「And if you left us and then those one hundred people starting hunting down monsters anyway, I think it would end up the same regardless. Considering that, it would be more reassuring to have you around, Van.」
「?! I hadn't thought of that...!」
Vandalieu was rendered speechless in surprise. The truth was that there was a high possibility of the reincarnated people hunting monsters on a large scale even if Vandalieu wasn't involved with them.
After all, they were strong people, and in the world of Lambda, monsters were evil. They would very likely hunt monsters to satisfy their sense of justice or simply to quickly gain money and fame.
Vandalieu was in shock, but surprisingly it was Vigaro whose decisive opinion changed Vandalieu's mind.
「I'm sure those guys are not even that strong to begin with, Vandalieu.」
Vigaro's words left Vandalieu dumbfounded. They would surely be strong. They would have power beyond all reason; they would be so strong that one would think it unfair. Those one hundred people, not even that strong?
「Of course they're going to be strong. Definitely far stronger than me.」
「But they can die, right? Then you will be able to kill them.」
Vigaro said this as if it was obvious, and Vandalieu reflexively began to object.
「There's no way that – ah!」
And then he suddenly realized. That's right, they could definitely die.
Rodcorte had granted those one hundred people cheat-like abilities, with the exception of Vandalieu.
He protected them with good fortune.
He guided them with a destiny.
However, Rodcorte's goal was to use these people who had died on Earth to develop the world of Lambda. The only reason he had reincarnated them in Origin first was to have them gain experience.
Things had been set up so that they would be reincarnated in Lambda as they died in Origin.
It would be a problem if they couldn't die. If they didn't die in Origin, they would never be sent to Lambda.
Therefore, among the cheat-like abilities granted to them by Rodcorte, there would be none that absolutely prevented them from dying or being killed.
They might possess cheat-like abilities that granted them tremendous offensive abilities, but if their defensive abilities were normal, they could be killed.
They might be able to move at ultra-high speeds, but they would die if made ill by the【Incurable Disease】spell.
They might have rapid regeneration abilities that would let them regrow severed limbs, but if their brains and hearts were destroyed simultaneously, then they would die.
They might have the ultimate defensive abilities, but if afflicted with【Aging】, they would die of old age.
None of these methods would be simple. It would be difficult; lives would have to be put on the line in these battles.
But Vandalieu was a death-attribute mage. He was someone who could freely use magic to bring about death, or keep it at a distance. As long as his enemies were living beings that would eventually die one day, there would definitely be a way for Vandalieu to kill them, and he should have a means to accomplish that.
「I wonder why I hadn't realized such a basic thing until now...」(Vandalieu)
「It is only natural to fear those who have what you do not have.」(Zadiris)
「And they killed you once, didn't they? I can't blame you for thinking that you can't win against them.」(Vigaro)
Vandalieu fell to his knees as Zadiris and Vigaro correctly guessed the reasons he had feared those one hundred people so much.
「I've been thinking about it since I was born, for almost three years, but I never thought of that. Because you pointed it out, I have more hope for the future. Thank you.」(Vandalieu)
「It helps us to be allies with you. Don't worry about it.」(Vigaro)
Vigaro bared his fangs that were larger than they had been yesterday in a smile, looking as if he'd be satisfied as long as Vandalieu didn't bring up the idea of giving up the Title of King again.
「Well, we might be a hindrance for you when you're trying to become an adventurer and nobleman.」(Vigaro)
「When that time comes, I'll tell people that I have tamed you. If that doesn't work, I'll pile up so many achievements that they can't ignore me.」(Vandalieu)
「Oh, you've broken free, Van.」(Basdia)
Even he could kill those with the cheat-like abilities. As Vandalieu made this realization, his worries in life had been cut in half and his head felt clearer.
He still aimed to kill enemies like High Priest Gordan and Heinz, and he was confident that if he became stronger, he would be able to do it. Leaving Earth and Origin aside, he had skills in this world and even possessed 100,000,000 Mana. If he could master using this Mana, his revenge and killing the cheaters would be possible.
There were steep mountains and valleys ahead of him in life, but he felt as if they had become a little less steep.
Feeling refreshed, Vandalieu remembered something that he had meant to say once the sun rose but hadn't said yet.
「Ah, I just remembered. The humans had been making preparations to exterminate the Orc village, and now they've found out that we've already done it. What should we do?」
「Boy... That is the more pressing concern.」
It seemed that the meeting would continue for some time.
Luciliano was pale and feeling strained in the morning.
「That is the end of my report.」
He was on his knees, delivering a report to his employer, the mustached nobleman Berno Balchesse, and a row of knights.
And there was a middle-aged man with a medium build in the prime years of his life sitting at the head of the table. Though Luciliano wasn't specialized in combat, he was an adventurer who had completed numerous requests from noblemen over the years. This man wasn't the kind of person whose presence should cause an adventurer like Luciliano to be feeling nervous.
However, every time Luciliano stood before him, he felt his spine grow cold and experienced an unpleasant feeling of tension.
「That report is the truth, I presume?」
「Yes, Marshal Palpapek.」
The man's name was Marshal Thomas Palpapek. He held the court rank of earl, but that was the rank that he was given because this country of Mirg was a nation of the Amid Empire. In the Empire, the title of marquess was only held by royal family members of the Empire's nations.
He was a capable marshal whose abilities and achievements were so great that if Mirg were an independent nation instead of being a part of the Empire, it would not have been surprising for him to hold the rank of marquess... or even duke.
TLN: After some Wikipedia-work, I've discovered that earl is below the rank of marquess. Palpapek is only an earl because the position above that, marquess, is reserved for royal family members. Duke is above the rank of marquess. These parts were tricky to translate, but I'm pretty sure I got this.
Since he had risen to this position, the Mirg nation had withstood attacks from the Orbaume Kingdom, public order had been improved and worked with adventurers to be involved in dealing with multiple large incidents in which monsters began overflowing from Devil's Nests.
「I see. The Noble Orcs have been annihilated and their subordinates have been scattered...」
「That is extraordinarily delightful news, is it not, Marshal-dono?」
Viscount Balchesse looked truly happy as he smiled at Marshal Palpapek. It somehow seemed that even his prided handlebar mustache had become shinier.
He was feeling relieved as there no longer seemed to be a need to spend large amounts of taxes to hire adventurers and dispatch soldiers and knights as an extermination force, causing casualties in the process.
There was a strong stereotype of noblemen treating those serving them as being disposable, but the ones who did that without hesitation were fools. Those with some ability as noblemen avoided casualties where possible.
Soldiers were needed to maintain the peace of a region, and if some of them died, they could not always be replaced immediately. It was different from temporarily-hired soldiers and guards, who only needed to be provided with equipment. One should desire a certain level of skill and loyalty from regular soldiers.
This was especially true for knights whose families had served noblemen for generations. If noblemen put the lives of knights to waste, they would be disgraced and lose favor from the knight families who would choose other masters.
Losses should be kept low, even for soldiers recruited from the lower-class populace. If the young people that were the able workers of society were to die in large numbers, the productivity of the region would fall and severe economic problems would develop. And there was nothing good about causing dissatisfaction amongst the people.
Adventurers were a special case, as they worked in their occupation at their own risk. Even if ten or twenty of them were lost, a town as large as Viscount Balchesse's wouldn't be negatively affected at all. Hundreds of adventurers died every year in the nation of Mirg alone. Nobody would claim that this was the responsibility of the rulers.
But this only applied on a national level; if a large number of adventurers in one region were to suddenly decrease in number by too much, there monster numbers in Devil's Nests would be less regulated and the materials that adventurers obtained from monsters would become scarcer. There would be consequences for anti-monster measures as well as economic consequences.
And since adventurers were essentially wanderers, if there were rumors that a nobleman was forcing adventurers to accept unreasonable requests, they could simply turn away from that nobleman. That would cause long-term difficulties for the region.
Therefore, it was best to eliminate or at least reduce casualties. Of course, there were some things that needed to be done even if casualties were certain to occur. Exterminating a Noble Orc's group of five hundred monsters that was planning to attack the town, for instance.
The group of monsters was gone, eliminating the need to form an extermination force. This could only be a good thing for Viscount Balchesse. He wasn't interested in things like having the honor of exterminating powerful monsters.
However, it seemed that Marshal Palpapek thought differently.
「That cannot be said, Viscount Balchesse. Perhaps we should increase the size of the extermination force... No, more importantly, perhaps I should ask High Priest Gordan for his assistance in killing this Vampire.」
「Wha –?! How can that be, Marshal?! The Noble Orcs have already been killed; the danger has passed!」
「The danger has not passed. It has simply changed, from Orcs to Ghouls. A group of Ghouls that won a battle against a group of five hundred monsters led by a Noble Orc. Though Luciliano has not confirmed this, there are likely Ghoul Mages... There is even a chance that there are higher-class ones, like High Mages or Berserkers. Or would you suggest that such a group of monsters is not a threat?」
Marshal Palpapek was right. For humans, Orcs and Ghouls were both monsters. The only differences were that Ghouls had females so they didn't need to abduct human women so frequently, and they didn't often come out of the Devil's Nests.
But these differences were enough for Viscount Balchesse's knights to disagree.
「But Marshal, there have never been any confirmed cases of Ghouls acting outside Devil's Nests, let alone in a group. Is it not safe to assume that the Ghouls will not come out of the Devil's Nest?」
「In particular, the Ghouls of that Devil's Nest do not even fight adventurers; they are relatively docile. And as the adventurer there reported, the monsters led by the Noble Orc were using the female Ghouls as mothers, were they not? Is this incident not simply the Ghouls taking revenge on the Orcs?」
The Ghouls that had the power to defeat the Noble Orcs and their subordinates were indeed threatening. However, it wasn't anything more than a struggle for existence that had occurred within the Devil's Nest; the conflict wouldn't spread outside.
Why was there any need to take the effort to enter that conflict in a place that couldn't even be seen from here?
Even Marshal Palpapek nodded, knowing that there was some truth to this argument.
「Indeed, if it is the Ghouls that have been there for a long time, that would be the case. However, has there ever been a group of Ghouls with a Dhampir child among them?」
However, in response to this question, Viscount Balchesse and his knights could only say that they had never heard of such a thing.
「And considering the situation, it is highly likely that this Dhampir is the Ghoul King... isn't that right?」
「Yes. Considering the situation, I cannot deny the possibility of the Dhampir being the Ghoul King Vandalieu.」
Luciliano, who had remained silent until now, offered his thoughts with a tone that implied that he wouldn't take responsibility if he was incorrect.
The Ghouls had said that Vandalieu was coming, and then the Dhampir child had appeared. If one considered this, it could be reasonably deduced that that child was the one called Vandalieu. And the other Ghouls had said that Vandalieu was the Ghoul King.
In that case, then the Ghoul King was a Dhampir child by the name of Vandalieu.
Even though he was a Dhampir, it was difficult to believe an infant that could not even be called a boy yet was the King that led a pack of Ghouls. But there was no basis for anyone to deny this possibility.
And on top of that, Marshal Palpapek shared a piece of shocking information.
「Actually, I have a good idea of just who this Dhampir named Vandalieu is.」
「What?!」
「Is this true, Marshal?!」
It seemed that even the knights serving Marshal Palpapek were hearing this for the first time; they were murmuring along with Viscount Balchesse and his knights. Even Luciliano raised his face in surprise.
「About three years ago. I am sure even Viscount Balchesse remembers the wanted posters of a Dark Elf who had succumbed to a Vampire's temptation circulating around our country. That Dark Elf's name was Darcia. And I had my own subordinates investigate the matter just in case, and in the process, I learned that the name of the Vampire who seduced her is Valen. It is not unusual for parents to use parts of own names to name their child.」
The son of Valen and Darcia, Vandalieu. Many commoners named their children in this way.
TLN: I'll just copy-paste my earlier TLN regarding this as a reminder. Valen is ヴァレン/Varen, Darcia is ダルシア/Darushia, and Vandalieu is ヴァンダルー/Vandaru. Vandalieu's name in Japanese is a combination of the first and last syllables of Valen's name and the first two syllables of Darcia's name.
「But wasn't that Dhampir returned to the dirt?!」
「No, I believe the only one that was certainly executed was his Dark Elf mother. I heard that the corpse of the Dhampir child who was of breast-feeding age was never found in the end...」
「How irresponsible! Do those of the Church demand such extravagant donations for such crude work?!」
「However, even being half-Vampire, there was no way for an infant of breast-feeding age to survive without its mother. Could the name not be a mere coincidence?」
「But even the age matches. Is it not too much to be called a coincidence?」
The knights offered their own confused guesses. And then they were silenced by Marshal Palpapek's powerful voice.
「What we should fear is if the Dhampir Vandalieu, who is the Ghoul King, is not content with merely surviving and is sharpening his fangs for revenge. What will happen then? It does not even need to be said.」
The knights' expressions all hardened as they closed their mouths. Viscount Balchesse's face had turned particularly pale.
A powerful Ghoul army led by a Dhampir who harbored resentment towards the humans. No matter how one looked at it, this was a larger threat than the Noble Orcs' group of monsters.
Orcs were unintelligent and even if they were led by a higher race, their coordination was sloppy and there would be many openings to take advantage of.
However, Ghouls were far more intelligent than Orcs and they were a race that was even more proficient at fighting in coordination with each other than Kobolds. And unlike Orcs, among whom only superior individuals could use magic, most female Ghouls were capable of casting spells.
Their reproductive capabilities were far inferior to those of Orcs, but for the noblemen and knights gathered here, that was irrelevant information.
Since the Ghouls had defeated a group of over five hundred Orcs, the noblemen had deduced that their numbers would be around the same or at least four hundred.
... Though in reality, the number of effective combatants was only around two hundred, including Vandalieu himself and the Undead that obeyed his command.
When that large army came attacking, its fangs would first be bared at this town that was close by to the Devil's Nest. Nobody could blame the ruler of that town, Viscount Balchesse, for looking as if he could faint at any moment.
「M-Marshal! Please grant me your assistance!」
「Of course, Viscount Balchesse. Let us immediately organize a larger extermination force and eradicate those Ghouls and that Dhampir from that Devil's Nest.」
Marshal Palpapek had managed to secure the organization of a larger extermination force while still having it done under the request of the local ruler. If this operation succeeded and he managed to exterminate the Dhampir that had escaped High Priest Gordan, who was renowned as a Vampire hunter, his fame would increase even further.
(Rather than try to keep guessing at the politics beneath the surface, I must get out of here!)
Luciliano didn't want to see that Dhampir's face again. Thinking about that, he continued to wait for his employer to grant him permission to leave.
Name: VigaroRank: 6Race: Ghoul BerserkerLevel: 5Job: NoneJob level: 100Job history: NoneAge: 168 years oldPassive skills:Night VisionSuperhuman Strength: Level 4Pain Resistance: Level 4Paralyzing Venom Secretion (Claws): Level 1Active skills:Axe Technique: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 2Commanding: Level 3Coordination: Level 2Name: BasdiaRank: 4Race: Ghoul WarriorLevel: 63Job: NoneJob history: NoneAge: 26 years oldPassive skills:Night VisionSuperhuman Strength: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)Pain Resistance: Level 2Paralyzing Venom Secretion (Claws): Level 3Active skills:Axe Technique: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!)Shield Technique: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)Bow Technique: Level 2Throwing: Level 1Silent Steps: Level 1Coordination: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)Status Effects:Infertility
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