A small house with one or two rooms at best. It was built of wood and suspended above a tree, and it had a wooden ladder that led to it. It was just a simple tree house.
That was where Beatrice lived, and where Fafnir encountered her.
Dante looked at it for a long moment, his expression turning grim slowly.
'If her son is there, and he tries to harm me, I won't hesitate to cripple him, at least.'
Although Dante didn't like the idea of harming someone innocent for having terrible parents, he valued his own life more than some strangers.
If the situation was desperate, he'd even kill him in self-defense.
Dante took a deep breath and moved forward, heading toward the ladder.
He climbed the ladder and stood before the house's door a few seconds later. It was a normal handmade door that didn't need a key to open.
Without hesitation, Dante pushed the door open and stepped into the house. But when he scanned the room, his eyes widened.
"And I'm telling you he isn't a bad person!"
"Are you crazy?! That blood sucker tried to seduce you to drink your blood!"
"I only gave her a rose! Can't a gentleman give a beautiful lady a rose nowadays?"
"Saintess, please stay away from that monster!"
"Lower your weapons first."
"Why can't you listen for once!"
"...."
'What the fuck?'
There were 4 people in the room, seemingly arguing or fighting about something.
On the left side, there was a man and a girl wearing full body knight armor. The man held two sharp daggers, while the girl held a sword and a shield.
On the right side, there was a short golden-haired girl dressed in a white robe standing in front of a man as if protecting him.
The man wore an elegant black outfit and had red eyes and long red hair. Strangely, there were four clear golden walls surrounding him and stopping him from running.
'Is that a spell? Is he trapped?'
The short girl was the first to notice Dante's steps as she turned around, and when the group followed her gaze they all froze in their places.
"...."
"Oh, are you perhaps the owner of this house?" The short girl asked curiously.
"...."
Dante didn't answer. He kept staring at them, not sure of what to do now.
'Should I run or ask for help?'
His right eye was now closed as he was afraid of them noticing it, leaving only his black eye visible to see through it.
Other than the short girl, the other three were focusing on the red color on Dante's face and clothes.
He was still covered in blood, human blood!
"Who are you?!"
"Identify yourself!"
The knights draw their weapons instantly, glaring threateningly at Dante.
Dante raised his left hand and prepared himself to cast a barrier, an improved version of the shield spell. Secretly, he used the spiritual eye ability for a brief second.
The dagger knight: 25
The sword knight: 22
The short girl: 45
The trapped man: 33
'Their spirits aren't as strong as the darkness monster.'
Looking at them coldly, Dante raised his sword and hissed: "If you make any stupid move, I'll take the life of one of you before I run."
'I hope I don't have to do that.'
The knights didn't flinch at his words, but their gazes became sharper.
"Ah… I wouldn't do that if I were you, to be honest." The trapped man gulped nervously and continued: "I… I think he is crowned!"
The short girl was confused, while the knights finally noticed the strange mark on Dante's forehead.
For the first time, they started showing hesitation. They seemed to be trying to hide their fear, and Dante didn't fail to notice that.
'Looks like the mark in my head is very special. Wait, the short girl asked if I was the owner of this house before.'
Realising that they weren't relative to Beatrice, Dante asked:
"Who are you and why are you here? And why is that man trapped?"
The knights' hesitation increased as the female knight asked: "A-are you the owner of this house?"
Dante shook his head: "No, but I know the owner of this house."
The knights glanced at the short girl, who silently nodded to them.
'Huh? What was that?'
As Dante was confused by their interaction, the male knight spoke:
"We are citizens from the Holy Kingdom, and we are lost in this forest. Sorry for raising our weapons against a… crowned existence like you."
The knights bowed a bit for Dante as an apology, but then Dante asked: "What about that trapped man?"
The Knights opened their mouths, but the trapped man spoke first:
"My brother, you should help me! These two are accusing me of attempting murder because of my race. That's racism!"
"Stop acting innocent, blood sucker!"
"You can fool the saintess, but not us."
Dante's brows furrowed, he didn't understand anything.
"What is his race? Why is it a big deal?"
'Is this man a demon as well?'
The short girl answered: "He is a vampire, but he isn't a bad guy. Trust me!"
"Huh?"
Dante frowned: "What is a vampire? Why is it a bad thing?"
Dante couldn't help but wonder if that was similar to being a demon. But unlike demons, it was his first time hearing the word vampire.
Everyone in the room looked at him in a daze. Then the female knight asked:
"You… don't know what a vampire is?"
"I don't know." Dante shook his head.
They all looked at the short girl, but as she nodded again, that only increased their disbelief.
'How could he not know about such general information?' they thought.
The male knight hesitated for a moment, noticing the poor clothes Dante wore and asked:
"S-sir, have you ever attended an academy before the class awakening or even studied by yourself in a library?"
Dante looked at him in a daze: "Academy?"
Gulp!
Everyone but the short girl gulped, a theory forming in their heads.
The female knight took off her helmet, revealing a face of a blue-eyed young woman with short blue hair.
The female knight asked:
"Do you know about the Holy Kingdom? No, do you know about any kingdom at all?"
"N-no."
Instinctively, Dante took a step backward and glanced at the short girl.
What was the point of these questions? What if they knew about his bloodlines? Or even worse—what if they knew he wasn't from this world?
'No, it's very unlikely. I don't know because Fafnir, who is from this world, doesn't know as well.'
Seeing the short girl nodding, the male knight took his helmet off as well, revealing the face of a young green-eyed man with short green hair. Then, he asked:
"Do you have… a family or any friends?"
"I'm… I'm an orphan. And I think only my shadow can be considered my… friend."
As the short girl nodded, the vampire's expression turned into pity, almost forgetting that he was trapped.
The vampire asked:
"Do you know the meaning of the mark on your head?"
"I… don't know."
Dante took another step backward.
'Fafnir, get ready to strike at any damn moment!'
As Dante stepped back again, the short girl took two steps toward him:
"Umm… if you don't mind, can I know your age and name?"
"...."
Dante didn't respond.
"Please?"
After hesitating for a moment, he finally answered:
"I turned 16 a few hours ago… My name is Dante."
As he said that, Dante infused his sword and body with mana to be safe.
Seeing the blue energy, the female knight raised her hands: "Wait, wait, wait… we don't mean any harm. It's just… we were curious. If you give me a chance, I'll explain everything."
All of a sudden, the vampire shouted: "Wait! Don't listen to them, my little brother. I know that look on their faces, they want to take advantage of you! Don't listen to whatever they say!"
"Blood sucker, you dare to slander us! We only want to help him, and that's none of your business."
"I can tell at a glance that you want to take him to your kingdom. Don't you feel ashamed?"
"The king will raise him as a prodigy and might give him the Duke title in the future. That's something a filthy sucker like you won't understand."
Dante: "...."
As they continued fighting, Dante and the short girl watched silently.
'I… don't understand anything.'