The mayor of the city of Domihawk, Ballon, was living a normal life.
After having a late dinner and enjoying tea time alone on the terrace, he was reading until dawn before going to bed.
It was then that an unexpected guest came to the mansion.
“No… Sir Begos, what are you doing here at dawn?”
Seeing the man who had entered the central hall of the mansion being guided by the knights standing on the guard, Ballon blinked.
Begos, a high-ranking official of the territory.
Ballon was acquainted with him.
Because it was the mayor Ballon who tacitly allowed Valkilov’s secret auction to be held in this city, and Begos was the VIP of that auction.
Today was the day of the auction.
Aside from visiting at dawn like this, Begos’ expression looked somewhat urgent, so Ballon looked at him suspiciously.
Begos took a deep breath and said.
“I’m sorry that I came to you at such a late hour, but… something happened at the auction.”
“At the auction, what…”
“Some madman massacred the people of the auction house. All the managers died, and so did that Jack. The Valkilov is over.”
“...Yes? Jack? Over? You mean the Valkilov’s chief is dead?”
Ballon asked in surprise.
The demon Jack of the Domihawk, the biggest tycoon in the shadow of the Third Lord’s Territory, was killed out of nowhere.
He was resourceful, but also had skills strong enough to back up his reputation.
“Who the hell did you say they were murdered by?”
“That, I don’t know. It’s not even many people, but only one.”
“There’s only one person… shouldn’t they be someone well known in the territory?”
“Then I should have known about them. Anyway, that’s why I came to have a discussion with you in a hurry… Let’s go inside.”
It was then...
“Mayor.”
One knight who rushed in said in a trembling voice.
Ballon looked at him curiously.
“What’s going on again?”
“Well, that’s… the Seventh Lord has come.”
For a moment, Ballon blinked for a few seconds, wondering what kind of bullshit this was, and then asked.
“Who’s here?”
“The Seventh Lord has come to visit you.”
Now the knight’s words didn’t sound any different to Ballon’s, telling him that everyone in the auction house was dead.
So… the Seventh Lord?
...Why?
Why did the Seventh Lord suddenly come to visit him?
Was it someone impersonating him? It couldn’t be. What kind of madman would come to the mayor of one of cities of Calderic under the guise of a Lord?
“...!”
It was a natural flow of thought, so the knights on guard suddenly came to the mansion and had no choice but to bring the man who called himself the Seventh Lord and the people of various races behind him.
Ballon’s eyes widened at the sight of strangers slowly entering one by one.
The gaze of the man standing in front of them turned to him.
“Is this the house of the mayor of Domihawk?”
“...Yes! I am Ballon, Mayor of Domihawk.”
Ballon immediately bowed his back at a right angle, feeling a sense of incomprehensible pressure.
No matter how far they were from the Seventh Lord’s territory, they in the Third Lord’s territory knew at least the least information about the Seventh Lord. That he was a human male.
So, the man in front of Ballon right now could really be the Seventh Lord.
Meanwhile, Begos was astonished to see the man, the Seventh Lord, and Asher standing next to him.
W-what…
At the auction house, the two were wearing a mask, but he could still recognize them.
An unidentified man and woman who annihilated Valkilov’s fighters and turned the auction house into a slaughterhouse.
The Seventh Lord turned his head and looked at Begos.
Begos lost his mind for a moment, then hurriedly bowed his back.
“...It is an honor to see the Seventh Lord! I am Begos, an officer in this territory!”
Now he understood the situation.
It was truly weird at first. Because just where could such a formidable talent come from?
He thought it had something to do with some other big organization, but it turned out that it was a Lord himself.
Jack, you crazy bastard, what the hell have you done?
It was obviously Valkilov’s side who tried to attack the Seventh Lord first at the auction house, saying that the invitation was stolen.
Begos couldn’t understand what the hell was going on and how it had been twisted into such a non-funny situation.
The Seventh Lord’s mouth opened again.
“Mayor, I have come to request you something.”
...Request?
Ballon answered, still bowing his head and rolling his eyes dizzily.
“Yes, please tell me!”
“Did you know that Valkilov’s secret auction is being held in this city?”
For a moment, Ballon and Begos had their hearts pounding.
“That, that’s….”
“Of course you knew. I’m not trying to blame you for that. I’m talking about the people behind me now. They were sold as slaves to the auction house, but they didn’t deserve it such treatment.”
Begos, who knew the context of the situation, swallowed his saliva.
Ballon also remembered the story he had heard from Begos and the other’s reaction and quickly inferred the situation.
…Was the Seventh Lord the one who carried out the massacre at the auction house?
The Seventh Lord glanced back and spoke.
“So, I want you to take responsibility for their personal affairs. I want you to give money to those who have a place to go back, and I want those who have nowhere to go to find a suitable job.”
It wasn’t a very difficult request, but Ballon was puzzled.
It was because it felt bizarre that a Lord was taking care of the affairs of slaves.
Was this the original inclination of the Seventh Lord, or did it mean something else?
He couldn’t guess, but he didn’t dare question it.
“Leave it to me. I will thoroughly guarantee their safety.”
“Yeah, that’s the end of the business. Then I’ll leave.”
Then the Seventh Lord immediately turned away, leaving the slaves behind.
An escort knight and a vampire followed him.
Ballon and Begos looked at each other in embarrassment because of the Lord’s sudden appearance and sudden departure.
“It was an honor of a lifetime to see the Seventh Lord!”
The two did not straighten their backs until the Lord and they could no longer see his entourage.
On the inside, they were very relieved.
Just thinking about how terrifying it would be if they had been held responsible for anything related to the auction.
Of course, this was the Third Lord’s territory, and it was entirely the mayor’s authority to manage this city of Domihawk. But still.
“…I suddenly feel 10 years older.”
Begos muttered with a face like he was exhausted just as he said.
Ballon nodded and agreed.
“Why the hell did the Seventh Lord come to the city of Domihawk…?”
“How can we guess the thoughts of the great people? Think of it as fortunate that it passed like this safely.”
Ballon sighed as he looked at the slaves left by the Seventh Lord.
“So, the person in the auction house Sir Begos was talking about is the Seventh Lord, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So what about Valkilov now?”
“What are you asking about something obvious? It’s completely over. If you have any connection with them, cut it off as soon as possible. Huh… I’ll have to go back to the castle in a hurry, too. What kind of lightning bolt is this?”
***
The slaves’ personal problems were handled simply and reliably using the mayor.
The reason for the massacre at the auction house was that Valkilov attacked first, not because I was going to enforce some kind of justice.
We immediately returned to the inn.
Rudica was waiting patiently in the inn’s room with Baros.
Rudica’s eyes widened when she saw her sister.
“Sister!”
“...Rudica!”
The two immediately ran to each other and hugged each other.
Maybe she didn’t completely trust me, and she, who was still on the verge of breaking point, burst into tears as soon as she saw her sister and hugged her in her arms.
I looked at them and asked Baros.
“Did nothing happen?”
“Yes.”
After the sisters’ reunion was over, she thanked me with a face that was completely dispelled by doubts.
“Thank you so much for helping us.”
The older sister’s name was Rubica.
I told the two sisters to sit down. It was so we could talk about the Elrod Forest.
Rudica had already heard the story, but her older sister, Rubica, did not know about it yet.
Rubica listened to what I was saying while clasping her sister in one of her arms.
“Elrod… forest?”
After listening to all the stories, Rubica, who seemed to have a vigilant personality, showed a slightly uneasy look as expected.
“It’s the home of another tribe, and we don’t know if they’ll welcome us….”
They were sisters who lost their hometown because they were driven out by their own people from where they originally lived.
If I asked them to visit another vampire tribe, the other’s reaction was just normal.
There were many reasons vampires had a bad image in this world.
Adults could suppress their vampire instincts, but not all adults suppress their desire for blood.
It was just like humans. Adults could control their desires better than children, but where in the world were there only such great adults?
Especially the Sixth Lord, the Tyrant, he’s the best example of a bad adult vampire.
When such people gather to form a tribe, they literally became a swarm of who hunted other races.
The tribe that had invaded the land of the two sisters probably also belonged to that kind.
“Don’t worry about that part.”
I said in a confident voice to wash away their anxiety.
“The vampire tribe living in Elrod Forest is a very gentle tribe. Humans like me will be rejected by them, but if they are of the same kind, they will accept it.”
Of course, I had never seen them in person.
Still, the reason I could be so sure was because I had played the game.
When the episodes related to Elrod Forest in the game story progressed, vampires who went to the Elrod Forest for reasons similar to these sisters appeared.
The tribe from Elrod Forest embraced all of them and lived peacefully amongst themselves.
Except for one ‘problem’.
And by solving that problem, there’s a chance that I would get the blood magic I needed so much.
Rubica said nothing as if she was in trouble for a moment, then asked me.
“But you… no, he….”
“It’s Ron.”
“Yes, is Ron friendly with the vampire tribe that lives in the Elrod Forest? Hearing the story, it seems like you know them well.”
These two probably now thought that I was trying to introduce them to the tribe at Elrod Forest out of pure goodwill, but it was the opposite.
I was going to use these sisters to connect with the vampires there.
I nodded, feeling a bit of a prick in my conscience.
“I met a vampire from there. That’s why I know about Elrod Forest.”
Anyway, I have to take them to Elrod Forest, so it was important to reassure them first.
Rubica, who looked like she in agony again, nodded as if she had decided.
“Okay. We’ll go to Elrod Forest as Ron said. Thank you for being so kind to us.”
“Good decision.”
The persuasion was over.
Now it was time to head to Elrod Forest to get [Blood Art].
