#166
At that time in the west (2)
The work of injecting “purified blood essence” into the vampires of Eupersch was progressing smoothly.
The blood of Heinz II, who achieved ultimate evolution by extracting only the dominant genes from vampires from all over the world.
The blood essence that completely removed even the toxic thoughts there was truly the best elixir for vampires.
The moment it is injected into the body, it dramatically changes the vampire factor affected by it, instantly leading to evolution that had been stagnant for a long time.
Of course, in the process, the direction of specialization could be guided to some extent by Heinz, the owner of the bloodline.
A spacious space in the basement of the mansion.
“Ugh···!”
“Haa— haa—.”
Immediately after the first transfusion of “Purified Blood”, Heinz glanced at the vampires groaning from the aftereffects of evolution and nodded.
‘In order to function properly, I must first build up my immunity to the sun.’
That was something he had been concerned about since he first used 「Purified Blood」.
In fact, most of the vampires, who are of the blood type, are very vulnerable to sunlight, so there are many restrictions on operating during the day unless they use special blood magic.
If you still live in the shadows, I don’t know how you can avoid such weaknesses, but it’s impossible to do so when you’ve decided to come out on top.
Once you declare a territory, shouldn’t you protect it?
‘Even if we do this, it will be difficult to completely overcome it, but it will be enough just to be able to alleviate the penalty for now. In any case, other abilities will increase overall as well.’
Even though vampires were a small, scattered race, when members of the two great clans gathered together, their numbers were undeniable.
Excluding the servants and slaves, there are hundreds of remnants that can be considered knight-level, and all of them have become much stronger than before…
‘There are dozens of purebloods. If it weren’t for the war between the two clans that happened not long ago, there would have been a hundred.’
In that chaos, the one who killed the most vampires was Heinz himself, but he tried hard to ignore the truth and left the basement.
Squeak—
“Thank you for your hard work, Lord.”
“Theodore, did you say that the guys inside now are from the South?”
“Yes, that’s right. The South has been in disarray recently, so we’re a little late in joining. The only groups left now are the Southeast and Far East groups, which will arrive in a few days.”
“Hmm, there really isn’t much left now.”
He walked down the hallway, talking to Theodore, who was waiting by the door.
‘Come to think of it, the tribal alliance has been a bit noisy lately. I should move Harley sometime soon and visit.’
The South has a geographical condition of being surrounded by deserts, and is insular in many ways, making it difficult to obtain information, so there have been areas that have been neglected, knowingly or unknowingly.
Basically, they lived in tribal units, making it difficult for vampires to infiltrate, and the sorcerers who were common in the south were natural enemies of the ghosts Olivia dealt with.
‘I thought they were superior to priests in terms of dealing with souls. Ghosts with suppressed thoughts and low intelligence would have limitations in responding to their exorcisms.’
However, it was a place with a harsh environment, a small population, and a closed-off area that had little influence on the world, making it difficult to put in more effort there.
‘In fact, even though there was a problem, I put it off because I thought it was Harley’s job to solve it.’
I had been putting it off for various reasons, but now that Harley had established a solid foundation, I thought it was time to start making plans to visit the South.
That would also make a great narrative.
‘After a great adventure, Harley, who became the hero’s companion, finally arrives in Kalkos, the home of his heart. But what awaits him there…!’
Even as he thought about something else, Heinz, who had already become accustomed to multitasking, talked to Theodore naturally without showing it.
“What is the situation at the overseas branches?”
“We are sorting out the children who are out there, keeping them only in strategic areas. Of course, it is only natural that we have replaced all of them with those who have received the Lord’s grace. They have all grown beyond recognition, which is a great help in reducing the number of people needed at each location.”
Even though we are gathering power in the Kingdom of Thalia, it would be a shame to abandon the foundations we have established so far.
In order to maximize mobility through bloodlines, it was necessary to leave a certain number of blood relatives in each region.
“We’ve evenly distributed them throughout the Kingdom of Thalia. We’ve also laid out the bloodlines so tightly that you can now travel anywhere within the Kingdom right away. Efficiency has also greatly improved, so you can easily travel to nearby cities like La Pella with a small amount of resources.”
Theodore opened his mouth with a proud expression.
Bloodstain was one of the unique blood magics that the Eupersch Clan possessed, so their attitude was natural.
But Heinz, who had nodded his head and given his congratulations, was lost in thought again…
‘La Perla Sira… Now that I think about it, that’s where the Diana siblings are, right? I guess it’s about time we go and meet them.’
It was where the young siblings who had a connection with me when I first came to Auterica lived.
When we broke up, we said we would see each other once a year, but quite a bit of time had passed since our last visit.
‘It’s not that far away. Is this how people who live independently from home feel?’
I never thought I would be able to have an experience like this.
He nodded, feeling a subtle tingle.
It was a little annoying, but honestly, it didn’t feel that bad.
‘You have to pull out the bull’s horn while you can. Now that I think about it, should I go and take a look?’
The important work at the moment was roughly finished, and the blood test was prepared, so it seemed like a good opportunity to use it directly.
***
“Huh? Lord? Oh, welcome!”
“Welcome to La Perla City! This is the exit!”
A magic circle made entirely of blood and ornaments including a human skull.
Heinz, who appeared from the blood-red air current in the middle of the room that seemed like it could summon a demon at any moment, nodded and waved to the nervous people before walking out.
‘It certainly has a sinister atmosphere, as befitting blood magic, but the way it’s used isn’t much different from the sect’s gate.’
As he left the hideout disguised as an ordinary house, the familiar scenery of La Perla City unfolded before his eyes.
It is still an ordinary human city, no different from before, but soon this place too will face great changes.
“···No matter what, isn’t this too expensive? Could you lower the price a little?”
“This guy doesn’t know anything. It’s the same no matter where you go these days because of the monsters!”
“I heard that our kingdom avoided the turmoil thanks to the good handling by our superiors?”
“But it can’t be helped that the prices rise as merchants transporting goods are taking precautions. The surrounding trade routes are also blocked.”
Heinz could hear the conversation of people haggling over items.
Although the Kingdom of Thalia has suffered less damage thanks to its efforts so far, it cannot be left untouched by these turbulent times.
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The faces of those who faced the reality that life was becoming increasingly difficult in many ways each had a shadow of worry.
Naturally, they expressed their dissatisfaction with the current situation, and the resulting resentment could only be directed at one being.
“It’s all because of that immortal king named Hans.”
“Come to think of it, there was a guy named Hans in my hometown. He had an unusual look in his eyes. Well, what happened was···”
“Oh my god! Actually, the Hans I know···.”
It was the absolute evil that descended into this world, the Immortal King Hans.
Heinz walked down the street in vain, listening to curses about ‘Hans’ coming from all directions.
Although he felt sorry for all the Hans in the world, he had long since given up on trying to change his name.
‘I wonder what’s the use of it now. I should have chosen a better name from the beginning.’
The youngest, Hesperon, was born when that desire reached its peak.
This name came to me after much research into coming up with a great name and eventually reaching all the way to Greek mythology…
‘Now that I think about it, it seems like it took too much effort.’
Thinking about it now that I’ve calmed down, it felt a bit like a bluff, and I had a subtle feeling.
As I was leisurely taking in the cityscape with that absentminded thought, I approached the grocery store run by Diana’s uncle.
Wow! Wow!
“Oh my, stop it! If you keep making a mess like this, what are we going to do?”
“Whoaang—!”
“Come here, Raphia. It’s okay, it’s okay. Stop!”
He heard a loud commotion coming from the direction he was supposed to be heading.
Not only that, but amidst the chatter of the crowd, Heinz could also hear the voices of people he knew.
‘What is this?’
The next moment.
Before anyone knew it, he had already gathered in front of the grocery store and was blending in naturally with the crowd of people chattering away.
“What, what is it? Don’t you have any more hidden money?”
“Should I take these first? If I hand them over as a whole, I’ll get some value for them.”
“Okay, let’s get the expensive stuff first, since we might steal it later. Bring the cart!”
Six rough-looking men causing mayhem and turning the store upside down.
But despite the commotion, the guards patrolling the shopping district just scratched their heads with embarrassed expressions.
Heinz kept his ears open and collected information from his surroundings to get an accurate picture of the situation.
And just in time.
“You guys! What the hell are you doing here!”
The shop owner Bolt, with his haggard face, and Diana, who seemed to have called him, came rushing through the crowd, breathing heavily.
“Oh? You’re here now, sir. What’s going on? You came to get the money.”
“Didn’t you say you’d pay the rest soon! What kind of case is this where you come all the way to the store and don’t let me do business!”
“Oh? After calculating, it seems like the amount you paid last time isn’t enough to even write off the interest. Even if we wait any longer, it seems like it’ll be the same in the future, so we decided to just take care of it ourselves.”
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
As the argument ended and an excited Bolt lunged at the men, one of them roughly shoved him and threw him to the ground.
“100 million!”
“Okay, uncle!”
Diana helped him up as he fell, and the rest of his family, who had been huddled together where he had fallen, hurriedly gathered around him with tears in their eyes.
“Oh, really? Even so, we’re still treating them like gentlemen? If it were before, we would’ve just rounded them all up and…!”
“Hey, hey. There’s a guard.”
“Tseuup— Whew!”
The men glanced at the guards and then went back to their work.
Listening to their conversation among themselves, it seemed like they were thinking of selling the entire store somewhere else.
For a family that was making a living there, this was a bolt from the blue.
Bolt biting his lip while glaring at the men with eyes filled with resentment, his wife swallowing her tears while hugging her three children, Raphi continuing to cry in the scary atmosphere, and Aaron sparing no effort to calm her down.
And in that gap, Diana, who had grown a lot since I had seen her, was shaking with her head down and her fists clenched.
‘Hmm— My young daughter, Raphi, was in urgent need of money due to an unknown illness···.’
Meanwhile, Heinz calmly sorted out the situation, combining information he had gathered from the conversations of onlookers.
Because of that, he borrowed money from people around him and eventually even resorted to private loan sharks.
I could also see why the guards standing over there weren’t coming forward.
Ironically, the men’s actions were not illegal acts, but were ‘normal’ collection activities that had been reported to the authorities in advance.
It seemed like there was a civil servant there looking after those guys.
‘Wow, there are quite a few places to take care of.’
In fact, isn’t this country almost like your own?
I was just starting to fantasize about how to manage the business, and when I witnessed this situation, I didn’t feel so good.
Heinz, who had fully grasped the situation, lifted the “denial of existence” that had been hiding his presence and slowly stepped forward.
“···Hmm?”
Immediately afterwards, Diana, who had been bowing her head, flinched and sniffled.
And then she slowly raised her head and turned her tear-filled gaze towards me.
“···mister?”
A tearful voice, filled with sorrow, yet unable to hide its joy.
It was a face that naturally evoked regret, but at that time, Heinz was thinking of something else.
‘···You still have an abnormal sense of smell. No matter how I look at it, it’s not an ability you can just be born with.’
Before, I thought it was because I didn’t know much about this world, but now that I’ve experienced enough, I know.
The abilities Diana possesses are extremely unique even in this world.
Even now, I have never heard of anyone with abilities similar to Diana’s, even though she leads a fairly large force.
···Yes, except for the ‘unique skills’ of the Earth-born Awakened.
‘But Diana isn’t an Earthling. Hmm, I guess I’ll have to keep her by my side and watch her a bit more.’
With such intentions in mind.
Heinz II stepped forward with a cold smile.
