Chapter 55: Isabel, dare you to leave me alone and cheat ?

“A Thousand-Year-Old Vampire with Ambitions: Shirarai Erzebet”

Shirarai Erzebet.

A vampire who has lived for over a thousand years.

The world sees this vampire as a monster.

A wicked monster who drains the life from all living beings…

Craves their blood…

And thirsts for murder.

The world points fingers at her, calling her a vampire.

However, she’s a being on a different level.

A Dracula.

Draculas are a different species from vampires.

Powerful enough to be considered a candidate for the next Demon Lord…

And unlike lowly vampires, they can survive without drinking blood.

A perfect, superior version of a vampire. The progenitor of vampires.

Because of her lineage, she is arrogant…

And desires to control everything.

Perhaps due to this personality…

She develops an ambition to rule the world as a villain.

But to achieve this ambition, she doesn’t just want a long lifespan…

She wants to become a perfect god.

She dreams of immortality.

Despite being a villain with such dreams, she has her own circumstances.

A cursed youth and longevity.

She has lived for a thousand years, interacting with countless people…

And coexisting with many races…

But she feels the emptiness of seeing lives end before hers.

All these thoughts turn into resentment towards the world.

To make matters worse…

One day, she witnesses a scene of mutual slaughter.

Comrade killing comrade.

The strong taking everything from the weak.

She even witnessed betrayal and whistleblowing.

After that, she closed her heart.

She then acquired extensive medical knowledge.

She secretly conducted experiments on living beings…

Created bioweapons and substances to destroy the world…

And devoted herself to research to achieve immortality, to become a god.

This scum, devoid of morals and goodness…

Shirarai Erzebet.

Please save her.

Black Hound, we await your response.

[Reward: 10,000p]
[Skill: Purification of Pure Blood]

“Next is a chuunibyou vampire…Interesting.”

The most domineering, queen-like heroine.

To conquer such a villainess and turn her into a perfect, virtuous wife…

…This makes my blood boil.

I want to purify her, even if it means feeding her my own blood.

I must hunt this woman down…

No, redeem her.

“Just you wait…Handsome Isabel is coming for you. Hahahaha!”

“Lilith Tycoon” provided the exact location of Shirarai.

Fruit Beria.

A bountiful village filled with fruit trees.

I set off for that village.

About a fortnight after Isabel left Mysticgrove…

At a guild association in Luminous Garden, where the saint Belladriel lives…

A commotion erupted in the quest request room.

“Sigh, young man. We’ve told you, we don’t know where he is!”

“No, you know! I’m looking for the Fox Mask…no, the Black Hound!”

At first, they thought he was a VIP client when he took out a heavy pouch of gold…

But he keeps making unreasonable demands.

“…Damn it! Who are you to ask for our Guild Leader!? He’s not here!”

“Then at least tell me his location! Just where he is…!”

It’s frustrating that he keeps asking about Isabel’s whereabouts.

The middle-aged man was dumbfounded by the strange young man’s nonsense.

“Even I, a mid-level manager, don’t know! Why are you being so persistent!?”

The “Black Hound” Guild Association, founded by the Black Hound.

Kerubian, the operations chief and mid-level manager, was perplexed.

This doesn’t happen often, but…

Why is he so insistent on finding the Guild Leader?

The word “Guild Leader” is forbidden here…

“You…bastard. Hey…! Even we have trouble meeting the Guild Leader, and! It’s a forbidden word here! …”

You can’t even mention the “I” in Isabel.

If you do, Vice Guild Leader, Countess Seraphina Fires, will go ballistic.

No man can stop her hysterical rage.

Frustrated, Kerubian sighed deeply.

“Just go. Go back. I’ll return your money.”

He tossed the money pouch back…

But the young man refused and shouted,

“Please, just tell me! Or at least…where he is…! Give me a hint!”

“Hey, young man. I keep telling you, even we have trouble meeting our Guild Leader. If you have other requests, we’ll take them. Otherwise, just leave. And why are you asking us about our Guild Leader’s whereabouts? That’s absurd.”

Why are you asking us about our leader’s whereabouts?

The young man found that even more absurd.

“Ha! Then who should I ask!? You’re supposed to be an adventurers’ association that fulfills any request! How can you not know where your own Guild Leader is!?”

Of course…

The young man is absolutely right.

This is a place that fulfills any request…

And completes any quest.

But there’s nothing they can do.

Ever since the guild was established, not even the guild members have seen his face.

And if you ask Vice Guild Leader, Countess Seraphina…

All you’ll get is a sharp slash.

Besides, looking at the situation, it doesn’t matter if the Guild Leader is absent.

The guild members’ salaries are paid regularly.

So why bother asking?

“Sigh. You two.”

Kerubian looked at the guild members standing nearby.

Two well-built guild members.

They approached Kerubian with a disciplined posture.

Kerubian sighed and ordered them,

“Just drag him out. He’s noisy. And put that money pouch in his pocket.”

“Yes!”

The two men grabbed the young man’s arms as ordered.

“H-Hey, let go!”

“We can’t do that.”

“Let’s go.”

“W-Wait! Let go of me!”

He struggled, but it was no use.

As he was being dragged away, the young man thought of Lord Aias.

The lord had said to him,

“If we don’t find Isabel, a great disaster will occur…”

The gentle lord had said that with a frightening expression.

Those words were definitely not to be taken lightly.

And since the young man was deeply indebted to the lord…he wanted to complete his mission.

So he shouted as loudly as he could,

“Hey!! This is ridiculous! Mister! That Guild Leader was in our Mysticgrove village! He was in our village! If he moved, where else would he be but here!? He’s the Guild Leader here!!!”

“Sigh,…that leech…”

Kerubian took out a cigarette, annoyed.

Dealing with troublesome clients is a daily occurrence…

But this young man is especially noisy.

He puffed on his cigarette to relieve his stress.

“…Wait.”

A woman’s voice suddenly echoed through the room.

Kerubian dropped his cigarette.

He immediately stood up straight and shouted,

“C-Countess Seraphina!”

Not only Kerubian, but all the guild members let go of the young man and saluted.

Seraphina crossed her arms, scanned the room, and narrowed her eyes.

“Huh? I told you to call me Vice Guild Leader here.”

“W-We apologize! Vice Guild Leader!”

Kerubian stood stiffly at attention.

The young man stared at the beautiful woman with red hair in surprise.

A truly beautiful woman…with intimidating eyes…

The young man murmured the name of the infamous woman,

“S-Seraphina Fires…?”

“Huh? You’ve got guts. To call me by my name.”

Seraphina casually put her arm around the young man’s shoulder.

She looked him in the eye with a small smile.

“You…said something interesting, didn’t you?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Isabel was in Mysticgrove? Tell me more about that.”

The young man was momentarily flustered, wondering what was going on.

The situation was reorganized.

In the Vice Guild Leader’s reception room.

This room is usually used for meeting high-ranking clients, but…

Since the young man knew about Isabel’s whereabouts, he was a valuable guest to Seraphina.

“…Hmm? So…where was he? Isabel.”

A female guild member poured tea into a cup, and the young man stammered,

“W-Well…he was in our village.”

“Your…village?”

“M-Mysticgrove…”

“Ah, that pervert baldy’s village?”

“…Yes? Ah, if you’re talking about Lord Dracos…he disappeared from the village without a trace…”

“Hmm.”

Dracos disappeared?

He must have made some enemies.

Seraphina had heard of Dracos’s infamy.

A perverted, incompetent glutton.

He probably got into trouble while messing with beastkin…

That’s what Seraphina thought.

Amused by the thought, she smiled, rested her chin on her hand, and nodded.

“That’s too bad. So the new lord is Aias?”

“Y-Yes…”

“That goody-two-shoes is the lord now…Mysticgrove is doomed.”

Seraphina chuckled softly and sipped her tea.

The young man was offended by her words and stood up.

“D-Don’t insult the lord!”

“…Huh?”

“The lord is! A wonderful person! For the village, for the beastkin…she leads us towards a more perfect and equal world…!”

“…Shut up…”

A sudden chill.

The young man felt a sense of dread.

Such an aura from such a beautiful woman…

He felt like prey before a predator.

Seraphina glared at him menacingly.

“If you provoke me again, I’ll let you watch as I slowly and painfully remove your internal organs. Remember that. Understood?”

“…Y-Yes…”

“So…let me ask again. Isabel was in Mysticgrove. And what did he do?”

“W-Well…”

“Speak. Or I’ll kill you.”

At Seraphina’s threatening tone, the young man trembled and recounted the events.

The story of Isabel working at a tavern.

Living with Lunari.

And the stories he heard from the beastkin about Isabel, the Divine Being’s messenger.

He told Seraphina everything.

“Sigh…That bastard…was there? Then…”

The reason for Dracos’s disappearance…

And the sudden change of lords…

It all made sense.

Aias must have become the lord because of the beastkin.

Isabel must have used his magical information gathering skills and eloquence to lead the village to salvation.

…Just like how he saved her.

She chuckled, thinking, ‘That’s so like Isabel,’ but…

She was also angry.

How dare he leave her and…flirt with others?

I have to make sure he can’t escape ever again…

Maybe I should escape to a deserted island and live with Isabel…

…That’s what Seraphina was thinking.

“…Then…I have to go to Mysticgrove.”

“Y-Yes?”

“You, guide me.”

Seraphina ordered the young man and stood up.

She looked at a female guild member and said,

“Hey, you.”

“Yes, Vice Guild Leader.”

“Layla should have finished her mission. Tell her to come back to Mysticgrove. Say it’s because of Isabel.”

“Yes, ma’am. Is there anything else you need?”

Seraphina paused, then exclaimed, “Ah…!”

“The saint, Belladriel. Tell her too. That Isabel is there.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Two heads are better than one, or so they say.

The more people know, the better.

Knowing Isabel’s personality, he’s probably not in Mysticgrove anymore.

I’ll have them search for clues…and if anything turns up…

I’ll be the first to chase after Isabel.

That’s what she was planning.

“Hey, guide me.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Let’s go to Mysticgrove. Guide me. I’ll take care of everything.”

“A-Alright.”

The young man ended up going back to his village with the Countess.

Is it okay to bring her here?

But he has no choice.

If he refuses, he’ll probably die…