The Door Was Never the Problem
I left the brazier behind and headed for the door. After all, if I could just get past this thing, wouldn’t that solve everything? I gave the door a few experimental taps. Hmm. It felt exactly like the one I’d seen when I was with Enri last time. So it was designed to be impossible to destroy from the start. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to throw a punch at it once. If that failed, I could always sit down and think of something clever.
I took a deep breath and traced the principle in my mind. What I was drawing was the path of the fist I had trained in for my entire life, so its shape was clearer than anything else in existence. I let my magic power flow along that path. This was something I had already done several times before. The thought of failure never even crossed my mind.
I threw the punch.
A single, unrefined strike born from pure power.
BOOM!
Surprisingly, even though the punch struck the door dead center, the door itself remained completely intact. Instead, the wall it was attached to couldn’t withstand the shock. It shattered and flew forward, creating a brand-new passage.
It wasn’t what I had in mind, but I had still succeeded in opening a path. As expected, removing the root of the problem is always more refreshing than overthinking things.
Beyond the broken wall, a vampire was fighting a giant spider. The poor creature took the flying door fragment straight to the face and collapsed on the spot. The spider didn’t miss the opening. Its fangs lunged toward the vampire’s neck. When they grow that big, even spiders look pretty disgusting.
After successfully killing the vampire, the spider didn’t seem satisfied. It turned its gaze toward me. Even if it was unintentional, I had technically helped it in the fight. Was this how it intended to repay that favor? What an ungrateful beast. This is exactly why you can’t trust animals.
I fed the charging, excited spider a fistful of sedative, then scanned the room. The fact that a vampire had been in here meant whatever they were looking for was probably somewhere nearby. A rustling sound came from one of the cocoon-like webs, so I walked over. The scent of a vampire wafted from inside.
Hmm. I’ll put this one to sleep for now.
“What is it?”
Oh. Is that so? Good thing she told me quickly. I almost would have had to wait quite a while just to have a conversation.
When I tore open the cocoon, a female vampire was inside. She wore fairly expensive-looking armor and had a bundle of papers strapped to her back. The moment she emerged, she let out a sigh of relief and expressed her gratitude.
“Thank you! I almost died in there! I was starting to run out of breath, you know?”
“I see.”
“Are you a traveler? Or a soldier? You’re not a vampire hunter, right? Right?”
The woman had an incredibly cheerful personality. It was hard to believe she had nearly died just moments ago. Even though I was answering mostly in short replies, she kept chattering away without a care. I was wondering how to shut that motor mouth of hers when I heard Tove’s voice from far away.
“Found it! That’s the scroll!”
That guy was still nearby? His presence was so faint I’d completely forgotten about him.
“What are you doing?! Didn’t you say you wanted to become a vampire hunter?! Hurry up and deal with the vampire in front of you!”
“You were a vampire hunter?!”
“If you won’t do it, then I will!”
Tove pulled out a crossbow from behind his back and pulled the trigger without a moment’s hesitation. The woman squeezed her eyes shut as the arrow flew toward her at high speed. She didn’t even try to dodge, simply waiting for the arrow to hit. Her resignation was quick. I’d expected her to at least put up a fight.
I slipped my hand into the arrow’s path and caught the shaft.
“Even if you ask how, this isn’t something that can be explained with words.”
It may look easy on the surface, but the result is achieved through the combination of many different factors. No matter how much I explain right now, you all wouldn’t understand, so just sit back and admire. That’ll be easier on both of us.
I snapped the captured arrow in half and walked toward Tove.
“What the hell?! Why are you protecting a vampire?! Did you come here to betray us from the start?!”
“Vampire or not, it’s none of my business.”
Species, grudges, whatever. Those are your people’s problems. I have no reason to care about any of it. The only reason I protected this woman was because Enri said she was necessary for the story progression. For the same reason, if Enri told me to back off even now, I would gladly withdraw. However, even after I reached this point, Enri still hasn’t said a word.
“Traitor to humanity!”
“Go take a nap for a while.”
I lightly smacked his jaw, knocking him unconscious, then grabbed his body and tossed it next to the slumped-over spider. I didn’t know which of them would wake up first, but that was up to fate.
When I returned to the woman, she stared at me with dazed eyes.
“You’re human, right?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking? Our scents should be completely different.”
“Then why did you take my side? I feel weird saying this, but vampires are humanity’s enemies, aren’t they?”
So that’s the setting. Well, it makes sense. There’s no way monsters that drink human blood could coexist peacefully with humans. That grudge must carry a long and heavy history. Just like when I faced the Blood Cult.
“So what do you want me to do about it?”
But what does any of that have to do with me? Grudges are supposed to be resolved by the parties involved. I am nothing more than an outsider. And outsiders do as they please, regardless of the rules.
When I answered like that, the woman’s eyes sparkled as if they were shining.
“You’re a good person!”
Normally I don’t bother agreeing with the chatters, but this time I feel like siding with them. What exactly is she seeing that makes her call me a good person? I can understand the vampire saying that, but Enri, you really shouldn’t be reacting like this. You’re human, aren’t you?
When I lightly scolded Enri for that, she reacted strongly. Hmm. She must have built up a lot of frustration from arguing with the viewers. If I poke her any more she’ll probably say something unnecessary, so I’ll leave her alone for now.
“What’s your name? I’m Bella Lukinas!”
“I am called Baek Hwaryeong.”
“Hwaryeong! What a super pretty name!”
As Bella clung to me, I could almost see an illusion of a wagging tail behind her. So this is what people mean when they say someone is like a puppy. Is it really possible to show this much trust to a complete stranger? At the very least, Bella’s behavior didn’t seem like an act. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was genuinely that pure, or if it was just how the game portrayed her.
“Hey, Hwaryeong. You know the way out of here, right?”
“More or less.”
To be precise, it wasn’t me who knew, but Enri.
“Will you take me outside?”
For a brief moment, a flash of seriousness crossed Bella’s usually lively eyes. It seemed she wasn’t simply asking to be led out of the cave.
“Understood.”
It was probably related to this game’s story. Getting out of the cave didn’t take very long. Thanks to me kindly stomping on every single creature we came across on the way here, there wasn’t a single thing left in the cave that could hinder us.
“Did some terrifying monster pass through here?”
Bella trembled in fear as she looked at the scattered vampires, but I said nothing. There was no reason to instill unnecessary terror in an NPC required for the game’s progression.
“Shut up. If you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll make you all look just like those vampires.”
Outside the cave, the sun was setting. The gray earth was dyed in crimson, and the pale white trees regained some color. It was quite a scenic view.
After staring blankly at the sky and forest for a while, I turned my head and saw Bella still lingering inside the cave entrance. She was hesitating just beyond the sunlight pouring in.
“Can you not step out under the sun?”
“...It’s not that I can’t at all, but...”
“Then it’s fine.”
I walked back into the cave and sat down on the floor. The sun was setting. It wouldn’t be long before it disappeared completely. We could start moving again once that happened.
“Um… You can just leave if you want. What I asked for was only to escape the cave.”
She had been clinging to me nonstop until now, but suddenly she was saying it was okay to leave? Did she realize that reluctance was practically dripping from her eyes?
“Let me ask you something. Do you have the confidence to not get lost in the forest outside?”
“Uh...”
“You don’t. Next question. Were the vampires lying scattered inside the cave the ones who came to capture you?”
Bella didn’t answer, but it wasn’t simple silence. It was the kind of silence that came from opening and closing her mouth repeatedly because she couldn’t find the right words. And for me, that was more than enough of an answer.
“Final question. Then, do you think you can win against the vampires who came to capture you, or the vampire hunters who are eagerly waiting for the day they can slit your throat?”
“Maybe two of them...”
“If it’s in a head-on fight, you mean two at most, right?”
“...”
“You’d be perfect for a tragic, pointless death.”
When I scolded her in a firm tone, Bella couldn’t say anything. She probably realized it herself. If she charged out recklessly right now, she was perfectly suited to die. Yet the reason she still urged me to leave was… considering the personality I had seen from Bella so far, it was probably because she didn’t want to burden her benefactor.
“If someone offers you kindness, you should just obediently accept it.”
Whatever happens after that is something the person who offered the kindness must bear. It has nothing to do with you. Throw away your guilt and hesitation.
“Above all, I am not so weak that I need to be worried over by you. So just sit quietly in front of me like a good girl.”
You weren’t planning to stand there pathetically until the sun went down, were you? When I gestured toward the opposite wall with my eyes, Bella didn’t say anything more and obediently sat down. After glancing at me a few times, she finally spoke.
“Just asking, out of curiosity.”
“Hmm?”
“Was it you who did that to all the vampires in the cave?”
Instead of answering, I simply smiled. Oops. She caught me.