Where the Progenitor resides is the center of the duchy, so it is said that the Mist Duchy has no designated capital. However, where the Progenitor wishes to be is an entirely different matter.
Tyr wanted to show me the most outstanding parts of the Mist Duchy. Even with the same hand, there are fingers one favors more. Pretending to be impartial, Tyr still insisted on going to the grandest city.
"Ehh~ Getting farther from the Military Nation makes it a hassle to go back. Can't we just stay here?"
"You can stay here."
"You say such cold things. 'We' are comrades who have traveled together all this time!"
Hilde clung to her with a smiling face. Even vampires can't spit on a smiling face, so Tyr couldn't roughly push Hilde away and merely stared at her.
'Hilde... I hold no particular ill will against her, but I don't really want to get close.'
If one were to classify her feelings, Tyr actually liked Hilde to some extent. It was because Hilde's characteristic insincerity and cynical tone resembled her own. However, one cannot get close to everything they like in this world.
'She knows too much about Hugh, and she tries to learn even more. While there are no secrets in the duchy that must absolutely never be revealed... I am reluctant to tell her more about myself and the duchy. Especially now that Ruskinia is dead.'
How wonderful would it be if a world arrived where everyone spoke their minds honestly. Yet, only I, a mind reader, live in such a world. Tyr concealed those thoughts and spoke.
"There must be a reason you sought out the duchy. What is your business?"
Hilde, who vaguely sensed the underlying intentions, asked in return.
"Why do you ask? Do you want to send 'me' back quickly?"
"If so, do you intend to stay as a freeloader forever? I should at least hear your business so there's some merit in keeping you around."
"Hmm. It's a matter of national significance, so discussing it on the street is a bit~ beneath our dignity, no?~"
"I shall look forward to it, so be prepared. I hope the substance lives up to even half of your boasts. If not, I will have to reconsider your value."
The cold conversation, concealing their true feelings, reached its end. Tyr soon turned to me with a gentle smile.
"Let us go, Hugh. The Fortress of Twilight was built to ward off invasions, so it lacks in many regards. I wish to show you the Castle of the Full Moon. There is still much in the duchy I have yet to show you."
"Hmm. Going is fine, but... Tyr, are you sure it'll be okay?"
"Okay? What do you mean?"
To Tyr's questioning look, I answered rather pointedly.
"I am the King of Humanity. The spokesperson representing all humans. But vampires view humans as livestock, do they not? It doesn't seem like you'd boldly show me the sight of humans being treated like livestock right in front of me."
Of course, I am no human rights activist. I am the King of Beasts, and beasts inherently possess the nature of eating or being eaten. While making other beasts into livestock, there is no rule stating that humans, who are also beasts, must not become livestock.
The only reason I opposed and overturned the Military Nation was that I sensed the intervention of the Holy Emperor's Church in the actions of the Military Nation Command.
To be precise, it was because it felt as though the citizens of the Military Nation were being restrained by a Saint who read the future before they could even commit a sin. It felt like they were trying to judge the beast called humanity to their own tastes and alter it into something else, so I lent my strength to the regressor who sought to shake the Military Nation. Although the actual state of the Military Nation Command turned out to be slightly different from what I had expected.
However, vampires are human all the same, and controlling them with power is only natural. In the first place, powerless people are treated like livestock everywhere in the world anyway.
If anything...
"Hehe. You underestimate me and this nation far too much. No matter how fearless I may be, why would I reveal my nation's shameful sides to you?"
Tyr answered even my impertinent question with a light smile.
"I shall show you before we go. What kind of state this nation is in."
Sea fog surging from the Sea of Fierce Omens obscures the sun and forms clouds. Riding the wind, the rising clouds drift over the duchy like a colossal roof before meeting a high mountain range and stagnating. Amidst this, there is but a single place where the fog funnels through low hills and escapes.
A place eternally dark, forbidding the touch of sunlight. A place where the sea breeze perpetually rolls in, carrying the stench of the ocean. A place where that fishy stench mingles with the metallic scent of blood, becoming indistinguishable.
The Mist Duchy, flowing with sorrow and fresh blood.
In that place...
"Come, buy! Selling! We deal in all kinds of meat!"
"Blood pudding for sale! Just one chunk will cover your blood tax for two months! Eat blood pudding and replenish your blood!"
"Hey. Are there any Yealings looking for blood right now? If not, a Twit will do."
It was far more vibrant than I had expected.
Walking down the market street, there was no sense of a dark or gloomy atmosphere. As if proving that it is not sunlight that illuminates people's hearts, but rather a leisurely life and good food, the hearts of the people here were bright and healthy.
Standing in the middle of the street, I muttered in astonishment.
"Why are they living so well?"
"What do you take us for? We stopped unilaterally draining blood over a thousand years ago. Such a method could satisfy neither vampires nor humans."
Tyr, who had shaped the darkness into a hood, spoke as if proudly showing me the vibrant street.
"Squeezing out all their blood just because you are thirsty is no different from destroying the well. Our cruelty is directed solely at our enemies. Our allies, we fatten and nurture."
There was no exaggeration in Tyr's explanation. It was filled with things that fatten humans: cured meat, dried fish, milk and blood pudding, cheese, and oil. Wheat and rice, which require the grace of the sun, were rarely seen, but with such a variety of ingredients, one would not miss rice or bread.
What particularly caught the eye was the seafood. It ranged from the occasionally seen fish to various shellfish. Such a diverse array of seafood would be hard to come by anywhere other than the Mist Duchy. After all, mad humans who venture out to fish in the sea where Fierce Omens reside are quite rare.
Moreover, there was an even more important characteristic. The Mist Duchy is a nation where vampires are the nobility. Vampires cannot eat food. In other words, all the edibles in this market...
"Are these all foods for humans? Because vampires don't need such food."
The economy of this market was entirely for humans. Tyr answered with a smile.
"Hehe. Correct. Occasionally, a bored vampire might partake, but that is merely a passing amusement. Vampires cannot taste, after all."
"No one is wasting away from anemia. Why did I always think of a gloomy, gray city whenever this place came to mind?"
"Hehe. It is not entirely wrong. It is certainly gray, that is true. However, drawing too much blood means a shortage of blood to drink tomorrow, so excessive bloodletting is strictly forbidden."
Tyr was greatly satisfied by my reaction. Be that as it may, I also observed the street with a sense of wonder.
The most dangerous enemy to a human is another human. That is because humans inevitably possess what other humans need.
However, vampires are slightly different, even if they are fellow humans. They demand 'blood', the most essential thing to humans, but they couldn't care less about anything besides that blood. Vampires, lacking appetite, lust, and the need for sleep, purely desire blood and can yield everything else.
Moreover, even that blood is a resource only provided if the subject lives healthily, so vampires might just be the ideal nobility. Like shepherds tending their flock.
"I heard that a very long time ago, there were those who claimed to be kings or nobles and blustered that even the color of their blood was different from ordinary humans."
"A lie. If you catch them all and squeeze their blood out, it is equally red. The only ones whose blood is truly different were vampires."
"That was from when Tyr was active, huh. Anyway. It suits better since truly different nobles are ruling. Would vampires demand money and food to indulge in luxury? At most, they'd covet your body."
At the words 'covet your body', Tyr flinched briefly before scolding me.
"Saying 'covet your body' has a strange nuance. Correct it to blood."
"What on earth are you imagining? Blood is part of the body too, isn't it?"
"You must speak accurately so as not to cause confusion."
No matter how I think about it, it's not confusing. Isn't it only Tyr, with that delusion in her head, who's confused? The delusion of wanting to make my body a vampire, I mean!
"Come to think of it, the foods sold in the market are nothing but health foods that help nourish the body. Blood pudding, liver, meat, seafood, and so on."
"You've been oddly steering the conversation that way for a while now. These are simply foods to easily replenish blood."
"It's all similar. Maybe it's because I'm a bit lacking in blood myself, but I'm craving some meat."
Meat was hard to come by in the Military Nation. That was because converting grain into animal flesh for food was an extremely inefficient act. The compressed meat produced in the canning factory was the only luxury they could afford, which said it all.
Yet, in a duchy that drains human blood, they encourage the consumption of meat to replenish that blood—how ironic is that?
Anyway, since I'm in the duchy, maybe I should indulge a little. As I looked around, a shop caught my eye. It was a shop that roasted a massive piece of meat on a spit, slicing it to order.
Seeing the huge slab of meat reminded me of Azi. Could that beast I left in Claudia have endured seeing this? It might have been better for her to stay there rather than single-handedly disrupting the duchy's public order.
"Welcome!"
As I approached the shop with a sigh, the owner greeted me with a bright, customer-service smile. I looked around the shop and spoke.
"Two servings of your best-selling item, please."
"Yes, sir! Just a moment!"
Fat melted and dripped from the layers of meat stacked into a massive slab. The owner sliced the beautifully browned meat with a thick knife, plated it, and served it to me alongside stir-fried vegetables and sauce.
I didn't know what kind of country the Mist Duchy was, but at the very least, its food culture seemed second to none anywhere in the world. I drooled as I rummaged through my pockets. And then, I recalled a fact I had momentarily forgotten.
Ah.
I didn't bring any money.
Where is it? In the room earlier? No, I didn't even take out any money in the room. I left all my money in Claudia. After hanging around people like Janok and Hwanggeumgyeong, I stopped placing value on money.
"Customer?"
As if telling me to hurry up and take out the money, the owner cast a glance at my bulging pockets. However, what was in my pockets right now was not money.
"Owner."
"Yes?"
"I happen to only have cards on me, do you happen to accept card payments here?"
"Cards? What cards?"
Right, cards. The items I had created with the power of the Demon God just a moment ago.
I took out nearly ten cards from my pocket and spread them out before the owner. Seeing the cards, each bearing a spade, the owner furrowed his brow, wondering what these were.
"If I may speak of these cards, they are crafted from a mystery beyond human comprehension. A masterpiece created by none other than the God of Magic himself."
I tried to pitch them to the owner packaged only in truth, but the opponent was a seasoned merchant who had run this shop for nearly ten years, so he wasn't going down easily. The owner rolled his eyes and spoke.
"Are you messing with me?"
"Don't be like that. Look. If the Demon God didn't make them, how could so many come out?"
I endlessly pulled cards out of my pocket. Far too many cards poured out compared to the size of the pocket. In truth, I was hiding the drawn cards in my hand and pretending to pull them out again, but to someone who didn't know, it would look like cards were springing forth from my pocket.
"Look. The cards come out infinitely, right?"
The owner was fascinated for a brief moment, but it was only for a moment. The seasoned owner did not drop his suspicion and spoke.
"An amusing trick. But we only deal in money."
"Can't you see? The cards keep coming out? If you sell this to a scrap dealer, you'd probably get some money."
"Then go to a scrap dealer and exchange it! Get lost!"
He pushed me away right in front of the meat. Tsk, what a jaded adult. His inner child is completely dead.
Having failed to dine and dash, I trudged back to Tyr and said.
"Tyr. That person dared to point fingers at me, your guest. Punish him."
"Hehe. Jokes aside."
"No, I'm serious."
I meant it, but they take it as a joke. I'm asking you to throw your weight around for me. I have the Progenitor at my back, so why should I be treated poorly? They say a position makes the man; if I'm in a high position, I should be allowed to abuse my power a little!
"If you wish, I could seize everything on this street, but that is not what you want either. We are out incognito, so let us observe the ordinary sights a bit more."
'Walking through the market street like this, it feels like an ordinary outing, which is quite enjoyable.'
Ordinary, my foot. The moment you think that, it's already extraordinary! Ordinary people can't even sleep because they're worrying about money!
"Ordinary people have money too. Without money, the ordinary scene Tyr wants is just a pie in the sky."
"Money worries... Who do you think I am? The master of this land and the beginning of all vampires. Do you really think I would suffer from a lack of money in my own territory?"
"I feel like you'd experience that, Tyr. Haven't you already gone through it a few times?"
My prediction hit the mark. Tyr, awkwardly rummaging through her clothes, let out a small sigh. Tyr was precisely not the sort of petit bourgeois who would consciously carry the currency used by commoners.
'This is disgraceful...! Hugh is starving, and I can't even sate his hunger! There's no choice. Since it has come to this, I must reveal my identity!'
See, this is it. This is why people cling to the powerful. I was grinding the blade of revenge against the owner who dared to kick out the Progenitor's guest.