The Safest Place on the Continent

Tae-hyun immediately noticed the old vampire trying to slip away. "Grab him!"

Cain and Choi Sang-yun rushed forward and grabbed the vampire's shoulders to prevent him from pulling the jar away.

"It's Archisus! Archisus! Save the vampire!"

"Gag him too!"

"Mmph, mmph, mmph!"

"Draw quickly!"

"Mmph! Mmmph!"

The old vampire shed thick tears, pleading desperately with his eyes.

Young vampire! If you are a vampire too, do not associate with evil spawns like Archisus! Draw fairly!

However, to Evangeline, who had lost a fortune to him, the old vampire's silent pleas were nothing but nonsense.

"I'll draw well!"

"Mmmph!"

"It's coming! It's coming out!"

Evangeline excitedly threw silver at the old vampire and began drawing. The old vampire struggled, but Cain and Choi Sang-yun held him in a vice grip.

"Hey. By the way, how does this vampire know about Archisus?"

"Is it because his reputation spread across the continent?"

"Isn't it just because he's lived a long time? Ah, perfect." Tae-hyun clapped his fist into his palm. An old vampire would surely know a lot!

"Do you know the Salavian Church?"

The old vampire avoided his gaze and remained silent. Having lived a long life, he was experienced and wise. He was someone who had read The Vampire's Guide to Survival passed down among his kind.

No other methods could be used here. Close your eyes and shut your mouth!

As the old vampire resisted so stubbornly, Tae-hyun changed his approach.

"Well, if you don't want to talk, should we draw some more jars? Evangeline, you ready?"

Clink!

Evangeline was fully prepared to pour her silver in front of the old vampire. She possessed a fierce determination to finally vent all her accumulated resentment!

"I-I'll talk! Please! Please stop!"

In the end, the old vampire opened his mouth. He simply could not bear to watch everything inside his jars get cleaned out.

"I have nothing to do with the Salavian Church! I'm just an innocent old vampire..."

"...What?"

"...I just did a little business..."

Tae-hyun found the old vampire strangely familiar. Ah! He looks just like Pelmas! His behavior was practically identical to Pelmas's!

"You have nothing to do with the Salavian Church?" Tae-hyun asked again, just to confirm.

"M-maybe... a little related..."

"..."

"Promise you won't kill me!" Vladi clung to Evangeline's ankle. The only one who seemed decent here was Evangeline, a fellow vampire!

Tae-hyun readily replied, "I won't kill you."

"Really?"

He said he won't 'kill' you? Evangeline caught the subtle nuance in his phrasing and felt suspicious, but Vladi, cornered, didn't seem to notice.

"I... did dip my toes into the Salavian Church once..."

"!!!"

He was actually from the Salavian Church! It wasn't just a little related. Noticing the party's expressions, Vladi quickly added, "That was hundreds of years ago! Hundreds of years ago! I joined and left immediately!"

"...Let's say that's true. Why did you leave?"

"They made me do too many chores..."

Even though it was a vampire cult, they ordered him around so much that even a vampire left! For Vladi, who had joined hoping to scavenge something, there was no reason to stay long.

"Hmm. If you joined and left immediately, you probably don't know much."

"!!"

To Vladi's ears, "You don't know much" sounded exactly like "Since you don't know much, I'll kill you!" If this kept up, he'd get Archisused!

"I know a lot!"

"...? Didn't you say you joined and left immediately?"

"...I might have made it to the rank of Bishop..."

"..."

"..."

"Can't we just beat him up?" Ji-soo raised her hand and asked. Tyrum Rangers usually start by sticking a few arrows in their targets!

Vladi shook his head frantically in resistance.

"Right. Bishop Vladi. Spill everything you know about the Salavian Church."

"If you don't spill and get caught, one arrow for every letter..." Ji-soo threatened.

"...??"

"???"

"Uh, doesn't everyone do this?" Ji-soo was flustered by the stares. Was this a method only Tyrum Rangers used?

"Most of the high-ranking members of the Salavian Church are vampires."

"...Surely you didn't just offer that as information?"

"!?" Vladi was shocked. The high-ranking members being vampires was supposed to be a secret! Had it become common knowledge nowadays?

"N-no. That was a secret hundreds of years ago..."

"Anything else?"

"Uh... uh..."

It had been so long since he left that he probably had very little useful information.

"There's a weakness to the beasts the Church controls..."

"Those beasts are all dead."

"...Th-there's a secret to the magic the Archbishop uses..."

"The Archbishop is dead too."

"?!?!?!"

Vladi was horrified. What on earth happened to the Salavian Church?! Had they been Archisused?

"...Just kill me..." Vladi chose to give up quickly. Was this the end! If there was one thing he wished for, it was a clean death, not being Archisused!

"Don't give up, Vladi!"

"That's right! Try to remember!"

Tae-hyun's group cheered him on. The cheering was even more terrifying, making Vladi suffer. Just kill me already!

Meanwhile, Tae-hyun reflected on what Vladi had said and realized something.

"If you know the secret to the Archbishop's magic, weren't you close?"

"Not... close, just occasionally drinking blood together?"

"How close is that?"

"Very close," Evangeline answered immediately.

Tae-hyun pointed a blade at Vladi's neck. Putting a blade to the neck always improved memory!

"Since you were that close, don't you know where the Archbishop hid his treasure? Huh?"

"Th-the Archbishop kept all the treasure for himself, so I didn't get any... Actually, I stole a few, but they were all in that jar!"

The few things he managed to steal had already been drawn by Tae-hyun's party!

Wait, then was Count Knema's sword originally stolen by the Salavian Archbishop?

Knema Island seemed to have gone to ruin with vampires fighting each other... True to their nature as an evil god's cult, they seemed to have caused fights everywhere.

Shut up.

"With your personality, you wouldn't have just watched the Archbishop take it all for himself. Didn't you tail him? Huh?"

"I did tail him, but I gave up..."

"...?"

"Why?"

"Because the Archbishop hid it in a place where it's absolutely impossible to steal."

Tae-hyun tensed up at Vladi's words. Where on earth did he hide it? Another dragon's lair? The deep depths of a special dungeon only vampires could enter?

"Where is it?"

"The Erance Kingdom Bank."

"..."

"..."

The group was speechless at the unexpected location. Ah... right. When it comes to storing something valuable, a bank is indeed the best!

Hearing the location, Lee Da-bi said in a worried voice, "Tae-hyun, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if it's really stored in the Erance Kingdom Bank, we have a big problem."

The Erance Kingdom Bank! It was a place where ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠players could deposit gold to earn a bit of interest, and one of the safe storage locations where players with heavy bags could safely leave their items. Most of all, it was directly managed by the Erance Royal Family!

"Ah...!"

Tae-hyun realized. If the Archbishop deposited the treasure under his own name, Tae-hyun couldn't just go and claim it. If it were almost any other place, he would have broken in, cleared the dungeon, and stolen it, but this was a bank! First of all, whether it was even possible was a question, and even if he did, he would become mortal enemies with the Erance Royal Family.

Tae-hyun already had plenty of enemies. If he made the Erance Kingdom an enemy too?

I'll truly become a public enemy of the continent.

Except for distant or small kingdoms like the Espa Kingdom or the Salz Kingdom, he would achieve the feat of becoming enemies with all neighboring kingdoms! Anyone else wouldn't be able to do it even if they tried.

"What do we do?"

"...What about going and stealing it?"

"Impossible. If that were possible, rumors would have spread already."

If one could break into the Erance Kingdom Bank and steal something, they might be able to max out their Stealth and Thievery skills. Even top-ranked thieves eyed the place but ultimately gave up!

"...How about going and talking to them?"

"???"

Tae-hyun was puzzled by Lee Da-bi's suggestion. Talk to them? How?

"Go in and threaten them?" Hands up! Don't move! Hand over the treasure and I'll spare your lives!

"...No, not like that. Tae-hyun, your Eloquence skill is high, and you hold a royal title. If you go and explain the situation..."

"...That sounds plausible."

Normally, such a thing wouldn't work at all, but Tae-hyun's case was different. Thanks to his massive reputation across the continent, even the King of Erance wanted to meet him. Furthermore, he was the King of Atali himself. If he went and said, "That Archbishop fellow was a very bad guy who stole the Atali Royal Family's treasure, so please return it~" he might actually get permission.

At least, it was a much better method than going in to rob or steal!

"...Then, are you letting me go now?" Vladi asked, subtly switching to polite speech. Seeing that the conversation was going well, surely he could leave?

"No. It looks like you'll be quite useful."

"N-no. I'm old and sick, I won't be of any help."

"No, I know someone who gives off a very similar impression to you, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he turned out to be surprisingly useful."

If the Archisus Church had Pelmas, the Salavian Church had Vladi! Moreover, looking at his acting and scamming skills, he was a step above Pelmas. He had to keep him around and use him! Since the quest in the Blood Archipelago wasn't over yet, he couldn't let go of such a useful fellow.

"It will be extremely dangerous if they find out you're not a vampire."

"Yeah, I know that."

"It will also be dangerous ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in its own way if they find out you're from the Archisus Church."

"..."

Tae-hyun's group wore complex expressions.

"I heard even vampires can believe in the Archisus Church..."

"No, what crazy vampire would believe in Archisus?"

"Do you want to die?"

Tae-hyun got worked up and grabbed Vladi by the collar. Even if he badmouthed Archisus, it angered him when others did!

"N-no... Archisus is a bit... There might be some vampires who believe in him, but normally they wouldn't."

"Why? When you guys even believe in Salabian?"

Honestly, compared to the Salavian Church, the Archisus Church was much more sensible and functioned normally!

"He's scary."

"..."

Tae-hyun was speechless. Yes, even vampires could find Archisus scary!

"With the Salavian Church, there's no worry of being scammed when you join, or at least you expect to scavenge something even if you leave. But the Archisus Church is a bit..."

"I get it, so stop talking."

"When I was young, other vampires and I would talk about 'which church has the most to scavenge,' and even then, Archisus was never mentioned once."

"I get it, so shut up."

"...Yes, sir."