The day after finding out about the existence of a large pack of Ghouls led by a Dhampir through Luciliano's report, Marshal Thomas Palpapek was in the office of the villa that he was staying in, battling against a mountain of documents.

Normally, organizing and dispatching a monster extermination force would be the work of the region's ruler and Adventurers' Guild. However, in this case, the size of the extermination force was unusually large, and knights and soldiers of the nation's army would be participating as well as adventurers. The local ruler, Viscount Berno Balchesse, had handed over command to Marshal Palpapek and begged him for assistance.

Of course, that didn't mean that there was no work for Viscount Balchesse to do. But as everything was under Marshal Palpapek's jurisdiction, it was his signature that was needed as the final approval for each document, and if there were any mistakes, it would be his responsibility.

This arrangement had been decided this morning.

In order to increase the number of participating personnel beyond what was originally planned, order documents needed to be sent to request the use of knights and soldiers of the nation's army.

As the numbers of soldiers and knights were being increased, the budget for equipment also needed to increase.

On top of that, more provisions would be required to feed those soldiers and knights.

More spies needed to be dispatched to keep watch on the Devil's Nest.

The negotiations with the Adventurers' Guild were handled by the finance minister, not the marshal. Thus, everything needed to go through the noblemen working under the finance minister, only adding to the height of the mountain of documents.

The silver lining was that the Amid Empire had recently won a battle over the Orbaume Kingdom while suffering few losses, so there were plenty of funds to work with.

Well, even requesting the use of that budget required the marshal to read through and sign yet another document.

「This looks terrible. Seeing you having to spend your already short lifespan on such tedious work, I cannot suppress my sympathy for you, Thomas.」

Noticing the cold night air and a voice coming from a window that he had no recollection of opening, Marshal Palpapek finished his signature that he was in the midst of writing before putting down his pen.

「If you feel that way, won't you help me? My immortal friend.」

As he looked up, there was a single bat in front of him.

「I believe that I have helped you plenty, my friend. Or could it be, Thomas, that you have realized the emptiness of being famous in human society and come to desire eternity?」

Flowing words spoken in a composed tone came from the mouth of the bat. Ordinary people would have been surprised at the bat that was calling the marshal by his first name, but the marshal gave an unimpressed response.

「No, I have no intention of becoming one of you, and I am sure that you people wouldn't want that, either. Do not speak such insincere words, Vampire.」

This bat was a familiar sent by a Vampire.

Marshal Thomas Palpapek was the second son born to the Palpapek family of earls. The shield-nation of Mirg* had been entrusted the role of being the nation with the most powerful army, defending the Empire from the Orbaume Kingdom's army for generations. Even considering the long history of the Palpapek family of earls and their involvement in Mirg's military affairs, Thomas had been an exceptional young man.

TLN*: The Mirg nation has always been referred to as the shield-nation of Mirg/Mirg shield-nation in this novel. I've omitted the "shield" part up until now because it didn't make any sense, but now that it's finally been explained after 20-something chapters, I'll start adding it to my translation.

But no matter how exceptional he was, he was still only the second son. Even so, if the family's eldest son had been a great failure, then perhaps he could have become the one to succeed the family. However, though the eldest son was a little inferior to Thomas, he was still a fine man.

It was clear in everyone's eyes that Thomas was superior in both the literary and military arts. Thomas and the eldest son both understood this as well.

However, no matter how clear the difference between them was, because it was a「moderate」difference, the family would not go to the lengths of denying succession to the elder son to make Thomas an earl.

No matter which of the brothers rose to the position of marshal, strongholds, soldiers and knights wouldn't change. The vassals that had supported the Palpapek family of earls wouldn't change, either.

Including small-scale skirmishes, war with the Orbaume Kingdom continued to occur once every few years, but the shield-nation of Mirg was a shield, after all. The ones standing in the position of Mirg's marshal were only in charge of defensive battles; the ones in command of the glorious battles of invasion had always been the other marshals or generals of the Amid Empire.

And so, no matter how superior Thomas was to his elder brother, a future where he would succeed the family of earls was impossible.

At this rate, Thomas would be adopted as a son-in-law by a noble family with a court rank of baron or lower that had only daughters, or become a vassal who served his older brother.

At that time, a Vampire appeared before him.「Do you not want to succeed your family of earls? Can you bear the fact that your elder brother who is inferior to you will stand above you merely because he was born a little earlier?」Thomas collaborated with the Vampire who whispered these words to him, succeeded his family of earls in place of his elder brother who perished in an unforeseen accident and rose to the position of marshal.

「Kukuku, indeed. A collaborator in a nobleman's position as high as yours is precious, after all.」

The Vampire implied that without his position as marshal, Thomas would be worthless. Unable to endure any more idle talk, Thomas spoke.

「You know what needs to be done, don't you?」(Thomas)

「I certainly do. It is to do with the Dhampir born between the traitor Valen and a Dark Elf woman, is it not? We went to the lengths of providing you with the information, but it seems that you have let him slip away, haven't you?」(Vampire)

Thomas wasn't knowledgeable about the details of Vampire clans and factions, but he did know that they were largely divided into two main factions: Those who followed the evil gods, and those who followed the goddess Vida.

And this Vampire belonged to the faction that followed the evil gods. However, they were not planning humanity's ruin or anything of the sort.

After the Demon King Guduranis was destroyed, the surviving evil gods who had lost their ruler broke up, acting on their own as they pleased.

There were those who searched for the fallen Demon King's sealed flesh in order to resurrect him.

There were those who plotted revenge against the humans and gods that had brought about the Demon King's ruin.

There were the lazy who simply indulged in inactivity and delicious food.

There were those who had decided that there was nothing of worth in this world and departed for others.

There were even those who struggled with the other evil gods for power.

And then there were those who had abandoned their original goals and simply did everything they could to satisfy their own desires. The evil god that the Vampire here was serving belonged to this group.

But for that evil god and the Vampires that served him, Dhampirs, which were half-Vampires, were apparently creatures that needed to be eliminated for various reasons.

Dhampirs weren't decisively problematic for them. If Dhampirs were to join the humans and begin hunting Vampires, it would be an eyesore. In order to preserve the noble pride of the Vampires. As an example to other Vampires in the faction. Also, simply because it was interesting to torment and kill Dhampirs in front of other Vampires who spoke of things like romance and love.

Those were the reasons.

The owner of the bat in front of Thomas was a Vampire whose name and face Thomas did not know. He had been ordered by an even higher-ranking Vampire to hunt down this Dhampir that had been born between the Subordinate Vampire Valen and a Dark Elf.

These Vampires had finished Valen, but had deliberately allowed the Dark Elf who was pregnant with the Dhampir to escape. Of course, this was not an act of compassion.

The Vampires had wanted to see this Dark Elf and Dhampir die gruesome deaths at the hands of the humans. The evil god that they served would be particularly pleased by such a show.

That was why they had given Thomas information regarding the Dhampir. But in the end, only the Dark Elf mother had been killed and the Dhampir's whereabouts had been unknown. They had assumed that the child who was of breastfeeding age at the time would have starved to death somewhere after its mother had died.

But it had survived and now it was the Ghoul King in a Devil's Nest far from Evbejia. When contacted by Thomas with this information, the Vampire had felt the emotion of surprise that he had almost forgotten recently, and dispatched a familiar.

「... At that time, there were many uncertain factors.」(Thomas)

As the Vampire pointed out Thomas's shortcomings, Thomas made a sour-looking face as he remembered those times.

When Thomas first heard the information about the Dhampir, he had passed that information to a promising party of adventurers called the『Five-colored Blades』that were trying to capture the Dhampir at the time. Thomas had intended for them to build up achievements for themselves.

He had planned to use this opportunity to make strong connections, having the『Five-colored Blades』accept his requests in the future and making it known that they were adventurers that were for the marshal's personal use, and if things went well, he would have made them his subordinates.

However, by coincidence, High Priest Goldan of the Amid Empire's Church of Alda had been staying in a village near Evbejia and intervened as a result.

In addition to that, the Dark Elf had never given up the Dhampir's location, even as she died. This caused High Priest Gordan to lose his temper. Ignoring the attempts of Thomas's subordinate to stop him, he executed her.

And then the『Five-colored Blades』that had been crucial to Thomas's plans had left Evbejia after the Dark Elf's execution without searching for the Dhampir.

Because of that, Thomas had no choice but to leave the search for the Dhampir to High Priest Gordan, whom he didn't have a single ounce of control over. In the end, he was unable to finish the Dhampir off, allowing the Dhampir the opportunity to survive.

「The most uncertain factor is how the Dhampir that was of breast-feeding age was able to stay hidden from the High Priest's search and survive until now.」(Vampire)

「Precisely. He even leads the Ghouls and seems to have undergone a Job change somewhere to acquire the Job of Spiritualist.」(Thomas)

「Spiritualist, you say? No matter how much he has grown, it is uncertain if he is even three years of age, is it not?」(Vampire)

「Indeed. Apparently he was able to see that the Live-Dead was a familiar being used by the hired adventurer.」(Thomas)

Thomas, Viscount Balchesse, the knights and the others were under the assumption that Vandalieu had known what the Live-Dead was because he had attained the Job of Spiritualist.

Not even in their wildest dreams would they imagine that Vandalieu was a user of death-attribute magic, magic that had never existed in this world until now.

「A Spiritualist... He has chosen quite a unique Job. I do not believe that his father Valen had the talent. Then perhaps it is from his mother's blood? Well, it is fine. He will soon be exterminated. Isn't that right, Marshal-dono?」(Vampire)

「Of course. I will eliminate the problematic Dhampir along with the whole pack of Ghouls. I am even going to be calling those irritating religious fanatics of the Church of Alda for this, after all.」(Thomas)

For Thomas, it was absolutely necessary to meet the demands of the Vampires. He didn't desire immortality, nor did he feel any gratitude to them for helping him attain his court rank. He needed the Vampires' power for his plans.

Thomas's homeland, the shield-nation of Mirg, had always been a part of the Amid Empire ever since it was founded. The royal family of Mirg was considered only equivalent to marquesses in the Amid Empire; the nation was forced to endure difficult defensive battles and the glorious victories in battle were always stolen by the Empire.

Mirg was suppressed by the Empire even in peaceful times, and when it tried to build up strength as a nation, the Empire would interfere and hinder it.

Just when Mirg would manage to build up some strength despite that, a pointless expedition would be forced upon it for some reason or another and its power would be weakened again. The Titan extermination two hundred years ago had been particularly terrible. Many soldiers and heroes of that time were lost, as well as a holy lance that was a national treasure. They received no notable spoils of war in return, nor did they gain any new territory.

After having been treated so terribly, it was only natural for the royals and noblemen of the Mirg shield-nation to dearly wish for independency.

And Thomas's plan was to deliver that wish to his homeland with his own two hands. And then he would rise to a more important social position in the newly independent Mirg shield-nation... No, Mirg Kingdom.

For that purpose, he needed to increase the Mirg shield-nation's strength while weakening the Amid Empire, little by little.

The power of the Vampires, who viewed the Amid Empire as their enemy, was absolutely essential for that.

「But that would mean calling the High Priest, would it not? He is currently a candidate to become the next Cardinal. Are you planning to allow him to add more to his achievements?」(Vampire)

「Other than him, I am also planning to have the【Green Wind Spear】Riley participate as well.」

「Hooh, the man who left the【Five-colored Blades】that departed the Mirg shield-nation? I wonder how much use a C-class adventurer who obtained a Title because of the Heinz's work can be.」

「He is already a B-class adventurer. But if you are so concerned, why not join us as well? We are planning to journey across the plains for three days in the sunlight until we reach the Devil's Nest, however.」

「Kukuku, I must decline that proposition. We do have『confidence』in you, after all. More importantly, did you contact me just to report this information?」

「No, there is something I wanted to confirm, just in case. It is about the Dhampir. The Golem transformation incident in Evbejia... Is that not the Dhampir's work?」

The mysterious incident that occurred one year ago, in which a town's outer walls, the ruler's house and the building of the Adventurers' Guild had turned into Golems and walked out of the town.

The investigation was still continuing with the help of the Mages' Guild, but they hadn't even figured out just how the crime was committed, let alone caught the culprit. All they had managed to do was come up with theories that were full of holes.

Was this not the crime of the problematic Dhampir? That was what Thomas suspected. He had not mentioned it in the morning in front of Viscount Balchesse and Luciliano, however, because he had no positive evidence and even thought it was a preposterous theory himself.

「Do not be so foolish.」(Vampire)

In fact, Thomas's theory was nothing more than a poor joke to the Vampire.

「You humans consider Dhampirs dangerous as they have fewer weaknesses than us Vampires, but it seems that you overestimate them. The qualities of a Dhampir, especially those to do with the abilities of a Vampire, are heavily influenced by the Vampire parent. If the parent excels in the use of magic, then the child will as well. If the parent has the ability to transform into a bat, then the child has a high chance of possessing that ability as well.」(Vampire)

「Conversely, if the parent is not particularly gifted in magic for a Vampire, then the child will have similar qualities. I know that much.」(Thomas)

As the Vampire and Thomas were saying, a Dhampir's talent as a Vampire depended on the Vampire parent.

The Vampires that followed the evil gods found it ironic that Dhampir children with the mixed blood of other races were the ones that inherited the Vampire parent's qualities so strongly, however.

「Though Valen was indeed exceptionally resistant to the sun, he was a Subordinate who was not particularly strong for his age other than that. I heard that he was only able to cast simple spells. His Jobs were Apprentice Thief, Thief and Fighter; it is unimaginable that he had dormant talents. And even if Valen did possess some qualities, a child that was one or two years old at the time would not have been able to make use of them.」(Vampire)

「I suppose that is true...」(Thomas)

「Is the mother not more suspicious? That Dhampir is apparently a Spiritualist. Perhaps he has borrowed the power of his mother's spirit?」(Vampire)

Those with the Spiritualist Job can communicate with spirits and gain knowledge from them. Those with advanced ability with the Job can take it a step further and use magic that those spirits had used while they were alive.

The Vampire wondered if the Dhampir, who had become a Spiritualist at a young age, could be making use of secret alchemy techniques that his mother had used while she was alive. But this time, it was Thomas who refuted his theory.

「I investigated the mother; she was a D-class adventurer and while she could use spiritual magic, she seemed to have no understanding of alchemy. I cannot imagine that she knew any secret alchemy techniques.」(Thomas)

「Then I am sure that it was just a coincidence that this incident occurred around the same time. Is your business with me finished? Well then, I will excuse myself. Even we who live for all eternity cannot afford to spend our time idly.」

With those words, the bat flapped its wings silently and took off out the window. Thomas snorted as he watched it fly away while closing the window, and then let out a whisper.

「A coincidence, is it?」

The shield-nation of Mirg was investigating the Evbejia incident not merely as something that concerned only that small town in some remote region, but as a major event that shook the whole country. The reason for that was because if what happened in that town were to happen at the citadel...

No matter how sturdy the forts, no matter how tall and thick the walls, all of it would be meaningless. No, if the Golems decided to attack the humans inside instead of leaving like they had in Evbejia, even an elite army would sustain heavy losses, unable to make free use of their strength.

The attacks would come from the walls, ceilings and floors. How would troop formation be maintained in such a situation?

To prevent such an event from occurring, the mystery of how the town's outer walls had turned into Golems had to be solved.

However, even the upper ranks of the Mages' Guild had been unable to come up with an answer.

In the first place, Golems were things that an alchemist spent effort and Mana to create.

In order to