As Euphemia and I walked through the alleys, we continued to encounter monsters that were either lost or had been alerted to our presence.


    Most of them were weak, as the alleyways of Estelle Academy, though vast, were notrge enough for mid and high-ranking monsters to efficiently navigate.


    Euphemia''s suspicious gaze toward me seemed to soften a little. I wasn''t entirely sure what had aroused her suspicions, but the overall situation might have seemed overly convenient.


    Soon enough, we stumbled upon the bishop.


    What was surprising, however, were the three kids behind him.


    Sasha was tasked with baiting him near me, but I hadn''t anticipated children being involved. Judging from their appearance, they were likely slum kids.


    The bishop appeared to be protecting them from Sasha. Did he randomly encounter these kids, or did he deliberatelye to their aid?


    Amidst the growing tension, Euphemia, positioned right behind me, shivered while casting uneasy nces at Sasha. It was likely her first encounter with a vampire.


    Despite Sasha''s outwardly appealing appearance, the oppressive and harmful aura emanating from her vampiric body was far from attractive. The weaker one is, the more they feel like prey standing before a predator.


    The blood spears hovering behind Sasha emitted a dense mana. Most of it probably came from the blood rain, a magical ability of the blood wyvern.


    Each raindrop contained its mana. Sasha, as a vampire, instinctively manipted the blood, though for the bishop and Euphemia, it likely appeared as if she had ess to an almost unlimited mana pool.


    "Let''s get out of here," Euphemia whispered urgently, her eyes darting toward the vampire in the alley.


    Under normal circumstances, I would have agreed without hesitation. After all, confronting a vampire in this bloody rain seemed like a foolish and perilous endeavor. No sense of morality or self-kindness wouldpel anyone to assist the bishop and the kids in such a situation. However, duty bound me to ensure the bishop''s survival, and abandoning them would render our carefully orchestrated n futile.


    "Euphemia, you go ahead first. I''ll follow shortly," I responded, gripping the handle of my sword.


    "What? Are you crazy? Can''t you see that thing?" she eximed in a hushed tone, gesturing towards the vampire.


    I know she was trying to be quiet but her voice was still a bit too loud.


    "That''s a vampire! A creature straight from legends, a creature of the night capable of threatening entire cities! Stop being stupid and let''s get out of here"


    "You have no obligation to save that old man and those kids. Let''s leave before things get really bad for us"


    "You''re not a hero or a knight! We''ve been lucky so far with mostly low-ranking monsters. We can''t let our chances go to waste now."


    She grabbed my hand, attempting to pull me away from the unfolding scene. Even though we were observing from the sidelines, her loud words risked alerting the others.


    Haah…!


    Sighing, I gently freed my hand from her grip.


    "Go" I said firmly to Euphemia.


    "Why are you being stubbornly stupid right no—"


    Boom…!


    Her words were abruptly cut short as Sashaunched an attack toward the bishop.


    It seemed Sasha had held back, ensuring minimal damage to the bishop, especially with thest blood spear that he was able to deflect.


    "Did you see that? Now let''s get out of here...!" Euphemia urged after witnessing the destructive power of the blood spears Sasha had thrown.


    "I''m sorry, but I can''t," I responded.


    "Stop acting all heroic. You would die the moment that thing sees you."


    "Euphemia, do you know how much worth vampire blood has?"


    "Why are you asking me stupid questions? Of course, I know. Did you really think a genius alchemist like me wouldn''t know how good of a mana enhancer vampire bloo—wait, you''re not seriously...?"


    "Yeah."


    As vampire blood possesses a dark quality of pure mana It was quite effective for potion making and enhancements as a catalyst, though even with that I guess she still found this reasoning to be ridiculous.


    "Crazy bastard! Idiot! Dumbass! Stupid shit! Are you seriously just being stubborn right now just because you want some vampire blood? You would risk your life just for a few specks of blood?"


    Chuckling at her absurd reaction, I nodded. "You''re right. I''m not obligated to save these guys, but now that I''m already here, might as well, right? The vampire blood is just a bonus," I said to her with a smile, patting her head. ncing behind me and seeing therge blood spear Sasha had conjured, I figured it was time for my cue.


    "Besides, do you think I''d lose?"


    "Yes, 100%. I will even bet all the assets I have right now."


    I couldn''t help but chuckle at Euphemia''s confidence.


    ''What is this girl talking about? You don''t even have any assets that are truly yours. Everything you own is probably under your father''s and mother''s name''


    "Well, this is getting boring. I''ll make sure you get the best ending, at least," Sashamented.


    As I heard Sasha''sment, I tightened my grip on my sword. I focused my mana on my feet, feeling the blood inside me surge, and my eyesight became clearer as the mana circted within my body.


    Seeing the trajectory of where the blood spear was aimed, I made a dash for it, getting in front of the bishop.


    I then made a vertical sh, but the pressureing from the blood spear was stronger than expected.


    ng…!


    It was like I was sumo wrestling with an entire truck trying to push the other away, or as if I was hitting a solid piece of metal with an axe.


    It seemed Sasha noticed my distress and adjusted the blood spear''s strength.


    "Hah!"


    Cutting through the blood spear, I looked at Sasha and smiled a little.


    That was perfect.


    I nodded slightly.


    = Good job!"


    She smiled back with a wink on her right eye.


    = Thank you master!"


    Now let''s get this act going shall we, the hero has arrived.


    ….


    "Oh my…! Who is this handsome fellow?"


    "Is he one of your pdins, bishop? But looking at his uniform, he''s still a student, perhaps one of your prospective pdins?"


    "Although his muscles are hidden underneath that baggy clothes, I can tell just how chiseled he is."


    "You won''t mind if I take him, right, Mr. Bishop?" said Sasha, covering her mouth with her right hand and making a blushing face while looking at me, who had juste and interrupted the attack she had just given.


    ''Uhm, aren''t youplimenting me a bit too much, actress Sasha?''


    "Adrian Vulter Tellus?"mented the bishop.


    "Do you know me?" I asked.


    The bishop seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before answering, "Yes, after all, you are quite infamous," he said while looking at me with a troubled face.


    This was our first official meeting, and I couldn''t shake off the nervously weird feeling as I looked at him closely.


    It was as if I were a son-inw trying to prove something to his father-inw.


    Although Elena and I didn''t necessarily need his approval, considering he was technically Elena''s father, I couldn''t help but view him in that light.


    I wondered if my impression on him had lightened up now, given the unexpected circumstances we found ourselves in.


    "Is that so?" I casually replied to him. Since this was our first encounter, I couldn''t act as if I knew everything about him.


    Officially, Elena hadn''t told me much about him yet.


    I immediately handed him a high-grade healing potion.


    "Thank you," he said.


    "You''re wee."


    Suddenly, pressure descended upon us.


    "Don''t ignore me, boy!" Sasha eximed, creating multiple blood spears behind her. But this time, it wasn''t just spears; various shapes formed, ranging from spears to axes, swords, and arrows. Even the kids were frightened enough to ept their imminent demise, hugging each other in fear.


    Focusing my attention on Sasha, I asked, "Who are you, leech?"


    "…."


    "…..."


    Silence enveloped the atmosphere, and it grew colder.


    All eyes were fixed on me, widened in shock.


    "What did you just call me...?" Sasha questioned with a dangerous tone.


    "A leech?"


    Swoosh...!


    Dodging the blood arrow that aimed for my face, blood trickled down my cheek as I narrowly avoided it.


    ''Uhm, wasn''t that quite close?''


    "Leech….? A leech, you say? You dare…...pare me to those parasitic worms?" Sasha retorted with a scowl, her tone dripping with disdain. "Is your vision so blinded that you can''t see the personification of beauty right in front of your face?"


    "Well, aren''t you a parasite to begin with? You may look human, but isn''t your kind parasites to begin with? You can''t even thrive without humans in the first ce.... and…"


    Pfft….


    "Hahaha, what do you mean by the personification of beauty? And it''s right in front of me? Where exactly? All I see is a blood-craving worm, though. It''s even dressed in a maid outfit—how hrious! I guess worms these days will try to dress up however they can to try and save their pathetic faces, huh? It even talks all high and mighty; I guess once you put some clothes on a mindless blood sucker, it starts acting up. How embarrassing! It''s even standing upright; is it too embarrassed to crawl back on the ground? How hrious, hahaha!"


    "….."


    "Uhm, Adrian, I think that''s a bit too…"mented the bishop.


    Sasha''s crimson eyes lost their previous light, now filled with anger. The blood weapons on her side glowed more and more dark red as she said, "Fufu… you sure have a way with words, boy. I change my mind. Your face isn''t worth your life."


    [Authority: Eyes of the Wandering Crow: {Passive}]


    [Sasha: Is hurt by your words, wants to punish you a little]


    I gulped as I saw the mental state of Sasha. It seems I really hurt her feelings there; I don''t even think she''s adjusting the strength of her blood weapons now.


    "Can you run?" I asked the bishop.


    "…Yes."


    "Good… make sure when you see the signal go straight to the right, then make a left. Kids, grab onto him," I said to them. All the kids immediately huddled up in hisrge arms, and Bert seemed to be grabbing on behind his neck. I guess he was too embarrassed to be carried, though this young girl in my arms right now seemed quite excited.


    "You sealed your fate, boy… now die!!!"


    As the blood weapons hailed towards us, I threw a potion on the ground. Smoke exploded, and the warm and pungent smell of garlic invaded our nostrils. Although the smell was disgusting, Sasha might be having a harder time than us right now.


    "Run...!" I said as we made a right turn and a quick left.


    I saw the bewildered look of Euphemia just around the corner and I quickly grabbed her.


    "What was that?" she asked.


    "A garlic bomb? Anyways, we don''t have long; this blood rain will dissipate the smoke in no time."


    Hearing the angered screams and sneezes of a crying vampire behind them, everybody understood my words and continued running.


    ''Yup, when ites to vampires, no matter how high the rank is, a concentrated garlic bomb is always the key''


    ''I hope she doesn''t find out that there''s werewolf piss mixed in there...''


    Although it won''t really affect them that much, it was still an annoying type of weakness they had.


    And though highly resistant…


    Not even blood progenitors can save them from the snots; Sasha''s whole body must be facing all types of allergic reactions right now.


    ''She''ll probably understand by now why Schwi gave her this role instead''


    Dodging the blood weapons behind us, we made a run for it.