112
Chapter 112
"I am asking you, were you about to mention the incident where an entire village was converted into a massive Human Farm?"
"Yes, that's correct..."
"..."
The Vampire Lord didn't say a word for a moment.
A brief silence followed, and soon the Lord slowly turned their head to look at Chunsam.
"I wasn't quite sure if the one I saw earlier was a Human or not, but looking at him again now, it's clear he's definitely a Human."
Startled out of his wits by the Lord's sudden appearance, Chunsam had tumbled backward and was still on the ground.
Chunsik, who was beside him, and Chunja, who had just come to take a break, showed the exact same reaction, having seemingly recognized the Vampire Lord. Seeing Chunsik only shivering now, it seemed Chunsam hadn't told them about the Lord. He had just been trembling all by himself.
Ailee had guessed the reason upon seeing his state and was trying to calm him down.
"Are those Humans also members of your Dungeon?"
The Vampire Lord asked, looking back and forth between Ailee and me.
We shook our heads at the same time.
"N-no, they are not members. We treat the Humans as Slaves..."
"Growl, grooowl."
"I see."
The Vampire Lord gave a small nod.
They still had a benevolent look on their face.
I had absolutely no idea what they were thinking.
The Vampire Lord's gaze soon settled on Ailee.
"Did you say your name was Ailee?"
"...Yes, that's correct. Thank you for remembering."
"Well, Ailee. Since you are also a member of our Alliance, it seems I should correct the misinformation you have."
"Misinformation...?"
"I wasn't the one who built the Human Farm. It was created under the leadership of the King of the country I was staying in. Of course, it was built with my help... but the King was the one who planned everything from start to finish."
"The King planned it? But why..."
"To drink fresh blood, of course. Thanks to my grace, the King and most of the Royalty shed their frail existence as Humans and became Servant Vampires. For the record, they were the ones who volunteered to become my dependents."
The Vampire Lord took a step forward.
Clasping their hands behind their back, they slowly paced around, keeping their eyes on the trembling Humans as they continued the story.
The village they converted was an abandoned place.
The Humans used for food were all criminals.
Even after becoming Servant Vampires, the Royalty never harmed innocent citizens.
The royal family's plan was the vampirization of their own people.
Their goal was to trigger an Evolution in innocent, good-hearted Humans to turn them into vampires, while using criminals as food on the farm.
"Just because it was a farm didn't mean we made them breed or anything. We just drained enough blood so they wouldn't die, or if they were killed by mistake, I revived them myself so they could be endlessly used for food."
That plan didn't last long.
This was because the Monster Slayer Guild Headquarters noticed this and began an investigation.
Furthermore, with the intervention of other countries, it reached a point where the farm could no longer be operated.
"Fearing that the Nobles would start a rebellion if the truth was revealed, I intentionally took the blame, pretending to have planned everything alone, and vanished. I had to look after the safety of my dependents, didn't I?"
Even if the Nobles started a rebellion.
Even if the Monster Slayer Guild and other countries launched a full-scale attack, they were confident they could stop it single-handedly.
However, the problem was the Zero Slayer.
Although they had never actually seen them, after the King spent a massive amount of funds to gather information, they learned that the Zero Slayer was the first Human to reach the Ultimate Realm.
Regardless of their racial grade, anyone who reached the Ultimate Realm was dangerous.
That was why they chose the safe route of taking the blame alone and vanishing.
─This was the extent of the Vampire Lord's story.
Out of all those stories.
The part that interested me the most was the brief mention of the Zero Slayer.
So the Zero Slayer was a Max Level Human.
Even at Max Level, as an Uncommon grade, their power would be 200, but they were absolutely not an opponent to be underestimated. They would likely possess a very powerful Soul Weapon and have a Unique Skill like Tosun's Mom.
"These Humans fear me because of the rumor that I am a maniac who slaughters Humans on sight, I suppose."
Step, step.
The Vampire Lord came to a halt in front of Chunsam.
Then, bending down, they lifted the terrified Chunsam's chin with their fingertips.
"Do not be so frightened. Unlike what you all know, I am quite favorable towards Humans. As long as you don't get on my bad side, that is."
Soon, the Vampire Lord's gaze turned to Ailee.
"Ailee. I couldn't bring a dependent for Interpretation, so may I ask you to translate for me?"
"Ah, yes! Leave it to me!"
A dependent for Interpretation?
Are there any among the Vampire Lord's dependents who can communicate with Humans?
...Ah, they did say they made Humans their dependents, right?
It seems those guys can communicate with Humans too.
Ailee wasn't the only special one.
Ailee translated the Vampire Lord's words for the Slaves.
And she patted their backs, reassuring them that they didn't need to be scared.
However,
the fear on the Slaves' faces never completely disappeared.
It was only natural, really.
Because the Vampire Lord was such an overwhelming presence.
Even with such a benevolent expression and a favorable attitude, it would be hard to erase their fear in a short period.
***
On the way back to the 2nd Floor.
The Vampire Lord stopped in front of the Old Man Fake Doll guarding the Portal.
And they stared intently at the Old Man Fake Doll for quite a while.
They had done that earlier, too.
Muttering how fascinating it was that the Astral Slayer had been reduced to such a state after being defeated by my single strike.
The Vampire Lord knew the Mercenary King.
Having stayed on the Human Continent for quite a long time, they were quite knowledgeable about Humans.
Of course, they said they had never actually met him.
Afterwards.
We came back up to the 2nd Floor.
Ms. Vampire was still taking a nap, and the other guys were rolling around on the soft floor.
The Vampire Lord also tried to get some sleep.
However, they couldn't.
Because the Little Yellow Dragon persistently kept clinging to them.
"Mama-Papa!"
Mama-Papa.
It seemed she called them that because they were Mama's Papa.
Strictly speaking, they were an uncle rather than a Papa, but whatever.
I thought she would call them Papa-Papa, but she was always a kid who defied expectations.
"Mama-Papa! Mama-Papa!"
"Yes, my Grandniece."
"Look at this! I can curl my body up like this!"
"Ooh. Your body is incredibly flexible."
"How is it, isn't it amazing!"
"Yes, yes, it's truly amazing."
Even though she was a Dragon and not a Vampire,
the Vampire Lord casually acknowledged the Little Yellow Dragon as their Grandniece.
What a race without discrimination or prejudice, just like the Moon Tribe.
But is it correct to call her a Grandniece?
......Ah, right.
I confused it with great-granddaughter.
Anyway.
Since they seemed to have no intention of taking a nap while playing with the Little Yellow Dragon, I decided to sneak up and casually ask something I was curious about.
"Growl."
"Hmm? Why did you call me?"
"Growl, grooowl."
"Are you asking how I escaped this Continent before the Barrier disappeared?"
Nod, nod.
I nodded my head.
I was incredibly curious about how on earth they managed to pass through the Barrier.
"The method is quite simple. You just have to commit suicide and then cross over."
"Growl?"
"To explain it from the beginning so it's easy to understand... the Barrier wrapping around our Continent was designed so that no living creature could pass through. In other words, if you weren't a living creature, you could cross. So, you just need to use the method of ending your own life, crossing the Barrier, and then resurrecting."
No, that's a method that's only easy for you.
Normal creatures can't resurrect themselves after committing suicide.
"Although there are supposedly various other methods, this is the only one I know of."
"Growl..."
As I heard later.
Because it was only possible to pass through the Barrier encompassing the Continent by reaching a state of complete death, they said they crossed over with even the Mana Stone inside their body completely destroyed.
They said it didn't matter, though.
Because the Vampire Lord resurrects after a certain period of time even if they die with their Mana Stone destroyed.
Even if they don't want to, it happens automatically and unconditionally.
Hmm. Then I have no idea how they're supposed to be killed.
Surely they aren't completely immortal with no way to die, right?
"For your information, in exchange for having the ability to infinitely resurrect, my body is extremely frail compared to normal creatures. It's a body that can easily be injured even by the attacks of Humans."
It seemed to be a kind of penalty.
Well, it probably didn't matter much even if they weren't sturdy.
Since they could just keep resurrecting anyway, no matter how many times they died.
As an aside.
They also said that if they wanted to, they could explode all the blood in their body immediately upon Resurrection, completely blowing away the surrounding area.
Causing that explosion would kill them as well, but again, they could just resurrect.
The more I listened.
The more I felt they were a monster I should never make an enemy of.
It was such a relief that they were an ally.
"Ah. And speaking of Humans..."
"Growl?"
"You should know that before long, all the Humans will swarm to this Continent like a flock of insects."
"Growl?"
All the Humans are going to swarm here?
Suddenly? Why?
As I expressed my doubts, the Vampire Lord added.
"Sooner or later, all the Continents except for ours and a few nearby islands will end up submerged in the sea. When that happens, even if the Humans don't want to come here, a situation will unfold where they have no choice but to come for their survival."