Reincarnated as a Vampire Who Acquires Skills Through Blood-Chapter 45 - Power Without Decency [1]

"Verc!"

Kael shouted my name at the top of his lungs as soon as he spotted me walking out of the dungeon. His voice was so loud that it caused almost every person standing nearby to stop what they were doing and turn their eyes toward me as well.

"Ah...!"

Gibson and the rest of the knights finally realized I was there after hearing that shout, and Elianna looked over toward my direction too.

"Hello there, it looks like we are seeing each other again sooner than expected."

I greeted the group with a casual smile on my face. I figured that letting all the strangers around the entrance see that I was on friendly terms with people like them would definitely help me out socially in this city.

It was especially useful given Elianna’s famous title as the [Saintess] and her reputation as the [10th Strongest Hero] in the entire world.

Anyway, I began walking toward the group to join them, and once I finally reached Kael’s side—

"Why exactly does Eli— I mean, why does the Saintess look so annoyed right now?"

I asked that in a low voice. Kael gave me a slightly suspicious look when he heard me almost slip up and call the Saintess by her actual name, but he chose not to say anything about it for the moment.

Instead, he let out a long, heavy sigh—

"Well..."

And he began to explain the situation to me, giving me the answer to my question.

*****

It all started late last night when the group first arrived in the city— Kael and the other knights had headed straight to the local church so they could finally get some rest; but as soon as they reached the entrance... they found a large group of knights waiting there.

Kael had approached the men and asked them what their business was and why they were blocking the way, and the answer was simple—

The knights told him flat out that they were only there to meet the Saintess; apparently, as soon as word reached them that she was in the city, they all rushed to the church to wait for her.

They didn’t even stop to consider the fact that Elianna and her entire group desperately needed to rest after traveling for well over a week just to reach Zore.

Of course, Kael tried to use reason with them and attempted to send the idiots away so the group could sleep, but the knights completely refused to listen to a word he said. Elianna eventually grew curious as to why the entrance was taking so long to clear, so she personally stepped out of her carriage, and as soon as she appeared— the knights immediately surrounded her.

They all began shoving invitations at Elianna, loudly flaunting their family names back in the capital and bragging about all their high-ranking connections. Elianna quickly grew annoyed with their behavior and eventually sent them away herself; the knights finally decided to listen to her and left, though, as they were walking away...

They loudly called her an arrogant upstart who was simply drunk on borrowed authority.

I asked Kael what exactly they meant by that, and he seemed very hesitant to tell me the truth at first— but with the Saintess’ permission; he soon revealed that it wasn’t actually Elianna who had originally been ranked as the 10th strongest hero in the world.

It was actually the previous Saintess who had retired from the position a few years ago.

Elianna was a relatively new Saintess who had only appeared about two years prior, and because she carried that holy title— she automatically inherited the rank of the 10th strongest hero in the world by default.

Because of this fact, so many people in the high circles condemned her, calling her a total fraud or an imposter who didn’t deserve the rank.

The real reason she spent so much time traveling to different places and clearing dangerous dungeons was to prove all of those people wrong through her actions.

This specific revelation was brand new information to me... and I honestly didn’t know how I was supposed to react to it.

But then, Kael continued with his story—

Apparently, the group had just exited the dungeon not long before I did, and as soon as they stepped out— the same rude knights from the night before were there to greet them again. Elianna tried to shoo them away like flies, but with arrogant smirks on their faces... the knights informed them that the Lord of the City was now officially summoning them to his manor.

Elianna tried to argue that they had only just finished a long expedition and that they were exhausted and needed rest, but the knights just shrugged their shoulders and told her that her fatigue wasn’t their problem.

And so— that was the primary reason why Elianna looked so completely pissed off at this very moment.

"Uwaahh... those guys sound like a bunch of absolute fucking bastards."

I mumbled that under my breath. Kael looked like he was about to agree with my statement—

"That is because they are."

But from right behind him, Elianna followed up instead. It was clear that she was still really, really pissed.

"So, what are you guys planning to do about it now?"

I asked them, and this time, it was Kael who spoke up to answer.

"We honestly have no choice but to go and meet with the Lord, as this city is way too corrupted— if we decide to disobey his direct orders, he might just go out of his way to make our mission here much harder than it already is."

He said with a grim expression.

"Yeah, I already got a taste of just how corrupt this city is myself just last night."

I told them that, before I went on to tell them the whole story about the three bald idiots I fought and the bastard guard who tried to frame me.

Kael and I both just frowned as we looked at each other; we both felt pretty shitty about our first experiences in this city— and it sucked that we had no choice but to get used to it for the sake of our goals.

"Haaaaa..."

"Haaaaaaaaa..."

We both let out a tired sigh as we thought of that.

*****

After that short, unexpected encounter with Kael and the others, we parted ways again— as they had already decided; they headed off toward the City Lord’s residence for the meeting.

Meanwhile, as for me— I started heading back toward the inn where I was staying. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

I was actually quite excited to see Bong and Onyx again after such a long and tiring day in the dungeon.

I bought a few treats and vegetables to give to them once I got back.

But then...

"Huh...?"

When I finally arrived near the entrance of the inn, I saw Onyx already waiting there... he was sitting outside on the cold ground, shivering.

I quickly ran over to him, and his tail started wagging the very second he saw me. But he wasn’t able to properly move toward me or jump up like he usually does... it looked like one of his back legs was badly hurt.

"What in the world happened to you?!"

I exclaimed loudly as I carefully picked Onyx up in my arms.

-Arf! Arf! Arf!

But even though he was hurt, he was just happy to see me again, and he immediately started licking my face with excitement.

"Sir...?"

At that exact moment, I heard Edgar’s voice coming from behind me.

My head quickly snapped toward the sound, and I had a deep frown on my face. I was fully prepared to interrogate him and demand a long explanation, but then—

"Huh...?"

When I actually saw his face, I noticed a dark, nasty bruise forming over his right eye. I was momentarily stunned by the sight. And before I could even ask him what the hell had happened—

"I am really, truly sorry, I tried my best to stop them and protect Onyx... but they just punched me right in the face and threw him out here on the street, they kept shouting that their food would get dirty if there was any animal allowed nearby."

Edgar mumbled those words, sounding really apologetic and ashamed.

"They punched you... and they just threw Onyx out like trash...?"

I asked that in a low voice. My face went completely still and my mind went totally blank for a second.

And then, from deep inside the inn—

"Haha, did you guys see the look on that bitch’s face? It was absolutely spectacular."

"I have to agree, that woman is getting way too full of herself just because people are hailing her as the Saintess."

"Ugh, it really stinks in here, is there still some kind of animal lingering around?"

I heard those voices echoing from inside along with the sound of loud, arrogant laughter.