Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Meanwhile, in the West (3)
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Diana, at the center of the incident, greeted someone familiar, and the gazes of everyone present naturally turned to one spot.
To a tall man in a robe, slowly emerging from the crowd of murmuring onlookers who had gathered around.
And the men ransacking the shop were affected just the same.
The burly man who first spotted him approaching snorted roughly and strode forward.
"Who the hell are you? Looks like you know that old geezer, but we're just exercising our legitimate rights here..."
His already fierce face twisted even further as he growled threateningly.
But Heinz offered no reply, simply pulling back his robe's hood in silence.
Silky black hair spilled out like fine silk, revealing skin as pale as porcelain...
And within those sharp eyes gleamed ruby-red pupils that fixed silently on the man before him.
"...So... uh, what I mean is..."
An inexplicable pressure crashed over him in an instant, causing the burly man to falter mid-sentence and swallow hard without realizing it.
Heinz had merely revealed his presence to step forward, still concealing his aura with Existence Denial, but even that subtle gap in their levels was enough to overwhelm everyone there.
This wasn't a joke—he now possessed the power to slaughter the lot of them with a mere thought.
And amid that eerie atmosphere, the other men, who had been bustling about, began approaching one by one.
"What's going on? What happened... Huh, a noble?"
"Wh—? R-Really?"
At his comrade's words, the burly man finally grasped why he'd instinctively cowered and nodded awkwardly.
Heinz's refined aura screamed high nobility to anyone with eyes, and a closer look revealed his seemingly plain robe was crafted from the finest materials.
For lowly thugs like them, shrinking back was only natural.
"Ahem, uh... sir? Just to clear up any misunderstanding, we're operating with official permission from the authorities."
"We lent them money, but they didn't pay it back on time. Right."
"You can verify with the guards over there... Huh? Where'd they all go?"
Even without confirming his status, their survival instincts detected the dire situation and forced them into submission.
Murmur murmur—
Not just them—among the onlookers too, people began slipping away one after another.
No one wanted to risk getting splashed by the fallout from a powerful figure's whims.
"Hmmm."
In that atmosphere chilled like a bucket of cold water, Heinz eyed the thugs with icy gaze before slowly slipping a hand into his bosom.
And what emerged in his grasp...
Clink—!
A hefty money pouch thudded to the ground, scattering a deafening metallic jingle in all directions.
All eyes snapped to the pouch lying before the men.
"Put everything you're holding back where it belongs and get lost."
At those words, the nearest man cautiously scooped up the pouch, peered inside, and...
His eyes bulged as he gulped dryly without thinking.
The pouch, tossed so casually, brimmed with gold coins.
Far more than the amount they'd lent... even after tacking on their inflated interest several times over.
To fling around money like this without a care—the greed ignited in the eyes of his companions watching from behind.
They exchanged glances, snuck peeks at Heinz, and...
"Oh, thank you kindly, sir! Truth be told, we'd much rather take cash—saves us the hassle!"
"Y-Yeah, exactly! What're you idiots doing? Hurry up and put everything back!"
...promptly tucked tail and scrambled back to work.
His mere presence dominated the area without effort, paired with striking looks, lavish attire, and a pouch flung like mere alms.
For mere street rats, entertaining greed against such a foe could only end in disaster.
Crash! Clatter!
As Diana's family stared in stunned confusion at the abrupt reversal, the men roughly finished tidying up, flashed awkward grins, and slowly backed away.
"Well then, we'll be off, sir. We only came for the unpaid debt, after all. Right?"
"Y-Yeah~ We're no thieves! It's all legit repayment."
"Ahem—hey, old man? We'll cut the interest next time, so keep doing business with us, yeah?"
As if the commotion had never happened, they clutched the pouch and scurried into the back alley, faces lit with delight at their windfall.
But.
'Naturally, I have no intention of letting them go scot-free.'
Gazing at their retreating backs, Heinz tilted his chin slightly toward a rooftop on one building, then jerked it toward the direction they'd fled.
Swish—
And at that instant.
The black shadows that ruled the city began moving in the shadows.
He wasn't merciful enough to lavish such scum with money and call it a day, no matter how wealthy he was.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Th-Thank... thank you so much. Sniff!"
"Oh, how ever can we repay this kindness..."
"Uncle!"
"Waaah—!"
The aftermath went without saying.
A torrent of tears and uproar ensued, and only after considerable time calming them did Heinz guide them in straightening the wrecked shop before heading to a quiet alley.
To receive the report on his covert orders.
"Lord, the preliminary investigation results are in."
Thanks to the city's vampires—all tensed by their lord's sudden visit—mobilizing at full strength for this matter, uncovering the full story proved simple.
Starting from thrashing the thugs and tracing upward was all it took.
'As I thought, something felt off.'
And the findings matched his suspicions.
'No trace of illness from Rafi. ...At least poison might've been plausible.'
A child ingesting something toxic could pass as negligence, but labeling it a 'life-threatening illness' to extort a fortune was unnatural.
And scrambling to raise the funds implied endorsement from someone trustworthy for the diagnosis.
'But it was all a setup? ...Even going so far as to poison a child?'
The ringleader who'd poisoned Rafi directly, introduced a bribed healer in advance, and even hooked them up with loan sharks was none other than—
The instructor who'd been privately teaching Diana accounting since they met at the tutorial center.
"Hmph—daring to pull this in my territory."
By now, the vampires had rounded up the healer, instructor, and even the officials for interrogation.
But on reflection, such outrages surely weren't isolated to this once.
They likely festered frequently in the shadows everywhere.
'Same on Earth, really. Too entangled for even Hans to hunt them down simply like major criminals.'
Many praised the masked vigilantes, but he wasn't a god.
He could crush violent thugs aplenty, but society's tangled woes were best tackled through the laws and systems they had forged.
'But Thalia Kingdom is different.'
Unlike Earth, where he was just a vigilante crew, here he was the de facto ruler.
The king and nobles—stripped of all real power—were mere figureheads. The true final authority and sovereign was Heinz 2nd, leader of the Hybrids.
Thus, preparing for vampires' legitimization had sparked endless deliberation on governance.
Most crucial: Securing blood supplies.
No matter their loyalty to him, vampires' racial limits made feeding inevitable.
'Essential for maintaining combat prowess, or sustaining blood arts like blood runes.'
And the optimal solution? Turning each city's criminals into blood stock.
They'd done so already, but this incident underscored the need for a more systematic, large-scale rollout.
'As I learned on Earth, criminals are an ineradicable breed.'
This was true symbiosis—a win-win for all involved.
Sheer hell for the criminals, of course, but he never fretted over their rights.
Sorting his thoughts, he returned to the shop.
With Diana under watch nearby, it was time for deeper conversation.
"Ah, you're back, Uncle!"
"Diana. Mind a quick chat?"
He pulled her aside from her bustling family and casually relayed what he'd uncovered, along with how he'd dealt with the perpetrators.
She already knew he was a vampire, and he wanted to gauge her reactions—map her temperament further.
Yet at his recounting, Diana showed no interest in their fates, fixating solely on self-recrimination.
"...It's all my fault. I should've noticed when he got too close to the kids. Then I spoiled them with treats and dropped my guard... Even when Rafi fell ill, I caught a weird smell but was too dumb to act... ugh..."
Truth be told, no fourteen-year-old grocer girl—sharp nose or not—could've identified poison by scent alone.
But she bore heavy guilt: her link had connected them to the instructor; she'd failed to block his access to Rafi; she'd overlooked the red flags after.
With fortunes waning, she'd long withered under guilt toward her family, feeling eternally like the sinner.
Convinced her presumptuous pursuit of learning had brought them ruin.
Heinz lightly patted Diana's now-sniffling head and cocked his own slightly.
'Hmm. Expected outrage or revulsion toward them. Indifference instead?'
The moment she heard he'd handled the culprits, she'd tuned them out entirely.
A response rooted in utter faith that he'd sort it properly.
"...Sniff. I'll repay the money somehow. Not chump change. Here I am, idiot me, in debt again..."
"Studying accounting and commerce?"
Diana forced back her tears and spoke, but Heinz brushed it off for an abrupt pivot.
"Y-Yes? Yeah... That's what sparked all this."
"Ever thought of working under me to pay it off?"
He'd planned to keep her close anyway; if she was trustworthy and capable, it was ideal.
Competent hands were always welcome.
"Uh..."
His offer left her wide-eyed, mouth flapping wordlessly.
Of course, her answer was a given.
Wasn't that the very goal driving her studies?
"Just one catch. Working for me means leaving this place."
"That's a given! I'm ready for it."
"If you want, I can help your family relocate and settle there too."
"...I'll talk to them. After the nasty loan shark ordeal, they might actually prefer starting fresh elsewhere..."
With aligned interests, the discussion flowed smoothly.
Midway, Diana tossed out a curious query.
"But where to? The capital Talaria, right?"
Her eyes sparkled with barely veiled excitement.
A nation's capital symbolized prosperity incarnate; for young Diana, who'd never visited, vague longing was only natural.
But Heinz's reply blindsided her completely...
"I'll swing by the capital, sure. But it's not the final stop."
"Huh? Then where..."
As puzzlement creased her face, he faintly curled a lip.
"Tulk Kingdom, Tarac City."
"Whaaat?!"
Not mere relocation—but emigration to another nation.
Not that it mattered; such hassles were for underlings to handle.
After all, power existed for exactly these moments.