Chapter 38.2: Blood Magic (1)

After that, the trip went smoothly.

And as time passed, we finally arrived at Elrod Forest.

The others and I stood still for a moment and looked around the entrance to the forest.

It was a forest with that kind of spooky atmosphere because the trees were much larger than the trees from the ordinary forest.

The Elrod Forest here was just a huge forest that was not that known to the world.

The many mountain ranges and forests that existed on the continent were not individually named.

It was just that the vampires living here called the forest by that name.

“Then let’s go.”

Except for Baros, who had to protect the carriage, we immediately set out into the forest.

I don’t know how long it will take.

The forest was so large that it was impossible to know how long it would take to find the vampires.

Still, I wasn’t worried we wouldn’t be able to find it.

As long as we kept moving deep into the forest, we would eventually run into them somehow.

And I also bought an expensive compass from Domihawk because I thought we could get lost.

Compared to a normal compass, it was a pair that showed each other’s location. It was not a magical item, though, but probably something made of a material with properties similar to a magnet. Because this was a fantasy world.

Anyway, the other one was with Baros, so there would be no problem going back.

“It’s kind of spooky.”

As she was walking through the forest, Rubica looked around and said.

The trees were so large that the sun was obscured, so it was a dark forest overall.

I suddenly got curious and asked.

“Do vampires hate sunlight?”

Even during the day, they walked well under the sun, but I wondered if they hated it or something.

Rubica looked at me curiously and shook her head.

“No? It’s not. Rather, I hate darker places like this.”

Right. That solved one question.

It would take quite some time to wander around the forest to find the vampire tribe, so I brought plenty of food.

However, they also supplied food through hunting. Of course, the hunting was up to Asher.

And, of course, not only ordinary beasts but also monsters appeared.

Kuung.

A huge boar fell to Asher’s sword and became a cold corpse.

It was quite disgusting to see tiny thorns all over its body.

Among the monsters that appeared in this forest, there were definitely some that I did not know.

This was because the Elrod Forest itself was an unfamiliar field that had hardly been explored in the game. When I met vampires in related quests, I just passed by it for a moment.

“Wow…”

Rudica’s eyes lit up as Asher quickly defeated the monster and watched the other retrieve the sword.

Because she had never seen Asher fought.

Rubica, who had seen the massacre at the auction house, seemed to be a little afraid of Asher.

“How can I be as strong as you?”

At Rudica’s question, Asher scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

“You just have to train.”

“How do you train?”

“···Swinging the sword without a break every day. And also fight against stronger opponents.”

It didn’t seem easy to explain to a child.

Rudica nodded and shouted.

“If I live here, I will train every day! I have to become stronger to protect my sister and my new friends!”

“···”

At those words, Rubica also had a gloomy look.

Asher looked at the sisters with a slightly pitiful look.

She also had a past when her clan was annihilated, so she could understand their experience.

Anyway, it was already the third day after we started wandering around the forest like that.

“···”

As we were walking down the forest road as usual, I felt something approaching us quickly.

Asher and I turned our heads in that direction.

From afar, I saw a figure leaping over the branches of the trees and sprinting towards us.

Even from a distance, the other’s image was clearly visible through my super sensory.

A man with dark hair, red eyes, and dressed like a hunter suitable for the forest.

【Lv. 51]

Vampire.

A vampire.

The level seen above his head was quite high at 51.

The vampire we were searching for had finally appeared in front of us, and I felt joy, but I was also a little nervous.

Then the vampire landed on a branch of a nearby tree, stopped and looked down at us. I also stared at him.

Naturally, in the eyes of the other person, friendly feelings were not visible at all.

“Humans… and vampires?”

The guy who was looking at us asked in a slightly confused voice.

“What are you? Why did you come into this forest?”

It must have been a very unusual situation for him.

No one usually came to such a deep part of the forest in the first place, but if the unexpected visitor was a combination of a human and a vampire.

I asked him, perplexed.

“Are you from the vampire tribe of Elrod Forest?”