The First Chapter Is Complete

Ruben Arden, lord of Arden Castle.

When he first heard from the head butler that the benefactor of legend had come to the castle, he had only half believed it.

In times like these, not only had people long since stopped talking about benefactors, even the very existence of vampires had nearly faded from memory.

Outside unusual cases like the Arden family, most people treated them as nothing more than fairy tales.

But.

The moment he first laid eyes on her, he knew at once.

This person is the real thing...!

She was undeniably a vampire.

Even setting aside the fact that her appearance matched the old legends exactly, that noble, overwhelming presence was not something anyone could imitate.

And as if by fate, the castle truly was caught in a dire crisis.

It felt as though the savior from the bedtime legends of his childhood had actually come.

That emotion, that overwhelming sense of awe, had been real.

Even so, Ruben had to remain cautious as lord of Arden.

It was certain that she was a vampire, and she certainly seemed to be a powerful and exalted being.

But was she truly that one from the legend?

According to the family chronicles, unlike the great vampire who had aided their founder, there had also been wicked vampires who preyed upon humans.

That was why he had cautiously proposed a method of verification.

Of course, there was one secret he had been unable to tell the honored guest.

That stone tablet was not merely a tool for confirmation.

If the visitor was a false one who had approached the castle with ill intent, it would immediately place a powerful curse upon them and seal them away—a kind of safeguard.

In his heart, he wanted to trust her blindly, but as lord, he had to be certain if he was to protect his land.

Now then... what will happen?

That was why, as he watched the benefactor place her hand on the stone tablet, Ruben's heart was wound tight with tension.

But then—

The tablet was dyed a deep, vivid crimson.

"Oho! As expected, you truly are the one from the legend—!"

At the exact moment he finally let go of his doubts and was ready to trust her completely—

Crack—! Crunch!

The stone tablet shattered, and from within it burst a single stream of blood.

That blood gathered into a sphere and quietly rose into the benefactor's hand, as though it had finally found its rightful master.

Ruben was so shocked he nearly stopped breathing.

Don't tell me... the prophecy that said one would "see blood" from the tablet... it wasn't a metaphor for the color changing? It literally meant drawing out hidden blood?!

I stared down at the red sphere resting in my palm, a little bigger than a ping-pong ball.

What is this?

First things first, I activated Appraisal Eye.

S-class?!

I had no idea what it actually was, but the thing had been judged an honest-to-goodness S-class item.

It was small, but my hands were so tiny now that it still felt pretty big sitting in my palm.

The texture against my skin was strangely warm and soft.

Oh, this is kind of neat.

Without realizing it, I started squishing it between my fingers.

It felt like playing with slime, or one of those liquid-monster toys.

The more I kneaded it, the more I felt a weird sense of inner peace settle over me.

So this is why elementary school kids are obsessed with slime and that gooey stuff these days...

I drifted off into that pointless thought for a moment, then—

Hwah?! Ah. This isn't the time for that!

I snapped back to my senses and looked up.

The lord beside me had frozen stiff like a statue, mouth hanging open.

He looked utterly thunderstruck.

Well, of course he did. This stone tablet was basically one of the lord family's greatest treasures, and the instant I touched it, it had exploded into pieces.

Okay, this is a little awkward.

Feeling guilty, I gave a pathetic excuse.

"Er... it is indeed regrettable that the stone tablet has broken, but I do not believe this body is particularly at fault, no?"

I had barely finished mumbling when—

Thud!

The lord suddenly dropped to his knees and raised both hands as though in worship.

"Ooooooh...! So when our founder said one would see blood, he truly meant that hidden blood would be drawn forth! As expected of one so great!"

...Huh?

Ohhh.

So that was it? Breaking the tablet was what completed the prophecy?

Then this was actually a good ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thing?

Once I understood what was going on, I switched gears immediately.

"Ahem! Was that not only to be expected?"

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠proudly lifted my chin and put on my best smug act.

Then, very casually, I slipped the blood-red sphere in my hand into my inventory.

That means this blood sphere is mine now too, right?

Free S-class item. Absolute jackpot.

At that moment, I heard a tiny whisper from behind me.

"Wooooow... Master, are you really a legendary vampire?!"

Lili looked at me with sparkling eyes.

"As expected of you, Master. Even prophecy itself could not fully contain your greatness."

Siyeon nodded, reverence hidden beneath her usual blank expression.

And Katarina—

"Such is the end of an insolent stone that dared test my lord. Now that that human has witnessed your stature with his own eyes, he shall never again ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠harbor such foolish doubts."

She looked down at the kneeling lord with an extremely self-satisfied expression.

Good. Then next is...

With that, I'd cleared the quest to earn the lord's trust ridiculously easily.

And finally, the last quest of Chapter 1 appeared.

Listen to the lord's situation.

Apparently, while all lords had their own version of "things are bad right now," the exact nature of the trouble varied from person to person.

Still, I didn't even need to solve it right away. Just hearing him out would end Chapter 1.

This one's the easiest yet.

All I had to do was listen.

"So then, what crisis is this castle said to be facing?"

At my question, the lord hurriedly composed himself.

"It is that—"

But I cut him off before he could continue.

There was something very important here.

"Let us go back upstairs and talk."

"Ah, yes...! I shall escort you at once!"

This place was way too damp and gross.

After we returned to the reception room—

The lord served us a cup of warm tea and opened his mouth heavily.

"It seems the neighboring territory is preparing for war."

"War?"

"Yes. For several days now we have been receiving intelligence that troops are gathering near the border. The people of the territory have sensed the tension as well, and all of them are trembling with anxiety."

...War, huh.

Among all the crisis scenarios I'd seen in the guide posts, the hardest one by far had been the war scenario.

The general opinion was that a large-scale war was difficult to clean up quickly unless you had truly overwhelming force.

But I had Katarina and Siyeon.

The two of them had already wiped out Black Cow. A medieval army should be nothing by comparison.

"However, there is one even greater problem."

The lord continued with a dark expression.

"The neighboring territory preparing this invasion has the backing of the Holy See."

"The Holy See?"

"Yes. As the honored one surely knows well, the influence of the Holy See upon the continent is now so mighty that not even His Imperial Majesty could oppose it lightly."

"......"

Mm.

The second I heard the words Holy See, one thought flashed through my head.

If it's the Holy See, doesn't that mean holy power and all that?

In otherworld fantasy, when words like Holy See, temple, or holy knight show up, it's usually holy-power territory.

And what's public enemy number one for vampires in movies and anime?

Holy power, obviously.

I'd already tested the cross thing before, and thankfully I didn't seem to take any particular penalty from stuff like that.

But genuine holy power might be a whole different story.

I didn't think Katarina or Siyeon would lose in raw combat even in another world. Still, if real priests or holy knights showed up and started throwing around holy magic, my familiars could end up weakened.

...Okay, that's kind of scary.

But obviously I couldn't let any of that show in front of the lord.

"Hmm. The Holy See, you say."

I deliberately gave a small scoff through my nose.

"What threat could the faith of mere humans possibly pose?"

"...!"

"I shall personally aid you. I will settle it with ease."

The lord's eyes went wide in an instant.

"Y-you truly mean it?!"

"Do not make me say it twice."

"Ahh...! Th-thank you...! Truly, I do not know how I could ever repay this grace...!"

The lord clasped both hands together and bowed his head deeply once more.

And at that moment—

Ding!

The world seemed to stop for a moment, and a system window appeared before my eyes.

111 points?

I could've sworn I'd heard the score was out of 100. Wasn't that insanely high? Maybe I'd found some kind of hidden route and got bonus points or something.

On top of that, all the experience came in at once, and I jumped three whole levels.

That finally put me at Level 30.

Oh, I hit 30.

Normally, people said the rewards in Nightmare difficulty were good, but still stingy compared to how hard it was. Bad efficiency, basically.

On top of that, aside from Gold and experience, the other rewards weren't even given immediately. Everything got totaled up and paid out only after clearing the final chapter, which made it feel even worse.

But I'd basically cleared Chapter 1 without doing anything at all.

I got a mysterious S-class item for free, gained three whole levels, and pocketed 100,000 Gold.

Nightmare difficulty is amazing, though?

Who said it wasn't efficient? This was efficiency so shameless it bordered on theft.

Anyway, it was time to go home now.

"Mm. It seems it is time for me to depart."

As I stood, the lord hurriedly rose with me.

"I-I shall escort you on your way—"

"That will not be necessary. We shall meet again."

With a cool wave of my hand, I took my three familiars and returned out of the Tower.

When the light faded and I opened my eyes, I was back in my familiar one-room apartment.

"......"

My precious little room corner.

But maybe because I'd just come from the lord's huge, gorgeous reception chamber, the room I'd worked so hard to decorate in my own luxurious way suddenly looked cramped and shabby.

Tch. Yeah, I really do need to move.

I renewed my resolve.

Maybe not something on the level of a lord's manor, but still—somewhere bigger, somewhere nicer.

Well, the moving problem could be dealt with later.

There was something else I needed to worry about right now.

The new skill notification that appeared the moment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I reached Level 30.

True Ancestor's Territory.

Even the name sounded anything but ordinary.