Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Ways to Acquire New Prisoners (4)
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At that moment.
In an open clearing along the central passage of the Vampire Legion's 2nd Dungeon.
"Hmm, hmm, hum hum."
Chief Adjutant Akkamond sat cross-legged on something, fiddling with sheets of paper covered in human writing as he hummed a little tune.
His entire body was drenched in human blood, but he savored it leisurely, like cool water splashed on a sweltering day.
Bodies littered the area around him.
Adventurers mixed with regular soldiers, all geared up as if searching for something, each bearing deep gashes from sharp blades.
"Ugh, ugh..."
The few survivors could only tremble in fear and terror, not daring to open their mouths.
Those who did had died on the spot.
The living ones were those who hadn't shouted at Chief Adjutant Akkamond, "I'd rather die than beg a demon for my life!"
Whoooosh.
A chilling draft seeped through like wind slipping past a window frame.
A knight cloaked in pitch-black darkness rose from Chief Adjutant Akkamond's shadow.
"Back already, Sylphy?"
A headless Dullahan.
Yet it bowed at the waist, showing proper respect to Chief Adjutant Akkamond.
"What was his expression when he received it?"
"He had no idea she was a noble?"
"Hmm."
Chief Adjutant Akkamond stroked his mustache with his hand.
"Was he the type to train commoners like that, or did he not care if she was a noble?"
"He doesn't seem to care much about status, but among humans, there are those who tremble at the sight of nobles or royals."
"Shh."
Chief Adjutant Akkamond winked with one eye as he rose to his feet.
"If we're going to make 'royal blood' anyway, wouldn't it be better to go with someone of truly noble blood, as the humans say?"
"But what a shame. Tsk... If the princess were a virgin, would the Trainer deflower her? Should I hope he won't touch the royal bloodline? Well, it doesn't matter if she's not a virgin."
Chief Adjutant Akkamond pouted his lips.
"Huh? Isn't it obvious? Separate from the Trainer, this is my personal greed."
Chief Adjutant Akkamond smacked his lips and grinned wickedly.
"A legion of vampire maids serving the Master. Pure and untouched, guarding and protecting her. Doesn't that sound enticing?"
"It's the recreation of the Trainer's miracle anyway, the ancient vamp— ahem."
Excitedly rambling on, Chief Adjutant Akkamond suddenly cleared his throat and changed his expression.
"Me and my mouth. The older I get, the more I slip up. Forgive me, Sylphy."
"Good to hear. By the way... the Trainer might not like this."
Chief Adjutant Akkamond spread his arms wide, surveying the corpses and prisoners sprawled on the ground.
"There are no virgins."
"No, there aren't even any women."
"What is it?"
"......."
Chief Adjutant Akkamond openly scowled.
"You want me to stick filthy male bastards under the Vampire Princess's command?"
"He's human. Vampires are different."
"And above all, how could a male Trainer train another male?"
Chief Adjutant Akkamond tilted his head as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"If he were that kind of guy, I'd go to the Vampire Princess right now and demand his head."
For some reason, my neck prickled—like someone in the Vampire Legion was plotting to kill me—but I focused on the present.
"Eris Albathea. Age 21. The only child of the Albathea Count family, with no sons."
"......."
"The Albathea Count family wields considerable influence in the kingdom. But as an only daughter with no brothers, you must have had suitors lining up since childhood. So why haven't you married yet?"
"......Knight."
Eris answered softly.
"Because I wanted to become a knight."
Eris was a knight.
A knight with considerable talent among her peers.
"A talented knight, no doubt. I've heard the rumors. That you're aiming for a gold badge."
This was one of the random bits of info from the porters.
Was it Jake? Or someone else?
One of them had sneered at me, "That one's going to be a gold-rank adventurer, so don't even think about looking at her, you lowly scum." That's where the memory came from.
I hadn't paid it much mind then, but now it mattered.
"The moment those shackles come off, you'd overpower me as a gold-badge adventurer... no, something even greater."
"......."
Eris was strong.
"And even if you killed me, the demons from our legion who subdued you all would take you down again."
Still, she'd been captured because the Vampire Legion was overwhelmingly powerful.
The investigation squad, assembled with full force after learning "Eris has fallen" the moment Chief Adjutant Akkamond stepped in, had been wiped out in an instant.
"...You'll die though?"
"If my death holds that much value, so be it."
Death hurts, but it doesn't scare me.
Truth be told, it does a little, but even without a Regression Scroll, I'd have stayed true to the moment.
'I'd probably have fought even more desperately.'
Regression was just a save point.
What mattered in the end was how I moved.
"So, let's take it easy and talk about this 'deal'."
"......."
"Eris, you find the deal somewhat agreeable, right? That's why you're listening and responding so obediently."
"......."
I was still holding Eris's hand.
But from the moment I proposed the deal, she hadn't tried to pull away.
"...What do you mean by not touching the Albathea Count's territory?"
Perfect.
Eris had recited the deal's terms.
"Nothing major. Just that the Vampire Legion and the Albathea Count's territory form some mutual pact."
A secret agreement.
"Do you think the Count would make a pact with demons?"
"What if she doesn't? Her daughter dies or becomes a demon's lifelong plaything?"
"......."
"Don't forget. I can do whatever I want with you."
Honestly, Eris was a huge loss.
But for a "Trainer," Dalia held more value.
Save point?
Just ask for any virgin, creampie her three times, done.
"Still, I'm doing this because I hate seeing you die, so I'd appreciate it if you'd cooperate nicely."
"...Are you serious?"
"Dead serious."
She was a woman I'd deflowered and creampied three whole times.
Her one flaw was passing out easily from climax, but that would fade with experience once she got used to cock.
It wasn't her fault she fainted from not handling my dick as a virgin.
"Listen closely. Publicly, the Albathea Count family is being blackmailed by the Demon King's Vampire Legion."
"Blackmailed..."
"Her daughter is a hostage. Naturally, the Count will send a rescue team. Right?"
"......."
Eris nodded heavily.
"Among them will be knights from your family you've known since childhood, and hastily hired mercenaries. But can they really defeat our legion?"
Crunch.
"Doubtful, right? If it were possible, humanity would have already conquered not just the Vampire Legion, but the Demon King's castle itself."
Cold, hard reality.
A single count's family couldn't beat a Demon King legion.
"They'll keep sending rescue teams, draining the family's finances. The Count will stagger under compensation payments to the fallen rescuers' families. Cornered, she might even come to the dungeon herself."
"The Count...!!"
"Wasn't she an excellent knight in her youth?"
Info I'd heard from Dalia.
"Your talent as a knight must come from her. They say she was a powerhouse rivaling diamond-rank adventurers in her prime."
Even retired after having a child, Albathea Countess was dangerous.
"She couldn't beat the legion, but she'd inflict enough damage to take out one of our top fingers. We don't want that."
"So..."
"It's a deal disguised as a hostage blackmail."
I pointed back and forth between Eris and myself.
"Either way, you're a prisoner. As good as dead, but word of your survival will reach Gilbert Baron's territory now."
"......."
"If you live and work for our legion here, we won't touch the Albathea Count's territory."
That was the core of the secret pact.
"You'll work here like me. Your role is simple: guard the training room and assist me."
Eris might not look it unarmed, but with a sword, she pulled her weight.
"The world will see you as a toy captured by the Demon King Army. Worried he might imagine you getting gangbanged by demons? Can't be helped. Once defeated and captured, that's how the world thinks."
"......."
"But isn't it still a net gain? Especially since your territory will be safe from the Vampire Legion standoff."
The reason I was going this far.
Not yet.
'Female corruption is on track, but not vampire-level yet.'
Unlike Dalia's faith-shattering ordeal, Eris wasn't ready for the altar of depravity.
'Gotta dye her slowly.'
Make her nod at the idea of turning vampire for my cock, or gradually lose her humanity through the pact's benefits and peace between forces.
The moment she sees Demon King Army not as monsters to slaughter, but as negotiable, personable demons.
'That's when she falls as a vampire.'
Receiving humane treatment within the Demon King Army would let corruption's shadow seep into her entire being.
That tightrope walk was my job.
"Why."
Eris spoke up.
"Why propose this deal?"
"Well."
"Do you think... my mother, the Countess, will agree so easily?"
"......."
If there was a reason to secretly pact with the Albathea Count's territory.
"Think whatever you like."
It wasn't just for that future vampire mother-daughter feast.
Definitely not.
"......To Mother."
Eris quietly opened her mouth.
"I'll write a letter."
Bingo.
"Good. Time for a reward."
"Reward... what—"
"Isn't it obvious?"
In the training room, rewards came in one flavor.
"Your eyes have been drifting downward since I laid out the deal."
From the moment I explained the terms, Eris's gaze had kept flicking to my erect cock.