Devil.’

‘(To be exact, it’s probably right after they gave up because they didn’t have enough Strength to defeat the Great Devil. The Vampire started looking for the Sealed Land after the Northern Empire Sealed the Blood Great Devil.)’

‘(Well, even if the main force that was catching the Great Devil was all used up, the remaining Strength would still have been very powerful by modern standards.)’

They were exhausted from catching the Great Devil, but the military Strength that had been trained in the process would not disappear overnight.

‘(But you’re overlooking one thing.)’

‘Overlooking?’

‘(If this Imperial Army is the Northern Empire, they would have been cursed. If it’s a curse that couldn’t leave a name, they wouldn’t have had the Strength to catch Dragons, would they?)’

‘….’

I thought for a moment about the order of time, but I dismissed it as an unnecessary thought and shook it out of my head.

That’s when it happened.

Footsteps.

It was the merchant the Old man had mentioned earlier.

The carts stopped in the middle of the village.

While the Old man and the merchant were talking amicably, someone came looking.

Knock, knock.

“Is anyone there?”

“I’m here.”

The door opens.

A woman peeking her head through the doorway.

It was a woman wearing a dress with a wide neckline that exposed her neck and cleavage.

She approached with curious eyes, shamelessly revealing the Vampire’s bite marks on her neck.

The Vampire had gone to sleep and woken up the women.

There were two women,

One came here,

One is in the kitchen.

“Is there anything you need?”

“No.”

“Yes…”

The woman didn’t leave or enter the room easily.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Yes, that is…”

“Come in if you have something to say.”

The woman came in and closed the door.

Her gait was strange,

She couldn’t support her body due to anemia.

It’s because of the Vampire.

Arms, legs, waist.

Traces of teeth marks all over her body could be seen through her clothes.

Judging from the traces of education that were evident in her gestures, I could infer that the woman was of noble birth.

‘What is a noble doing here?’

Looking at the merchant’s side, seeing them taking people out of the carts and making deals with the Old man, I could see where the humans were coming from.

I took my eyes off the book.

I looked directly into the woman’s eyes.

“What do you want to say?”

“That’s… no, I forgot.”

She turns around with a troubled face.

She grabs the doorknob but can’t open it.

I hardened the hinges with [Electricity].

“Speak. You made me worry, so finish it.”

“Then…”

The woman hesitated for a long time before finally opening her mouth.

“I was wondering if you knew what happened to Risley.”

“Risley?”

“It’s my hometown.”

“Risley.”

I recalled each of the villages I had visited so far.

“I don’t know.”

“Is that so.”

“Why are you curious about Risley?”

“Just… because it’s my hometown.”

“You seem to be a noble to ask about just that. Aren’t you?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t intend to get deeply involved, but I’ll help if there’s anything I can help with. So, I’ll ask, why are you here when you’re a noble?”

Solve the small things while doing the big things.

Kill Monsters in the Sealed Land.

Let’s solve small Quests in a small way.

That would be less boring.

I opened the book again.

The Monster Sealed in the Sealed Land was highly likely to be an outright Dragon.

I asked as I read.

“If it’s news about your hometown, I can find out for you right now. Shall I find out for you?”

“…Yes.”

Amel sent a text to Yuha,

And a reply came back.

Before that, there were texts asking where I was, but I glossed over them appropriately.

<Cassandra>

[How can you do that all of a sudden.]

<I>

[Sorry.]

I was caught for giving up the competition because of a hunch.

<I>

[Anyway, can you find out about a village called Risley?]

<Cassandra>

[Is it a Quest?]

<I>

[Yes]

And 10 minutes later.

News about Risley was included.

Information about particularly changed points.

In summary, it was like this.

The Lord’s daughter went missing.

It is known that there was a famous bandit group in Risley Territory, and they were ruthless people who kidnapped people and colluded with Demonic Cultists.

Since the Lord’s daughter was on her way to another Territory when this happened, it is highly likely that the bandit group did it.

‘(The nuance is a bit different, isn’t it?)’

Win said.

‘(That woman spoke as if she knew she was coming here in advance. As if she had promised to receive something in exchange for herself.)’

Listening to her, when I recalled the woman’s words, it sounded like that.

She said she wanted to hear about her hometown, but that nuance had a feeling of ‘there was a deal’ mixed in.

‘(Well, the story of selling one’s daughter and buying something in return is not good news even in this world where human trafficking is rampant.)’

So, they manipulated public opinion.

They faked a kidnapping.

I told the woman.

“Sherinne?”

“..! Yes..!”

She was surprised to hear her name.

“Risley doesn’t seem to have any other news except for the news of your disappearance. If anything, there’s a dangerous bandit group lurking nearby?”

“What about my brother…”

“Brother?”

I asked Yuha,

And a reply came back.

“There’s nothing about that.”

“That can’t be…”

She says she has a Frail brother.

There is no news that his illness has improved.

“They said they could cure my brother.”

“…Who said that?”

“My father said… the doctors said it was because he didn’t have enough Blood in his body… so…”

Not enough Blood?

But this is a Vampire’s den.

‘(It smells fishy.)’

Poor thing.

Several possibilities came to mind, half of which were unfortunate for her.

I was reading the book, but I couldn’t read it anymore.

“Haa…”

“…Why…”

The woman was out of her mind.

Sherinne lost all her Strength, her arms hanging limply.

She must have been here with the belief that her brother would be revived, but that was not achieved. The pillar that supported her disappeared like an illusion.

“….”

Amel got up from her seat and looked out the window where sunlight was streaming in.

Carts and people were bustling in the street, and the Old man was taking over people in handcuffs from the merchant.

Amel looked displeased at the merchant, and as if sensing her gaze,

“….”

“….”

The merchant looked this way.

He spoke to the Old man,

And pointed this way.

The Old man was startled and waved his arms, stopping the merchant.

At that time.

A text arrived.

It came from Yuha.

Yuha’s intuitive explanation for why the Lord of Risley sold his daughter was written.

“Sherinne.”

“…Yes.”

“Shall I avenge you?”

“Yes?”

Due to the cooperative relationship with the [Vampire Princess], there was a need for at least a justifiable reason to kill a Vampire.

Since it’s a cooperative relationship, it’s only right to give that much consideration.

‘(Is that consideration?)’

‘Then shall I kill them mindlessly?’

Win didn’t stop her.

Amel was pretending not to be, deceiving herself, but Win could see it.

She was angry now.

Sherinne looked to be just an adult, but in Amel’s standards, she was still a child who was far from being an adult.

She says it’s consideration, but she was already full of thoughts of killing.