episode_0006

“Phew…”

I wonder if this is right.

A thought suddenly occurred to me as I exhaled to calm my excitement.

It’s true that Rubia suffered a lot due to unexpected events that occurred after coming to this city, and of course I was planning on giving her a ‘reward’…

I didn’t know that he would ask for his reward right away in the back alley without even going back to the inn.

And that was not far from where the adventurers were gathered unconscious.

Is his body so heated that he can’t stand it, or is he taking timid revenge on them in his own way?

-Jjueup.. Jjueup…

At least for Luvia, who is frantically sucking up the ‘prize’, the initial motive itself may not be that important anymore.

“Haaa…”

When I see him stop sucking hard for a moment, breathing heavily in ecstasy, he looks at me with half-opened eyes.

Those red eyes were shining fiercely with a completely different meaning than before.

“Ugh!!”

“Ruvia… You need to come to your senses, right?”

He tightened the leash around her neck once… and then slowly released it.

“Kkeek… keek…”

She let out a moan as her throat got clogged for a moment, and then when I let go of her leash, she started gulping and seemed to come to her senses and hung on to the prize again.

“Yeah… he’s nice…”

“Ummmm…”

Slaves who listen well should be praised.

Still holding the leash, I reach out and gently stroke her dark hair.

She twisted her body as if she was pleased with the praise, and let out a blessing even with her busy mouth.

“Be careful not to set your teeth.”

“Umm… Yes… Master.”

Yes… I even cut her ‘finger’ to reward her for having already used up a lot of her power as a vampire, but I didn’t want to get bitten.

That is, as long as there is a contract with her, even if bitten, the person will not suddenly become infected and turn into a vampire, but the vampire’s teeth, which are significantly sharper than those of humans, can tear off human flesh quite easily.

Especially once the animal has tasted blood and its eyes are half-closed, it is important to keep a firm grip on the leash.

I don’t know how well Luvia understood my commands, as she was frantically sucking the ‘blood’ flowing from her injured finger, but she had not bitten it yet.

“Jjung. The master’s blood is delicious…”

Luvia leaned closer to me, took her mouth off her fingers for a moment, and muttered.

I could feel her soft skin through the thin clothes.

It is a rumor that vampires have cold bodies. On the contrary, it was so warm that it almost felt hot.

This is a fact that has already been confirmed quite a few times.

But I had to stop her when she started almost rubbing herself against me.

Well, I can’t say that it felt bad to feel her breasts gently brushing against my body…

If I were to let go of reason and rely on my instincts, it would be dangerous in many ways.

Still, I didn’t use a leash this time.

“Now.. Rubia…”

I ran my hand through her hair again and coaxed her in as gentle a voice as I could.

For a moment, Luvia leaned closer, as if she was complaining, but when I gently pushed her head away, she soon stopped moving as if she understood what I was saying.

Although I had to soothe him again because he was yapping like a puppy that had been denied a hug.

Still, as the ecstasy that the drops of my blood she drank slowly faded, her red eyes gradually came back into focus.

“Umm… Thank you. It’s much better. Next time, I might have to refrain from using this much force.”

“I’m sorry, but can you show me if you’re really okay?”

I vividly remembered the last time she tried to pounce on me as soon as I turned around after she told me she was fine now, so I demanded proof from her.

“Hmm… What can I tell you that will make the owner feel at ease… Is it okay if I talk to you? ”

Her expression as she said that was still relaxed, but it also seemed more serious.

“Okay. Of course.”

It wasn’t strange. After something like this happened, I was able to guess to some degree what she would say.

“Do you remember the day I first met you, master?”

“…Yes, I remember it well.”

“I still remember it too.”

Rather, it would be very difficult not to recall the memories of that day.

Unfortunately, the problem was that this phrase did not have a romantic meaning, as is often the case.

That’s why I didn’t stop her from crawling into my arms again this time.

Because we all needed each other’s body heat to remember that day.

——

“Oh my god…”

As I walked down the city streets panting, I muttered as I looked at the devastation in front of me.

Everything is red and black.

Blood and burnt corpses filling the streets, fire burning a residential area in the distance, black smoke rising above it, screams and screams coming from beyond, and the noise of battle.

And even the sky blackened with damn volcanic ash.

And so did I.

The blood that reddened the iron plates of the armor was now mixed with so many things that it was impossible to tell who it belonged to.

Those of some unlucky soldiers who were bitten and torn to shreds while screaming, and those of vampires who fell to the ground with their necks and chests torn off by my spear.

Even the blood of my horse, which was slaughtered right in front of my eyes as it ran away and dropped me in fear.

Above it, the ashes from burning the city’s buildings and people and the volcanic ash that poured endlessly from the sky stuck stickily, painting the red blood black.

When I heard that a large-scale outbreak of vampires had engulfed several cities, I had some idea of what the insides of those cities would have been like…

There was no comparison in the shock of the scene I had simply pictured in my head and the experience of hell unfolding before my eyes.

“…What on earth am I doing here?”

I muttered absentmindedly while repeatedly trying in vain to wipe the blood splattered on my face with my bloody hands.

To be honest, being the leader entering the city was not something I wanted to do.

I didn’t really consider myself the right person.

It is true that the reason why my body, which had nothing after falling into this world, was able to survive until now was thanks to Ilsin’s power.

Fortunately, the system of inheriting some of the talent of a character as a blood relative is still in operation now that the game has become a reality.

Even though I was an illegitimate child, as the son of a character whose military power I had raised to the highest level, I clearly had considerable talent in the field of martial arts.

And as someone who once avidly enjoyed this ‘Slave Maker’, and as an adult trapped in a child’s body, I also knew how to nurture that talent.

The fact that he became a renowned adventurer at the age of just over 20 by the standards of this world was the result of such talent combined with appropriate knowledge and effort.

However, I did not want to maintain that reputation, even at the risk of knowingly taking my life.

Even the proclamation that a huge reward would be given if one made a great contribution to suppressing this rebellion did not change my mind.

In fact, if I had known that something like this would happen as soon as I got the silver rank, I might have delayed my promotion as an adventurer a little longer.

In general, except for gold-level adventurers who work directly under the empire, the adventurer’s guild and its silver-level and lower adventurers are not subject to interference from the empire.

This is because it was a right that adventurers who did not receive separate support from the empire obtained in return for handling various problems that the imperial army could not immediately handle.

Compensation and sanctions for adventurers were also handled within the union itself, and unless there was an exception such as a serious event that could truly shake the entire country, the empire moved adventurers in the form of requests and employment rather than simple orders or conscription.

However, now that vampires have suddenly appeared in large numbers through the city’s polluted waterways, and due to the volcano that erupted at that time, they can now run amok even in the middle of the day.

It could not be denied that the vampire uprising, which, if not suppressed early, could sweep across the entire South and possibly even the entire empire, was not such an exceptional case.

Of course, saying I can’t do it doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it.

Because of that, I had to force my head into this city that has now turned into hell…

“Krrr…”

…Because I was facing those things.

Vampires were one of the ornamental races in the game that required special care.

This is because lower-level entities that cannot control their insatiable thirst for blood are no different from mad dogs in human form without the control of higher-level entities.

The difference is that, in general, a mad dog would not be dangerous enough to kill a single, armed legionary.

The same goes for higher-order rational entities, once they go berserk, they run wild with their strong power without hesitation.

Moreover, if you make a mistake, you bite the other slaves and turn them into vampires…

Unless slaves who became vampires could be sold at a high price for ornamental purposes due to their beautiful appearance, most of them had to be killed.

But what if those vampires multiplied to the size of the city population of an ancient empire?

“Damn… there’s no end…”

Even before entering the city, our adventurers and legionnaires made a terrible sacrifice against the endless influx of vampires and were barely able to defeat them and enter the city.

And once again, I had to deal with the teeth and claws of the guys coming out from all directions.

While I was frantically stabbing, dodging, and swinging, I was already walking the streets of this city alone.

I just hoped that everyone else who was with me wasn’t dead, and that I was the only one left behind while fighting frantically.

However, it didn’t feel good to think that the owners of those red eyes staring at me were thinking the same thing.

Anyway, the more fresh blood there is left in this city, the happier they will be.

-Kyaaagh!

The first vampire rushed towards me, flipping its body, which was down on all fours, into the air.

Either he was the bravest or the most bloodthirsty.

In any case, since he was reborn as a hunter due to the blood curse, it was a threatening charge regardless of his motivation.

-Kwazijic.

Therefore, it is subdued by piercing through the head with a single blow.

Before he could close his open mouth and bite, the spear penetrated through the gap and pierced the vampire’s head, neck, and back.

The proportion of blood on armor and spears that belongs to vampires increases slightly.

Of course, originally, it wouldn’t matter much which of the two had more to them.

After all, blood is just blood.

For vampires who, if starved for a long time, would only become new prey for the weak, the new scent of blood, regardless of the type, only made them salivate even more and run towards them.

Instead, it swings the spear at the corpse of the vampire it impaled in front of its teeth.

The moment I bite into the body of a dead compatriot, I also slam them both on the ground and explode together.

The spear quickly pulled out from the pile of blood and flesh this time turns to the side and blows away the claws of a vampire who was trying to attack him with the blade of the spear along with his arm, and then smashes his head with the spear.

Then he threw out the spear he held with both hands and tore off another guy’s legs.

He ends it by slamming the spear straight into the head of the guy who falls forward and puts his face on the ground.

At this point, they also stop.

The death of each and every one of their compatriots has no meaning to them other than that there are fewer competitors to share food with or that fresh food has increased.

The fact that ‘our people’ were dying off so quickly is probably quite significant.

During that moment of hesitation, I rush in and kill a few more.

The belated counterattack is cut and pierced by the spear and falls without being able to reach my body.

As more blood got on my spear and armor, a little while later, the only thing still alive on this street was me and the vampire squirming beneath my feet.

-Krrrgh…

‘A vampire who dies by drowning in his own blood… something is contradictory.’

I swung the spear once more and now I was the only one alive and moving.

Only then did the streets become quiet.

Because the noise of battle was still echoing throughout the city.

“Phew… where should we go now?”

I sat down in the mud for a moment, catching my breath and muttering something to myself that no one would hear.

There was already too much on my legs to care about the blood soaking my legs.

‘…First of all, joining other adventurers and legionnaires should be the top priority.

Honestly, if I were to encounter more vampires alone than the ones I’ve encountered now, it would be really dangerous now-‘

“H..Aaaah…”

And in the street where only my heavy breathing could be heard, other sounds began to be heard.

I got up from my exhaustion and grabbed the spear again. I aimed the spear in the direction from where the sound came from and tensed my muscles so that I could attack at any time.

The being that finally appeared around the alley…

It was a vampire.

The face seen through the loose black hair was definitely very beautiful, but there was no doubt about that.

The blood flowing from the corner of the mouth, the red eyes, and even the thirst in those eyes.

It was the same as the vampires I had encountered so far.

So what was different that I didn’t rush to kill her yet?

This was because there were things other than endless thirst in those eyes.

Fear, confusion, disgust.

Things I’ve never seen before among the monsters I’ve encountered so far.

After seeing them, I thought I needed to find out her identity in more detail, so I asked, still aiming my weapon and keeping my guard up.

“I am Liber, a silver-rank adventurer from the Empire. Please reveal who you are.”

There was a moment of silence, and I wondered if thirst had consumed her again and if I should spear her now.

“…Rubia… Rubia Sanguis…”

Until her weak reply came back.

He shouldn’t have stabbed her, at least not right now.

Because he was the only witness who could tell us what happened in the Sanguis family.