Ch.303Special Side Story for New Release Promotion – Vampire War (1)

After the last journey, how much time has passed?

Even without keeping precise track of time, there’s this atmosphere of about 30 years having flowed by completely.

And during this time—which seems long in some ways and short in others—more things happened to me than I expected.

For example, I briefly accepted the position of Druid Council Leader at Drona’s request, and during my retirement, our expected twins arrived to join us.

After the commotion in the East, our family, who had completely cut ties with the secular world, truly lived a peaceful life in every sense of the word.

Our animal friends each rose in rank until they became high-ranked, and I too, as their ranks increased, eventually reached the position known as Transcendent.

Of course, there were plenty of minor mistakes along the way, but regardless, I succeeded to the position of Guardian of the Aleinos Forest while building walls between myself and the secular world as much as possible.

….In truth, this was partly because raising the twins was difficult even with Sophie, my mother, and me all working together.

The twin siblings Lupin, with top-tier talent, and Talisa, who could only be described as extraordinary in every way.

Their exceptional talents came with equally vast scales of trouble, causing considerable hardship for my mother, Sophie, and me alike.

Of course, the pains of child-rearing were only temporary.

As time passed, the two children grew up and reached the intermediate level as druids. Lupin firmly established himself as my successor, while Talisa, unable to overcome her wanderlust, chose the path of an adventurer.

I’m practically approaching my 50s now, and Talisa has even completed her formal meeting with her partner’s family, so I’ve truly reached retirement age.

I couldn’t care less about the war breaking out between some kingdom and empire outside, or whether the emerging duchy gained independence or not.

I maintain at least minimal human relations with the Duke of the Duchy, exchanging gifts and such due to our somewhat decent connection….

So this is the story after I put down all my duties and retired.

※ ※ ※

Somewhere in the Aleinos Forest. Near the house I built for Lupin, who found himself an elf girlfriend and settled down near our family home, stands “Tarasque No. 7,” the residence Sophie and I chose.

This home, newly built using the body of an adult rock dragon as its foundation, surprisingly doesn’t have many residents.

Me, Sophie, Corin, Robo, and Yongyong.

Astra returned to the silver deer herd in the Aleinos Forest to serve as their leader, and the Squeak-squeaks are scattered throughout the region.

Hydra stays in the swamplands with some of her children, and Gretel travels the country with Lancelot as wandering knights.

My disciple, the stone monkey Wonsul, works with his own disciple Cheong, while Cretinus spends his time with Meary and Kechak in the environment created on the estate.

So, in an environment where there aren’t many actual residents….

‘….Yaaawn.’

Awakened by the bright sunlight shining through the window, I rose from bed, stretching my slightly aching joints—perhaps due to age.

Of course, since I don’t age anymore, I dismiss it as merely psychological, and as I reach for the cup that should be beside the bed—

[I’m hungryyyy….]

“Ah, you’re awake?”

What I feel is the soft touch of Fenrir Robo, who had been sleeping in my arms since yesterday.

The warm, soft sensation unique to small animals, along with the feeling of Robo’s children wiggling around.

So after lazing in bed for a moment, I got up, leaving Sophie still quietly sleeping beside me.

I started moving with the reasonable purpose that I should prepare breakfast and began heading to the kitchen….

[Hello, Master!]

“….Ah. It’s Corin. Hello…. Huh. Feels like it’s been a while.”

Perhaps because it’s morning. After briefly greeting Corin, who was grooming her feathers, there was no further reason to delay.

My goal is a simple American breakfast. Scrambled eggs with pancakes, grilled bacon, and a red apple on the side….

‘Ah, we’re out of bacon.’

While I could create most things with magic, processed foods like this are usually supplied from the domain, so upon realizing we were out of bacon, I immediately used magic to form red meat in my hand.

The meat is the rib-eye portion of a magical beast called a Gorgon Bull.

While it would normally be best to make roast beef with it, knowing that steak is also quite delicious, I began preparing the meal.

I cracked “spiritual realm” eggs created by magic onto the frying pan and scrambled them instantly, then took out another dedicated pan to start making small pancakes.

I put appropriately cut meat into the special microwave? oven for morning steak, set the time to about one minute, and the basic preparation was complete.

‘Let’s see…. maple syrup….’

I prepared the maple syrup for the pancakes and placed a small piece of butter on top of the pancakes to finish.

“Mmm, smells good….”

“You’re up?”

“Yes, Gregory. Good morning.”

“Good morning to you too.”

Just as I was finishing the meal preparations, Sophie, who had woken up, came over. We simply resolved our breakfast through the prepared food.

It might seem a bit heavy for breakfast, but this is the standard for our household where everyone has high energy requirements.

After finishing breakfast, as I was about to prepare morning coffee to start the day smoothly…. right at that moment.

-Beep beep beep beep beep─!!

‘Hm?’

What I hear is some kind of magical sound ringing out, essentially a phone bell indicating that someone is calling through a magical communication device.

“….Who could it be?”

Since there aren’t many people who would call us, I became even more curious about the caller.

Wondering if perhaps Talisa had called after a long time, I picked up the communication device with anticipation….

“….Huh? Council Lead— I mean, Drona? What’s the matter?”

The caller was none other than Drona Malcaden, the previous generation’s Council Leader.

While we occasionally check in with each other, she never goes beyond that, so why would she suddenly call at such an early hour?

Naturally, I could infer that something urgent had happened, but to know more, I needed to answer the call—

“—It’s terrible! One of the Elector Principalities has collapsed at the hands of cultists!”

“What?!”

That statement contained content far beyond what I had been expecting.

The nine Elector Principalities that make up the Holy Empire. While each has its own unique judicial system and laws, the influence these states hold cannot be described as merely equivalent to an ordinary domain.

One Elector Principality theoretically possesses national power equivalent to about 1/3 of the Frankish Kingdom, which means each one surpasses most small countries.

There are many countries in this world that don’t even match a single Elector Principality, which is why the Empire is truly strong because these nine Elector Principalities are united as one….

“….An Elector Principality has fallen?”

“Yes! The culprit is a vampire!”

According to Drona’s brief explanation, the fundamental perpetrator of this incident is a vampire.

One of the eastern Elector Princes had recently collapsed in critical condition, and unfortunately, the one who took his place was none other than a Vampire Lord in disguise.

The governance itself was excellent, causing the principality to quickly become wealthy and even absorb surrounding margravates to expand its power further….

“And they were discovered, so they invaded neighboring countries?”

“Yes. It seems like it will be contained at that level for now…. but you never know, right?”

“Indeed…. I understand.”

So, after exchanging thanks with an old acquaintance for the good information, I promptly forgot about this fact….

But ultimately, this would lead to the worst possible outcome.

※ ※ ※

One week after receiving the news. A suppression force of 10,000 from the adjacent Elector Principality, including Sword Masters, was annihilated.

Two weeks after receiving the news. A crusader army hastily gathered by the Pantheon was massacred by suddenly appearing Vampire Lords.

Three weeks after receiving the news. Another nearby Elector Principality fell, leading the Kingdom and Empire to declare a temporary alliance after a ceasefire.

One month after receiving the news. The joint subjugation force of the two countries was annihilated by 12 high-ranking vampires and Vampire Lords.

The Papal Office of the Pantheon declared this the “Great Vampire War” and officially announced a crusade.

A new war had begun that would plunge not just the Western Continent but the entire world into the flames of a great conflict.