Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Episode 60: Blood Born The day after that passionate night at the inn, we headed to the Adventurer’s Guild in Mesatria. We could have just returned after completing the request, but unlike other adventurers, Emily and I didn’t go straight back and instead stayed in Mesatria. The Adventurer’s Guild in Mesatria wasn’t much different from the one in Karaldin. The guild was still bustling with people, and the huge board on one wall was covered with various requests. Emily seemed puzzled by my decision and tilted her head, asking, “But why did you say we’d stay?” It might seem strange to her that we’d stay in Mesatria when we could just go back. It was our first time in Mesatria, and there was no reason for us to have anything to do here. The reason I didn’t tell Emily the reason for staying in detail was that the reason wasn’t yet certain. It was just a story I’d heard at a bar, and it might be nonsense. But if there was even a slight possibility, I had to check it out. “Just wait a bit. I’ll tell you when it’s certain.” I answered Emily and then looked at the huge board in the middle of the wall. And I was able to find a clue. “Found it.” To summarize, it was something like this:

-Investigation into suspected vampire incident in the Nordic District, southeast.

The Adventurer’s Guild handles a lot of things. From hunting monsters in the Mesheen Great Forest to escorting, acting as mercenaries, and even running personal errands. So it wasn’t strange that this kind of request was posted. It seemed the rumors weren’t just rumors after all. I smiled and examined the request in detail. // The Nordic District of Mesatria was called a district, but it was practically a criminal underworld. Of course, it wasn’t a full-fledged underworld like Karaldin, but the fact that it was a neighborhood with poor security didn’t change. Underworlds arise from slums, and slums exist in every city. Still, the underground plaza was a bit much. I couldn’t imagine there being something like that under the city. From Lakers to Karaldin, and now Mesatria. I couldn’t help but chuckle at how often I seemed to be involved with the underworld, but since the place I was born and raised was the underworld, it might be an unavoidable fate. While walking down a street that looked gloomy at first glance, Emily asked me in a fearful voice, “Do you think the vampire thing is real?” “Well, we don’t know yet.” Logically, the possibility of a vampire, a member of the demon race, entering the city was… possible. When I thought about it, the city was the perfect place for a vampire to live. Because of their characteristic of being weakened, though not to the point of burning, under sunlight, vampires like the darkness. In that case, the underground plaza of Karaldin was the perfect space, and there must be some there too. Not just vampires, but those called the demon race. The demon race was the most suitable race to rule the night. “If there is one, how strong would it be…” Emily seemed quite worried. Vampires were demons, and they were an unknown entity we had never encountered before. But according to the Adventurer’s Guild’s explanation, demons weren’t necessarily strong at all. Moreover, in the Kilkard Kingdom, demons weren’t a species to be hunted. They didn’t cause much harm. “I heard they’re not that strong.” “…Huh? Really?” There were many types of monsters. In fact, the names were often confused because there wasn’t an exact classification, but if classified in detail, it would include magical creatures, demons, demiwalkers, and wild beasts. They were all lumped together and called monsters, but magical creatures, demons, demiwalkers, and wild beasts were distinctly different beings. Magical creatures were beings from another dimension with a core, and demons were similar. On the other hand, demiwalkers and wild beasts were native creatures of this world. Just because they were demons didn’t mean they could take on an army alone or show overwhelming power. Rather, most demons had considerably less power compared to “really powerful magical creatures.” There were even demons who had been caught by goblins and found in caves. Still, since they were much stronger than ordinary people, it was probably a deficient individual who was caught, but since Mien and Eira had also been caught by goblins, it might just have been bad luck. “Still, I guess the strong ones are strong, so it’s best to be careful.” “Then they’re not much different from people.” “That’s right.” I nodded at Emily’s words. In this world, there were few beings strong enough to take on an army alone. Especially as the number of soldiers increased and the types of troops diversified. Perhaps only a dragon could do that. Or maybe a knight of a great noble, equipped with a magic sword and magic armor, and commanding powerful monsters. While talking about this and that with Emily, we headed to the source of the rumors. // The relationship between the underworld and the Adventurer’s Guild had a rather interesting structure. To put it in a metaphor, they were like frenemies who turned their faces away from each other but held hands. As the saying goes, where there is light, there is shadow, and the Adventurer’s Guild and the underworld were in a relationship where they did things for each other that they couldn’t do themselves. In any case, since they both lived by the sword, they were careful. The Sartun’s members might not have touched me if they had known I was an adventurer. In that case, it was better not to reveal that I was an adventurer. So, it wasn’t strange for the underworld to secretly place requests with the Adventurer’s Guild. Just like now. The place we went to was an underworld organization called Tailon. More precisely, it was a small bar that seemed to be a branch of the organization, and a man was standing at the counter of the deserted bar. When we spoke to him, the man with a fierce impression and a scar on his face looked at us and muttered in disbelief. “You’re adventurers?” I couldn’t blame him for looking at us that way. If you excluded the equipment we were wearing, we were just two naive girls, so it was natural for him to look at us with suspicion. The younger you were, the less time you had to build up strength and experience. In reality, if it weren’t for the knowledge in my head, we would definitely be weak. It was quite difficult for a child to be strong in this world. “Yeah, we’re from Karaldin, not Mesatria, but we’re interested in that case.” “Damn it, anyone and their dog is coming. Listen, we’re serious. If you’re going to mess around…” Did he not believe us after all? Well, that was to be expected. Judging from my experience living in the underworld, the best thing to do in this case was to prove our skills. I pulled out a dagger from my belt and threw it at the wooden pillar behind the man.

-Whoosh!

The dagger flew with a whistling sound and was deeply embedded in the pillar.

-Thunk.

Even though it had been weakened by Quaidon’s poison, I could still perform this much skill. I tilted my head as if asking how it was and looked at the man in front of me. He frowned and looked at the dagger stuck in the pillar, then sighed and shook his head. “Damn it, what a pain. I have to fix the scratch.” “Think of it as the price for not believing people.” Even though he said that, he wasn’t really complaining. It was a joke mixed with the underworld’s unique bravado. That’s why I answered like this. Perhaps he had recognized us after the previous move, the man with the scar on his face changed his expression and pointed to a table in the corner. “Sit down for now. It might be a long story.” // The story was definitely long. But if you excluded the rambling and summarized it simply, it would be easy, but it seemed this man didn’t have that ability. “So, to put it simply, there’s a suspicious person in an organization called Blaute.” To summarize, a woman had flowed into an underworld organization called Blaute three months ago, and since then, suspicious things had been happening from time to time. Members who had been kidnapped had marks on their necks where they had been stabbed with something sharp, or they had been attacked and knocked unconscious at night. “Yeah. Her name is Erzsebet Vladimir, and she’s so strong that we’ve had a hard time. They weren’t originally that strong of an organization, but because of her, we’ve been screwed over several times.” “…..” I was silent for a moment after hearing the man’s words. What should I say? It was a very vampire-like name. I wondered if she was being unfairly accused of being a vampire, but I wouldn’t know until I investigated. Being an illegal alien or a demon wasn’t a big crime, but if the two were combined, it was a big crime. Still, I couldn’t really do anything with just the suspicion of being an illegal alien demon. If I had connections with the government or the guards, I could take her away and create a justification for punishment, but if I did it wrong, I would be branded as a false reporter and be disliked. After all, the Kilkard Kingdom was a country that openly used the undead. They didn’t listen to the Church’s constant calls for the overthrow of demons or pure humanism, and they had created an atmosphere where they would hire demons if they thought it was necessary, so there wouldn’t be much punishment. “How many people have come so far?” I asked him if anyone had beaten us to it, but the man shook his head and replied. “You’re the first. It’s not really a lucrative job, after all.” Well, I guess so. 200 rads for a job related to demons was too stingy. “I told them to raise the reward, but the brothers said it was too expensive…” I didn’t need to listen to the man’s subsequent complaints at all. Emily and I left the bar and walked down the streets of the Nordic District. // Emily seemed a little puzzled by the current situation. “When you think about it, we belong to Karaldin, so is it okay to take on a request here?” Still, unlike me, who had been rolling around in the underworld of Lakers, Emily was just a girl from an ordinary village. But she had worked as a guild receptionist, so she might not know about this kind of thing. The Adventurer’s Guild manual stated that you couldn’t take on a request until you were recognized by another guild. “In principle, it’s not okay. But the world doesn’t just run on principles, does it?” Was there any place as incompatible with law and principle as the underworld? Even if they were adventurers from Astaltin instead of Karaldin, the underworld organizations were the kind of people who would entrust them with a request as long as they had the skills. Emily tilted her head at my words and continued her question. “Hmm, I see… But why are we looking for a vampire?” “We’re not looking for a vampire. We’re looking for someone who’s sucking blood.” “Huh? That’s the same thing… oh, it’s not.” Emily was about to ask back in bewilderment, but she suddenly understood and nodded. She must know about that martial art as well. The history of martial arts was deep, and there were countless branches. Like us, who had learned the Essence Absorption Great Art, other Essence Absorption Great Arts also existed. There was information about it in the knowledge. The inheritor of the Blood Absorption Great Art and the Blood Spirit Demonic Art, which were suppressed as heretical martial arts as much as the Star Absorption Great Art. A friend who inherited the martial arts of the Blood Demon might be in this place.