The same day before Razel and Cid left, the director finished talking with some professors.
After a while, they left; new footsteps were heard, and the door was opened.
Two men entered.
No, it would be more accurate to say young adults.
Students, to be precise.
But they weren't ordinary students. They were capture targets.
The one on the right was taller than his companion. He was a muscular boy with tanned skin, a rebellious and wild appearance, his black hair combed back with golden sides, and light brown eyes.
He was the son of a count; Bellange von Fraser was his name.
Beside him was a boy much shorter than Bellange.
His body was toned, though slender; his hair was ash gray and reached his shoulders, with a braid at the back of his head. His eyes were a cold blue-green, and he showed no expression, like his beautiful face.
He was the heir of a margrave, Lambert von Attley, a future sword saint.
Months ago, they, along with Prince Regulux von Bryes, humiliated Eli and fought a duel against a nobody.
They ended up losing and were punished by their families.
That prince was demoted to the fourth prince and lost power and political influence.
Lambert asked the director.
"Good morning, Director. What do you need us for?"
"Umm, I'm glad to see you two. I'll be quick since you must get back to class."
The director took out two letters.
"Please, open them."
Both approached and took the letters with their names on them.
Lambert's cold, expressionless eyes moved a little, while Bellange shouted with excitement.
"Director, is this true?!"
"Yes. The imperial palace wrote to your families."
Bellange's father was an official at the palace; his territory was managed by his wife.
While Lambert's father was a margrave guarding his side of the border. He held a position as a minister, but he didn't even attend meetings.
Due to the Eli incident, Bellange's father knew about this and asked the prime minister to send his son to regain lost honor.
On the other hand, Lambert's father, Margrave Bernard, used his influence as a minister to send his son without consulting him.
He cared more about the well-being and pride of his family than his son's safety.
Lambert didn't hate him; he respected him for it. That's why he thought this was right.
"I understand, but we don't have tickets to go. What do we do then?"
"You won't be going by train. You'll go with a certain person. Umm... due to circumstances, you will be their bodyguards, acting as escorts."
"Escorts for whom?" –Asked Bellange, intrigued.
"A sword saint will accompany you. The palace will send him immediately as soon as he arrives tonight."
"Without rest, huh?"
"That person doesn't need rest. He considers it a weakness."
Lambert nodded at that.
"Well, young men, I'll talk to your professors so you won't have any problems. You may leave."
"Thank you."
When they both left, the director sighed.
"Sending children to do the work of adults; this country is going from bad to worse. Especially for the margrave. Even though he says it's for the good of his house, he seems to care more about lost pride than his son's well-being. At this rate, that boy will twist more than he already is."
The director knew that Lambert had a twisted personality. But he could do nothing, only pray that he would change.
◇◇◇
Night fell, and Lambert and Bellange arrived at the port.
A large ship was waiting for them.
Apparently, air traffic is suspended for the moment.
The palace itself was responsible for that.
It only allowed this ship to go and return immediately.
Lambert watched from a distance as a small boat approached them; in that boat was a person much more important than them.
◇◇◇
"Will they arrive today, right?"
It was Friday morning.
Two days had passed since Razel and Cid departed.
Eli and Lily walked down the corridor after finishing their breakfast.
Classes haven't started yet, as the school campus will be used tonight to observe the red moon.
That's why classes will be short and at a later hour.
They were happy because they can have fun in the meantime.
Their hands were together. They looked like two girls playing happily.
Suddenly, Eli's smile vanished because of a person.
That person was a very handsome boy she hadn't seen for months.
In fact, they weren't even in the same classroom.
His hair was golden blonde, and his eyes were emerald green.
Every feature of his face was very beautiful.
This boy was Regulux, the main capture target.
He was walking calmly around.
His face made a sour expression when he encountered two girls who, according to the plot, shouldn't be together.
He was about to turn around when Eli called him.
"Prince Regulux, I would like a few minutes of your time if it's not too much trouble."
Eli sounded polite. Lily looked at her with an expression that didn't know what to do.
Regulux wanted to flee, but Eli called him again.
"Please, it won't take much of your time. Besides, it's something you need to hear."
With those words, Regulux turned around with a sour face. Eli smiled at Lily and led the prince to a place where no one could hear them.
◇◇◇
"What do you want, Elize?!"
Regulux asked in a disgusted tone.
Eli looked at him intently and took a breath.
Then, she bowed her head as a sign of gratitude.
Regulux didn't understand that at all.
"I want to thank you for what you did."
"...?"
"I... honestly, I hated you for what you did."
"You not only mocked me. You mocked my situation and my mother. Such shame is something that only torture and murder of your relatives could wash away."
Regulux was scared upon hearing Eli's true feelings.
But then she calmed him down.
"But... something happened."
"When no one was there to help me, some people came; your half-brother and..."
Eli lifted her face and showed a charming smile.
"A girl I never imagined would become so important to me. Someone I can not only call my best friend, but also became my cute little sister."
"And finally. The man who cleansed the darkness from my heart. The one who is not only the man I love, my childhood friend. He is also the one who will be my husband and future duke of a territory in debt, which he paid for with rightful money."
"I obtained all of this thanks to what you did. That's why I thank you for freeing me from that burden."
Eli thanked Regulux from the bottom of her heart.
At first, when she was downcast, a shadow was reflected in her eyes. But that shadow disappeared when Razel freed her from her pain. Now those same pained eyes only showed light.
"I hope you can recover what you lost. I truly wish it from the bottom of my heart. Also, if you want, we can chat as civilized people; we could even be friends. That's all I was going to say; if you'll excuse me, have a good day, Prince Regulux."
"..."
Regulux watched Eli walk away and head straight for Lily.
They intertwined their arms, and he heard their conversation.
"Did something happen?"
"No. I just clarified what I had kept inside. Let's go find a good spot for tonight and reserve it."
Before Regulux's eyes, two good friends were walking happily.
But for him...
"N-No way!"
It was the opposite.
"What the hell is going on here?!"
The reason for Regulux's distress wasn't only because of what happened, but for another reason...
"That's not how it was supposed to be in the game!"
It was because he, like Razel, was a reincarnated person.
"Thanks to that strange background character, I lost everything! I'm no longer the third prince, nor do I have any influence!"
He bit his nails.
"If it weren't for my mother, I'd be depressed right now. To top it off, because I avoided the encounters between Lily and the others, the romantic events don't exist now."
Deep down, he was scared. It was a fear similar to when Razel awoke in this world.
"Lily is important to me when she is declared the saint and I am the white knight. The others are also important. But thanks to that guy, everything went wrong. Relatively wrong! Right now, an event that didn't appear in the game is happening!"
Regulux looked at the red moon, which was very visible during the day.
"I hope Lambert and Bellange can take care of her before she awakens. It will be very bad if the demon king finds her first."
◇
It was midday.
We arrived at the Granville Duchy station.
Also known as the lawless city.
The entire territory was sealed within a circular wall.
There were parts that weren't, as they were residences for people affiliated with the Granville family.
A huge entrance guarded by men wearing black clothes that covered their faces and eyes were inspecting us.
"What brings you to the duchy?"
A guy acting as an official asked us things separately.
Like the others, he was covered in black.
Only very few were without black clothes.
"Fun. I'd like to buy things that aren't available in the capital."
I told the guy who was signing a document with my ID.
"Deposit a bit of your blood here."
He handed me a needle and a small glass vial.
I pricked my finger. It hurt momentarily, and then I let the drops of blood fall.
Once the small vial was full, he put a label with my name on it, and then another man dressed in black placed it on a metal tray with others.
"Ready. You can enter and leave whenever you want."
"Th-Thanks."
I was a bit shocked because that was strange.
But it wasn't that I was scared, because I knew the identity of these guys.
They were vampires.
A very cliché element in Japanese games for teenagers.
But here they were a bit different from the usual ones.
Vampires can't withstand sunlight. Only the progenitors can withstand it. That's what the game said.
The difference with normal vampires is that these vampires use "blood magic." A very rare type of magic that only vampires can use.
It's something like Cid, who possesses alchemical water magic.
Blood magic in the game allowed the vampire queen to create multiple things and attacks that were very difficult to dodge.
If you had 1000 HP, she would lower that entire health bar.
If you had 1000 MP, she would drain that by sucking your blood.
If your ATK was 2000, hers was 4000 thanks to the buffs she used.
She was truly a difficult enemy to kill.
But Lily's magic was very effective against them.
That's why in the game, the vampire queen always targeted her.
Back to where I was.
I met up with Cid. He told me that all of that was strange and we could enter now.
We walked along with the knights and other people towards a large gate.
It opened. And we spotted a sign in the distance.
Southern Zone, Colorless District.
It reminded me of the poor countries from my previous life that I saw on the news.
Poverty and famine, like destroyed or dust-covered houses, were evident.
A fence with guards on the sides divided our path from the people who looked at us with their lifeless eyes.
Children and women in torn rags.
Their bones were visible on their bodies.
Some played happily despite clearly hearing the sounds of hunger.
Others simply lay down on the ground to die like dogs.
Suddenly, Cid stopped.
I looked at him and asked.
"What's wrong?"
He was looking in a direction. It was a completely destroyed house.
His gaze returned forward, and he said. "Nothing's wrong."
I was behind him. But Cid's unfriendly look seemed to indicate he disliked being here.
(Why did you accompany me then?)
◇
We arrived at two gates.
One said it led to the red district, and the other to the black district.
I asked him which one we should go to.
But thanks to a conversation from some guys, we found out which one not to go to.
"Hey, did you know the 9-tailed beauty will be sold today?"
"Really? Aah, how annoying. I wanted to see her, even just once."
"It's a shame there aren't women like her. My wife bothers me a lot; I wish I had a lover like that beauty."
"Is it true what they say? That her beauty is so dazzling it takes your breath away."
"You should see her for yourself. You'd save every cent you have just for her. Too bad buying her costs about 1000 million crystalia."
"Haha, the owner is a scoundrel. That price is impossible to pay even for a duke. You'd have to sell very expensive items for years. Or steal a lot of taxes from the palace."
"The red district is undoubtedly a place that makes you happy when you enter and feel sorry when you leave."
Thanks to that, I know where not to enter.
Although I was curious about that.
(A dazzling beauty?)
(Does she have enormous breasts, perhaps?)
(I'd like to see her. But I already have several big-busted girlfriends waiting for me at home. I mustn't be greedy.)
We entered the tunnel.
It was dark.
After walking for a while, we came out.
In front of me was a large commercial area.
But the products were terrible.
People.
Strange animals.
Beastmen.
Weapons.
Drugs.
Various items were for sale.
Seeing this repulsed me a little.
A guy tried to sell us something.
I approached curiously to see what it was; I could buy an exotic animal as a pet.
But I was horrified by what I saw.
They were two human girls.
For being girls, and without sounding like a degenerate.
They were very pretty, and their thighs were visible.
But the chains around their necks made me think they were pets.
Their names were written on their clothes.
The one on the right was Claudia, and the one on the left was Sophia.
I told the guy no thanks.
He seemed annoyed, pulling the chain as if it were a dog. The girls walked straight to some cages where other people were.
I felt a churn in my stomach.
Upon leaving, I wanted to vomit. Cid saw me and handed me a handkerchief.
Then he told me.
"This place is the lawless city. Hell on earth for many and paradise for few."
"I wanted you to see this place because, Razel, I know you didn't come to buy something."
I looked at Cid, as he seemed to guess why I came.
"Razel, you..."
(Now I understand why he came.)
"You came because you wanted to put an end to this place, didn't you?"
(Nooooooooooooo!)
(What the hell are you talking about?)
(I came to kick a vampire's ass, not to save people.)
(No, by defeating the vampire queen, I am saving people and the world.)
(Eeeh, let's say yes.)
"It's as you say."
(A little white lie does no harm.)
Cid smiled. It was creepy that a man smiled at me.
"I'm glad that's the case. You're truly a great person, my friend."
(No, I'm not. But I'm horrible enough to enjoy a lie.)
"It's as you say, Cid-kun. Just like with Eli, I don't enjoy horrible things like this. That's why I came on this day, to put an end to this place."
(Although I have no idea how; well, by killing the vampire queen and king, this place will fall into crisis.)
(I'll tell Cid to move the palace to attack this place.)
(There. A flawless improvised plan.)
(Now, let's rest until nightfall.)
◇◇◇
The Black Tower.
A large tower located in the center of the lawless city.
This tower was the symbol of terror for the inhabitants.
Not only them; the empire itself feared them as well.
In the past, a sword saint came to this place.
His head was sent to the palace. Since then, they haven't made any moves until now.
It measures over 1000 meters long, with a circumference of 500 meters for the internal space.
The windows are built to deflect daylight, but during the night, the moon's rays enter.
This place consists of 100 floors.
That's because that's how it was built in the game.
It was a dungeon in the form of a vertical spiral.
At the very top, in a room as dark as night, a shadow looked out the window that didn't reflect light.
"They are truly insects. They don't know their days are numbered."
That shadow was that of a man.
He was very tall, wearing a black robe with a red cape, indicating he was a noble of very high status.
His skin was white, as if he had anemia from how pale it was.
He wore shoes that looked like heels. Black pants and a fine white silk shirt.
His hair was red like blood, reaching down to his back; he had two piercings in his ears with inverted black crosses.
His eyes were the same color as his hair. But his gaze was cold, as if what he saw before him was trash.
This man was a villain from the game, the Night King, absolute ruler of the vampires.
Gerhardt Bagrada der Bloodfoe.
Gerhardt approached his lunch.
They were children dressed in fine clothes.
His hands moved to see whom he would choose first.
But he stopped because of what he heard.
"Please protect us, oh goddess Alexia. Let your love for us guard us from evil."
Gerhardt stopped. Instead, he approached the girl.
The girl looked into those intense, shining red eyes with no sign of affection for life.
"Why are you praying?" –Asked Gerhardt.
The girl said with fear.
"B-Because... despite everything that happens, only the goddess and the other gods can save us."
Gerhardt stood up.
"Goddess? You're talking about the existence known as 'god' to you."
His expressionless face suddenly showed a sinister smile on those red lips.
"That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard!"
His pale hands grabbed the girl by the neck.
His long black nails dug into her neck without piercing the skin.
He lifted the girl as high as he could and told her.
"Where is your god?! There is none! No such existence exists!"
"The only gods you should worship are us, the vampires. The progenitors, to be precise!"
"They are the ones responsible for creating everything, not that shit you call a god!"
"Where is that god, tell me?!"
Gerhardt's hand moved to a child's neck; with just a touch of his nails,
A large amount of blood gushed out.
"You see? There is no god! If there were one, I would have killed him with my own hands long ago for taking mother away from me!"
Gerhardt's fingers moved and began to cut the jugulars of all the children.
"See how life and death are nothing to me! Having lived for nearly 500 years, I know better than anyone that this so-called god does not exist!"
"To my dear god, whom I hate and despise so much!"
"Punish me! Come on! Do it!"
There were no children left alive, only the girl in his hand.
Gerhardt's wild expression returned to normal after a while.
"Oh no, I lost my temper again."
He threw the girl to the floor. She kept praying to a locket that symbolized the goddess Alexia.
Gerhardt ignored her and headed straight to the center of the room, which was illuminated by the radiance of a red light.
A large coffin was there.
A large fish tank with blood in tubes led directly to the coffin.
Inside, a mummy was drinking blood.
Gerhardt, looking like a child watching his sick mother, approached and caressed the coffin.
"Mother, don't worry. Soon you will return to life and then we will regain what was taken from us that day."
He was smiling as his hands touched the coffin.
"Tonight, when you are resurrected, the plan will be carried out thanks to the blood moon."
"Just as my father said, it's the only way to revive you."
"I... prepared a great feast for you for this day. A bloody banquet just for you."
"This place will become a great jug of blood for you to drink until you are full."
"Aah~, mother, I long to see you already."