Ajantu (4)
*Slurp*
—“Mm, instant noodles are nice once in a while.”
I slurped up the noodles, savoring their chewy texture.
The spicy aroma and the taste of artificial flavorings that stimulated my tongue.
My bank account had been rather plentiful lately, so I had indulged in luxuries like jokbal and sushi, but sometimes instant food was appealing too.
*That aside, this time my avatar really died.*
Hans had revived as an undead not long after I thought he died, but this time there would be no such thing.
Dismembered by a vampire and burning all over before being buried under building rubble—it would probably be hard to even find an intact corpse.
Then my thoughts reached the siblings who would be waiting for me.
*I said I’d visit within three days. I just need to send a new avatar in his place. Then I guess I won’t be able to do outside activities for a while?*
It took about a week to regenerate a dead avatar.
In otherworld time, that was over two months.
Therefore, I had no choice but to use the avatar currently active outside.
*Beep beep beep* — *Click*
Right on cue, the avatar entered the house carrying luggage.
Items including the damaged anti-stab vest from this time.
*I already paid for a week’s stay at the lodging I secured, so as soon as the Teleportation Array activates, I’ll move directly to the room, change clothes, and go find the kids.*
Because if I was any later, those children would worry.
*Now I need to give that guy a name too...*
Watching the avatar organizing the luggage, I pondered for a moment before deciding immediately.
*Yeah, let’s make him Heinz too. If you want to be specific, Heinz II?*
He would soon have to face the siblings in place of the deceased Heinz; wouldn’t it be confusing if the name was different?
Inheriting the will of Heinz, who died a glorious death, I decided on the name “Heinz II.”
-Entity Name: Heinz II
-Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Super Recovery」, 「Clear Mirror Still Water」
-Individual Trait: 「Acceleration」
-Notes: Han Seonghyeon’s third avatar.
*Should I invest some Karma to raise my physical abilities a bit, just in case?*
About six hours remained until the otherworld Teleportation Array’s cooldown came back.
***
《Transmission to the Auterica Dimension has been completed.》
When the transmission completed and I opened my eyes to survey my surroundings, I was inside the lodging I had secured while staying in Ajantu.
I rummaged through my luggage, threw an outer garment over my anti-stab vest, and packed the necessary items.
*I only packed one longsword. It must be in those ruins now.*
A brief pang of regret washed over me for the lost weapon, but it couldn’t be helped.
I’d just have to acquire a weapon separately later.
When I left the room and headed out of the lodging, the owner at the counter was startled, asking when I had come in, but I glossed it over appropriately and hurried out.
*I don’t feel any significant changes. I wonder what it’s actually like.*
Even though an incident occurred where one of the vampires ruling the city died, there didn’t seem to be any major difference on the surface.
Perhaps because they existed in the city’s underbelly, it hadn’t been made public.
As I passed through the alleyways and headed toward the siblings’ dwelling, I could feel tension in the atmosphere.
Since an incident had occurred at the headquarters of Varkollak, who managed this street, the level of vigilance was inevitably different from other places.
“Hold on, mister, hold up and look at me.”
As expected, a man with a Varkollak tattoo on the nape of his neck stepped out and grabbed me.
“Haven’t seen your face before? What business do you have here?”
His guarded attitude was different from the big guy who had shaken me down for bribes before.
Given the situation, he couldn’t help but be more difficult.
“Ah, I’m an adventurer who entered the city recently. A few days ago, I formed a connection with a young brother and sister who live inside here, so I came to see them.”
“Siblings? Ah, I know who you mean. But what business do you have with those orphans?”
While the man kept sending suspicious glances, an organization member who was with him approached.
“Boss, I heard that a while back when the boy got lost and his sister was asking around, some young man helped find him. Isn’t he that gentleman?”
“Really? Is that true?”
Fortunately, Diana seemed to have covered it up well.
“Yes, that’s right. Because of that connection, I came to meet them again...”
I answered obsequiously, then sidled up and slipped him a bribe.
Though he had acted difficult, he didn’t refuse the money offered; he naturally accepted it, tucked it away, and nodded.
“Yeah, the mood hasn’t been good lately, so don’t cause any trouble.”
“Ah, of course. Then please take care.”
This time too, I got through without any major issues.
They weren’t regular soldiers, just an organization in the corner of the back alleys, so they were bound to be a ragtag bunch.
I was soon able to arrive at the siblings’ dwelling.
***
Diana had been staying up nights with worry these past few days.
On the day she saved Aaron, after going to the people she had asked about him and glossing it over as nothing much, she acted as normally as possible outside, just as Mister Heinz had said.
And reducing her outside activities only moderately, to the extent that it wouldn’t look strange, she waited at home for Mister Heinz’s return.
“Noona... will that mister be okay?”
“He’ll be fine. He promised he’d definitely come back.”
Diana hugged her younger brother who was looking up at her speaking worriedly, and muttered as if reassuring herself.
On the day she parted with Mister Heinz, she waited all night with wide-open eyes until she collapsed from exhaustion, and when she heard the next day that Varkollak’s building had burned down, she had to grit her teeth and try not to show her true feelings.
She continued waiting, believing in the mister who had said he would definitely return.
And today was the last day, the third day that Mister Heinz had promised.
“Noona, you have to eat. Here, bread.”
“Mmhmm, thanks.”
Aaron approached Diana, who had been staring at the doorway all day, pressed bread into her hand, and sat beside her.
And he carefully softened his own portion of hard bread and ate it.
The money Mister Heinz had left behind had to be returned soon, so she hadn’t used it.
She had hidden all his other belongings inside the house too, and merely waited for the owner to come find them.
*But what should I do now? This time I could save Aaron thanks to Mister Heinz, but if something like this happens again, then...*
As long as she lived in this city, there would come a moment she couldn’t avoid someday.
Diana was afraid of that.
“Huh?”
Just then, Aaron, who had been lapping at his bread, shouted while looking outside.
“It’s Mister!”
“What?!”
Diana, lost in thought, sprang up from her seat and rushed out the door.
His clothes were different, but it was unmistakably the same face she had seen when they parted.
“Mister—!”
Diana hugged Heinz and burst into tears.
“There, there. Diana, you waited a long time, right? Sorry I’m late. Ah! Aaron, have you been well and healthy too?”
Heinz patted Diana in his embrace and stroked Aaron’s head as he approached.
*His smell has changed...?*
Diana felt a subtle sense of alienation from her sense of smell as she buried her head in Heinz’s chest while crying, but after sniffing repeatedly, she soon realized.
*No, it’s definitely Mister.*
Diana, who could smell the scent of the soul, turned off her wariness with the certainty that Heinz II was the same person as the previous mister.
The smell clinging to the body could change due to various events, but the scent emanating from his very being remained the same.
“Why were you so late? What happened?”
Diana asked in a small voice, finally stopping her tears.
“Mmm, it’s a bit awkward to talk about it here. Ah! Shall we go eat something delicious first?”
Heinz looked at the bread Aaron was holding and said with a grin.
After all, even Mount Geumgang should be enjoyed on a full stomach.
***
I headed to a restaurant in the city with Diana and Aaron.
“Huh, I gave that to you to spend.”
“No! You left it with me for safekeeping!”
Diana handed over the belongings left before the fight with the vampire and said firmly.
“Well, all right. I guess we can buy something expensive with this. Let’s go in!”
I ate an early dinner with the siblings and brought them to the lodging where I was staying.
Because anywhere else would be inappropriate for conversation.
*I shouldn’t expect soundproofing in a building like this, so I’ll have to talk quietly here too.*
Still, it would be better than other places.
I roughly told them that I had killed the vampire who had ordered Aaron’s kidnapping, escaped the building, set it on fire, and hidden.
Unlike Aaron, who watched with sparkling eyes the whole time I was talking, Diana couldn’t hide her worried expression.
“Mister, is it really okay that you killed a vampire?”
“For now, it doesn’t look like a big problem, but we’ll need to find a way to leave the city together soon.”
“Leave... the city? You can just leave on your own, Mister. We’ll be fine. We’ve managed to survive on our own until now.”
Diana answered with her head deeply bowed.
It was something she didn’t mean, but her voice contained resignation that it couldn’t be helped.
“Well, won’t a way appear if we look for one? It’s ridiculous to block everyone from leaving in the first place. And I have a plan, so don’t you worry.”
Because I had something I was counting on, I reassured Diana with a gentle smile.
Since the immediate fire had been put out, if I stayed for a few days, waited for the Teleportation Array’s cooldown, and left the city, I could get Hans’s help.
*Hide Hans nearby, and if they come to capture us, finish them off swift and silent without the kids knowing!*
“It’s gotten late already; let’s go now. I’ll walk you home.”
I wanted to keep them with me until I left, but doing so might arouse unnecessary suspicion.
I only had to wait ten days; there was no need to take unnecessary risks.
After walking the siblings back to their dwelling like that, I returned alone to the lodging and lay down on the bed.
*I’ve ended up staying longer than expected. Still, since I’ve started this, I need to see it through to the end.*
I roughly set plans for the future, closed my eyes, and sought sleep.
How long had I been asleep like that?
“Kuk!”
I let out a gasp at the pressure I felt on my throat and opened my eyes wide.
“Hmm, strange. I thought this one was the most likely candidate. Did I guess wrong?”
In the moonlight seeping through the window, a pale-faced handsome man—a vampire—was gripping my throat.
“The traces leading from the forest in this direction are clear, and right around that time, one of the city’s vampires was murdered.”
Though I was simply being held by the throat, strength wouldn’t enter my body, so I couldn’t even resist.
“And an outsider entered the city at the same time, staying in the jurisdiction of the murdered vampire. Additionally, suspicious circumstances were discovered regarding his recent whereabouts.”
The vampire looked me over this way and that, sniffed, and soon furrowed his brow.
“But I can’t sense even a trace of dark magical energy on this one, let alone any sign of a kin. Was it all just coincidence?”
From the vampire’s soliloquy, I realized that everything I had done so far had been discovered.
Somehow they knew everything, from the trail connected to Hans.
And looking at his eyes observing me, I realized.
*This bastard, he’s testing me right now!*
As his words suggested, he was only testing me because he wasn’t certain.
I used 「Mind Hub」 and 「Clear Mirror Still Water」 with all my might to compose my mind.
*I don’t know what he’s talking about right now! I’m just flustered from suddenly being attacked while sleeping. I’m just an ordinary adventurer who happened to stop by this city!*
The vampire gazed into my eyes for a while, then soon smacked his lips and looked away.
“Seems I guessed wrong after all. I don’t know, I just don’t know.”
Fortunately, my desperate act with my eyes seemed to have worked, and he appeared to drop his suspicions.
*Damn it, I took the city’s rulers too lightly!*
Until now, things had somehow worked out well thanks to luck, but in the end, I got caught by the scruff of my neck at the last moment.
And the moment he grabbed my nape, I knew resistance was impossible.
*He’s much stronger than the one I killed at Varkollak! I have no choice but to somehow clear up the misunderstanding and get past this.*
But to make excuses was impossible; because of the grip on my throat, I couldn’t utter a single word.
And from the start, the vampire didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go.
“Hmm... still, there seems to be something there. Right when one Lesser Blood in this jurisdiction vanished, and this one looks quite physically robust.”
He appraised me as if evaluating goods, then turned my stiffened, immobilized body and brought sharp fangs to my neck.
“I’ll hear your story later, slowly. That would be more convenient for me too. Since you won’t be able to lie.”
*Squelch—!*
And with the sensation of blood being drained, which I felt for the second time, I could feel something flowing in right after.
*Why do things keep turning out like this!*
《The entity’s race has been changed to “Vampire.” The special skill “Blood Kin (Lesser Blood)” has been acquired.》
《The entity’s recovery has exceeded its limit. The skill “Super Recovery” has evolved into “Regeneration.”》