Chapter 84

The next morning after deciding to stay in the Dwarven Village.

Except for Serena, the rest of the party couldn’t hold out through the drinking session that lasted until dawn and passed out. Even Serena was still caught in a dreamland, deep in slumber.

I quietly woke up and stepped outside the inn.

The recovery ability of a Transcendent made me wake up at the same time every morning, unaffected by the drinking session that lasted from early evening to dawn.

Of course, while physical recovery was fast, the mental part was a different story, so it wouldn’t matter if I slept a few more hours…

*Creak*

As I opened the inn’s door and stepped outside, I saw Trail, Nail’s father, who had been drinking with us until dawn the previous night, stepping out in full armor.

“Huh? Did I wake you? You must be tired. Why don’t you go back in and rest?”

“Work, I assume?”

When I spoke, Trail brushed it off casually.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Just a routine patrol mission.”

“Is a vampire appearing part of the routine?”

At my words, Trail stiffened, startled.

“…You heard?”

“My ears are sharp.”

“…Keep it a secret from the others. It’s not confirmed yet. If people find out that such a monster is lurking around the city, they might panic. So, until it’s confirmed, I don’t want to spread the word.”

Trail asked me to keep quiet, just as he had instructed his subordinates the previous night.

Vampire.

A monster that can only sustain its life by draining the life force of other humanoid races, making coexistence impossible.

Originally a beautiful, long-lived race that loved peace and harmony, they fell from grace after discovering the taste of other humanoids’ blood.

What they gained from drinking blood was pleasure so intense it could melt their brains.

But in exchange for that pleasure, they could no longer live long lives and became grotesque monsters that had to constantly steal the lives of other humanoids to survive.

The uncorrupted vampires, ashamed of their kin and fearful of falling into the same depravity, no longer show themselves to other humanoids.

And the term “vampire” no longer refers to the rational and wise humanoids but to the monstrous bloodsuckers.

The only ones who show themselves to other humanoids are the grotesque monsters who must constantly crave blood and seek pleasure from it.

Among humanoids, they possess high intelligence, an abnormal greed for blood, and cruelty.

Add to that their superior physical abilities and the power to turn those they drain into their kin.

And the various unique abilities that differ depending on the bloodline.

Each one of them is a monster capable of causing great chaos in human society.

Even in the Kingdom of Eustia, which accepts any race with intelligence and culture as humanoids, vampires are treated as monsters of at least Silver extermination rank.

If this fact were to become known, it would naturally cause great chaos.

It’s understandable that they want to keep it quiet until the existence of the vampire is confirmed.

“Is there anything I can do to help? I may look like this, but before becoming an adventurer, my main job was a hunter, not a chef. I’m confident in tracking and searching.”

Perhaps he didn’t expect to hear such an offer.

Trail’s eyes widened in surprise, but he soon chuckled lightly and declined my offer.

“A hunter, not a chef? That’s quite surprising. But we don’t need help. I can’t burden someone who’s staying here for another request. Besides, we Dwarven warriors have our pride.”

Trail thumped his chest proudly as he spoke.

“If you say so… Alright. Well, if you ever need help, just let me know.”

“Hahaha. I thought you were just good at cooking, but you’re quite the likable Lizardman. Well, I understand being worried about a vampire appearing, but don’t worry too much. Our Dwarven Warrior Squad isn’t that weak!”

With those words, Trail let out a hearty laugh and headed off to where his subordinates were.

If he’s that confident, then it’s a relief…

After confirming that Trail had left, I turned back toward the inn and spoke.

“So, what do you think?”

“…How?!”

As if he hadn’t expected to be caught, his eyes widened in surprise.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking how much he resembled his father.

“I told you, my ears are sharp. Nail.”

Emerging sheepishly from inside the inn was Nail, Trail’s son and the apprentice blacksmith who was the original reason we came to the Dwarven Village.

He had been hiding inside, eavesdropping on the conversation between Trail and me, perhaps worried about his father.

“Last night, I noticed my father’s expression was unusual, but I never expected it to be a vampire… Will it be okay?”

“It should be fine. A Silver extermination rank is powerful enough to wipe out a small village single-handedly, but that’s by the standards of a normal human village. In reality, even among the A-Dragons that invade during the Great Flood, there are many above Silver rank, but none have ever reached this Dwarven Village. So, a Silver-rank vampire should be the same, right?”

Perhaps my reassurance worked, as Nail let out a sigh of relief and spoke more calmly.

“That makes sense. I guess I was being too sensitive.”

“It’s natural to worry about your parents. But worrying alone won’t solve anything. Let’s go inside the inn. I’ll whip up something simple for you.”

At my words, Nail, who had been wearing a worried expression just moments ago, seemed to recall the food I had made before and unconsciously swallowed hard before sheepishly heading back inside the inn.

After all, most worries tend to disappear with good food.

When someone’s troubled, just feed them meat.

And after traveling together to the Dwarven Village over the past few days, Nail, having been trained by my cooking, couldn’t possibly refuse my food.

After eating a simple hotdog made with A-Dragon meat sausage, a specialty of the Dwarven Village, Nail quickly regained his energy and headed out to practice his blacksmithing.

By then, the rest of the party, who had been knocked out from drinking since early evening until dawn, began to wake up one by one.

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After that, the day passed uneventfully.

There was a request to teach the innkeeper, Tommy, some recipes, but since Tommy also had his main job as an innkeeper, I could only teach him in the evening.

So, apart from going to the market to buy ingredients for dinner, I had nothing special to do. Meanwhile, Mari and Karina were holed up in the inn, groaning from their hangovers.

The only one free from the hangover was Serena, who, being a Dwarf, was naturally strong with alcohol.

Once work hours began, I decided to go to the market to buy ingredients for dinner, and Serena offered to help, saying she felt bad just watching me handle the request alone.

“Sorry for making you come along just to help me shop.”

“D-don’t get the wrong idea! I just feel bad watching you handle the request alone, so I’m helping, that’s all!”

“Huh? Is there something else to misunderstand?”

“N-no. Anyway, that’s it!”

While shopping, Serena occasionally smiled brightly, helping me out.

Naturally, shopping didn’t take more than a few hours, so Serena and I finished our tasks before lunch and found ourselves with nothing else to do.

So, after having lunch with Serena while Mari and Karina were still groaning from their hangovers, we decided to spend the rest of the day leisurely watching Nail work as a blacksmith.

As we arrived at Nail’s workshop, I spoke to Serena, who was happily watching Nail work.

“Looks fun, huh?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Watching the blacksmith work. Is it because you’re a Dwarf that you’re culturally interested in blacksmithing?”

“What…? No, it’s not that, I’m with you…!”

“With me?”

“W-well, now that I think about it, you might be right… Haha.”

At my words, Serena flared up, trying to say something, but ended up blushing and stammering without giving a proper answer.

Just then, Nail, who had been working on something, seemed to finish a prototype and approached me with it.

“Ah! Mr. Kurt! You’re here!”

“Just came to watch since I had nothing else to do.”

“More importantly, look at this! I modified the greatsword just as you suggested!”

At Nail’s words, I felt an ominous premonition and asked.

“As I… suggested?”

“Yes! Look at this!”

As if washing away the morning’s events, Nail cheerfully held up one of the items he had shown in the carriage earlier—a greatsword.

Honestly, the advice I had given was just off the top of my head, hardly proper advice, but Nail seemed to have taken it differently.

The greatsword he held up had a massive blade densely inscribed with magical circuits. To accommodate the circuits and ensure durability, the size had been increased, resulting in a monstrosity that weighed over 30kg just from its sheer mass.

To put it simply, it was like carrying a 20kg bag of rice and a 10kg bag of mixed grains—a 30kg set of mixed grain rice.

Honestly, at the point where the weight exceeded 30kg, it seemed like a weapon no ordinary human could wield…

But Nail, oblivious to such concerns, happily held up the modified greatsword.

The part he had modified was adding a container for magic stones to enchant the greatsword with their properties.

The back of the blade near the hilt, which previously had a simple glass bottle slot, now had a reinforced storage compartment that resembled the cylinder of a revolver from my past life.

And its function wasn’t much different—the cylindrical compartment could hold up to six magic stone bottles, acting as a rotating magazine. This allowed for stronger and safer fixation of the magic stone bottles and the ability to use up to six types of magic stones by simply rotating the magazine.

Of course, this added even more weight to the already heavy greatsword.

But Nail, seemingly blind to such drawbacks, looked thoroughly satisfied and thanked me.

“This is all thanks to your advice, Mr. Kurt! With this, it’ll definitely sell when I take it to the human city, right?”

“Ah, yeah… Sure.”

Honestly, with the added weight, it seemed even less likely to sell…

But under Nail’s bright, expectant gaze, I could only avert my eyes and give a vague response.

As I looked away, the other Dwarves in the workshop glared at me as if to say, “Did you put nonsense in Nail’s head?” So, Serena and I had no choice but to hastily retreat back to the inn.

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After spending a day that felt both leisurely and somewhat fulfilling…

Mari and Karina, who had been groaning from their hangovers all day, finally started to come to their senses and emerged from their rooms, holding their heads. Tommy, the innkeeper, also finished his work and returned.

With everyone gathered, it was time to cook.