<b><i>The Land of Vampires, Beltane (4)</i></b>


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    Though filled with an ominous aura, it clearly isn’t the ‘ck magic’ engraved with [Dark Covenant].


    Despite the unusual appearance and red gleam in his eyes, he’s neither a vampire nor a Death Knight.


    The man was definitely ‘human’.


    It’s just that his exterior was so peculiar that it was difficult to consider him human at first nce.


    -No answer, eh? Then I’ll have to ask directly.


    A voice that sounds as if it’s been scratched is heard through [Language].


    And as he opens the old closet, the man slowly walks out.The fact that he called me ‘Kelbilid’.


    And this familiar warrior’s aura I’ve experienced several times.


    There was a high probability that this man was a member of the ‘Termen tribe’.


    In other words, it means we’vee to the right ce.


    “……”


    But perhaps due to that unpleasant impression and unfriendly attitude?


    I notice Ripley beside me suddenly drawing up magical power.


    In fact, throughout our journey together, Ripley hadpletely entrustedbat situations to me.


    After all, my own strength is formidable, and our contract rtionship isn’t a full master-servant arrangement like other contractors.


    But now, she’s showing a slightly different side.


    She’s exuding magical power as if ready to kill the man before us at any moment.


    ‘…Why is she like this?’


    Instead, I inwardly swallowed my tension.


    Ripley is a mage beyond an S-grade Holder.


    With one spell from her, this entire castle could be blown away.


    The spell was prepared in an instant.


    The attribute is fire.


    Within 3 seconds of the magical power gathering, an intense heat engulfs the surroundings.


    At a nce, it’s such a powerful fire-attribute spell that one might believe Kang Juyeon had cast it.


    It disyed the majesty of a level 20 [Elemental User] rune.


    “Ripley, what’s wrong?”


    “I don’t like him.”


    Here, ‘him’ obviously refers to that gloomy Termen guy.


    At her gesture, even the Termen guy seemed to flinch for a moment.


    …It seems he also realizes this is no ordinary magic.


    “In what way?”


    “Everything from how he looks to how he acts. That bastard, he’s one of those damn Termen offspring, right?”


    “……”


    I kept my mouth shut at the harsh curse that spilled from Ripley’s lips.


    As I felt when interrogating Caroline earlier, Ripley particrly despised the Termen warriors.


    From what I hear, even when she was in <The Room of Deserter>, Ruden’s domain, she supposedly turned every Death Knight Termen warrior she saw into dust… I couldn’t understand why she hated them so much.


    Perhaps it’s rted to the reason why Ripley called me to conquer <Beltane>, I thought.


    “And one more thing. You’re Do Jae-hyun, so why is he calling you Kelbilid?”


    “…Good point.”


    As expected of the noble vampire countess.


    She seems to have understood the Termennguage even without the [Language] rune.


    Moreover, every word is right on point.


    Kelbilid and I just happened to use the same sword, but these damn Termen guys keep calling me Kelbilid every time they see me.


    Thanks to that, I always had to fight with all my might when facing Termen Death Knights.


    Ripley, still holding onto the magical power she had drawn up, turned her head and asked me.


    “Shall I kill him? Master.”


    “……”


    …You finally said it, huh?


    Where on earth did you learn to say that?


    But I didn’t have time to answer.


    Suddenly, the Termen warrior who had been by the closet came right in front of us with heavy steps.


    Then, he spoke in a somewhat urgent voice.


    -I was mistaken. You’re just a human who wields Kelbilid’s sword. And Countess Ripley is here too. It’s a pleasure to meet you.


    Hearing that, I thought.


    This bastard…


    You’re scared of Ripley too, aren’t you?


    ***


    Ippotrantion


    * * *


    The man was different from the Termen guys who recklessly charged at us in <The Room of Deserter>.


    I heard that they had lost their reason after bing Death Knights and acted that way.


    That’s why they couldn’t distinguish between me and Kelbilid and attacked indiscriminately.


    ‘…But even you called me Kelbilid at first.’


    The man conveniently glossed over this contradiction.


    Anyway, after apromise tinged with a bit of force,


    We were able to sit face to face in Caroline’s room and have a conversation.


    The topic was naturally about Caroline’s rtionship with Termen, and the man’s identity.


    -Pleased to meet you. I am Ond, a high-ranking warrior of Termen.


    Says the Termen warrior Ond, thumping his shoulder with a thud.


    His gestures and tone exude great pride.


    Certainly, given his title of ‘high-ranking warrior’, he doesn’t seem to be an ordinary warrior.


    But Ripley frowned at his demeanor.


    Then she emits magical power again.


    “Shall I kill him? Mas…”


    -I’m Ond. It’s a pleasure to meet you.


    I can say with certainty that these guys are not warriors.


    What kind of warriors so easily bend the knee in the face of force?


    Clearing his throat a few times at my incredulous expression, Ond continued.


    -Ahem. Anyway, I’ve heard the whole story. To sum up, my contractor Baroness Caroline sided with the Ludenark School, acted as their pawn, and met with misfortune, is that right?


    After realizing we couldmunicate, I briefly exined our situation, and Ond grasped and summarized it in one go.


    Unlike his appearance, he’s quick-witted and sharp.


    But then I heard a familiar word from him.


    “Contractor?”


    -Ah, I misspoke. Technically, the contract has been terminated in the system, but the paperwork still remains, so I expressed it that way. To be precise, she would be my former contractor.


    “No, no. That’s not what I’m curious about. You were Baroness Caroline’s contractor?”


    “That’s probably right.”


    I turn my head at Ripley’s words.


    She seriously added an exnation to help me understand.


    “Do Jae-hyun, it’s simr to the contract you made with me. Vampires are ssified as summons, albeit special ones. So they can make contracts with humans or other races.”


    “Didn’t you have to offer your heart?”


    “That’s a metaphorical expression for sharing my symbol-“


    Ripley, who was answering my questions smoothly, suddenly closes her mouth.


    Her vampire symbol, the ‘seed’.


    It seems she almost carelessly talked about the ‘seed of doubt’ rted to the contract.


    …Though I already know all about it.


    “Anyway, Do Jae-hyun, just like you offered your heart, other vampires have their own ways of contracting. The Termen warrior Ond probably contracted with Baroness Caroline in that way.”


    Ond nodded at Ripley’s words.


    -That’s correct. Baroness Caroline proposed a contract with me in exchange for destruction.


    Contracting in exchange for destruction.


    The cheesy contract contents using symbols are all simr, huh.


    Ond thumped his shoulder again and continued.


    -It was a satisfactory contract for me. Unlike other Termen warriors who quickly settled in Beltane, I’m a bit old-fashioned, so I found a guardian vampire ratherte.


    Guardian vampire.


    Another unfamiliar term came up.


    “Help me out, speed wagon.”


    “Don’t call me by strange names.”


    “Sorry.”


    “A guardian vampire is exactly what it sounds like. Specifically, it refers to vampires who contract with Termen warriors and provide them with conveniences. You’ve heard that when the Termen tribe was destroyed, they scattered to Ludenark’s domain and Beltane, right?”


    “Yeah.”


    “Most of the Termen warriors who came to Beltane contracted with vampires. After all, they need some kind of backing to survive in thisnd of death.”


    -That’s right. As I mentioned, I waste in making this contractpared to other warriors, so I didn’t hesitate much to proceed with it. But then one day, dimensional movement began, and the system was applied to Beltane.


    Holder system and dimensional travel between worlds.


    Ond was talking about <Beltane> bing a dungeon.


    -And not long after that happened, Baroness Caroline attempted to escape the dungeon and left Beltane. I don’t know the exact reason, but in my opinion as a contractor, I think she probably went to find her father. That’s based onbining what Mr. Do Jae-hyun and Countess Ripley said.


    And then the decisive word came out.


    “Father?”


    -Yes. Baroness Caroline is a half-vampire born from a vampire and a Termen warrior. And her father, who was the chieftain warrior of Termen, Tashmad, went to Ludenark’s territory. Unlike us who settled in Beltane, Tashmad was a representative warrior who settled in Ludenark.


    Hearing up to that point, things started to make sense.


    So Baroness Caroline left <Beltane> to find her father and went to the <Room of Deserter>, where she met her father and the Ludenark school.


    And then, epting their proposal, she tried to carry out a terrorist attack at the New York arena.


    When Ripley first mentioned it, she said Caroline was expelled from <Beltane>, but that seems to have been incorrect information.


    Caroline didn’t get expelled from <Beltane>, she escaped on her own. Just like Ripley.


    Such a timeline roughly formed in my head.


    “So is Caroline the only vampire who escaped?”


    Most vampires who escaped from <Beltane> went to the <Room of Deserter>.


    I asked the question to confirm their additional forces.


    -That’s probably not the case. Countess Ripley standing right in front of you also escaped, and I heard that several vampires who are on friendly terms with Caroline also crossed over, but there probably won’t be any vampires above the rank of viscount.


    Through that answer.


    The main purpose of why I came all the way to Baroness Caroline’s domain in <Beltane> was achieved.


    That was to check how much vampire power the Ludenark school had.


    Since I learned about their new forces through Baroness Caroline, I needed to understand this more urately and specifically.


    ‘If they’re all at the baron level… It shouldn’t be too difficult.’


    It seems like it won’t be as difficult as I thought.


    I didn’t stop there and immediately asked about my second objective.


    “Ond. Then what’s the power level of the Termen warriors who went to Ludenark’s territory? I think most of them would have sided with Ludenark.”


    But this question seemed to make Ond ufortable as he frowned.


    -What? That’s difficult to answer. Even though I’m a Termen warrior contracted with vampires, how can I so easily give information about warriors who were once my kin…


    And then Ripley emits magical power.


    “You like fire attributes, right?”


    “I-I’ll tell you.”


    Indeed,rades were far, and magic was close.


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