Ch.253253. Vampire Knight

# The Morning After Encountering the Vampire Magic-Knight

“Hahaha! Boy! I shall take my leave now! Be wary of the new moon from now on!”

The self-proclaimed Magic Knight of the Rom Empire, Isabelle, was about to depart from Peter’s side with those words.

“Y-yes…”

“Farewell.”

Peter and Laila watched Isabelle with somewhat disgruntled expressions, as if looking at something strange… but Isabelle, whose mind was not right due to vampire madness, had no time to care about such trivial matters.

“Let’s go, Hawkhead!”

…Whiiinny!

Summoning what was undoubtedly a zombie hippogriff, though to her eyes it appeared as a valiant griffin, Isabelle mounted Hawkhead and soared high into the sky.

Being a vampire, flying under the sun was certainly not a good choice, but Isabelle was classified as a true-blood vampire, albeit of intermediate rank.

Therefore, although she felt somewhat drained, she was able to fly smoothly under the sun and arrive at her comfortable and splendid nest—a castle in the mountains that served as her domain.

“Urrrgh…”

“Hmm, good work!”

After leaving words of praise for the mindless vampire ghoul (Rank 8) guarding the entrance, Isabelle stepped into the interior of the ancient castle, which had become a complete mess due to lack of maintenance.

It had been built at least several decades ago and abandoned for at least a few years.

As a result, the castle’s interior was filled with shattered objects like some abandoned house, with all sorts of broken items scattered irregularly.

But to Isabelle—to the insane Isabelle’s eyes—this castle appeared as the perfect landscape for a splendid knight like herself to live in.

The tattered floor carpet looked like a meticulously crafted, high-quality, beautiful rug; the smashed display cases appeared as intact decorations with ornaments that someone had already stolen; the broken chandelier seemed to be hanging from the ceiling, providing light to this dark place; and all the other damaged furniture looked perfectly maintained in Isabelle’s eyes.

Clatter, clatter.

“Hmm, servants? Working well, I see!”

She even considered the undead, which had formed due to the death energy permeating the castle, as her servants.

There’s no need to extend the narrative explaining the intensity of her madness.

Anyway, Isabelle, behaving like a lunatic, moved freely through the castle interior before entering her room and climbing into her bed (coffin) without even removing her armor.

…Setting aside the fact that for a long-lived vampire, this level of madness was considered relatively mild.

Of course, Isabelle the vampire, being already dead, cannot sleep.

What she thinks of as sleep is merely a way to spend the day without exposure to sunlight—comparable to turning a machine off and on—a kind of “timed unconsciousness.”

But for some reason, today Isabelle couldn’t manage to control the timing of this unconsciousness and immediately fell into a deep slumber…

“…?!!”

When she regained consciousness, she had entered a dream.

An infinitely quiet void with a thin layer of red blood covering the floor, and a vast, shadowless black background that stretched beyond sight.

In this dreamlike scene where she couldn’t distinguish between reality and dream—

《…Ah. Since I’m going to erase your memory anyway, there’s no need to set the mood. Here, take this. Hypnosis app!》

The vampire Isabelle felt a strange sensation at this presence, whose casual speech completely contradicted its imposing aura—

※ ※ ※

“What was that…?”

“…I don’t know. I’m scared.”

After briefly watching the ragged hippogriff flying away in the distance, Peter and Laila, exhausted from dealing with that crazy vampire, stared blankly at each other before feeling relieved about their survival and continuing on their way.

Before long, they arrived at a city in the neighboring domain.

“Halt! Can you identify yourselves?”

“Yes, here’s my adventurer registration tag.”

“…Confirmed! Welcome to the Count’s territory, Silver-ranked adventurer!”

Though not a knight, Peter had a silver tag that afforded him similar treatment.

Having smoothly passed the inspection at the city gate, the two immediately secured rooms at an inn and set their next goal.

“Peter, you’re thinking of… hunting the manticore?”

“Yes, I can’t just let it be.”

Their goal was to eliminate, by any means necessary, the very manticore that had attacked the village.

Even though Peter had successfully reached the intermediate level, a mature manticore, classified as Rank 5, was by no means an easy opponent.

The manticore’s lion body, packed with muscles, far surpasses any ordinary beast, giving it tremendous strength and defensive capabilities that can’t even be scratched without aura.

Its hide is comparable to that of the thick and tough man-eating ogre, with high magic resistance that makes its durability truly formidable.

Additionally, the creature’s teeth and claws naturally channel aura through them, which, combined with its unique strength, can instantly kill even an intermediate warrior with one unlucky strike.

The bat wings on its back are another advantage, allowing stable flight, if not particularly fast.

Moreover, with the head of an old man, the manticore possesses human-level intelligence and can commit any cunning act to obtain its favorite food—human flesh.

Above all, the manticore’s most powerful weapons are its giant scorpion tail and the spines along its back, arranged like the bony plates of a stegosaurus.

The scorpion tail and back spines are coated with an extremely lethal neurotoxin that can cause instant death or total paralysis with just a small wound if one is not an aura user.

Even skin contact can completely paralyze the muscles and nerves in that area, and the spines on its back can be “fired” like a barrage of bullets.

As an intermediate-level monster, these fired spines contain aura, making their destructive power comparable to a musket volley when multiple spines are launched simultaneously.

Judging that challenging it with their current abilities would only lead to death, the two established several conditions for successfully eliminating the manticore.

First, the basic principle was for Laila to become capable of using Level 3 holy magic.

Beyond simply increasing the number of available spells or skills, once reaching the intermediate level, all living beings experience significant growth in their physical and mental capabilities, as if evolving into a higher species.

Moreover, considering that the resurrection magic available among Level 3 spells essentially provides an extra life (though there’s much debate about it), the safety aspect was incomparably better.

Meanwhile, the two also decided to acquire suitable equipment.

“Dwarven weapons… possible at intermediate level, right?”

“Yes. And magic weapons would be good too, if possible.”

When facing large intermediate monsters like manticores, the most important thing is good armor—equipment that can somehow withstand the monster’s attacks is essential.

Good armor or shields, or at least sturdy weapons to parry attacks are necessary… but Peter’s current partial plate armor, while sturdy, has its limitations.

At minimum, they would need equipment made by dwarven craftsmen who can forge ordinary steel like special metals, or equipment using special metals to have any chance…

“A ring of strength enhancement… 890 gold?”

“It’s expensive, but Peter, you’re a silver-ranked adventurer, right? If you save up money, it should be possible.”

Since body enhancement accessories are in high demand, there are many available and they’re relatively inexpensive for magical equipment, so acquiring gear shouldn’t be a major problem as long as they can save enough money.

And finally, the recruitment of companions.

The manticore belongs to a class of ferocious magical beasts with considerable danger, but it’s also rare and has many uses, making it extremely valuable.

Its hide is used for making cloaks due to its magic resistance; its poison sac sells for a high price for some reason; and arrows or daggers made from its claws or teeth are quite popular.

Additionally, various organs are traded at high prices for supposed health or virility benefits, and the head is used as an excellent material for magic or alchemy, fetching a high price.

Therefore, since a manticore hunt could yield a fortune, joining such a party could be quite attractive.

So they asked the guild to post a recruitment notice for suitable party members.

“Of course, that’s possible for a silver-ranked adventurer. Oh, and there’s a silver-ranked adventurer not currently affiliated with any party. Would you like to meet them?”

“Yes, please.”

Hearing this good news, Peter hoped to meet a good person as his companion, but—

“—Oho?!! What a coincidence to meet like this, boy?! So you’re the silver-ranked adventurer looking for a party now?”

“Yes… it seems so.”

The person he ended up meeting was someone he never wished to encounter again—the vampire knight Isabelle, who was somehow cosplaying as a human.