Chapter 473: The Shepherd Boy And The Liar

A barking sound rang out again from somewhere.

Moments later, a gust of wind blew past.

Riding the highland breeze, a black-furred beastkin landed softly beside Azzy.

Fast.

It wasn’t just speed—this one moved with the agility of a swift dog.

So nimble that it almost felt restless, darting and turning with incredible quickness.

And yet, it made no sound at all.

Her movements were the very embodiment of the word “agility.”

Most notably, she was a vampire, yet moved freely under broad daylight.

The thick fur running from her head to her back shielded her from the sun.

Her bushy tail with white stripes swayed gently up and down.

She wore a loose raincoat to block the sunlight, but even without it, she would’ve been fine.

Her double-layered coat had her covered.

The Ancilla of Lunken, the guardian of shepherds.

A black storm sweeping across the highlands.

Darkness that runs through daylight.

Collie the Shepherd Dog landed beside Azzy before the fur on her body had even settled.

“Woof?”

“Please stay still…! You keep running off the moment I look away, how am I supposed to get any work done…!”

Collie, heir to the brilliant bloodline of famously smart and swift herding dogs, shook her head in dismay.

Twigs and dust clinging to her black fur fell away in a small cloud.

“If the King of Dogs acts so friendly to humans, it’ll disrupt the hierarchy… you know?”

“Woof woof! Friend!”

“I know… I know. But this isn’t your land, remember…?”

Before her stood the King of Dogs.

A figure that held special meaning not only for dogs, but for dog beastkin as well.

Even as a vampire, Collie’s instincts as a dog moved her.

Having calmed Azzy, Collie growled softly in annoyance as she looked at me.

“Nicol. Who is this?”

Perhaps it was the tension of encountering a vampire, though visibly flustered, the boy stammered his reply.

“L-Lady C-Collie-! U-uh, this person came from Black Valley Village… He said he saw a suspicious figure and came to report it to you.”

“To Viltear’s village? There was a human like you there?”

Collie wrinkled her nose and sniffed at me cautiously.

A clearly wary gesture.

Fortunately, even for a beastkin, vampire senses of smell weren’t especially keen.

She likely wouldn’t pick up anything strange from my scent.

“Y-Yes. I don’t know if you’ve heard of me, but I’m Humil from Black Valley Village. It’s an honor to meet you, Miss Collie…”

“Awoo… That’s enough. You’ve never come herding even once, have you? A healthy kid like you never showing your face even once is strange.”

“I came once when I was little… though not as a shepherd apprentice…”

Still, even after becoming a vampire, her beastly instincts to detect discomfort remained intact.

If she had just asked something directly, I could’ve used mind reading to answer.

In that moment of crisis, what saved me was—

“Woof woof! Nice to meet you! Hello!”

—Azzy, clueless as ever, happily circling between Collie and me.

Azzy snuggled in between us, sniffing everywhere, which made Collie grumble in frustration.

“Seriously, Your Majesty! Please wait…! I have work to do…!”

“Woof woof. Hurt? Are you hurt?”

“That blood smell isn’t because I’m hurt…!”

Discomfort only arises when there’s no reason.

Give a reason, and it disappears with the slightest change.

Azzy’s unexpectedly friendly demeanor seemed to ease Collie’s unease too.

“Awoo… So. What did Viltear say?”

“She said… ‘A beast that jumps over the fence’ appeared.”

The phrase “beast that jumps over the fence” was vampire slang.

It referred to humans who had grown stronger than vampires.

Beating a Neonate meant the fence.

Beating an Ancilla meant a wall.

Beating an Elder meant… transcending the species.

Of course, I didn’t learn that from someone, I just repeated what I’d read in her mind that sounded most plausible.

Collie dropped her suspicions and lifted her chin.

“Awoo… Come to think of it, no messenger was sent to Viltear. She must be unaware of the situation.”

“Situation?”

“A high-priority individual escaped, so security’s been tightened. The order is to capture them alive and escort them to the castle. But…”

Collie glared sideways at Azzy with obvious displeasure.

“Of all times, the King appeared.”

“Woof? Me? I’m Azzy!”

“Because the King bit my Neonate, I wasted time chasing and trying to catch you. Back then, I thought the King was the important target. Awoo. Should’ve judged more calmly. This is your fault, showing up at that moment and confusing me.”

She was making excuses to me.

A vampire making excuses to a human might seem absurd, but Collie was originally a dog beastkin.

Becoming a vampire hadn’t changed her essence completely.

As a shepherd dog beastkin, Collie held strong duty and loyalty.

Upward to Lunken and Azzy, downward to the humans she protected.

Failing a mission would’ve been a real blow to her pride.

…Of course, I had no obligation to listen to all of Collie’s complaining.

I feigned ignorance and asked:

“The King? A high-priority target? Who is this beastkin anyway? Are they a vampire?”

Being forced to explain from the start, Collie’s face crumpled in annoyance.

“Awooooooooo! There’s just someone like that! Don’t pry so much!”

After grumbling a storm herself.

In any case, stopping her rant, Collie immediately looked to the shepherd boy and shouted.

“Nicol, return to the village!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am…”

The polite little shepherd who was so respectful in front of me became a meek lamb in front of the vampire.

Casting a few glances my way, the boy turned and walked back toward the village.

Having sent the boy and dog away, Collie plopped down on the ground.

Beastkin that she was, even her sitting posture resembled Azzy’s.

“So? What message did you have?”

“A fugitive of unknown identity appeared in Black Valley Village. He was caught stealing food, and the chief went to subdue him, but…”

“She lost, right? No wonder he’s a high-priority target. Anything else?”

“Anything else…?”

“Like his appearance, abilities, anything we need to know to pursue him.”

It wasn’t a planned encounter, but that made it all the more opportune.

As I already sensed, running from Collie was impossible anyway.

A vampire beastkin, against someone like her, who tires more from not running than from running, fleeing would only make me her plaything.

Which means, as always, my job is to deceive.

“Late 30s? Looked a bit older than me. He wore a hooded robe, probably to hide his face. After fighting senior Viltear, he fled the village at incredible speed. I’ve never seen anyone move so fast… Though of course, not as fast as you, Miss Collie.”

“How did a human beat Viltear?”

“I don’t know either. The fight happened inside the chief’s hut. But she mentioned he had the power to burrow underground. I think it was Earthweave.”

Let’s downplay what happened a bit.

I used both Earthweave and druidism, but if I say I have two powers, they’ll be more wary.

Better to subtly suggest just a fraction of what happened and let them misinterpret.

“Burrowing? Awoo. That’s annoying. Now I’ll have to check underground too.”

Just as I hoped.

I have no intention of burrowing again, but now she’ll think Earthweave is my (only) ability.

“Anything else?”

“I don’t know how helpful it’ll be, but… this is something the chief wanted me to deliver.”

I pulled out a scrap of torn blanket from my robe.

Knowing about Collie, I had gone back before leaving and secretly grabbed it.

“It’s a blanket from the place he stayed. She said the scent would still be on it.”

Of course, it wasn’t mine, it was Hilde’s.

Collie moved like lightning.

Before I could even hesitate, she already had the blanket scrap in her mouth, sniffing carefully at the faint scent.

“Viltear. Not bad.”

“Ah! Since you’re a dog beastkin, you can find him by scent, right? I totally forgot!”

“Awoo. I’m not that good with smells. But I’m not the only one here.”

Right?

Thank god.

I was worried she’d go chasing after Hilde, or worse, smell the remnants of me.

Collie, fiddling with the cloth, suddenly held it out to Azzy.

“Your Majesty. This, perhaps…”

“Sniff sniff. Woof?”

“Can you find who this smell belongs to?”

“Woof! Here!”

Azzy sniffed once, then suddenly started patting my foot with her paw.

My whole body tensed.

If she picked up both Hilde’s scent and mine, was she about to spill it all?

“Woof woof! Woof woof woof!”

Thank god.

Azzy isn’t the type to explain in long sentences.

Collie seemed to expect nothing anyway.

“That’s the one who brought it… Awoo. Whatever. I was stupid. Even if she did know, she wouldn’t help anyway.”

Leaping up, Collie bounded lightly.

She soared over my head and looked back at Azzy and me.

“I’ve got plenty of hunting hounds with me. Once I give them this scent, they’ll find him in no time. But your scent might confuse them, so head back to the villa—no, wait.”

｢Looks like the King’s taken a liking to this human, so I’ll leave him in their care. It’d be annoying if she wanders around and attacks my Neonates.｣

“Look after the King. As long as she’s with you, you won’t be in danger.”

“Huh? Where?”

“Anywhere!”

Collie answered gruffly and vanished.

While I blinked, she had already become a streak of black wind, dashing off toward the shepherd outpost in the misty highlands.

Things turned out better than expected.

Meeting Collie was Azzy’s fault, technically, but thanks to it, I got to explain myself easily and now had room to move as I pleased.

Most of all, I now had a reliable bodyguard.

“Hey. Azzy.”

“Woof?”

“How did you even get here?”

“Woof!”

Azzy gently tapped my foot with her paw.

So she’d followed me, huh?

Makes sense, she’d remember my scent.

Plus, there was still our “promise.”

“What about Shei? Weren’t you with her?”

“Woof? Her? Woof?”

Azzy tilted her head, clueless as ever.

Seems like she has no idea why the Regressor’s name even came up.

How are they managing her?

They say she might be a future disaster, but where’s the supervision?

That’s not how a proper pet owner should act!

Well, it worked out in my favor this time, I guess.

I patted Azzy’s head.

“Either way, I’m glad to see you.”

Azzy’s ears perked up.

Feeling my hand between her thick ears, she grinned and answered brightly.

“Woof! Me too!”

Dogs really are a human’s best friend.

Just being by my side makes me feel stronger.

A vampire beastkin? Heh.

Azzy’s the King of Dogs.

They’re totally in a different league.

I’ve been to prison and traveled with the King of Dogs.

We even shared a cross-species “promise.”

Unlike some vampire under an Elder.

I couldn’t do it earlier because Collie was watching, but now—it was time.

With a sly smile, I whispered.

“Hey Azzy. Remember that one earlier? The black-furred dog beastkin?”

“Woof? Her?”

“Yeah. If you see her again… just bite her.”

If she were human, she’d just stomp her feet, but this was the Duchy, a land of vampires.

Azzy could tear out throats without consequence.

All I had to do was walk behind her.

Heh. Just thinking about it—

“Woof! No!”

“What? Why?”

“She’s a friend! I won’t bite friends!”

“What do you mean friend?! She’s a vampire! Didn’t you smell the blood?!”

“She’s hurt! Woof! I’ll protect her!”

Protect—?

That’s a vampire!

She’ll be fine even if you bite her in half!

If you’re gonna protect someone, protect me!

“Why are you only ever halfway helpful?! Can’t you fully help me just once?! You’re so useless sometimes!”

“You are!”

“Me?! I couldn’t help before because I didn’t have the strength! But I do now! I’ve powered up, and I’ll keep our promise! So just help me this once!”

“You’re so full of yourself!”

“What’s wrong with that?! Have you seen how strong I’ve gotten?! I’m serious!”

Azzy’s probably not going to attack Collie.

Whatever.

That’s why I planned this strategy to begin with.

Collie might be fast and nimble, but searching this whole mountain range, even down to the rabbit holes, will take time.

I’ll slip over the mountains while she’s gone.

She can handle any Neonate or wolves we run into.

Azzy’s only weakness is that she can’t hurt humans.

But that’s fine.

The humans in this country are livestock. They won’t stop me.

Heh. Things are going smoothly.

With a satisfied grin, I started walking.

“Hey, Nicol! Long time no see.”

“Huh? Uncle Brad! It’s been a while!”

“It has. You really look like a proper shepherd now! About time you got married!”

“Try introducing me to a sweet and pretty girl from the valley village before saying stuff like that! But seriously, what brings you all the way out here?”

“I’m here on orders from Chief Viltear. A fugitive was seen heading this way. I came to report it to Lady Collie.”

“Huh? Again?”

“Again? You mean there’s already a fugitive here? Geez, must be fugitive season or something. Why are there so many of them?”

“No, not that. I meant the messenger. Someone from the village already came and delivered a message.”

“A messenger? Who?”

“Someone named Humil. Tall, kinda slick-looking guy.”

“What are you talking about? Humil? There’s no one by that name in the village. And besides, if they were going to send someone from our village, why would they send someone else instead of me? I’ve come here more often than anyone.”

“Huh? That’s strange. He clearly said the chief sent him… If that was a lie, then who was that man?”

A man who wasn’t sent from the village, who dared to lie to a vampire.

An unidentified stranger.

There was only one answer.

The shepherd boy quickly realized the truth and turned his head.

“He’s the fugitive!”