Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi-Novel

Chapter 166: Those Who Walk in the Nigh

「They’re not coming......」

「Doesn’t look like it......」

We’re concealing ourselves in a place slightly outside of Rafen. This land is not suitable for growing crops and was thus abandoned because of the numerous rocks scattered across the ground and the sloped plane.

According to the slave trader, who was turned into a hole slave for the okamas, this place is where he was supposed to meet with the buyers, so I took Celia, Myla and a small number of light cavalry to ambush them, but there’s not a single torch to act as a landmark for the correct location. I’ve heard that even though it’s supposedly hard to meet in the dead of night, they can mysteriously find you quite easily.

「The day is going to be over already. Can you sense anything at all?」

「We’ll be losing out if things end here.」

No matter how much of the supply we crush, someone else will start the business again as long as there is demand.

The winter nights are cold too, so I raise my hips up ready to return home.

「Wait! I can hear something!」

All of us rush into the shadow of a rock when we heard Celia’s voice.

It was the rattling of a moving carriage – as soon as it started travelling to a place away from the main road, we knew nine times out of ten they would be the ones we were expecting. However, they don’t get much closer to us.

「Have we been found out?」

「There’s no way, in this darkness? There’s no way they could tell if anyone is around unless they call out or approach closer......」

「No, it looks like they know.」

I could hear the sound of a whip being used from the carriage.

Then, there was some neighing and the sound of the wheels instantly getting louder.

「Change of plans! After them!」

Initially, we intended to ambush and capture them at the place they’re supposed to rendezvous with the slave trader so we could make them spill the beans on their hideout, but it can’t be helped now that the situation has become like this. If we let them get away now, they probably won’t come back to Rafen anytime soon.

A hidden pilot flame was taken out to light the torches and the light cavalry jump on their horses to make chase.

「The moon isn’t out tonight either. How can they grasp our position despite not having torches?」

「I don’t know. They might have someone who can see clearly even in the dark.」

「They might have got a head start, but they’re on a carriage. The light cavalry should catch up immediately.」

Or so we thought.

「Gyaah!!」

「Tch-! Again?」

One of the light cavalry crashes into a rock strewn around the area and he and his horse tumbles to the ground.

As the abandoned land takes away the soldiers’ footing, the dismounting and tumbling continues.

「Aegir-sama, sprinting full speed on this deserted area is unreasonable. Let’s slow down.」

「I guess there’s no other option...... but they’re not slowing down at all.」

The carriage should be way more affected by the terrain than the light cavalry and they don’t even have torches with them.

「Gueh!」

One of the soldiers beside me get shot in the chest by an arrow and fell over.

So those guys have started shooting at us. These torches are practically an additional enemy of ours.

Even if we wanted to shoot back, we can only go off the sound of the carriage.

「Let me take that, give it a try, Celia.」

「Yessir!」

I grab a torch from a soldier and hurl it to the place I heard the sound.

The flame flies in an arc and briefly reveals the shape of the carriage when it falls to the ground.

「Right there!」

Celia bends her body like a bow and flings a knife over in that direction.

The light disappeared as soon as the torch hit the ground but I could hear the sound of a horse neighing and the carriage toppling over.

It looks like Celia was able to ascertain the enemy’s location from that split second of clarity, allowing her to throw her knife accurately at their horse.

「They’ve been stopped! All units, surround them!」

Myla shouts orders and the light cavalry circle around the fallen carriage.

With this, it’s over.

「......」

Crawling out of the carriage as expected is three individuals. Neither of them appear too large, but because all of them are wearing hoods over their heads, we couldn’t even determine their gender.

「If you give up on escaping and lead us to your hideout, we’ll ensure you stay alive. How about it?」

「......」

The three of them remain silent.

「............if you’re not going to respond, then we could also shoot two of you right now.」

「......gk」

「Watch out!」

The three of them don’t say a single word but jump out in different directions to try and break the encirclement.

「Hmph!」

It’s not like we didn’t expect them to try and escape, so I intercept the one coming in my direction with my spear. I use the handle of my spear to strike the face of the one who jumped in my direction with a sword.

「Gugah!」

「Nnh?」

I was certain his head would split open but the man just rolls to the ground and tries to pick himself up again.

「You’re really stubborn.」

Using more strength than before, I bring my spear up above my head and swing down towards him, smashing against the upper half of his body from the chest up.

「Gyugh......」

After spasming several times, the man stops moving.

「Uwah! This one’s insanely strong!」

「Be careful!」

The one who rushed in Myla’s direction dodged an attack, got his leg cut, and fell to the ground. The soldiers dismount from their horses and crowd the area but the man swings his sword around in resistance. It doesn’t look like the trained soldiers can end things instantly against the desperate man as I initially thought.

「Gaaah! Ugggaaah!!」

The man doesn’t seem to be a master swordsman. He’s just recklessly swinging the one-handed sword and knocking the soldiers down to the ground with his brute strength.

The man’s swings resemble those of a crazed man.

In the meantime, the last individual was able to break past the soldiers and escaped.

We don’t have time to waste on a wild man like this.

「Move it, I’ll take care of him.」

「Guggaaaah!!」

The man screams as if he’s lost his sanity and is met with a thrust from my spear at his chest.

Holding my aim steady, the man’s chest gets punctured quite deeply with my weapon.

「Guh! Gh!」

Even so, the man grabs my spear and flails in an attempt to pull it out from his body.

「Hey, hey...... are you serious? 」

With such a large hole in his chest, it’s clear the wound is fatal, yet the man’s strength does not seem to have diminished.

「You’re kidding......」「What the heck is this guy......」

The soldiers seem perplexed too.

We should finish this up quickly.

I lift up the man while still stabbed on my spear and slam him against a rock beside me.

「Gyabh!」

The man’s head is completely crushed and his limbs hang loosely from his body.

As expected, he’s dead.

「One of them ran off. We’re pursuing right away.」

「Well, the thing is......」

The light cavalry chasing the man trails off.

「What’s wrong?」

「H-he shook us off...... we definitely saw him in the beginning...... but he ran and the horse-......」

「Huuh?」

I don’t get what they’re saying. It isn’t possible for a person on foot to outrun cavalry.

「Hey, how long are you going to lay there. Hurry up and get your horses- waaah–!!」

The soldiers trying to wake up the other fellow soldiers knocked away by the escaped individual shout out.

「What’s wrong?」

「This guy...... I just pushed him a little...... and he’s d-dead.」

The necks of the defeated soldiers who had their faces caved in are broken. They weren’t simply broken, but stuck all the way to their backs and on the verge of snapping off entirely.

「......their faces are a mess too. They wouldn’t get like that unless they were hit with a war hammer.」

I’m starting to piece things together.

「Hey, abnormally good night vision, unbelievable strength...... doesn’t that sound familiar?」

「Could it be they’re gathering so many slaves to-......」

It looks like the soldiers have reached the same conclusion.

「「Vampires......」」

Everyone’s voices were in sync.

「Lord Hardlett, I don’t want to believe this.」

Myla comes over sounding worried.

「Was this the northwest? It isn’t the southwest, I don’t think.」

I think it’s unrelated because of the distance, but if it really is connected to her, we have to stifle this problem immediately.

「I’m sorry? It is.」

「Then that’s fine.」

Am I overthinking?

It was always just the two of us and no one else.

But if that’s true, then......

I look down and my shoulders tremble.

「Lord Hardlett? Are you......trembling? I don’t blame you, if it’s really a vampire then our numbers won’t be able to handle it.」

Myla speaks anxiously.

「Aegir-sama, let’s return to Rafen and bring the army here. They shouldn’t be able to do anything if we surround them with a few thousand soldiers. Don’t look so down, I’m here with you!」

「I’m fine, I’m not scared.」

It’s just hard to keep my dick from getting hard after hearing the word vampire.

Even picturing the identity of those guys makes me erect and my pants are about to tear right now. If I don’t keep my wits about me, I’ll cum on the spot.

「We’re following them.」

「Eh? B-but with the personnel we have now-......」

「It’ll be fine, I’ll go and talk to them myself after we find their dwelling place.」

Vampires are women too, there’s no reason we can’t see eye to eye.

Actually, I wouldn’t mind if my blood gets sucked either.

「Vampires don’t need blood that frequently. The ones we’re facing today in particular aren’t going around attacking every person they see, rather they’re acting in a way so nobody will find out about them. I can’t imagine them gulping down someone’s blood because of their appetite...... nonetheless, they gathered 50 people in half a year...... there’s also a possibility they collected people from places outside of Rafen too.」

Everyone looks at me.

「One or two...... no, there might be ten of them.」

「How could this be......」「I don’t believe this......」

The soldiers cry out and Celia’s and Myla’s expressions also stiffen.

Not good, I can feel my cum leaking out just from imagining myself playing around with a dozen vampires.

「In that case, it’ll be impossible for Aegir-sama to talk with them by yourself. You’ll definitely be killed!」

「That’s right...... Although it sounds like you’re quite well-versed about them.」

Well, I’ve experienced a few things.

I take the frightened soldiers with me to search in the direction of where the last individual ran off to and unexpectedly found their hideout quite easily. It was a gaping cave in this deserted land where rocks were piled in the surroundings to prevent rain water from dripping down and there are even horses tied at the front.

No matter how we look at it, it doesn’t look natural.

「Once again out in the open......」

「It’s away from the main road after all. They don’t have to worry about being discovered even if they light up some torches.」

With that said, I dismount from my horse.

「I really think we should monitor the area and call the army here!」

「That’s right! It’s crazy for the feudal lord to march in by himself!」

「Didn’t I say it would be fine? You guys just wait here.」

「Where does all that confidence come from......?」

Celia sounds like she’s about to cry so I pat her head and then enter the cave.

It’ll be fine, I’m sure we’ll come to an understanding with each other.

Right now, a bunch of guys holding swords and spears are surrounding me. They must not have thought I would enter, since I was able to advance halfway without problems before these guys were dispatched and quickly surrounded me in this wider man-made area in the cave

「I already know you guys are vampires. I have something to talk to you about.」

When I ignore the murderous intent coming at me from all directions and call out, a few people in robes appear before me.

「How dare a human stand in our presence.」

I couldn’t hide my agitation as soon as I heard that voice.

「It is meaningless to talk to our prey.」

Again...... what a disaster.

「You lower life form.」

「How dare you......」

A deep voice was squeezed out from within my stomach.

「What?」

「How dare you deceive mee-!!」

As I yell out at them in a voice that surprised even myself and glare at them, it causes my opponents to take a small step back and reveal their faces from a gap in their robes.

They had blood-red eyes and sickeningly pale skin as expected, but.......

All of them are male.

On second thought, it was wrong to limit all vampires to being women. However, I tend to picture a vampire who is broad-minded and has stunning beauty and unbelievably large breasts whenever I hear the word. It might have been unreasonable of me to expect that, but I still couldn’t suppress my anger.

「There is only one way you guys can save yourselves! Submit to me!」

I bellow at them in a fit of anger.

It was as if everyone stopped breathing for a brief moment and the eyes of the vampires seem to glisten in a deeper red color.

「You talk big for a mere human! I’ll dismember your body into pieces!」

The men holding swords and spears appear around me again. All of them have red eyes, but their glow is dull.

「Ghouls, huh......?」

Ghouls are monsters which are born from corpses but of a higher class than zombies. Unlike zombies, they have intelligence and most of them have a proper sense of self too. However, the ghouls are bound to the vampires who created them and treat them as a parent figure so they aren’t free to do whatever they want.

Furthermore, the strength of ghouls are largely determined by the strength of the vampire. Lucy didn’t make them because she said they looked ugly.

「......!」

The silent ghouls charge at me as I regrip my spear, then brush them away.

I see, they are certainly strong. But these things were created without any battle experience, so they only rely on their brute strength to attack.

「Doryaaa!」

I take out two of them at once and destroy the legs of another.

The male vampire smiles after seeing that happen from a distance.

「Hmph, so you’re a little skilled for a mere human even though these are only low-level familiars ......」

I crush the head of the one lying on the ground with my foot, then I split another one in half vertically. Next, I skewer the third one and hurl it over to where the vampires are.

They casually twist their body to evade, letting the ghoul crash right against the wall of the cave and shattering every bone in its body before falling to the ground. It doesn’t look like it’s dead, but it won’t pose a problem to me if it can’t move with that broken body.

「I’m the feudal lord of Rafen. If you don’t submit to me, I’ll just have tens of thousands of soldiers come and set this entire cave on fire.」

I don’t actually have that many troops though.

「What nonsense...... even if you were telling the truth, a bunch of dim-witted humans could never capture us.」

He’s probably right. Although the army won’t suffer defeat, they won’t be able to catch the one who escaped.

However vampires aren’t beasts. This cave isn’t even fit for him to live in. There was water and alcohol near the entrance, the path inside the cave was shaved and polished and he’s even collected what looks to be furniture he purchased from somewhere.

「You guys might escape, but are you going to rebuild your dwellings from scratch? What are you going to do about that? Holing yourself up in the cave you dug and then sucking on a person’s corpse...... you’re practically a goblin.」

「Whaaaat-!!?」

「If you don’t want to be like that-...... 」「This youngster! My patience has just about run out!」

I was going to offer a few suggestions to him if he didn’t want to be a goblin, but this vampire has quite the short fuse.

Even though they don’t have body temperature, he’s getting fairly heated.

「I’ll tear you apart limb from limb!」

「No, I’ll turn you into a ghoul and make you my eternal slave!」

The ghouls surrounding me were pushed aside and the three vampires take their positions around me.

I might have made a mistake. If these guys have the same strength as Lucy, then I don’t think I have the ability to extend my life any further.

「Prepare yourself!」

I swing my spear at the man who throws a bare-handed punch at me. If this was a normal fight between a fist and a spear, the hand would have been smashed into pieces and the battle would be over, but a large metallic clang rang out as the two objects clashed and I was pushed backwards.

A tingling and numbing sensation runs through my hands, surprising me that my spear wasn’t the thing that broke first.

「Shi-!」

Another man swings his claws at me, which I evade by a hair’s breadth before I slash at his legs with my spear. However, the man was able to twist his body to dodge my attack despite being completely off-balance.

「How about this!」

The third man leaps about four meters in the air and pounces at me with both his hands. With that much excess movement, I easily dodge, but the attack continues on to destroy a rock, accompanied by a loud exploding sound, and sends debris and dust all over to rob me of my vision.

Hidden in the cloud of dirt and dust, the vampire aims a kick at my stomach. I try to block reactively with my spear but the heavy impact sends me flying back to the wall of the cave. The collision takes the air out of my lungs and I feel my ribs creak.

「Gugah ......」

「Hmph, after such big talk, this is a human’s limit.」「If you give up, I’ll make sure your dismemberment is quick.」

Fumu, they’re stronger than humans as I thought.

However......

「I guess that’s what I expected.」

「「What!?」」

Lucy is the only vampire I knew about. We did fool around and sparred a few times, but it was nothing like this.

She would send me flying ten meters back while smiling and she would leave a hole as tall as her height whenever I dodged her attack.

Looking at the hole made by this male vampire just now, it was large enough to fit only an arm or a leg at most.

They’re vampires, but not as strong as I imagined. The problem is that it’s three against one.

「Come, I’ll get you the next time.」

「Such drivel!」

I swing my spear down towards the charging man. He tries to deflect my attack with his outstretched hand like before but I release one hand from my spear and twirl the powerlessly deflected spear. No matter how forcefully he deflects it, I can just convert the energy by spinning it and it won’t get flung out of my hands.

「What?」

Then, I take my free hand and throw a punch at his face.

That hurts...... these guys are made of steel or something.

「Guh, bastard!」

Of course, that was just a distraction.

The indignant man rushes at me without thinking. I sidestep and use the momentum of my spear being deflected to bring down my spear on his head like a counter.

「Gaguh!」

My attack which used his own strength against him causes the man to fall flat on his face to the ground and slide all the way into the wall.

「How dare you!」

As another vampire charges at me, I similarly rush forward and perform a three-part thrust.

He dodges the first one, blocks the second with the back of his hand and knocks my spear away on the third hit.

I was about to follow up with a punch, but the vampire grins as he sees me try to attack bare-handed, lifting up his arms as if to say my attack wouldn’t work on him.

「There.」

I take my hand...... which grabbed a rock when I fell to the ground earlier and aggressively smash him with it.

「Gah!」

That surely hurt him as he closed his eyes in pain, which allowed me to grab his arm, load him onto my hip and throw him over my shoulder. Using his own momentum from his charge to toss him, the man with his eyes closed couldn’t prepare himself to fall, which led to him smashing his head on the ground and fainting.

I quickly adjust the grip on my spear and point it at the last man.

「......You’re pretty strong. But it was a mistake for you to come here alone.」

He stays vigilant and doesn’t immediately dash at me.

This is bad.......

「Guh......this guy.」

「Grr......」

The two who flipped over earlier stood back up.

If they were human, they would either be dead or unable to fight anymore, but they’re not.

「The three of us will go together. We’ll turn him into mince meat.」

I thought they would do that – this is do or die. I pump myself up and grip my spear tightly, then I hear a piercing voice.

「What are you guys going wild for!?」

That voice which was as pretty as a bell came from a person with beautiful waist-long blonde hair, pale white skin and an extremely lovely face.

Aah......this is what I was waiting for.

「Brynhildr......」

「This man insulted us......」

「That man is showing respect though.」

I instinctively lower my spear and my head in a deep bow.

Regardless of standing and race, she’s a lady first and foremost ...... and an out-of-this-world beauty at that, so I have to show my respect.

「Bastard! You were just-!」「Quiet! Stand down!」

The one outburst from that beauty named Brynhildr caused the three vampires to step back dejectedly. Looking closer, their gazes were directed at the robed large man standing with folded arms behind her.

「Well now, this foolish one who has descended into my home. If you did not come here wanting to be eaten by us, then what have you come here for?」

It sounds like Brynhildr is willing to listen to me.

As expected, girls are wonderful.

「I was originally chasing the buyers who were purchasing illegal slaves in the city and finally reached this place.」

「I don’t know the details of how we acquire food, and if that’s all you’re here for, then you’ll be put on the dining table pretty soon.」

「No, that’s just what prompted us to search. I want you guys. Could you obey me from now on?」

Accurately speaking, I want Brynhildr.

It’s just convenient if I can stop the hunting of humans while I’m at it.

The beautiful woman appeared to stop moving for a few seconds.

「Fu, fuhahaha! You hear this, Siegfried, this guy says he wants us to obey him! Ahahahaha!」

「......」

The man called Siegfried nods silently.

Brynhildr smiles at me but anger peeks through her glowing red eyes.

「I take back saying you will become our dinner for tonight. I will now hear your last request. Why do you want us to submit to you?」

「I’m the feudal lord here. It troubles me if you eat my citizens left and right. Besides......」

I return a smile to those eyes burning with rage.

「You’re beautiful. It’s human nature to want to make a beautiful woman belong to them.」

「......is that so, Siegfried. Try as much as you can to not spray entrails everywhere. Now a final question, what will you compensate us with if we submit to you? Or are you asking us to obey you unconditionally?」

Siegfried holds a sword in each of his hands.

He has a terrifyingly intimidating presence, leagues apart from the earlier three.

I answer while hiding the sweat running down the side of my head.

「I’ll provide you enough food that you don’t have to worry about it. And if it’s a beauty like you, I don’t mind allowing my blood to be sucked too.」

「Hooh.」

Brynhildr signals with her hand for Siegfried to stand down.

Then she casually leaps about five meters in the air and closes the distance between us instantly.

「You look pretty healthy. It might be nice to give you a little taste before putting you on the dining table.」

The beauty grins wickedly and brings her lips close to the nape of my neck. Without resisting, I stoop over and tilt my head diagonally to the side.

She opens her tiny jaw and sinks her fangs into my neck. I can feel my blood jetting out and then I hear the sounds of the girl gulping it down her throat.

The faint breathing from her nose on my neck feels nice.

「Ngh, ngh, ngh......」

「Guh......」

The sensation of blood as it rushes out of my body suddenly makes my hips give way and tremble as well as causes my dick to release its load, wetting my pants and making a puddle at my feet.

Lucy also told me that it isn’t rare for her prey to climax as they’re getting their blood sucked.

Brynhildr doesn’t pay much attention to me as she continues to drink my life essence.

But isn’t she drinking too much?

I feel my consciousness fading.

I try to push the tiny girl’s head away, unwilling to die from getting sucked dry, but she’s just like a boulder and doesn’t budge.

My vision darkens and my legs stagger underneath me.

Aah ......is this the end?

Although it might be my fate to be killed by a beauty like this.

I grab her breasts in my last moment of consciousness, but my hand slips down powerlessly in vain.

Her breasts...... are lacking.

I black out with that final thought in mind.

「I didn’t think I would wake up.」

「Umu, I unintentionally sucked too much.」

It looks like I was laid on this bed after I fell asleep.

Brynhildr is the only one beside me.

「Well, I see I haven’t been turned into food. Is there a reason for that?」

「......」

「What’s wrong?」

「It tasted good......」

「Huuh?」

「Your blood tastes good. So good that it’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted before...... I thought my legs would give out as soon as I took a sip. And then I just couldn’t stop myself......」

「That’s good to hear, but I wouldn’t want to be turned into food if possible.」

「Umu, it’s a waste to let you be tasted by those riffraffs. And it’d be the end if I just killed you...... so how about you become my plaything? I’ll keep you around for a long time.」

As attractive as that sounds, I can’t do that.

If I don’t return to them soon, Myla and Celia are going to send the army here.

「I can’t do that, but I can cooperate with you. If you think submitting yourselves to me is humiliating, then a contract will be fine. I’ll ensure you guys won’t go hungry ......and let my blood be sucked as long as the person doing it is a beauty like you. I don’t want you guys to indiscriminately eat my citizens.」

「Is that it?」

「No, also...... Brynhildr, I want to sleep with you.」

「Kukuku, you’re telling me to allow you put that vulgar dick of yours in my vagina? That dirty thing was erect the entire time you were unconscious, you know?」

Brynhildr lightly flicks my exposed dick with her finger.

「Fine, I’ll accept this contract of yours. You’re the feudal lord of this area, so if I kill you and this place gets destroyed, I’ll end up having to live in some unpleasant place again. Supplying food is the job of servants and ghouls and not something I normally pay attention to, but it’s also a master’s duty to make their lives easier.」

“However” – she adds as she brings her scarlet lips to my ear.

「You’ll let me drink your blood once every week. That sweet tasting liquid...... exquisite enough to send shivers throughout my body.」

With her widened eyes, she presses herself against my body and slowly drags her tongue from my nape to my face.

I feel a cold sensation against my arm, which when I looked, is coming from Brynhildr’s crotch almost as if she wet herself.

Lucy also felt more turned on after sucking blood, so if I was going to pounce on her, now is the time.

「You’re wet. And I’m like this too. There should be a way for us to relieve ourselves together.」

「You plebs are merely meals, there’s no reason for me to have sex with you.」

「I heard doing it while you’re sucking blood...... would make it taste even better......」

「How could a common human like you know what blood tastes like! If you’re going to spew such nonsense, I’ll siphon the life out of you right here and now.」

I guess I can’t do it.

It’s regretful but I’ll have to give up.

「I’ll give up on doing it now and perhaps look forward to it in the future. That’s why, can I ask for one favor?」

「Hm? Tell me.」

「I want to know about you guys.」

「......why?」

「Just out of curiosity. There are so many vampires here after all so it’s piqued my interest.」

Brynhildr makes a sour look.

It’s clear she doesn’t want to talk about it.

「Siegfried and I are descendants of a cursed royalty. Everyone here was like that in the past, but they were destroyed one after the other...... the only ones left are a mishmash of vampires who only know how to suck blood.」

Her elegant tone is somewhat out of sorts, as she spoke just a tiny bit faster.

「That’s all, I have nothing else to say.」

After that, Brynhildr was no longer willing to say anything. In order to distract ourselves from the awkward silence, we drew up the document for our promise.

With everything done with, I clothe myself and get ready to head out.

「The agreements are written here, but feel free to come to my mansion if you have anything important to add. Aah, the message will get to me so it’s fine to come during the day and not just at night.」

「......you’re being rather unreasonable to ask a vampire to come during the day.」

Lucy disliked the sun but it wasn’t like she couldn’t move in it.

If it was something important, she would definitely come.

「Siegfried and I can somehow manage and head over...... but the 100 weaker youngsters will be burned to death. I thought you knew about vampires, but you don’t know anything, do you.」

I guess not.

Lucy is an exceptionally special one then.

「Aegir-samaa!!」

When I get outside the cave, Celia jumps into my chest.

「Waaah! It’s already dawn! I thought Aegir-sama was......kill-......by them, hic......uueeh.」

The girl sobs in my chest.

It became dawn during the time I was passed out.

「Don’t worry. I’m alive and well.」

「I’m so glad......-waaaaaait!!」

Celia screams in my ear.

My eardrums are gonna burst.

「Your neck! Your neckk!!」

The mark leftover by Brynhildr after she sank her teeth into my neck is clearly shown. It’s well known that a person can turn into a vampire when a vampire bites them. In actual fact, it uses up their stamina and is quite troublesome so most of them don’t do it.

「Aegir-sama! Let me see it!」

Celia sticks her hand in my mouth and opens it.

After checking for the distinctive canines, she looks at my eyes.

「You haven’t become a vampire. It’s alright.」

「B-but then what about that bite mark......」

Hmm, how should I explain this?

「This bite wasn’t because they wanted me to turn into a vampire......how can I say this?」

Celia realizes something.

Then grabs my crotch and my balls.

「It feels light...... lighter than when you went in...... you came? And lots!!」

「Well, yeah.」

I actually just released my semen when my blood was getting sucked.

「I was somehow able to talk with the guys inside and it just happened......」

After saying that, a few soldiers collapsed suddenly. Their blood and guts sprayed everywhere in a gruesome death.

「......You guys again? Isn’t this different from what we talked about?」

「As if I care about that.」「We can’t let you go like this.」「If we kill you, Brynhildr will have no choice but to acknowledge us.」

The ones who appear from the dark are the three vampires I fought before.

They are ignoring Brynhildr, who appears to be controlling them, which means anything I say to them now will be pointless.

I point my spear at the three of them.

The soldiers frighteningly look to me to protect them, and I tell them to step back since they’re in the way.

The soldiers will probably not be enough to even act as meat shields against them.

However, there was one person who didn’t listen to my orders.

「I’ll protect you, Aegir-sama!」

「Stop, Celia!」

「You’re in the way.」

It was as if the scene in front of my eyes was moving in slow motion.

As Celia swings her sword down, the man blocks the strike with his arm and the blade of the sword shatters. The vampire kicks Celia as she tries to defend with her broken sword, but she gets sent flying back.

She couldn’t even break her fall and rolled on the ground before remaining motionless.

「Aaaah, it hurts...... my arms...... my arms...... 」

It looks like Celia broke both arms with each of them bent in the wrong way.

I could only see red in front of me for what felt like an eternity.

「You bastards...... I’ll kill you all.」

I charge at them at a speed even I didn’t know I could move. I close in on the one who kicked Celia first and swing my spear down as hard as I could swing.

Naturally, he was able to block my strike with all my energy behind it however he was the one who was off balance after doing so.

But because I stepped in too far and closed the distance between us, I wasn’t able to swing my spear so he was able to grab me.

「Hahaha, you idiot, now I’ll make you my servant!」

The man opens his mouth in an attempt to pierce my neck with his fangs.

However, just before that moment, I opened my own mouth and bit down on the man’s neck.

「Gagoh! What are you-......」

「Gaaaah!」

I shake my head left and right while biting down on his neck and tear off a piece of his flesh.

He must not have expected getting his own neck bitten as he takes a step back while pressing against the wound on his neck with both hands. His gaze has deviated and both hands are sealed.

I spit out the flesh I tore off and charge in further, leaping into the air before thrusting my spear straight through the man’s half-open mouth.

「Geboh!」

The spear passes through the inside of his mouth and out the back of his neck and then continues on to pierce into the ground.

「!!!!! —!?」

It looks like even that won’t kill the sturdy vampire.

But this dwarf-made spear acts as the nail which pins the vampire to the ground like some cockroach, and he can only wriggle in desperation. As expected, he can’t summon up any strength to pull it out himself.

The second man dashes at me with lightning speed. I hurry and try to draw my Dual Crater but I’m not able to make it in time.

「Diee!」

Right when the man’s claws were about to reach me, something stabbed him.

「A knife? Something like this...... gyah!!」

The small knife which cuts shallowly into the man’s side should have been a rather futile attack against a vampire but the wound starts emitting smoke.

「Celia!」

「Haah, haah......vampires are...... to silver......」

After saying that, Celia passes out from the pain. It looks like she somehow threw that knife with her fractured hand. It was amazing how the knife still managed to stab him despite how powerlessly it was thrown.

Looking closer, she has a scraped silver coin in the palm of her hand.

That girl always kept a silver coin with her so she would be able to buy any unique sweets she finds. She scraped that coin with a knife held in her mouth and threw that weapon sprinkled with the silver powder.

Because of the silver, the knife was able to find its way into the man’s body even though there wasn’t any strength behind the throw, but the powder was only enough to give him a good scare. The vampire gets angry and once again rushes at me.

However, that’s enough for me.

「See ya.」

I bring down the Dual Crater I raised above my head powerfully. The blade vertically splits the torso of the man, cutting through the defending right hand, the left hand, and the head. My Dual Crater is made from mithril, an exorcising metal, so right after it bisected the vampire, his body starts to burn and turn into black charcoal.

I should have been using this from the start, I just forgot.

「Bastard...... how dare you......」

The last one curses me, but I also have no intention of letting him get away.

「I can’t return with you alive either.」

Since you broke the bones of my precious Celia, I’m not letting a single one of you three escape death.

At that moment, the man who has gotten wary after witnessing the power of my Dual Crater suddenly twitches and sweats profusely.

Turning towards the area he was staring at, there stood Siegfried, the large man enshrouded in a black outfit holding a sword in each of his hands.

「S-Siegfried! Th-this is......」

「You disobeyed orders.」

This is the first time I’ve heard Siegfried speak.

It was a low resounding voice seemingly from the depths of darkness.

「This isn’t what you think, they were the ones who attacked first......」

The man giving an excuse could say nothing else as Siegfried closes the distance between them.

「D-don’t!」

And then Siegfried suddenly vanishes, appearing by my side before I knew it.

「A-......aah......aah......」

I couldn’t see what happened, but the result is obvious. The noisy man’s head from the nose up slides diagonally and falls to the ground. A few seconds later, his entire head and right shoulder falls, his left hand is sliced vertically, his body is divided into four parts, and his thigh, knee, and calf all slide slowly down to the ground.

「......」

Siegfried turns towards me and lowers his head. That must be his apology to me.

「There are foolish ones among vampires just as there are among humans. The agreement will be upheld regardless of what happened just now.」

It’s meaningless to fight now. More importantly, I have to bring the injured and fainted Celia back home as soon as possible.

「H-hey, that vampire got cut into pieces.」

「That big one is also a vampire, right? An even stronger one at that.」

「He bowed to the feudal lord-sama though...... who on earth is this feudal lord!?」

I don’t have time to reply to the commotion made by the soldiers.

「Myla, you’re in charge of the soldiers. There shouldn’t be any more threats but be careful just in case! I’m bringing Celia back.」

「Y-yessir!」

Myla quickly returns to her senses after being confused at all that happened in front of her eyes.

「Aghagh, aagh......」

The man who got stuck to the ground by my spear was still alive. I thought I would need to finish him off, but it doesn’t look necessary.

The sun rises up from the horizon and its rays shine on the vampire.

「Aaaaaaaaaaaaah—–!!!」

「So annoying.」

With an unbelievably loud cry of agony, steam starts rising from the man’s face.

So the blood is boiling. I see, this is what happens to weak vampires when sunlight hits them.

Eventually, his entire body gives off steam and the vampire goes up in flames, turning into charcoal and the crumbled pieces blown away by the wind.

I don’t have time to waste so I entrust my spear to Myla and mount my horse with Celia in my arms.

「Schwartz, hurry as fast as you can, but don’t shake her too much.」

He answers with a neigh and Schwartz runs like the wind with me and Celia on his back.

I need to make some minor adjustments to the terms agreed upon with Bynhildr, but Celia’s more important right now.

「Hang in there, I’ll bring you back soon.」

Celia’s face is warped from the pain but it felt like she smiled for a second there.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 23 years old. Winter. New Year

Celia (fractured both hands)

Omitted – No changes

Sexual Partners: 144, children who have been born: 32