Vol 13 Chapter 8 (1/2)

ACT 8 The Boy Dedric

-You’ve escaped from Karakul’s sphere of influence

Chain of Blood has been lifted

Shackles of Pain has been released

‘That’s it! Success!’

It had been 10missile at Karakul After he crossed a seappeared and the shackles fell off

‘I’ve escaped Karakul’s territory The bloody are too far to reach me and a vampire can’t leave its territory so I don’t have to worry about Karakul chasing me

Ark found a suitable place and landed

“This ic Restoration!”

He used advanced Magic Restoration to fix the hang glider Ark felt touched as he looked at it It was the first time he had used a skill in 8 days But he didn’t have tiht’ve escaped Karakul’s territory but he was in the territory of another vauarantee ould happen

‘I better use Stealth to look for a suitable hiding place and do maintenance on myself’

Ark gave the hang glider to Radun and used Stealth Then a red warning e floated in front of Ark

-Hostile forces are watching so you can’t use Stealth!

‘Huk, what, what the? I haven’t even worn my equipment properly…!’

It wasn’t possible to change equipment when in a battle state Fortunately, swords and shi+elds were the exception so he took out his sword But he was lacking in defense Yet he couldn’t run away carelessly He ht attract even more enemies

‘damn, it better not be another vampire’s bloody I’ll coain’

In the worst case scenario, Ark would cos However, it kept on being quiet so he felt uneasy

“Huhuhu, it’s a meal”

A voice was audible in the gloomy forest

“I’ve never seen this guy around here before”

“He’s a little dirty but he should be a fine meal after ash him”

‘Oh my God, there are three of them…!’

Ark sed his saliva There were fewthethe subordinates of a Vampire Lord or ainst them with no defense

‘Daed to escape from one vampire castle Should I kill myself before it is too late?’

Ark was seriously conte like an arro froht and reflexively swung his sword If it was the bloody, such a cluh he was tense, his sword dealt a direct hit

“Ugh!”

Soround as it was struck by his sword

“Ack, he hit our colleague!”

“shi+t, he is strong A-3 plan, pincer ht!”

Ark stared with astonishround was a bat struggling to flap its wings All of them were incredibly weak bats

‘What the, who are these guys? And did they just say plan A-3?’

“Uhh, this bastard…! A strong enemy!”

“He’s clearly an expert in swordhow quickly he took care of us”

“You, although you look like a huh, hat are you? Uhh! Help me!”

Ark pressed his foot against the stoled and flapped its wings Then he re and held the bat by the head

“W-what are you doing?”

“Do you want to die?”

“I was careless just now but I’ll fight you properly…”

“Fight properly?”

Ark lowered his face to the bat and growled,it retreat a little bit Then it muttered in a terrified and tearful voice

“You…… You…… You’ll regret this”

“Regret? I won’t regret it”

“You really are going to regret it Our Lord is close by……!”

“R-really…… Our Lord is unbelievably strong!”

“Earl Karakul in the next town can’t even touch our Lord!”

The playfulness disappeared from Ark’s face at the bat’s words The bats were so weak that he had becoht next to Karakul then wouldn’t the Lord be as powerful as him? And the bats were subordinates of that vampire!

‘I forgot, it’s not just the bats I have to deal with!’

Ark hurriedly withdrew Thanks to the bats, he had been unable to use Stealth and he hadn’t even had a chance to wear his equipment so he couldn’t face a vampire The momentum immediately went to the bats as Ark retreated

“Huhuhu, you’ve finally grasped the situation”

“But it’s too late We’ve already mentally contacted our Lord to tell him that there is an intruder He’ll arrive soon”

“You’re finished when our Lord arrives!”

It was at that ti out

“Roaaaar, how dare somebody invade my territory!”

“Lord, over here!”

The bats flapped their wings and shouted

‘Dammit!’

The voice had been heard froht in front of him If the vampire could turn himself into a bat like Karakul then it was too late to run away

‘It can’t be helped The only method in this state is suicide’

Ark ground his teeth together and lifted his sword Then the voice rang through the forest again

“I’ll count to three If you want to live then run away before then!”

‘Eh? What is this?’

Ark’s deterot three seconds to run away? Did that sound like a va the forest had appeared just then But he wasn’t showing himself

‘What on earth is this? Wait…… Which reminds me, this voice……? It is familiar…… The bats also shouted plan A-3 earlier…… Perhaps……?’

The voice in the forest hesitated before shouting

“Two and a quarter…… Uhh, you should run away quickly I don’t often spare people Two again…you still haven’t escaped? There are really no more chances Two and a half……”

‘Indeed, I’ve seen through this’

Ark slung his sword over his shoulders and walked into the forest After walking through the bushes, he saw the quivering foraphone

“Huhuhu, this is really your last chance, two and three quarters……”

“……Sheesh”

The boy retreated with surprise at Ark’s voice Then he stared dumbly at Ark’s face

“Lord, Lord, this guy! It’s him!”

The bats couldn’t grasp the strange atmosphere between Ark and the boy The boy acted like he didn’t hear anything and turned around with a pleasant smile Then he walked away stiffly like a wound up toy doll

“Eh? Lord?”

“Where are you going? What about this guy?”

“……Stop !”

Ark s the boy instantly stiffen The boy paused aardly before turning around and speaking

“Ah, that is…… Um…… It’s been a while?”

The va was Dedric The bats looked confused at Dedric’s reaction

“Eh? Lord, do you know this human?”

“Ah, well…… This is the person who summons me……”

“Heok! T-this person is the Ark you were talking about?”

They freaked out and looked at the arc

‘Huhuhu those cheeky bats, they now understand the situation!’

Ark folded his arined that he would encounter Dedric this way Afterorder Ark was Dedric’s Master while the bats were his subordinates In other words, he was the Master of the bat’s Master He expected that the bats would shed tears and beg for forgiveness after hearing about Ark’s reputation from Dedric

“This is the human that summons our Lord”

‘Heh, they’ve finally realised? Now begyou’

Ark was seriously conte how to cook the bats

“This guy is the unscrupulous and cheapskate human?”

“I heard that he was really wicked But didn’t our Lord use his charisma to educate the human? Our Lord is too wonderful”

“The hu from our Lord”

Ark’s expression beca the bats’ words Dedric belatedly noticed the situation as Ark muttered

“Oh, this is the first time I heard those words? Is that what Dedric told you?”

“Ah, no I……”

Ark stepped towards Dedric who retreated with a fearful look As expected, the ignorant were courageous One of the bats had punched Ark’s head and shouted

“What, this brat! How dare a subordinate call him Dedric?”

“Subordinate? I’m Dedric’s subordinate?”

“He really is an ungrateful bastard Didn’t his status rise because of Our Lord?”

“Our Lord is gentle so he ive you, but on’t permit it If you call our Lord by that name excessively……”

The last thread of Ark’s patience broke inside him

“Excessively?”

Ark laughed with an odd expression and approached

“What did you say? When did I call his name excessively? Huh?”

“What, what the! This brat, what’s with that look?”

The bats flinched and sent a begging look towards Dedric

“Lord……”

“Oh oh! Yes, our Lord, what did you call him? How can a human like you call the name Dedric excessively?”

Ark continued laughing and approached,Dedric turn pale and terrified Then Ark raised his fist underneath Dedric’s nose, causing Dedric to squeal and secretly speaking in Ark’s ear

‘M-o just this once! Afterwards Master can hit er is released But please endure it in front of those guys It’s a request I won’t say unnecessary drivel even when diving down a dragon’s mouth Huk huk huk, I swear! I’ll do whatever you want in the future’

Ark instantly stopped his rasped the situation thanks to Dedric’s desperate voice Although he was mistreated by Ark, Dedric was still a vampire aristocrat It had its own standards and behaviour Itso earnestly

‘Which reo? If it is cracked here then heto keep on disciplining him…… Dedric’s help is also necessary so wouldn’t it be better to have him owe me a favour now? This will be a convenient method to control Dedric in the future’

Ark sighed loudly and took one step back

“OkayI’ll be careful from now on Dedric-nim”

Dedric sighed with relief after Ark’s words Fortunately for theain

“What the, this brat! Why did you cause such a strange atmosphere?”

“We’re the seniors You should use honorifics with us in the future!” “S-stopYou morons!”

Dedric ran over and stopped the bats after seeing Ark’s expression In fact, his face didn’t seery

“S-sorry These guys are still immature……”

“No it’s fine It can’t be helped I am Dedric-nim’s subordinate We talk about the details later There is plenty of time”

Ark grinned and replied while an angry vein bulged on his foreheadAnyway, the situation was somehow resolved and Ark headed towards Dedric’s castle (?) It wasn’t a long way as Dedric’s castle was only 10 metres away No, in fact Dedric’s castle was only 10 ar’s hut built underneath a bridge, ood planks being tied together with gaps for windHowever, straw mats divided the hut into two areas, with one roos with the other one was split into Dedric’s office, bedroo room and kitchen

“Our Lord has integrity”

“Yes, he’s too scrupulous to snatch the territory of other vampires”

The bats said proudly Thanks to that, Ark’s plan of disciplining Dedric disappeared Ark had been thinking about what to do while walking towards Dedric’s house It felt like the time when a teacher visited him and saw that he was so poor his socks had holes in thery?

Anyway, Dedric’s folloere still young bats They fell asleep as soon as they arrived at the castle Dedric ed his attitude, prostrating himself on the floor in front of Ark

“Oh oh oh, M- Master Thank you You can hit me as much as you want later I’ll work really hard and will complete your objective even if I have to die”

Ark looked at Dedric and sighed before asking

“Didn’t you inherit Dunphil’s assets?”

“That……”

Dedric started to sob and confessed his hidden circu all the vampires, Dunphil wasn’t exactly the coolest one He had no talent inbloody and he also had no idea how to increase his ic Luckily for Dunphil, no other vaed to survive

“But then Earl Karakul increased his power and defeated the surrounding vampires He had lived on the other side, but now Karakul’s territory was right next to him after all the territory was taken Therefore the cowardly Dunphil fled to this piece of land and offered Karakul the rest of his territory”

This was the reason Dunphil was able to survive the strong vampires But then he had his property taken away by Dedric not long afterwards

‘Dunphil was such a weak vampire that he even lost to Dedric so of course I wouldn’t kno strong Karakul is By the way, didn’t Dunphil act ridiculously arrogant when he first appeared? Is pretending a natural characteristic of the vampires?

“Ah? Were the bats subordinates of Dunphil?”

“No, they are my cousins who lived in a cave west of here”

Dedric blushed and scratched his head

“The best way for bats to succeed is to become the subordinate of a Vampire Lord”

It was extremely difficult for bats to become subordinates of a vampire in Dark Earth The battle capacity was a lot lower than the bloody so they were ers by the vampires

“It’s to the extent that my parents hosted a feast after I became Dunphil’s subordinate”

Dedric becaic as he recalled his memories But soon after Dedric became a subordinate, he was bullied by the other bats and expelled by Dunphil Dedric’s parents were so shocked that they died from the i them and forced to live in the cave That was the reason why Dedric burnt with hatred for Dunphil

“Afterwards I wandered for a long time”

Dedric looked 10 years old but he muttered in a delinquent type tone Anyway, Dedric wandered until he accidentally became Ark’s summon He was then able to slay Dunphil and suddenly became a vampire aristocrat He was still a Lord even if his territory was like a beggar’s Not too long ago, he wandered around and discovered that his uncle had died and his cousins were orphans…… It was an impressive tale of a bat’s hardshi+ps

“Lord-nim…… I’ll defend the territory……”

While they were talking, one of the bats kicked the blanket and talked in his sleep Dedric covered hie expression

“These guys think that I’m the best I want to succeed for them……”

‘I finally knohy Dedric cares about his status so ht of him as a summon with no manners, but he unexpectedly has some depth It is better than some people’

He remembered his uncle who had suddenly appeared after Ark hadn’t seen hi forBut his uncle never showed his face when Ark’s father died and his mother was hospitalized In New World, only the basic character was progra artificial intelligence Thus all Dedric’s actions were chosen by him In that case, wasn’t an NPC like Dedric more human than his uncle?

‘These bats were the reason why Dedric was eager to go home?’

Ark rethought the situation after hearing Dedric’s circumstances

“Okay, I’ll protect your honour while we are here

“Really?”