◇◆◇◆
The interior of the Sea of Trees consisted of trees similar to silver, thorny shrubs and blue trees reminiscent of a vibrant sea in a place of layered backwood valleys. A part of the trees waved out in all four cardinal directions. While countless trees overlapped, coiled, and twisted around each other away from the valleys, there existed a spot made up of just one huge tree.
If looking down from above, the forest might appear as if one was staring down on a huge typhoon cloud - the heavenly lid of the gigantic forest. Hidden beneath that heavenly lid was the dwelling of the ancient wolfmen. And a big meeting place extended right below the hole in the lid, which was similar to the eye of a hurricane.
A circular pedestal had been installed in the center of that meeting place. Statues depicting the huge god wolf and many ancient wolfmen were howling from atop the pedestal towards the heavenly lid with big and small moon artworks in the background. At the same time, sunlight and moonlight would shine down on the venue through the big hole in the lid. The sculptures of the god wolf and his wolfmen kin would release a dazzling glitter when reflecting those rays of light.
This whole construct was the pride of the ancient wolfmen. And the light also represented a symbol of their power.
Right now, the meeting place, illuminated by bright light, was filled with a mysterious warmth and solemnity. And the male wolfmen crowding the place added their loud, powerful roars to this dignified spectacle.
The mighty members of their race had convened to hold a conference which has been going on for a while now.
“Just as God Wolf Hurley-sama informed us, we’re greeting a full moon on this fine night!”
“A hunt! It’s time to go hunting!”
The men keep howling as befitting for wolves.
“The target will be the troops of the Tree Apparition King?”
“Right! We shall free our brethren who were caught and brainwashed by the Tree Apparition King!”
“No, first comes the annihilation of the vampires. Let’s eradicate the stray vampires alongside the Valmask family!” Read this novel on the translator’s blog to support the effort!
“Each of you is howling what you see fit, but whatever you might do, never enter the dwelling of the Death Butterfly people, okay?”
“No worries, we’re no youngsters!”
The wolfmen barked.
Their traits were close to those of leopardmen.
Suddenly, ancient wolfmen with big frames and blurring speed as if being clad in wind showed up one after the other. They revealed beastly body builds as they released their armor pieces which had assimilated with their claws. Each of them sat down or walked up to the table.
“The Azeran turf was once again violated by orcs!”
“Because orcs are smarter than goblins, they might become a nuisance if you leave them to their own devices.”
“A queen succession struggle, huh…?”
“No clue. The underground and surface are entangled with each other in a way that’s difficult to see through.”
“The humans are infesting the Dorsel turf!”
“The Oulia turf is being raided by goblin telka.”
“The familiars of Ancient God Go Rad have shown up in the Bidoln turf!”
“Rather than that, what happened to the sh*tty vampire wielding those swords that defeated Zacksel!?” A werewolf with a cross cut on his forehead shouted with a growl.
His question caused momentary silence to descend on the venue.
“Our princess shouted that she’d take revenge, and headed out by herself…”
“By herself!? Even though she might have the divine protection of the God Wolf…for her to head out alone while I was chasing a noble youth…”
His internal cursing at the situation clearly showed on the werewolf’s expression. Trying to gloss it over, he scratched the cross cut on his forehead with a silver claw growing out of his finger.
“…What happened to her manservant Gyokline?”
“He’s left this place a long while ago. I think he’s looking for her, but…somehow the stream of magic elements is odd. He might be unable to catch up with her since it’s also messing with our sense of smell.”
“…Is that an effect of Ancient God Go Rad’s revival?”
“Isn’t it because of the Tree Apparition King’s forces? They’ve been performing some shady rituals as of late.”
“Maybe it’s the deed of the Death Butterfly people?”
“No, as long as you don’t enter their territory, the Death Butterfly people won’t leave it on their own accord. That’s why it might be connected to the apostles planning the resurrection of Demonoid Aranz.”
“Those are the guys who’ve been using humans as sacrifices. We don’t approach that mansion.”
“After all, it’s a den of dogs. It’d be best to ignore them.”
“Who cares about all that! I’ll go after the princess!”
“W-Wait, don’t be too hasty, Daon! Don’t forget that we have our own tasks to accomplish!”
“Kuuh…”
The expressions of the talking wolfmen were grim.
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Nora nods after receiving my eye contact.
After brushing the hair on her forehead up, she declares with the expression of a vampire hunter, “――Vampire, let me give you a taste of Holy Sword Grydborg!”
Just like that she begins to walk towards Yuo who can’t move, quickly kicks the magic swords, which have fallen down at his feet, away to the side as if getting rid of trash, and moves her slender fingers as they grasp the hilt of her sword.
She corrects her hold on the hilt as if striking the keys of a piano, and once she adopts a stance of a waterwheel slash I suspect to be a part of the Egbayn style, a quiet, metallic sound reverberates from the metallic part of the cross-shaped hilt.
After having fixed her hold and prepared her sword by moving it slowly as if a snake was winding through the air,
“――I’m sorry wolfwoman, but as a vampire hunter――”
“――Oi, wait, human! That guy’s my prey!”
Nora hears the wolfwoman, and quickly stops in the middle of swinging her two-handed sword. It’s pretty obvious that her two upper arms are tense without any leeway as they hold onto the sword. The balance between her bewitching, white skin and her muscles is perfect.
Nora releases her stance, stabs the point of her sword into the ground, and turns around to the wolfwoman.
“Allow me to praise you for having stopped your attack. By the way, this blood won’t turn into something like Arauol’s Blades even if I touch it directly, correct?” The wolfwoman asks while squaring her shoulders with an anxious expression.
She hasn’t struck the curtain of blood spray with her claws, avoiding to touch it altogether in the end. After confirming Yuo’s state who’s withering away while entangled by silver threads, I turn my eyes towards the wolfwoman.
“I think it might be better for you to not touch the blood if you’re someone possessing the attribute of darkness.” I caution her.
“――What a rude guy you are. I’m not some strange vampire like you are!” The wolfwoman glares at me with her bluish-white eyes while showing an unsparing expression.
The wolfwoman’s hairstyle is boyish, albeit in a different way from that of Clydossus.
Still, she takes me for a vampire, huh? Well, I can relate to her making that misunderstanding. After all, the blood curtain in front of her originates from vampiric blood mana. It’s only natural for her to be wary.
“That’s…”
“Don’t lie! I shall gouge out your heart and offer it to God Wolf Hurley-sama! You suspicious vampire bastard!” She interrupts my words.
I remember Nora mentioning God Wolf Hurley before. I’d love to see what he looks like.
I thought that Rollodeen would react to these thoughts, but…she’s currently sitting like a doll on a branch that’s extending sideways from a tall tree while looking at the sky.
I had expected her to gaze at the magic line of , but instead it’s the sky, huh? Since beautiful butterflies are fluttering about there, she must be curious about them. She’s not chasing after them, though…
“――Hey, black-haired vampire! Don’t look away! Are you the famous, black-haired noble youth who’s been devastating the area around here? Or are you a familiar of Ancient God Go Rad?”
“Does he look like he’s related to some ancient god? The noble youth? Definitely not! There’s no way that guy would team up with a human, is there?”
It’s my first time to hear about the Ancient God Go Rad and that noble youth. Nora denies it for me, but what’s that black-haired noble youth? Is he possibly a hunk?
“Noble youth?” I ask while looking into Nora’s eyes.
She nods with a pleasant smile. Looks like she’s going to explain it to me.
“He’s a superior vampire who would easily break through an encirclement of adventurers, including my acquaintances of 【War God】 and the 【Barbarian Skill Search Party】. Of course, I believe that he’s powerful exactly because he endowed with the physical prowess of a vampire, but…he’s a rare S-Class black-haired vampire with a humanoid shape who possesses something that would make the Barbarian Skill Search Party move out for him.”
Hee…the intonation of her possesses something is quite pronounced. And I also sense something along the lines of 『This applies to Shuuya as well, right?』 from her glancing at me.
In other words, she’s possibly telling me implicitly that the 【Barbarian Skill Search Party】 would very likely hunt me down if they were to learn about my race. I remember that 【Barbarian Skill Search Party】 name.
They were a party related to the God of Work Lefoth, I think.
But, if that young nobleman vampire is tagged to be S-Class, he’s got the same difficulty level as the Evil Dragon King. Such amazing vampires are around as well, huh…?
Or rather, going by the fact of him having black hair…he could be a reincarnator or maybe transferee. Though it’s not said that having black hair automatically makes you into an otherworldler either.
“…Gugugaa, zat one, noz meh.” Yuo frantically says while the silver threads crawl the skull of his dried-out head.
It’s extremely hard to understand him, but it has a touch of “The noble youth and I are different people.” It looks like he also knows about the existence of the nobleman.
“Shuuya is my lo-, no, friend, so he’s no enemy of mine.” Nora directs her look at me with her big eyes trembling as she insists adorably.
“The ally of humans? What a lie. So far it goes, it seems like you saved me as well…and I’ll admit that you don’t look like a familiar of the Ancient God. But, it often happens among vampires that they fight each other. It’s possible that you’re scheming to use me in one of those disputes. Also, you have the ability to deploy a blood curtain like this, and that shady blood chain which has been floating all the time while connected to your arm. Going by that unknown ability, I can’t believe you to be anything else but a vampire, no matter how I look at it!” The wolfwoman spits out.
The fine, sliver forelocks are swaying as well. Those forelocks appear to smell nicely thanks to being washed with shampoo. Viine’s silver hair is also very pretty, but…it looks like the wolfwoman’s thin hair is made out of a different material.
On top of that, a single high canine peeks out at the edge of her upper lip. That’s also cute. Her ears are perfect with their fitting size. They resemble those of humans, but have a slightly different shape.
As expected, she’s just like a beastman.
And the fur patterns that look shiny as they continue from her nape to underneath her ears are pretty. Though I can’t grasp the entirety of the pattern as it continues beneath her clothing. Is it a round pattern? No, a moon, I suppose. A moon would be consistent with the mark edged into the silver and black half-plate she’s wearing.
After quickly checking out her appearance, I decide that it’s possible to negotiate with her if it’s right now.
That means, I’ll give her a rough explanation about me. Just for caution’s sake, I’ll keep up the blood curtain, though.
“…I’m none of the vampires hostile to you. Having said that, I’m not confident whether I’ll get you to trust me on that.”
“As if I’d believe the words of a dirty mutt like you! Sh*tty vampire!”
Is battle unavoidable, going by her tone? But, she should feel slight doubts because I’m not attacking her or anything. I’ll try to make a bit more of an effort to persuade her.
At that moment, I ask Nora for help once more. Making eye contact with her, I nod.
Nora has been folding her arm, but now she spread her arms widely to the sides.
“…Wolfwoman, he is no vampire. He’s alright since his race embraces love.”
I stare at her, asking her with my eyes, “Is that the time to make jokes, Nora?”
But, Nora has spoken while donning a very serious expression. It’s not the right place to make a retort.
“…Love, you say? You’re lying. Hmm? Your eyes and expression…you’re a human woman who has been charmed by a vampire, aren’t you? No wonder that you’re a plaything of blood…living a pipe dream.”
“…You’re rude. I’m no blood plaything. But, his charm has definitely…”
Nora casts an enchanted look my way when getting to the part about charm. As I’m looking at her seductive face…I recall how I turned into a beast after making full use of my hands’ techniques and powers…and rammed into Nora’s dear fortress.
“…Those eyes…as I thought, you’re being manipulated…” After looking at Nora with eyes full of pity, the wolfwoman continues, “It can’t be helped since humans don’t possess the powers of Uraniri-sama and Urio-sama. And, you who own such a blood plaything must be a vampire, just as I’ve been saying! You perverted, stray vampire!”
Perverted, stray vampire…that’s quite to the point, actually.
The wolfwoman tries to vigorously thrust her finger at me through the blood curtain. But, as of yet, the curtain is still spread out in front of her. The curtain sways as if having been hit by a gust of wind, apparently waking fear in her. In the middle of pointing her finger, she stops and draws it back. The claws, which keep extending from and retracting into her toes, are slightly cute since they resemble the bone swords at the tips of Rollo’s tentacle that grow out and retract in a similar way.
At that moment, Rollodeen comes back while growling throatily at a low, bass tone, “――Nnn.”
Her face in profile, which overflows with sublime vitality, clearly demonstrates her pride and strong heart as divine beast and cat to anyone.
“――Nn, nya?” Rollodeen stares at the wolfwoman through the curtain while mowing as if asking, “What are you arguing about ~nya?”
“…A black panther, and moreover one with an aura resembling that of the God Wolf…w-what’s that about?”
The wolfwoman gets shaken by Rollodeen’s arrival on scene. But, Rollodeen ignores her and her dumbfounded look. It appears she’s rather interested in the blood curtain, seeing how she extends a paw towards it.
“Nyaa～”
Rollodeen gets slightly startled by her paw getting soaked in blood. She pulls it back right away. Next she brings the bloody paw close to her mouth as if to wash her own face, begins to lick the paw with her tongue, and absorbs the blood.
“Rollo, did you get tired of the ?”
Well, it makes sense seeing how it hasn’t moved all this time.
Rollodeen lifts her head, her eyes wide open.
“Nyao.” She answers adorably.
I don’t know about her feelings since she hasn’t extended a tentacle to me, but I somehow got the feeling that she said something along the lines of, “It’s not like I got particularly bored of it or anything ~nya.”
After finishing her cleaning, she approaches me to fawn on me. She bumps her majestic head against my waist several times. Since she’s a black panther right now, it packs quite a bit of a punch.
Seemingly not satisfied yet, she lightly taps my knee with a paw, and looks at me with her red eyes as if asking whether I’m going to play her. I really want to take her up on that, but…
“…You need to hold back for now. In exchange, I’ll let you eat bird meat roasted a la Mon Petit, and a dish blended with kasojique later.”
It’s difficult to recreate the best “Mon Petit,” but I’ve been secretly challenging it in my own way.
“Nyaaaaa~”
Rollodeen bursts into joy after hearing the name of her recently favorite dish. She leaps at me as a panther to hug my chest.
Guooh! A critical hit…
Yep, I splendidly got hit by her forepaws’ claws. The divine beast’s claws, which have slaughtered countless monsters, tear through the Gatrance-form’s surface, stabbing into my body. It hurts extremely…yep, it hurts, but I don’t want to show any weakness in front of the women.
…With a smile, as if having accepted it as inevitable, I stroke through Rollodeen’s fur from her head to the base of her neck. I’m bleeding, but since I’ve absorbed the blood back into my body, it shouldn’t be visible to those around me.
“…Is this gallant panther a Sacred Beast? Are you possibly connected to the rabbitmen or a clan possessing a ? Or are you a visitor from the far Relic!?” For some reason the wolfwoman excitedly shouts the names of places I remember having heard somewhere before.
“…She’s no Sacred Beast, but a Divine Beast. Her name is Rollodeen, or Rollo for short.”
“A Divine Beast? But, God Wolf Hurley-sama hasn’t mentioned anything…”
The wolfwoman falters, as if now jumping at shadows, as her one fang momentarily flashes up.
“For this reason, can you please refrain from attacking Nora and me once I dispel the blood curtain?”
Hearing my words, her small eyebrows twitch slightly.
“…You’re going to release it without attacking me?”
“Yes. Or rather…didn’t you get it from the atmosphere of our conversation just now? I intend to have a friendly relationship with you. You’re a cute, pretty beastwoman after all.”
“…Hee, humph, I see. A pretty beastwoman, huh? You sure are gutsy to make a pass at another woman in front of me, aren’t you?”
“W-W-Wha!? I’m a pretty beastwoman…?”
Oh sh*t, now Nora-san is glaring at me with narrowed eyes. She’s about to take some weird item out from her waist…
That’s a rope tinged with mana? Is she possibly planning to tie me up with that? I don’t have the hobby of being on the receiving end of turtle shell bondage.
Just as I think this, she turns the rope towards the vampire Yuo. The rope floats towards Yuo as if having its own consciousness, and coils around him. Yuo’s body is covered by the threads as if they’ve stitched torn clothes and skin together, but the special, light brown rope cast by Nora constricts his waist.
Yuo is already in a wretched state…
Nora winks at me. It looks like she had teased me which makes me feel relieved.
And when I look at the wolfwoman, she unexpectedly appears to still be hung up on my “pretty”… She suddenly flops down on the ground, adopting a stance of sitting while grasping her knees. It allows me to see her leather panties from the delta zone.
――Wonderful. They’re superb, but since her silver fur is risqué, I’m troubled as to where to look. Since I’m a gentleman, I won’t stare.
Thereupon, the wolfwoman abruptly gets up with such a verve that she unleashes a Wajima-like frog punch against my jaw. 1
“――Do you like me?”
“No, I’m not particularly conscious of you or anything.”
“What, so you don’t, huh?”
Eh? Going by her looking crestfallen with her shoulder drooping…has this wolfwoman expected me to hit on her? I don’t quite get her.
But, without asking about it, “…So did you get that we wish to be on friendly terms with you?”
“…Yes. You have a Divine Beast with you.”
It looks like she finally understood.
After looking respectfully at Rollodeen, the wolfwoman shifts her eyes around between Nora and me, and then acknowledges.
“Nya.” Rollodeen taps the ground with a paw while meowing her agreement as well.
I focus on the first gate, manipulating the blood deployed in front of the wolfwoman. The blood curtain returns back into my body.
For the time being, the negotiations have succeeded thanks to Rollodeen, I guess? Since it looks like I’ve managed to get along with the pretty ancient wolfwoman, I’m going to drop the polite language and ask for her name in a casual way.
“…For starters, as a symbol of our friendship, my name is Shuuya. Could you tell me yours?”
“Name?”
Hmm? The wolfwoman is surprised. Do the ancient wolfmen have a rule that you mustn’t ask their name?
She stares my way with her eyes repeatedly dilating and reducing. Mana dwells in them. The Magic Combat Style-based techniques she used earlier during her fight against the vampire was quite a sight to behold. I suppose it’s only natural for her to be able to use Grasping Perception. It seems she’s examining the quality and flow of my magic elements to get a read on my ability.
It’s not like she’s using Demonic Eyes. Helme might explain in detail though, if she were present.
“…My name, eh? Very well, I’ll tell you. But, you’ll let me finish off the vampire over there…”
Her eyes are now full of hatred, unlike the look she used to observe me moments ago.
“…I don’t really mind, but it’s not up to me.”
“…Can’t be helped then.”
Nora doesn’t seem overly happy about it, but she concedes her job as hunter to the wolfwoman.
“…It’s alright?”
“Yes.”
“Sure.”
The wolfwoman nods after confirming Nora’s and my will. Her blue eyes become as sharp as a blade, and she concentrates her mana in the silver claws of one hand. Thereupon, the tips of the claws turn into a shape similar to a rounded dome.
Do these claws possess a high degree of freedom when it comes to shaping, like Catiza’s?
“Guo, go, gorewooo――”
Yuo reveals an expression as white as a sheet. He screams as if repeating, “Stop, stooooop,” while his head trembles. His arms, entangled by silver threads like maggots, have withered. He tries to forcibly tear apart the threads and rope with those arms, which have changed to bluish-black in color as if to reflect his feelings of obvious desperation, but it’s useless since his arms don’t possess that strength anymore. It appears that those highly sticky threads also have an effect of weakening their prey by sucking its blood.
“It’s the power of the silver light spider which prevents a vampire from moving and chips away their strength. It’s a valuable item using the water spider’s curse.”
“This is the effect of you having unleashed a barrage of magic like some dreadful, great wizard at him, Shuuya. And because he’s consumed great amounts of blood, I think it resulted in many silver light spiders having entered his vampiric body. Also, these are silver spiders, but my family is special, you know? It’s not such a valuable item to us.”
“Is that so? Looks like there’s all kinds of people among humans. Now then――”
The wolfwoman who was smiling with her eyebrows being relaxed, completely changed her expression. As if pouring unrestrained wrath into her own fist, she clads her whole body in Magic Combat Style in an instant, and focuses the mana on her fist.
Immediately following, her body dashes forward with a blur, and she unleashes a thrust. It’s a thrusting motion I remember having seen somewhere else before. The tips of her claws stab into the heart area of Yuo. In addition, the wolfwoman swings her other arm horizontally with her fur fluttering. Her claws that remind me of a longsword hit Yuo’s neck while leaving a pretty, semicircular trail behind in the air. Just like that, she moves her silver claws as if having hooked them into Yuo’s neck, and bisects it while twisting it.
“Guuaaaa――”
Accompanied by the sounds of flesh and bones being torn apart, Yuo’s pained voice echoes as his head dances through the air. Although he lasted through a barrage of spells, vampire’s who have their weak spots attacked are fragile.
Next, the wolfwoman moves the claws stabbed in Yuo’s chest as if turning a key in a keyhole, and pulls them out. She lifts his heart, skewered by her claws, above her head. It’s a pose as if she’s going to offer the heart to god. Yuo’s heart beats and squirms on the tips of her claws.
Nothing less of a vampire’s heart. He’s used a lot of blood, and his skin has completely dried out, but fresh blood still gushes out from his heart as if it’s overflowing with vitality. And then, Yuo’s body, which has lost its head and heart, tries to regenerate to some extent.
It’s tenacious. There’s no doubt that vampires would be the strongest if they overcame their weak points and took measures to not get eaten. This here is the state after having the weak spots attacked.
At that moment, a flash of vertical, striped patterns leaks out of Yuo’s heart. Since the wolfwoman has lowered her eyebrows, she might be in the middle of activating some skill.
The instant I thought so, the flash becomes brighter, the heart’s color turns pale and transparent, making all the blood vessels within shine through… Eventually, a big, full moon appears from within the heart. It’s the claws which transformed earlier.
Then Yuo’s heart fleetingly vanishes as if evaporating from the inside. In the end, only her moon-shaped claws remain. Yuo’s body also vanishes like dust, and his blood has also evaporated when hit by the silver light.
“…Zacksel, Haygelf, I avenged you…” The wolfwoman mutters what appears to be names, and starts to cry.
Tears trickle down her cheeks. It’s not just sadness. The joy over having accomplished her revenge also fills her blue eyes. I don’t know the circumstances, but I naturally feel emotionally moved by her.
“…Revenge, huh? I can understand. So that’s why you were so desperate. I planned this to be my last job around here, but after seeing your expression, I feel yielding the kill to you was the right thing to do. But, it’s unexpected since I’ve heard that ancient wolfmen would attack humans as well. I’m happy that we can understand each other if we talk normally.”
The wolfwoman’s look becomes as hard as steel unpon Nora’s words.
“…Don’t misunderstand. You get attacked because you violate our turf, human.”
“I don’t know anything about some turf.”
“Humph, as if I care about something like that! We have our own laws as well.”
“…It’s not like I’m representing the humans here, but let me apologize anyway. But, there are roads connecting cities next to the Sea of Trees, and there also exist peddlers frequenting the villages off the road. Besides, most of the Sea of Trees is unexplored land. Countless ancient ruins exist there, and some regions are under the control of monster forces. Because of that, many of the humans unknowingly trespassing into your territory might be adventurers.”
That’s why there’s also subjugation requests for ancient wolfmen for adventurers.
“That’s the very definition of being conceited. The damn humans who keep betraying while receiving God Wolf Hurley-sama’s blessing…” The wolfwoman pouts cutely, looking somewhat sullen.
Nora lets her eyes wander while looking slightly awkward as she mutters quietly, “Something like that…”
I wonder what’s that blessing of God Wolf Hurley? I don’t know anything about it.
As if to bridge the silence, Nora makes eye contact with me to change the topic.
“Shuuya, did you possibly have some business with the vampire as well?”
“In a broader sense, yeah. But, I guessed most of what I wanted to know from the earlier conversation.”
It’s proper to assume that Hoffmann’s are moving around behind the scenes. But, ultimately it’s just an assumption. This place is a melting pot of chaos with all kinds of powers having gathered inside this forest. The incident which caused Arry and Taack to go missing might be unrelated to Yuo, Hoffmann, a part of the Valmask family, and other vampires.
That’s why it’d be the best for me to get on Rollodeen and simply follow the blood chain’s lead. I look at Rollodeen, but she’s chasing her own tentacles around, resulting in making circles. Just what is she doing…?
“…Is it related to that floating chain of blood?” Nora turns her eyes at my blood chain while sheathing her holy sword on her back.
“Yes. I’m chasing after missing children. The vampire just now mentioned it a bit as well, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, he mentioned that it’s the job of a to gather blood.”
“That’s how it is. I’ve promised Quiche and the children that I’ll bring them back alive at any cost. That’s why I’ll find them. No matter where they are, be it in a den of vampires, the depth of darkness, or the end of hell, I plan to plunge forward.”
“…I see.” She smiles while creasing the outer corners of her eyes as if disappointed.
Her words were short…and contained the loneliness of a sigh. At the same time, I can feel some womanly emotions from her expression. She might suspect from Quiche’s name that it’s the name of the woman I wanted to meet before.
I feel bad about it, but it’s the truth. I want to keep my promise with my friend Quiche. Besides, it’s possible that the children are still alive due to the amulet’s effect.
Alright, I guess I’ll ask the wolfwoman for her name and then go after Arry and Taack. After briefly gathering my thoughts, I turn my eyes to the wolfwoman.
“So, what’s your name, Ms. Wolfwoman?”
In response, her cheeks flush slightly crimson. Her eyes are also trembling like those of a woman who confesses to the other sex for the first time.
“My name is Higlia.”
“Nice to meet you, Higlia-san.”
“Alright! You heard my name. Now come to the forest residence of the ancient wolfmen! And allow me to have a bout of fists and glory with you on the Idol Plaza.”
Higlia-san seems awfully excited, but…why a duel after hearing a name? I guess I’ll magnificently ignore her here.
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The interior of the Sea of Trees consisted of trees similar to silver, thorny shrubs and blue trees reminiscent of a vibrant sea in a place of layered backwood valleys. A part of the trees waved out in all four cardinal directions. While countless trees overlapped, coiled, and twisted around each other away from the valleys, there existed a spot made up of just one huge tree.
If looking down from above, the forest might appear as if one was staring down on a huge typhoon cloud - the heavenly lid of the gigantic forest. Hidden beneath that heavenly lid was the dwelling of the ancient wolfmen. And a big meeting place extended right below the hole in the lid, which was similar to the eye of a hurricane.
A circular pedestal had been installed in the center of that meeting place. Statues depicting the huge god wolf and many ancient wolfmen were howling from atop the pedestal towards the heavenly lid with big and small moon artworks in the background. At the same time, sunlight and moonlight would shine down on the venue through the big hole in the lid. The sculptures of the god wolf and his wolfmen kin would release a dazzling glitter when reflecting those rays of light.
This whole construct was the pride of the ancient wolfmen. And the light also represented a symbol of their power.
Right now, the meeting place, illuminated by bright light, was filled with a mysterious warmth and solemnity. And the male wolfmen crowding the place added their loud, powerful roars to this dignified spectacle.
The mighty members of their race had convened to hold a conference which has been going on for a while now.
“Just as God Wolf Hurley-sama informed us, we’re greeting a full moon on this fine night!”
“A hunt! It’s time to go hunting!”
The men keep howling as befitting for wolves.
“The target will be the troops of the Tree Apparition King?”
“Right! We shall free our brethren who were caught and brainwashed by the Tree Apparition King!”
“No, first comes the annihilation of the vampires. Let’s eradicate the stray vampires alongside the Valmask family!” Read this novel on the translator’s blog to support the effort!
“Each of you is howling what you see fit, but whatever you might do, never enter the dwelling of the Death Butterfly people, okay?”
“No worries, we’re no youngsters!”
The wolfmen barked.
Their traits were close to those of leopardmen.
Suddenly, ancient wolfmen with big frames and blurring speed as if being clad in wind showed up one after the other. They revealed beastly body builds as they released their armor pieces which had assimilated with their claws. Each of them sat down or walked up to the table.
“The Azeran turf was once again violated by orcs!”
“Because orcs are smarter than goblins, they might become a nuisance if you leave them to their own devices.”
“A queen succession struggle, huh…?”
“No clue. The underground and surface are entangled with each other in a way that’s difficult to see through.”
“The humans are infesting the Dorsel turf!”
“The Oulia turf is being raided by goblin telka.”
“The familiars of Ancient God Go Rad have shown up in the Bidoln turf!”
“Rather than that, what happened to the sh*tty vampire wielding those swords that defeated Zacksel!?” A werewolf with a cross cut on his forehead shouted with a growl.
His question caused momentary silence to descend on the venue.
“Our princess shouted that she’d take revenge, and headed out by herself…”
“By herself!? Even though she might have the divine protection of the God Wolf…for her to head out alone while I was chasing a noble youth…”
His internal cursing at the situation clearly showed on the werewolf’s expression. Trying to gloss it over, he scratched the cross cut on his forehead with a silver claw growing out of his finger.
“…What happened to her manservant Gyokline?”
“He’s left this place a long while ago. I think he’s looking for her, but…somehow the stream of magic elements is odd. He might be unable to catch up with her since it’s also messing with our sense of smell.”
“…Is that an effect of Ancient God Go Rad’s revival?”
“Isn’t it because of the Tree Apparition King’s forces? They’ve been performing some shady rituals as of late.”
“Maybe it’s the deed of the Death Butterfly people?”
“No, as long as you don’t enter their territory, the Death Butterfly people won’t leave it on their own accord. That’s why it might be connected to the apostles planning the resurrection of Demonoid Aranz.”
“Those are the guys who’ve been using humans as sacrifices. We don’t approach that mansion.”
“After all, it’s a den of dogs. It’d be best to ignore them.”
“Who cares about all that! I’ll go after the princess!”
“W-Wait, don’t be too hasty, Daon! Don’t forget that we have our own tasks to accomplish!”
“Kuuh…”
The expressions of the talking wolfmen were grim.
◇◆◇◆
Nora nods after receiving my eye contact.
After brushing the hair on her forehead up, she declares with the expression of a vampire hunter, “――Vampire, let me give you a taste of Holy Sword Grydborg!”
Just like that she begins to walk towards Yuo who can’t move, quickly kicks the magic swords, which have fallen down at his feet, away to the side as if getting rid of trash, and moves her slender fingers as they grasp the hilt of her sword.
She corrects her hold on the hilt as if striking the keys of a piano, and once she adopts a stance of a waterwheel slash I suspect to be a part of the Egbayn style, a quiet, metallic sound reverberates from the metallic part of the cross-shaped hilt.
After having fixed her hold and prepared her sword by moving it slowly as if a snake was winding through the air,
“――I’m sorry wolfwoman, but as a vampire hunter――”
“――Oi, wait, human! That guy’s my prey!”
Nora hears the wolfwoman, and quickly stops in the middle of swinging her two-handed sword. It’s pretty obvious that her two upper arms are tense without any leeway as they hold onto the sword. The balance between her bewitching, white skin and her muscles is perfect.
Nora releases her stance, stabs the point of her sword into the ground, and turns around to the wolfwoman.
“Allow me to praise you for having stopped your attack. By the way, this blood won’t turn into something like Arauol’s Blades even if I touch it directly, correct?” The wolfwoman asks while squaring her shoulders with an anxious expression.
She hasn’t struck the curtain of blood spray with her claws, avoiding to touch it altogether in the end. After confirming Yuo’s state who’s withering away while entangled by silver threads, I turn my eyes towards the wolfwoman.
“I think it might be better for you to not touch the blood if you’re someone possessing the attribute of darkness.” I caution her.
“――What a rude guy you are. I’m not some strange vampire like you are!” The wolfwoman glares at me with her bluish-white eyes while showing an unsparing expression.
The wolfwoman’s hairstyle is boyish, albeit in a different way from that of Clydossus.
Still, she takes me for a vampire, huh? Well, I can relate to her making that misunderstanding. After all, the blood curtain in front of her originates from vampiric blood mana. It’s only natural for her to be wary.
“That’s…”
“Don’t lie! I shall gouge out your heart and offer it to God Wolf Hurley-sama! You suspicious vampire bastard!” She interrupts my words.
I remember Nora mentioning God Wolf Hurley before. I’d love to see what he looks like.
I thought that Rollodeen would react to these thoughts, but…she’s currently sitting like a doll on a branch that’s extending sideways from a tall tree while looking at the sky.
I had expected her to gaze at the magic line of , but instead it’s the sky, huh? Since beautiful butterflies are fluttering about there, she must be curious about them. She’s not chasing after them, though…
“――Hey, black-haired vampire! Don’t look away! Are you the famous, black-haired noble youth who’s been devastating the area around here? Or are you a familiar of Ancient God Go Rad?”
“Does he look like he’s related to some ancient god? The noble youth? Definitely not! There’s no way that guy would team up with a human, is there?”
It’s my first time to hear about the Ancient God Go Rad and that noble youth. Nora denies it for me, but what’s that black-haired noble youth? Is he possibly a hunk?
“Noble youth?” I ask while looking into Nora’s eyes.
She nods with a pleasant smile. Looks like she’s going to explain it to me.
“He’s a superior vampire who would easily break through an encirclement of adventurers, including my acquaintances of 【War God】 and the 【Barbarian Skill Search Party】. Of course, I believe that he’s powerful exactly because he endowed with the physical prowess of a vampire, but…he’s a rare S-Class black-haired vampire with a humanoid shape who possesses something that would make the Barbarian Skill Search Party move out for him.”
Hee…the intonation of her possesses something is quite pronounced. And I also sense something along the lines of 『This applies to Shuuya as well, right?』 from her glancing at me.
In other words, she’s possibly telling me implicitly that the 【Barbarian Skill Search Party】 would very likely hunt me down if they were to learn about my race. I remember that 【Barbarian Skill Search Party】 name.
They were a party related to the God of Work Lefoth, I think.
But, if that young nobleman vampire is tagged to be S-Class, he’s got the same difficulty level as the Evil Dragon King. Such amazing vampires are around as well, huh…?
Or rather, going by the fact of him having black hair…he could be a reincarnator or maybe transferee. Though it’s not said that having black hair automatically makes you into an otherworldler either.
“…Gugugaa, zat one, noz meh.” Yuo frantically says while the silver threads crawl the skull of his dried-out head.
It’s extremely hard to understand him, but it has a touch of “The noble youth and I are different people.” It looks like he also knows about the existence of the nobleman.
“Shuuya is my lo-, no, friend, so he’s no enemy of mine.” Nora directs her look at me with her big eyes trembling as she insists adorably.
“The ally of humans? What a lie. So far it goes, it seems like you saved me as well…and I’ll admit that you don’t look like a familiar of the Ancient God. But, it often happens among vampires that they fight each other. It’s possible that you’re scheming to use me in one of those disputes. Also, you have the ability to deploy a blood curtain like this, and that shady blood chain which has been floating all the time while connected to your arm. Going by that unknown ability, I can’t believe you to be anything else but a vampire, no matter how I look at it!” The wolfwoman spits out.
The fine, sliver forelocks are swaying as well. Those forelocks appear to smell nicely thanks to being washed with shampoo. Viine’s silver hair is also very pretty, but…it looks like the wolfwoman’s thin hair is made out of a different material.
On top of that, a single high canine peeks out at the edge of her upper lip. That’s also cute. Her ears are perfect with their fitting size. They resemble those of humans, but have a slightly different shape.
As expected, she’s just like a beastman.
And the fur patterns that look shiny as they continue from her nape to underneath her ears are pretty. Though I can’t grasp the entirety of the pattern as it continues beneath her clothing. Is it a round pattern? No, a moon, I suppose. A moon would be consistent with the mark edged into the silver and black half-plate she’s wearing.
After quickly checking out her appearance, I decide that it’s possible to negotiate with her if it’s right now.
That means, I’ll give her a rough explanation about me. Just for caution’s sake, I’ll keep up the blood curtain, though.
“…I’m none of the vampires hostile to you. Having said that, I’m not confident whether I’ll get you to trust me on that.”
“As if I’d believe the words of a dirty mutt like you! Sh*tty vampire!”
Is battle unavoidable, going by her tone? But, she should feel slight doubts because I’m not attacking her or anything. I’ll try to make a bit more of an effort to persuade her.
At that moment, I ask Nora for help once more. Making eye contact with her, I nod.
Nora has been folding her arm, but now she spread her arms widely to the sides.
“…Wolfwoman, he is no vampire. He’s alright since his race embraces love.”
I stare at her, asking her with my eyes, “Is that the time to make jokes, Nora?”
But, Nora has spoken while donning a very serious expression. It’s not the right place to make a retort.
“…Love, you say? You’re lying. Hmm? Your eyes and expression…you’re a human woman who has been charmed by a vampire, aren’t you? No wonder that you’re a plaything of blood…living a pipe dream.”
“…You’re rude. I’m no blood plaything. But, his charm has definitely…”
Nora casts an enchanted look my way when getting to the part about charm. As I’m looking at her seductive face…I recall how I turned into a beast after making full use of my hands’ techniques and powers…and rammed into Nora’s dear fortress.
“…Those eyes…as I thought, you’re being manipulated…” After looking at Nora with eyes full of pity, the wolfwoman continues, “It can’t be helped since humans don’t possess the powers of Uraniri-sama and Urio-sama. And, you who own such a blood plaything must be a vampire, just as I’ve been saying! You perverted, stray vampire!”
Perverted, stray vampire…that’s quite to the point, actually.
The wolfwoman tries to vigorously thrust her finger at me through the blood curtain. But, as of yet, the curtain is still spread out in front of her. The curtain sways as if having been hit by a gust of wind, apparently waking fear in her. In the middle of pointing her finger, she stops and draws it back. The claws, which keep extending from and retracting into her toes, are slightly cute since they resemble the bone swords at the tips of Rollo’s tentacle that grow out and retract in a similar way.
At that moment, Rollodeen comes back while growling throatily at a low, bass tone, “――Nnn.”
Her face in profile, which overflows with sublime vitality, clearly demonstrates her pride and strong heart as divine beast and cat to anyone.
“――Nn, nya?” Rollodeen stares at the wolfwoman through the curtain while mowing as if asking, “What are you arguing about ~nya?”
“…A black panther, and moreover one with an aura resembling that of the God Wolf…w-what’s that about?”
The wolfwoman gets shaken by Rollodeen’s arrival on scene. But, Rollodeen ignores her and her dumbfounded look. It appears she’s rather interested in the blood curtain, seeing how she extends a paw towards it.
“Nyaa～”
Rollodeen gets slightly startled by her paw getting soaked in blood. She pulls it back right away. Next she brings the bloody paw close to her mouth as if to wash her own face, begins to lick the paw with her tongue, and absorbs the blood.
“Rollo, did you get tired of the ?”
Well, it makes sense seeing how it hasn’t moved all this time.
Rollodeen lifts her head, her eyes wide open.
“Nyao.” She answers adorably.
I don’t know about her feelings since she hasn’t extended a tentacle to me, but I somehow got the feeling that she said something along the lines of, “It’s not like I got particularly bored of it or anything ~nya.”
After finishing her cleaning, she approaches me to fawn on me. She bumps her majestic head against my waist several times. Since she’s a black panther right now, it packs quite a bit of a punch.
Seemingly not satisfied yet, she lightly taps my knee with a paw, and looks at me with her red eyes as if asking whether I’m going to play her. I really want to take her up on that, but…
“…You need to hold back for now. In exchange, I’ll let you eat bird meat roasted a la Mon Petit, and a dish blended with kasojique later.”
It’s difficult to recreate the best “Mon Petit,” but I’ve been secretly challenging it in my own way.
“Nyaaaaa~”
Rollodeen bursts into joy after hearing the name of her recently favorite dish. She leaps at me as a panther to hug my chest.
Guooh! A critical hit…
Yep, I splendidly got hit by her forepaws’ claws. The divine beast’s claws, which have slaughtered countless monsters, tear through the Gatrance-form’s surface, stabbing into my body. It hurts extremely…yep, it hurts, but I don’t want to show any weakness in front of the women.
…With a smile, as if having accepted it as inevitable, I stroke through Rollodeen’s fur from her head to the base of her neck. I’m bleeding, but since I’ve absorbed the blood back into my body, it shouldn’t be visible to those around me.
“…Is this gallant panther a Sacred Beast? Are you possibly connected to the rabbitmen or a clan possessing a ? Or are you a visitor from the far Relic!?” For some reason the wolfwoman excitedly shouts the names of places I remember having heard somewhere before.
“…She’s no Sacred Beast, but a Divine Beast. Her name is Rollodeen, or Rollo for short.”
“A Divine Beast? But, God Wolf Hurley-sama hasn’t mentioned anything…”
The wolfwoman falters, as if now jumping at shadows, as her one fang momentarily flashes up.
“For this reason, can you please refrain from attacking Nora and me once I dispel the blood curtain?”
Hearing my words, her small eyebrows twitch slightly.
“…You’re going to release it without attacking me?”
“Yes. Or rather…didn’t you get it from the atmosphere of our conversation just now? I intend to have a friendly relationship with you. You’re a cute, pretty beastwoman after all.”
“…Hee, humph, I see. A pretty beastwoman, huh? You sure are gutsy to make a pass at another woman in front of me, aren’t you?”
“W-W-Wha!? I’m a pretty beastwoman…?”
Oh sh*t, now Nora-san is glaring at me with narrowed eyes. She’s about to take some weird item out from her waist…
That’s a rope tinged with mana? Is she possibly planning to tie me up with that? I don’t have the hobby of being on the receiving end of turtle shell bondage.
Just as I think this, she turns the rope towards the vampire Yuo. The rope floats towards Yuo as if having its own consciousness, and coils around him. Yuo’s body is covered by the threads as if they’ve stitched torn clothes and skin together, but the special, light brown rope cast by Nora constricts his waist.
Yuo is already in a wretched state…
Nora winks at me. It looks like she had teased me which makes me feel relieved.
And when I look at the wolfwoman, she unexpectedly appears to still be hung up on my “pretty”… She suddenly flops down on the ground, adopting a stance of sitting while grasping her knees. It allows me to see her leather panties from the delta zone.
――Wonderful. They’re superb, but since her silver fur is risqué, I’m troubled as to where to look. Since I’m a gentleman, I won’t stare.
Thereupon, the wolfwoman abruptly gets up with such a verve that she unleashes a Wajima-like frog punch against my jaw. 1
“――Do you like me?”
“No, I’m not particularly conscious of you or anything.”
“What, so you don’t, huh?”
Eh? Going by her looking crestfallen with her shoulder drooping…has this wolfwoman expected me to hit on her? I don’t quite get her.
But, without asking about it, “…So did you get that we wish to be on friendly terms with you?”
“…Yes. You have a Divine Beast with you.”
It looks like she finally understood.
After looking respectfully at Rollodeen, the wolfwoman shifts her eyes around between Nora and me, and then acknowledges.
“Nya.” Rollodeen taps the ground with a paw while meowing her agreement as well.
I focus on the first gate, manipulating the blood deployed in front of the wolfwoman. The blood curtain returns back into my body.
For the time being, the negotiations have succeeded thanks to Rollodeen, I guess? Since it looks like I’ve managed to get along with the pretty ancient wolfwoman, I’m going to drop the polite language and ask for her name in a casual way.
“…For starters, as a symbol of our friendship, my name is Shuuya. Could you tell me yours?”
“Name?”
Hmm? The wolfwoman is surprised. Do the ancient wolfmen have a rule that you mustn’t ask their name?
She stares my way with her eyes repeatedly dilating and reducing. Mana dwells in them. The Magic Combat Style-based techniques she used earlier during her fight against the vampire was quite a sight to behold. I suppose it’s only natural for her to be able to use Grasping Perception. It seems she’s examining the quality and flow of my magic elements to get a read on my ability.
It’s not like she’s using Demonic Eyes. Helme might explain in detail though, if she were present.
“…My name, eh? Very well, I’ll tell you. But, you’ll let me finish off the vampire over there…”
Her eyes are now full of hatred, unlike the look she used to observe me moments ago.
“…I don’t really mind, but it’s not up to me.”
“…Can’t be helped then.”
Nora doesn’t seem overly happy about it, but she concedes her job as hunter to the wolfwoman.
“…It’s alright?”
“Yes.”
“Sure.”
The wolfwoman nods after confirming Nora’s and my will. Her blue eyes become as sharp as a blade, and she concentrates her mana in the silver claws of one hand. Thereupon, the tips of the claws turn into a shape similar to a rounded dome.
Do these claws possess a high degree of freedom when it comes to shaping, like Catiza’s?
“Guo, go, gorewooo――”
Yuo reveals an expression as white as a sheet. He screams as if repeating, “Stop, stooooop,” while his head trembles. His arms, entangled by silver threads like maggots, have withered. He tries to forcibly tear apart the threads and rope with those arms, which have changed to bluish-black in color as if to reflect his feelings of obvious desperation, but it’s useless since his arms don’t possess that strength anymore. It appears that those highly sticky threads also have an effect of weakening their prey by sucking its blood.
“It’s the power of the silver light spider which prevents a vampire from moving and chips away their strength. It’s a valuable item using the water spider’s curse.”
“This is the effect of you having unleashed a barrage of magic like some dreadful, great wizard at him, Shuuya. And because he’s consumed great amounts of blood, I think it resulted in many silver light spiders having entered his vampiric body. Also, these are silver spiders, but my family is special, you know? It’s not such a valuable item to us.”
“Is that so? Looks like there’s all kinds of people among humans. Now then――”
The wolfwoman who was smiling with her eyebrows being relaxed, completely changed her expression. As if pouring unrestrained wrath into her own fist, she clads her whole body in Magic Combat Style in an instant, and focuses the mana on her fist.
Immediately following, her body dashes forward with a blur, and she unleashes a thrust. It’s a thrusting motion I remember having seen somewhere else before. The tips of her claws stab into the heart area of Yuo. In addition, the wolfwoman swings her other arm horizontally with her fur fluttering. Her claws that remind me of a longsword hit Yuo’s neck while leaving a pretty, semicircular trail behind in the air. Just like that, she moves her silver claws as if having hooked them into Yuo’s neck, and bisects it while twisting it.
“Guuaaaa――”
Accompanied by the sounds of flesh and bones being torn apart, Yuo’s pained voice echoes as his head dances through the air. Although he lasted through a barrage of spells, vampire’s who have their weak spots attacked are fragile.
Next, the wolfwoman moves the claws stabbed in Yuo’s chest as if turning a key in a keyhole, and pulls them out. She lifts his heart, skewered by her claws, above her head. It’s a pose as if she’s going to offer the heart to god. Yuo’s heart beats and squirms on the tips of her claws.
Nothing less of a vampire’s heart. He’s used a lot of blood, and his skin has completely dried out, but fresh blood still gushes out from his heart as if it’s overflowing with vitality. And then, Yuo’s body, which has lost its head and heart, tries to regenerate to some extent.
It’s tenacious. There’s no doubt that vampires would be the strongest if they overcame their weak points and took measures to not get eaten. This here is the state after having the weak spots attacked.
At that moment, a flash of vertical, striped patterns leaks out of Yuo’s heart. Since the wolfwoman has lowered her eyebrows, she might be in the middle of activating some skill.
The instant I thought so, the flash becomes brighter, the heart’s color turns pale and transparent, making all the blood vessels within shine through… Eventually, a big, full moon appears from within the heart. It’s the claws which transformed earlier.
Then Yuo’s heart fleetingly vanishes as if evaporating from the inside. In the end, only her moon-shaped claws remain. Yuo’s body also vanishes like dust, and his blood has also evaporated when hit by the silver light.
“…Zacksel, Haygelf, I avenged you…” The wolfwoman mutters what appears to be names, and starts to cry.
Tears trickle down her cheeks. It’s not just sadness. The joy over having accomplished her revenge also fills her blue eyes. I don’t know the circumstances, but I naturally feel emotionally moved by her.
“…Revenge, huh? I can understand. So that’s why you were so desperate. I planned this to be my last job around here, but after seeing your expression, I feel yielding the kill to you was the right thing to do. But, it’s unexpected since I’ve heard that ancient wolfmen would attack humans as well. I’m happy that we can understand each other if we talk normally.”
The wolfwoman’s look becomes as hard as steel unpon Nora’s words.
“…Don’t misunderstand. You get attacked because you violate our turf, human.”
“I don’t know anything about some turf.”
“Humph, as if I care about something like that! We have our own laws as well.”
“…It’s not like I’m representing the humans here, but let me apologize anyway. But, there are roads connecting cities next to the Sea of Trees, and there also exist peddlers frequenting the villages off the road. Besides, most of the Sea of Trees is unexplored land. Countless ancient ruins exist there, and some regions are under the control of monster forces. Because of that, many of the humans unknowingly trespassing into your territory might be adventurers.”
That’s why there’s also subjugation requests for ancient wolfmen for adventurers.
“That’s the very definition of being conceited. The damn humans who keep betraying while receiving God Wolf Hurley-sama’s blessing…” The wolfwoman pouts cutely, looking somewhat sullen.
Nora lets her eyes wander while looking slightly awkward as she mutters quietly, “Something like that…”
I wonder what’s that blessing of God Wolf Hurley? I don’t know anything about it.
As if to bridge the silence, Nora makes eye contact with me to change the topic.
“Shuuya, did you possibly have some business with the vampire as well?”
“In a broader sense, yeah. But, I guessed most of what I wanted to know from the earlier conversation.”
It’s proper to assume that Hoffmann’s are moving around behind the scenes. But, ultimately it’s just an assumption. This place is a melting pot of chaos with all kinds of powers having gathered inside this forest. The incident which caused Arry and Taack to go missing might be unrelated to Yuo, Hoffmann, a part of the Valmask family, and other vampires.
That’s why it’d be the best for me to get on Rollodeen and simply follow the blood chain’s lead. I look at Rollodeen, but she’s chasing her own tentacles around, resulting in making circles. Just what is she doing…?
“…Is it related to that floating chain of blood?” Nora turns her eyes at my blood chain while sheathing her holy sword on her back.
“Yes. I’m chasing after missing children. The vampire just now mentioned it a bit as well, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, he mentioned that it’s the job of a to gather blood.”
“That’s how it is. I’ve promised Quiche and the children that I’ll bring them back alive at any cost. That’s why I’ll find them. No matter where they are, be it in a den of vampires, the depth of darkness, or the end of hell, I plan to plunge forward.”
“…I see.” She smiles while creasing the outer corners of her eyes as if disappointed.
Her words were short…and contained the loneliness of a sigh. At the same time, I can feel some womanly emotions from her expression. She might suspect from Quiche’s name that it’s the name of the woman I wanted to meet before.
I feel bad about it, but it’s the truth. I want to keep my promise with my friend Quiche. Besides, it’s possible that the children are still alive due to the amulet’s effect.
Alright, I guess I’ll ask the wolfwoman for her name and then go after Arry and Taack. After briefly gathering my thoughts, I turn my eyes to the wolfwoman.
“So, what’s your name, Ms. Wolfwoman?”
In response, her cheeks flush slightly crimson. Her eyes are also trembling like those of a woman who confesses to the other sex for the first time.
“My name is Higlia.”
“Nice to meet you, Higlia-san.”
“Alright! You heard my name. Now come to the forest residence of the ancient wolfmen! And allow me to have a bout of fists and glory with you on the Idol Plaza.”
Higlia-san seems awfully excited, but…why a duel after hearing a name? I guess I’ll magnificently ignore her here.
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- Wajima seems to be a sumo fighter.
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