CHAPTER 501: TENETS OF THE DEMON HUNTERS (1/2)

Man… I never knew Nicole had such a willful side to her as well…

With Neneth in tow, Nicole slowly approached the Vampire, Umbra, who had been watching us from a short distance away. Contrary to my expectations, he wasn’t sneering at us anymore. In fact, his expression looked a little strained, as if the situation was spiralling out of his control.

“Master… we should…” Zurnalin was about to suggest something but she paused mid-sentence. In all likelihood, she wanted me to leave this area at once but stopped herself midway because she knew I would never abandon Nicole.

“All these Undead have over us is their numbers. Our side has the better soldiers. As long as we decide on escaping, there’s no way they can stop us.”

“Master wishes to save them then?” Said Zurnalin with a look of disgust on her face. To which I shook my head.

“No. We just need to protect Nicole.”

“But her goal seems to be to protect these wretched beings…”

I coldly shook my head once more. “I want her safety guaranteed. As for the others… they can die, for all I care.”

“Will she mind if we do that?”

“Well, that Vampire did give his word that he will let the villagers go as long as we leave. Even though I do not think his words can be trusted, it is a fact that fresh food is always better than stale.”

“Indeed.”

While Zurnalin was clearly jealous of the place Nicole held in my heart, that did not stop her from placing my safety as her number one priority. Petty enmities weren’t enough to cloud her judgement yet.

“Let’s go. We need to keep up with them. As for Ann…” I turned around and waved at Ann. “Do you want to follow us or stay in the village?”

Ann’s father was most likely one of the bandits I killed, a weight which I had to now bear. Even though I had done so to prevent any harm from befalling their future victims, it was also a fact that the bandits only decided to become bandits due to that Vampire. There was no absolute right or wrong to be had in such a lawless world. Killing the bad guys meant that no one else would have to suffer for their misdeeds, but at the same time, sometimes those same bad guys had their own circumstances and loved ones who cared about them.

Ann uneasily clenched down on her little white hands. Her teeth grinded against each other as her petite body shook. Finally, after much effort, she came to a decision. “Ann… Ann wishes to follow SIster Mo Na…”

“Follow us, huh…”

While Ann might have been young, she was self-aware enough to understand who it was that killed her father. Did she choose to follow us simply because no one in the village would look after her? Perhaps. Either way, I couldn’t let a young girl like her face the world alone… if that’s what she wants, so be it.

“All right, let’s go together then.” I gently patted her on her hands then lifted Jezsere up onto Mo Ning’s back. “Jez, look after Ann for me.”

“No problem. Jezsere will be sure to look after Ann. Don’t worry, Master.” Jezsere reached from behind to hug the little girl.

I’ll be happy if you can look after yourself… maybe I’ve just given her an impossible mission?

I turned towards Jill, who was looking quite bored at the moment. “Jill, when the battle begins, I do not need you to join the fight. Just stay with Mo Ning.”

Hearing that, she couldn’t help but facepalm. “My employer this time…”

“Do you regret it?” Strictly speaking, my relationship with her wasn’t deep. Getting her into such a mess was inappropriate on my part, so I wouldn’t blame her if she was dissatisfied.

“Regret? No!” She turned behind to face Regine. “I’ve got to meet my senior, Regine, again, and even met such an interesting employer like yourself. I dare say this mission has been exciting for me as well!”

I couldn’t help but smile at her response. “As long as you’re happy then.”

Exciting, huh… you haven’t seen the half of it yet.

“Listen up, everyone. We will move to leave this village right away. Once the battle starts, I want everyone to be careful of their safety.” I turned to look at Reyage. “You do not need to fight as well. Just look after Jezsere.”

“Got it.” Reyage nodded.