CH 39.1

He furrowed his brows in response to my question.

“How…? How do you know vampires live in this forest, human?”

I replied in a no-nonsense tone.

“Do you think there is a perfect secret in this world? I’ve heard that your people have lived in this forest for a very long time. To think that no one knows, that’s arrogance.”

“···”

He just stared at me with eyes full of hostility, without saying a word.

Beside me, the vampire sisters were staring at the other with a look of restlessness.

I continued to speak.

“I have no malic when I said that. There is only one reason for coming to this forest. It’s so these vampires who had lost their homes and tribe could have a new home her.”

“···What?”

“These are vampires who lived in the mountains north of Calderic. The tribes who lived there had a fight, so most of the tribe members died. They barely survived and escaped.”

His gaze turned to the sisters.

There must already be a few such vampires in the tribe of Elrod Forest, so he would have understood the situation right away with my explanation.

“So, can’t you be merciful and accept them as a member of your tribe? That’s the only reason we came here.”

He looked at the sisters and I silently, and said;

“…I don’t understand. Aside from the circumstances of those young vampires, why did you, a human, bring them here?”

“I saved them from slave hunters. And I just knew that there was a vampire tribe living in this forest.”

It was then that I felt other signs of people coming this way.

Vampires, who just appeared, landed on either side of the branch in the direction the male vampire appeared.

And when they found us, they looked startled, then frowned.

“···Humans and vampires? What’s happening here, Floke?”

The name of the vampire I was talking to was Floke.

He explained the situation to his colleagues.

The vampires glanced at us and made a strange expression after hearing all the explanations.

They quietly discussed what to do for a moment. But I heard everything because of my super sensory.

“First of all, let’s report it…”

“Yeah, then one should watch them…”

They concluded what they should do and told me.

“Do nothing there and wait patiently, human. If you really have no other intentions and you’re only here to help those young vampires, you should be able to do that.”

“Okay.”

I answered obediently.

It seemed that they were going to bring in a high-ranking vampire to decide what should they do to Rudika and Rubica, so we should wait here.

The other vampires left again, and only one remained, watching us warily.

He stood there silently, waiting for someone else to come.

***

A space with a gloomy atmosphere.

A female vampire stood still, closed her eyes, and caught her breath.

She was standing in front of a huge rock in the center of the room, and in a notch in the middle of the rock was a single red stone the size of a fist wrapped in black chains.

An ominous stone that alone illuminated this underground space without a single light from the outside with fiery red light.

Below the rock, there were other vampires watching it with anxious eyes.

“···”

The woman slowly opened her eyes and put her hand on the red stone.

When her hand touched it, the stone blew out an even more intense blood red light.

An ominous energy emanating from the stone filled the space.

The energy that made even vampires watching it tremble. The woman alone was receiving it.

Then, the blood that flowed from her body was slowly absorbed into the stone.

The woman’s expression, who had maintained her composure, was then distorted with pain.

But it wasn’t just the blood being absorbed by the stone.

Khahahahahahaha…!

A bizarre and terrifying laugh that gnawed at the soul.

That overwhelming mental wave echoing in her head was something she couldn’t get used to, even though she had experienced it dozens of times.

The woman kept her consciousness that was about to collapse and waited for the end.

The light from the stone slowly faded away.

And the stone that returned to its original state seemed to have a little less red light than before.

“···Ha.”

The woman who had successfully completed the ceremony stumbled down the stairs.

The vampires waiting below rushed towards her.

“Sister… are you okay?”

A man came forward and supported her.

Throughout the ceremony, he was watching with painful eyes, as if he were doing it himself.

The woman nodded and gently removed his arm.

“It’s okay. Don’t make a fuss about.”

Seeing her still trembling while saying that, the man’s face became even more troubled.

A ritual to suppress the energy of blood.

It was a duty that the chieftains have inherited from generation to generation, and it was also a responsibility that must be fulfilled for the peace of the tribe.

Therefore, as the ceremony progressed, there was nothing the man could do while watching her sister lose her lifespan.

The man turned his gaze and looked again at the stone embedded in the rock.

How long did the tribe have to waste the lives of their brethren for that damn thing? Until when…

“Rest, sister. Take care of the chieftain.”

Out of the underground space, the woman left with the other vampires.

The man looked back at her and sighed.

At that time, a vampire from the other side ran towards this side quickly. It was a warrior tasked with periodically reconnaissance of the forest.

“Chief Warrior.”

The man looked at the other with puzzled eyes.

“What’s going on?”

Hearing the report that followed, the man frowned slightly.

“···Humans brought young vampires? How did he know about our tribe?”

“I don’t know myself. That’s why I hurriedly reported it to you.”

“How many humans were there?”

“Only two.”

The man glanced in the direction the woman had disappeared and then nodded.

“I will go directly with the warriors. For now, please do not report to the chieftain.”