#166
Meanwhile, in the west
The process of injecting “Refined Blood Essence” into the vampires of the Yufershi Clan was proceeding smoothly.
The blood of Heinz II, whose genes achieved ultimate evolution by extracting only the superior traits from vampires across various worlds.
The bloodline, which had perfectly eliminated even the toxic thoughts, was truly the best elixir for the vampires.
As soon as it was injected into their bodies, it dramatically transformed the vampire traits affected by it, leading to an evolution that had stagnated for a long time.
Of course, the direction of this specialization could be guided to some extent by Heinz, the owner of the bloodline.
In the vast space beneath the mansion.
Grrk…!
Haah— Haah—.
Right after one round of “Refined Blood Essence” transfusion was completed, Heinz glanced over the vampires moaning from the aftermath of evolution and nodded.
‘As expected, to operate effectively, I need to first build immunity to the sun.’
This was a concern he had since he first used “Refined Blood Essence.”
In fact, most of the lesser-blooded vampires, who made up the majority, were too vulnerable to sunlight, and unless they used special blood magic, it was quite limiting to operate during the day.
If they were still living hidden in the shadows, it might be manageable to avoid such a weakness, but they couldn’t afford to do that now that they had decided to go public.
Once an area is declared, isn’t it necessary to maintain what is to be protected?
‘Even if it’s hard to completely overcome it like this, just being able to reduce the penalty is good enough. Besides, other stats will increase overall anyway.’
Even though the vampires were a small scattered race, when the members of the two large clans gathered in one place, their numbers were significant.
Excluding servants and slaves, there were already hundreds of lesser blooded knights, all of whom had become significantly stronger than before…
‘And there are dozens of purebloods as well. If it weren’t for the war between the two clans that happened recently, there would have been over a hundred.’
Heinz himself had killed the most vampires during that chaos, but he turned a blind eye to the truth as he stepped out of the basement door.
Creeak—
“Thank you for your hard work, Lord.”
“Theodore, didn’t you say the ones inside are from the south?”
“Yes, that’s right. The south has been chaotic lately, so their arrival was a bit delayed. There are only two more groups remaining, one from the southeast and another from the far east, arriving in a few days.”
Hmm, not much time left now.
He walked through the corridor while conversing with Theodore, who was waiting by the door.
‘By the way, the tribal alliance has been a bit noisy lately. I should send Harley to visit them soon.’
With the geographical conditions of the south being surrounded by deserts, it had been a closed-off place where it was hard to gather information, which had been neglected unnoticed.
Vampires had a hard time sneaking in as they generally resided in tribal units, and the shamans that were common in the south were natural enemies of the ghosts Olivia was dealing with.
‘They say they’re more skilled in dealing with souls than priests. With the ghosts’ intelligence diminished and their thoughts suppressed, they’d have limits against their summoning techniques.’
Still, pouring more effort into that would be difficult, as the barren environment resulted in a low population, making it a place with little influence on the world.
‘Honestly, I had thought problems like that would be handled by Harley, so I kept delaying it.’
Having postponed it for various reasons, now that Harley had established a solid base, it felt like it was time to plan a visit to the south.
That too would become a magnificent narrative.
‘After the great adventure, Harley, who became a hero’s companion, finally arrives at his hometown, Calcos. But what awaits him there…!’
Even as he was lost in thought, Heinz, who had already made multitasking a part of his daily life, maintained a natural conversation with Theodore.
“How’s the situation with the overseas branch?”
“We’re organizing the kids out there to keep only those who remain in critical areas. Of course, it was only natural to replace them with those blessed by you, Lord. They’ve all grown unrecognizably, greatly helping to reduce the needed personnel at each point.”
Despite focusing their power towards the Talia Kingdom, it would be a shame to abandon the foundations built so far.
To make the most of the mobility through the bloodline, a certain number of kin needed to remain in each region.
“The entire Talia Kingdom has been evenly deployed. I’ve set up the bloodline channels tightly, so now we can move anywhere within the kingdom swiftly. Efficiency has greatly improved, such that just for a nearby Rapella City, we can manage with quite low resources.”
Theodore spoke with pride.
The bloodline was one of the unique blood magics held by the Yufershi Clan, so his demeanor was understandable.
However, Heinz, merely nodding in acknowledgment, found his thoughts drifting elsewhere…
Rapella City… Wait, isn’t that where Diana’s siblings are? It seems like it’s about time to visit them.
The place where the young siblings, with whom he had ties when he first arrived in Auterica, resided.
They had promised to show their faces once a year when they parted, but it had been quite some time since the last visit.
It’s not that far away. Is this what it feels like for people who have moved out on their own?
He had never imagined he would go through such an experience.
He nodded, feeling a strange tickling sensation.
It was slightly bothersome, but honestly, it wasn’t a bad feeling.
The early bird gets the worm. On a whim, should I go right now?
With pressing matters roughly wrapped up, and since the bloodline channels were prepared, it would be a great opportunity to utilize them directly.
*
“What? Lord? Oh, welcome!”
“Welcome to Rapella City! Just head this way!”
A magic circle made entirely of blood, adorned with human skulls and other decorations.
Emerging from the center of the blood-red aura that seemed capable of summoning a demon at any moment, Heinz lowered his head slightly and waved at the anxious onlookers before immediately stepping outside.
Indeed, it has a sinister atmosphere befitting blood magic, but the method of use isn’t much different from the church’s gate.
As he stepped out from the shelter disguised as an ordinary house, the familiar view of Rapella City unfolded before him.
It was still just an ordinary human city, not much different from before, but soon this place would face significant changes.
“…Isn’t this a bit too expensive? Please, just lower it a bit.”
“This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Monsters are causing troubles everywhere!”
“I heard our kingdom was fortunate enough to have our leaders deal with the calamities effectively?”
“Even so, the merchants transporting goods are being cautious, and prices are rising. Trade routes nearby have been blocked.”
Heinz overheard the conversation of people haggling over products.
Thanks to their efforts, the Talia Kingdom’s damage was reduced, but it was impossible not to be affected by the chaotic times.
People’s faces, confronted with the harsh reality, were shadowed by worries.
Unsatisfied with the current situation, their resentments naturally led to one figure.
“This is all because of that Undead King Hans, right?”
“Speaking of which, there was a guy named Hans back in my hometown, and he always had this unsettling look in his eyes. You won’t believe what happened…”
Oh my! I actually know a Hans too…
Indeed, the absolute evil that had descended upon this world, Undead King Hans.
As Heinz strolled the street, listening to the curses against ‘Hans’ from all directions, he chuckled to himself.
Though he felt a bit sorry for all the Hans in this world, he had long since given up on attempting to change his name.
‘What’s the point now? I should have chosen a better name from the start.’
The name that came into being when that desire peaked was none other than the youngest, ‘Hesperon.’
After repeated research for a cool name, it was only after reaching Greek mythology that the name was born…
‘Looking back now, it seems I might have overdone it a bit.’
In hindsight, it felt like it was oversaturated with bravado.
As he took a leisurely glance at the city’s scenery while lost in thought, Heinz approached the grocery store run by Diana’s uncle.
Crash— Thud!
“Ow! Stop it! What are you doing, ruining everything here!”
Hwaah—!
“Come here, Rafi. It’s okay, it’s okay. Shhh!”
He heard a uproar from the direction he was heading.
Not only that, but among the sounds of various voices, he could also hear those he knew.
What’s going on?
The next moment.
Unseen by anyone, he had already blended into the crowd gathered in front of the grocery store.
“Ugh, what? Don’t you have any hidden cash left?”
“Should we grab these first? If we take them all, it might be worth something.”
“Yeah, let’s gather the expensive stuff first then. Bring the cart!”
Six rough-looking men were making a mess of the store.
However, amidst the chaos, the guards patrolling the area just scratched their heads in confusion.
Heinz opened his ears widely and gathered information to accurately grasp the situation.
And then, right on cue…
“Hey! What’s going on here?!”
The shopkeeper Bolt, looking haggard, and Diana, who seemed to have called him, rushed through the crowd, panting heavily.
“Ah! Uncle, you’re finally here! What are we doing here? We came to collect money, of course.”
“You promised to pay the rest soon! What kind of case is it to come here and ruin my business?”
“Oh? Well, it turns out the money you paid last time barely covers the interest, right? Waiting any longer isn’t doing us any good, so we decided to take things into our own hands.”
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
After a heated argument, Bolt, now agitated, lunged at the men, but one of them roughly shoved him down to the ground.
“Oof!”
“Come on, Uncle!”
Diana rushed to support the fallen man, while the rest of the family gathered around with tearful eyes, hurrying to get to his side.
“Come on! We are being polite here! If it were back in the day, we would have just cleared the whole place out…!”
“Hey, hey. Watch out for the guards.”
Grrk— Spit!
The men glanced at the guards and then continued their actions.
From what Heinz could overhear, it seemed they planned to outright sell the store to another place.
It was an absolute disaster for the family that had been making a living there.
With resentment in their eyes, Bolt was biting his lips, while his wife swallowed her tears, holding the three children close, and Aaron was frantically trying to soothe the crying Rafi.
In that mix, Diana, who had grown a lot since he last saw her, was standing there trembling, fists tightly clenched as she bowed her head.
Hmm… The young girl, Rafi, needed emergency funds due to an unknown illness…
As Heinz pieced together the information gathered from the conversations of the onlookers, he calmly assessed the situation.
It seemed they had been borrowing money from all around, causing them to eventually resort to loan sharks.
He could understand why the guards were doing nothing.
Ridiculously, the actions of those men were not illegal but were part of an ‘official’ collection effort reported ahead to the authorities.
It seemed those guys had a civil servant backing them up.
‘Well, it’s clear there are quite a few things that need to be dealt with.’
This country effectively belonged to him.
Just as he was bogged down, amidst the optimistic thoughts of managing it, seeing this scenario wasn’t exactly uplifting.
Having gathered enough understanding of the situation, Heinz deactivated his Existence Denial which had been concealing his presence and stepped forward slowly.
…Sniff?
Immediately, Diana, bowing her head, flinched and sniffed the air.
Then she slowly lifted her head, her tear-filled gaze directed towards him.
“…Uncle?”
A voice trembling with emotions, filled with both sorrow and uncontainable joy.
While seeing her face would naturally invoke sympathy, at that moment, Heinz was thinking something else.
…Her sense of smell remains abnormal. No matter how I look at it, it’s not a talent one can simply have.
Before, he dismissed it because he didn’t know much about this world, but now, having experienced a good amount, he understood.
Diana’s ability was quite peculiar, even in this world.
Even now, leading considerable forces, he hadn’t encountered anyone with a similar ability to her.
…Except for the ‘Unique Skill’ of the awakened ones from Earth.
But Diana isn’t Earthborn. Hm, I guess I should keep her close and observe further.
With those thoughts lingering in his mind.
Heinz II stepped forward with a cold smile.
