Chapter 266 – Vampire Mystery

There was still a lot that we didn’t know about vampires.

Especially when it came to the true ancestor. Not only did it never show itself, but the vampires would also not speak of it.

Even Shia and the beastkin wolves knew very little.

So perhaps it was a mistake that we thought we had beaten it.

I wanted more information.

“It must be difficult to have such a foolish leader. After all, he was killed quickly after using such a foolish strategy.”

“I will not forgive you for this mockery! And neither will god!”

“You don’t sound like you even know the true ancestor. That thing is small fry. It was killed by apes like us.”

“…Fool. An ape would never be able to kill him.”

This Lord seemed to be quite young mentally. Or maybe I should say immature.

Though, I didn’t know its actual age, as it was difficult to determine such things from a vampire’s physical appearance.

However, it was easily provoked into talking.

It just needed to be pushed a little more, and I could get more information.

“I understand why you wish to believe that, but… That is the truth. It’s very unfortunate.”

“Hmph. You are the one who believes what he wants. In fact, I…”

And then the Lord closed his mouth.

“You what?”

“…”

His mouth was tightly closed now. And things had been going so well. It was too bad.

He had regained his calm then.

“…Hmm. You’re awfully calm, when there is in fact, a traitor in your midst.”

“A traitor?”

“Foul creatures like you should devour each other and die.”

“Is that the plan?”

“…”

The Lord didn’t answer, but just turned into ash. Apparently, he had ended his own life in order to stop any more information from leaking.

But he had become calm right before death.

In that case, his last words had likely been spoken deliberately.

Traitor. Devour each other.

Perhaps he had only said this as a way of planting the seed of suspicion.

However, it was also not something I could ignore completely either.

And yet, we had not found them yet.

As I thought of this, Kathe’s voice came from behind.

“Are you done?”

“Yes, for now.”

And then Kathe came with Grulf, Ario, and Ginny.

“Mr. Locke. Did you defeat the Vampire lord?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I knew that Locke was strong, but…not this strong.”

“While I am a F-Rank Adventurer, I’m also a veteran.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“But, maybe it’s possible if it’s Mr. Locke.”

Ario and Ginny nodded in agreement. They seemed satisfied with that.

“Locke. I have good ears, and I was listening…”

And then Kathe whispered in my ear.

“Is the true ancestor still alive?”

“It is possible. However, we don’t know yet. Do the dragons know anything about the true ancestor?”

“They do not.”

“I see.”

Well, if they did know, then Dorgo or Mors would have told us.

So the true ancestor was also an unknown entity for the dragons.

“In any case, we cannot let our guard down.”

As Kathe and I whispered to each other,

“Mr. Locke. Can we go and check up on the village?”

“Yes, we’re worried about them.”

Ario and Ginny looked very serious.

“No, it would be best if you stayed away for now.”

“But why?”

“Ario. Ginny. The vampires still have control of that village.”

“But I thought you and Ms. Kathe killed all of the vampires?”

“We did, but…”

I had continued to cast Magic Exploration and Magic Detection over the village.

And the result was that I saw that both the charmed and the thralls were still actively moving.

However, charmed were supposed to be freed, and thralls turned to ash once the parent vampire was killed.

In other words, it hadn’t been the Lord who had infected them.

I explained this to the two.

“I asked the Adventurers Guild for backup, so we should wait for them to arrive.”

And then I decided to have Kathe take Ario and Ginny back to the royal capital.

Ario and Ginny were F-Rank Adventurers, and so attacking a vampire base was too much for them.

“Kathe. I need you to take Ario and Ginny and… gg…”

Suddenly, there was terrible pain in my head. I felt like vomiting, and I could feel the magic energy draining from my body.

“Ggg…”

“Agghh…”

Grulf and Kathe were also groaning in pain.

This sensation was familiar.

The divine protection that eliminated the dark ones from the royal capital.

Only, it was the evil god version. The protection of the evil god did more damage to strong humans, dragons, and those who are holy, and it restricted their movements.