“Bring that woman to me alive!”
In response to her command, the vampire brides that had been standing aside until now moved. While Shalltear was lost in her thoughts, the woman had used the opportunity to turn and flee. The two vampire brides quickly closed the distance and grabbed her arms from both sides.
Although the woman struggled violently, the difference in strength between a human and a vampire was too different. Too easily, she was dragged in front of Shalltear.
“Look into my eyes!”
Shalltear grabbed the woman’s chin and forcibly brought her eyes to bear on her own. Needless to say, she kept her strength in check, otherwise she would’ve accidently ripped her chin off and ended up in an embarrassing situation. Although Shalltear knew how to use faith magic, as an undead, she couldn’t use the normal healing spells.
Forced to look, the woman’s eyes soon clouded over, and the terrified look on her face was replaced with a friendly expression. It was the charming effect of the 「Demon Eyes of Attraction」. Sensing that she was well under her spell, Shalltear released the female warrior from her grip.
She had several questions to ask her.
But there was only one that needed to be asked before anything else.
Shalltear picked up the potion bottle that fell to the ground and held it in front of the female warrior.
“Where did you get this potion? From who, where!”
“At a tavern, a man in black armor gave it to me.”
Hearing the words that were spoken as if they weren’t that important, Shalltear’s whole body froze solid.
“….Wait…. No, that’s impossible… but… which… which city was it?”
“It was a tavern in Re-Lantier.”
Shalltear was shocked, as if the world was shaking. The man in black armor; it was because she had a feeling that she knew who the female warrior was talking about.
If that was the case, the bigger problem was, for what reason was this woman in possession of the potion. It was difficult to imagine that he would give it to her without reason.
“No way…”
Did he also give this woman some unknown instructions? Or perhaps he gave her the potion to form a connection, or maybe to strengthen their friendship.
The dignified appearance of Ainz Ooal Gown, the absolute ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, appeared in her mind. The possibility that she had ruined some kind of plan that he had devised burned at her heart.
“Why did you come here?! What’s your objective!”
She no longer had the luxury of feigning delicacy with her words. Now that learning as much information as possible became the first priority, Shalltear glared at the woman with bloodshot eyes, with an entirely different feeling from before.
TL Note: Shalltear usually speaks like a geisha that doesn’t come off in English. She drops it here.
“Yes. Our main task was to patrol the roads. But when we heard information that a bandit hideout was somewhere nearby, we came to investigate. It looked as if something happened, so we split into two teams and came here on a reconnaissance mission.”
“You split your team in two?”
“Yes. Since we didn’t know how many bandits there were, our job was to gather their attention and lure them to a trap that was being prepared by the others.”
“So there’s another team.”
Thinking that another annoyance had popped up, Shalltear clicked her tongue.
“So, how many of you are there in total?”
“With me included, those that came here number seven, and—.“
“What? Wait, seven? Not six?”
Shalltear’s gaze moved towards the corpses on the ground. Three warriors, one bishop, one magic caster— and this woman; the numbers didn’t add up.
Against the eyes filled to the brim with questions, the female warrior responded nonchalantly.
“Yes. In case of an emergency, we had a ranger who would travel to Re-Lantier for reinforcements.”
“What…?”
The magic caster’s voice from before was oddly loud. That’s right, loud enough so — the whole basin could hear.
“Kuh!”
Shalltear’s eyes widened as she jumped out of the basin with a speed faster than the wind. Although she had climbed all the way to the top and scanned her surroundings, even her eyes that could see in the dark could not see past the trees. Even when she focused her ears, the only sound that she could hear was the rustling of vegetation caused by the wind.
Shalltear did not possess skills for detection or magic for searching. In the current situation, finding a human in this forest was impossible.
“Damn it!”
She shouted in anger.
She lost them. Honestly, she had been too complacent. With this— it made two. She grinded her teeth.
“Come, my kin!”
Beneath Shalltear’s feet, her shadow squirmed, and several wolves protruded forth. Needless to say, these were not normal wolves. Their dark fur was as black as the night, and their red eyes glinted with a cruel cunning.
Level 7 monster, Vampire Wolf.
Although Shalltear could summon numerous monsters with her skill, 「Raise Kin」, only these wolves could track their enemy.
“Follow him. Kill every human in this forest!”
A roar like command, the ten vampire wolves ran in concert into the forest.
Even as she watched them from the back, she felt that the chances of them succeeding were low. An image of Aura floated in her mind. While probably not at her level, a ranger would probably have a few tricks up his sleeve when it came to covering his tracks.
In other words, it was necessary to assume that he had gotten away and to think of the next move. Shalltear rushed back to her original spot and questioned the female warrior, as if she was going to attack her.
“First, is there anyone besides you who received a potion from the one in black armor?”
“No, there aren’t any.”
“Okay! Then next question. Is there a chance that the ranger will rejoin the remaining team?”
“None. In a situation where our team faced a good chance of being annihilated, his job was to abandon the team and return to the city. This was the path with the highest chance of our survival.”
It was a preparation that accounted for both the possibility of defeat and their surroundings. Because of this, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Shalltear had been driven to a corner. Realizing this, she flared in anger.
“Puny humans, always having so many cunning tricks—. If I ever get the permission to subjugate your kind, I’ll make sure that you’re treated like the maggots that you all are!”
Lashing out in anger did not change the reality of the current situation.
It was almost certain that the existence of a vampire would be delivered to the city.
It was unknown whether or not the ranger was able to see what she looked like. It was the middle of the night, in the corner of the basin nonetheless. It was difficult to imagine that a human’s eyesight would have been able to perceive her appearance under such conditions.