Now that I thought about it, I have never read so many books in my life.
Back in my ‘real’ life, I was only interested in playing RaSa, breaking achievements, and getting more items and skills.
If I wasn’t so crazy about this game, maybe shit like this wouldn’t have happened.
...My thoughts drifted away for a while, but anyway, the reason I suddenly had this thought was because of what I was doing.
“Hmm.”
I closed the book I was reading.
On one side of the desk, there was a heap of things that looked like old books, all of them related to vampires.
Currently, my daily routine in the castle was to look at a map or read a book repeatedly.
The books I read were all related to vampires.
'These guys are also a rare species, so there isn’t much information.'
Most of the rare races, like the White Moon tribe, lived somewhere in the depths of the forest among themselves.
Besides, among the many races in this world, vampires were a race that had a bad reputation.
Because of this, it was even more difficult to find information because other races had ostracised them from the world for a long time.
Even in the game, there were few stories related to vampires.
'There are Mysteries, but if I could use blood magic, the synergy with [Instant Kill] would be great...'
The reason I was so obsessed with vampires was because of the racial trait, [Blood Art].
Each individual had a unique ability, but freely handling blood as if using telekinesis was a common skill that all vampires could use.
No matter how much I thought about it, there was no better way to maximize the efficiency of my instant kill than to get blood magic.
The problem was that in order to get it, I had to directly go to ‘Elrod Forest’, one of the hiding places of the vampires.
It’s completely suicidal.
In this world, not all vampires lived by sucking blood.
Vampires were divided into tribes, and there were ones among them that did not suck the blood of other races and lived well among themselves.
But because there were still those who did, even those tribes lived while being ostracised and persecuted.
Because of this, most tribes who had been unfairly treated had quite severe hostility towards other race.
Elrod Forest was also a place where some vampire tribe lived. It wouldn’t be strange if I, a human, would be attacked right away if I appeared there.
It’s really difficult.
It’s difficult to decide.
The order of obtaining the other mysteries was pretty much all set.
However, suddenly discovering a new way to use [Instant Kill] and [Blood Art], I couldn’t help but wonder if I should visit Elrod Forest in the middle.
If Asher and I went there alone, things would definitely become bad.
But if I mobilize the troops of my territory, things would get too big.
It would be equivalent to going to war.
No matter how peaceful a tribe was, vampires themselves were a fairly warlike race, and they had a lot of hostility towards other races.
If I led my troops to Elrod Forest, the vampires there would definitely resist, no matter what kind of threat they faced.
'If that happens, I will become a killer who massacred a whole tribe just to get a blood skill.'
And since Elrod Forest was in a different Lord’s territory, it would have been difficult to lead an army.
The reason I sought an escort like Asher in the first place was because I couldn’t lead my army on the lands of the other Lords.
I sank into the chair and let out a sluggish breath. And I turned my thoughts elsewhere.
A way to use [Instant Kill] from a distance without [Blood Art].
In the Rutus Mountains, where I climbed to get [Super Regeneration], I met Bellevagorah and almost died.
I had to travel all over Calderic looking for other Mysteries, but I could encounter such unexpected dangers again that even Asher couldn’t handle.
There’s nothing wrong with preparing a way to use [Instant Kill] more efficiently to prepare for that time.
Long distance attack.
If there was a way to just cut a wound and splatter blood...
However, since that would only fly a few distances, it was difficult to even call it a long-range attack.
In this world overflowing with all kinds of monsters, if an enemy came within a few meters to attack me, I would be much more likely to die before I could do anything.
Another method was to smear blood on something and blow it off.
For example, shooting an arrow with blood on the arrowhead.
That would seem to be the best.
But, of course, there’s one problem. I didn’t know how to shoot a bow.
'I just need to learn if I don’t know how.'
Anyway, the danger I was likely to face while searching for mysteries was huge monsters like Bellevagorah.
Those filthy strong guys should be able to dodge several shots from a poor archer.
I didn’t intend to waste time, but it wouldn’t hurt to learn how to shoot casually.
And because of the Mystery of [Super Regeneration], my stamina was overflowing, so you could practice as much as I want without needing to rest.
Then let’s learn it.
I got up from my seat.
It’s farfetched to ask the other knights of the castle to teach me how to use the bow.
Then, there’s only one suitable person.
***
“You want to learn the... bow?”
Asher, who was standing guard in front of the door, asked the Seventh Lord, who came out of the room and spat out nonsensical words.
The other nodded.
“Don’t you know how?”
“...No, I know.”
“Then go straight to the gymnasium.”
With a slightly confused expression, she looked at the Seventh Lord, who spoke calmly.
This erratic Lord was doing something eccentric again, just like he did in Rutus Mountains.
A bow... what kind of request was it to suddenly ask her to teach him to shoot an arrow?
As if what she was thinking was clearly visible on her face, the Seventh Lord said.
“I just suddenly became interested.”
Asher couldn’t ask for anything more and had no choice but to follow the Seventh Lord.
The two moved to a spacious private gymnasium in the basement.
Butler Floto finished preparing the bows, arrows, and targets.
The Seventh Lord and Asher stood side by side, each holding a bow, keeping their distance from the target.
“Let’s shoot first.”
At the words of the Seventh Lord, Asher immediately put an arrow on the string and shot it at the target.
Piing!
The arrow flew with great force and accurately hit the center of the target.
He nodded and said.
“Now teach me.”
“...”
Asher asked, not knowing where to start.
“You don’t know how to shoot at all?”
“Yes.”
“...Then, start with the posture.”
She said to put an arrow on the string and pull it.
At that, the Seventh Lord hung an arrow on the string and pulled it lightly. It was a sloppy form.
“You lowered your right shoulder too much. And the hand holding the arrow...”
At Asher’s request, he slightly change his stance.
“...Aim at the target like what I just did, and now shoot.”
The Seventh Lord set up a demonstration.
The arrow flew sloppily and fell to the floor without even reaching the target.
Asher looked at it and said.
“You lost your posture the moment you fired.”
“Let’s try again.”
As the Seventh Lord continued to shoot arrows, Asher watched from the side and pointed out what was wrong.
About half an hour passed.
The Seventh Lord still could not hit a single arrow at the target, which was less that 30 paces away.
“...”
Asher looked at the arrows piled on the floor and the walls with a slightly stiff expression, then turned her gaze back to the Seventh Lord.
Piing!
The flying arrow hit the wall next to the target without fail.
“You made a mistake in your grip again.”
The Seventh Lord kept repeating what she had pointed out nearly ten times. Like a person who had no sense of moving his body at all.
The Seventh Lord lowered his bow and looked back at her.
“Are you mad?”
“...No.”
“Your voice is stiff. You must be angry.”
“I’m not.”
The Seventh Lord shook his head and said.
“How about correcting my posture once?”
It meant putting her hands directly on his body and guiding his posture.
Asher hesitated for a moment before moving closer.
Was it a big deal to touch a Lord’s body? She even carried him on her back in Rutus Mountains.
“Fix your shoulders like this...”
As she touched the Seventh Lord’s body here and there, Asher felt it again.
It’s really a soft body that hadn’t been trained in the slightest. As if it would break just by touching it.
...The image of the Seventh Lord who defeated the monster snake in the mountains suddenly flashed in her mind.
What was the source of that unreasonable power he showed?
I felt a bleakness that was hard to gauge from the Fourth Lord, the King of the Dead, whom I had unexpectedly seen before.
However, on the contrary, Asher did not dare to judge the Seventh Lord by any standard just because she felt nothing of the sort from him. Wouldn’t even this lousy body be a shell with little meaning to him...?
Piing!
As she corrected his posture, the Seventh Lord who shot the arrow finally hit the target for the first time.
He put on a slightly satisfied expression.
“I’m getting the hang of it.”
As he said, the Seventh Lord fired a few more shots, all the arrows hit the target, and the practice was over.
