The Death Mage That Doesnt Want A Fourth Time 89 (1/2)

The Pure-breed Va Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life, had gathered in a rooh the s

However, one of the three chairs was empty

“Good grief, things have been far too noisy as of late Don’t you think so, Gubamon?”

“Thecalled out here by you, however, Birkyne”

At a table that should have seated three people, Birkyne, who rese noblee

“Please don’t be in such a foul mood,” said Birkyne “The collection you love sofor a little while More importantly, it would be best to deal with theIf we are not careful, ill lose our balance”

Theto was the infores’ Guild, Kinarp, and his subordinates

Thanks to their infore had of course been done to Ternecia’s faction who had been e suffered by Birkyne and Guba with thenored, either

The Vampires had placed their roots deep in the As had been planted just as deep in the Orbaudom

The Pure-breed Vao They knew froathered in one country, they would be burned if that country was to fall to ruin In an era where two great nations existed, they would extend their reach into both nations

That hy it was painful that those who had infiltrated the Orbau hunted down

“Lose our balance?” Gubamon repeated, and then his wrinkled face twisted as he let out a cackle “When did you grown so fainthearted, Birkyne? Nowith them are hunted down, it is impossible for us to be at risk,” he said “If we leave them to be hunted down, those humans will eventually be satisfied There will be none who can reach us, and even if there are, we simply need to kill them”

There was some truth to his words No matter how many of their subordinates were exter the Vampires was deep If blessed with incredible fortune, the huht be able to play with the Vampire society’s tail It was absolutely impossible for them to reach the Pure-breed Vampires at the head of the society

And even if there were soed to reach them, the Pure-breed Vampires would simply turn on them and kill them

If the Pure-breed Vampires were on their own, it was possible that they could be defeated by an A-class adventurer party, an S-class adventurer or an S-class adventurer backed up by several A-class adventurers

But they were not on their own

The Pure-breed Vaainst each other pointlessly, but they had ainstfrom the outside

Thanks to that, they had even ed to escape when they were attacked ninety thousand years ago by heroes with the divine blessings of Bellwood and Ninelord, who had become heroic Gods Five thousand years after that, they had eainst Pure-breed Vampires orshi+pped a different evil God They had been able to overcoers after that as well

The fact that the faction that worshi+pped the Evil God of Joyful Life hadn’t fallen apart, and the fact that it was now ed in a parliamentary system by the three Pure-breed Vampires, were all because of those experiences

… Nothe past fifty thousand years, however

That hy Gubamon’s words were correct If the three Pure-breed Vaether, it was likely that they would even be able to defeat the Orbaudom’s entire ars would be a little e

Their subordinates would likely perish, but they would simply need to makemore than easily-replaced pawns

They would simply need to survive and rebuild their influence in a new darkness As long as the three Pure-breed Vampires survived, they could rebuild their society

“That is indeed true,” Birkyne said in agrees becoer to us But it is proble with the lives, so daily enrichht, Gubamon?”

“Hmm…”

Now that Birkyne was saying this to hi a , but in order to perfect his collection of Undead made froh

He needed ain information and many hands and feet to work on his behalf

“But what do you specifically have in mind?” Gubamon asked “The information has already been leaked, and it is too late to erase those who know of it Even if you wanted to have our subordinates disappear… That’s right, that Chipiras fellow under Ternecia was defeated as well Are you planning to ? And Birkyne, ill Ternecia be here?”

“Ah, Ternecia won’t be co,” Birkyne told him

“What?! That little girl, she has stood us up after I haveout here?!”

“No, Gubamon I never invited Ternecia here The only one I called here is you”

“What? What are you playing at, Birkyne? It couldn’t be…”

Birkyne gave Gubaentle expression as he spoke his next words “This incident was caused by Ternecia’s failure”

Was Birkyne going to proposing to Gubamon that they should feed Ternecia to the humans? Their sworn ally of a hundred thousand years?

Gubamon’s eyes opened so wide in surprise that it looked as if they would fall from their sockets… but he quickly saw Birkyne’s real intentions and twisted his hed “I see You intend to weaken Ternecia by throwing her to the hue’ her?”

In terreatest However, Birkyne had a trump card that he held in reserve It was a trump card that forced others to obey him

It was powerful but risky; despite having lived for anumber of years, he had only used it a few ti it would place his life at risk, he had to be careful in using it

That was the kind of trump card it was

But if there was someone equally powerful to hi unable to resist… That would be a tiain a tremendous return

“Ternecia is responsible for this incident,” said Birkyne “Isn’t it only natural for her to take responsibility?”

“I suppose that is one way of thinking about it,” said Guba as a subordinate who leaked the information, after all”

“Yes, and she did so Talosheim to the Hartner Duchy,” Birkyne added

“What? That is the first ti about?” asked Gubamon

The Pure-breed Vampires orshi+pped an evil God had sent numerous subordinates to the Hartner Duchy, which was adjacent to the new national border of the Amid Eth into this, but Birkyne and Gubamon had dispatched several of their subordinates there as well

“Actually, the adventurers called the Five-colored Blades, the ones who aredown Ternecia’s subordinates, are doing so,” said Birkyne “It see for Eleanora”

Through those subordinates, Birkyne had heard of the movements of Heinz and his party

“Eleanora, you say? That cannot be; how are they, people who are in the Orbau for a traitor who should be on the other side of the e? Could it be… she was there? When the castle sank and the Deirl’s hands?!” Gubaitated

“No, that is not the case,” said Birkyne, flatly denying that possibility “I ath No rown over the past year, she would be i’s seal, then she would have been seen ra like a beast in Nineland The one who removed the seal was… Eleanora’s current master”

“Her current ed… so was he behind the incident with Kinarp as well?” asked Gubamon

“Most probably,” Birkyne replied “Eleanora’s Char Demon Eyes only hen eye contact is maintained, so he likely used some other method, however”

There were also the incident of a Dungeon appearing in the city of Niarki and the incident where the slave-run mine had turned into a den of Skeletons and the mine itself had become an empty plot of land Birkyne and Gubamon suspected that Vandalieu had been involved in these incidents as well

They couldn’t i these, however

People ard, Birkyne and Gubamon were very much like people

They would never have been able to iister as an adventurer, that he had investigated the relatives of the Undead that they treated as pieces of their collection, or that he had caused this series of events as a result of that investigation

The Pure-breed Vampires had concluded that Vandalieu had been after the Dement, and that this series of events had been for that purpose

He had undoubtedly released the Deion of the continent or sought out evil Gods other than Hihiryushukaka in order to gain infor near the slave-run mine that Birkyne and Gubamon didn’t know about

And hadn’t Ternecia actually known about all of this? Birkyne suspected that she was already co with Vandalieu Her subordinates had suffered the greatest losses, but it seemed likely that this was all part of the masquerade

Birkyne felt this distrust because he had his own plans to make a deal with Vandalieu and turn him into an ally Perhaps if the Pure-breed Va bonds like a blood-related fas would be different, but they were currently bound only by their common interests; the trust between them was brittle If one crack for it fro into pieces

“I see… The one who destroyed the tunnel was Ternecia, wasn’t it? If they are plotting so, it makes sense to make Ternecia take the blame,” said Gubamon

“That’s how it is… now then, let us get to the main topic of discussion, Gubamon,” said Birkyne

The Hartner Duchy was suffering fro occupied by the Amid Empire, but with the recent ‘accident’ that had caused the castle to sink, the people had been worried that taxes would increase to pay for the castle’s repair or the construction of a new castle

Of course, the repair or rebuilding of the castle would be a public project, so there would be opportunities for business as well However, those who planted crops and ran dairy farms as their main occupations would not receive the benefits of this

Aworking a sht while their only son was asleep

“If the taxes go any higher, on’t have any choice but to sell Tom…”

“Please wait, dear He’s only five years old; if we sell him, he’ll be sent to the mines”

It was incredibly co to be used for physical labor to be sent to places where they would be worked to death, such as the mines

The as trying to stop her husband froone through the pain of giving birth to hi to sell his own child, either

His face cruain “But at this rate, even if we feed ourselves on seeds and strangle every single one of our goats, on’t h the winter… Rather than have our whole faives us at least a little e I’m sure there will be a master ill buy him and use him as a servant”

The man’s wife sobbed “If only the rice plants hadn’t become sick…”

The poor far couple who hadn’t been able to harvest a sufficient amount of rice seemed to have decided that they had no choice but to sell their son But then a miracle happened

“Wait… Azan… You must not sell that child”

A voice that the couple had heard before reached their ears However, the voice was one that they had thought they would never hear again

“It can’t be, Ma?!” Azan, the husband, opened his eyes wide in shock Standing before his eyes was his mother, whose corpse had been found in this year’s summer, the day after she left to pick some wild plants

Her form was undefined and transparent; the wall behind her could be seen through her body

“M-mother-in-law?!”

Azan screamed in terror “Please, rest in peace!”

“You must not sell Tooats to the outside of the barn’s door And until thesun rises, you must keep all the s closed and not step foot outside the house,” the Ghost of Azan’s deadin fear

“The goats?” Azan repeated

“Azan, listen to what your mother tells you,” said the Ghost “Listen to me Leave your seeds outside the barn’s door Wait inside the house and do not leave until the ood… The Goddess Vida’s blessings will be upon you”

“V-Vida, you say… Ma, didn’t you convert to believe in Alda-sama?” Azan asked his mother

Without answering her son’s question, Azan’s mother’s spirit quietly vanished without a trace The couple stared blankly at the place where the spirit had appeared for a while before looking at each other and nodding

“Mother-in-law did love Tom, didn’t she?” said Azan’s wife

“That’s right… Those goats are soon going to be too old to squeeze anyin Ma,” said Azan

Azan and his wife tied the goats to the barn’s door and waited foras they had been instructed

When the sun rose, so had happened