Ch.46Chapter 46: Vampire (2).

The little vampire stared at Valt’s smiling face and immediately began to hiccup.

“Hic! Hiccup!!”

Valt tried to make the most reassuring expression he could and spoke to the vampire.

“Don’t worry, I won’t harm—”

The hiccupping vampire girl didn’t wait for Valt to finish and burst into tears.

“Hic! Huu…huwaaaaang!! L-Liris doesn’t taste good!! Please don’t eat me!! Uwaaaang! Hic!!”

Well, it’s only natural that small and petite Liris would be frightened when surrounded by three burly men.

Robin chuckled and stepped forward.

“Haha, Valt. With that face of yours… Now, Miss Liris, it’s alright. We’re from Grovine—”

“Uwaaaaaaang!!”

Yuria cackled with laughter.

“Kyahaha, you two don’t look that different to me! Now, Liris, big sis—”

“Gack! Gaack hic!! Gaaaack!!”

With Liris’s crying showing no signs of stopping, Valt once again had to rely on the gnome’s help.

A small gnome appeared before Liris.

Of course, it wasn’t a real gnome but a stone doll that the gnome had created to look exactly like himself.

“Don’t cry. We won’t hurt you.”

The gnome was cute. His round eyes even made him look innocent.

Liris calmed down upon seeing the gnome doll and her crying subsided a bit.

“Sniff, hic… R-really?”

“Yes, so stop crying now.”

Perhaps because she was a little girl, the doll was extremely effective.

Somewhat calmed, Valt asked Liris:

“Liris, what happened here?”

Though her face still showed wariness, Liris answered Valt’s question.

“P-please help! Bad people took everyone away!!”

“Bad people?”

“They were strange people wearing masks. The villagers too, everyone…”

Masked people? Valt had quite a deep connection with masked individuals.

“What kind of place is this village? Why are you here?”

When Valt asked, Liris tightly closed her mouth.

Seeing this, Yuria spoke up.

“Looks like those rumors were true. I heard there was a village where humans supplied blood and interacted with vampires—this must be the place.”

Coming from Yuria who had lived in the Great Forest, it must be true.

“Is that right?”

Whether it was a secret or not, Liris’s lips remained firmly sealed.

“Well…”

“You need to tell us so we can help you. You didn’t come here alone, who did you come with?”

“Bartol! Brad was captured! He put me in the well to protect me…”

Must be adult vampires.

There were stories that adult vampires were at least 4th circle powerhouses.

It was easy to guess that those who ventured outside would be even stronger.

“This is getting serious. Vampires who travel outside are at least 4th circle. But they disappeared without putting up a fight? These aren’t ordinary people.”

Yuria also perked up her ears and nodded.

“It’s dangerous. My instincts are telling me so.”

After a brief moment of contemplation, Valt made his decision.

“Liris. Do you know where your home is?”

Liris gave a slight nod.

“Good, let’s go to your home first.”

But Robin and Yuria weren’t pleased with this.

“Valt, we need to investigate. Going straight to Brasov now is…”

Valt placed Liris on his shoulder and said:

“This girl is the problem. She’s already quite weak. Can we entrust the treatment of a weakened vampire to a human village?”

“……”

Even in Westmore, there are many who seek vampire by-products.

Normally, vampires hide their red eyes and fangs, but this girl seems too weak to even do that.

“We came to make friends with vampires, so we can’t do that. We’re going to Brasov.”

Robin and Yuria actually want to go too. They just couldn’t help but mention the potential danger.

At Valt’s decision, Robin and Yuria grinned and spoke up.

After all, neither of them shied away from danger.

“Let’s go!”

“Heheh! This is exciting!?”

***

Thump! Thump!

“Grooargh”

In the distance, a huge bear was scratching a tree.

“That’s a 5th grade Great Claw Bear. Let’s leave it be.”

The Great Forest was truly filled with incredible monsters.

“Impressive, I must fight it someday.”

“That thing is super strong! About my level? Though I’d win, of course.”

Taking care of it now would be an option, but that might attract all the monsters in the area.

Valt asked Liris, who was perched on his shoulder:

“Is it still far?”

“Yes, it took us two days to get here. We flew, so walking like this will take even longer.”

It’s common knowledge that vampires can transform into bats and fly.

“Hmm… that’s troublesome. We don’t have much time…”

The mission completion period was one week.

Though it was only the first day, if it took 2-3 days just to get there, they would inevitably run short on time.

Monster extermination would be possible in a day if Valt set his mind to it.

After a brief contemplation, Valt made a decision.

“Yuria, what’s the highest grade of creature that appears in this part of the Great Forest?”

Yuria shrugged and said:

“It looks similar to our kingdom, so probably grade 6?”

“I see… Liris, are you sure you know the way?”

Liris, now much less wary, nodded.

“Yes, it’s straight in this direction. Vampires can always find their nest from anywhere. Because there’s treasure.”

“Treasure?”

Liris, realizing her slip, stammered:

“Ah, um, well. It’s just how our kind is.”

“Strange. Alright. So it’s straight in this direction. Bear with it even if it gets a bit uncomfortable.”

As Valt concentrated his magical power, a magical gauntlet began to envelop Liris.

“Eh, eh? W-what is this!?”

“It’s a gnome barrier. It will protect you.”

Realizing what Valt was about to do, Robin and Yuria took positions behind him.

“Haha!! Let’s go, Valt!!!”

“Valt! Don’t damage the forest too much!”

Valt grinned at Robin and Yuria.

“I’ll try! Keep up!! Here we go!!”

Thump!

Valt’s body shot forward in a straight line in the direction Liris had pointed.

From the beginning, Valt had been smashing through trees with a single swing when he first met Lisa in the forest.

Even if the trees in the Great Forest were larger and sturdier than those, they were no obstacle to Valt, who had grown much stronger since then.

Liris shouted at Valt, who was advancing at an incredible speed:

“Kyaaak! What are you doing!?”

Liris was securely attached to Valt’s back, wrapped in the magical gauntlet like a stone bundle, so she wouldn’t be affected by the impact.

“I’m making a path with magic.”

“M-magic?”

“Yes, my unique magic. Path Finding.”

“P-Path Finding isn’t that kind of magic!”

“Then let’s call it Path Making. Hup!!”

CRASH!!

The densely packed trees in front of Valt exploded outward.

Seeing this, Yuria laughed loudly.

“Ahahaha! Is that even possible?”

She could do it too if she tried, but not as effortlessly as Valt.

Crack!

Thud!

Groooo!

Thump!

Thwack!

Rip!

Like a road roller, Valt was carving a straight path to Brasov.

Monsters that spotted Valt began to chase after him.

“Robin!”

“Yes! Valt, I’ll handle the smaller ones!!!”

Bang bang bang!!

Guided Rapid Fire, the archer’s specialty of guiding arrows to their targets! Robin’s arrows precisely hit the monsters, causing them to fall back.

As a result, the monsters that were chasing Valt for food turned on the fallen monsters instead.

But Robin wasn’t alone.

Yuria also extended claws from her hands and shouted:

“Haha! I’m glad I came along! Haap!”

“Oh? You can make those come out of your bare hands too?”

Swoosh!

Her aura sliced through the air, taking the shape of a lion’s claws.

The technique was aptly named Lion’s Claws.

It wasn’t as precise as Robin’s, but its destructive power was superior.

“Gweeek!”

“Kyang kyang!!”

Lower-grade monsters fell like autumn leaves, and other monsters were busy devouring their carcasses.

Just then, a massive monster appeared in front of Valt.

“Keeeuuuuu!!”

Thump! Thump!

Robin and Yuria were shocked at the sight.

“Th-that’s!!”

A 6th grade monster, the Giant Armored Elk. It was a variant of the Giant Elk that Valt had hunted before.

Living in the Great Forest and absorbing magical power, it had evolved to become even stronger.

It was a monster difficult to deal with quickly due to the armor covering its entire body.

“Damn, that thing is incredibly tough.”

“Valt! We need to take a detour! It’ll take too much time.”

But Valt’s response wasn’t about avoiding it.

“If it’s persistent, we just don’t fight it. Come on!”

“Keeeuuuuu!”

Thud thud thud thud—

The monster charged straight at Valt.

It had an even more massive body than Valt.

If Valt dodged, Yuria and Robin behind him could be harmed.

6th grade, which in terms of aura and circles, would be equivalent to the 6th floor, 6th circle level of power.

Yuria shouted in disbelief:

“What! You said you weren’t going to fight! Dodge! What are you doing??”

BOOM!!

“Keeeuuuooo!”

As the monster charged with its massive horns, Valt couldn’t help but smile.

‘This, this is exciting!’

He couldn’t use the gnome because of Liris.

So Valt unleashed a barrage of wind-based physical magic.

Whoosh!

Bang!

BOOM!!

But the monster’s charge didn’t stop.

However, its momentum did decrease.

“Try this too!!”

Whioooooo—

It was the Spiral Buster Ball he had learned from Airin.

BOOM!!

“Keeeuuuu!!”

The charge was halted, but the monster remained intact.

“See!! I told you it was super tough! Robin! Let’s attack together!”

“Understood! Yuria!”

But Valt’s attack wasn’t over.

Grab!

Valt seized the massive horns and lifted the monster up.

“Keeeuuu?”

“Hup!”

And then threw it into the sky!!

Whoosh!!

“Keeeuuuuu!!!”

Crack crack CRACK!

Whether due to its enormous body and weight, or because Valt’s throwing power was too tremendous, the monster flew through the dense trees of the Great Forest and disappeared into the distance.

Yuria, finally coming to her senses, burst into laughter.

“Pff, kup! Puhahaha, kyahahaha! Valt, what was that?!”

The dumbfounded Robin also commented:

“My goodness… that thing must have weighed at least 5 tons… and he threw it that far…”

Valt dusted off his hands and exclaimed:

“We’re in a hurry, so not fighting is best. Let’s continue.”

Robin and Yuria felt that while Valt’s words sounded like something a pacifist would say, somehow it didn’t feel that way at all.