Ch.60The Mine and the Vampire (1)

The blue light faded, and we opened our eyes in an unfamiliar place.

Though the change happened in an instant, it was unmistakable. We were standing on an abandoned platform inside an old, deserted warehouse.

A completely different environment from the nest where we had been moments ago. Though both were abandoned, the clear differences gave us that perception.

We had actually teleported and arrived at a completely unknown location.

So as soon as we regained our senses, we scanned our surroundings and reached for our weapons.

No words were necessary. Lorian, despite being somewhat clumsy and careless, was stronger than me in combat, and Isla was an experienced hunter.

If there was anything to worry about, it was me, but I was immune to most injuries unless my neck was targeted. I could even feign death after being attacked and then launch a surprise counterattack.

So instead of drawing my sword, I clenched my fists tightly and surveyed the area.

All I could see were what appeared to be long-abandoned furniture, tools, and various pieces of junk.

“There’s nothing here.”

Isla spoke first. She had been thoroughly scanning the surroundings.

“I can sense movement outside, but it doesn’t feel like we’re surrounded.”

Then both of them looked at me. We’d left the old man behind to protect the nest, so this was everyone.

So now it was my turn.

I closed my eyes briefly and listened carefully.

I could hear footsteps. Many and varied.

I could also estimate the distance. Not too far, but not very close either, and the direction seemed to be passing in front of us.

This wasn’t my imagination. They weren’t interested in us. I opened my eyes and nodded to the two.

Receiving my signal, they put away their weapons, and we stepped outside the warehouse.

We needed to go outside to get a clear understanding of the situation anyway.

And so we faced the city.

“…Underground?”

Isla was right. The place we had arrived at could be described as an underground city.

But it wasn’t just a simple underground city. A scene I had never seen in the game was unfolding before my eyes.

What could be called the ceiling of the underground city had countless luminous objects suspended to provide light.

I couldn’t tell exactly what they were, but they were glowing spheres, entangled with vines, giving them a somewhat natural appearance.

Below, people moved about busily, and because the light cast by the luminous objects was close to crimson, there was a somewhat familiar atmosphere.

It was like the color of Korean streets at night, you could say.

The difference would be the people making up the streets and the style of the buildings.

Most buildings were made of stone, with occasional wooden structures, but unlike modern ones, they were distinctly medieval.

One difference was that they had angular forms like those you might see in a desert or similar place.

And what about the people? Most appeared to be wealthy humans.

They wore silk clothes, and their faces had good complexion, with a greasy sheen perhaps from eating well.

Most of them didn’t even give us a glance. This meant either armed individuals were common or there was some background that made people unafraid of them.

In fact, while I was observing, someone even bumped shoulders with me, and despite my plate armor, they didn’t cower but instead clicked their tongue, scowled, and walked away.

A sight you wouldn’t see in an ordinary city. Confused, I looked back at the other two.

Isla and Lorian. Neither of them seemed to know this city well.

“How about… we look around a bit?”

“Did you say blue mineral?”

Lorian responded. I nodded.

“If it’s a mineral, it should be in a mine… I never expected a city to have formed here.”

The platform we had used for teleportation wasn’t removable. It was more like it was attached to the warehouse floor.

I don’t know how it came to be, but at least it probably hadn’t been moved far from where the blue mineral was found.

We thought the blue mineral would be found somewhere around here.

The problem was that a city had been established here. If there was a city, the mine was likely private property owned by the city.

Whether we negotiated or sneaked in to mine it.

Either way, we needed to find it first.

“We’ll look suspicious just standing here. Let’s move.”

As Isla suggested, we might indeed look suspicious, so we slowly strolled through the city.

The city appeared to be prosperous.

The attire of people walking the streets was diverse—some wore northern tribal federation-style clothing from the Old Continent, while others were merchants dressed in desert attire said to be from far south.

Despite being an underground city, it seemed quite accessible. There were many people, and the city was bustling with activity.

That’s probably why we didn’t look suspicious either. That was good. Only after reaching what appeared to be a marketplace did I start asking about the mine.

“A mine, you say. There is one mine here, but I heard it’s being used as a prison because nothing comes out of it.”

“Thank you.”

The words of a middle-aged man selling roasted fruit at a stall.

I took two skewers of roasted fruit and expressed my gratitude.

“But seeing you ask about the mine… did you also come because of the rumors?”

“Rumors?”

Did he think I was playing dumb? The merchant laughed good-naturedly.

“Everyone who needs to know already knows, so no need to pretend. It’s not such valuable information… You’re also here looking for treasure, right?”

At his words about looking like adventurers, I could feel my heart flutter.

So I’m a proper adventurer now. Satisfied but trying not to show it, I said:

“That might be the case.”

“You’re not the only adventurer, so no need to deny it. You don’t look like you were born and raised here—you also came from the Old Continent for adventure and glory that can’t be had there, right?”

Listening to him, I inferred several things.

First, fortunately, this was the New Continent.

And that there were indeed adventurers coming from the Old Continent to the New Continent because there wasn’t enough to explore there.

I had heard from Melody that the Empire was blocking passage to the New Continent, so this was unexpected.

“In that spirit, let me give you some advice—don’t stir things up too much.”

As I handed one skewer to Isla and lifted my helmet visor to eat the other, the merchant spoke. I blinked in surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“Many people have come like you, but have you seen any of them on your way here?”

Come to think of it, I hardly saw anyone who looked like an adventurer on our way.

I thought I hadn’t noticed them because I was focused on investigating… but that wasn’t it.

“You probably haven’t seen any. There’s a reason for that, so be careful. Move cautiously and read the situation.”

It was kind advice. Too kind for a stranger to give to unfamiliar adventurers.

For a moment, I wondered if this merchant might be one of the Three Tribes, but that was overthinking. There were no signs of that.

It was probably just sympathy because he’d seen many go that way. I finished the roasted fruit.

“Thanks for the information. We’ll be careful. As for payment…”

“Just five Imperial coins.”

“That’s expensive.”

“Heh, if you think of it as payment for information, it’ll seem cheap.”

That’s true. I handed over the coins I’d received from Isla and withdrew.

“Is that enough?”

Isla asked once we were at what seemed a safe distance.

[Play Time: 9,310 hours]

About an hour had passed since we entered the market. The information we’d gathered while weaving between merchants painted a fairly clear picture.

First, rumors had spread about treasure in the local mine.

Though the truth was unknown, many adventurers had come looking for it and disappeared.

This was an underground city in the New Continent, and while its exact location was unknown, it was accessible to merchants.

The mine wasn’t in use.

Or more precisely, it was said to not be in use. I wasn’t sure what the reality was.

And since the mine was used as a prison, it wasn’t far from the city hall or guard post. We wandered through the market with the information we’d gathered.

This was enough. The rest we could find out through direct exploration.

All that remained was to find Lorian, who had briefly left us to dig up more information, and then head to the mine.

We searched around for Lorian and soon found her in front of a blatantly suspicious stall.

She was already holding an armful of items.

They didn’t look like quality goods at a glance. Probably junk that wouldn’t even display a name or description in my status window if I got my hands on them.

But Lorian was cherishing them as if they were some kind of secret weapons, holding them close to her chest.

“Now, this one is also an excellent item! A famous sword said to have been forged by a Transcendent himself! A weapon used by a legendary Contractor! Known as the Pure—”

“Lorian.”

The merchant who was enthusiastically introducing the item froze. In his hand was an utterly plain longsword.

How that could be a Transcendent’s sword was beyond me. Even the name sounded weak.

I snorted briefly and nodded to Lorian.

“Let’s go. We’ve gathered enough.”

“Ah, wait a moment. This merchant just happened to offer me a Transcendent’s sword…!”

“That’s fake.”

No need to verify. I could tell without even holding it. At my scoff, the merchant seemed to realize I wasn’t an easy mark and became desperate.

“That’s unfair! Haven’t you seen how excellent these items are? If you pay now, they can all be the lady’s!”

The merchant apparently thought Lorian would pay directly, but fortunately, that wouldn’t happen.

Lorian looked at me briefly with an expression like a child begging for toys, but I cleanly ignored her gaze.

She looked at the items with regretful eyes for a moment before slowly putting them back on the merchant’s stall.

Good thing I didn’t give her money. If I had, she would have already bought them. Though she was clearly reluctant, she followed the will of me, her “father candidate.”

“I’m sorry. On second thought, this one blade is enough… and I don’t have any money.”

“But…!”

The merchant reached out with a devastated expression, but we walked away without hesitation.

“How did you get caught up in such a scam?”

“Scam? That can’t be. I saw with my own eyes a merchant with absolutely no sword skills cut through steel…”

Is she the type to overly trust what she sees? Lorian insisted that they would have been helpful, that all those items looked useful.

But even to me, with my limited discernment, they were all clearly fakes.

They were more like magic props.

Seeing her believe it so readily, I wondered if she was a straightforward knight in either a good or bad way.

No, a female knight now. With that thought, we walked for quite some time.

We were gradually approaching the interior of the cave. If there was a mine, this seemed like the place it would be.

While I was wondering which building might be the guard post, someone suddenly called out to us.

“Is it them?”

“Yes, these bastards. Two women and one man.”

When I turned my head, I saw a group of people. From their weapons and appearance, they looked like nothing but thugs.

They were carrying weapons on their shoulders and were accompanied by the merchant who had tried to scam Lorian earlier.

“Good. You can go.”

“Yes, of course.”

The merchant bowed his head and retreated. Lorian watched him leave with a bewildered expression.

Had she not expected him to inform on us? The straightforward female knight soon put away her bewildered expression and sighed.

“So, whose people are you? What group would stir things up like—”

“It was my mistake, so I’ll handle this.”

“Don’t kill them.”

“Don’t worry. I had no intention of killing such weaklings from the start.”

The thug’s threat was cut off, and at Lorian’s words, which could be taken as an insult, they froze.

Their faces contorted in anger, curses flew, and they closed the distance with empty threats.

It was a rational judgment on their part.

Lorian, judging by appearances, looked like a fragile young lady. Though one arm seemed somewhat mechanical, she had the appearance of a beautiful girl.

Curses mixed with vulgar language, and even lustful threats could be heard.

But neither Isla nor I stepped forward. There was no need.

Thwack, crunch, crack!

Lorian swung her executioner’s sword without drawing it from its scabbard.

She twirled, kicking with her dress fluttering, pushing and striking precisely at jaws and temples with her delicate fists.

“Surround her! Attack all at once!”

A typical attack pattern met with typical words. The weapons they swung either didn’t reach her or were deflected or missed.

“Ugh, my body…!”

Instead, with each punch that landed, she used a type of blood magic—blood flow manipulation—to rob them of bodily control.

Naturally, their legs got tangled, or they interfered with their allies’ attacks.

As more of them became entangled, they began to notice something strange.

A burly man who had been hit twice by Lorian’s executioner’s sword and kicked twice staggered back with a terrified expression.

“Red eyes, pale skin, blood magic…!”

Words that couldn’t be ignored. As Lorian, Isla, and I all looked at him, he froze in fear.

“A-another vampire! Run!”

“Another?”

I asked, but no answer came.

Instead, the thugs fled in a hurry. Those still conscious carried away those who weren’t.

It wasn’t loyalty but survival that motivated them. That was immediately clear. Without hesitation, I shouted:

“Catch them!”

The thugs’ screams echoed as our unexpected pursuit began.