Elmaile (2)
Why did it have to be during my term of office…!!
Karseron's face crumpled into a miserable scowl the moment he heard that the vampire's seal had been broken. Only moments earlier his heart had been brimming with excitement and delight; now nothing remained but raw anxiety.
So the contents of those old tomes were true after all…
A full thousand years had passed since the first Hero—known only by the surname Belia—had sealed the vampire away with his companions. That tale, buried in dust-choked ancient volumes, had long since been reduced to little more than a fairy story used to quiet crying children.
Whether the legend of the vampire was pure truth or embroidered fiction, no one could have predicted that a seal which had held for a millennium in the deepest reaches of the labyrinth would shatter so suddenly.
Damn it…
According to the old records, the catastrophe-class monster known as the Progenitor Vampire wielded ancient magics as casually as breathing and commanded an uncountable legion of skeletons. Even the Hero who had ended the great war against the demonkin, the holy knights of the Holy Empire Serion, and the shamans of the now-vanished nation of Tenma had joined forces and still only managed to seal the creature when they themselves stood on the brink of death.
…And hundreds of thousands had perished in the process.
So why the hell did that monster have to wake up now…!
Time may have exaggerated the stories, but the fact that an ancient horror which had single-handedly slaughtered hundreds of thousands had awakened right next to the territory he ruled was anything but welcome.
"Ah…"
"Ka-Karseron!"
Faced with a national catastrophe-level crisis the very moment he inherited the lordship, Karseron staggered. He could have handled a war against the demonkin; facing a monster out of legend was something for which he had no frame of reference at all.
"S-Secretary, b-bring some tea."
"At once, my lord."
In an effort to calm his racing heart he ordered his secretary to prepare a warm pot. Moments later the neatly dressed aide returned with three steaming cups.
"R-Right. First… first let's talk this through."
Whether they were forming a plan or simply verifying the truth, a conversation with Derin—who had actually faced the vampire—was essential. Karseron gestured for her to take a seat and make herself comfortable.
"Okay…"
Derin sat beside Karseron, across from the elderly gentleman the Prime Minister had sent. The young lord of Elmaile lifted his teacup with a heavy sigh.
"Haa…. By the way, what about Alex and Nico? Why are you the one who came?"
Normally the results of a dungeon raid were reported directly to the lord or guild master by the raid leader or vice-leader. Derin, however, had never held even a mid-level officer's post in Red Moon, let alone the leadership. If she was the one delivering the report, there had to be a special reason.
"That's…"
Derin's expression darkened. Her voice emerged as bleak and lightless as a black shadow.
"Everyone… except me… is dead…"
"…What?"
"The leader, the vice-leader, the officers—all of them. Killed by that vampire."
"Th-They were wiped out? Red Moon?"
"Yeah…"
Karseron's face hardened in an instant. The news that Red Moon—hailed as the strongest dungeon-raiding party in history—had been annihilated was nothing short of staggering.
"All of them, right in front of me, couldn't do a thing…"
…Derin's hand trembled as she reached for the teacup the secretary had set down. As if the scene were still vivid before her eyes, the color drained from her face once more until it was deathly pale.
"It hadn't even been a full minute since the seal broke, and with one swing of its hand everyone just… d-died…"
"…"
"Alex and Nico… they saved me and… took my place against that v-vampire…"
"…I understand. Just calm down, Derin."
Karseron soothed his childhood friend as she slipped toward panic. Only after forcing her shaking hands to lift the warm tea and swallow a mouthful did Derin manage to steady her breathing.
Worse than I imagined.
Karseron furrowed his brow. Further investigation would be indispensable, but if Derin's account was true, the power of the Progenitor Vampire was nothing to laugh off.
The Dungeon of Immortality was thick with mana and home to numerous high-risk monsters. Only proven raid parties ever received guild clearance to enter it, and Red Moon was only the third party in history to earn that permit—the strongest currently active. Composed entirely of veteran adventurers who had cleared hundreds of magic realms, they had apparently reached the lowest floor… only to be wiped out completely.
By a single vampire.
This is serious.
Karseron's expression grew steadily darker.
"Hmm. Incidentally, young lady adventurer."
"Y-Yes…?"
…The elderly gentleman who had been quietly observing Karseron and Derin finally interjected. Adjusting his glasses, he addressed Derin.
"Why was that vampire suddenly released? According to the ancient texts, the seal should have held without issue for a thousand years."
"Th-That's…"
The gentleman asked the reason the seal had broken. Derin could not answer easily and lowered her head.
Wh-What do I do?
…Because the reason the vampire's seal had broken was none other than herself. It had all happened because Derin could not restrain her scholarly curiosity about the ancient holy magic and eastern shamanic arts that had bound the vampire.
Who could have known that just pouring in a little mana would cause this!
There was an unfair side to it as well. Who could have guessed that ancient eastern shamanism would lose its power from a mere trickle of mana? Or that the seal would completely unravel just because a single talisman fell off?
"…A n-new recruit made a mistake and peeled off the talisman."
But Derin lied. No matter how unfair it felt, if she admitted she had caused an incident large enough to be written into the history books, she would face endless public condemnation. She had no confidence she could endure that criticism.
"That idiot! If you're a rookie you should just stay still!"
Karseron slammed the desk in anger at her words. The elderly gentleman, by contrast, remained perfectly composed.
"…Well, after hearing the young mage's account, it seems the claim that the vampire has been released is not entirely a lie."
He brought his teacup to his lips.
"If, as the young lady says, the vampire has been freed and harbors hostility toward humans, then it will surely come to free itself fully by heading for the nearest city—this very place, Elmaile."
"…"
Karseron's face darkened further at the gentleman's words. A legendary vampire that had felled an S-rank raid party in a single blow—could Elmaile's forces possibly hold it back?
"…Isn't there some way?"
"Hmm. Hard to say."
The elderly gentleman stroked his beard at the young lord's question.
"At present, it seems only the Hero, Belia Grandius, would be capable of facing that vampire."
"The Hero…!"
Hope flickered in Karseron's eyes at the gentleman's words. Yes—if they had the Hero, the wing of hope and champion of humanity, capturing a legendary vampire would be no great difficulty.
Karseron cried out in a voice thick with excitement.
"Th-Then we should inform the Hero at once and request support—"
"Impossible."
"…Excuse me?"
The elderly gentleman cut him off mid-sentence. At that single firm word, the young lord's expression froze.
"His Lordship the Hero is currently fighting the demonkin on the northern front lines."
"The demonkin…"
"Even if we inform him of the situation, he will only be able to turn his attention here once the battle before him is concluded. That will take a full month at the least."
"A whole month!"
A month was far too long. The vampire could invade as early as tomorrow—how were they supposed to wait a month? By then only corpses and ash would remain.
"…My, look at the time. I should take my leave."
Unlike Karseron, whose insides were burning with urgency, the elderly gentleman rose from his seat with unhurried grace and no trace of lingering attachment. Karseron desperately caught at the man who seemed ready to abandon him.
"P-Please wait! If you leave like this, what am I supposed to do?!"
If the Hero would take a full month to arrive, how were they meant to hold out until then? They had not even found a clear solution yet; he could not simply let the man go.
"…Why are you asking me that?"
Yet the elderly gentleman only looked coldly down at Karseron, who still held out a ridiculous, pleading hand. The eyes behind the glasses were utterly frigid.
"I am neither your strategist nor a resident of this place. I am merely the Prime Minister's messenger."
"What…?"
"This is your land, my lord. As master of the people of this territory, do not lean on others—find a wise solution yourself."
"…"
So that was it. In the end, he was just an outsider.
Sly old fox…
Karseron furrowed his brows. There was not a single falsehood in the gentleman's words, yet in Karseron's eyes the man looked like nothing more than a coward fleeing the moment an unexpected problem arose.
…The elderly gentleman, still perfectly at ease, collected his hat and cane and headed for the reception-room door.
"Still, the breaking of the vampire's seal is not a matter that can be ignored. I shall consult with the Prime Minister and see that reinforcements are sent."
"…"
"We will also do everything possible to have the Hero here within a month. Endure until then."
"…"
"I take my leave."
The fine oak door opened and closed. Only Karseron, Derin, and the secretary remained in the reception room.
"Haa…"
Karseron covered his face with both hands and sank into thought. In the space of a mere thirty minutes his mind had been thrown into complete chaos.
What do I do? What do I do?
A month until the Hero arrived. Even if he obtained the Prime Minister's approval today and mustered reinforcements, it would take at least a week for them to reach Elmaile. A week was still an unnervingly long time.
If I only knew how much time we had…
If he could at least be certain when the vampire would arrive, he would have far more room to maneuver…
"Derin."
"Y-Yeah, what is it?"
Karseron lifted his head and asked his bedraggled childhood friend.
"…In your opinion, when do you think the vampire will reach us?"
"The vampire…"
At his question Derin groped through her final memories. The horrific recollections of tasting the terror of death gathered one by one in her mind.
"…"
…After every one of her comrades had died, Derin—who had been hiding in a corner—had sprinted for her life from the deepest floor. And the vampire had simply watched her go. With its power it could easily have pursued and killed her, yet it had not. Even though a thousand years of imprisonment must have left its rage at a peak, it had let her leave.
In other words, the vampire's physical condition was not good enough to chase her down. A monster sealed for a thousand years by those sacred chains could not possibly be in its right mind. On top of that, it had used two techniques beyond all ordinary measure while dealing with Red Moon; it would certainly need considerable rest.
Derin shared her thoughts with Karseron.
"…It didn't look like it was in normal condition."
"What?"
"The fact that it let me live and sent me back means the vampire clearly doesn't have the luxury for that. It needs to recover the power that was suppressed during a thousand years of sealing, so it probably won't be able to move for a while."
"It won't be able to move for a while…?"
Karseron's eyes went round. His mind began to race.
If it's recovering its strength, then right now is when it's at its weakest… isn't it?
Even at its weakest it had erased an S-rank raid party in a single blow; what it would be like once its original power fully returned was beyond imagination. The thought that this might be their only chance to stop the vampire's attack flashed through Karseron's head.
Yes. Attack is the best defense.
Rather than sit idly waiting for a fully recovered vampire to attack, it might be better to strike first into the Dungeon of Immortality. There would never again be a moment when the vampire was as weak as it was right after the seal broke. Instinct told him he must not let this opportunity slip.
Would he wait endlessly for reinforcements and fight a siege against a fully restored vampire, or gather troops and strike first while the creature was still half-dazed?
…Karseron made his decision in his heart.
…Nothing to lose. If the subjugation looks like it will fail, we can simply retreat and hole up in the city.
Moreover, if he managed to take down the vampire without relying on reinforcements or the Hero's power, he would go down in history as the man who had achieved the greatest merit in nearly a thousand years. That could even give him more influence than the current Prime Minister, Lilianel Greenfield. It meant he might rise to become the foremost figure in the kingdom.
Yes—this was not merely a crisis. In a way, it was an "opportunity" bestowed upon him by his late father in heaven.
Having resolved to kill the vampire before the reinforcements arrived, Karseron suddenly felt pressed for time. He immediately shouted toward his secretary.
"…Submit a commission request to the Adventurers' Guild at once."
"A c-commission request?"
"Yes. Target: every A- and S-rank adventurer currently staying in Elmaile. Reward: twenty gold coins per person. Ah, and send an employment contract for the same amount to the mercenary guild Stormhound as well."
He ordered the hiring of mercenaries from Stormhound—more specialized in combat than ordinary adventurers. The opponent was the legendary vampire; they needed to bring as much fighting strength as possible.
"T-Twenty gold coins?!"
The secretary's mouth fell open the moment he heard the reward amount. Twenty gold coins was enough to buy three of the grand mansions nobles lived in, a sum an ordinary person would never see in a lifetime of work.
Hastily jotting everything Karseron had said into a file, the secretary asked,
"Then what should the content of the commission be…"
"The content of the commission…"
Karseron considered the secretary's words for a moment. But before long, a smile thick with desire split his previously expressionless face from ear to ear. The anxiety that had filled his heart only moments earlier had already been replaced by anticipation and excitement once more.
Karseron spoke to his secretary.
"…The commission is the subjugation of the Progenitor Vampire."